An investigation of mental rotation in infancy using change detection

Two experiments were conducted to examine mental rotation in 6- to 12-month-old infants (N = 166) using a change detection task. These experiments were replications of Lauer and Lourenco (Lauer et al., 2015; Lauer & Lourenco, 2016), using identical stimuli and variations of their procedure, including an exact replication conducted in a laboratory setting (Experiment 1), and an online assessment using Lookit (Scott et al.,2017; Scott & Schulz, 2017) (Experiment 2). Both experiments failed to replicate the results of the original study; in neither experiment did infants’ behavior provide evidence that they mentally rotated the object. Results are discussed in terms of the robustness of mental rotation in infancy and about limits in our experimental procedures for uncovering perceptual and cognitive abilities in infants.     

Co-constructed narratives around being “sick”: A minimalist model

The amount of physical damage may have no fixed relation to how much and in what ways a patient's life is disrupted. The authors discuss a model which addresses the bio-psycho-social complexity of a patient's illness and the narrative constructions which the patient, family members, and health care professionals influence to co-create the patient's identification with being sick. This minimalist model invites the reader to consider a variety of interrelated variable lenses through which to view the narratives around a patient's illness. Clinical case examples are used to illustrate the dominant story themes.     

Explaining the Durable Effects of Verbal Person‐Centered Supportive Communication: Indirect Effects or Invisible Support?

Researchers have documented benefits from receiving supportive messages high in verbal person‐centeredness (VPC), but the processes through which such messages produce longitudinal effects remain unclear. This study evaluated two perspectives (i.e., indirect effects and invisible support) that address how supportive messages can produce durable effects and tested sex differences in those effects. 255 dyads completed a laboratory‐based interaction in which level of VPC and sex of the support provider were manipulated. 3 weeks later, support receivers evaluated the conversations and their stressor. Variations in VPC produced durable effects both when messages were positively evaluated initially and when they were evaluated as supportive by providers or third‐party observers but judged low in supportiveness by receivers. Provider sex moderated the results.     

Positive Affect in the Midst of Distress: Implications for Role Functioning

Stress has been shown to deplete the self‐regulation resources hypothesized to facilitate effective role functioning. However, recent research suggests that positive affect may help to replenish these vital self‐regulation resources. Based on the revised Stress and Coping theory and the Broaden‐and‐Build theory of positive emotion, three studies provide evidence of the potential adaptive function of positive affect in the performance of roles for participants experiencing stress. Participants were students (Study 1), caregivers of children with illness (Study 2), and individuals recently diagnosed with HIV (Study 3). In cross‐sectional analyses, using role functioning as an indicator of self‐regulation performance, we found that positive affect was significantly correlated with better self‐regulation performance, independent of the effects of negative affect. The effects were not as strong longitudinally, however, and there was little evidence of a reciprocal association between increases in positive affect and improvements in role functioning over time. The results provide some modest support for hypotheses stemming from the Broaden‐and‐Build model of positive emotion and revised Stress and Coping theory, both of which argue for unique adaptive functions of positive affect under stressful conditions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parentification,Substance Use,and Sex among Adolescent Daughters from Ethnic Minority Families: The Moderating Role of Monitoring

Guided by structural family systems theory, this study explored the relationship between parentification and adolescent daughters' sexual risk engagement and substance use. We also explored how adolescent reports of parental monitoring moderated the relationship between parentification and adolescent risk. Data were from a cross‐sectional, cross‐generational study of 176 mother–daughter dyads from low‐income, inner‐city, ethnic minority families. In this sample, which included a subset of mothers with HIV, parental physical symptoms were associated with slightly higher levels of parentification. Parentification was associated with adolescent daughters' intention to have sex (but not substance use) in a direction opposite to prediction. Higher parentification was associated with lower intention to have sex. Parental monitoring did not moderate relationships between parentification and adolescent risk. These findings highlight that despite the negative influence hypothesized in structural family systems theory, parentification was not associated with risk engagement of high‐risk adolescent daughters in ethnic minority families with low income.     

Gender Hierarchy in the Space: The Role of Gender Status in Shaping the Spatial Agency Bias

According to the Spatial Agency Bias (SAB), more agentic groups (men) are envisioned to the left of less agentic groups (women). This research investigated the role of social status in shaping the spatial representation of gender couples. Participants were presented pairs consisting of one male and one female target who confirmed gender stereotypes. The status of the targets in each pair was systematically varied (high-status vs. low-status job). Participants chose the target order (female/male vs. male/female) they preferred. In line with gender-status expectations (male: high-status, female: low-status), a male in a high-status job led to a spatial arrangement that favored the male/female order, regardless of the status of the female target. The female/male order was favored only when the female had a high-status job and the male a low-status job. No SAB occurred for pairs in which both targets displayed low-status jobs. The implications of status for the SAB are discussed.     

De la prédiction à la compréhension : recension des dimensions psychologiques de la Statique-99

Although widely used in North America, actuarial risk assessment tools have been criticized for their inability to capture the causal dynamics leading to criminal recidivism. In this article, we present a conceptual framework for linking static, historical risk factors to the psychological vulnerabilities that are targeted in offender treatment. To illustrate this model, a literature review was conducted that identified the psychological dimensions that underlie the items of the Static-99, the most widely used actuarial scale for predicting sexual recidivism. Two key dimensions were identified: sexual criminality, indicative of sexual deviance and/or sexual preoccupation, and general criminality, indicative of antisocial traits and/or psychopathy.     

Feminist Issues in Couple Therapy

Abstract

The authors reviewed the feminist couple therapy literature from 1995 to 2006. They summarized this large body of work into several key themes. The first revealed that feminist couples therapists are continuing to discuss and deconstruct gender issues in couple therapy. The second showed that feminists believe that therapists should be educated both academically and personally about culture and diversity so as to support couples in their therapy around their own issues of diversity as well as learning to deal with issues of social justice as a couple. In the third theme, the authors introduced readers to feminists' emphasis on connection and empathy within couple and sex therapy. And, in the fourth, the authors explored feminists' work with power in couple therapy as they applied to couple therapy in general as well as around the specific topics of: balancing family and work and therapy for familial violence.