Category ratio: A search for an optimal solution to reduce choice overload

This paper endeavors to find an optimal solution to alleviate the harmful consequences of choice overload using assortment categorization. Past research on assortment categorization has primarily studied the type of category labels. Only a few studies focused on the number of category labels, and the extant research is inconclusive on the right number of labels. This paper argues that the number of options under each label is more important in reducing choice overload than the number of labels. We call the number of options under each label “category ratio”. We integrate the research from four streams to recommend an optimal range of category ratio. In a field and a lab experiment, we tested the optimal category ratio as an intervention in the reduction of choice overload. The results of both experiments found a significant reduction in choice overload for the optimal category ratio. In experiment 3, we manipulated the category ratio to test whether the optimal category ratio is better than the non-optimal category ratio. The results of experiment 3 found that consumers experienced more satisfaction for the optimal category ratio than both uncategorized assortment and non-optimal category ratio. Past research has found that fewer labels and uninformative categorization are not helpful in the choice process. This paper finds that a few labels are beneficial only when the category ratio is within the proposed optimal range. Uninformative labels also reduced choice overload when categorized using the optimal category ratio.     

Mother-infant interaction: effects of a home intervention and ongoing maternal drug use

Examined the effects of a home-based intervention on mother-infant interaction among drug-using women and their infants. At 2 weeks postpartum, mothers and infants were randomly assigned to either an intervention (n = 84) or a control (n = 87) group. Control families received brief monthly tracking visits, and intervention families received weekly visits by trained lay visitors. Mother-infant interaction was evaluated at 6 months through observation of feeding. Although there were no direct effects of the intervention, in the control group, mothers who continued to use drugs were less responsive to their babies than mothers who were drug free. In the intervention group, drug use was not associated with maternal responsiveness. Weekly home-based intervention may be a protective strategy for children of drug-using women because it disrupts the relation between ongoing maternal drug use and low maternal responsiveness.     

“Why Am I so Anxious?” A Study of Attention Bias in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Previous research investigating attentional bias has produced intriguingly equivocal results. The present large-scale study explored attentional bias in subjects diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and in a control group (n = 80) using the Emotional Stroop Test. Results clearly indicated poorer performances across the board amongst patients diagnosed with OCD compared to the control group, particularly in the case of anxiety-related stimuli. This paper discusses, in the light of current models of attentional bias towards threat in anxiety disorders, the processes whereby attentional bias towards anxiety stimuli might play a vital role in the causation and maintenance of OCD.     

Health and Aging: A Perspective from the Far East

Singapore is an urban, highly industrialized country in South East Asia. By 2030, one-fifth of the population is projected to be composed of citizens aged above 65 years. Research on aging has largely focused on the effects of deteriorating physical ability on daily functioning capabilities (Iwarsson & Isacsson, 1997; Warr, 1995). More recently, the role of self-perceived usefulness, competence and control on well-being in the elderly have been investigated (Heberlein, Licht & Licht, 1999; Ranzjin, Keeves, Luszcz, & Feather, 1998). In other fields, activity and involvement have been identified as effective coping devices (Nair, 1989; Shalit, 1988). The present study compared the conceptual understanding of the esteem and well-being of the elderly on the dimensions of activity, involvement, and control, as viewed by an undergraduate sample (n = 60) and a cross-section of seniors (n = 71). Three separate factor analyses reflected interesting variations in the conceptual frameworks.     

A neural network approach to identifying adolescent adjustment.

This study examined the relationship between the quality of adjustment in adolescents and a set of psychiatric diagnoses, personality traits, parental bonding, and social support variables. One hundred fifty adolescents were administered the Millon Adolescent Personality Inventory, the Parental Bonding Questionnaire, the Social Support Questionnaire, and the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents. A neural network approach was then utilized, and it was found that several of the variables (e.g., Major Depressive Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Societal Conformity) had a significant role in classifying adolescents into three groups: maladjusted, nominally adjusted, and well-adjusted.     

Urban Career Women and Stress in Southeast Asia

A theoretical and conceptual review of stressors facing urban career women in southeast Asian countries is presented within a chronological age-bracket framework. Similarities and distinguishing differences from findings in the United States, Europe, and Australia are discussed. Younger attractive women were more likely to encounter sexual harassment and be taken less seriously at work. In the middle years, family demands with young children pose more of a distraction for the women. Southeast Asian career women have an edge compared to their Western counterparts in better access to support for household duties and child-minding from live-in maids and parents. However, they are expected to care for elderly parents and be responsible for efficient home management. In higher management appointments, they face similar stressors in critical perceptions of their authority and leadership by both men and women subordinates. Management initiatives to inculcate attitude change and transparency in addressing convoluted and irrelevant gender-role expectations can yield substantial organizational benefits.     

Factors predicting the use of technology: findings from the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE)

The successful adoption of technology is becoming increasingly important to functional independence. The present article reports findings from the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) on the use of technology among community-dwelling adults. The sample included 1,204 individuals ranging in age from 18-91 years. All participants completed a battery that included measures of demographic characteristics, self-rated health, experience with technology, attitudes toward computers, and component cognitive abilities. Findings indicate that the older adults were less likely than younger adults to use technology in general, computers, and the World Wide Web. The results also indicate that computer anxiety, fluid intelligence, and crystallized intelligence were important predictors of the use of technology. The relationship between age and adoption of technology was mediated by cognitive abilities, computer self-efficacy, and computer anxiety. These findings are discussed in terms of training strategies to promote technology adoption.     

Developmental outcome of drug-exposed children through 30 months: a comparison of Bayley and Bayley-II

This study examined the effects of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) version on developmental outcomes among drug-exposed children, some of whom received an intervention. Developmental outcome was evaluated with the BSID at 12 and 18 months and with the BSID-II at 24 and 30 months. In the repeated measures analyses, children scored higher on the BSID Mental Developmental Index (MDI; p < .01) and Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI; p < .01) than on the BSID-II MDI and PDI. Version x Time (p < .01) and Version x Group (p < .01) interactions were also found for the MDI but not the PDI. PDI scores decreased on both the BSID and the BSID-II (p < .01). Over the first 2 years postpartum, mean MDI and PDI scores decreased among these high-risk, drug-exposed children.     

Dichotomous Issues in Psychology: Intransigency or Developmental Phase?

Cet article est une étude de cas de la psychologie en tant que discipline et profession dans un jeune pays asiatique, Singapour. Il y est décrit les aspects les plus importants de sa courte histoire et de son actuel statut. On met en évidence l'apparence dichotomique de la psychologie, vu que les membres de cette discipline adoptent souvent des positions apparemment intransigeantes. Des points communs apparaissent avec le cycle de développement de la psychologie aux Etats-Unis. Il s'agit de la scission entre les approches pratique et scientifique (art ou science?), l'intérêt pour la recherche fondamentale ou appliquée, et une préférence tranchée pour la recherche de laboratoire ou de terrain. On conclut en réfléchissant sur l'avenir de la psychologie internationale et sur les conséquences d'une approche sceptique de cette discipline.
This is a case study of psychology as a discipline and a profession in a young Asian country, Singapore. Salient aspects of its brief history and present status are presented. The paper highlights what appear to be dichotomous issues in psychology, where members of the discipline often adopt seemingly intransigent positions. Parallels are drawn with similarities in the developmental cycle for psychology in the United States. These include divisions with regard to practitioner versus scientist approaches to the discipline (art or science?), commitment to basic versus applied research, and an entrenched preference for laboratory versus field research. The paper concludes by examining the future in international psychology, and the implications of a prevalent skeptical approach within the discipline.     

Self-help Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Carers of People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an established psychological therapy, but its effectiveness for carers of people with multiple...