The Effects of Street Noise and Field Independency on Police Officers' Shooting Behavior

Two studies examining the effects of street noise on police officers' emotion, perception, and performance in simulated shooting events are discussed. Compared to previous research, our studies had a higher ecological validity. In our studies, "relevant" noise was introduced, the subjects were police officers instead of students, and the behavior we examined was police behavior in simulated firearms incidents. Results revealed that noise resulted in increased emotion, a narrowed perception, and an impairment in performance on secondary tasks. In Study 2, the effects of field independency on emotion, perception, and performance were examined. The outcomes showed that high field-independent subjects compared to low field independent subjects obtained better results regarding perception and performance. Finally, some implications are discussed.     

The effects of presession attention on problem behavior maintained by different reinforcers

The effect of presession attention on the later occurrence of problem behavior was examined with elementary-school children with a range of disabilities. Results of analogue functional analyses suggested an escape function, an attention function, or both. Following the analogue functional analyses, the effects of two antecedent conditions (10-min ignore vs. 10-min attention) were compared on problem behavior in subsequent test conditions. For participants who displayed attention-maintained problem behavior, the test condition involved contingent attention for problem behavior. For participants who displayed escape-maintained problem behavior, the test condition involved contingent escape for problem behavior. Results indicated that participants who displayed attention-maintained problem behavior displayed less problem behavior following presession exposure to attention than when ignored. No such effect was found for presession attention on escape-maintained problem behavior. We discuss matching antecedent-based interventions to the results of functional analysis.     

Flexible Mediation Analysis in the Presence of Nonlinear Relations: Beyond the Mediation Formula

In the social sciences, mediation analysis has typically been formulated in the context of linear models using the Baron &; Kenny (1986) Baron, R. M. and Kenny, D. A. 1986. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51: 1173–1182. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] approach. Extensions to nonlinear models have been considered but lack formal justification. By placing mediation analysis within the counterfactual framework of causal inference one can define causal mediation effects in a way that is not tied to a specific statistical model and identify them under certain no unmeasured confounding assumptions. Corresponding estimation procedures using parametric or nonparametric models, based on the so-called mediation formula, have recently been proposed in the psychological literature and made accessible through the R-package mediation. A number of limitations of the latter approach are discussed and a more flexible approach using natural effects models is proposed as an alternative. The latter builds on the same counterfactual framework but enables interpretable and parsimonious modeling of direct and mediated effects and facilitates tests of hypotheses that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to test. We illustrate the approach in a study of individuals who ended a romantic relationship and explore whether the effect of attachment anxiety during the relationship on unwanted pursuit behavior after the breakup is mediated by negative affect during the breakup.     

PSYCHOANALYSIS AND INFERTILITY MYTHS AND REALITIES

Psychoanalysis, long interested in infertility, and a valuable treatment for men and women suffering with this affliction, has also helped to create and support a myth of psychogenic infertility. Multiple causes of infertility exist across the physiological - psychological spectrum. There is no simple psychodynamic causality. Advances in assisted reproductive technologies provide treatments that create emotional stress and outpace psychological preparedness of patients and analysts. This paper is based on the experience of a unique study group in Boston. An analytic case illustrates some of the ways analysis can be a treatment of choice for people using assisted reproduction. In fact, analysis offers a unique opportunity to elaborate fully the complex realities and dilemmas faced by people and their therapists throughout the infertility experience. More generally, this study of the concept of psychogenic infertility explores a valuable role for psychoanalysis in the treatment of medical conditions.     

The Treatment of Substance‐Abusing Clients in Multiservice Mental Health Agencies: A Practice Analysis

This article examines the work behaviors related to counseling substance‐abusing clients by mental health service providers in multiservice mental health agencies. The results support the need for specialized knowledge and skills in working with substance‐abusing clients.     

Psychometric and Piagetian intelligences: Toward resolution of controversy

Whether “psychometric” and “Piagetian” kinds of intelligence, as measured by instruments designed to measure these constructs, are the same or different is regarded as a question of whether they have the same or different courses of development with age. While factor analysis may not be fully adequate for investigation of this question, use of this technique with variables reflecting chronological age variation must involve elimination of the age effect in order to assess relations among the constructs measured. Humphreys and Parsons (1979) were justified in partialing out age in their reanalysis of a study by Stephens, McLaughlin, Miller, and Glass (1972), to show that the two constructs are highly correlated and possibly identical in the sample studied. Reanalyses of studies by DeVries and Kohlberg (1977) and by DeVries (1974) yield somewhat conflicting results on the identity between psychometric and Piagetian intelligences. The former study does not yield a convincing separation between them, whereas the latter suggests that they can be distinguished, though substantially correlated and both loaded with a general factor. Problems in further investigating the issue are discussed.     

Meat on the menu? How the menu structure can stimulate vegetarian choices in restaurants

Excessive meat consumption has a negative impact on people's health, animal welfare, and the environment in general. Remarkably, however, despite the growing number of flexitarians, only a small number of people choose a vegetarian dish at a restaurant. Therefore, in the current study, we tested how vegetarian dishes need to be presented in order to stimulate the choice for these dishes. In an online study, participants were presented with one of four different menus: Either an all vegetarian menu, an all vegetarian menu with the possibility to add meat to each dish, a menu with increased offer on vegetarian dishes with explicit indication, and a menu with increased offer on vegetarian dishes without explicit indication. Subsequently, participants indicated how likely it was that they would eat in this restaurant and which dish they would choose (i.e., vegetarian or not). Additionally, they completed a reactance questionnaire. Results show that when people get the option to add meat to the vegetarian dishes on a menu this increases the choice for a vegetarian dish. No effect of menus on reactance and willingness to eat at a restaurant was found. These findings suggest that presenting meat as an alternative or additive option can help to change behavior toward a flexitarian lifestyle.