The effects of exposure to political and domestic violence on preschool children and their mothers

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exposure to political violence on preschool children and their mothers. We explored whether these dyads are different from dyads with no known history of exposure to violence and from mother–child dyads with known exposure to domestic violence. Specifically, we explored differences in mothers' psychological status (depression and anxiety), dyadic emotional availability (EA), children's social information processing, and children's social behaviour, in a sample of 216 dyads divided into three groups (exposure to political violence, no exposure to violence, and exposure to domestic violence). We found evidence to support our hypotheses that children exposed to domestic violence exhibit the highest levels of social maladjustment with smaller but still significant differences between children exposed to political violence and children in the comparison group. As expected, the lowest EA scores were found in the exposure to domestic violence group, followed by dyads in the exposure to political violence group. Dyads belonging to the comparison group (no exposure) exhibited the highest levels of EA. These findings contribute to our understanding of the meaning of exposure to political violence, as well as sharpen the difference between exposure to political and domestic violence.     

Maternal psychosocial predictors of pacifier use in a mother-infant interaction task: An observational study from the MPEWS pregnancy cohort

The prevalence of pacifier use is high but when it occurs outside of the recommended sleep context, it becomes more controversial. Using 211 mother-infant dyads recorded as part of the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study, we examined the maternal psychosocial predictors of pacifier use within an interaction task (i.e., ten minutes face-to-face followed by 30-minutes unstructured play). Predictors included maternal emotional availability measured with the Emotional Availability Scales; depression measured by the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV-TR Clinician Version; and maternal history of childhood trauma measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. An unadjusted odds ratio demonstrated that women classified as non-emotionally available to their infants were three-and-a-half-times more likely to use a pacifier. Multivariate logistic regression including all maternal psychosocial predictors demonstrated that even when adjusting for cessation of breastfeeding, maternal emotional availability remained the only significant predictor of pacifier use. This is the first time that predictors of pacifier use have been examined with a sample of clinically depressed women, as well as women with childhood trauma history. The results provide preliminary evidence that women who are not emotionally available might be more likely to rely on a pacifier during mother-infant interaction.     

Empathic accuracy and cognitions during conflict: An in‐depth analysis of understanding scores

Empathic accuracy research indicates that partners achieve only moderate success at reading each other's thoughts. The current study identifies specific patterns of online thought that contribute to empathic inaccuracy during conflict interactions. Married/cohabiting partners completed a conflict interaction and reported their own thoughts during video‐assisted recall of the interaction, also inferring the thoughts of the other partner. Content analysis of these online thoughts demonstrated a high degree of mindfulness about the process of communication, along with a perspective bias, in which partners tended to construe their own communication as constructive and the other partner's communication as avoidant and confrontational. Specific mind‐reading errors linked to both the thematic content and affective tone of online thought predicted lower overall empathic accuracy.     

The impact of empathy and reappraisal on emotional intensity recognition

Empathy represents a fundamental ability that allows for the creation and cultivation of social bonds. As part of the empathic process, individuals use their own emotional state to interpret the content and intensity of other people’s emotions. Therefore, the current study was designed to test two hypotheses: (1) empathy for the pain of another will result in biased emotional intensity judgment; and (2) changing one’s emotion via emotion regulation will modulate these biased judgments. To test these hypotheses, in experiment one we used a modified version of a well-known task that triggers an empathic reaction We found that empathy resulted in biased emotional intensity judgment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a bias in the recognition of emotional facial expressions as a function of empathy for pain. In experiment two, we replicated these findings in an independent sample, and further found that this biased emotional intensity judgment can be moderated via reappraisal. Taken together, our findings suggest that the novel task used here can be employed to further explore the relation between emotion regulation and empathy.     

Exploring the social side of self‐compassion: Relations with empathy and outgroup attitudes

Self‐compassion is a disposition involving compassionate attitudes toward the self when facing difficulties. We argued that specific self‐compassion components might influence indicators of openness to others, such as empathy and outgroup attitudes. We hypothesized that the component called common humanity versus isolation, involving the acknowledgement that one's sufferings are shared with all the other humans, would be positively related to the other‐oriented aspects of empathy, perspective taking and empathic concern, and to improved outgroup attitudes. We also hypothesized that the mindfulness versus over‐identification component, i.e., having a balanced view of one's situation avoiding exaggerations, would be associated with lowered personal distress. In three studies, with three independent samples, we regressed empathy and outgroup attitudes on self‐compassion components, while controlling for concurrent predictors such as self‐construal and attachment styles. Results supported our hypotheses, suggesting that improvements in empathy and outgroup attitudes may be fostered by positive individual dispositions.     

适合汉语全拼输入的提示性软键盘的研发与验证

本研究设计了两种基于汉语全拼输入的提示性软键盘:加粗加黑和颜色提示,并通过实证性研究验证了这两种提示性软键盘对汉字输入绩效的影响。结果表明,两种提示性软键盘均优于非提示性软键盘,在打字速度、使用方便程度、喜爱程度和总体评价上均更好,加粗加黑提示性软键盘还显著提升了输入正确率。该结果为基于汉字输入的提示性软键盘的研发和使用提供了科学依据和数据支持,也将为相关键盘的投入市场做出贡献。     

通货膨胀知觉的认知机制和影响因素

通货膨胀知觉是个体对通货膨胀的主观体验.通货膨胀知觉的认知机制主要体现在体验阶段和整合阶段.体验阶段主要涉及到个体对物价的感受性和记忆,整合阶段主要涉及到个体利用可得性启发式以及锚定和调整启发式完成对通货膨胀的最终估计.通货膨胀知觉的影响因素主要包括通货膨胀预期、框架效应、对价格公平性的认知、社会放大效应以及货币改革等.未来可以从通货膨胀知觉的信息加工方式、认知神经机制、跨文化研究以及具有较高生态效度的测量指标等方面进一步探讨.     

Expanding the traditional user versus non‐user dichotomy amongst ecstasy users

Differences in the drug use characteristics and psychosocial variables in the use and non‐use of ecstasy within 845 16–25 year‐olds in the UK was examined. Based on levels of ecstasy use and intentions, two groups of non‐users (resistant and vulnerable), three groups of users (light, moderate and heavy) and an ex‐user group were identified. It was found that there is predictive utility in this way of expanding the widely employed ‘user versus non‐user’ dichotomy. Resistant non‐users were more likely to be younger, female, and were characterized by lower levels of use of four other drugs (amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and LSD). Those ‘at risk’ of using ecstasy reported more frequent use of amphetamine, LSD, and cannabis than resistant non‐users. Heavy user groups reported using amphetamine, cocaine and LSD more frequently than all the other groups. Having ecstasy using friends increased the odds of being an ‘at risk’ non‐user or an ecstasy user. Normative influence also differentiated between the three user groups (light, moderate, and heavy). Beliefs about ecstasy use being immoral, ecstasy offers being difficult to resist, ecstasy use making one feel guilty and ecstasy being readily available differentiated between user and non‐user groups. These factors could usefully inform the content of health education materials designed to change ecstasy use. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of event vividness,event severity,and prior paranormal belief on attributions towards a depicted remarkable coincidence experience: Two studies examining the misattribution hypothesis

Two studies examine the impact event vividness, event severity, and prior paranormal belief has on causal attributions for a depicted remarkable coincidence experience. In Study 1, respondents (n = 179) read a hypothetical vignette in which a fictional character accurately predicts a plane crash 1 day before it occurs. The crash was described in either vivid or pallid terms with the final outcome being either severe (fatal) or non‐severe (non‐fatal). Respondents completed 29 causal attribution items, one attribution confidence item, nine scenario perception items, a popular paranormal belief scale, and a standard demographics questionnaire. Principal axis factoring reduced the 29 attribution items to four attribution factors which were then subjected to a 2 (event vividness) × 2 (event severity) × 2 (paranormal belief) MANCOVA controlling for respondent gender. As expected, paranormal believers attributed the accurate crash prediction less to coincidence and more to both paranormal and transcendental knowing than did paranormal sceptics. Furthermore, paranormal (psychokinesis) believers deemed the prediction more reflective of paranormal knowing to both (1) a vivid/non‐fatal and (2) a pallid/fatal crash depiction. Vividness, severity, and paranormal belief types had no impact on attribution confidence. In Study 2, respondents (also n = 179) generated data that were a moderately good fit to the previous factor structure and replicated several differences across attributional pairings albeit for paranormal non‐believers only. Corresponding effects for event severity and paranormal belief were not replicated. Findings are discussed in terms of their support for the paranormal misattribution hypothesis and the impact of availability biases in the form of both vividness and severity effects. Methodological issues and future research ideas are also discussed.