Reductions in the social anxiety of women associated with group membership: Distraction, anonymity, security, or diffusion of evaluation?

This study examined whether social anxiety is diminished among women in the company of a group and, if so, whether it is associated with perceptions of anonymity, being distracted, feelings of security, or an expectation that any evaluation will be diffused across the members of the group. Two social scenarios were presented to 61 female undergraduate students: a physique-salient and a general social situation. For the former situation, self-presentational anxiety was less pronounced in a group of female friends and a mixed group of male and female friends than when alone or in a group of male friends. For the general social situation, in comparison with being alone, being in a group of female friends, being in a group of male friends, and being in a mixed group of male and female friends were associated with less social anxiety. Diffusion of evaluation and perceptions of security were most strongly associated with the reduction in social anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternally modulated infant separation responses are regulated by D2-family dopamine receptors.

Although dopamine is necessary for mammalian adult pair-bond formation and maternal behavior, its function in infant social behavior and attachment has been less thoroughly explored. The vocalization rate of an isolated rat pup is influenced by recent social contact. Interactions with the dam potentiate vocalization rate. Interactions with littermates or adult males do not. Systemic administration of the D2-family agonist quinpirole specifically blocked maternal potentiation at doses that did not alter vocalization rate in an isolation prior to dam contact. This result was not explained by quinpirole's effects on body temperature or locomotion. The results are consistent with a role for dopamine in infant social behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A medication screening tool for cognitive aging researchers.

A Web-based medication screening toll that provides researchers with information about side effects associated with medications commonly used by older participants is described. this tool can be used for research purposes to better separate the effects of normal, healthy aging processes from the deleterious effects often associated with medication usage. Researchers can use this tool, called SMART (Screening Medications: Aging Research Taxonomy), to (a) obtain information pertaining to the cognitive, sensory, and motor side effects associated with specific medications, and (b) screen medications in their research for side effect severity. The Web address for the tool is www.psychology.gatech.edu/SMART. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the nature of the decision axis in signal-detection-based models of recognition memory.

Most models of recognition memory involve a signal-detection component in which a criterion is placed along a decision axis. Older models generally assume a familiarity-decision axis, but newer models often assume a likelihood ratio axis instead because it allows for a more natural account of the ubiquitous mirror effect. In 3 experiments reported here, item strength was differentially manipulated to see whether a mirror effect would occur. Within a list, the items from 1 category were strengthened by repetition, but the items from another category were not. On the subsequent recognition test, the hit rate was higher for the strong category, but the false-alarm rates for the weak and strong categories were the same (i.e., no mirror effect was observed). This result suggests that the decision axis represents a familiarity scale and that participants adopt a single decision criterion that they maintain throughout the recognition test. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The differentiation of activity in infants' exploration of objects.

If an activity during manipulative play is exploratory, it should, in contrast to other activity, be used differentially for objects that vary in novelty. In a study of 5-mo-olds, different definitions of exploratory mouthing were tested, and results suggest that mouthing followed immediately by a look fulfilled some criteria for an exploratory activity. In the next study of 5- to 11-mo-olds, mouthing with looks after and examining, a measure of visual–manipulative inspection, met the criteria for exploratory activity; other kinds of mouthing and visual–manipulatory activity did not. Exploratory mouthing decreased with age, and examining increased. The exploratory function of mouthing apparently was not due to concurrent manual activity providing haptic information. The conclusion is that some activities are exploratory and information-gathering and other activities are nonexploratory and serve other functions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality feedback and situational norms can control stereotyping processes.

Impressions are influenced by motivations stemming primarily from the target (e.g., interdependence), 3rd parties (e.g., accountability or time pressure), or the self. The current studies investigate motivations stemming primarily from the self. In Study 1, Ss were given dispositional feedback about their abilities to categorize or to individuate. In Study 2, they were given situational information about the appropriate norms to categorize or to individuate. As predicted, dispositional feedback influenced low self-monitors, and situational information influenced high self-monitors. Both altered attention to potentially individuating category-inconsistent attributes as well as requests for additional information. Causal models further illuminated the mediating processes. Results suggest that people's flexible self-concepts are an important source of motivation in impression formation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Power and conflict resolution in sibling, parent–child, and spousal negotiations.

This study used a within-family observational design to examine conflict strategies (planning, opposition) and resolutions (standoff, win-loss, compromise) across family subsystems, with an emphasis on power differences between parents and children during relatively symmetrical within-generation (spousal, sibling) and relatively asymmetrical between-generation (parent–child) dyadic interactions. Up to six dyads in 67 families (children's ages ranging from 3 to 12 years) discussed an unresolved conflict. Results revealed that within-generation discussions ended more in standoff, whereas between-generation discussions ended with more win-loss resolutions. Multilevel analyses indicated that parents engaged in more planning and opposition than children; however, they opposed more and planned less with their spouses than their children. In general, more planning and less opposition were associated with achieving resolutions rather than failing to resolve differences. Some effects were qualified by within-family differences between mothers versus fathers and older versus younger siblings, as well as between-family differences in younger siblings' age. Implications for theories of power and family relationship dynamics are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preventing skin cancer in college females: Heterogeneous effects over time.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of an appearance-focused intervention to reduce the risk of skin cancer by decreasing indoor tanning, examine potential heterogeneity in tanning across this time, and correlate the subtypes with predictors collected at baseline. Design: Randomized controlled trial with 379 female college students measured at 6 monthly time points. Main Outcome Measure: Self-reported indoor tanning frequency. Results: The intervention was effective at decreasing tanning over the period between the fall and spring. Longitudinal latent class analysis found 3 patterns of tanners among the treatment individuals: abstainers, moderate tanners, and heavy tanners. These classes appeared in both the treatment and control conditions, and the intervention had a harm reduction effect by reducing levels of exposure within the moderate and heavy tanner classes. Participant age and self-reported tanning patterns were found to be predictive of class membership. Conclusions: This research suggests that brief intervention approaches can be effective at reducing risk for skin cancer and illustrates several ways in which these protective effects can be enhanced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The minimizing of blaming attributions and behaviors in delinquent families.

Parents' data were evaluated in three studies of families with a delinquent adolescent. Families were provided with different forms of a positive versus negative interactional (attributional) context. Study 1 demonstrated that the negative context elicited significantly more negative behaviors than did the positive context when parents interacted with each other and with their delinquent adolescent. Study 2 demonstrated that the dispositional attributions of parents were influenced by the manipulation of set, with a dissatisfied set producing negative blaming attributions and a satisfied set producing nonblaming, positive attributions. Study 3 demonstrated that parents' negative sets regarding their adolescent's negative behaviors, once established and discussed by the family for 5 min, were unresponsive to a subsequent positive reattribution regarding those behaviors. Taken together, the data provide some support for reattribution techniques such as relabeling. Yet, the data question the ease with which such techniques can be successful and challenge proponents of such techniques to develop methodologically sound empirical demonstrations of their effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship formation and relational control as correlates of psychotherapy quality and outcome.

This study examined the nature of therapist–client interactions within and across seven psychotherapy cases (a) to test whether therapeutic outcome is a function of a transition from relational incongruence to relational congruence (S. Strong, 1982), and (b) to investigate the relation of relational congruence and control to qualitative aspects of the therapy relationship and to therapy outcome. Measures of therapist and client response patterning served as indices of relational congruence and of relational control. Relationship quality was assessed in terms of therapist and client ratings of their working alliance and of therapy session depth and smoothness. Outcome was operationalized in terms of symptom reduction. Results showed limited support for a relationship between relational congruence and therapy outcome and suggested that relational control is not a significant factor in client or therapist evaluations of relationship quality or therapy outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)