Count No One Happy: Eudaimonia and Positive Psychology.

Some aspects of "second-generation" Positive Psychology are analyzed and their origins explored. In particular, Seligman's importation of the concept of eudaimonia from Aristotelian ethics is critiqued and found to be problematic. This conclusion is reached through an examination of the concept of eudaimonia as it was employed in ancient philosophy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective teachers' sense of efficacy and beliefs about control.

We examined the structure and meaning of efficacy for a sample of 182 prospective teachers and related efficacy to beliefs about control and motivation. The two independent dimensions of teaching efficacy (TE) and personal efficacy (PE) usually identified in studies of experienced teachers were also found for these prospective teachers. Both TE and PE were significantly correlated with bureaucratic orientation, but in opposite directions. Neither TE nor PE was related to motivational style; only TE was related to pupil control ideology. Canonical correlations, however, revealed more complex relationships. Personal efficacy was positively related to a control orientation that rejects teacher control of students but accepts the schools' control of teachers. The interaction of TE and PE made unique contributions to the prediction of pupil control ideology and bureaucratic orientation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A rose by any other name . . . : Labelling bias and attitudes toward behavior modification.

Investigated the effect of presentation labels upon Ss' evaluation of behavior modification in 2 experiments with a total of 194 college students. In Exp I, 2 groups of undergraduates were shown identical videotapes of a teacher using reinforcement methods. In the 1st group the videotape was described as illustrative of "behavior modification," whereas the tape was labeled as "humanistic education" in the 2nd group. A questionnaire that required the Ss to evaluate the teacher and the lesson was then administered. Identical procedures were repeated in Exp II, which studied graduate students. For both samples, when the events on the videotape were described as illustrative of humanistic education, (a) the teacher received significantly more favorable ratings and (b) the teaching method was seen as significantly more likely to promote academic learning and emotional growth. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of meditation--relaxation techniques for the management of stress in a working population

The efficacy of meditation-relaxation techniques has been widely researched in the laboratory, but their effectiveness for management of stress in organizational settings is still relatively unexplored. The present study compared relaxation and control conditions as part of a program of stress-reduction in industry. A total of 154 New York Telephone employees self-selected for stress learned one of three techniques--clinically standardized meditation (CSM), respiratory one method meditation (ROM) or progressive relaxation (PMR)--or served as waiting list controls. At 5.5 months, the treatment groups showed clinical improvement in self-reported symptoms of stress, but only the meditation groups (not the PMR group) showed significantly more symptom reduction than the controls. The meditation groups had a 78% compliance rate at 5.5 months with treatment effect seen whether subjects practiced their techniques frequently or occasionally. The safe and inexpensive semi-automated meditation training has considerable value for stress-management programs in organizational settings.     

Reconfigurable Dual Peptide Tethered Polymer System Offers a Synergistic Solution for Next Generation Dental Adhesives

Resin-based composite materials have been widely used in restorative dental materials due to their aesthetic, mechanical, and physical properties. However, they still encounter clinical shortcomings mainly due to recurrent decay that develops at the composite-tooth interface. The low-viscosity adhesive that bonds the composite to the tooth is intended to seal this interface, but the adhesive seal is inherently defective and readily damaged by acids, enzymes, and oral fluids. Bacteria infiltrate the resulting gaps at the composite-tooth interface and bacterial by-products demineralize the tooth and erode the adhesive. These activities lead to wider and deeper gaps that provide an ideal environment for bacteria to proliferate. This complex degradation process mediated by several biological and environmental factors damages the tooth, destroys the adhesive seal, and ultimately, leads to failure of the composite restoration. This paper describes a co-tethered dual peptide-polymer system to address composite-tooth interface vulnerability. The adhesive system incorporates an antimicrobial peptide to inhibit bacterial attack and a hydroxyapatite-binding peptide to promote remineralization of damaged tooth structure. A designer spacer sequence was incorporated into each peptide sequence to not only provide a conjugation site for methacrylate (MA) monomer but also to retain active peptide conformations and enhance the display of the peptides in the material. The resulting MA-antimicrobial peptides and MA-remineralization peptides were copolymerized into dental adhesives formulations. The results on the adhesive system composed of co-tethered peptides demonstrated both strong metabolic inhibition of S. mutans and localized calcium phosphate remineralization. Overall, the result offers a reconfigurable and tunable peptide-polymer hybrid system as next-generation adhesives to address composite-tooth interface vulnerability.     

Active and placebo effects in treatment of moderate and severe insomnia.

Examined the efficacy of relaxation training and a highly credible placebo in the treatment of both severe and moderate sleep onset insomnia. The placebo treatment was designed to elicit an expectation for improvement comparable with that of relaxation training. Expectancy of improvement was further controlled by informing Ss to expect improvement only after the 3rd wk of therapy, thus allowing comparisons of the treatments to be made during the counterdemand period (1st 3 wks) and the positive demand period (4th wk and beyond). Responses of 30 18–76 yr old severe and moderate insomniacs were similar across treatment conditions, over weeks, and in response to the counterdemand/positive demand manipulation. Only Ss trained in relaxation techniques improved significantly during the counterdemand period. The active treatment was significantly more effective than the placebo in reducing sleep onset latency during the counterdemand period. After the introduction of positive expectancy of therapy outcome, relaxation was no longer superior to placebo. Findings are discussed in terms of the methodological difficulties inherent in controlling for S expectancy of therapeutic effects in treatment studies of insomnia. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-complexity, self-evaluation, and depression: An examination of form and content within the self-schema.

Six studies examined the relationship between self-complexity and variables related to self-evaluation. Self-complexity was found to comprise two components: positive self-complexity and negative self-complexity. Positive self-complexity was sensitive to methodological factors, namely, variations in stimulus materials used for self-ratings. Negative self-complexity was relatively stable in the face of different rating stimuli and tasks and was related to trait measures of self-evaluation, psychic distress, and psychopathology. These findings were observed and replicated. Higher negative self-complexity was associated with increases in depression symptoms over time. Higher negative self-complexity also predicted a poorer prognosis and less complete recovery from depression in a clinical sample. Results are discussed in light of related research and possible social–cognitive mechanisms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Real and the Good.

In this journal editorial, the author introduces the first debate to occur in the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology during his tenure as editor. Three interlocutors take on Daniel N. Robinson in a debate that focuses upon Praise and Blame, Robinson's erudite and spirited defense of moral realism. Robinson replies to each response to his work. The exchange encompasses the question of the status of ethical concepts as well as that of ultimate nature of morality. When Professor Robinson engages this estimable ensemble, we are granted an instructive tour of the ethical landscape. In explicating and defending moral realism, Professor Robinson sketches what is required if one is to hold a non-relativistic view of morals. We also are reminded, as the debate unfolds, just how difficult ethical questions are to settle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)