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Institute
- Department Psychologie (110) (remove)
We evaluated the effectiveness and acceptability of metacognitive interventions for mental disorders. We searched electronic databases and included randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials comparing metacognitive interventions with other treatments in adults with mental disorders. Primary effectiveness and acceptability outcomes were symptom severity and dropout, respectively. We performed random-effects meta-analyses. We identified Metacognitive Training (MCTrain), Metacognitive Therapy (MCTherap), and Metacognition Reflection and Insight Therapy (MERIT). We included 49 trials with 2,609 patients. In patients with schizophrenia, MCTrain was more effective than a psychological treatment (cognitive remediation, SMD = -0.39). It bordered significance when compared with standard or other psychological treatments. In a post hoc analysis, across all studies, the pooled effect was significant (SMD = -0.31). MCTrain was more effective than standard treatment in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (SMD = -0.40). MCTherap was more effective than a waitlist in patients with depression (SMD = -2.80), posttraumatic stress disorder (SMD = -2.36), and psychological treatments (cognitive-behavioural) in patients with anxiety (SMD = -0.46). In patients with depression, MCTherap was not superior to psychological treatment (cognitive-behavioural). For MERIT, the database was too small to allow solid conclusions. Acceptability of metacognitive interventions among patients was high on average. Methodological quality was mostly unclear or moderate. Metacognitive interventions are likely to be effective in alleviating symptom severity in mental disorders. Although their add-on value against existing psychological interventions awaits to be established, potential advantages are their low threshold and economy.
It is assumed that additionally to the family background and child characteris-tics, the children’s learning environments are crucial for the acquisition of early competencies. This study aimed to compare the eff ects of home and institutional learning environment on young children’s vocabulary and to test necessary con-ditions for a potential compensatory eff ect of the institutional learning environ-ment. Using longitudinal data from N = 557 preschool children (German National Educational Panel Study), we analysed to what extent family background and children’s characteristics predicted home and institutional learning environments and to what extent these learning environments predicted vocabulary in pre-school and primary school. In order to test if both learning environments pre-dict vocabulary separately, we used almost identical indicators to operationalize them. The effects were estimated within a structural equation model. The study revealed that both, home and institutional learning environment, had small and separate eff ects on children’s vocabulary. The home learning environment was more closely related to the family background, while the institutional learning en-vironment was more closely related to the children’s characteristics. This evokes new possibilities to discuss compensatory effect.
In this report, we illustrate the considerable impact of researcher degrees of freedom with respect to exclusion of participants in paradigms with a learning element. We illustrate this empirically through case examples from human fear conditioning research, in which the exclusion of ‘non-learners’ and ‘non-responders’ is common – despite a lack of consensus on how to define these groups. We illustrate the substantial heterogeneity in exclusion criteria identified in a systematic literature search and highlight the potential problems and pitfalls of different definitions through case examples based on re-analyses of existing data sets. On the basis of these studies, we propose a consensus on evidence-based rather than idiosyncratic criteria, including clear guidelines on reporting details. Taken together, we illustrate how flexibility in data collection and analysis can be avoided, which will benefit the robustness and replicability of research findings and can be expected to be applicable to other fields of research that involve a learning element.
Previous research on dispositional optimism has predominantly concentrated on the selection effect of dispositional optimism on predicting work outcomes. Recent research, however, has started to examine the socialization effect of life experiences on fostering dispositional optimism development. Extrapolating primarily from the TESSERA framework of personality development (Wrzus & Roberts, 2017) and the literature on dispositional optimism, the current study represents a first attempt to reconcile the 2 seemingly contrasting perspectives. We proposed and examined change-related reciprocal relationships between dispositional optimism and work experience variables including income, job insecurity, coworker support. and supervisor support. Latent change score modeling of data from a five-wave longitudinal study demonstrated that dispositional optimism resulted in decreases in job insecurity, and the decreased job insecurity in turn promoted further increases in dispositional optimism later on. Furthermore, income gave rise to increases ill dispositional optimism at a later point in time. but not vice versa. No significant relationships were observed between dispositional optimism and coworker and supervisor support. The findings provide a cautionary note to the majority of previous research based on cross-sectional and lagged designs that assumes causal effects of dispositional optimism on work outcomes. They also showcase the importance of examining personality change in organizational research and enrich our understanding of a more nuanced dynamic interplay between the optimistic employee and the work environment.
Narcissism is unrelated to using first-person singular pronouns. Whether narcissism is linked to other language use remains unclear. We aimed to identify linguistic markers of narcissism. We applied the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count to texts (k = 15; N = 4,941). The strongest positive correlates were using words related to sports, second-person pronouns, and swear words. The strongest negative correlates were using anxiety/fear words, tentative words, and words related to sensory/perceptual processes. Effects were small (each |r| < .10).
Academic Achievement in Math and Foreign Language: Individual Characteristics and Gender Stereotypes
(2019)
The study aims to investigate the contribution of individual characteristics and gender stereotypes of secondary school pupils in academic achievement in math and foreign language. A sample of pupils reported in 6th and 7th grades (three waves) their self-perceived ability and motivation for math and foreign language learning, math and foreign language gender stereotypes, implicit theories of intelligence; academic achievement (grades) in math in foreign language is also included in the analysis. Regression analysis and Mann Whitney U Test demonstrated that self-perceived ability in math and incremental theory of intelligence are significant predictors for academic achievement in maths. Boys are characterised by higher level of self-perceived abilities and motivation for learning math. However, academic achievement of girls in maths and foreign languages are higher as compared to boys. Pupils learning two foreign languages demonstrate higher level of self-perceived abilities for motivation and learning math and less expressed gender stereotypes about success in learning math and foreign languages. Study findings can be used for designing educational programmes for mathematics and foreign languages, professional development and finding solutions for individualized approach in school education.
Research on narcissism continues to develop at a rapid pace. Yet, researchers from different disciplines are still divided over whether narcissists are good versus bad leaders. On the one hand, narcissists' bright qualities (e.g., charisma) are associated with positive outcomes at different levels of analysis from subordinates, to peers, and the organization as a whole. On the other hand, however, narcissists' dark qualities (e.g., entitlement) are associated with a number of counterproductive work behaviors, causing organizations to falter. The present article adds to and extends the traditional good-versus-bad debate about narcissistic leadership and pursues three goals: (a) to critically review the literature on narcissistic leaders and their behaviors in the workplace, (b) to provide tangible recommendations for how to best assess, select, and develop narcissistic leaders, and (c) to highlight future directions and ongoing challenges ahead in the field of narcissistic leadership.
The effects of potentially real and hypothetical rewards on effort discounting in a student sample
(2019)
The primary aim of the present study was to investigate the functional form of discounting of monetary rewards by physical effort in potentially real and hypothetical contexts. Individuals (N = 142) completed the assessments with hypothetical and potentially real effort discounting tasks, and their hypothetical or potentially real consequences. The data obtained from the experiment reported here suggest that hypothetical conditions yield patterns of discounting that mirror those for potentially real effort tasks and outcomes. However, this finding also leaves open the possibility that the degree of discounting may change together with the repeated exposure to the consequences of decisions, or the counterbalanced order of hypothetical and potentially real tasks.
To date, few studies have focused on perceived overprotection from the perspective of people with dementia (PwD). In the present examination, the association of perceived overprotection in PwD is examined as an autonomy-restricting factor and thus negative for their mental well-being. Cross-sectional data from the prospective DYADEM study of 82 patient/partner dyads (mean age = 74.26) were used to investigate the association between overprotection, perceived stress, depression, and quality of life (QoL). The analyses show that an overprotective contact style with PwD has a significant positive association with stress and depression, and has a negative association with QoL. The results emphasize the importance of avoiding an overprotective care style and supporting patient autonomy.
A recent extension of the stressor-detachment model holds that the path running from job stressors via psychological detachment to impairment of well-being is moderated by both personal and job resources (Sonnentag & Fritz, 2015). The aim of the present study was to test this proposition by investigating the moderating role of one personal resource and one job resource (i.e., coworker social support and general self-efficacy, respectively) on the linkage between different job stressors (i.e., workload and role ambiguity), detachment, and well-being. Hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling using data from a representative survey of the German workforce (N = 3,937 employees, M-age = 46.5 years, 47.5% women). In agreement with previous findings, the results showed that psychological detachment mediated the negative effects of job stressors on well-being. Social support from coworkers buffered the mediation such that the conditional indirect effects of workload and role ambiguity on well-being via detachment were weaker at higher levels of support. General self-efficacy did not moderate the stressor-well-being linkage. These results imply that social support can be considered as a protective factor that helps employees maintain their well-being by alleviating the negative effects of job stressors on their ability to switch off mentally from work.
Objective This prospective study explored bidirectional associations between attachment quality towards mother, father, and peers and disordered eating among a large population-based sample of boys and girls in the transition from preadolescence to adolescence. Specifically, we examined whether insecure attachment relationships emerged as a risk factor for or as an outcome of disordered eating. Method A population-based sample of 904 adolescent girls and boys was assessed four times, at baseline (T1; M-age = 10.8 years) and at 2-, 4-, and 6-year follow-up (T2, T3, and T4). Prospective data were analyzed using cross-lagged panel models for each attachment figure (i.e., mother, father, peers) in a multigroup design to compare genders. Results Better attachment to the mother led to less pronounced disturbed eating in girls across the entire age range and in boys across two time periods. In girls, more pronounced disordered eating at T3 predicted worse attachment to the mother at T4 and better attachment to the father at T1 predicted less disturbed eating at T2. In boys, disordered eating at T1 predicted better attachment to the father at T2. Concerning peer attachment, better attachment at T1 predicted disordered eating at T2, in boys only. No other significant cross-lagged effects emerged. Discussion These findings highlight the differential and gender-specific contribution of attachment figures to the development of disordered eating in adolescence. Programs aimed at improving communication and trust in the relationship with parents might be promising in the prevention of disordered eating and the subsequent deterioration of parent-child attachment relationships.
Intolerance to lactose or fructose is frequently diagnosed in children with chronic abdominal pain (CAP). However, the causal relationship remains a matter of discussion. A cohort of 253 patients, aged 7-12 years, presenting with unexplained CAP received standardized diagnostics. Additional diagnostic tests were performed based on their medical history and physical and laboratory investigations. Fructose and lactose hydrogen breath tests (H2BT) as well as empiric diagnostic elimination diets were performed in 135 patients reporting abdominal pain related to the consumption of lactose or fructose to evaluate carbohydrate intolerance as a potential cause of CAP. Carbohydrate malabsorption by H2BT was found in 55 (41%) out of 135 patients. An abnormal increase in H2BT was revealed in 30% (35/118) of patients after fructose consumption and in 18% (20/114) of patients after lactose administration. Forty-six percent (25/54) reported pain relief during a diagnostic elimination diet. In total, 17 patients had lactose malabsorption, 29 fructose malabsorption, and nine combined carbohydrate malabsorption. Carbohydrate intolerance as a cause of CAP was diagnosed at follow-up in only 18% (10/55) of patients with malabsorption after the elimination of the respective carbohydrate. Thus, carbohydrate malabsorption appears to be an incidental finding in children with functional abdominal pain disorders, rather than its cause. Therefore, testing of carbohydrate intolerance should only be considered in children with a strong clinical suspicion and with the goal to prevent long-term unnecessary dietary restrictions in children suffering from CAP.
Background: Physicians and therapists are also consulted to give judgments on working ability. Ability to work cannot simply be derived from the patient’s symptom status but from the illness-related capacity impairments in relation to the work demands. A structured assessment of capacity impairments has been evaluated and applied internationally: the Mini-ICF-APP Social Functioning Scale. It is currently unclear whether a free-text clinical report (i.e., usual clinical practice: clinical exploration according to clinical standards, but without a standardized documentation form, instead a text is written) and a structured capacity assessment correspond to the overall work ability judgment, i.e., the decision whether a patient is “fit for work” or “unfit for work.” Objectives: This investigation assessed, for the first time, whether usual clinical judgment and the additional structured capacity rating support the work ability decision. Methods: A total of 100 medical reports from patients in a psychotherapy hospital were excerpted for psychopathological symptoms and capacity disorders using a checklist. Additionally, a structured assessment of capacity disorders was documented on the Mini-ICF-APP rating for all patients. Results: In the free-text clinical medical report, endurance, flexibility, and contacts to others were the things mainly reported as impaired. This was similar to the structured Mini-ICF-APP rating. However, other capacity impairments were also reported in the Mini-ICF-APP, i.e., adherence to rules and regulations, planning and structuring, assertiveness, and group integration. When the free-text clinical report and the structured Mini-ICF-APP rating were compared, there was a higher rate of stated impairments covering all capacity dimensions in the Mini-ICF-APP rating. Conclusions: The free-text report in the medical report shows the differences between patients who are fit for work and those who are not, and thus speak for the validity of work ability decisions. However, optimization is possible in terms of depth and differentiation of capacity impairment description by adhering to the standard set by the Mini-ICF-APP.
The present article reports four experiments that investigated the effects of task-unrelated thoughts (TUTs) on forgetting in non-verbal working memory. Participants had to remember three non-verbal stimuli over unfilled retention intervals (RIs) and then judge whether or not a subsequently presented probe stimulus matched one of the to-be-remembered stimuli. Participants additionally responded to randomly appearing probes that measured different aspects of their TUT engagement during the RI of the preceding trial. Forgetting over unfilled RIs was observed in three of four experiments and reliably associated with the proportion of time spent on TUTs. In contrast, the visual and auditory nature of the TUTs and the number of different TUTs did not reliably predict forgetting. The results support the view that TUTs block attention-based processes that are needed for restoring decaying memory representations rather than an alternative account in terms of interference caused by the content of the TUTs.
This research was designed to adapt and investigate the psychometric properties of the Short Dark Triad measure (Jones and Paulhus Assessment, 21(1), 28-41, 2014) in a German sample within four studies (total N=1463); the measure evaluates three personality dimensions: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. The structure of the instrument was analysed by Confirmatory Factor Analyses procedure. It indicated that the three-factor structure had the best fit to the data. Next, the Short Dark Triad measure was evaluated in terms of construct, convergent and discriminant validity, internal consistency ( .72), and test-retest reliability during a 4-week period ( .73). Concurrent validity of the SD3 was supported by relating its subscales to measures of the Big Five concept, aggression, and self-esteem. We concluded that the Short Dark Triad instrument presented high cross-language replicability. The use of this short inventory in the investigation of the Dark Triad personality model in the German language context is suggested.
Self-regulation is a dispositional skill of regulating attention and emotion to attain a certain goal. Poor self-regulation is associated with a higher body mass index (BMI) and is a risk factor for the development of obesity. Intuitive eating, an adaptive eating style characterized by eating in response to internal cues of hunger and satiety, is associated with a lower BMI. Using cross-sectional data, this study examined whether intuitive eating mediates the relationship between self-regulation and BMI in a community sample of adults. Participants (N = 530) completed the Self-Regulation Scale, the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 with its facets Unconditional Permission to Eat (UPE), Eating for Physical Rather Than Emotional Reasons (EPR), Reliance on Hunger and Satiety Cues (RHSC) and Body-Food Choice Congruence (B-FCC). They also self-reported their height and weight. Using percentile bootstrap resampling procedures, the simple mediation analysis showed an indirect relationship between self-regulation and BMI through intuitive eating. The multiple mediation analysis revealed that EPR and B-FCC, but not UPE and RHSC, mediated the relationship between self-regulation and BMI. Intuitive eating seems to play an important intermediating role in the relationship between self-regulation and BMI. Regarding weight management interventions, it could be useful to promote intuitive eating, especially for individuals with low self-regulation. Prospective studies are needed to explore the causal and temporal relationships among self-regulation, intuitive eating and BMI.
Double Jeopardy
(2019)
The present study investigates whether secondary traumatization (i.e., family history of Holocaust survival and secondary exposure to captivity) is implicated in subjective age. Women exposed to different levels of secondary traumatization (N = 177) were assessed. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed that a Holocaust background and husband's captivity had a marginally significant positive effect on age appearance. Women with a Holocaust background whose husbands were held captive reported older interest age, indicating double jeopardy for older subjective age when two sources of secondary traumatization are present. A similar trend existed for behavior age. Possible explanations for these complex findings of risk and resilience are discussed.
Suboptimal post-operative improvements in functional capacity are often observed after minimally invasive aortic valve replacement (mini-AVR). It remains to be studied how AVR affects the cardiopulmonary and skeletal muscle function during exercise to explain these clinical observations and to provide a basis for improved/tailored post-operative rehabilitation. Twenty two patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) (aortic valve area (AVA) < 1.0 cm(2)) were preoperatively compared to 22 healthy controls during submaximal constant-workload endurance-type exercise for oxygen uptake (V-O2), carbon dioxide output (V-CO2), respiratory gas exchange ratio, expiratory volume (V-E), ventilatory equivalents for O-2 (V-E/V-O2) and CO2 (V-E/V-CO2), respiratory rate (RR), tidal volume (V-t), heart rate (HR), oxygen pulse (V-O2/HR), blood lactate, Borg ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and exercise-onset V-O2 kinetics. These exercise tests were repeated at 5 and 21 days after AVR surgery (n = 14), along with echocardiographic examinations. Respiratory exchange ratio and ventilatory equivalents (V-E/V-O2 and V-E/V-CO2) were significantly elevated, V-O2 and V-O2/HR were significantly lowered, and exercise-onset V-O2 kinetics were significantly slower in AS patients vs. healthy controls (P < 0.05). Although the AVA was restored by mini-AVR in AS patients, V-E/V-O2 and V-E/V-CO2 further worsened significantly within 5 days after surgery, accompanied by elevations in Borg RPE, V-E and RR, and lowered V-t. At 21 days after mini-AVR, exercise-onset V-O2 kinetics further slowed significantly (P < 0.05). A decline in pulmonary function was observed early aftermini-AVRsurgery, which was followed by a decline in skeletal muscle function in the subsequent weeks of recovery. Therefore, a tailored rehabilitation programmeshould include training modalities for the respiratory and peripheral muscular system.
Recent studies using the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm reported a reversed preview benefit- shorter fixations on a target word when an unrelated preview was easier to process than the fixated target (Schotter & Leinenger, 2016). This is explained viaforeedfixatiotzs-short fixations on words that would ideally be skipped (because lexical processing has progressed enough) but could not be because saccade planning reached a point of no return. This contrasts with accounts of preview effects via trans-saccadic integration-shorter fixations on a target word when the preview is more similar to it (see Cutter. Drieghe, & Liversedge, 2015). In addition, if the previewed word-not the fixated target-determines subsequent eye movements, is it also this word that enters the linguistic processing stream? We tested these accounts by having 24 subjects read 150 sentences in the boundary paradigm in which both the preview and target were initially plausible but later one, both, or neither became implausible, providing an opportunity to probe which one was linguistically encoded. In an intervening buffer region, both words were plausible, providing an opportunity to investigate trans-saccadic integration. The frequency of the previewed word affected progressive saccades (i.e.. forced fixations) as well as when transsaccadic integration failure increased regressions, but, only the implausibility of the target word affected semantic encoding. These data support a hybrid account of saccadic control (Reingold, Reichle. Glaholt, & Sheridan, 2012) driven by incomplete (often parafoveal) word recognition, which occurs prior to complete (often foveal) word recognition.
Recent research on proactive work behaviours (PWBs) pointed out that these behaviours can have negative consequences for the proactive individual. We add to this perspective by showing that PWBs may be a source of strain at work and result in elevated time pressure. Challenging the view of time pressure as a challenge stressor, we hypothesize that over the course of work weeks, time pressure will result in less (rather than more) PWB. We investigate these reciprocal effects as within-person, week-level fluctuations of time pressure and PWB based on experience sampling data (N = 52 participants, k = 274 observations). Over the course of three consecutive work weeks, results show a positive lagged effect of PWB in the first week on experiencing time pressure in the second week; in turn, time pressure in the second week had a negative lagged effect on PWB in the third week. Results further suggest that PWB is lowest in work weeks of low time pressure when following a week of high time pressure, indicating a conservation of resources interpretation of the results.
Editorial
(2019)
Prenatal stress (PS) has been related to altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity later in life. So far, studies in children assessing HPA axis functioning have focused on salivary cortisol, reflecting daytime activity. The present work is part of a prospective study and aims to extend knowledge about the association between PS and HPA axis regulation in children. To do so, we investigated cortisol, cortisone, and the ratio cortisone/(cortisone + cortisol) in the first morning urine of 45-month-old children in relation to several measures of maternal stress during pregnancy. Urinary cortisol and cortisone were measured by online turbulent flow chromatography coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. PS was defined as: perceived stress for aim 1 (Perceived Stress Scale; n = 280); presence of self-reported (n = 371) and expert-rated psychopathology for aim 2 (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview; n = 281); continuous measures of anxiety and depression for exploratory aim 3 (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; n = 280). The ratio cortisone/(cortisone + cortisol) as a global marker for the balance between the enzymes metabolizing cortisol to cortisone and vice versa (11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases type 1 and 2; 11 beta-HSD1 and 2) was not associated with any measure of maternal PS (aims 1-3). The present study provides insight into possible programming effects of PS on nocturnal HPA axis activity and a proxy of 11 beta-HSD in a large sample. The results suggest that the nocturnal rate of cortisol production is lower in children exposed to PS, but do not support the hypothesis of divergent 11 beta-HSD activity.
The current study tests the hypothesis that shy children’s reduced word learning is partly due to an effect of shyness on attention during object labeling. A sample of 20- and 26-month-old children (N = 32) took part in a looking-while-listening task in which they saw sets of familiar and novel objects while hearing familiar or novel labels. Overall, children increased attention to familiar objects when hearing their labels, and they divided their attention equally between the target and competitors when hearing novel labels. Critically, shyness reduced attention to the target object regardless of whether the heard label was novel or familiar. When children’s retention of the novel word–object mappings was tested after a delay, it was found that children who showed increased attention to novel objects during labeling showed better retention. Taken together, these findings suggest that shyer children perform less well than their less shy peers on measures of word learning because their attention to the target object is dampened. Thus, this work presents evidence that shyness modulates the low-level processes of visual attention that unfold during word learning.
From early on in life, children are able to use information from their environment to form predictions about events. For instance, they can use statistical information about a population to predict the sample drawn from that population and infer an agent’s preferences from systematic violations of random sampling. We investigated whether and how young children infer an agent’s sampling biases. Moreover, we examined whether pupil data of toddlers follow the predictions of a computational model based on the causal Bayesian network formalization of predictive processing. We formalized three hypotheses about how different explanatory variables (i.e., prior probabilities, current observations, and agent characteristics) are used to predict others’ actions. We measured pupillary responses as a behavioral marker of ‘prediction errors’ (i.e., the perceived mismatch between what one’s model of an agent predicts and what the agent actually does). Pupillary responses of 24-month-olds, but not 18-month-olds, showed that young children integrated information about current observations, priors and agents to make predictions about agents and their actions. These findings shed light on the mechanisms behind toddlers’ inferences about agent-caused events. To our knowledge, this is the first study in which young children's pupillary responses are used as markers of prediction errors, which were qualitatively compared to the predictions by a computational model based on the causal Bayesian network formalization of predictive processing.
Working memory (WM), which underlies the temporary storage and manipulation of information, is critical for multiple aspects of cognition and everyday life. Nevertheless, research examining WM specifically in older adults remains limited, despite the global rapid increase in human life expectancy. We examined WM in a large sample (N=754) of healthy older adults (aged 58-89) in a non-Western population (Chinese speakers) in Taiwan, on a digit n-back task. We tested not only the influence of age itself and of load (1-back vs. 2-back) but also the effects of both sex and education, which have been shown to modulate WM abilities. Mixed-effects regression revealed that, within older adulthood, age negatively impacted WM abilities (with linear, not nonlinear, effects), as did load (worse performance at 2-back). In contrast, education level was positively associated with WM. Moreover, both age and education interacted with sex. With increasing age, males showed a steeper WM decline than females; with increasing education, females showed greater WM gains than males. Together with other findings, the evidence suggests that age, sex, and education all impact WM in older adults, but interact in particular ways. The results have both basic research and translational implications and are consistent with particular benefits from increased education for women.
Unfinished work tasks have been identified as a significant job-related stressor in recent occupational stress research. Extending this research, we examine how and when not finishing one’s tasks by the end of the work week affects work-related rumination at the weekend. Drawing on control theory, we examined competence need satisfaction as a mediating mechanism that links unfinished tasks at the end of the work week to work-related rumination at the weekend. Furthermore, we scrutinized whether proactive work behavior within the work week may neutralize the detrimental effects of unfinished tasks on competence need satisfaction and rumination. Using diary methodology, we collected weekly observations from 58 employees at the beginning and at the end of the work week over a period of 12 consecutive weeks, yielding 377 matched observations. Multilevel modeling analyses provided evidence for the assumed indirect effect at the intraindividual level. Higher levels of unfinished tasks were associated with lower levels of competence need satisfaction during the weekend. Competence need satisfaction, in turn, was negatively related to work-related rumination. Proactive work behavior attenuated the detrimental effects of unfinished tasks on competence need satisfaction and rumination at the weekend. These results imply that proactive work behavior facilitates switching off mentally during the weekend as it may restore competence need satisfaction in the face of unfinished tasks.
A resources perspective on when and how proactive work behaviour leads to employee withdrawal
(2019)
Previous organizational behaviour research has mainly focused on the benefits of proactivity while disregarding its possible drawbacks. The present study examines the ways in which proactive behaviour may foster counterproductive behaviour through increased emotional and cognitive strain. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we propose that proactive behaviour is a resource-consuming activity that causes irritability and work-related rumination, which, in turn, leads to instrumentally driven employee withdrawal. Further, we hypothesize that external motivation towards proactivity amplifies its strain-eliciting effects. We conducted a longitudinal three-wave questionnaire study (N = 231) and tested hypotheses using an autoregressive, time-lagged model with latent variables. Results showed that when external motivation for proactivity was high, proactivity led to increased irritability and rumination; irritability was, in turn, related to higher levels of withdrawal. The moderated mediation analysis revealed that when external motivation towards proactive behaviour was high, proactive behaviour had an indirect effect on withdrawal behaviour via irritability. The direct effect of proactivity on work-related rumination was in the expected direction, but failed to reach conventional levels of significance (beta = .09, p = .08). Our results indicate that proactivity is not without costs, most clearly if motivated by external reasons.
Despite the fact that grade retention is now seen as controversial in many quarters, it remains common practice in numerous countries. Previous research on the effects of grade retention on student development has, however, generated ambiguous results, particularly in terms of motivational outcomes. This ambiguity has been attributed in part to a lack of high-quality studies including a longitudinal design, a suitable comparison group, and adequate statistical control of preretention differences. Based on longitudinal data of N = 3,288 German students over 3 years of secondary school, we examined differences in their academic self-concept, scholarly interests, learning motivation, and achievement motivation between those being retained in the 6th grade (n = 61) and those of the same age being promoted annually. To account for confounding variables, we applied full propensity score matching on baseline measures of the dependent variables, as well as various other covariates that have been found to be associated with the risk of retention (e.g., cognitive ability, academic performance, and family background variables). Results reveal a steep decline in students’ academic self-concept, interests, and learning motivation during the last months spent in the original class, just before retention. For those measures that were available, negative effects were still partly significant after 1 year, but had diminished 2 years after grade retention. Contrary to predictions suggested by the big-fish-little-pond effect, we found no positive effects of retention on students’ academic self-concept.
We aimed at unveiling the role of executive functions (EFs) and language-related skills in spelling for mono- versus multilingual primary school children. We focused on EF and language-related skills, in particular lexicon size and phonological awareness (PA), because these factors were found to predict spelling in studies predominantly conducted with monolinguals, and because multilingualism can modulate these factors. There is evidence for (a) a bilingual advantage in EF due to constant high cognitive demands through language control, (b) a smaller mental lexicon in German and (c) possibly better PA. Multilinguals in Germany show on average poorer German language proficiency, what can influence performance on language-based tasks negatively. Thus, we included two spelling tasks to tease apart spelling based on lexical knowledge (i.e., word spelling) from spelling based on non-lexical strategies (i.e., non-word spelling). Our sample consisted of heterogeneous third graders from Germany: 69 monolinguals (age: M = 108 months) and 57 multilinguals (age: M = 111 months). On less language-dependent tasks (e.g., non-word spelling, PA, intelligence, short-term memory (STM) and three EF tasks testing switching, inhibition, and working memory) performance of both groups did not differ significantly. However, multilinguals performed significantly more poorly on tasks measuring German lexicon size and word spelling than monolinguals. Regression analyses revealed that for multilinguals, inhibition was related to spelling, whereas switching was the only EF component to influence word spelling in monolinguals and non-word spelling performance in both groups. By adding lexicon size and other language-related factors to the regression models, the influence of switching was reduced to insignificant effects, but inhibition remained significant for multilinguals. Language-related skills best predicted spelling and both language groups shared those variables: PA for word spelling, and STM for non-word spelling. Additionally, multilinguals’ word spelling performance was also predicted by their German lexicon size, and non-word spelling performance by PA. This study offers an in-depth look at spelling acquisition at a certain point of literacy development. Mono- and multilinguals have the predominant factors for spelling in common, but probably due to superior language knowledge, monolinguals were already able to make use of EF during spelling. For multilinguals, German lexicon size was more important for spelling than EF. For multilinguals’ spelling these functions might come into play only at a later stage.
Common models propose that the internalization of societal beauty ideals influences disordered eating behaviors and muscularity-oriented behaviors via body image concerns. However, previous studies addressing these pathways have been mainly cross-sectional and primarily included female samples. We investigated these pathways prospectively in male and female adolescents and young adults, examining two pathways: a ‘weight/shape pathway,’ linking thin-ideal internalization, weight/shape concern, and restrained eating, and a ‘muscularity pathway,’ linking athletic-ideal internalization, muscularity concern, and muscularity-oriented behavior. Across three time points, 973 participants from the German general population were assessed. Although the hypothesized pathways could not be supported in their complete temporal sequence, several hypothesized pathways occurred across two time points. Among others, weight/shape concern predicted restrained eating and the athletic ideal played a prominent role in the prediction of muscularity-oriented behavior in both genders.
Communal narcissism can be defined as grandiose self-views in the communal domain. Within the literature, two forms of communal narcissism, normal and pathological, can be distinguished. However, no study to date has investigated their convergence and divergence. Using a large community sample (N = 781), the current study aimed to fill this gap through examination of 1) the distinctiveness of normal and pathological communal narcissism; 2) their relationship to broad personality characteristics; and 3) values. Results suggest that 1) normal and pathological communal narcissism are structurally distinct constructs; 2) the difference in relation to personality characteristics is limited to neuroticism; and 3) they share the values of self-enhancement and self transcendence.
Updating and reasoning
(2019)
Two issues should be addressed to refine and extend the distinction between temporal updating and reasoning advocated by Hoerl & McCormack. First, do the mental representations constructed during updating differ from those used for reasoning? Second, are updating and reasoning the only two processes relevant to temporal thinking? If not, is a dual-systems framework sensible? We address both issues below.
This commentary relates Hoerl & McCormack's dual systems perspective to models of cognitive development emphasizing representational redescription and the role of culturally constructed tools, including language, in providing flexible formats for thinking. We describe developmental processes that enable children to construct a mental time line, situate themselves in time, and overcome the primacy of the here and now.
In this chapter, we explore the aforementioned paradigm shifts and how they offer an ave nue for new research. We first elucidate what precisely “ mental imagery,” the parent construct of motor imagery, is and explain the research milestones that have elucidated our understanding of this complex topic. The construct of motor imagery has become a thriving research topic thanks to the development of the action simulation model by Marc Jeannerod, which provided a framework in which imagery and movement are viewed as part of an action continuum ( Jeannerod 1994, 2006).
It is now consensus that engaging in innovative work behaviors is not restricted to traditional innovation jobs (e.g., research and development), but that they can be performed on a discretionary basis in most of today’s jobs. To date, our knowledge on the role of workplace stressors for discretionary innovative behavior, in particular for innovation implementation, is limited. We draw on a cybernetic view as well as on a transactional, coping-based perspective with stress to propose differential effects of stressors on innovation implementation. We propose that work demands have a positive effect on innovation implementation, whereas role-based stressors (i.e., role conflict, role ambiguity, and professional compromise) have a negative effect. We conducted a time-lagged, survey-based study in the health care sector (Study 1, United Kingdom: N = 235 nurses). Innovation implementation was measured 2 years after the assessment of the stressors. Supporting our hypotheses, work demands were positively related to subsequent innovation implementation, whereas role ambiguity and professional compromise were negatively related to subsequent innovation implementation. We also tested organizational commitment as a mediator, but there was only partial support for the mediation. To test the generalizability of the findings, we replicated the study (Study 2, Germany: employees from various professions, N = 138, time lag 2 weeks). Similar results to that in Study 1 were obtained. There was no support for strain as a mediator. Our results suggest differential effects of work demands and role stressors on innovation implementation, for which the underlying mechanism still needs to be uncovered.
Whereas many cognitive tasks show pronounced aging effects, even in healthy older adults, other tasks seem more resilient to aging. A small number of recent studies suggests that number comparison is possibly one of the abilities that remain unaltered across the life span. We investigated the ability to compare single-digit numbers in young (19-39 years; n = 39) and healthy older (65-79 years; n = 39) adults in considerable detail, analyzing accuracy as well as mean and variance of their response time, together with several other well-established hallmarks of numerical comparison. Using a recent comprehensive process model that parsimoniously accounts quantitatively for many aspects of number comparison (Reike & Schwarz, 2016), we address two fundamental problems in the comparison of older to young adults in numerical comparison tasks: (a) to adequately correct speed measures for different levels of accuracy (older participants were significantly more accurate than young participants), and (b) to distinguish between general sensory and motor slowing on the one hand, as opposed to a specific age-related decline in the efficiency to retrieve and compare numerical magnitude representations. Our results represent strong evidence that healthy older adults compare magnitudes as efficiently as young adults, when the measure of efficiency is uncontaminated by strategic speed-accuracy trade-offs and by sensory and motor stages that are not related to numerical comparison per se. At the same time, older adults aim at a significantly higher accuracy level (risk aversion), which necessarily prolongs processing time, and they also show the well-documented general decline in sensory and/or motor functions.
Stable preview difficulty effects in reading with an improved variant of the boundary paradigm
(2019)
Using gaze-contingent display changes in the boundary paradigm during sentence reading, it has recently been shown that parafoveal word-processing difficulties affect fixations on words to the right of the boundary. Current interpretations of this post-boundary preview difficulty effect range from delayed parafoveal-on-foveal effects in parallel word-processing models to forced fixations in serial word-processing models. However, these findings are based on an experimental design that, while allowing to isolate preview difficulty effects, might have established a bias with respect to asymmetries in parafoveal preview benefit for high-frequent and low-frequent target words. Here, we present a revision of this paradigm varying the preview’s lexical frequency and keeping the target word constant. We found substantial effects of the preview difficulty in fixation durations after the boundary confirming that preview processing affects the oculomotor decisions not only via trans-saccadic integration of preview and target word information. An additional time-course analysis showed that the preview difficulty effect was significant across the full fixation duration distribution on the target word without any evidence on the pretarget word before the boundary. We discuss implications of the accumulating evidence of post-boundary preview difficulty effects for models of eye movement control during reading.
A growing body of research shows that the human brain acts differently when performing a task together with another person than when performing the same task alone. In this study, we investigated the influence of a co-actor on numerical cognition using a joint random number generation (RNG) task. We found that participants generated relatively smaller numbers when they were located to the left (vs. right) of a co-actor (Experiment 1), as if the two individuals shared a mental number line and predominantly selected numbers corresponding to their relative body position. Moreover, the mere presence of another person on the left or right side or the processing of numbers from loudspeaker on the left or right side had no influence on the magnitude of generated numbers (Experiment 2), suggesting that a bias in RNG only emerged during interpersonal interactions. Interestingly, the effect of relative body position on RNG was driven by participants with high trait empathic concern towards others, pointing towards a mediating role of feelings of sympathy for joint compatibility effects. Finally, the spatial bias emerged only after the co-actors swapped their spatial position, suggesting that joint spatial representations are constructed only after the spatial reference frame became salient. In contrast to previous studies, our findings cannot be explained by action co-representation because the consecutive production of numbers does not involve conflict at the motor response level. Our results therefore suggest that spatial reference coding, rather than motor mirroring, can determine joint compatibility effects. Our results demonstrate how physical properties of interpersonal situations, such as the relative body position, shape seemingly abstract cognition.
What is the time course of activation of phonological information in logographic writing systems like Chinese, in which meaning is prioritized over sound? We used a manipulation of phonological regularity to examine foveal and parafoveal phonological processing of Chinese phonograms at lexical and sublexical levels during Chinese sentence reading in 2 eye-tracking experiments. In Experiment 1, using an error disruption task during silent reading, we observed foveal lexical phonological activation in second-pass reading. In Experiment 2, using the boundary paradigm, both parafoveal lexical and sublexical phonological preview benefits were found in first-fixation duration in oral reading, whereas only lexical phonological benefits were found in gaze duration during silent reading. Thus, phonological information had earlier and more pronounced parafoveal effects in oral reading, and these extended to sublexical processing. These results are compatible with the view that oral reading prioritizes parafoveal phonological processing in Chinese.
Following the classical work of Moyer and Landauer (1967), experimental studies investigating the way in which humans process and compare symbolic numerical information regularly used one of two experimental designs. In selection tasks, two numbers are presented, and the task of the participant is to select (for example) the larger one. In classification tasks, a single number is presented, and the participant decides if it is smaller or larger than a predefined standard. Many findings obtained with these paradigms fit in well with the notion of a mental analog representation, or an Approximate Number System (ANS; e.g., Piazza 2010). The ANS is often conceptualized metaphorically as a mental number line, and data from both paradigms are well accounted for by diffusion models based on the stochastic accumulation of noisy partial numerical information over time. The present study investigated a categorization paradigm in which participants decided if a number presented falls into a numerically defined central category. We show that number categorization yields a highly regular, yet considerably more complex pattern of decision times and error rates as compared to the simple monotone relations obtained in traditional selection and classification tasks. We also show that (and how) standard diffusion models of number comparison can be adapted so as to account for mean and standard deviations of all RTs and for error rates in considerable quantitative detail. We conclude that just as traditional number comparison, the more complex process of categorizing numbers conforms well with basic notions of the ANS.
Objective
There is a very limited amount of research on the relationship between therapist and patient in‐session behavior and treatment outcome in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for panic disorder with agoraphobia (PD/AG). Additionally, the findings tend to be inconclusive. This study investigates the association between therapist competence, adherence, patient interpersonal behavior, and therapeutic alliance and outcome in a low‐control CBT setting by using comprehensive measures.
Methods
Twenty‐six patients with PD/AG received 12 sessions of exposure‐based CBT. With regard to the outcome, treatments were classified either as problematic or nonproblematic by means of distinct criteria. Two raters evaluated the in‐session behavior.
Results
Patient interpersonal behavior was significantly associated with outcome at follow‐up (r = 0.49). At posttreatment, the correlation did not reach significance ( r = 0.34). Competence, adherence, and alliance were not outcome associated.
Conclusion
The findings emphasize the need for therapists to pay particular attention to patients’ interpersonal behavior during treatment.
BackgroundAlthough the efficacy of Internet- and mobile-based interventions (IMIs) for anxiety is established, little is known about the intervention components responsible for therapeutic change. We conducted the first comprehensive meta-analytic review of intervention components of IMIs for adult anxiety disorders. MethodsRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing IMIs for anxiety disorders to active online control groups, or IMIs to dismantled variations of the same intervention ( specific components) were identified by a systematic literature search in six databases. Outcomes were validated observer-rated or self-report measures for anxiety symptom severity and treatment adherence (number of completed modules and completer rate). This meta-analytic review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017068268). ResultsWe extracted the data of 34 RCTs (with 3,724 participants) and rated the risk of bias independently by two reviewers. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed on 19 comparisons of intervention components (i.a., different psychotherapeutic orientations, disorder-specific vs. transdiagnostic approaches, guidance factors). IMIs had a large effect when compared to active online controls on symptom severity (standardized mean difference [SMD] of -1.67 [95% CI: -2.93, -0.42]; P=0.009). Thereby, guided IMIs were superior to unguided interventions on symptom severity (SMD of -0.39 [95% CI: -0.59, -0.18]; P=0.0002) and adherence (SMD of 0.38 [95% CI: 0.10, 0.66]; P=0.007). ConclusionsOverall, the results of this meta-analysis lend further support to the efficacy of IMIs for anxiety, pointing to their potential to augment service supplies. Still, future research is needed to determine which ingredients are essential, as this meta-analytic review found no evidence for incremental effects of several single intervention components apart from guidance.
Although the observation and assessment of psychotherapeutic competences are central to training, supervision, patient care, quality control, and life-long practice, structured instruments are used only occasionally. In the current study, an observation-based tool for the Assessment of Core CBT Skills (ACCS) was translated into German and adapted, and its psychometric properties were pilot evaluated. Competence of therapists-in-training was assessed in a random sample of n = 30 videos on cognitive behavioural therapy including patients diagnosed with hypochondriasis. Two of three raters independently assessed the competences demonstrated in the entire, active treatment sessions (n = 60). In our sample, internal consistency was excellent, and interrater reliability was good. Convergent validity (Cognitive Therapy Scale) and discriminant validity (Helping Alliance Questionnaire) were within the expected ranges. The ACCS total score did not significantly predict the reduction of symptoms of hypochondriasis, and a one-factorial structure of the instrument was found. By providing multiple opportunities for feedback, self-reflection, and supervision, the ACCS may complement current tools for the assessment of psychotherapeutic competences and importantly support competence-based training and supervision.