Europe’s Journal of Psychology (PsychOpen)
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The study of personality in organizations: Interview with Gian Vittorio Caprara
No full textIn this interview Professor Gian Vittorio Caprara shares with us some of his thoughts about personality psychology and organizational psychology, emerging out of a long experience of working in both fields. Many important questions have been raised in these areas where there is a long-lasting concern with how personality should be understood and 'measured'. Professor Caprara addresses this and other pressing issues for theorists and practitioners alike in the present interview
30th International Congress of Psychology – ICP 2012
No full text22-27 July 2012 Cape Town, South Afric
In search for objective measures of hyperactivity, impulsivity and inattention in adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder using the Quantified Behavior Test Plus
No full textClinical assessment tools for adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) such as rating scales, interviews and behavior observations are often based on subjective judgments which enhance the risk of overlooking or misinterpreting symptoms. In search for objective measures of adult ADHD, the present study investigated levels of sensitivity and specificity for the Quantified Behavior Test Plus, QbTest-Plus, in adult patients (N = 19) awaiting clinical assessment for ADHD. QbTest-Plus report objective measures of ADHD core symptoms using an infrared motion tracking system and a continuous performance test. The measures were collected and evaluated previous to clinical assessment and compared regarding the diagnosis of ADHD. Sensitivity for detecting ADHD with QbTest-Plus was 83 % and specificity was 57 %. The results, possibly affected by confounding factors, suggest further examination of calibrated and objective measure for the QbTest-Plus with regard to ADHD in adults
'I think a fair girl would have better marriage prospects than a dark one': British Indian adults´ perceptions of physical appearance ideals
No full textThe aim of the present study was to investigate British Indian men and women’s perceptions of Indian physical appearance ideals and related attributes. Eight semi-structured interviews with men and women were conducted, and the data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four themes emerged from the data: 1) Cultural similarities and differences in physical appearance, 2) Gender differences in pressure experienced, 3) Improving physical appearance for marriage, and 4) Factors influencing appearance pressures. The findings indicated that participants perceived few cultural similarities in the Indian and Western standards for physical appearance. Internalisation of Indian body ideals (including fair skin and slimness) were linked to finding a suitable partner for marriage for women, and this pressure was largely perceived to be influenced by maternal encouragement and the media. The results indicate that gender is influential in determining the physical, psychological and social implications of attempting to conform to the cultural physical appearance ideals and related attributes
Evidence-based ethical problem solving to guide practise in psychology research
No full textoai:journals.psychopen.eu:article/101Looking back to the World War II activities, undertaken in the name of research, there is little room for doubt as to why we have Ethics Committees (ECs; or Institutional Review Boards, IRBs, as they are referred to in the U.S.) and various ethical codes of conduct. On one hand, no contemporary scientist would deny the need for a peer review process to ensure ethical treatment and protection of human research subjects, especially in psychology research. On the other hand, anecdotal evidence of ECs becoming an impediment to scientists and their research is mounting up (Ceci & Bruck, 2009; Fiske, 2009; Sieber, 2009; Tully, Ninis, Booy, & Viner, 2000); albeit empirical data on the issue is lacking (Ceci & Bruck, 2009; Fiske, 2009). There appears, however, to be a general sense in the academic world that this impediment sometimes arises as a result of EC members' lack of awareness or understanding of the particular research topic under review and its associated literature and methodologies, including what may constitute contemporary best practise in the area. This may then give rise to competing ethical concerns, between EC members and their department colleagues. Members of psychology ECs are not, and could not possibly be, experts on all psychological topics and methodologies
An investigation of the effective factors on students´ motivational beliefs: The case of Iranian students
No full textThis study explored the effective factors on students’ motivational beliefs (familial, individual, academic and environmental) among Iranian students. The data are derived from a survey using a standard questionnaire with adequate validity and reliability. The participants of the study were selected from high school students in Tehran (total = 518; female = 293 (56.6%) and male = 225 (43.4%)) through random sampling and within the age group of 15-18 in May 2010. The data was analyzed with the help of Independent Sample Tests, Pearson Correlations and Multiple Regressions. The results revealed that there is a significant relationship between the above mentioned factors and students' motivational beliefs. The effective factors, in the order of their importance are: environmental factors, individual factors and academic factors. It was observed that familial factors do not have a significant effect on students' motivational beliefs; however this result was different between male and female participants
Living confidently with HIV: A Self-Help Book for People Living with HIV
No full text2nd editionAuthored by Liz Shaw, Erasmo Tacconelli, Robert Watson, and Claudia HerbertBlue Stallion Publications, 2009Living confidently with HIV: A Self-Help Book for People Living with HIV has been written by a team of clinical psychologists who have extensive experience in working with patients who have been diagnosed with and are coming to terms with their diagnosis of being HIV positive. Consultant Clinical psychologist Liz Shaw focuses on improving the lives of people with HIV and provides them with positive ways of coping and this certainly resonates throughout the entire book. Erasmo Tacconelli, a Chartered Clinical Psychologist, ensures that his patients feel empowered in coping with stigma and discrimination; this too is resonated throughout the book. Robert Watson is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist whose clinical techniques stem from cognitive behavioural therapy, systemic therapy and cognitive-analytic therapy. His focus is very similar to that of Erasmo but also ensures those who are affected have a good quality of life. Finally, Dr Claudia Herbert, a Chartered Consultant Clinical Psychologist, specialises in trauma psychology. Claudia Herbert ensures that she can help people adjust to their HIV diagnosis and live their lives well, confidently and enriched despite or possibly because of their chronic condition
Improvement of working memory performance by training is not transferable
No full textWorking memory (WM) usually refers to a cognitive system devoted to the simultaneous maintenance and processing of information which plays a crucial role in high-level cognition. Recently, Barrouillet and collaborators showed the importance of controlling the time course of cognitive activities to assess WM capacities. Therefore, they developed a new paradigm to systematically explore the functioning of WM that involved simple but time-constrained activities as processing component. In comparison with traditional tasks, these computer-paced span tasks provide a more accurate evaluation of WM capacities and turned out to be the most predictive of complex cognitive achievements. The present study was the first attempt to evaluate the improvement of working memory resulting from training by repetition of this type of span tasks. Participants were trained during twelve sessions with a span task in which the duration of the concurrent activity was varied to ease the implementation of an attentional refreshing mechanism. The transfer effects were evaluated with a similar span task with a different type of material to be memorized. Results showed a significant effect of training, but no transfer effect: trained participants did not outperform a control group, and their performance in the second task did not differ from the first task. Thus, we suggested that the improvement in recall performance does not rely on an increased efficiency of a domain-general process (i.e., refreshing), but on the discovery and use of more efficient encoding strategies
Psychotherapy of ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel – A qualitative assessment of conflicts and reconciliations
No full textThe ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Israel is highly homogeneous and is virtually isolated from the surrounding secular society. Nevertheless, in recent years some openness to psychotherapy has emerged. In this paper the first author, herself a member of the ultra-orthodox community and a psychotherapist, presents a series of analyses and discussions of the major issues raised by therapy amongst members of this community. This study had two main objectives: a) a qualitative assessment of possible conflicts between the subjects strong religious convictions and the essence of psychotherapy; some conflicts were indeed detected which were followed by individual modes of reconciliation, b) an attempt to discover whether the psychotherapy had an impact on the level of observance of the Jewish commandments and customs; some indications for a lessening of such observance were found. This study, being the first of its kind, could provide a basis for studying the effects of psychotherapy on subjects belonging to isolated communities