1,324 research outputs found
Does anticipation help or hinder performance in a subsequent speech?
No full textThis study examined the effects of anticipatory processing on a subsequent speech in high and low socially anxious participants. Forty participants (n = 20 in each group) gave two speeches, one after no anticipatory processing and one after 10-minutes of anticipatory processing. In anticipatory processing, high socially anxious participants were more anxious, and experienced more negative and unhelpful self-images than low socially anxious participants did. However, both groups rated memories of past speeches as having a somewhat helpful effect on their speech preparation. High socially anxious participants tended to use the observer perspective more in the anticipated speech, while, in the unanticipated speech, they might have been switching between observer and field perspectives. Low socially anxious participants tended to use the field perspective in both speeches. High and low socially anxious participants reported better speech performances after the anticipated, compared to after the unanticipated speech. Results suggest that anticipatory processing may have both positive and negative effects on socially anxious individuals' cognitive processing and performance before and during a speech
The spotlight effect and the illusion of transparency in social anxiety
No full text[Clark, D. M., & Wells, A. (1995). A cognitive model of social phobia. In: R. G. Heimberg, M. R.
Liebowitz, D. A. Hope, & F. R. Schneier (Eds.), Social phobia: diagnosis, assessment, and treatment (pp.
69–93). New York: Guildford Press] cognitive model of social phobia suggests that both public and private
sources of information contribute to the construction of the self as a social object, which is thought to
maintain the disorder. This study used two concepts developed in social psychology that might help to
explain the processes that contribute to the development of this constructed self. These two concepts are the
spotlight effect [Gilovich, T., Medvec, V. H., & Savitsky, K. (2000). The spotlight effect in social judgment:
an egocentric bias in estimates of the salience of one’s own actions and appearance. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 78(2), 211–222] and the illusion of transparency [Gilovich, T., Medvec, V. H., &
Savitsky, K. (1998). The Illusion of transparency: biased assessments of others’ ability to read one’s own
emotional states. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(2), 332–346]. Participants performed a
memory task under either a low or a high social-evaluative condition. In the high social-evaluative
condition, participants reported higher levels of the spotlight effect and more negative evaluation of task
performance, compared to participants in the low social-evaluative condition. There were no differences
between the two conditions in levels of the illusion of transparency. Surprisingly, however, in the low socialevaluative
condition, participants reported higher levels of the illusion of transparency than the spotlight
effect, whereas, in the high social-evaluative condition, they reported the opposite. Results suggest that the
spotlight effect may be specific to social-evaluative concerns, whereas, the illusion of transparency may
represent more general features of social anxiety concerns. Implications of the results for Clark and Wells’
cognitive model of social phobia model are discussed
Autobiographical memory and the self: Relationship and implications for cognitive-behavioural therapy
No full text'Autobiographical memory' shapes our understanding of ourselves, guides our behaviour, and helps us to develop and maintain relationships with others. The ways in which we interpret and narrate our memories have important implications for our psychological well-being, and can sometimes contribute to the onset and maintenance of a variety of psychological disorders.
'Autobiographical Memory and the Self': Relationship and Implications for Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy synthesises the growing cognitive, social, personality, and clinical psychological literature on the memory-self relationship. It creates an interdisciplinary dialogue which explores autobiographical memory and its relevance for clinical practice, especially cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).
The authors propose a model for understanding the mechanisms of change involved in therapeutic interventions targeting negative or traumatic memories whilst providing insights into recent debates and avenues for future research. 'Autobiographical Memory and the Self' will be useful to clinicians and clinical trainees, researchers, and psychology postgraduate students
Why is the self important in understanding and treating social phobia?
No full textCurrent cognitive models of social phobia (Clark & Wells, 1995; Hofmann, 2007;
Moscovitch, 2008; Rapee & Heimberg, 1997) all agree that the self plays a key maintaining role in the
disorder. However, all of these models use a relatively limited conceptualisation of the self. The
author proposes a tripartite approach in which theories of the self are grouped into three broad
categories: content, structure, and process. Content refers to knowledge and information about the
self, structure to the way that information is organised, and process to the ways in which individuals
attend to and regulate the self. Structure has been largely neglected to date, and the author outlines
ways in which the structural organisation of self-knowledge could contribute to social anxiety. High
social anxiety is associated with low clarity about the self and with more uncertainty about selfjudgments.
Structure interacts with content, and in the final part of the article potential interactions
among imagery, self-concept, and self-structure are discussed
From the conscious into the unconscious: what can cognitive theories of psychopathology learn from Freudian theory?
No full textImplicit self-esteem in bulimia nervosa
No full textImplicit and explicit self-esteem were compared in a group of female participants with bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder (n = 20) and a healthy control group (n = 20). Lower explicit and a less positive implicit self-esteem bias in the clinical group was predicted. Participants completed a self-esteem implicit association test and two explicit self-esteem measures. The eating disordered group had lower explicit self-esteem, but a more positive implicit self-esteem bias than controls. The results are discussed in relation to the idea that discrepancies between implicit and explicit self-esteem reflect fragile self-esteem and are related to high levels of perfectionism, which is associated with eating disorders.<br/
Strategic cognition in paranoia: the use of thought control strategies in a non-clinical population
No full textBackground: Recent work in the area of cognition and emotion has focused on the process as well as the content of thought. Metacognitive approaches have included studies of people's relationship with internal experience (cf. Teasdale and Barnard, 1993), and the overarching beliefs that guide allocation of internal resources to manage distress (cf. Wells, 2000). At the same time, cognitive models of psychosis have emphasized the clinical value of a multidimensional understanding of paranoia (Chadwick, 2006; Freeman and Garety, 2004b). Method: This study examined paranoia in a non-clinical group, specifically (i) the relationship between a single measure of trait paranoia and dimensions of paranoid thought frequency, belief conviction and distress, and (ii) the metacognitive strategies that people use. It was predicted that trait paranoia would be associated with (i) dimensions of thought frequency, belief conviction and distress, and (ii) the internal strategies of “punishment” and “worry.” Results: Regression analyses showed that trait paranoia uniquely predicted frequency, conviction and distress associated with paranoid thoughts. Trait paranoia accounted for the use of “reappraisal”, whereas “punishment” and “worry” were accounted for by anxiety. Conclusions: The implications for clinical work and further research are discussed
Skeletal status and body composition in young women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea.
No full textFunctional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) related to hypoestrogenism and hormonal status may influence skeletal homeostasis and body composition. The study aimed to evaluate hormones concentrations, body composition and bone strength in FHA cases.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
Total body scans using DXA method (DPX-L, GE Lunar) were performed in a group of 27 women aged 21.8 years ± 3.9 with FHA related to weight loss. References of healthy control subjects were used to calculate Z-scores (age and gender matched), SD-scores (height and gender matched), and SDs-scores (weight and gender matched). Whole skeleton bone mineral content (TBBMC, g) and density (TBBMD, g/cm(2)), lumbar spine (L2-L4) bone mineral density (SBMD; g/cm(2)), lean body mass (LBM, g) and fat mass (FM, g) were investigated. Relative bone strength index was calculated as the TBBMC/LBM ratio. Serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol, testosterone, and prolactin (PRL) concentrations were assayed to characterize hormonal profile of FHA cases.
RESULTS:
Hormonal evaluation in patients with FHA revealed significantly decreased serum concentrations of gonadotropins and estradiol. Serum LH concentrations were 1.47 ± 0.89 mIU/ml, FSH 4.44 ± 1.94 mIU/ml. Estradiol concentrations in serum were 27.08 ± 13.10 pg/ml. As evidenced by Z-scores, FHA cases had decreased SBMD, TBBMD and TBBMC Z-scores of -1.23 ± 0.90 (p < 0.0001), -0.72 ± 0.86 (p < 0.001), and -0.90 ± 1.40 (p < 0.01), respectively. Reduced FM, LBM and FM/LBM ratio Z-scores of -1.80 ± 2.28 (p < 0.001), -0.59 ± 1.49 (p < 0.05) and -0.74 ± 1.55 (p < 0.05), but not TBBMC/LBM Z-score of -0.54 ± 2.14 (ns) were noted in FHA cases compared with healthy control cases. TBBMC, TBBMD, TBBMC/LBM when BH- or BW-matched were normal as evidenced by SD-scores and SDs-scores. SBMD remained reduced when BH-matched (SD-score = -0.40 ± 0.86; p < 0.05) whereas FM and FM/LBM were lower than expected in healthy, both compared to BH- and BW-dependent references. The length of amenorrhea in months negatively correlated with SBMD Z-score (R = -0.39, p < 0.05), and SD-scores for SBMD (R = -0.48), TBBMD (R = -0.43), TBBMC (R = -0.46) (all p < 0.05) and positively with SDs-scores for FM (R = 0.44, p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION:
Patients with FHA were characterized by lower concentrations of serum FSH, LH and estradiol concentrations. Moreover, FHA cases had decreased FM and an imbalanced relationship between BW, FM, and LBM. Despite reduced BMD and BMC, bone strength was not significantly affected by FHA
Imagery and the self in social phobia
No full textCurrent cognitive models (Clark & Wells, 1995; Rapee & Heimberg, 1997) emphasise the importance of negative self-images in the maintenance of social phobia. Although evidence suggests that in social phobia these images influence some cognitive, affective and behavioural responses in social situations, it is unclear how they exert their effect. The literature review examines the proposition that these images function as self-representations that have their roots in autobiographicalmemory. The role of self-images, within a theoretical model of self and autobiographical memory is explored (i.e., the Self-Memory System; Conway & Pleydell-Pearce, 2000). A possible relationship between self-images and the working self (i.e., the current self-view) is discussed as a useful framework within which the effects of negative self-images in social phobia could be understood. Research is proposed which will begin to empirically test this relationship. The empirical paper investigates the effect of positive and negative self-images on difference aspects of the self. Negative self-images were associated with a weaker positive implicit selfesteem bias, and less positive and more negative explicit self-esteem, in both high and low socially anxious participants. Negative self-images were also associated with reduced self-concept clarity, but only in low socially anxious participants. Following social threat activation, the increase in self-esteem associated with positive selfimagery was still evident. Findings provide some support for a relationship between self-imagery and specific self-evaluative components of the self. The potential contribution of this relationship to the persistence of social phobia is discussed
Study of the K-stopA → σ±π ∓A′ reaction at DAΦNE
No full textThis work describes an experimental study of the K-stopA→π±σ∓A′ reaction performed with the FINUDA spectrometer at the DAΦNE φ-factory. The reaction is studied via the detection of π+π -n events on 6,7Li, 9Be, 13C and 16O. © 2010 American Institute of Physics
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