Syftet med studien var att undersöka individers emotionella upplevelser och emotionsreglering i samband med nedskärningsprocess på ett industriföretag. Urvalet bestod av individer som varit med om en nedskärningsprocess och fått behålla sin anställning, antingen på samma tjänst eller blivit omflyttade till annan tjänst. Data samlades in genom fokusgruppsintervjuer och analyserades med induktiv tematisk analys. Resultatet indikerar att de emotionella upplevelserna av nedskärningsprocessen förändrades över tid liksom emotionsregleringen vid de olika faserna i processen. Resultaten från de olika grupperna vad gäller emotionell reaktion skiljer sig åt framförallt vid tidpunkten för beslut om behållande av anställning. En slutsats är att snabb och tydlig information i samband med nedskärningsprocessens olika faser leder till mer positiva emotionella upplevelser, vilket bidrog till att nedskärningsprocessen som helhet upplevdes som positiv. Företagsledningens agerande, som visade på handlingskraft, ledde till ett ökat förtroende för företagsledningen.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka om och i sådana fall vilka faktorer som unga heterosexuella kvinnor upplevde som begränsande för sin sexualitet. Med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer undersöktes i denna kvalitativa studie hur dessa deltagare upplevde sin sexualitet utifrån tre huvudområden; sociala strukturer, normer samt psykisk hälsa. Teorin “sexual scripting theory” applicerades på de tre huvudområdena, då paralleller drogs mellan dessa och teorins tre huvudbegrepp “cultural scripts”, “interpersonal scripts” och “intrapsychic scripts”. Resultatet av denna studie visade att patriarkala strukturer, samhällsideal, jämförelser med andra, förväntningar och föreställningar om kvinnans utseende samt beteende var hämmande för deltagarnas sexualitet. Resultatet visade även att det fanns tydliga samband mellan sexualiteten och den psykiska hälsan. Negativa sexuella erfarenheter upplevdes påverka deltagarnas psykiska hälsa och blev hämmande för framtida sexuella upplevelser. Många begränsande faktorer identifierades utifrån resultatet i denna studie och en inblick i deltagarnas förhållande till sin sexualitet utforskades. 

Forming predictions about what is going to happen next is a crucial ability that develops early in life. Theory and some empirical evidence suggest that predictive abilities may be impaired in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The overarching aim of this thesis is to investigate early measures of prediction in relation to concurrent and later outcomes in typical and atypical development, with a particular focus on ASD and related behavioral problems.

In Study I, we used motion capture technology to examine prospective motor control and its relationship to executive functions in typically developing 18-month-olds. Our findings showed that motor control is associated with executive functioning in infancy.

Study II investigated motor control in infants at low and elevated likelihood for ASD and examined how these measures relate to later development. We found group differences as well as similarities in motor control in 10-months-olds with and without a familial history of ASD. Early motor measures were related to general developmental level, but not ASD symptomatology in toddlerhood.

Using eye tracking, Study III examined how infants with later ASD and neurotypical infants form predictions about visual object motion. Our findings indicated that infants with later ASD were able to form predictions about object motion and adapt to simple changes in motion patterns, and that their performance did not differ from the performance of neurotypical infants.

In Study IV, we surveyed parents about their experiences during participation in an infant sibling study of ASD as a first step to understanding the benefits and risks associated with this type of research. Parents were generally positive about their experiences both from their own perspective as well as, the child’s perspective.

This thesis illustrates the potential of using advanced technology, such as motion tracking and eye tracking, to study and compare prediction in typical and atypical development. It points to the important role of prediction and motor control for child development, but fails to find a specific link to ASD.

Background:

Prospective longitudinal studies of infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) play an important role in advancing our knowledge about early developmental pathways in ASD. Despite this clear benefit, currently little is known about potential risks or disadvantages for participating families. As a first step in addressing this issue, we asked parents about their experiences from participating in an infant sibling study.

Method:

Eighty-eight families responded to a questionnaire examining parents' experiences from participating in an infant sibling study. The questions assessed parents' satisfaction with the study, the child's perceived satisfaction, and the parents' motivation for participating. The study included parents of two groups, (1) infants with an older sibling diagnosed with ASD (HR, high risk, n = 43) and (2) infants with no familial history of ASD (LR, low risk, n = 21).

Results:

The results indicated that parents are generally positive about study participation and few disadvantages were reported. This pattern was mirrored when splitting parents' responses into the two groups. There was no indication for group differences between parents of infants at high risk and low risk for ASD.

Conclusion:

Our findings present a first step into understanding parents' experiences from participating in an infant sibling study. Most parents were satisfied with participation in the study and only few disadvantages were reported. Our results have implications for ethical discussions about benefits and risks regarding infant sibling studies in various fields.

In typical development, infants form predictions about future events based on incoming sensory information, which is essential for perception and goal-directed action. It has been suggested that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make predictions differently compared to neurotypical individuals. We investigated how infants who later received an ASD diagnosis and neurotypical infants react to temporarily occluded moving objects that violate initial expectations about object motion. Our results indicate that infants regardless of clinical outcome react similarly to unexpected object motion patterns, both in terms of gaze shift latencies and pupillary responses. These findings indicate that the ability to update representations about such regularities in light of new information may not differ between typically developing infants and those with later ASD.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur individer med gränslösa arbeten möjliggör sin återhämtning i relation till sin arbetssituation, samt identifiera vilka faktorer som möjliggör eller hämmar individens återhämtningsupplevelse av en aktivitet. Tio personer, sju kvinnor och tre män i åldern 31-58 år, deltog i studiens semistrukturerade intervjuer som analyserades i en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet visade att kontroll, avkoppling, bemästring, nöje och socialt stöd var individernas återhämtningsupplevelser, både under och efter arbetstid, och att de ofta men inte alltid leder till mental distansering från arbetet. I resultatet framkom även fyra individbaserade faktorer, individuell preferens, energinivå, grad av medveten närvaro och stressnivå samt fyra situationsbaserade faktorer, grad av socialisering, grad av autonomi, jobbsituation och grad av variation som möjliggör eller hämmar återhämtningsupplevelsen av en aktivitet. Slutsatserna är att återhämtning från arbetet är viktigt för individens välmående, precis som teori och empiri visat, och för individer med gränslösa arbeten är det viktigt med kontinuerlig återhämtning både under och efter arbetstid, som ofta innebär mental distansering men inte alltid. Individen behöver ta kontroll, sätta gränser och skapa utrymme för avkoppling, bemästring, nöje och socialt stöd, samt ta de individ- och situationsbaserade faktorerna i beaktande vid val av återhämtningsaktivitet.

Introduction: To lose a person close suddenly, during childhood or adolescence, can be devastating. Many children or adolescents experienced the 2004 Indonesian tsunami when they were between 10- and 15-years-old. This study, from Stockholm, Sweden, describes the long-term effects of loss, eight- or nine-years post disaster, in young adulthood.

Method: A mixed-method approach was used including statistical analyses (n = 210) and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Results: It was shown that there was a significant difference between bereaved (n=34) and nonbereaved (n = 176) respondents concerning, psychological distress, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and self-rated health. Three themes were found by using the IPA approach (n=9): Living in traumas, carrying heavy baggage, and living with change.

Conclusion: The respondents described personal feelings of grief that are not expressed in their outward appearance or behavior in their daily living. When meeting young adults that have lost someone close in childhood or adolescence, this is important to have in mind.

Emotional support from family members may have an important effect on adolescent health outcomes, and has been identified as a target for policy to protect against the impacts of poverty and other early life adversities. However, few studies have assessed the extent to which poverty and adversity themselves influence the nature of emotional support that parents can provide to adolescents. We, therefore, aimed to investigate the impact of trajectories of income poverty and family adversities, including parental mental ill health, alcohol misuse and domestic violence across childhood developmental stages on young people’s relationships with their families and perceived emotional support received. We analysed longitudinal data on 10,976 children from the nationally representative UK Millennium Cohort study. Exposure trajectories of poverty and family adversities were characterised using group-based multi-trajectory models (age 9 months–14 years). The outcomes were perceived emotional support and quality of family relationships, measured by the three-item Short Social Provisions Scale (SPS-3) and levels of parent–adolescent closeness and conflict, measured at age 14. ORs and 95% CIs were estimated using multivariable logistic regression models, adjusting for potential confounding factors. At age 14, the overall prevalence of low perceived emotional support was 13% (95% CI: 12, 14). Children of mothers with lower socioeconomic status (SES) were more likely to report low emotional support, with a clear social gradient (education—degree plus: 10.3% vs. no qualifications: 15.4%). Compared with children exposed to low levels of poverty and adversity, children in the persistent adversity trajectory groups experienced higher odds of low emotional support and low-quality parent–adolescent relationship; those exposed to both persistent poverty and poor parental mental health were particularly at increased risk of experiencing poor family relationships and low perceived emotional support (adjusted odds ratio 2·2; 95% CI 1·7–2·9). Low perceived emotional support and poor family relationships in adolescence are more prevalent among socially disadvantaged children and adolescents and those experiencing social adversity. Policies to improve levels of family support for UK adolescents should focus on improving modifiable determinants such as child poverty and family mental health. 

Much has been written about measuring the feelings and impressions of women regarding their experience of miscarriage. According to the existential philosopher Heidegger life experiences such as the experience of a woman having a miscarriage can be interpreted and explained only in the context of the totality of the women's experiences in the past, the present, and the future. Thirteen in-depth interviews with women about their experiences of miscarriage were interpreted with respect to Heidegger's "Being and Time". By using his interpretive phenomenology the essence of the miscarriage experience was explored and defined. The women's feelings and impressions were influenced by past experiences of miscarriage, pregnancy, and births. Present conditions in the women's lives contributing to the experience include their relationships, working situation, and living conditions. Each woman's future prospects and hopes have been structurally altered with regard to their aspirations for their terminated pregnancy. The impact of miscarriage in a woman's life was found to be more important than caregiver providers and society have previously attributed to in terms of scale. The results of the interviews reveal that the women believed that only women who had experienced their own miscarriages were able to fully understand this complex womanly experience and its effects on the woman who had miscarried.

Arbetsengagemang är ett vanligt förekommande begrepp inom både forskning och organisationer. För att förstå arbetsengagemang relaterat till medarbetarnas individuella egenskaper och behov, har föreliggande studie undersökt sambandet mellan arbetsengagemang och personlighetsdragen i Big Five; openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness och neuroticism.

Undersökningen genomfördes med kvantitativ metod, där yrkesverksamma individer (N=193) fick besvara enkätformulär hämtade från Mini-IPIP6 Svensk version vad berör personlighetsdrag, samt UWES-9 vad gäller arbetsengagemang. Tre av personlighetsdragen samvarierade statistisktsignifikant med arbetsengagemang. Conscientiousness och extraversion påvisade positiva samband med arbetsengagemang och neuroticism visade på negativa samband medarbetsengagemang, där de tre personlighetsdragen fortfarande visande statistiskt signifikant samvariation med arbetsengagemang även under kontroll av variabeln ålder. 

The ability to think abstractly constitutes a fundamental dimension of human cognition. Although abstraction has been extensively studied, its emotional and affective antecedents have been largely overlooked. One experiment was conducted to examine whether physical pain affects abstraction. Drawing on Construal Level Theory [Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2010). Construal-level theory of psychological distance. Psychological Review, 117, 440–463] and Loewenstein’s [(1996). Out of control: Visceral influences on behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 65, 272–292] visceral factors theory, we hypothesised that pain impairs abstraction because pain constricts people’s mental horizons and lead to a concrete, inward-focus toward oneself in the here and now. Physical pain was manipulated between subjects (N = 150). The participants either kept their left hand immersed in cold (painful) water or neutral (painless) water while we measured abstract versus concrete behaviour identification, categorisation, and perceptual processing. Bayesian statistical analyses indicate substantial evidence against the hypothesis that pain impairs abstraction. In contrast to many other previously studied cognitive outcomes (e.g. attention), abstraction appears to be largely immune to acute, experimentally induced pain.

In technological transformations Industry 5.0 should bring us towards a sustainable, human-centric and resilient European industry. Critical assets have dematerialized, and the most valuable asset is knowledge (Marchegiani, 2021). Hence, employees and their well-being are more critical than ever. A good working environment must pay attention to and meet employee´s psychological needs.

Three areas of psychological needs are described by Deci and Ryan (2011) in the Self-Determination Theory (SDT):1) autonomy, responsibility and ownership of their own process and vision.2) competence and development possibilities, to build capability at different levels.3) relatedness, to be in a context and the possibility and authority to jointly influence and develop.

This paper aims to share experiences on how the use of these needs have increased our knowledge concerning employee´s psychological needs in a Swedish industrial company, in the view of a health-promoting working life. Interviews have been conducted with 32 respondents and deductively analyzed by using the needs in SDT as an analytical tool. The analysis reveals a number of needs, and hence opportunities, mainly in Competence and Relatedness:Competence perceived to work well in general, but there was an indication that it may have become a little worse the last time. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a need for strategic competence development when new things were decided to be included in the company. As put in the interviews: "We take things to heart and say we're going to have it, but it's not implemented. You do not get the possibility to learn it. It's expected that you just have to work and understand.”:Relatedness

The analysis shows that the company´s main needs and hence the main opportunities were in “Relatedness”, Here three subareas were identified:- Context, “spirit”: The employees thrive with each other, but there was also a feeling that people are not as engaged anymore. E.g. “I have made this wall and is proud of it, now you don't care in the same way”. Furthermore, there seems to be different pictures between management and the other employees. “I want it to be good and do well, but I perceived as negative when I say something, even though it's about caring for the company”.- Development work and changes: People feel unable to influence. "The management says that they are listening and taking to heart, but nothing is happening." The employees want to be more involved and have more information. There is a great need to understand why things are going to change and getting feedback how it proceeds.- Internal communication: There is a need for more visibility of the management in production. The company has developed their digital communication, but there still is a need of analog communication in some situations.

Using the three areas of psychological needs in SDT as an analytical tool increases our understanding of which company-specific areas that are important to focus on for a health-promoting working life. Furthermore, it gave us knowledge and understanding concerning suitable activities for meeting the needs. For example: develop a clear structure and rules for how to perform the development work. Explaining why and giving continuous and structured feedback are important aspects. Another important aspect is that decisions concerning work changes must include decisions concerning the need for training.

En betydande del av Sveriges yta är täckt av skog och det finns många olika viljor finns rörande vilka värden skogen ska erbjuda. Syftet med studien var att undersöka människors erfarenheter, emotionella band och värderingar av skog och natur, samt attityder till naturresursutnyttjande och allemansrätt, inklusive samband dem emellan. Syftet var även att diskutera resultatet i förhållande till politiska mål rörande skog och natur. Totalt deltog 663 universitetsstudenter med medelåldern 24 år, varav 254 kvinnor och 401 män, i en enkätundersökning. Resultatet visade genom korrelationsanalys samband mellan samtliga variabler. Attityden att allemansrätten är viktig förklarades främst av starkare emotionella band och att oftare vistas i skogen. Attityden att allemansrätten bör begränsas förklarades av en högre värdering av virkesproduktion. Den var också vanligare hos de vars familj äger skog. Resultatet diskuterades i relation till miljömålsuppfyllelse och allemansrätten: emotionella band, som föds av erfarenheter, är incitament för agerande. För att uppfylla politiska mål bör emotioner beaktas och miljöer som ger förutsättning för erfarenhetsskapande erbjudas. Allemansrätten ger förutsättningar för dessa erfarenheter. 

The world has been transformed through the internet into a "global village",and social media platforms have possibly transformed the world into a larger neighborhood covering many regions of the world. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter came into people’s lives through the Internet, growing daily at a large rate, and it has been proven that they are very popular. This study examines links between different phenomena through social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.). It is discusses cohesiveness, desire to belong, sense of community, beliefs and opinions about different forms of these phenomena in popular virtual platforms in correlation with trust in social media, criticism of information that is spread by these virtual platforms, and if people are influenced in consumer decision making. A questionnaire has been distributed to a convenient sample of 159 international and Swedish students in Sweden in October-November 2012 in both English and Swedish versions. According to the peoples’ answers, tendencies were observed such as to not trust the platforms, and also the information received, beliefs such that social media are "controlled", negative critique, but also an expression for a need for ‘membership’.

Chefers arbetssätt har till följd av covid-19 förändrats. Arbete som innan utfördes på fysisk plats har under pandemin utförts på distans via digitala verktyg. Det är mot denna bakgrund vårt intresse har väckts att undersöka hur chefer som tidigare inte utövat ledarskap på distans, i stället har upplevt hur det digitala ledarskapet har kunnat tillämpas till följd av pandemin.

Studien har ett retrospektivt syfte genom att undersöka vilka utmaningar och möjligheter ledare inom offentlig verksamhet säger sig upplevt i det digitala ledarskapet. Studien har haft en kvalitativ ansats baserat på semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserades med hjälp av en tematisk analys. I studien deltog elva chefer med olika åldrar, kön, yrkesroller och geografisk plats på sin verksamhet. Resultatet visar på både många utmaningar och möjligheter med eledarskapet som uppstått till följd av ett påtvingat distansarbete. En snabb anpassningsförmåga har funnits hos cheferna i deras e-ledarskap och där ledningen skett medhjälp av digitala verktyg. Resultatet visar exempel på ett lyckat e-ledarskap i mening av kreativa lösningar, kompetensutveckling och en ökad förståelse för medarbetarnas behov och mående under pandemin.

The thesis investigates the implications for moral philosophy of research in psychology. In addition to an introduction and concluding remarks, the thesis consists of four chapters, each exploring various more specific challenges or inputs to moral philosophy from cognitive, social, personality, developmental, and evolutionary psychology. Chapter 1 explores and clarifies the issue of whether or not morality is innate. The chapter’s general conclusion is that evolution has equipped us with a basic suite of emotions that shape our moral judgments in important ways. Chapter 2 presents and investigates the challenge presented to deontological ethics by Joshua Greene’s so-called dual process theory. The chapter partly agrees with his conclusion that the dual process view neutralizes some common criticisms against utilitarianism founded on deontological intuitions, but also points to avenues left to explore for deontologists. Chapter 3 focuses on Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer’s suggestion that utilitarianism is less vulnerable to so-called evolutionary debunking than other moral theories. The chapter is by and large critical of their attempt. In the final chapter 4, attention is directed at the issue of whether or not social psychology has shown that people lack stable character traits, and hence that the virtue ethical view is premised on false or tenuous assumptions. Though this so-called situationist challenge at one time seemed like a serious threat to virtue ethics, the chapter argues for a moderate position, pointing to the fragility of much of the empirical research invoked to substantiate this challenge while also suggesting revisions to the virtue ethical view as such.

Thioridazine (3 mg/kg) and chlorimipramine (1.5–6.0 mg/kg) prolonged the ejaculation latency and increased the number of mounts but did not change the number of intromissions preceding ejaculation. Blockade of peripheral and central noradrenaline receptors by phentolamine and phenoxybenzamine respectively resulted in a suppression of all aspects of the sexual behavior with increasing doses. dl-5-HTP (25–100 mg/kg) in combination with an inhibitor of peripheral 5-HTP decarboxylase (benserazide, 25 mg/kg) produced, like chlorimipramine and thioridazine, a prolongation of ejaculation latency and an increase in the number of mounts preceding ejaculation. Selective inhibition of 5-HT reuptake however, by zimelidine (0–20 mg/kg) or alaproclate (0–20 mg/kg) did not affect the mating behavior. At higher doses of these drugs some animals failed to initiate sexual activities. There was an increase in the postejaculatory interval but no change in the ejaculatory latency.It is concluded that the prolonged ejaculation latencies observed following treatment with thioridazine or chlorimipramine is not due to a blockade of central or peripheral adrenergic -receptors.

Sjukvårdsrådgivning via telefon har kommit att bli ett allt vanligare sätt att kontakta vården. Det är också ett smidigt sätt att i dagens mobila samhälle utnyttja tiden effektivt. Denna typ av sjukvårdsrådgivning skiljer sig från det annars traditionella sättet där sjuksköterskan fysiskt möter patienten till exempel på en vårdcentral. I anslutning till den tidigare sjukvården finns också etablerade metoder och riktlinjer för patientsäkerhet, vilket bidrar till att kontinuerligt sträva efter att upprätthålla god vårdkvalitet och trygghet för patienten. En metod är exempelvis det avvikelserapporteringssystem som sedan tidigare används inom bland annat Landstinget i Östergötland, vilket också har kommit att användas på Sjukvårdsrådgivningen i Linköping.

Syftet med denna studie var att inom en verksamhet för sjukvårdsrådgivning via telefon undersöka vilka attityder personalen har till patientsäkerhet, samt hur de själva beskriver sina åsikter angående detta ämne. Baserat på tidigare forskning relateras resultaten till vilken påverkan de uppskattas ha på verksamhetens säkerhetskultur.

En webbenkät användes som instrument i studiens datainsamling. Frågorna var sedan tidigare framtagna för att mäta patientsäkerhet inom traditionell sjukvård, vilka grundade sig på element från säkerhetskulturforskning. En av studiens centrala upptäckter tyder på att personalen tycker att det är svårt att hinna med att rapportera avvikelser. Det fanns också en tendens att flera sjukvårdsrådgivare berättar om avvikelser för arbetskamrater när de väl upptäcks, än antal som avvikelserapporterar på formellt vis. Vidare påträffades också att respondenterna inte är rädda för att be om hjälp när oklarheter i arbetet uppstår. En av studiens slutsatser var att sjukvårdsrådgivarna behöver mer tid till att kunna prioritera att rapportera avvikelser som upptäcks för att minimera informationsbortfall.

En kvantitativ studie med experimentell design har genomförts i syfte att jämföra natur- respektive urbanmiljöers påverkan på känslomässig och fysiologisk återhämtning efter en stressupplevelse, samt utslag på kognitiv prestation. Hypotesen var att naturstimuli genererar högre grad av känslomässig och fysiologisk återhämtning än urbanstimuli. Frågeställningen var om vi kunde se någon skillnad mellan gruppernas prestationsförmåga efter genomförd återhämtning, vad gäller riktad uppmärksamhet. Återhämtningsgrad har mätts i förändring i blodtryck, puls och självskattning av känslor.  Resultatet visade att naturmiljön genererar en högre nivå återhämtning med avseende på sänkt diastoliskt blodtryck, ökade positiva känslor samt minskad oro. Däremot visades ingen skillnad i kognitiv prestationsförmåga mellan grupperna. Slutsatsen är att känslomässig samt fysiologisk återhämtning kan underlättas i naturmiljö jämfört med urbanmiljö och att detta även kan ske med hjälp av naturbilder. Däremot är det inte är självklart att man får större kapacitet riktad uppmärksamhet efter exponering av naturbilder jämfört med stadsbilder.

Objective: Several authors have suggested demands and requirements for teaching mindfulness and meditation. In the scientific literature there is however a lack of evaluation of mindfulness teachers and how to teach mindfulness meditation effectively. This study aims at providing deeper insight of the importance of the teachers in the field of mindfulness and meditation and it investigates how mindfulness and meditation teachers describe the prerequisites for teaching mindfulness and meditation.

Method: The method of Thematic Analysis, TA, was utilized to analyse the data from semi-structured interviews conducted with twelve experienced teachers, from different mindfulness and meditation traditions. The participants are mindfulness and meditation teachers from either within the Buddhist, secular or both Buddhist and secular contexts.

Results: The analysis resulted in three main themes and nine subthemes, such as for example the main theme; Teacher qualification with subthemes; Becoming teacher, Being teacher, Pedagogic skills and Social skills. The results suggest a flexible and pragmatic view on how mindfulness and meditation teaching should be provided. Instead of a fixed set of requirements for the teacher and the student, what makes mindfulness and meditation teaching effective has to do with the ability to recognize the potential in every unique situation with an understanding of the impermanent and interdependent relationship between teacher, student and context.

Conclusion: Being and becoming a teacher is a continuous process and anyone can assume the role of mindfulness and meditation teacher. It is dependent on the students and the context. A formalized education is not a prerequisite but what is required is sufficient compassion and insight. For the teacher’s compassion and insight to ripen and for the student to learn, non-ideal conditions and suffering, is required and it is helpful with supportive fellow practitioners, teachers, especially if they themselves practice what they teach and share what they know.

A substantial literature in political psychology has emphasized the importance of personality traits for understanding differences in political participation. One such trait is extraversion. However, the causal status of this relationship is complicated by a number of issues, not least genetic confounding stemming from the heritability of both personality traits and political participation. This study confirms the well-established naive relationship between extraversion and participation, but goes on with (a) a discordant MZ twin design and (b) a new approach using measured genetic variation, or a polygenic index, in the given trait (extraversion) to assess the causal nature of this relationship. First, utilizing variation in extraversion and participation within identical twin pairs shows that twins with higher extraversion do not participate more. Second, random variation within fraternal twin pairs in a polygenic index of extraversion does predict trait extraversion, but does not predict political participation. In summary, previously identified associations between extraversion and political participation are not likely to be causal, but instead reflect common underlying familial factors.

The effects of driver sleepiness are often quantified as deteriorated driving performance, increased blink durations and high levels of subjective sleepiness. Driver sleepiness has also been associated with increasing levels of electroencephalogram (EEG) power, especially in the alpha range. The present exploratory study investigated a new measure of driver sleepiness, the EEG fixation-related lambda response. Thirty young male drivers (23.6 +/- 1.7 years old) participated in a driving simulator experiment in which they drove on rural and suburban roads in simulated daylight versus darkness during both the daytime (full sleep) and night-time (sleep deprived). The results show lower lambda responses during night driving and with longer time on task, indicating that sleep deprivation and time on task cause a general decrement in cortical responsiveness to incoming visual stimuli. Levels of subjective sleepiness and line crossings were higher under the same conditions. Furthermore, results of a linear mixed-effects model showed that low lambda responses are associated with high subjective sleepiness and more line crossings. We suggest that the fixation-related lambda response can be used to investigate driving impairment induced by sleep deprivation while driving and that, after further refinement, it may be useful as an objective measure of driver sleepiness.

An experimental study of perceptions about gay, lesbian, and heterosexual domestic violence in Sweden. Undergraduate students (N = 1009) read one of eight fictitious scenarios of domestic violence in married couple relationships, where sexual orientation, sex of victim and batterer, and severity of violence were varied. Perceptions of seriousness of the described incident and attitudes toward women, gays and lesbians were measured. Domestic violence was perceived as more serious in cases where: the respondent was a woman, the batterer was a man, the victim was a woman, or the battering was severe. Wife-battering in a heterosexual relationship was considered the most serious case in both the less and more severe battering scenario. Where battering was less severe, domestic violence in gay and lesbian relationships was perceived as more serious than heterosexual husband-battering; this difference disappeared in the severe battering scenario. Negative attitudes toward gays, lesbians, and women were associated with less concern about domestic violence in all types of relationships. The findings suggest that stereotypes about gays, lesbians, and women affect perceptions of domestic violence, but mainly when violence is less severe.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine how personal assistants experience their psychological contract and how the psychological contract was fulfilled against their supervisor or manager.A qualitative method was used and seven interviews were conducted with personal care assistants from various workplaces. The interviews were analysed with thematic analysis and resulted in five main themes. Expectations, personal but not private, what really stands in the contract, how people look at the profession and fulfilment. In conclusion, the main result was that the personal care assistants experienced that the internal psychological contract consisted of the relation to the supervisor or manager and the accessibility to the employer. The personal care assistants felt that the contents of the external psychological contract consisted of the work duties, employment security, working hours and the attractiveness of the profession. The majority of the respondents felt that the internal and external psychological contract was fulfilled. None of the respondents considered that the internal and external psychological contract was not fulfilled at all.  

Gender and appearance affect our judgments regarding an individual’s personality, profession, and morality, and create a reference frame within which to act toward that person. The main question of the present thesis is whether these kinds of stereotypical conceptions have implications for the judicial process: how professionals within the judicial process evaluate and judge a defendant, and how and what eyewitnesses remember. Expressed in other words: Is justice blind or do gender and appearances affect the treatment we receive in a judicial process?

The main purpose of the present thesis was to study the effects of gender and attractiveness on evaluations of defendants accused of crimes of varying seriousness and type. The second theme was to study under what circumstances these effects are particularly strong; emotionality, retention interval, as well as gender and profession of evaluators, were controlled for.

Study 1 aimed at investigating “pure” gender and attractiveness effects, with psychology students as participants. Study II added the variable of emotionality, as well as six groups of evaluators. Emotionality was studied by including emotional photographs of crime victim injury as well as two levels of vividness in the written description the evaluator was to read. The evaluators were professionals working within the judicial process in Sweden–judges, jury members, counsels for the defence, prosecutors, and police officers–as well as law students. Study 1 showed that a male defendant was evaluated more negatively than a female. Study II showed two main tendencies: (i) “same-sex penalty effect”: Sentencing evaluators (judges, jurors) evaluated a defendant of their own gender more harshly than one of the opposite gender; (ii) “male penalty effect”: Nonsentencing evaluators (police officers, counsels for the defence, prosecutors, and law students) evaluated and judged a male defendant more harshly than a female. Study III focused on exploring effects of violence (emotionality) and retention interval in the context of gender differences to investigate under which circumstances gender differences might be especially strengthened. Violence was manipulated using two acts: one neutral (walking in a store) and one violent (robbing the same store). Retention interval was of two lengths: 10 minutes and 1-3 weeks. Results revealed a gender-stereotype-enhancement effect, in which the evaluator evaluated the male defendant more harshly with the longer retention interval as well as in the violent act condition. The results of the present studies may have practical implications for the functioning of the judicial process; on the eyewitness hearing level (Study III) as well as on the evidence evaluation-, guilt-, and punishment assessment levels (Studies I and II).

Identifying brain systems that regulate or modulate autonomic nervous system functions may identify pathways through which psychosocial factors can influence health and disease. Reduced high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) characterizes anxiety disordered patients and is predictive of adverse myocardial events. Sex differences in the prevalence of anxiety disorders and cardiac diseases implicate the possibility of sex specific neural regulation of HF-HRV. We investigated the correlation between HF-HRV and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 28 subjects (15 women) with social phobia undergoing a stressful public speaking task. Regional CBF was measured with [(15)O] water positron emission tomography. Stress induced rCBF correlated positively with HF-HRV in the right supra genual anterior cingulate cortex Brodmann's area (BA) 32, the right head of the caudate nucleus and bilaterally in the medial prefrontal cortex (BA10), extending into the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BA46) in the left hemisphere. Men showed larger positive co-variation in the caudate than women. These findings underscore the importance of the emotional division of the anterior cingulate cortex, the prefrontal cortex and the striatum in cardiovagal activity. The study replicates and extends results from published functional neuroimaging studies on cardioregulatory or modulatory areas in healthy subjects to men and women with social phobia. Moreover, caudate functions, possibly related to dopaminergic neurotransmission, have sexually dimorphic effects on vagal modulation of the heart.

Prevention and management of work-related stress and related mental problems is a great challenge. Mobile applications are a promising way to integrate prevention strategies into the everyday lives of citizens.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study was to study the usage, acceptance, and usefulness of a mobile mental wellness training application among working-age individuals, and to derive preliminary design implications for mobile apps for stress management.

METHODS: Oiva, a mobile app based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), was designed to support active learning of skills related to mental wellness through brief ACT-based exercises in the daily life. A one-month field study with 15 working-age participants was organized to study the usage, acceptance, and usefulness of Oiva. The usage of Oiva was studied based on the usage log files of the application. Changes in wellness were measured by three validated questionnaires on stress, satisfaction with life (SWLS), and psychological flexibility (AAQ-II) at the beginning and at end of the study and by user experience questionnaires after one week's and one month's use. In-depth user experience interviews were conducted after one month's use to study the acceptance and user experiences of Oiva.

RESULTS: Oiva was used actively throughout the study. The average number of usage sessions was 16.8 (SD 2.4) and the total usage time per participant was 3 hours 12 minutes (SD 99 minutes). Significant pre-post improvements were obtained in stress ratings (mean 3.1 SD 0.2 vs mean 2.5 SD 0.1, P=.003) and satisfaction with life scores (mean 23.1 SD 1.3 vs mean 25.9 SD 0.8, P=.02), but not in psychological flexibility. Oiva was perceived easy to use, acceptable, and useful by the participants. A randomized controlled trial is ongoing to evaluate the effectiveness of Oiva on working-age individuals with stress problems.

CONCLUSIONS: A feasibility study of Oiva mobile mental wellness training app showed good acceptability, usefulness, and engagement among the working-age participants, and provided increased understanding on the essential features of mobile apps for stress management. Five design implications were derived based on the qualitative findings: (1) provide exercises for everyday life, (2) find proper place and time for challenging content, (3) focus on self-improvement and learning instead of external rewards, (4) guide gently but do not restrict choice, and (5) provide an easy and flexible tool for self-reflection.

Tron på den egna förmågan, self-efficacy, utgår från att individen själv försöker utöva påverkan på sin omgivning. Påverkan kan även utövas genom ombud och tilltron till ombudets förmåga att göra något för individen benämns som proxy efficacy. Syftet med studien var att undersöka sambandet mellan self-efficacy och proxy efficacy för utveckling i yrkesrollen. Tre hypoteser och 1 frågeställning formulerades. En enkät besvarades av 85 medarbetare från ett fastighetsföretag i Stockholmsregionen och materialet undersöktes med korrelationer, regressionsanalys, samt t-test. Hypotes 1 fick stöd då proxy efficacy och self-efficacy var positivt korrelerade. Hypotes 3 fick stöd då medarbetare med kortare anställningstid (0-3.9 år) rapporterade högre proxy efficacy jämfört med medarbetare med längre (4-20 år) anställningstid. Proxy efficacy inte kunde predicera self-efficacy (hypotes 2) och inga skillnader i proxy efficacy kunde påvisas mellan könen (frågeställning 1). Resultaten diskuteras utifrån hur proxy efficacy kan definieras samt innebörden i begreppet där mer forskning krävs.

Objective: To examine low episodic memory scores as a potential risk factor for depression.

Method: A population-based sample of non-depressed individuals (20–64 years) were re-examined 3 years after an initial screening (n ¼ 708). At baseline, information on episodic memory scores, demographic and socioeconomic factors, alcohol use and anxiety diagnoses was collected. The data for depression diagnoses were collected at both baseline and follow-up.

Results: Logistic regressions, conducted on three separate study groups that were defined according to three assessments of episodic memory (i.e. free + cued recall, free recall, cued recall) among individuals who scored in the 25 lowest or highest percentiles in the memory tests, revealed that low episodic memory performance defined as the sum of free and cued recalls of organizable words constitutes a risk of depression diagnosis 3 years later.

Conclusion: Low episodic memory performance predated depressive diagnosis and might be considered as a premorbid marker of depression.

Background: Happiness is often conceptualized as subjective well-being, which comprises people's evaluations of emotional experiences (i.e., the affective dimension: positive and negative feelings and emotions) and judgements of a self-imposed ideal (i.e., the cognitive dimension: life satisfaction). Recent research has established these two dimensions as primary parts of a higher order factor. However, theoretical, conceptual, and empirical work suggest that people's evaluations of harmony in their life (i.e., the sense of balance and capacity to behave and adapt with both acceptance and flexibility to inter- and intrapersonal circumstances) constitutes a third dimension (i.e., the behavioral dimension). This tridemensional conceptualization of subjective well-being has recently been verified using Unidimensional Item Response Theory (UIRT) and Classical Test Theory (CTT). Here, we use a recently developed and more robust approach that combines these two methods (i.e., Multidimensional Item Response Theory, MIRT) to simultaneously address the complex interactions and multidimensionality behind how people feel, think, and behave in relation to happiness in their life. Method: A total of 435 participants (197 males and 238 females) with an age mean of 44.84 (sd = 13.36) responded to the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (10 positive affect items, 10 negative affect items), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (five items), and the Harmony in life Scale (five items). We used Bifactor-Graded Response MIRT for the main analyses. Result: At the general level, each of the 30 items had a strong capacity to discriminate between respondents across all three dimensions of subjective well-being. The investigation of different parameters (e.g., marginal slopes, ECV, IECV) strongly reflected the multidimensionality of subjective well-being at the item, the scale, and the model level. Indeed, subjective well-being could explain 64 % of the common variance in the whole model. Moreover, most of the items measuring positive affect (8/10) and life satisfaction (4/5) and all the items measuring harmony in life (5/5) accounted for a larger amount of variance of subjective well-being compared to that of their respective individual dimensions. The negative affect items, however, measured its own individual concept to a lager extent rather than subjective well-being. Thus, suggesting that the experience of negative affect is a more independent dimension within the whole subjective wellbeing model. We also found that specific items (e.g., "Alert", "Distressed", "Irritable", "I am satisfied with my life") were the recurrent exceptions in our results. Last but not the least, experiencing high levels in one dimension seems to compensate for low levels in the others and vice versa. Conclusion: As expected, the three subjective well-being dimensions do not work separately. Interestingly, the order and magnitude of the effect by each dimension on subjective well-being mirror how people define happiness in their life: first as harmony, second as satisfaction, third as positive emotions, and fourth, albeit to a much lesser degree, as negative emotions. Ergo, we argue that subjective well-being functions as a complex biopsychosocial adaptive system mirroring our attitude towards life in these three dimensions (A: affective dimension; B: behavioral dimension; C: cognitive dimension). Ergo, researchers and practitioners need to take in to account all three to fully understand, measure, and promote people's experience of the happy life. Moreover, our results also suggest that negative affect, especially regarding high activation unpleasant emotions, need considerable changes and further analyses if it is going to be included as a construct within the affective dimension of a general subjective well-being factor.

Background: Subjective well-being refers to the extent to which a person believes or feels that her life is going well. It is considered as one of the best available proxies for a broader, more canonical form of well-being. For over 30 years, one important distinction in the conceptualization of subjective well-being is the contrast between more affective evaluations of biological emotional reactions and more cognitive evaluations of ones life in relation to a psychologically self-imposed ideal. More recently, researchers have suggested the addition of harmony in life, comprising behavioral evaluations of how one is doing in a social context. Since measures used to assess subjective well-being are self-reports, often validated only using Classical Test Theory, our aim was to focus on the psychometric properties of the measures using Item Response Theory. Method: A total of 1000 participants responded to the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule. At random, half of the participants answered to the Satisfaction with Life Scale or to the Harmony in life Scale. First, we evaluate and provide enough evidence of unidimensionality for each scale. Next, we conducted graded response models to validate the psychometric properties of the subjective well-being scales. Results: All scales showed varied frequency item distribution, high discrimination values (Alphas), and had different difficulty parameters (Beta) on each response options. For example, we identified items that respondents found difficult to endorse at the highest/lowest point of the scales (e.g., "Proud" for positive affect; item 5, "If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing," for life satisfaction; and item 3, "I am in harmony," for harmony in life). In addition, all scales could cover a good portion of the range of subjective well-being (Theta): -2.50 to 2.30 for positive affect, -1.00 to 3.50 for negative affect, -2.40 to 2.50 for life satisfaction, and -2.40 to 2.50 for harmony in life. Importantly, for all scales, there were weak reliability for respondents with extreme latent scores of subjective well-being. Conclusion: The affective component, especially low levels of negative affect, were less accurately measured, while both the cognitive and social component were covered to an equal degree. There was less reliability for respondents with extreme latent scores of subjective well-being. Thus, to improve reliability at the level of the scale, at the item level and at the level of the response scale for each item, we point out specific items that need to be modified or added. Moreover, the data presented here can be used as normative data for each of the subjective well-being constructs.

Individuals with hearing loss allocate cognitive resources to comprehend noisy speech in everyday life scenarios. Such a scenario could be when they are exposed to ongoing speech and need to sustain their attention for a rather long period of time, which requires listening effort. Two well-established physiological methods that have been found to be sensitive to identify changes in listening effort are pupillometry and electroencephalography (EEG). However, these measurements have been used mainly for momentary, evoked or episodic effort. The aim of this study was to investigate how sustained effort manifests in pupillometry and EEG, using continuous speech with varying signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Eight hearing-aid users participated in this exploratory study and performed a continuous speech-in-noise task. The speech material consisted of 30-second continuous streams that were presented from loudspeakers to the right and left side of the listener (+/- 30 degrees azimuth) in the presence of 4-talker background noise (+180 degrees azimuth). The participants were instructed to attend either to the right or left speaker and ignore the other in a randomized order with two different SNR conditions: 0 dB and -5 dB (the difference between the target and the competing talker). The effects of SNR on listening effort were explored objectively using pupillometry and EEG. The results showed larger mean pupil dilation and decreased EEG alpha power in the parietal lobe during the more effortful condition. This study demonstrates that both measures are sensitive to changes in SNR during continuous speech.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate whether a new e-learning tool for insight training of ambulance drivers can have an effect on drivers’ driving behaviors, perceived driving competence, competence to assess risks, self-reflection, and safety attitudes.

Methods: A quasi-experimental study design, with participants nonrandomly assigned into a control and intervention group, was used. The intervention group participated in the insight-training course and the control group did not. Both groups completed a self- and peer assessment online questionnaire before and after the training.

Results: The main finding is that the ambulance drivers assessed themselves through the instruments after the training, with the e-learning tool Driver Access Recording Tool (DART), as safer drivers in the areas of speed adaptation, closing up, and overtaking. In the answers from the group-based evaluation, the ambulance drivers responded that they were more reflective/analytical, had increased their risk awareness, and had changed their driving behaviors.

Conclusions: After insight training, the ambulance drivers in this study assessed themselves as safer drivers in several important areas, including speed adaptation, closing up, and overtaking. In future training of ambulance drivers there should be more focus on insight training instead of previous training focusing on maneuvering capabilities.

Compared to other disciplines of psychology, sport and exercise psychology is a very young field. Sport psychology associations were founded in a variety of countries (particularly in Europe and North America) in the 1960es and later, after the first World Congress of Sport Psychology had taken place in Rome in 1965. Despite the fact that even in those ages quite a few women were studying psychology and afterwards starting a scientific career, females in sport psychology were extremely underrepresented. One of the reasons could lie in the fact that sport, much more than psychology, was a stereotypically male field, with only a few opportunities available to women. Making a career in sport psychology was then a double contradiction for women. First, making a career in general contradicted the typical female role, and second, making a career in sport meant an untypical field for women.

The presentation will be structured as a dialogue between the two presenters – female sport psychologists working in the field for more than 30 years. Both were born and started their careers during the period of the Cold War: Dorothee Alfermann in the Federal Republic of Germany, and Natalia Stambulova in the Soviet Union. Both countries do not exist on the European map any more reflecting dramatic political, social and economic changes in Europe during the last two decades. All the changes in the European context put their impacts on the development of sport and exercise psychology in Europe including overall organizational development, as well as female careers and their contributions to European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC), other international sport psychology organizations (e.g., ISSP, AASP) and international sport psychology events (e.g., Congresses). The dialogue will be structured around the following three themes: (a) the presenters’ own careers analyzed from the point of gender issues (e.g., female professional role models and mentors), (b) history of European sport and exercise psychology, foundation of FEPSAC and contribution of its first President Ema Geron (1969-1973), and (c) female sport psychology professionals’ role in today’s European sport psychology and their contributions to FEPSAC, ISSP, AASP, national sport psychology associations, the editorial board of Psychology of Sport and Exercise, the European Forum of Applied Sport Psychologists, the European Master’s Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology (EMSSEP), and the recent European Master’s (Mundus) Program in Sport and Exercise Psychology (EMPSEP).

Background: In previous research, variables such as age, education, treatment credibility, and therapeutic alliance have shown to affect patients' treatment adherence and outcome in Internet-based psychotherapy. A more detailed understanding of how such variables are associated with different measures of adherence and clinical outcomes may help in designing more effective online therapy.

Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate demographical, psychological, and treatment-specific variables that could predict dropout, treatment adherence, and treatment outcomes in a study of online relaxation for mild to moderate stress symptoms.

Methods: Participant dropout and attrition as well as data from self-report instruments completed before, during, and after the online relaxation program were analyzed. Multiple linear and logistical regression analyses were conducted to predict early dropout, overall attrition, online treatment progress, number of registered relaxation exercises, posttreatment symptom levels, and reliable improvement.

Results: Dropout was significantly predicted by treatment credibility, whereas overall attrition was associated with reporting a focus on immediate consequences and experiencing a low level of intrinsic motivation for the treatment. Treatment progress was predicted by education level and treatment credibility, whereas number of registered relaxation exercises was associated with experiencing intrinsic motivation for the treatment. Posttreatment stress symptoms were positively predicted by feeling external pressure to participate in the treatment and negatively predicted by treatment credibility. Reporting reliable symptom improvement after treatment was predicted by treatment credibility and therapeutic bond.

Conclusions: This study confirmed that treatment credibility and a good working alliance are factors associated with successful Internet-based psychotherapy. Further, the study showed that measuring adherence in different ways provides somewhat different results, which underscore the importance of carefully defining treatment adherence in psychotherapy research. Lastly, the results suggest that finding the treatment interesting and engaging may help patients carry through with the intervention and complete prescribed assignments, a result that may help guide the design of future interventions.

BACKGROUND: Clinical supervision by a senior therapist is a very common practice in psychotherapist training and psychiatric care settings. Though clinical supervision is advocated by most educational and governing institutions, the effects of clinical supervision on the supervisees' competence, e.g., attitudes, behaviors, and skills, as well as on treatment outcomes and other patient variables are debated and largely unknown. Evidence-based practice is advocated in clinical settings but has not yet been fully implemented in educational or clinical training settings. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize and present the empirical literature regarding effects of clinical supervision in cognitive-behavioral therapy.

METHODS: This study will include a systematic review of the literature to identify studies that have empirically investigated the effects of supervision on supervised psychotherapists and/or the supervisees' patients. A comprehensive search strategy will be conducted to identify published controlled studies indexed in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library databases. Data on supervision outcomes in both psychotherapists and their patients will be extracted, synthesized, and reported. Risk of bias and quality of the included studies will be assessed systematically.

DISCUSSION: This systematic review will rigorously follow established guidelines for systematic reviews in order to summarize and present the evidence base for clinical supervision in cognitive-behavioral therapy and may aid further research and discussion in this area.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016046834.

Tool-use and tool-manufacture are thought to require high cognitive skills and have been considered as an exclusive attribute to primates. Recent observations of New Caledonian crows (NCCs) challenge this assumption. In this study 13 NCCs were tested with two different tool production tasks. The NCC either had to straighten a hook or bend a stick to retrieve food from two different kinds of tree trunks. The result showed that 3/5 birds bent sticks and used them to retrieve food and 1/5 birds straightened hooks to retrieve food. The birds managed to solve both tasks but not the birds in the control group. This indicates that NCC's tool making is a flexible innovative act and not just an innate predisposition to bend flexible material. This finding is interesting given that recent studies on human children show that below 8 years of age children fail in similar innovative tool making tasks.

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to study the effects of background noise and hearing attenuation associated with earplugs on three physiological measures, assumed to be markers of effort investment and arousal, during interactive communication. Method: Twelve pairs of older people (average age of 63.2 years) with ageadjusted normal hearing took part in a face-to-face communication to solve a Diapix task. Communication was held in different levels of babble noise (0, 60, and 70 dBA) and with two levels of hearing attenuation (0 and 25 dB) in quiet. The physiological measures obtained included pupil size, heart rate variability, and skin conductance. In addition, subjective ratings of perceived communication success, frustration, and effort were obtained. Results: Ratings of perceived success, frustration, and effort confirmed that communication was more difficult in noise and with approximately 25-dB hearing attenuation and suggested that the implemented levels of noise and hearing attenuation resulted in comparable communication difficulties. Background noise at 70 dBA and hearing attenuation both led to an initial increase in pupil size (associated with effort), but only the effect of the background noise was sustained throughout the conversation. The 25-dB hearing attenuation led to a significant decrease of the high-frequency power of heart rate variability and a significant increase of skin conductance level, measured as the average z value of the electrodermal activity amplitude. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that several physiological measures appear to be viable indicators of changing communication conditions, with pupillometry and cardiovascular as well as electrodermal measures potentially being markers of communication difficulty.

Auditory attention identification methods attempt to identify the sound source of a listeners interest by analyzing measurements of electrophysiological data. We present a tutorial on the numerous techniques that have been developed in recent decades, and we present an overview of current trends in multivariate correlation-based and model-based learning frameworks. The focus is on the use of linear relations between electrophysiological and audio data. The way in which these relations are computed differs. For example, canonical correlation analysis (CCA) finds a linear subset of electrophysiological data that best correlates to audio data and a similar subset of audio data that best correlates to electrophysiological data. Model-based (encoding and decoding) approaches focus on either of these two sets. We investigate the similarities and differences between these linear model philosophies. We focus on (1) correlation-based approaches (CCA), (2) encoding/decoding models based on dense estimation, and (3) (adaptive) encoding/decoding models based on sparse estimation. The specific focus is on sparsity-driven adaptive encoding models and comparing the methodology in state-of-the-art models found in the auditory literature. Furthermore, we outline the main signal processing pipeline for how to identify the attended sound source in a cocktail party environment from the raw electrophysiological data with all the necessary steps, complemented with the necessary MATLAB code and the relevant references for each step. Our main aim is to compare the methodology of the available methods, and provide numerical illustrations to some of them to get a feeling for their potential. A thorough performance comparison is outside the scope of this tutorial.

Objectives Selectively attending to a target talker while ignoring multiple interferers (competing talkers and background noise) is more difficult for hearing-impaired (HI) individuals compared to normal-hearing (NH) listeners. Such tasks also become more difficult as background noise levels increase. To overcome these difficulties, hearing aids (HAs) offer noise reduction (NR) schemes. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of NR processing (inactive, where the NR feature was switched off,vs.active, where the NR feature was switched on) on the neural representation of speech envelopes across two different background noise levels [+3 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and +8 dB SNR] by using a stimulus reconstruction (SR) method. Design To explore how NR processing supports the listeners selective auditory attention, we recruited 22 HI participants fitted with HAs. To investigate the interplay between NR schemes, background noise, and neural representation of the speech envelopes, we used electroencephalography (EEG). The participants were instructed to listen to a target talker in front while ignoring a competing talker in front in the presence of multi-talker background babble noise. Results The results show that the neural representation of the attended speech envelope was enhanced by the active NR scheme for both background noise levels. The neural representation of the attended speech envelope at lower (+3 dB) SNR was shifted, approximately by 5 dB, toward the higher (+8 dB) SNR when the NR scheme was turned on. The neural representation of the ignored speech envelope was modulated by the NR scheme and was mostly enhanced in the conditions with more background noise. The neural representation of the background noise was modulated (i.e., reduced) by the NR scheme and was significantly reduced in the conditions with more background noise. The neural representation of the net sum of the ignored acoustic scene (ignored talker and background babble) was not modulated by the NR scheme but was significantly reduced in the conditions with a reduced level of background noise. Taken together, we showed that the active NR scheme enhanced the neural representation of both the attended and the ignored speakers and reduced the neural representation of background noise, while the net sum of the ignored acoustic scene was not enhanced. Conclusion Altogether our results support the hypothesis that the NR schemes in HAs serve to enhance the neural representation of speech and reduce the neural representation of background noise during a selective attention task. We contend that these results provide a neural index that could be useful for assessing the effects of HAs on auditory and cognitive processing in HI populations.

Att prestera inom arbetslivet är viktigt i dagens samhälle för att kunna utvecklas, få erfarenhet och kunna bedömas av sin chef. Tidigare forskning visar att vår personlighet spelar en stor roll i arbetslivet. Denna studie fokuserar på tre olika former av upplevd arbetsprestation, det vill säga uppgiftsbaserad arbetsprestation (vardagliga arbetsuppgifter), kontextuell arbetsprestation (initiativtagande utöver de vardagliga arbetsuppgifterna) och kontraproduktiv arbetsbeteende (arbetar emot verksamheten). Syftet med studien var att undersöka sambandet mellan aspekter av individuell arbetsprestation och personlighetsdimensioner. I studien användes test som mäter personlighet utifrån HEXACO (Mini-IPIP6) och Dark Triad (SD3), samt den individuella arbetsprestationen (IWPQ) för att undersöka samband mellan frågeformulären. I studien deltog 207 personer (M = 36.13 år, SD = 19 år; 109 män). Resultaten visade, som förväntat, att uppgiftsbaserad arbetsprestation var positivt relaterad (.35) till samvetsgrannhet och negativt (-.36) till neuroticism. Kontextuell arbetsprestation var bl.a positivt relaterad (.41) till öppenhet, vilket var den starkaste korrelationen. Kontraproduktiv arbetsbeteende visade starkast korrelation med neuroticism (.39). Studiens resultat tyder på att personlighetsdrag har betydelse för den upplevda individuella arbetsprestationen vilket kan vara behjälpligt vid personalutveckling.

Background: Having a child with autism spectrum disorder can have significant psychological effects on parents. This systematic review summarizes the current state of literature underscoring the impact of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on parents in Arab countries

Methods: A systematic search of seven databases (PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Google Scholar, ERIC, Academic Search Complete, and PsycINFO) was performed, which identified 24 studies (20 quantitative studies and four qualitative studies) that included 3,299 parents or caregivers of children with ASD. These studies were conducted in 10 Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Emirates, Palestine, Qatar, and Lebanon).

Results: The majority of the included studies found that ASD has a significant negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of Arab parents. It was found that parents of children with ASD have a poor quality of life (QoL) and an increased risk of psychological disorders. These findings were in contrast to findings of parents of typically developing children and children with other developmental disorders. Challenges faced by parents of children with ASD were associated with several child- and parent-related factors. The most common coping strategy used by parents was religious coping.

Conclusion: The impact of ASD on parents has only recently gained traction among researchers in Arab countries. Despite several knowledge gaps, published studies have provided useful information outlining the impact of ASD on parents in some of these countries. Further research comprising larger random samples and using varied research and data-collection methods is required to understand the multifaceted challenges experienced by parents raising children with ASD in Arab countries.

Dysregulated physiological stress reactivity has been suggested to impact the development of children and adolescents with important health consequences throughout the life span. Both environmental adversity and genetic predispositions can lead to physiological imbalances in stress systems, which in turn lead to developmental differences. We investigated genetic and environmental contributions to autonomic nervous system reactivity to a psychosocial stressor. Furthermore, we tested whether these effects were consistent with the differential susceptibility framework. Composite measures of adverse life events combined with socioeconomic status were constructed. Effects of these adversity scores in interaction with a polygenic score summarizing six genetic variants, which were hypothesized to work as susceptibility factors, were tested on autonomic nervous system measures as indexed by heart rate and heart rate variability. Results showed that carriers of more genetic variants and exposed to high adversity manifested enhanced heart rate variability reactivity to a psychosocial stressor compared to carriers of fewer genetic variants. Conversely, the stress procedure elicited a more moderate response in these individuals compared to carriers of fewer variants when adversity was low.

This study aims to theoretically investigate the concepts of the interpersonal actions 'to motivate' and 'to manipulate' and also to examine possible differences and similarities between the two. The method used is a conceptual review based on the Self-Determination Theory, related to the concept of motivation, and Machiavellianism, related to the concept of manipu-lation. The results show that 'to motivate', according to Self-Determination Theory, concerns influencing the intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, where intrinsic motivation is related to the feeling of self-determination, inner locus of causality, being or feeling competent and exercise activities for the pleasure of it, whilst extrinsic motivation is related to external locus of cau-sality, external pressure and engaging in activities for the purpose of reaching a goal or re-ward. 'To manipulate' is according to Machiavellianism based on the manipulator doing whatever it takes to reach a certain goal and gain something for himself with no regard of what methods being used. The comparative analysis showed that the crucial difference in how an behaviour is interpreted as either, or both, motivating and manipulative is based on who is doing the interpretation, what information she has and which aspects that are focused on.

This paper defines a broad model of the psychosocial climate in educational settings. The model was developed from a general theory of learning environments, on a theory of human values and on empirical studies of children's evaluations of their schools. The contents of the model are creativity, stimulation, achievement, self-efficacy, creativity, safety, control, helpfulness, participation, responsibility and influence; they are hypothesised to be structured in a circular model. The contents are defined and related to existing theories and research in education, special education, educational psychology and sociology, on the basis of reviews of literature. The model underlies the Goals, Attitudes and Values in School questionnaire, developed to assess the characteristics ofeducational settings. The model can be a practical tool in understanding and appreciating differences between learning environments in research and assessment and it could represent a guideline for interventions aimed to analyse and improve the social climate of learning environments.

This study investigated to what extent, and under what circumstances, pair collaboration influences the realism in eyewitness confidence in event memory. The participants first saw a short film clip and then confidence rated their answers to questions on its content. A condition (the Individual–Pair condition) where individual effort preceded pair collaboration showed better calibration compared with a condition (the Simple Pair condition) where no individual effort took place. Furthermore, within the Individual–Pair condition, better calibration, and lower overconfidence, were found in the pair phase compared with the individual phase. The eyewitnesses in the Individual–Pair condition made more realistic judgements of the total number of questions answered correctly. In a control experiment no effect on realism in confidence was found when individuals performed the same task twice. The improved realism in the Individual–Pair condition may partly be explained in terms of the increased accuracy and lowered confidence found for such items where the pair members’ had given different answers in the individual phase, and by a risky shift effect for such items where they had given the same answer.