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Background: Intrusive mental imagery (MI) plays a crucial role in the maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. Evidence on the characteristics of MI in adolescents suffering from PTSD is sparse. The aim of this study was to thoroughly assess MI in an adolescent sample suffering from PTSD after the experience of childhood sexual abuse and/or childhood physical abuse (CA).
Methods: Thirty-two adolescents with a primary diagnosis of PTSD after CA and 32 adolescents without any mental disorder and without a history of CA, matched for age and gender, completed questionnaires assessing the characteristics of negative and positive MI, as well as images of injury and death that lead to positive emotions (ID-images).
Results: The PTSD group reported significantly more frequent, more vivid, more distressing and more strongly autobiographically linked negative MI compared to the control group. Although positive MI was highly present in both groups (PTSD: 65.6%; controls: 71.9%), no significant differences emerged between the two groups regarding the distinct characteristics of positive MI. The frequency of the ID-images did not significantly differ between the two groups (PTSD: 21.9%; controls: 9.4%), although the ID-images were more vivid in the PTSD group.
Discussion: Negative MI appears to be crucial in adolescent PTSD, whilst positive MI are unexpectedly common in both the PTSD and the control group. The role of positive MI as well as that of ID-images remain unclear. Specific interventions for changing negative MI that are tailored to the developmental challenges in adolescents with PTSD should be developed.
Trial registration: Some of the PTSD patients in this study were also part of a randomized controlled trial on Developmentally adapted Cognitive Processing Therapy (D-CPT). This trial was registered at the German Clinical Trial Registry (GCTR), DRKS00004787, 18 March 2013.
Background: Standardized neuropsychological testing serves to quantify cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. However, the exact mechanism underlying the translation of cognitive dysfunction into difficulties in everyday tasks has remained unclear. To answer this question, we tested if MS patients with intact vs. impaired information processing speed measured by the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) differ in their visual search behavior during ecologically valid tasks reflecting everyday activities.
Methods: Forty-three patients with relapsing-remitting MS enrolled in an eye-tracking experiment consisting of a visual search task with naturalistic images. Patients were grouped into “impaired” and “unimpaired” according to their SDMT performance. Reaction time, accuracy and eye-tracking parameters were measured.
Results: The groups did not differ regarding age, gender, and visual acuity. Patients with impaired SDMT (cut-off SDMT-z-score < −1.5) performance needed more time to find and fixate the target (q = 0.006). They spent less time fixating the target (q = 0.042). Impaired patients had slower reaction times and were less accurate (both q = 0.0495) even after controlling for patients' upper extremity function. Exploratory analysis revealed that unimpaired patients had higher accuracy than impaired patients particularly when the announced target was in unexpected location (p = 0.037). Correlational analysis suggested that SDMT performance is inversely linked to the time to first fixation of the target only if the announced target was in its expected location (r = −0.498, p = 0.003 vs. r = −0.212, p = 0.229).
Conclusion: Dysfunctional visual search behavior may be one of the mechanisms translating cognitive deficits into difficulties in everyday tasks in MS patients. Our results suggest that cognitively impaired patients search their visual environment less efficiently and this is particularly evident when top-down processes have to be employed.
Stress influences health not only directly, but also indirectly through changes in health-related behaviours, such as diet. Research has shown that stress influences individuals’ eating behaviour in different ways: Some increase, some decrease food intake, while others show no change. Identifying individuals at risk for stress-induced eating is essential for the development of tailored strategies for the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity. The individual-difference model of stress-induced eating suggests that individual differences in the dietary response to stress are determined by differences in learning history, attitudes, or biology. Even though many studies have tried to identify person-characteristics that explain individual differences in the dietary response to stress, evidence remains inconclusive. Considering that eating is a repeated-occurrence health behaviour which is performed multiple times a day, Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) seems particularly promising to study the complex relationship between stress and food intake when and where it naturally occurs. Despite its potential, the number of studies applying EMA to assess the stress and eating relationship is limited. Furthermore, previous EMA studies show two limitations: (1) Actual food intake is not assessed and (2) inappropriate data analysis approaches are applied to semicontinuous outcomes. Therefore, the first aim of the present dissertation was to address the lack of an EMA tool that allows the assessment of stress and actual food intake by developing and evaluating the APPetite-mobile-app. Feasibility and usability of the APPetite-mobile-app as well as validity of the incorporated food record were empirically examined (Paper 1). Given the lack of an appropriate data analysis procedure, the second aim of the present dissertation was the introduction of a sophisticated statistical approach for semicontinuous data (Paper 2): Multilevel two-part modelling allows studying the influence of stress on the occurrence (i.e., whether individuals eat) as well as the amount of food intake (i.e., how much individuals eat) while accounting for the potential dependency between the two. Lastly, the novel EMA tool and the advanced data analysis procedure were integrated in order to gain novel insights into individual differences in the dietary response to stress and thereby identify individuals at risk for stress-induced eating in daily life (Paper 3). Results of Paper 1 showed good feasibility and acceptable usability of the APPetite-mobile-app as well as validity of the incorporated food record. Findings of Paper 2 highlight that multilevel two-part models offer novel and distinct insights in terms of the occurrence and the amount of food intake and are therefore not only methodologically but also conceptually promising. Paper 3 provides first evidence that the dietary response to stress might not be as stable as yet assumed. Time-varying factors might moderate the relationship between stress and actual food intake. Therefore, an expansion of the individual-difference model is proposed which accounts for time-varying factors. Further EMA studies are needed to verify the expanded model and identify time-varying factors which influence the dietary response to stress. Beyond that, improvements in the dietary assessment are required in order to allow prolonged EMA periods as well as larger samples. The present dissertation contributes to the research on the stress and eating relationship as it overcomes limitations of previous EMA studies and yields novel insights into the relationship between stress and actual food intake in daily life. Not only identifying individuals at risk for stress-induced eating, but also the identification of situations with an increased risk for stress-induced eating appears to be important for the development of targeted strategies for the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity.
Based on stereotype threat and stereotype lift theory, this study explores implicit stereotype threat effects of gender stereotypes on the performance of primary school children in mathematics. Moreover, effects of implicit gender stereotypical cues (gender-specific task material) on motivational aspects were explored, which have revealed mixed results in stereotype threat research in the past. N = 151 German primary school children (47.7% female; mean age: M = 9.81, SD = 0.60) calculated either stereotypical or neutral mathematical text problems before motivational aspects were assessed. Contradicting our expectations, results neither revealed a stereotype threat effect on girls’ performance nor a lift effect on the boys. Instead, girls calculating stereotypical tasks outperformed girls in the control group, whereas boys’ performance did not significantly differ compared to the control group. Regarding motivational aspects, only traditional gender differences emerged as girls reported significantly more pressure and tension calculating the mathematical tasks. The discussion focuses on the way in which stereotypes can affect children’s cognitive performance and in turn, their mathematical performance.
The intergroup sensitivity effect in mergers and acquisitions: testing the role of merger motives
(2021)
Research has shown that people are more defensive to criticism when it stems from an outgroup member, compared to an ingroup member (the intergroup sensitivity effect: ISE). We conducted two online vignette experiments to examine the ISE in the context of an organizational merger and the role of merger motives for the ISE. We predicted that the ISE would also emerge in mergers and acquisitions (M&As), but people would respond less negatively to criticism from the outgroup when the motive for the merger is described as achieving synergies rather than growth. In Experiment 1 (N = 452), which did not mention any motives behind the acquisition, a significant ISE emerged. Experiment 2 (N = 587) again showed an ISE regardless of the merger motive. In both experiments, the ISE was mediated by perceptions of the outgroup criticism as less legitimate and constructive. Overall, this research points to the intergroup sensitivity effect as a relevant phenomenon during post-merger integration.
Although resilience is a multi-level process, research largely focuses on the individual and little is known about how resilience may distinctly present at the group level. Even less is known about subjective conceptualizations of resilience at either level. Therefore, two studies sought to better understand how individuals conceptualize resilience both as an individual and as a group. Study 1 (N = 123) experimentally manipulated whether participants reported on either individual or group-based responses to real stressors and analysed their qualitative responses. For individual responses, subjective resilience featured active coping most prominently, whereas social support was the focus for group-based responses. As these differences might be attributable to the different stressors people remembered in either condition, Study 2 (N = 171) held a hypothetical stressor (i.e., natural disaster) constant. As expected, resilience at the group level emphasized maintaining group cohesion. Surprisingly, the group condition also reported increased likelihood to engage in blame, denial, and behavioural disengagement. Contrary to expectations, participants in the individual condition reported stronger desire to seek out new groups. The combined findings are discussed within the framework of resilience and social identity and highlight the necessity of accounting for multiple levels and subjective conceptualizations of resilience.
The papers in this Special Issue Part I “Revisioning, Rethinking, Restructuring Gender at Work: Quo Vadis Gender Stereotypes?” focus on the current state of gender inequality, particularly stereotypes. We present studies showing that differences in gender stereotypes still exist, confirm disadvantages for women in male-dominated roles and sectors and when the employment sector is not specified, but also disadvantages for men in female-dominated roles and sectors. In contrast to this general trend, one paper in Part II of this Special Issue found a preference for women over men as job candidates in their study. Incongruence emerged as a striking common theme to explain these gender differences, whereby some studies focused on the perceived incongruence from the actor's perspective and how external factors contribute to these perceptions, whereas others looked at the perceived incongruence from the observer's perspective. We summarize the papers and briefly discuss the key points of Part I at the end of this editorial.
The present diary study was conducted for the purpose of bridging and integrating empirical research on the antecedents and consequences of work-related ruminative processes in the evening. Based on the control theory, unfinished tasks and fatigue in the afternoon were considered as antecedents of affective rumination, while vitality was investigated as the outcome observed in the next morning to test for cyclical processes. During a 5-day diary study (including 3 weekdays and the weekend), 74 beginning teachers completed three diary entries per day. A total of 795 diary entries were obtained. Using multilevel structural equation modeling, the study supported that both fatigue and unfinished tasks explained unique shares of variance of affective rumination in the evening at the between- and within-person levels. Furthermore, affective rumination mediated the relationship between unfinished tasks and vitality as well as fatigue and vitality. However, this only held true at the between- and not the within-person level, as neither affective rumination nor fatigue and unfinished tasks predicted the following morning’s vitality at this level. The results offer insights into the antecedents of affective rumination and add to extant research on the negative consequences of affective rumination considering vitality as an outcome.
Im Rahmen der fortschreitenden Digitalisierung der Hochschullehre finden auch verstärkt elektronische Prüfungsformate Eingang in den Alltag von Hochschulen. Insbesondere elektronische Abschlussklausuren (E-Klausuren) bieten hier die Möglichkeit, die Prüfungsbelastung Hochschulehrender durch die Automatisierung weiter Teile der Klausurkonstruktion, -administration und -auswertung zu reduzieren. Die Integration digitaler Technologien in die Prüfungspraxis deutscher Hochschulen ermöglicht dabei nicht nur eine ökonomische Klausurkonstruktion, realitätsnähere Klausuren (z. B. durch die Nutzung fachspezifischer Standardsoftware), und den Einsatz innovativer Testbausteine (z. B. Integration von Multimediadateien in Items), sondern auch die Nutzung aktueller psychometrischer Methoden. Insbesondere die Konstruktion von Hochschulklausuren als kriteriumsorientierte, adaptive Tests (z. B. Spoden & Frey, 2021), hat das Potential Hochschulklausuren individualisierter, messpräzisier und fairer zu machen, sowie die Validität der aus der Klausurbearbeitung abgeleiteten Testwertinterpretationen zu steigern. Um kriteriumsorientierte, adaptive Hochschulklausuren in der Breite nutzbar zu machen, müssen allerdings zuvor einige Herausforderungen gemeistert werden, denen sich diese Arbeit widmet. Die in den vier Einzelarbeiten dieser Dissertation betrachteten Herausforderungen lassen sich auf einer psychometrischen, einer personalen und einer technischen Ebene verorten.
Auf der psychometrischen Ebene ist eine zentrale Herausforderung die ökonomische Kalibrierung des Itempools. Üblicherweise wird bei der Konstruktion adaptiver Tests eine dreistellige Anzahl an Items konstruiert und mittels einer separaten Kalibrierungsstudie im Vorlauf der operationalen Testanwendung mit mehreren hundert Testpersonen kalibriert. Die massierte Konstruktion vieler Items und die Durchführung einer zusätzlichen empirischen Studie lässt sich im Rahmen von Hochschulklausuren nur schwer realisieren. Im ersten Einzelbeitrag wird daher eine neuartige kontinuierliche Kalibrierungsstrategie (KKS) vorgestellt und im Rahmen einer Monte-Carlo-Simulation hinsichtlich ihrer psychometrischen Eigenschaften geprüft. Zusammenfassend ermöglicht die KKS, adaptive Tests während wiederkehrender Testanwendungen bei konstanter Berichtsmetrik, Kontrolle von Itemparameter-Drift und fortlaufender Ergänzung des Itempools zu kalibrieren. Es zeigt sich, dass die KKS selbst für sehr kleine Stichproben eine geeignete Methode darstellt, den Itempool über mehrere Testanwendungen hinweg fortlaufend zu kalibrieren.
Um die Berichtsmetrik dabei über die verschiedenen Testanwendungen hinweg konstant zu halten, und somit Vergleichbarkeit der Ergebnisse verschiedener Testzeitpunkte (z. B. Semester) zu gewährleisten, nutzt die KKS Equating-Methoden (z. B. Kolen & Brennan, 2014) zum Herstellen einer statistischen Verbindung zwischen Klausurdurchläufen. Die Qualität dieser statistischen Verbindung hängt dabei von verschiedenen Parametern ab. Im zweiten Einzelbeitrag werden daher verschiedene Konfigurationen der in die KKS implementierten Equating-Prozedur hinsichtlich ihres Einflusses auf die Qualität der Parameterschätzungen im Rahmen einer Monte-Carlo-Simulation untersucht und auf Basis der Ergebnisse praktische Empfehlungen abgleitet. Hierfür werden unter anderem die Schwierigkeitsverteilung der genutzten Linkitems sowie die verwendete Skalentransformationsmethode variiert. Es zeigt sich, dass die KKS unter verschiedenen Konfigurationen in der Lage ist, die Skala über mehrere Testzyklen hinweg konstant zu halten. Normal- beziehungsweise gleichverteile Schwierigkeitsverteilungen der Linkitems sowie die Stocking-Lord-Skalentransformationsmethode (Stocking & Lord, 1983) erweisen sich hierbei am vorteilhaftesten.
Auf personaler Ebene stellt die Akzeptanz seitens der Hochschullehrenden einen kritischen Erfolgsfaktor für die Implementation neuer E-Learning Systeme in Lehrveranstaltungen dar. Angelehnt an Technologieakzeptanzmodellen (z. B. Technology Acceptance Model; Davis, 1989) wird im dritten Einzelbeitrag ein empirisch prüfbares Modell – das Technology-based Exams Acceptance Model (TEAM) – zur Vorhersage der Intention zur Nutzung von adaptiven und nicht-adaptiven E-Klausursystemen seitens Hochschullehrender vorgeschlagen und anhand der Daten von N = 993 deutschen Hochschullehrenden empirisch geprüft. Das postulierte Modell weist einen guten Modellfit auf. Die Ergebnisse weisen die wahrgenommene Nützlichkeit als Schlüsselprädiktor für die Nutzungsintention aus. Medienbezogene Variablen haben indirekte Effekte auf die wahrgenommene Nützlichkeit, mediiert über vorherige Nutzungserfahrungen mit Bildungstechnologien. Darüber hinaus spielt die subjektive Norm eine wichtige Rolle bei der Erklärung der Akzeptanz von E-Klausuren...
Über zwei Drittel aller Menschen erleben in ihrem Leben mindestens ein traumatisches Ereignis (Kessler et al., 2017). Gerade nach interpersonellen Traumatisierungen ist die Rate der Betroffenen, welche eine posttraumatische Belastungsstörung (PTBS) entwickeln, sehr hoch (z. B. ca. 50% nach sexuellem Missbrauch; Hauffa et al., 2011). In der Vergangenheit wurden Angst- und Ohnmachtsgefühle als zentrale der PTBS zu Grunde liegende Emotionen aufgefasst (Foa & Kozak, 1986). Neuere Forschungsbefunde legen jedoch nahe, dass traumabezogene Schuld- und Schamgefühle auch eine wichtige Rolle bei der Entstehung und Aufrechterhaltung der PTBS spielen (z. B. Badour et al., 2017). Dabei leiden besonders Betroffene von interpersonellen Gewalterfahrungen unter diesen Gefühlen (z. B. Badour et al., 2017).
Im Hinblick auf die psychotherapeutische Behandlung der PTBS haben sich traumafokussierte Verfahren als wirksam erwiesen (z. B. Lewis et al., 2020). Hohe Drop-out (z. B. Swift & Greenberg, 2014) und Nonresponse Raten (Fonzo et al., 2020) geben jedoch Hinweise darauf, dass nicht allen PTBS Patient*innen mit diesen Verfahren ausreichend geholfen werden kann, wobei insbesondere Patient*innen mit interpersonellen Traumatisierungen weniger gut davon zu profitieren scheinen (z. B. Karatzias et al., 2019). Zudem hat sich gezeigt, dass Schuldgefühle auch nach einer erfolgreichen PTBS Behandlung weiter persistieren (Larsen et al., 2019). Demnach besteht ein Bedarf an alternativen Therapieverfahren für Patient*innen mit interpersonellen Traumatisierungen und/oder Schuld- und Schamgefühlen.
Besonders vielversprechend sind hierbei achtsamkeitsbasierte Interventionen, die bereits in der PTBS Behandlung eine zunehmend bedeutsame Rolle spielen (Hopwood & Schutte, 2017). Eine wichtige Voraussetzung für die weitere Erforschung dieser Interventionen sind valide und reliable Verfahren zur Veränderungsmessung von Achtsamkeit (Isbel et al., 2020). So scheinen bisherige Studien jedoch hauptsächlich fragebogenbasierte Maße zur Erfassung von Veränderungen in Trait-Achtsamkeit eingesetzt zu haben, obwohl diese Interventionen eher auf die Steigerung von State-Achtsamkeit abzielen (Goodman et al., 2017). Darüber hinaus kristallisierten sich methodische Kritikpunkte in Bezug auf die Validität von Fragebögen zur Erfassung von Trait-Achtsamkeit heraus (van Dam et al., 2018). Demgegenüber erfassen Experience-Sampling Ansätze (z. B. Mindful-Breathing Exercise, MBE; Burg & Michalak, 2011) eher Aspekte der State-Achtsamkeit, sind jedoch in klinischen Untersuchungsstichproben bisher kaum untersucht worden. Darauf aufbauend fokussierte die erste Forschungsfrage der Dissertation die Untersuchung der MBE im klinischen Kontext. Ein Hauptbefund der Studie zeigte, dass die MBE bei PTBS Patient*innen hinsichtlich ihres Prädiktionswertes für die PTBS Symptome Übererregung und Intrusionen gegenüber fragebogenbasierter Trait-Achtsamkeit überlegen war. Mögliche Wirkmechanismen achtsamkeitsbasierter Interventionen könnten demnach durch den Einsatz der MBE besonders gut abgebildet werden.
Innerhalb der achtsamkeitsbasierten Interventionen kommt in der Behandlung der PTBS am häufigsten die Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 2013) als standardisierte Gruppenintervention zum Einsatz (Boyd et al., 2018). Jedoch scheint die MBSR insbesondere für PTBS Patient*innen mit interpersonellen Traumatisierungen nicht eins-zu-eins anwendbar zu sein (Müller-Engelmann et al., 2017). Buddhistische Metta-Meditationen (dt.: Liebende Güte; Salzberg, 2002) sind vor diesem Hintergrund eine vielversprechende Ergänzung zu achtsamkeitsbasierten Interventionen. Metta-Meditationen zielen darauf ab, sich selbst sowie allen anderen Lebewesen bedingungsloses Wohlwollen und Freundlichkeit entgegen zu bringen (Bodhi, 2010). Metta-Meditationen sind noch weniger gut in der klinischen Forschung etabliert. Erste Befunde deuten jedoch darauf hin, dass sie bei PTBS Patient*innen zu einer Reduktion der PTBS Symptomatik führen können (z. B. Kearney et al., 2021). Folglich wurde im Rahmen der zweiten Forschungsfrage eine neue Intervention entwickelt und evaluiert, welche sich an den Bedürfnissen von PTBS Patient*innen mit interpersonellen Traumatisierungen orientiert. Sie kombiniert kürzere, PTBS spezifische Achtsamkeitsübungen mit angepassten Übungen aus MBSR sowie Metta-Meditationen (= Trauma-MILOKI). Trauma-MILOKI zeigte sich in einer multiplen Baseline Studie wirksam zur Reduktion der PTBS Symptome sowie zur Steigerung des Wohlbefindens.
Ein Wirkmechanismus von Metta-Meditationen ist die Förderung positiver Emotionen sowie des Gefühls sozialer Verbundenheit (Salzberg, 2002), weswegen sie auch besonders gut geeignet scheinen, traumabezogene Schuld- und Schamgefühle zu reduzieren. Darüber hinaus haben sich unter den etablierten Therapieverfahren v. a. kognitive Ansätze zur Reduktion von Schuldgefühlen als wirksam erwiesen (Resick et al., 2008)...
Background: Hebb repetition learning is a form of long-term serial order learning that can occur when sequences of items in an immediate serial recall task are repeated. Repetition improves performance because of the gradual integration of serial order information from short-term memory into a more stable long-term memory trace.
Aims: The current study assessed whether adolescents with non-specific intellectual disabilities showed Hebb repetition effects, and if their magnitude was equivalent to those of children with typical development, matched for mental age.
Methods: Two immediate serial recall Hebb repetition learning tasks using verbal and visuospatial materials were presented to 47 adolescents with intellectual disabilities (11–15 years) and 47 individually mental age-matched children with typical development (4–10 years).
Results: Both groups showed Hebb repetition learning effects of similar magnitude, albeit with some reservations. Evidence for Hebb repetition learning was found for both verbal and visuospatial materials; for our measure of Hebb learning the effects were larger for verbal than visuospatial materials.
Conclusions: The findings suggested that adolescents with intellectual disabilities may show implicit long-term serial-order learning broadly commensurate with mental age level. The benefits of using repetition in educational contexts for adolescents with intellectual disabilities are considered.
Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on education worldwide. There is increased discussion of possible negative effects on students’ learning outcomes and the need for targeted support. We examined fourth graders’ reading achievement based on a school panel study, representative on the student level, with N = 111 elementary schools in Germany (total: N = 4,290 students, age: 9–10 years). The students were tested with the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study instruments in 2016 and 2021. The analysis focused on (1) total average differences in reading achievement between 2016 and 2021, (2) average differences controlling for student composition, and (3) changes in achievement gaps between student subgroups (i.e., immigration background, socio-cultural capital, and gender). The methodological approach met international standards for the analysis of large-scale assessments (i.e., multiple multi-level imputation, plausible values, and clustered mixed-effect regression). The results showed a substantial decline in mean reading achievement. The decline corresponds to one-third of a year of learning, even after controlling for changes in student composition. We found no statistically significant changes of achievement gaps between student subgroups, despite numerical tendencies toward a widening of achievement gaps between students with and without immigration background. It is likely that this sharp achievement decline was related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are discussed in terms of further research needs, practical implications for educating current student cohorts, and educational policy decisions regarding actions in crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic prompted people and institutions to turn to online virtual environments for a wide variety of social gatherings. In this perspectives article, we draw upon our previous work and interviews with Ghanaian Christian leaders to consider implications of this shift. Specifically, we propose that the shift from physical to virtual interactions mimics and amplifies the neoliberal individualist experience of abstraction from place associated with Eurocentric modernity. On the positive side, the shift from physical to virtual environments liberates people to selectively pursue the most fulfilling interactions, free from constraints of physical distance. On the negative side, the move from physical to virtual space necessitates a shift from material care and tangible engagement with the local community to the psychologization of care and pursuit of emotional intimacy in relations of one’s choosing—a dynamic that further marginalizes people who are already on the margins. The disruptions of the pandemic provide an opportunity to re-set social relations, to design ways of being that better promote sustainable collective well-being rather than fleeting personal fulfillment.
Social pain is an emotional reaction to social exclusion which has been widely investigated in experimental settings. We developed the Social Pain Questionnaire (SPQ) and examined its factor structure, reliability, and construct validity. We constructed a 46-item pool that covered a broad range of situations related to social pain. Using three different subsamples (Online convenience sample: n = 623, Representative sample: n = 2531, Clinical sample of outpatients seeking psychotherapy: n = 270) we reduced the item pool to 10 items for the final SPQ scale, paying particular attention to content validity and factorial structure. Convergent, divergent and discriminant validity were assessed using standardized measures of related constructs and group differences. For the final 10-item version, a good factorial structure and reliability were found. Convergent validity was supported by correlations with related instruments of interpersonal sensitivity, attachment styles, depression and social anxiety. The representative and clinical sample differed significantly in social pain. The SPQ is an economic self-report measure with solid psychometric properties. Our data support the factorial, construct and convergent validity. The SPQ can be used to clarify the role of social pain in mental disorders and to incorporate interventions targeted towards social pain in psychotherapeutic settings.
Im Bobsport herrscht Konsens, dass die Startphase von zentraler Bedeutung für eine gute Endzeit ist. Dennoch hat sich die Sportwissenschaft mit der Frage, wie der Bobstart gelingt, bis dato kaum auseinandergesetzt. Der Beitrag holt dies in Form einer leibphänomenologischen Analyse der Startphase im Viererbob nach, indem er sein Augenmerk sowohl auf die leibliche Kommunikation der Athleten untereinander als auch zwischen ihnen und ihrem Sportgerät richtet. Theoretisches Fundament hierfür ist die Leibphänomenologie von Hermann Schmitz, empirische Grundlage sind problemzentrierte Interviews mit acht Kaderathleten des Bob- und Schlittenverbands für Deutschland (BSD). Zentrales Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist erstens, dass für das Gelingen des Viererbobstarts vor allem die antagonistisch-einseitige Einleibung der Athleten untereinander wie auch der Athleten mit dem Bob bedeutsam ist. Zweitens erweist sich die solidarische Einleibung der Athleten als wichtige Bedingung und gleichermaßen spürbarer Ausdruck eines gelungenen Viererbobstarts. Der Text präsentiert damit einen vollkommen neuen Blick auf den Bobsport. Mit seinem theoretisch-konzeptionellen Fokus auf leibliche Kommunikation im Sport liefert er darüber hinausgehend einen innovativen Beitrag zur phänomenologischen Sportforschung, wie er generell die fruchtbare Verbindung von Philosophie und empirischer Sportwissenschaft belegt.
Individualization can be defined as the adaptation of instructional parameters to relevant characteristics of a specific learner. This definition raises several questions, however: Which characteristics are actually relevant? Which parameters of instruction need to be adjusted, and in which way, to positively interact with those characteristics? In a classroom context, additional questions arise: how can information about the relevant learner characteristics be delivered to the teacher? How can individualized instruction be delivered to each learner in a context that has originally been designed for whole-class instruction? By focusing on the measurement and modelling of learner characteristics and instructional adaptations, this dissertation aims to provide an insight into each of these issues.
This dissertation is divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the theoretical (Paper 1) and statistical (Paper 2) modeling of learner characteristics in the context of individualized instruction. The second part is concerned with the measurement (Paper 3) and implementation (Paper 4) of individualized instruction in the classroom context.
Paper 1 summarizes existing research on individualization from different research traditions. From this summary I derive the need for a dynamic conceptualization of learner characteristics (acknowledging that learners change during and in interaction with the learning process) and synthesize a dynamic framework that details the opportunities for individualization on three different timescales. Paper 2 reports results from an exploratory study that investigated the potential benefits of utilizing person-centered analysis for the assessment of multivariate learner prerequisites and their interaction with instruction. We found that latent profiles over several reading related abilities could explain differential effectiveness of self-reported teaching foci in German third grade reading lessons. These findings indicate not just a need for stronger individualization of teaching but also an advantage of multivariate conceptualizations of learner characteristics. Additionally, they show the utility of person-centered approaches for the investigation of such multivariate learner characteristics and their interaction with instruction.
In the second part, I investigate possible approaches to the implementation and measurement of individualization in a classroom context. Paper 3 investigates whether teacher-, student- and observer perspectives converge when rating the amount of individualization present in regular classroom instruction. We found considerable agreement between the perspectives, indicating a common understanding of the construct at the classroom level as well as providing some evidence for the validity of the used measurement instruments. Paper 4 replicates findings concerning the effectiveness of formative assessment procedures for fostering reading education, supplemented by a moderator analysis showing that only children with low performance at the beginning of the school-year profited from its implementation. This indicates that the information provided by formative assessment procedures helps teachers to identify struggling readers but does not seem to be utilized for adapting instruction to specific deficits of average or high performing children.
In sum, this dissertation contributes to research on individualized instruction by demonstrating necessary conditions for its effectiveness. It posits the need for a dynamic conceptualization of learner characteristics, demonstrates the advantage of multivariate learner profiles, and points out ways towards the successful implementation of individualized instruction in the classroom.
Recent research on the dynamics between attentional and memory processes have outlined the idea that applying control in a conflicting situation directly leads to enhanced episodic memory of the processed information. However, in spite of a small subset of studies supporting this claim, the majority of the evidence in the field seems to support the opposite pattern. In this study, we used a face–word Stroop task to enforce different control modes either from trial to trial or in an item-specific manner. Both manipulations of congruency proved to be effective in making participants’ responses to conflicting stimuli more efficient over time by applying a trial-specific control mode. However, these manipulations had no impact on memory performance on a surprise recognition memory test. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at measuring the memory consequences of the application of specific control modes at the trial level. The results reported here call for caution and possibly reconceptualization of the relationship between cognitive control and memory.