Text Vignettes Research Articles

An Auti-Sim Intervention: The Role of Perspective Taking in Combating Public Stigma with Virtual Simulations.

Public stigma associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly stems from judgments surrounding sensory overload symptoms. As individuals try and make sense of observed disordered behaviors of those with ASD, they are quick to develop dispositional attributions instead of acknowledging situational instigators. Interventions aimed at educating the lay public that disordered actions are a result of a biological causes have been successful in lessening perceptions of responsibility, yet foster an out-group perspective allowing prejudice attitudes and discriminatory behaviors to persist. The present study examines the short-term effectiveness of engagement with a virtual simulation, Auti-Sim, to combat stigma by giving lay people a first-person experience of sensory overload. To assess Auti-Sim, a between-subject, in-laboratory experimental design was employed. A total of 123 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 interventions (virtual simulation engagement, observation of simulation engagement, or reading text vignettes). Participants completed a brief pretest questionnaire, encountered the intervention, and then completed a post-test questionnaire. Engagement with the virtual simulation resulted in heightened perspective taking, which subsequently increased emotional concern, helping intentions, and willingness to volunteer compared with the observation only or text vignette intervention. Positive attitudes toward those with ASD did not differ across interventions. Fostering a different understanding of disordered action through a virtual simulation has the potential to elicit perspective taking and subsequent empathetic outcomes. Perspective taking seems to encourage perceptions of in-group belonging rather than out-group categorization and thus might be a desired outcome for stigma-reducing efforts.

Different Order, Different Results? The Effects of Dimension Order in Factorial Survey Experiments

Factorial surveys are widely used in the social sciences to measure respondents’ attitudes, beliefs, or behavioral intentions. In such surveys, respondents evaluate short descriptions of hypothetical situations, persons, or objects that vary across several dimensions. An important prerequisite of the method’s validity is that respondents are able to deal with the highly complex task created by the need to consider several variable dimensions within one coherent judgment. We analyze the effects of the order in which dimensions are presented in running text vignettes. An experimental setup with four order treatments was randomly allocated to 787 respondents (based on a random sample of register data), yielding 3,119 vignette evaluations. The analyses compare respondent groups across age, education, and response speed. Overall, there is no strong evidence for order effects. However, we find a slight tendency for fast responders to be more prone to recency effects.

The Factorial Survey: The Impact of the Presentation Format of Vignettes on Answer Behavior and Processing Time

The factorial survey is an experimental design in which the researcher constructs varying descriptions of situations or individual persons (vignettes), which will be judged by respondents with regard to a particular aspect. Some researchers present vignettes in text format as short stories, others present the central information of vignettes in a tabular format. To date, only a few sentences have been published, by Auspurg and Hinz, on the impact of the presentation format (text vs. table) on the answer behavior of students. Empirically, no differences were found between either format. Based on an Internet experiment conducted with a quota sample, we find evidence that ordinary tabular formats outperform text vignettes in terms of total vignette nonresponse but not when it comes to processing time. The former result especially applies in the case of less well-educated people. We further find that tabular format does not perform worse than text format regarding response inconsistency.

(306) The Unique and Interactive Effects of Patient Race, Patient Weight, and Provider Implicit Attitudes on Chronic Pain Treatment Decisions

Prior work suggests that providers are influenced by patient race and weight when making pain-related decisions. Providers with stronger implicit (automatic) attitudes about race and weight may be more likely to be influenced by these patient-level characteristics when making treatment decisions. In this multi-part study, we (a) examined the influence of patient race and weight on providers’ pain treatment decisions, (b) measured providers’ implicit attitudes about race and weight with two separate Implicit Association Tests, and (c) explored the extent to which providers’ attitudes predicted their treatment decisions. Ninety medical students (“providers”) viewed four videos of women with chronic low back pain completing a standardized sit-to-stand task who varied by race (Black/White) and weight (overweight/obese). Text vignettes with additional patient information accompanied the videos. For each patient, providers rated their likelihood of recommending opioids, a psychology referral, and disability compensation. Repeated measures ANOVAs indicated no main effects of patient race or weight on providers’ opioid decisions; however, providers were more likely to recommend a psychology referral for patients with obesity versus overweight [F(1,89)=9.79, p

(238) Sex Differences in Providers’ Pain Treatment Recommendations: The Role of Perceived Exaggeration

Sex differences are well-documented in chronic pain care. The reasons for these differences are multi-faceted and include provider-level factors, such as their perceptions of and treatment decisions for patients. To better understand provider factors, we recruited 400 medical residents and fellows who viewed 12 text vignettes and videos of computer-simulated male and female patients with chronic low back pain. Providers rated their likelihood of recommending different treatments for pain (opioid medications, physical therapy, pain specialist referrals) and the extent to which they perceived the patients to be exaggerating their pain. Paired samples t-tests indicated that providers were significantly more likely to recommend opioids (t(399)=-2.59, p=.01, d=.13) for male patients, but were more likely to recommend physical therapy (t(399)=2.53, p=.01, d=.13) and pain specialist referrals (t(399)=3.03, p

How University Lecturers’ Display of Emotion Affects Students’ Emotions, Failure Attributions, and Behavioral Tendencies in Germany, Russia, and the United States

In this study, we investigate whether the cultural-educational contexts in Russia, Germany, and the United States affect university students’ emotions, failure attributions, and behavioral tendencies after receiving negative achievement feedback from a lecturer. The 383 university students from Germany, Russia, and the United States participating in the study completed an online survey in which they read text vignettes of a university lecturer giving negative feedback to a student on his performance. We used a 2 × 3 × 3 experimental design to determine whether the negative feedback situation (private vs. public), the lecturer’s display of emotion (no emotion vs. anger vs. pity), and the cultural-educational contexts (German, Russian, U.S.) affected the participants’ judgment of the student’s affective and behavioral reactions to the negative feedback. Significant main effects and significant interactions were identified, for example, participants in Germany and in the United States reported stronger emotions in response to the negative feedback than the participants in Russia indicated. Also, compared with the participants in Germany and the United States, the participants in Russia attributed the student’s failure more often to external, unstable, and controllable factors and expected the student to adopt more approach tendencies after receiving the failure feedback. Furthermore, a culturally universal effect of emotional transmission between lecturer and student was found, as participants believed the student, for example, to feel anger when his lecturer displayed anger. Overall, the interplay of cultural-educational and situational contexts can affect the way students respond to the emotions a university lecturer displays, and those emotions can shape students’ learning behavior.

Illness perception, help-seeking attitudes, and knowledge related to obsessive-compulsive disorder across different ethnic groups: a community survey.

Despite similar prevalence rates across ethnicities, ethnic minorities with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are under-represented in research and clinical settings. The reasons for this disproportion have been sparsely studied. We explored potential differences in illness perception, help-seeking attitudes, illness knowledge, and causal attributions that could help explain the lower uptake of treatment for OCD amongst ethnic minorities. Two-hundred and ninety-three parents (139 White British, 61 Black African, 46 Black Caribbean, and 47 Indian) were recruited from the general population in South-East London, UK. Using a text vignette methodology, participants completed a survey including questions on illness perception, help-seeking attitudes, OCD knowledge, and causal attributions. The groups did not differ in socio-demographic characteristics and family history of OCD. White British parents perceived that the OCD difficulties would have more negative impact on their children and that treatment would be more helpful, compared to the ethnic minorities; the largest differences were observed between White British and Indian parents. Ethnic minorities were more prone to say that would seek help from their religious communities. Black African parents were more in favor of not seeking help for the described difficulties and, in general, perceived more treatment barriers. White British parents seemed to be better informed about OCD than ethnic minority parents. The results offer some plausible explanations for the large inequalities in access to services amongst ethnic minorities with OCD. Clinicians and policy-makers need to be aware of these socio-cultural factors when designing strategies to encourage help-seeking behaviors in these populations.

The effect of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness on therapists' assessment of patients' suicide risk

Objective: The interpersonal theory of suicide posits that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness are two causal interactive suicidal risk factors. The aim of this study was to examine whether therapists are affected by these factors upon assessing patients' suicide risk. Method: Using an experimental design, 388 mental health professionals were presented with a text vignette describing a hypothetical patient with either high or low perceived burdensomeness and with either high or low thwarted belongingness. Results: The findings revealed that both factors affected therapists' risk assessment of psychache, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt and resilience. Conclusions: The study results highlight the interpersonal theory as an important theory for understanding the factors upon which therapists and mental health professionals rely when assessing suicide risk.

Embracing the Visual: Using Timelines with In-depth Interviews on Substance Use and Treatment

People typically seek treatment for addiction only when faced with a major crisis. Understanding the trajectory of substance use and treatment seeking may assist in identifying points for intervention. In this study I explored the use of visual methods with in-depth interviews to represent people's substance use, critical events, and treatment pathways. Ethics approval was granted with the condition that only aggregate findings would be presented, although occasional quotes could be used for illustration. Typical timelines were developed, along with text vignettes describing hypothetical participants whose experience matched that shown in these timelines. Benefits of the timelines include the combination of aural and visual data, along with the concise and holistic form of presentation. However, the use of typical timelines and hypothetical vignettes meant a loss of the richness found in individual portrayals of experience. Alternative approaches, such as the use of individual and summary timelines with text illustrations would preserve the conciseness of representation while enabling the voice of the participant to be heard.

Using Vignette Testing to Measure Student Science Teachers’ Professional Competencies

Instruments to measure teachers’ professional competencies with good context validity have been discussed before. We propose a measuring instrument based on vignette testing that analyzes professional competencies for science education using extended teaching contexts. It assesses pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and compares it to pedagogical knowledge (PK). The test consists of text vignettes that describe authentically complex teaching situations in biology, chemistry and physics and then asks open-ended questions. It is analyzed by means of content analysis, thereby integrating quantitative and qualitative methods. The evaluation of the instrument is indicative of a valid measurement instrument and has shown promising potential for assessing competencies. We used the vignette test to compare the competencies of students in different training programs and with different educational backgrounds with the objective of improving science teacher education. The testing format developed in this study proved to be able to assess teachers’ professional competencies validly in their situational context of teaching. Results show a significant increase in competencies among science teacher students in the course of their training. The results of the control group (science students not pursuing a career in teaching) are remarkably poorer. Moreover, differences were identified when comparing the vignette based competency profiles of science teacher students and teacher students of other subjects, the latter scoring significantly lower in PCK. In addition, we compared competencies of students from different teacher training programs and found differences for students trained in interdisciplinary approaches (combining the disciplines biology, chemistry and physics) and students in separate-discipline approaches.

Neural correlates of irony comprehension: Role of schizotypal personality traits in healthy subjects and schizophrenia

Background : Recent work indicates inter-individual differences in schizotypal personality traits are associated with performance in comprehending nonliteral language such as irony and metaphors. Comprehension of nonliteral conversational remarks is known to be impaired in schizophrenia. We investigated the influence of schizotypal personality traits, measured with the SPQ, on the comprehension of ironic expressions in healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Methods : 15 female patients with DSM IV schizophrenia and 15 matched healthy female control subjects read ironic and literal text vignettes during a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. Results : Performance and BOLD response in the anterior cingulate and right hemisphere temporal regions showed a negative correlation with the SPQ across all subjects. Conclusions: We conclude that decreased BOLD response in both language comprehension and theory of mind networks is associated with schizotypal personality traits, although several limitations must be considered.

Isn't it ironic? Neural correlates of irony comprehension in schizophrenia.

Ironic remarks are frequent in everyday language and represent an important form of social cognition. Increasing evidence indicates a deficit in comprehension in schizophrenia. Several models for defective comprehension have been proposed, including possible roles of the medial prefrontal lobe, default mode network, inferior frontal gyri, mirror neurons, right cerebral hemisphere and a possible mediating role of schizotypal personality traits. We investigated the neural correlates of irony comprehension in schizophrenia by using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In a prosody-free reading paradigm, 15 female patients with schizophrenia and 15 healthy female controls silently read ironic and literal text vignettes during fMRI. Each text vignette ended in either an ironic (n = 22) or literal (n = 22) statement. Ironic and literal text vignettes were matched for word frequency, length, grammatical complexity, and syntax. After fMRI, the subjects performed an off-line test to detect error rate. In this test, the subjects indicated by button press whether the target sentence has ironic, literal, or meaningless content. Schizotypal personality traits were assessed using the German version of the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ). Patients with schizophrenia made significantly more errors than did the controls (correct answers, 85.3% vs. 96.3%) on a behavioural level. Patients showed attenuated blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response during irony comprehension mainly in right hemisphere temporal regions (ironic>literal contrast) and in posterior medial prefrontal and left anterior insula regions (for ironic>visual baseline, but not for literal>visual baseline). In patients with schizophrenia, the parahippocampal gyrus showed increased activation. Across all subjects, BOLD response in the medial prefrontal area was negatively correlated with the SPQ score. These results highlight the role of the posterior medial prefrontal and right temporal regions in defective irony comprehension in schizophrenia and the mediating role of schizotypal personality traits.

Assessment of clinical competencies using clinical images and videos“CIVA”

BackgroundThis paper describes an assessment approach of clinical competencies which widens the number of problems and tasks evaluated using videos and images.MethodClinical Image and Video Assessment (CIVA) was used to assess clinical reasoning and decision making of final year medical students. Forty to fifty clinical videos and images supported by rich text vignette and reviewed by subject matter experts were selected based on examination blueprints for analysis. CIVA scores were correlated with OSCE, Direct Observation Clinical Encounter Exam (DOCEE) and written exam scores, using the 2-sided Pearson correlation analysis, and their reliability was analyzed using Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient. Furthermore, students personally evaluated the CIVA using a 5- point Likert scale.ResultsCIVA and OSCE scores showed a high correlation (r = 0.83) in contrast with the correlation scores of the written examination (r = .36) and the DOCEE (r = 0.35). Cronbach’s Alpha for the OSCE and CIVA for the first batch was 0.71 and 0.78. As for the second batch it was 0.91 and 0.91 respectively. Eighty-two percent of students were very satisfied or satisfied with the CIVA process, contents and quality.ConclusionsA well constructed CIVA type assessment with a rich authentic vignette and good quality videos and images could be used to assess clinical reasoning and decision making of final year medical students. CIVA is an assessment tool which correlates well with OSCE, compliments the written and DOCEE and is easier to conduct at a possibly reduced cost.

Imaging first impressions: Distinct neural processing of verbal and nonverbal social information

First impressions profoundly influence our attitudes and behavior toward others. However, little is known about whether and to what degree the cognitive processes that underlie impression formation depend on the domain of the available information about the target person. To investigate the neural bases of the influence of verbal as compared to nonverbal information on interpersonal judgments, we identified brain regions where the BOLD signal parametrically increased with increasing strength of evaluation based on either short text vignettes or mimic and gestural behavior. While for verbal stimuli the increasing strength of subjective evaluation was correlated with increased neural activation of precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex (PC/PCC), a similar effect was observed for nonverbal stimuli in the amygdala. These findings support the assumption that qualitatively different cognitive operations underlie person evaluation depending upon the stimulus domain: while the processing of nonverbal person information may be more strongly associated with affective processing as indexed by recruitment of the amygdala, verbal person information engaged the PC/PCC that has been related to social inferential processing.

EVIDENCE FOR DECREASED FRONTO-STRIATAL FUNCTIONING IN SCHIZOPHRENIA DURING WORKING MEMORY

To detect that a conversational turn is intended to be ironic is a difficult challenge in everyday language comprehension. Most authors suggested a theory of mind deficit is crucial for irony comprehension deficits in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia; however, the underlying pathophysiology and neurobiology are unknown and recent research highlights the possible role of language comprehension abnormalities.Fifteen female right-handed subjects completed personality testing as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychology. Subjects were recruited from the general population. No subject had a lifetime history of relevant psychiatric disorder; however, subjects differed in their score on the German version of the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ). During fMRI scans, the subjects silently read 44 short text vignettes that ended in either an ironic or a literal statement. Imaging was performed using a 3 T Siemens scanner. The influence of schizotypy on brain activation was investigated by using an SPM5 regression analysis with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score as regressors.Reading ironic in contrast to literal sentences activated a bilateral network including left medial prefrontal and left inferior parietal gyri. During reading of ironic sentences, brain activation in the middle temporal gyrus of both hemispheres showed a significant negative association with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score. Significant positive correlation with the SPQ total score was present in the left inferior frontal gyrus. We conclude schizotypal personality traits are associated with a dysfunctional lateral temporal language rather than a theory of mind network.

How Black African and White British Women Perceive Depression and Help-Seeking: a Pilot Vignette Study

The detection of psychological problems of black African people has been found to be substantially lower, compared with white British and black Caribbean people. This may be due to differences in patients' perceptions of illness. Little research has been carried out on factors that may influence the help-seeking behaviour of black Africans. To assess differences in the perceptions of depression of black African and white British women that may influence lower detection and to investigate whether there are ethnic group differences in reasons for not seeking formal help. A short quantitative illness perception measure, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), was used in a community survey, using a standard text vignette methodology to control for variations in previous experiences of depression. Responses from women who indicated that they would not seek formal help for depressive symptoms were qualitatively analyzed. Differences in perceptions of depression were found between black African (n = 73) and white British groups (n = 72) on five of the nine BIPQ dimensions. Black women were more likely to perceive depression to have less serious consequences; to be associated with fewer symptoms; to be less chronic; to be less amenable to treatment; and more frequently attributed depression to social factors. Over half the participants (n = 74) said they would not seek formal help for depressive symptoms. Six qualitative response categories emerged to explain non-consultation. The most common factor for both groups related to GP consultation difficulties. Significantly more white women cited preferring alternative help sources as a reason for non-consultation. The greater number of black women citing anti-medication beliefs was marginally significant. There were no differences between the ethnic groups in their use of the remaining three categories: illness characteristics; service constraints; and stigma/shame. Differing perceptions of depression among black and white women could help explain GPs' lower detection rates of depressive problems of black women. Differences in views about the formal help available may explain ethnic differences in help-seeking.

Neural correlates of irony comprehension: The role of schizotypal personality traits

To detect that a conversational turn is intended to be ironic is a difficult challenge in everyday language comprehension. Most authors suggested a theory of mind deficit is crucial for irony comprehension deficits in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia; however, the underlying pathophysiology and neurobiology are unknown and recent research highlights the possible role of language comprehension abnormalities. Fifteen female right-handed subjects completed personality testing as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychology. Subjects were recruited from the general population. No subject had a lifetime history of relevant psychiatric disorder; however, subjects differed in their score on the German version of the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ). During fMRI scans, the subjects silently read 44 short text vignettes that ended in either an ironic or a literal statement. Imaging was performed using a 3 T Siemens scanner. The influence of schizotypy on brain activation was investigated by using an SPM5 regression analysis with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score as regressors. Reading ironic in contrast to literal sentences activated a bilateral network including left medial prefrontal and left inferior parietal gyri. During reading of ironic sentences, brain activation in the middle temporal gyrus of both hemispheres showed a significant negative association with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score. Significant positive correlation with the SPQ total score was present in the left inferior frontal gyrus. We conclude schizotypal personality traits are associated with a dysfunctional lateral temporal language rather than a theory of mind network.

NON-LINEAR RESPONSE OF THE ANTERIOR CINGULATE AND PREFRONTAL CORTEX IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AS A FUNCTION OF VARIABLE ATTENTIONAL CONTROL

To detect that a conversational turn is intended to be ironic is a difficult challenge in everyday language comprehension. Most authors suggested a theory of mind deficit is crucial for irony comprehension deficits in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia; however, the underlying pathophysiology and neurobiology are unknown and recent research highlights the possible role of language comprehension abnormalities.Fifteen female right-handed subjects completed personality testing as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neuropsychology. Subjects were recruited from the general population. No subject had a lifetime history of relevant psychiatric disorder; however, subjects differed in their score on the German version of the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ). During fMRI scans, the subjects silently read 44 short text vignettes that ended in either an ironic or a literal statement. Imaging was performed using a 3 T Siemens scanner. The influence of schizotypy on brain activation was investigated by using an SPM5 regression analysis with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score as regressors.Reading ironic in contrast to literal sentences activated a bilateral network including left medial prefrontal and left inferior parietal gyri. During reading of ironic sentences, brain activation in the middle temporal gyrus of both hemispheres showed a significant negative association with the SPQ total score and the SPQ cognitive-perceptual score. Significant positive correlation with the SPQ total score was present in the left inferior frontal gyrus. We conclude schizotypal personality traits are associated with a dysfunctional lateral temporal language rather than a theory of mind network.

Prevention of Pathological Gambling: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Although the gambling industry is expanding rapidly throughout North America and around the world, there are only a few empirically evaluated programs aimed at the prevention of pathological gambling (PG). The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a new prevention program aimed at PG. The Stop & Think! program was designed to teach at‐risk video lottery terminal (VLT) gamblers cognitive restructuring and problem‐solving skills that may help to prevent the development of PG. These skills were taught through a variety of methods – including an automated educational presentation, video and text vignettes, audio training tapes, and skill rehearsal. The program was evaluated using a randomized, 2‐group experimental design with a wait‐list control group and pre‐, post‐, and follow‐up measures. Results indicated that, compared with the control group, the experimental group was less at risk for developing a gambling problem after the program. The experimental group endorsed fewer gambling‐related cognitive distortions, engaged in less VLT gambling, and had lower scores on a measure of PG. The results of this study provide the basis for the implementation of the Stop & Think! program in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada, and perhaps other jurisdictions too.

The Metaphor Framing Effect: Metaphorical Reasoning About Text-Based Dilemmas

We investigated the idea that people use metaphor to help make sense of text-based vignettes about everyday dilemmas. First, we found evidence for the metaphor framing hypothesis across 6 experiments in which framing descriptions of dilemmas within various metaphor frames influenced reasoners' decisions about how to resolve the dilemmas. Second, we found evidence for the metaphor processing termination hypothesis across 3 experiments: When a metaphor was not necessary to increase understanding of a dilemma or when it actually increased ambiguity, the metaphor framing effect was attenuated. In particular, when the vignette contained or primed knowledge that could be used to understand the vignette, reasoners were less likely to make decisions consistent with the metaphor, were less likely to rate the metaphor as apt, and were less likely to choose metaphor-consistent responses on a subsequent verbal analogy test. Results are consistent with a constructivist theory of text comprehension, which specifies the conditions under which learners use metaphor to make sense of text vignettes.