Psychology Education in the Post-Covid World

A major aim of psychology education is to train students in psychological literacy – the ability to apply psychological knowledge to everyday activities. In this paper we explore how well this has been achieved in recent years. As a result of Covid-19 the focus of teaching in recent months has inevitably been on developing online methods of teaching and attempts to develop psychological literacy have of necessity received less attention. However, we argue that the developments enforced by Covid-19 actually open up a range of new possibilities and that psychological literacy can benefit from these changes. In particular, we suggest that much of the transmission of psychological knowledge can continue to take place online and that universities should become places where the focus is on the application of that knowledge

University lecturers’ adaptability: Examining links with perceived autonomy support, organisational commitment, and psychological wellbeing

In this study, we examined associations between university lecturers’ perceived autonomy support (PAS), adaptability, organisational commitment, and psychological wellbeing. A sample of university lecturers (N = 102) from a single ex-polytechnic higher education institution in the United Kingdom completed validated scales for each construct in the spring term. Inspired by prior work in pre-tertiary education with schoolteachers, a conceptual model of predicted relations was developed and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings showed that PAS was positively associated with lecturers’ adaptability, organisational commitment, and psychological wellbeing; however, adaptability was unable to influence these outcomes independently of its association with PAS. The findings extend prior work with schoolteachers suggesting that, while adaptability is of importance, its influence may be more salient at pre-tertiary level – where there is typically heightened regulation and lower autonomy – and less salient when autonomy options are wider, as is the case in higher education

An evaluation of reconstruction filters for a path-searching task in 3D

The choice of reconstruction filter used to interpolate between sample points when generating images from volumetric data sets can have an impact on image quality. There are a range of reconstruction filters as well as methods to determine the quality of these filters. While it is well documented that stereoscopy can improve the performance of spatial search tasks, it is not clear how artifacts introduced by the choice of reconstruction filter will impact the performance of these tasks. In this study we report the results of a path-tracing experiment where we assess the effectiveness of stereoscopy and three reconstruction filters in terms of accuracy and response time. Our results suggest that the reconstruction filter can have a significant effect on path-tracing tasks and that stereoscopy can significantly improve accuracy results whilst slightly increasing response time

Adaptability, Social Support, and Psychological Wellbeing Among Malaysian Adults

Malaysian adults are regularly exposed to a wide variety of complex stressors (exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic): these stressors, without sufficient protective resources, threaten to negatively impact upon psychological wellbeing. Recent literature has shown that personal resources (e.g., one’s adaptability) and situational resources (e.g., one’s social support) are associated with psychological wellbeing; however, limited research has examined the unique contribution of these resources to psychological wellbeing among collectivist cultures (e.g., Malaysian adults). Here, a sample of 136 Malaysian adults completed a survey measuring their adaptability and social support as well as different components of psychological wellbeing (i.e., flourishing, psychological distress, and life satisfaction). We found that adaptability and social support contribute significantly, and independently, to psychological wellbeing (all measures) among Malaysian adults, with social support being the stronger predictor in each case. Further, no significant interaction effects between adaptability and social support on psychological wellbeing were observed. The findings corroborate a developing literature suggesting that adaptability and social support may be targeted in efforts to enhance psychological wellbeing but also indicate that among Malaysian adults of a collectivist culture, social support may be more salient

Adaptability and psychological flexibility: Overlapping constructs?

Adaptability is purported to be a key mental resource and refers to an individual's cognitive, behavioral, and emotional regulation (or adjustment) in situations of change, novelty, and uncertainty. Psychological flexibility refers to a person's capacity to allow experience and acceptance of negative thoughts and feelings with mindful awareness guided by a commitment to goal-driven action according to their self-chosen values. It is important to disentangle these cognate constructs—adaptability and psychological flexibility—so that the unique variance attributable to each can be estimated, and interventions and resources can be directed with greater precision. The current study explored the potential overlap between adaptability and psychological flexibility by conducting an online cross-sectional survey (n = 205), with measures of adaptability, psychological flexibility, wellbeing, and psychological distress. A confirmatory factor analysis suggested considerable overlap, but sufficient discrimination between the two constructs. Structural equation modelling showed that adaptability was related to psychological wellbeing, but not related to psychological distress after accounting for the effects of psychological flexibility

Novel Use of a Social-Media-Based Survey to Detect Regional Differences in Management of Monochorionic-Diamniotic Twins.

ObjectiveThis study aims to evaluate the utility of social media to distribute a patient survey on differences in management and outcomes of monochorionic-diamniotic (MCDA) pregnancies.Study designA cross-sectional survey was posted to an English-language MCDA twins patient-centered support group within the social media site, Facebook from April 2, 2018 to June 26, 2018. Subjects were recruited through a technique called "snowballing," whereby individuals shared the survey to assist with recruiting. Patient reported data were analyzed using Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis's tests to explore characteristics associated with surveillance and outcomes as related to region and provider type.ResultsOver 3 months, the post "reached" 14,288 Facebook users, among which 5,653 (40%) clicked on the post. A total of 2,357 respondents with MCDA pregnancies completed the survey. Total 1,928 (82%) were from the United States (US) and 419 (18%) from other countries. Total 85% of patients had co-management with maternal-fetal medicine (MFM), more in the US compared with the rest of the world (87 vs. 74%, p < 0.01). MFM involvement led to increased adherence to biweekly ultrasounds (91 vs. 65%, p < 0.01), diagnosis of monochorionicity by 12 weeks (74 vs. 69%, p < 0.01) and better education about twin-twin transfusion syndrome (90 vs. 66%, p < 0.01). Pregnancies with MFM involvement had a higher take-home baby rate for both babies (92 vs. 89%, p < 0.01) or for at least one baby (98 vs. 93%, p < 0.01) compared with those without MFM involvement.ConclusionA survey distributed via social media can be effective in evaluating real-life management and outcomes of an uncommon obstetrical diagnosis. This survey elucidates wide international variation in adherence to guidelines, management, and outcomes

Who is more likely to feel ostracized? A latent class analysis of personality traits

Perceived ostracism (e.g., feeling ignored or excluded) is a painful and distressing experience. However, little empirical research has investigated the types (profiles) of people more likely to perceive ostracism. The present study (N = 395) used latent class analysis to (a) identify potential classes based on the big five personality traits (i.e., openness, agreeableness, negative emotionality, extroversion, and conscientiousness) and (b) examine whether such classes could reliably differentiate levels of self-reported perceived ostracism. We extracted three classes: (a) Moderate Traits (MT), (b) the Quiet Over-Reacting Procrastinators (QORP), and (c) the Active and Adaptable Thinkers (AAT). Those in the QORP class reported the highest levels of perceived ostracism, whereas those in the AAT class reported the lowest levels of perceived ostracism compared to the MT class. This study provides new insight into the profiles of individuals who may be more likely to perceive ostracism. However, further research is needed to explore the association between personality and ostracism (e.g., as ostracism may lead to changes in personality), so that potential risk markers to trigger early psychological interventions of such ostracized individuals can be identified

Adaptability and Social Support: Examining Links with Psychological Wellbeing Among UK Students and Non-students

The purpose of this multi-study article was to investigate the roles of adaptability and social support in predicting a variety of psychological outcomes. Data were collected from Year 12 college students (N = 73; Study 1), university students (N = 102; Study 2), and non-studying members of the general public (N = 141; Study 3). Findings showed that, beyond variance attributable to social support, adaptability made a significant independent contribution to psychological wellbeing (life satisfaction, psychological wellbeing, flourishing, and general affect) and psychological distress across all studies. Beyond the effects of adaptability, social support was found to make a significant independent contribution to most wellbeing outcomes (but not psychological distress in university students). In a multi-group analysis comparing predictors of psychological wellbeing in university students and non-studying adults, where the same outcome measures were used (Study 4; N = 243), it was found that adaptability played a stronger role (relative to social support) for university students, whereas social support played a stronger role for non-studying adults. Finally, (contrary to expectations) there was no evidence of an interaction between adaptability and social support predicting psychological outcomes—adaptability and social support operated as independent main effects. These findings demonstrate the importance of adaptability and social support in uniquely predicting psychological wellbeing in different sample groups. It is argued here that these two factors, should be given greater consideration in discussions of psychological wellbeing, and are relevant to psychological wellbeing at different major developmental life stages