The Psychologist July 2014

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psychologist vol 27 no 7

july 2014

Beyond the mythology of war Simon Wessely, Ben Shephard, Kate Adie and many more in our reports from the Society’s Annual Conference

Incorporating Psychologist Appointments ÂŁ5 or free to members of The British Psychological Society

letters 466 news 476 careers 542 looking back 554

autobiographical memory 502 the successful psychopath 506 EMDR 512 interview with Ellen Ernst Kossek 520

NEWS

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Brain 2025 In April last year President Obama launched the BRAIN Initiative to ‘accelerate the development and application of new technologies that will enable researchers to produce dynamic pictures of the brain that show how individual brain cells and complex neural circuits interact at the speed of thought.’ The National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a working group to develop a rigorous plan for achieving

This month we welcome our new full-time journalist, Ella Rhodes. Ella is a psychology graduate and qualified journalist, joining us from the Derby Telegraph.

Please continue to share your news on psychologist@bps.org.uk or by tweeting @psychmag.

this scientific vision.

The group has now delivered its findings and recommendations, including the scientific background and rationale for the BRAIN Initiative as a whole and for each of seven major goals.

In response to the ‘bold and ambitious’ challenge from the president, the working group agreed that accelerated technology development is the key, as reflected in the name of the BRAIN Initiative: ‘Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies’. The group recommends that the BRAIN Initiative develop over a 10-year period beginning in 2016, with ‘a primary focus on technology development in the first five years, shifting in the second five years to a primary focus on integrating technologies to make fundamental new discoveries about the brain’.

In considering these goals and the current state of neuroscience, the working group identified the analysis of circuits of interacting neurons as being particularly rich in opportunity, with

potential for revolutionary advances.

‘Truly understanding a circuit requires identifying and characterizing the component cells, defining their synaptic connections with one another, observing their dynamic patterns of activity as the circuit functions in vivo during behavior, and perturbing these patterns to test their significance. It also requires an understanding of the algorithms that govern information processing within a circuit and between interacting circuits in the brain as a whole. The analysis of circuits is not the only area of neuroscience worthy of attention, but advances in technology are driving a qualitative shift in what is possible, and focused progress in this

A scientist walks into a bar...

While this may seem like the set-up to a joke, on 19–21 May hundreds of scientists around the world did just that. This was ‘Pint of Science’, a three-day science blitz covering a variety of topics, including ‘Matters of the Mind’ – a set of talks on issues within psychology and neuroscience. Over three evenings 10,000 people gathered in pubs and bars to hear about cutting-edge science over a pint.

The aim of the festival (see www.pintofscience.com) was to create a relaxed environment where members of the public can engage with leading researchers. While it only started in 2013, and was restricted to Oxford, London and Cambridge, this year the festival spread to 21 cities across six countries. Speakers were mostly university academics, but other notable participants included award-winning science blogger Suzi Gage and ‘standup mathematician’ Matt Parker. These events were similar to the British Psychological Society’s ‘Psychology in the Pub’ events, but included other activities such as live science demonstrations, pub quizzes, and other opportunities for audience participation.

In Bristol I helped organise events for the theme of ‘Matters of Mind’, where speakers from the University of Bristol shared

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their knowledge on topics of addiction, memory and sleep.

The festival kicked off with talks by Dr Emma Robinson and Professor Marcus Munafò, who spoke on animal models of addiction and emotion recognition in a social world, respectively.

Munafò, a professor of biological psychology at the School of Experimental Psychology, warmed up the audience with his latest research, revealing how the shape of beer glasses can impact how much you drink or perceive you have drunk.

The festival also included an engaging talk on drug addiction by the aforementioned blogger and final-year PhD student Suzi Gage. Her presentation discussed issues such as the consequences and potential benefits of certain drugs. As it was a slightly controversial topic, the talk roused some interesting debate in the audience.

Another highlight of the festival was a talk on episodic memory by Dr Obaro Evuarherhe. This presentation focused on how memories are created through a process called ‘synaptic tagging’. Evuarherhe provided some examples from his own research using rats, including sharing photos of the environments he had to build. Although the science behind the concepts was complex, Evuarherhe kept the audience interested

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area will benefit many other areas of neuroscience.’

With these considerations in mind, the working group consulted with the scientific community to evaluate challenges and opportunities in the field, identifying seven high priorities: I Discovering diversity: Identify and provide experimental access to the different brain cell types to determine their roles in health and disease.

I Maps at multiple scales: Generate circuit diagrams that vary in resolution from synapses to the whole brain.

I The brain in action: Produce a dynamic picture of the functioning brain by developing and applying

improved methods for large-scale monitoring of neural activity.

I Demonstrating causality: Link brain activity to behaviour with precise interventional tools that change neural circuit dynamics.

I Identifying fundamental principles: Produce conceptual foundations for understanding the biological basis of mental processes through development of new theoretical and data analysis tools.

I Advancing human neuroscience: Develop innovative technologies to understand the human brain and treat its disorders; create and support integrated human brain research networks.

I From BRAIN Initiative to the brain: Integrate new technological and conceptual approaches produced in Goals #1–6 to discover how dynamic patterns of neural activity are transformed into cognition, emotion, perception, and action in health and disease.

The report says that the overarching vision of the BRAIN Initiative is best captured by the final goal – combining these approaches into a single, integrated science of cells, circuits, brain and behaviour. ‘For example, immense value is added if recordings are conducted from identified cell types whose anatomical connections are established in the same study. Such an experiment is currently an exceptional tour de force; with new technology, it could become

with humour throughout. He ended on a bit of ‘advice’: the best way to improve memory? Do memorable things!

Afterwards, Professor Christopher Jarrold spoke on his research in working memory using participants with Down’s syndrome and Williams syndrome. As well, he discussed how speed of processing was an important factor contributing to working memory performance, and how it could fit in the classic working memory model of Alan Baddeley. Perhaps most relevant for a realistic portrayal of psychology, Jarrold introduced one of his experimental paradigms for studying executive control. This paradigm succeeded in illustrating the scientific rigour required for overcoming the methodological difficulties within experimental psychology.

On the last night, Dr Ullrich Bartsch spoke on the science of sleep, dispensing useful psychology-approved advice for getting a better rest. This presentation stood out as it was visually appealing, with a background that mimicked the activity stages of sleep. Bartsch pointed out that several mental health disorders, including depression and schizophrenia, are often associated with aberrant sleeping patterns. He suggested that normalising the sleep of people with schizophrenia may ease some of their

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routine. In another example, neuronal populations recorded during complex behavior might be immediately retested with circuit manipulation techniques to determine their causal role in generating the behavior. Theory and modeling should be woven into successive stages of ongoing experiments, enabling bridges to be built from single cells to connectivity, population dynamics, and behavior.’

The report also identifies core principles for the initiative, including pursuing human studies and non-human models in parallel, crossing boundaries in interdisciplinary collaborations, and establishing platforms for sharing data.

Ethical implications are not ignored: ‘Initiative research may raise important issues about neural enhancement, data privacy, and appropriate use of brain data in law, education and business.

These important issues must be considered in a serious and sustained manner.’

Needless to say, all this is not going to be cheap: ‘provisional’ budget estimates recommend ‘an investment by the NIH that ramps up to $400 million/ year over the next five years, and continues at $500 million/year subsequently.’ The report concludes that ‘A sustained, decade-long commitment at this level will attract talented scientists from multiple fields to the interdisciplinary collaborations that are essential to the BRAIN Initiative and its ambitious goals.’ JS

symptoms. There were plenty of questions from the audience, including one on how many hours, minimum, are required for sleep (about eight).

Finally, Dr Matt Jones spoke on the use of neurotechnology to investigate research questions in sleep. A particularly fascinating moment was when he showed the audience the brain’s ‘song’ – that is, what a neuron in the hippocampus sounded like as a rat navigated through a maze. The festival ended on an afterparty, DJ’ed by two of our Pint of Science speakers, Evuarherhe and Bartsch. If nothing else, this event smashed through the stereotype of a scientist being boring, stuffy and unsocial. In fact, the speakers were just as happy as any of the audience to unwind with a pint in hand.

All in all, these talks certainly depicted psychology – and science more generally – in a good light. Not only were the speakers engaging, witty and fun, but the research presented was genuinely interesting and new. As well, the science was presented in accessible and unintimidating manner. If all this sounds very appealing, keep an eye out next year, as Pint of Science hopes to continue – growing bigger and better – for as long as possible.

Julie Lee (University of Bristol)

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The cycle-ology of the Tour

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by psychologist Dr Lisa Whitaker at Leeds Metropolitan University suggests that athletes are more likely to dope when suffering an injury, a dip in performance or when they believe others are doping and getting away with it.

Social psychologist Professor Steve Reicher (St Andrews University) says that beliefs about others play a major role in the Tour, particularly around tactics over the vital ‘breakaways’. ‘There is much opprobrium attached to “wheelsuckers” who sit in a break and refuse to take a turn at the front, where the going is more tough. The cost of this, on the whole, is that in time people will refuse to work with such people in a break. Sometimes, coordination is a matter of economic

take up cycling themselves. But how long do these phases of interest in a sport actually last?

Dr Uphill told us: ‘In an analysis of the Tour de France Grand Depart in London, Graham Berridge suggested that planning for a meaningful legacy beyond the immediate impact of an event could well be associated with sustained participation. However, simply hosting an event is unlikely to be enough. Engaging in physical activity is a complex process, and is influenced by many variables.’

In fact, could big elite events such as the Tour have a counterintuitive effect on participation? Dr Uphill added: ‘I’m not aware of any data that has tested the opposite hypothesis – whether individuals’ intention to exercise is reduced by exposure to images of successful athletes. But as Bloomfield suggested, “… so much adulation is centred on those who are physically gifted that many an average participant is discouraged through fear of embarrassment”.’

Unfortunately, Dr Uphill concludes that much of what we know about enhancing physical activity is in relation to short-term changes. ‘In a review of literature, Weed and colleagues observed that there is little reliable evidence of a sustained participation legacy for the Olympics. Moreover, generally of those people who initiate a planned programme of physical activity, about 50 per cent will drop out within six months. We need a better understanding of the social and psychological differences between those who continue, versus those who cease participating in physical activity, and more reliable longitudinal data collection.’

Another form of participation is volunteering. This year, 12,000 ‘Tour Makers’ will be helping out during the UK stages – from Leeds to Harrogate, York to Sheffield, and Cambridge to London. Dr Tom Farsides, a social psychologist at the University of Sussex, referred us to research into elevation by Jon Haidt and his followers, which he said ‘might suggest that the voluntariness of volunteers could raise both the prosociality and the mood of crowd members, in turn inspiring the riders.

Similarly, the “positivity” of the volunteers’ behaviour, for example, the freely given support of others, might OFFSIDE/PRESSESPORTS

In July, the first stage of the gruelling Tour de France will begin in the UK for the first time since 2007. When the cyclists round the bend into the ChampsÉlysées at the end of the month they will have raced over 21 stages and covered an astonishing total distance of around 3656 kilometres. As a sporting event the Tour presents an array of psychological challenges for its competitors, and there may be other factors at play amongst the crowd and volunteers.

Professor Marc Jones, a sport and exercise psychologist at Staffordshire University, said the Tour was a unique event for competitors for a variety of reasons. He said: ‘There has been quite a bit of research on psychological strategies employed during endurance events and whether athletes attend to their physical state or disassociate and distract from the symptoms. In general, elite athletes tend to attend to and monitor their physical state.’

In fact, cycling at this level may be largely about learning to embrace pain.

Team Sky’s Michael Barry, in his book Le Métier, writes: ‘In my teens, I found the point where suffering on the bike became pleasure… To find the sublime there is a balance where elements of pain and passion become equal: on a bike, pedalling in the environment, a human being can find divinity.’

That almost mystical relationship with pain is perhaps left irrevocably changed by experience of debilitating or life threatening illness. Is it a coincidence that some of the favourites for this year’s race, and some notable names from the Tour’s past, have been through this? We asked Professor Stephen Joseph (University of Nottingham). He said: ‘Before his fall from grace Lance Armstrong was often held up as an example of post-traumatic growth – a man who overcame testicular cancer to go on to win the Tour de France. He may not be the poster boy any more for the subject, but nonetheless the idea that debilitating or life-threatening illness can be a springboard to greater achievement is borne out by research which shows that following adversity people report becoming more determined to succeed in life.’

There are also obvious short-cuts to grit and pain tolerance. In 1998 a German rider told Der Spiegel: ‘For as long as the Tour has existed, since 1903, its participants have been doping themselves.

No dope, no hope.’ Indeed, research led

negotiation. For instance, in a multi-stage race, someone who is high up in the overall classification may agree to gift a fellow escapee the stage victory as long as they work together to gain time over all the other riders.’

Professor Jones also points to the unusual social dynamics of the Tour. ‘The cyclists race in teams but the glory goes to the winner (mostly). So you have to create a culture where other cyclists in the team have to race to get one man over the line first. Because the cyclists race and recover together for a long time, about three weeks, tensions arise and managing those tensions and creating a cohesive team with a clear identity matters.’

What of the spectators who swarm to watch the event in the UK and beyond?

According to Dr Mark Uphill, a sport and exercise psychologist at the University of Canterbury, many could be inspired to

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these two crowds is likely to be quite different. In some crowds, there is a strong sense of “we-ness” before an emergency. Others’ interests become our own, and we care about them. But we have found that often the emergency itself can create a sense of we-ness where previously people were simply in the same place and felt no psychological bonds with each other. So it is possible that an accident on the Tour de France could be construable as affecting both public and athletes together, in which case any prior divisions would become less salient.’

Like the race itself, this topic seems too big to cover in one stage. What about the psychology of hero worship; of how cyclists cope with rehabilitation from injury, or retirement from the sport; or the impact on perceptions of cyclists and their own behaviour in normal road use?

Perhaps ‘cycle-ology’ has the staying power to last the course. ER I For more see the online version at www.thepsychologist.org.uk. E-mail us on psychologist@bps.org.uk or tweet @psychmag using #cycleology

Cuts at King’s College King’s College London is set to cut up to 120 jobs from its health schools, with decisions based partly on individual grant income. The cuts will be made across the schools of medicine, psychiatry and biomedical sciences, with the Psychology Department one of those affected. Staff chosen for potential redundancy have been selected based on their research income and teaching hours, the College has confirmed.

Dorothy Bishop, Professor of Experimental Neuropsychology at the University of Oxford, has criticised the university’s selection criteria. She commented: ‘Using grant income as a proxy for staff quality indicates that KCL has completely lost any sense of the purpose of an academic institution… people are now doing research in order to get funding, when they should be seeking funding in order to do research.’

Patricia Howlin, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Child Psychology at King’s College, told us: ‘The conditions for getting rid of staff are much more unfair than in the case of the usual dismissal procedure. In those circumstances indidivuals are warned if their work is not up to standard, given set guidelines and the chance to improve and then their position is reconsidered. There has been no warning, no conditions for improvement set and no chance to improve. The last cull, at the Institute of Psychiatry about four years ago, left people very demoralised. I think many good people will try to leave, even if they are not axed this time. Those in charge of running the place and managing (or not) the budgets etc. appear, of course, to be exempt from the process.’

A spokesperson for King’s College said the institution had ‘ambitious’ plans to enhance its position as a ‘world-leading university’. ‘All parts of the college are looking at how they can increase income, control costs and collectively raise performance. We are seeking to reduce our academic payroll costs by 10 per cent and some job losses may be necessary.’ She added: ‘The first stage has been completed with the affected academic staff having being considered on the basis of their research grant income and teaching contact hours. The majority have been informed that they will no longer be part of the ongoing process. Those remaining have been invited to provide information in support of their broader contributions which will help inform deliberations.’

The King’s College branch of the University College Union (UCU) was due to complete a ballot for strike action over the cuts on 25 June. A petition to oppose the planned redundancies, at tinyurl.com/o9pzyu7, has attracted thousands of signatures including former Dean of the Institute of Psychiatry Sir Robin Murray. ER

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FUNDING NEWS Elsevier invites applications for its Postdoc Free Access Programme, which allows scholars to access ScienceDirect’s scientific books and journals in their chosen field.

Applicants must have recently completed a PhD and have become unemployed on 1 January 2014 or have a research project ending before 31 August 2014. The programme allows library access for up to six months. Applications should be submitted by 31 August 2014.

I tinyurl.com/op99jj9 The Experimental Psychology Society invites nominations from its members for its Prize Lecture. The prize recognises distinguished research achievement by experimental psychologists at an early stage in their career. Nominees should normally have obtained their PhD no more than 10 years previously, although this may be waived by the committee in special circumstances. CVs and a covering letter should be received by 1 September 2014.

I tinyurl.com/kb29axu The European Association of Social Psychology invites applications from its members for its meetings grants to support the organisation of meetings that appeal to other EASP members. There are two awards available: small group awards of €4000 cover meetings with 15 to 30 participants and medium size awards of €6000 cover meetings involving 30 to 50 participants.

The closing date for this round of applications is 15 September 2014.

I tinyurl.com/2vh6bpy The International Association for the Psychology of Religion invites nominations for its Early Career Award worth €1000. The award is presented for outstanding research in the field of psychology of religion.

Nominees should be scholars at the postdoctoral or early career level, having obtained a PhD no more than five years ago.

The closing date is 30 November 2014.

I http://psychology-of-religion.com/awards The Johnny Sutton Neuropsychology Student Travel Bursary is a £500 prize open to students interested in encephalitis.

Deadline 1 October.

I tinyurl.com/pp77d5w

info

encourage the formation of a unified ingroup with an ingroup norm of being supportive and encouraging.’

This group identity could be crucial if disaster strikes – there have been seven occasions where spectators, officials or journalists were killed, including 20 fatalities in 1964 when a supply van hit a bridge in the Dordogne region.

In the past the theory of diffusion of responsibility suggested that in such disasters, witnessed by large numbers of people, it would be unlikely that spectators would run to the aid of injured parties. That view is changing, as Dr John Drury (University of Sussex) explained.

‘Evidence shows that social identity interacts with group size – where people identify with each other they may be more, not less, likely to intervene in a large crowd.

‘The problem with the traditional “bystander” research is that it fails to distinguish between what Steve Reicher calls a physical crowd, where individuals are simply co-present, and a psychological crowd, where people share a social category membership. The behaviour of

For BPS awards and grant schemes, see www.bps.org.uk/awards&grants Funding bodies should e-mail news to Emma Smith on emma.smith@bps.org.uk for possible inclusion

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DIGEST

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The world shifts to the right when you’re sleepy When you’re drowsy, new research shows that what’s happening on your left often sounds to you as though it’s happening on your right. Perhaps that’s why it can be so tricky to land a punch on the alarm clock in the morning!

Corinne Bareham and her team asked 26 healthy volunteers (17 women; all right-handers) to relax in a comfortable reclining chair, to close their eyes, and listen to a series of tones. The tones occurred either on the left or right side of space, some further from the centre than others.

After each tone, the participants pressed a button to indicate whether they thought it had originated on the left or right side of space.

While this was going on, the researchers recorded the participants’ surface brain activity using EEG (electroencephalography).

This provided an objective marker of their sleepiness.

The task may appear easy, but when the participants were sleepy, they mislocated nearly 25 per cent of left-sided tones to the right. This compares to an error rate of under 14 per cent when they were alert.

‘A participant was 17 times more likely to show a right-ward shift with drowsiness... than a leftward shift, or no shift,’ the researchers said.

In contrast, the participants were slightly more accurate at locating right-hand tones when sleepy compared with when alert.

The finding that tiredness triggers a shift in attention to the right-side of space is not new – researchers have shown this before.

However, past demonstrations of the phenomenon have used visual stimuli. This study is novel because of its use of auditory tones and because of the highly accurate measurements of participants’ alertness.

Research on this topic has clinical relevance. The drowsiness-induced attentional shift towards the right side of In Scientific Reports space is similar to a phenomenon known as ‘spatial neglect’ that’s observed in patients who have suffered right-hemisphere brain damage. People with left-sided brain damage show the opposite pattern – they tend to ignore the right-hand side of space. However, right-hemisphere brain damage leads to more prolonged and profound spatial neglect than left-sided damage, and this new study offers a clue as to why.

One explanation for spatial neglect following left- or right-sided brain damage is that the two hemispheres of the brain are usually in competition, so that when one is damaged, balance is lost, and attention is skewed towards the same side of space as the brain damage. However, people with right-sided brain damage suffer twice, because damage to the right hemisphere is known to induce sleepiness, which – as this study shows – also leads to a skewing of attention to the right side of space.

In the researchers’ words, patients with right-hemisphere damage are ‘doubly compromised’ – by the loss of hemispheric balance, and by the effects of drowsiness. The good news is that this insight offers an avenue for treating patients with right-sided brain damage. ‘The results here confirm that the maintenance of alertness should be… [an] important therapeutic target,’ the researchers said.

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When the going gets tough, supervisors pick on their weaker staff In the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology A crisis changes everything.

Friends are gone, and survivors must adapt to a new, dangerous environment. In the aftermath, predators circle to exploit the weak and vulnerable. According to new research, this not only describes the red tooth and claw of nature, it also applies to the workplace. Pedro Neves at the New University of Lisbon provides evidence that following an organisational downsize, employees are more likely to receive abuse from their supervisors.

Neves was guided by displaced aggression theory – the idea that workplace abuse is often a form of ‘kicking the dog’ – venting our frustrations not at their source, rather at those whom we have power over. Neves predicted that this leads supervisors to target those most unable or unwilling to retaliate: submissive individuals characterised by low ‘core self-evaluation’ (CSE; a combination of personal traits relating to self-image including self-esteem and belief in one’s own abilities), and/or those with fewer co-worker allies.

Survey data from 12 large and medium-sized Portuguese organisations from a range of industries – financial to construction to health care – confirmed that individuals with lower CSE or less co-worker support were at the receiving end of more abuse, based on their self-ratings of items such as ‘my supervisor blames me to

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save himself/herself embarrassment’ or ‘tells me my thoughts or feelings are stupid’. Four of the organisations had gone through downsizing in the prior two years, and in these, submissive employees were even more likely to be picked on. A postdownsizing environment involves uncertainty, ruptures to social networks, and a higher sense of individual risk – all of which heightens vulnerabilities and gives confidence to aggressors that their abuse is unlikely to be fought against.

The data also showed that submissive individuals performed more poorly and engaged in fewer organisational citizenship behaviours, which Neves argues is evidence of the employees also ‘kicking the dog’ – in this case channeling their resentment of the supervisor into minor acts to undermine the organisation.

As this was a crosssectional survey we have to be careful about drawing such causal inferences, but further analysis suggested two obvious alternative explanations were unlikely: that submissive traits were the consequence of supervisor criticism; or that abuse was causing both poor performance and the submissive traits.

Neves advises facilitating co-worker support as a bulwark against exploitation of the vulnerable, and to build the CSE of employees. These are good things to encourage in any case – but ultimately, the responsibility for change lies not with the abused, but the abusers, to cease picking on the weak.

Using speech fillers such as ‘I mean’ and ‘you know’ is a sign of conscientiousness In the Journal of Language and Social Psychology Few people are capable of speaking spontaneously without, er, you know, pausing and using filler words every now and again. However, we all differ in the extent to which we do this, and now a study has examined how use of filler words varies according to age, gender and personality.

Charlyn Laserna and her colleagues used recordings of everyday speech collected from hundreds of participants in earlier studies performed between 2003 and 2013. They specifically looked at utterances of uh, um (known as ‘filled pauses’) and I mean, you know, and like (known as ‘discourse markers’).

The purpose of these kinds of words is not straightforward – they can be a sign of being tongue-tied, but they can also be a way to keep hold of one’s turn in a conversation, to form a bridge between phrases or sections of conversation, to seek consensus, or convey uncertainty.

Use of discourse markers was more frequent among younger people, and among women versus men. However, the gender difference was only present in teen and student participants, and had disappeared from age 23 and up.

Discourse markers were also used more frequently by people with a more conscientious personality. Uhs and ums became less common with age, but their use was not related to gender or personality.

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This last point is somewhat surprising since such hesitations are often assumed to be a sign of anxiety.

Why should use of phrases such as like and you know be related to conscientiousness?

One possibility is that this is a false-positive result – the researchers performed multiple comparisons looking for links between personality and word use, and this is known to increase the risk of spurious findings. However, assuming the finding is reliable, the researchers believe the explanation is that ‘conscientious people are generally more thoughtful and aware of themselves and their surroundings’, and their use of discourse markers shows they have a ‘desire to share or rephrase opinions to recipients’.

Stated slightly differently, discourse fillers are a sign of more considered speech, and so

it makes sense that conscientious people use them more often. This is a result that may surprise some, including the veteran actress Miriam Margolyes, who publicly castigated pop star Wil.I.Am for his overuse of ‘like’. The researchers didn't propose any explanation for why age and gender are related to use of discourse fillers.

Laserna and her team believe their findings are useful because they suggest that people’s habits of speech can be used to make inferences about their personality, age and gender. ‘From a methodological standpoint, the use of discourse markers can provide a quick behavioural measure of personality traits,’ they said.

So, you know, don’t be put off next time you hear someone, like, using discourse fillers. I mean, it could actually be a sign that they’re conscientious.

The material in this section is taken from the Society’s Research Digest blog at www.researchdigest.org.uk/blog, and is written by its editor Dr Christian Jarrett. and regular contributor Dr Alex Fradera. Visit the blog for references and links, additional current reports, an archive, comment and more.

Subscribe by RSS or e-mail at www.researchdigest.org.uk/blog Become a fan at www.facebook.com/researchdigest Follow the Digest editor at www.twitter.com/researchdigest

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OUR LITTLE CONTEMPTIBLES, BY WILLIAM BARNES WOLLEN, RI ROI RBC. ©DAVID COHEN FINE ART/MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY

Beyond the mythology of war Jon Sutton reports on a pair of opening keynotes at the Society’s Annual Conference in Birmingham Launching into his opening keynote as a ‘fully paid-up member of the Society for the Abolition of PowerPoint’, Professor Sir Simon Wessely delivered an erudite and thought-provoking talk on ‘what has forward psychiatry in wartime achieved’.

Wessely took aim at the ‘mythologising’ of the First World War, hoping to move away from the influence of Oh! What a Lovely War… and its depiction in the comedy series Blackadder.

He also called for one day a year when we should respect a truce, not talking about the war: ‘maybe Christmas Day… have a game of football instead… it’s a good idea, don’t you think, not been tried before’.

Winding the clock back to 1922 and the work of the Shell-shock Commission, Wessely showed that people were well aware there was a big problem. War created psychiatric casualties by the thousands, and there were five massive shell shock hospitals in France. Why had it become such an epidemic? Psychologist C.S. Myers refused to give evidence to the commission (starting, the new President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists joked, ‘a long tradition of not listening to psychology’). Some subscribed to the view that shell shock was the result of conditions that were ‘more than the mind, body and soul could bear’; others felt that some men just weren’t made of the right stuff, with Lord Gort VC famously saying that ‘breakdown in battle is a regrettable weakness… it does not happen in good units’. Others disparaged shell shock

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sufferers as ‘feminine’, describing the physical characteristics which gave them away.

Whatever the cause, it was clear shell shock was ‘not a wound like any other’.

The reaction was ‘forward psychiatry’, considering the role of proximity, immediacy and expectancy in combat stress. Yet the role of psychology, Wessely said, was actually pretty limited: treatment consisted of a couple of nights rest, clean clothes, food, exhortations to ‘be a man’ and ‘do your duty’. This approach was social more than psychological, as also revealed by the fact that it appeared important to keep men in uniform and close to their mates.

Fast-forward to the Second World War where there was a restatement of Victorian values of ‘character’. The UK policy was that nobody was allowed to leave the military due to psychiatric breakdown, there would be no pension, and no diagnosis should suggest a link between the mind and body. Despite this harsh policy, against which voices were quickly raised, forward psychiatry became standard doctrine, and the arrival of the Americans brought an emphasis on collecting statistics and also an interest in studying motivation. It was eventually realised that men fought for each other rather than love of country, and every man – even those who possessed the ‘right stuff’ – had his breaking point.

In Vietnam, the US were determined not to overlook the lessons of the past and

so they implemented the ‘DEROS’ policy: date expected for return from overseas, where service was one year only. The authorities claimed ‘we have achieved our greatest victory ever in preserving the fighting strength’, but this came at a cost: Wessely explained that many soldiers never really bonded with their comrades, and there was a ‘curious reversion of soldiering tradition’ with many only finding a ‘military’ identity and bonding with comrades after the conflict in the form of the ‘traumatised veteran’. The new diagnosis of PTSD was ‘rushed through in an amazingly short time’, Wessely said, put together ‘literally on the back of an envelope’. PTSD was the first acknowledgement that not just acute but long-term disorders could be the result of war.

Now, staggeringly, 90 per cent of people think that those who serve in armed conflict are very likely to come home physically or mentally wounded – trauma is expected. In fact, the biggest threat to the well-being of the armed forces is alcohol, violence and violent behaviour.

Giving the example of his own father, who served in the Navy in the Second World War and was one of only 17 survivors of a sunk ship, Wessely guarded against a simplistic view of our ‘veterans’. They do not all see themselves as ‘heroes’, or victims.

They need feelings of understanding, not pity, Wessely concluded. We should see them for what they are, not what we think they should be.

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Historian Ben Shephard took to the stage next, to discuss how psychology was ‘sold’ to the military’.

It was, he said, a tall order to do justice to the many-sided relationship between psychology and the military.

‘I’m just a writer, and these are short fragments from a vast uncompleted film’.

Shephard began in 1937, with Frederick Bartlett writing for RAF Quarterly on what psychology could do for the military. He was, Shephard said, a ‘wary, canny operator’. Unlike Myers, who had tried to expand from brass-plated experimental psychology, Bartlett was determined to give Cambridge the kind of psychology it wanted. He offered to reduce fall-out in pilot training, to deliver aptitude training, to apply research in fatigue and to reduce the horrendous incidence of accidents. But he was careful not to go too far, couching his discussion of ‘character’ in terms such as ‘an honest psychologist must regretfully admit that there are at present no secure methods for its study which are within sight of a practical application.’ It took the arrival of the ‘young genius’ Kenneth Craik to offer more in the way of ‘exact and illuminating measurement’.

Did psychology deliver? It did make some difference, according to Shephard, but not as quickly or as dramatically as Bartlett had imagined. Projects were limited to problems such as improving the escape hatch on the Lancaster bomber (likened to ‘birth trauma’ by those having to exit it); Bartlett’s sales pitch largely comprised a narrow psychology of the natural senses.

By contrast, psychologists in Germany embraced issues such as character, and psychology became established as a separate discipline there largely due to extensive involvement with the military.

Shephard described the three-day assessment centres for officers whereby character was diagnosed from facial expressions of eyes and mouth: ‘weaknesses of various kinds may lurk in a flabby lip’. It is not possible to fully establish what contribution psychology made to the German army and the Holocaust, but as just one example it is thought it helped to pioneer ‘leaderless groups’.

Like Wessely, Shephard referred to the ‘fundamental shift in values’ that the dawning of the PTSD diagnosis heralded.

Until then, the assumption was that with decent leadership and social support, anyone could get through even the most traumatic of experiences. PTSD, Shephard argued, was a political diagnosis and developed in a’ cart before the horse fashion’: the concept was documented, a theoretical model added, and only then was it studied. But eventually psychiatrists began shifting their ground towards resilience, with the US Department of Defense spending $140 million on a preventative programme organised by psychologist Martin Seligman.

Research suggesting just 22 per cent of cadets believed they most likely would not develop PTSD on future deployment showed a clear need for what was described as ‘the largest deliberate psychological intervention in history’, with online self-assessment, self-help and access to specialist resilience trainers.

Yet Shephard argues that the programme has only demonstrated an ability to indoctrinate soldiers: there is no evidence that it increases resilience. Seligman invokes the past of American psychology in figures such as Yerkes, Shephard says, co-opting an agenda which was actually about race and intelligence. ‘It’s a classic example of “huckstering”, using what’s on the shelf’, Shephard concluded. ‘It’s a mechanistic view… culture matters more than psychologists are prepared to admit.’

Facilitating the discussion was Kate Adie, former BBC chief news correspondent. She has spent time alongside the military but by her own admission is ‘in no way a soldier’, despite spending time as ‘one woman amongst 43,000 men in forward areas’. Reporting from environments as diverse as conflict, Crufts and cricket was important to Adie: ‘If you’ve forgotten what normal is, you can’t convey the abnormal’. Judging the tone of coverage can be tricky, she said: ‘You don’t want to give people fear, a ghastly shock… you risk stopping people coming back… but you have to deliver enough emphasis on the abnormality, the violence and unfairness of war.’

War journalism is considered sexy, Adie said, yet many who ask her about how she has been damaged by her experiences have no understanding of war. ‘They ask me when I became desensitised to atrocities… I have to convince students that sheer practicalities in difficult circumstances fill your waking moments. You don’t walk around the place in conflict musing on how your inner person is faring… it just doesn’t happen.’

People have become convinced that the personal emotional is everything, Adie argued. ‘A great deal of modern journalism is influenced by “What do you feel about…?”.’ Yet if you look back at historical accounts, of several thousand women who experienced war directly on the front line and many more who worked in tough conditions in munitions factories, mental health was never questioned. Instead, you find ‘stories of determined women… they were not the subject of worried letters and diaries saying “I feel myself coming apart”.’ They were, however, always moved by the plight of the men. ‘I think they would be utterly staggered if we had asked “How do you feel?”,’ Adie concluded. ‘Maybe we have changed.’

The untold stories of conflict Whilst research abounds on the experiences of armed forces personnel, this can paint an incomplete picture of the everyday reality of war. This symposium, chaired by Kate Bullen (Aberystwyth University) and convened by Eric Drogin (Harvard Medical School), explored this lesstrodden path of the hidden elements of conflict, and their

contributions to our views of wars past and present.

Drogin began by presenting on behalf of Gareth Hall (Aberystwyth University), whose work addressed the expanding roles of women in war and the effects of their participation on gender-role stereotypes. Despite historic accounts of women participating in wartime

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industry, the roles of women can be overlooked in favour of regarding masculinity as a military ideal. However, the increasing numbers of women joining the armed forces raises the question of how women identify with their gender within a largely male environment. An analysis of modern war poetry exposed the different experiences of serving

men and women, with men often expressing loss, and women feeling a need to mask their emotions. The research showed that wartime gender roles are not merely ‘masculine’ versus ‘feminine’, thus challenging society’s view of gender norms, and questioning whether bringing women onto the front line truly increases sex equality, or merely

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places different constraints on women.

Next, John Williams, from Aberystwyth University, reflected on the impact of conflict on older women.

This group are at greater risk overall, but their specific needs often go unrealised. Particular problems included resisting displacement – either through being unaware of government services or inability to travel – and being last to access dwindling relief supplies.

A high incidence of PTSD on this group was linked to poor conditions in refugee camps and loss of status within a family. Williams called for humanitarian initiatives to examine and attend to the individual needs of this group, to acknowledge that this group are not exempt from sexual violence, and to recognise the contributions they can make, such as caring for children.

Carol Spaderna (University of Derby) reviewed strategies to maintain the relationships

of couples separated by war. Although research has been conducted on supporting armed forces personnel, and partners remaining at home, little has been done to address the toll taken on their relationship.

Although loneliness and fear for a partner’s safety can be problematic, creating lasting memories before deployment and involving family and friends were reported to be helpful strategies. Preparing for homecoming was also imperative, as both partners would need to adjust to particular events or changes in routine that had occurred since parting. This was especially important if the couple had become parents during separation. Early detection of any barriers to

normality could help to tackle underlying stressors. Finally, it was considered important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and to keep a strong perspective of the situation.

For the final paper, Eric Drogin returned to discuss the ways in which wartime propaganda has been created and delivered for maximum effect, and the ethical implications of its use and study. The emotional reaction

caused by propaganda can have unintended consequences, as anti-German propaganda used during WWI often documented fictitious atrocities, and may have caused Hitler’s actions, years later, to seem less believable.

The alleged source can also be manipulative in several ways.

Whilst ‘white’ propaganda discloses its true source, ‘black’ propaganda is designed to appear as though it was produced by its intended target group, widening the scope for influence. Crucially, ethics codes state that psychological knowledge must be generated for beneficial purposes. However, propaganda can range from the arguably beneficial (such as public health campaigns and preserving morale) to the harmful, and increasing understanding of its workings can be used to either end, leaving psychologists studying the phenomenon balancing on a knife edge. LT

PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE… WITH CHILDREN AS WEAPONS For some women, leaving a violent relationship can lead to alienation if they also become separated from their children.

This can happen if an abusive father uses their children to control, or perhaps even punish, the mother. Laura Monk (Coventry University) is undertaking research to understand the mechanisms by which this alienation occurs, and says that for some mothers it feels like they are engaged in psychological warfare – with the children as weapons.

In a preliminary study using thematic analysis, six mothers who have suffered from abusive relationships described how they had been alienated from their own children. Maternal alienation emerged as a tactic that some abusive fathers attempt to exploit: a form of non-physical and coercive control, illustrated by the

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threatening statement ‘You’ll never see your child again if you leave me’.

Maternal alienation itself can be seen to be a more specific aspect of general

parental alienation syndrome [see ‘Parental alienation – time to notice, time to intervene’, January 2014], which also applies to fathers who have been separated from their children. In

parental alienation, children living with the resident parent can became hostile towards the non-resident parent (mother or father), sometimes eliciting strong feelings of aggression, or even hate, towards the alienated parent. This can lead to irrevocable damage to the parent–child relationship.

Monk identified three overarching themes that are central to a mother's experiences of alienation: (i) undermining of the mothering role; (ii) sabotaging of motherly contact; and (iii) supplanting of mothers as the primary caregiver.

Further themes relating to the actual strategies by which maternal alienation occurs have also been identified, including the denigration, oppression and isolation of mothers, elevation of fathers, manipulation of children, and the exploitation of institutions. TJ

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‘The welfare of the people is supreme’ removal the urges disappeared (returning again when it recurred).

Susan emphasised how important it was that courts and the people who worked in the criminal justice system, took on board that psychology was not just ‘common sense’, and she reminded us of the work on how abuse and adverse life events affect us.

She closed by suggesting that the law asks the questions that science can’t answer and science answers questions that law doesn’t ask. For Susan, psychology is the science which has to ask the hard questions, making a difference by liaising at a professional level with the legal system to improve psychological knowledge and understanding. TW

TONY DALE

The keynote presentation on the final afternoon of the Annual Conference was from Susan van Scoyoc, entitled ‘Psychologists as expert witnesses: The mad or bad debate continues’. This was a very personal and passionate account of the importance of having clear values when working in the criminal justice system as a psychologist. Susan is an independent practitioner (last year’s Practitioner of the Year Award winner), working with what she affectionately calls ‘my bad girls and boys’ to provide ‘evidence-based information for the court that comes from the heart’.

She made her first powerful point by showing images of three notorious offenders, who, coincidentally, were all called Ian – Brady, Huntley and Watkins.

All were vilified in the press and described variously by the sentencing judge as evil. Susan contrasted their imprisonment with what happens in some states in the US and reminded us of the recent botched execution of Clayton Lockett – what she referred to as ‘homicide by the state’. It was in this context that Susan asked us to consider that these men might be our brother, our father – there but for the grace of God it could be us. Remembering we are all human was clearly a guiding principle for Susan’s practice. We may want such people to be ‘monsters’: a belief in the ‘thorough and primitive duality of man’ can be comforting, and may lead to a ‘throw away the key’ mentality. But Susan argues that this reaction often fails to consider social, economic and developmental issues.

She continued her presentation with a series of illustrative examples: one where she had successfully brought psychology to society by helping the court reach a just sentence for a 12-yearold girl whose life had been dominated by the experience of being trafficked and used by a gang. Susan successfully argued how these experiences reduced the child’s responsibility for her actions. ‘The court listened – I felt good’. Other cases where there was incompetence, or where lack of understanding led to clear miscarriages of justice, made her more determined than ever to enhance the role of specialist advice.

The complex relationship between moral responsibility and our brain function was explored (a new field called ‘neurolaw’) by referring to an individual case study of ‘acquired paedophilia’.

A male patient had sexual urges towards his children, despite realising it was wrong.

A brain tumour was discovered, and on its

Technology, assessment and hamsters Phil Banyard accepted the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology Education with an entertaining and thought-provoking lecture, asking us to question the status quo in psychology teaching. Although Banyard cautioned delegates at the outset that he was setting out for a rant, his discussion was more a timely critique of the way we teach and assess in this digital age.

Our students in 2014 and beyond are ‘digital natives’; most have grown up in a world where everything is online and Google is the oracle. However, in exams, we still assess them with the ‘technology of the Biro’ (Banyard, 2010, p 42).

Banyard asks us to question why we make assessment so dull, particularly as psychology is such an exciting and wideranging topic. Is it because this is the way that we were assessed and we feel like passing the pain? Do we believe that if it is not hurting it’s not working?

In particular, this talk questioned whether the exam essay effectively mirrors any task that graduates will need to conduct in their working lives. Could we perhaps think about assessing the way in which our students complete tasks on iPads?

As an example, delegates were

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introduced to an exam question for A-level students where they were required to draw a ‘split-style’ hamster. A split-style drawing depicts all the key features of an object, regardless of perspective. An understanding of this would demonstrate that students had understood crosscultural studies of picture representation.

In order to assess this drawing, a mark scheme had to be constructed to take into account various versions that students might present. A well-executed split-style hamster would get two marks, but a dismembered hamster would get zero.

This amusing example served to highlight a challenge for teachers: if we change our assessment methods, we must be prepared to think creatively. This will require a big change in the time we take to prepare lectures, exams or assessments. Some would argue that a focus on personal publication metrics penalises those who chose to devote their energies to such efforts.

Finally, Banyard argued that psychology, as the personal science, has the potential to inspire. It encourages us to ask big questions about who we are and why we think, feel and behave in certain ways. To this end, Banyard asks us to consider the laboratory class as the

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‘playroom’; where students should be encouraged to explore their personal interests in the subject rather than repeating the same old tried and tested experiments. He went on to say that if we reduce our teaching and assessment to regurgitation of the same old facts and

figures that we may fail to communicate wonder and enthusiasm for our subject to our students. (Some of these issues were explored further in an article in Psychology Teaching Review: Banyard, 2010.) As a research methods teacher myself, I was inspired by Barnyard’s

passionate plea, and look forward to exploring some new methods with my students. ED Reference Banyard, P. (2010). Teaching the personal science: From impeccable trivia to the blooming buzzing confusion. Psychology Teaching Review, 16(2), 38–44.

Special educational needs – from policy to practice

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Liverpool/Co-Chair of the Children and Young People Faculty Group, BPS Division of Clinical Psychology) raised concerns around the role of psychologists. Early papers on the reforms have neglected to mention the role of mental health professionals outside of those based in the education system. A key aspiration of the Act is increased inter-agency working, but there may be insufficient recognition of the need for children and young people with SEN to receive support from psychological services. Evidence-based practice ought to involve the application of strategies informed by psychological understanding, but reforms may not go far enough in promoting this.

Further concerns, such as heightening aspirations and parents’ expectations despite decreasing resources, were raised when the debate was opened to the audience. The session didn’t reach the heated levels of debate that might be expected for such a pressurised societal issue. Perhaps this was because the panel and audience were in general agreement that the Act has positive intentions and potential, but may not be thorough or realistic enough. It would have been interesting to see what shape the debate would have taken had the panel included not just psychologists but other key stakeholders: politicians, teachers, parents, and the children and young people themselves. AJ PHILIP WOLMUTH/REPORTDIGITAL.CO.UK

Imagine you had to write a report summarising everything we know about the science of fertility. In four sides of A4. A report that would be informative for renowned expert Lord Robert Winston, yet understandable for an MP who didn’t know what an embryo was. This should give you some idea of the challenging nature of the work done by the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (POST), as introduced by POST Scientific Advisor Sarah Bunn.

Each year POST produces around 30 such briefings on topical issues to inform Parliament’s work, one of which is authored by a psychology PhD student selected to be a BPS/POST Fellow. The briefing by 2013 Fellow Faye Smith (University of York) on special educational needs (SEN) laid the ground for this year’s Hot Topic Panel Debate, chaired by Families have felt pushed towards battling for a BPS Director of Policy Nigel Atter. statement of special educational needs to receive SEN provision has long been precious resources a politicised topic, and will be extensively reformed in England with the introduction of the Children and the right for parents and young and Families Act 2014 in September. people to have a personal support budget.

Panel member Phil Stringer (District As an educational psychologist in one Senior Educational Psychologist, of the pathfinder local authorities that Hampshire/Academic & Professional trialled the reforms, Stringer was aware Tutor, UCL) outlined some of the issues of the difficulties associated with the leading up to the Act. Families have changes in provision and their rapid found the current system adversarial, timescale. Challenges he identified and felt pushed towards battling for included the tension between aiming for a statement of special educational needs increased person-centred planning whilst to receive precious resources. The 2002 not overburdening families with the need Audit Commission Report and the 2009 to continually repeat their personal Lamb Inquiry indicated that provision narratives. For schools, a key challenge was costly and ineffective, and the 2010 is likely to be the requirement that they Ofsted report suggested that overhelp facilitate the development of the identification was masking poor teaching. child in preparation for adulthood, Key reforms include a new Education, despite teacher training not including any Health and Care Plan which aims to grounding in child development. promote coordinated care across agencies Jaime Craig (Consultant Clinical and extends support up to the age of 25, Psychologist, Family Psychology Services,

I The deadline for applications for the next BPS POST Postgraduate Award is 31 August: see www.bps.org.uk/what-we-do/ awards-grants/bps-post-postgraduateaward/bps-post-postgraduate-award

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Using heads as well as arms What would C.S. Myers make of defence psychology in 2014?

That was the question posed during this symposium on current provision of applied psychology in the armed forces, convened by the Society’s President Elect Dr Jamie Hacker Hughes.

The first speaker, Fiona Butcher of the Ministry of Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, described how 50 psychologists are drawing on neuroscience, cognitive, behavioural and social psychology in order to maximise the impact of science and technology for UK defence and security.

The group address questions such as how we can enhance cultural awareness for military personnel on peacekeeping operations. Butcher described an increase in the amount of partnering as we move through a transition to withdrawal from Afghanistan, along with the associated friction and ‘green on blue’ incidents. A multidisciplinary approach led to the development of semi-structured interviews to gauge attitudes and perceptions, the results of which were then fed into predeployment training.

Rachel Norris, Head of the Defence Clinical Psychology Service, outlined how there is now psychological representation in almost all UK military departments – ‘much more equitable access’.

Mental health aftercare is delivered to what Norris described as ‘a pretty robust and resilient, young healthy population’. Despite this, there were 6700 new episodes of care at Departments of Community Mental Health Services in 2012/2013, with 75 per cent assessed as having a mental disorder. Neurotic disorders were the most prevalent. Norris outlined various issues facing the services, including funding, geographical barriers to provision, and the use of anti-stigma campaigns. It was reassuring to see the phrase ‘no health without mental health’ at the forefront of Norris’s thinking.

Taking a more occupational perspective, Dr Gail WalkerSmith from the Ministry of Defence described her ‘satisfying, fun’ career: ‘Where else could I drive tanks and throw myself out of aircraft?’ Walker-Smith described a ‘Recruit Partnering Project’ to use psychometric testing to improve the quantity and quality of army recruits. Following the deaths of trainees at the Deepcut barracks in Surrey, a recruit trainee survey designed by army psychologists looked at well-being. Amongst positive views of the forces as a career option, it was worrying to see that 11 per cent of phase one trainees and 7 per cent of phase two trainees said they were badly or unfairly treated. A ‘continuous attitude survey’ is now in use by the armed forces to monitor such issues.

Definitely not unhappy with his lot was Captain Duncan Precious, the first uniformed clinical psychologist in the British Army. Five years ago he was doing a placement as part of his doctorate when he saw an advertisement on The Psychologist’s job website, and here he spoke with obvious pride of his ‘journey to becoming green’ since then. There have been physical challenges – ‘my wife feels like she’s grabbing a new man’ – and mental, but Precious feels that the transferable skills, cognitive flexibility, planning and problem-solving skills from his psychology background have stood him in good stead.

Equally, a ‘unique insight into what it means to develop the identity of a soldier has helped in clinical practice’.

Overall, to this onlooker at least, Myers would have been gratified to see a forward-thinking profession growing in influence, remaining true to values of reflexive practice and negotiation: using our heads rather than simply taking up arms. JS

Parenting in adversity Problem parenting, widely associated with several psychosocial risks, has implications for policy and practice in the clinical health, social care and criminal justice systems. This symposium, convened by Antonia Bifulco, from Middlesex University, explored parenting in vulnerable groups in terms of the consequences for parents and children, including generational transmission of risks.

Bifulco began by presenting an attachment-focused model showing the role of parenting in transmitting risk of emotional disorder from mother to child. Regression analysis showed that a mother’s insecure attachment style predicted problematic parenting, leading to neglect or abuse and transmission of emotional disorder. Marital discord had an indirect influence on transmission, though, interestingly, mother’s depression did not, showing the need to understand the context of problem

parenting, which provides a reliable measure of risk.

Related research by Catherine Jacobs, also of Middlesex University, documented the successful trial of two standardised tools to assess parenting competence and risk to children in ongoing cases. One examined parents’ perceived competence against an objective standard of parenting, whilst a second assessed children’s experiences of abuse and neglect. The tools were shown to be used reliably by social workers after training, and case studies illustrated their value in critical decision making, and in allowing parents to reflect on their strengths as well as weaknesses.

Jeffrey de Marco, from Royal Holloway, University of London reflected on the quality and availability of services for the families of offenders, and strategies for preventing their further marginalisation. Best practice included the whole family, where possible, addressed

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problem parenting, and avoided treating the family as an extension of the offender.

Issues neglected by services were the needs of family members in the community, and the offender’s role as a parent whilst incarcerated.

Lastly, Vittoria Ardino (LSE) considered the economic costs of untreated mental health problems.

This issue may arise due to a lack of early intervention or transition services for adolescents – the age group in which roughly half of lifetime mental health problems emerge. Cost analysis favoured transition services, which were associated with improved employment prospects, over traditional services or a treatment gap, the latter of which was associated with negative outcomes. However, these services were rare and underresourced, such that their beneficial effects may be hard to reap in the current economic climate if policy makers are unwilling or unable to invest. LT

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SEXUAL CRIMES Does reporting of sexual crimes sell newspapers? That was one implication of research by Craig Andrew Harper (University of Lincoln), who performed linguistic inquiry and word count analysis on articles from eight national newspapers, and found that as the readership went up so did the number of articles that newspaper contributed to the sample. The analysis also revealed a nine times overrepresentation of sexual crime within the sample of press articles when compared to official crime statistics.

Interestingly, although there has been a huge post-Savile increase in coverage, Harper suggested that it seems to have got less negative and less angry (in the broadsheets at least).

IDENTITY PARADE If you are ever the witness in an identity parade, you should be told that it is possible the person you saw is not there. Yet some people will still make a choice, and it turns out older people are more likely to do this.

Why? Helen Kaye (Open University) suggests the explanation is unlikely to be a cognitive deficit, as they recognise the right person just as well. It could be a response bias: that they really want to pick someone. Either way, Kaye suggested that asking witnesses to provide a confidence rating in their choice may improve accuracy for hits and correct rejections.

INVOLVED FATHERHOOD Looking at the concept of ‘involved fatherhood’, Anna Machin (University of Oxford) outlined the need – economic conditions requiring dual-earner households, a reduction in post-birth hospital care, and the lack of an extended family – but then pointed to a gap between imagery and reality.

Only 0.6 per cent of fathers took extended paternity leave in 2011/12, and according to Machin many men experience issues surrounding a loss of control and identity when they become fathers.

Machin interviewed 15 first-time fathers through the National Childbirth Trust, and found that many actually experienced a feeling of being a secondary parent. ‘There is nothing focused on your role’, one said; another was ‘resentful in some ways’ of breastfeeding; ‘I suppose you just get on with it’, said one, rather dolefully.

All in all, Machin says, there are developmental, biological and practical hurdles that lead to a gap between expectation and reality. We need to support fathers to adopt a wide variety of roles. JS

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‘For Queen and country … and then what?’

Although public and professional awareness of the mental health needs of veterans is increasing, military personnel are often seen as a problematic and challenging client group. Convened by Imogen Sturgeon-Clegg, from the Ministry of Defence, this symposium explored the lived experiences of military personnel in therapy, and of the practitioners working with them, with the aim of deepening the understanding needed to improve therapeutic practice with this group.

Sturgeon-Clegg’s own research focused on working on guilt and shame in therapy, demonstrating a need for therapists to be aware of their own attitudes to conflict, and to be non-judgemental in their approach, viewing any disclosures within the ethical framework of the military.

Camilla Stack (independent practice) conveyed the challenges faced by a group of ex-armed forces personnel receiving psychological therapy. Two issues were particularly prominent: a strong, enduring identification with the military, and belief in a sharp military–civilian divide. These led to a number of challenges in therapy, including difficulty with a lack of structure or clarity, and negotiation of control. Fear of being judged or misunderstood also made clients less inclined to disclose some of their experiences, especially if therapists seemed easily dismayed by more minor events. These observations suggest a need for therapists to be more aware of military culture and its implications for the therapeutic relationship, and may need to adapt their approach to help this group to fully engage with therapy.

However, despite their military label and culture, armed forces personnel may not be so different to others receiving therapy. Vikki Powell (Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Foundation Trust) investigated practitioners’ perceptions of such clients, creating a quantitative tool to compare the challenges of veteran and non-veteran clients. Practitioners recognised that despite often being of a similar demographic, veterans do not conform to a homogeneous stereotype, and more positive experiences of therapy were associated with looking beyond that stereotype. Veterans were also perceived as less challenging to work with than clients who took risks, had adjustment issues, or were highly masculinised,

despite these traits being integral to the military stereotype.

An alternative approach to improving outcomes of therapy for veterans lies in understanding the language typically used by this group. Lisa Vallance (independent practice) presented the results of a discourse analysis of veterans’ language when discussing stress and resilience.

An overarching theme relating to defensiveness was identified, alongside denial or downplaying distress, and discord between their professional and personal perspectives.

Lastly, Georgina Hallet (City Psychology Group) discussed the experiences of therapy for veterans with combat-related PTSD (such as Andrew Murphy, quoted in the headline of this piece). Again, feeling misunderstood was a prominent issue, with veterans reporting both inner turmoil attributed to the PTSD symptoms, and the external struggle to receive meaningful help. The persistence of a military identity and isolation from civilians was also striking, with veterans struggling to leave their military career behind, and yet feeling abandoned by the forces and rejected by civilians alike.

Conversely, developing understanding was a more positive emergent theme, consisting of a growing commitment to therapy and developing relationships with themselves and their therapist. The value of normative experiences in a secure environment were also reported.

The possibility of seeking ex-armed forces personnel to coordinate services was raised throughout the symposium, as a means of bridging the military–civilian divide, and providing a service that is more accommodating of the needs and preferences of military personnel. LT

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Male intimate partner violence – persisting and desisting Can violent men change? For the many women that suffer tragically at the hands of violent partners – be it physical or psychological violence – there is at least some good news. Research has found that many men can reach a point where they no longer engage in violent behaviour in their intimate relationships. Less is known about how these changes take place, but now researchers from Coventry University – Kate Walker, Sarah Brown and Emma Sleath – have begun to understand the psychological processes involved in desisting from violent behaviour, as well as what separates men who persist in violence from those who finally change for the better.

Kate Walker began by highlighting the ‘age crime’ curve – various offences, including violence, decrease with age.

This may be due to increased self-control as we get older, as well as reduced levels of impulsive behaviour. Of course, many other factors could also change with age.

Men become fathers, and their work, health and social relationships all change as well, providing different reference points and social norms over time.

In fact, age gives us a clue to understanding one of the main features of desistance from violent behaviour – the process is gradual and iterative, rather than a sudden moment of clarity.

Using in-depth interviews with desisters (men who had not been violent for a year or longer), persisters (who were still violent), as well as people who had witnessed violent relationships or even survived them, Walker has analysed how these changes occur. The interviews revealed that there are various triggers and transitions, which include: hitting rock bottom, fear of losing a partner, newfound religion, fear of prison, and having (or the threat of losing) children.

Although these turning points by themselves are not enough to result in permanent change, they do seem to act as wake-up calls that start the process. This is perhaps one of the first indicators that separates a desister from someone who continues with violent behaviour: there were no differences between desisters and persisters in terms of how violent they had been in the past, but the desisters realised that something about their behaviour needed to alter radically.

The researchers present a conceptual

model to further explain the process of desistance from violent behaviour.

Triggers and transitions points represent important aspects, and the model shows that the process is not linear. Instead, there are cycles of change triggered by the wake-up call. In the starting Phase 1 cycle, antecedents and triggers only led to violence being rationalised (e.g. ‘She shouldn’t have provoked me’). In the Phase 2 cycle, the desister focused more on the consequences of violence (e.g. impact on family, fear of arrest, and possible separation). Phase 2 also included realisation of negative emotional responses. Desisters felt guilty for much longer, and the guilt became ingrained rather than fleeting. Persisters by contrast were not dogged by their guilt. Persisters were also generally more concerned about the action they had taken, whereas desisters were more concerned about the consequences of those actions to others.

Desisters also felt more fear (of

punishment, of not seeing their children, and of their own violence) and only successful desisters talked about shame.

All of these factors appear to act as drivers for desisters to make their own decision to change and seek treatment.

Finally, in Phase 3, successful men could deal with violent triggers and selfidentified with being a non-violent person.

So can violent men change? Yes, but not overnight. Desisting from violence requires hard work and commitment, and men going through this transition need to be made aware of the process involved.

This means that a standard treatment intervention will be difficult.

Unfortunately there isn’t a one-size-fits-all treatment, and younger adults with more chaotic lifestyles may always be harder to treat. However, patients may benefit from treatments that focus on speeding up autonomous resolve, so that violent men can more fully understand the implications of their actions. TJ

WE ALL NEED SOMEBODY A recent meta-analysis of 148 studies demonstrated that loneliness is a big killer, comparable with smoking and alcohol consumption, and a greater risk factor than obesity and physical activity (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010). Humans need other humans to flourish and survive. Professor Bruce Hood, recipient of the Society’s Public Engagement and Media Award, described in his acceptance lecture how the human brain has selected characteristics for living together.

The human brain has shrunk considerably in size over the last 20,000 years, a fact that may seem counter to evolutionary assumptions that technological advances would lead to an increase in its size. However, Hood showed that a smaller brain is a product of domestication; the selection of characteristics that mean we can live harmoniously in groups. For example, Dmitri Belyaev attempted to domesticate the Siberian silver fox in the 1950s. He showed that the brains of domesticated animals were 10–15 per cent smaller than wild animals.

Delegates could see the differences in the animal’s behaviour in short video clips used

by Hood to illustrate this study: the wild foxes snarled and barked at the handler,

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while the domesticated foxes approached and appeared affectionate.

The Public Engagement and Media Award recognises an individual’s outstanding contribution to the promotion of psychology to the general public. Professor Hood’s recent book The Domesticated Brain: A Pelican Introduction is just one example of one of the many avenues he has explored for communicating his research to a wide audience. He has delivered a number of public lectures, appeared at science festivals, and has spoken at the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures 2011. Another venture, the world’s largest simultaneous memory experiment, was officially recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.

During questions, Hood encouraged delegates to seek their own avenues for engaging with the media, reminding us of the importance of communicating the unique contributions of our science to the public. ED Reference Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T.B. & Layton, J.B. (2010).

Social relationships and mortality risk: A metaanalytic review. PloS Medicine, 7(7). doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316

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Perspectives on care I was 17 when I left home to go to university, but this was by no means the point at which care and support from my family ended. Indeed I am fortunate to consider myself in many ways still under their care. This sort of familial care is not guaranteed for all; it may never exist for some children or may not be sustained.

The situation for young people who have been looked after by the state in Scotland was outlined by Jennifer Lerpiniere and Kenny McGhee (both Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland, University of Strathclyde). Their talk emphasised how vital it is that care leavers continue to receive support into early adulthood. The average age for leaving home in Scotland is now 25 or above, yet the average age at which looked after young people leave care is between 16 and 18.

Care leavers are disproportionately likely to experience poor life outcomes, such as mental health problems, homelessness, and premature mortality.

The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 raises the age of support for this group from 21 to 26 years, but it is important that this support is meaningful. By surveying 27 Scottish local authorities, key factors in providing for care leavers were identified. These included the need for the sector to reach agreement as to what data to record nationally about the engagement of care leavers and life outcomes, and for consistent support to be provided rather than frequent restructuring of services.

Perhaps above all is the need for services to work towards genuinely supportive relationships with young people; as the

speakers noted, the exchange of text messages meant a care leaver could be statistically considered as engaged with services, but is unlikely to translate into useful support.

In the same oral presentation session, several other speakers explored perspectives around parental care.

Charlotte Harris (London Borough of Havering) investigated the experiences of adoptive parents, whose perspectives are surprisingly underrepresented in research.

Three main themes were identified from interpretative phenomenological analysis of interviews with nine mothers.

‘Becoming Mum’ encompassed the complexity of having the desire for a family fulfilled but not the desire for a birth child, ‘The Melting Pot of Emotion’ comprised the feelings of fear,

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although anatomical evidence strongly suggests that there are direct hippocampal projections to all other sites implicated in causing anterograde amnesia, including the medial diencephalon, the functional relationships between these areas appear to be reciprocal.

Within the medial diencephalon, the mammillary bodies and anterior thalamic nuclei stand out as key sites, a view supported by clinical studies of people with colloid cysts, Korsakoff’s syndrome and rostral thalamic strokes, all of which disrupt the connections in the mammillothalamic tract and impair memory. Clear examples of these brought the challenging subject of brain anatomy and behaviour to life.

Other evidence John cited comes from behavioural studies in which one can examine the impact of discrete, confirmed pathologies in animal models of amnesia. These studies show how anterior thalamic lesions and hippocampal lesions have similar disruptive effects on tests of spatial memory. In addition, crossed-lesion disconnection studies show how

these two structures require each other to function effectively.

The audience went on to hear about a very different type of evidence that comes from brain-

TONY DALE

Thursday was neuroscience morning: a keynote by Professor John Aggleton FRS (Cardiff University). This was preceded by a symposium ‘New Directions in Human Neuroscience’: key researchers in the field, all dynamic and engaging, set the perfect platform for John’s talk on ‘Convergent methodological (and anatomical) pathways for memory’.

John apologised that his title was rather dry, though his talk was anything but. He began by laying out some background on the study of anterograde amnesia, discussing how it has helped to reveal brain structures and networks vital for episodic memory. Although anterograde amnesia can occur after damage in various brain sites, hippocampal dysfunction is traditionally seen as the ultimate cause of the failure to learn new episodic information. John combined convergent information from anatomical, behavioural and clinical sources to highlight the point that episodic memory is supported by a distributed system involving multiple brain sites that extend well beyond the hippocampus.

John pointed out that,

imaging studies that have examined the status of the fibre tract linking the hippocampus to the medial diencephalon (i.e. the fornix). Imaging studies show how changes in human fornix white matter are associated with changes in memory. These changes appear exacerbated in mild cognitive impairment, which can be a pre-diagnostic stage of Alzheimer’s.

Additional animal, clinical and neuroimaging findings highlighted dissociations between different classes of

memory. In particular, there is evidence that hippocampal– anterior thalamic interactions are vital for the recall of information but are less important for recognition memory. Throughout the talk, John used evidence to underline the importance of looking beyond the hippocampus when seeking to explain failures in learning new episodic information. At the same time, the talk was punctuated by descriptions of the untimely end of various anatomists and clinicians who played important roles in initially revealing these pathways for memory. The final message concerned the importance of integrating research findings across species and across methods to address these highly complex issues.

It was an exciting, intriguing and challenging talk that left the audience feeling they had enhanced their understanding of the relationship between brain and behaviour; one of the highlights at the Annual Conference for me, and we look forward to welcoming more neuroscientists in years to come. CM

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ADOPTION DISRUPTION helplessness and isolation, and ‘Social Stigma of Adoption’ included participants’ experiences of others’ patchy understanding of what adoption meant and the desire to hide the truth of adoption in order to protect their child.

A surprising finding was that the preadoption training received by these particular mothers had actually induced great anxiety around whether their children would attach to them.

The impact of foster parents’ perceptions of their own attachment style, and their levels of mind-mindedness, upon child well-being was looked at by Wendy Kelly (Victoria University of Wellington). Parents with high mindmindedness are able to see a child as an individual with their own mental life, and for foster parents this may mean being able to reflect upon the child’s behaviour and formulate ideas about how this is influenced by their past experiences.

In a study with 62 foster parents, it was found that high parent mind-mindedness was predictive of fewer child behaviour problems, moderated by parents’ having positive perceptions regarding attachment.

Additionally, parents’ positive attachment perceptions were predictive of fewer child behaviour problems (stronger for younger children), and more positive parent–child relationships (stronger for boys).

Melissa Noke (University of Manchester) reported on parents’ perspectives around whether to disclose to their children that they were a carrier for sickle-cell disease. In the UK, universal screening for rare diseases is conducted with newborns. Children who are identified as carriers for sicklecell disease may experience risks including greater likelihood of strokes, yet there is no follow-up with families.

Parents are left to decide if, when and how they reveal the results. Noke interviewed 30 parents with at least one child above the age of six identified as a carrier; about half had not told any of their children, about half had told one child but not the other(s), and a minority had told all of their affected children.

It was found that it wasn’t as simple as waiting for a child to reach a certain age.

Parents were weighing up how the individual child might handle the news, whether the child may be stigmatised as a result, how they viewed the significance of carrier status, and whether they felt confident enough to provide the information. One challenge was whether parents had up-to-date medical knowledge; for some participants their main source of knowledge was a leaflet provided at the time of screening, which could well be long out of date. AJ

The potential for more What has neuroscience ever done for us?

Spearman Medal winner Jonathan Roiser (University College London) suggested the answer could be ‘not a lot’, but that it has the potential to do so much more.

Imagine sitting in the exam hall faced with the question ‘What causes depression?’ We might wheel out explanations in the form of psychological models, biological models, and an interaction between the two. That’s a standard 2:1 answer, Roiser said, but is it a terrible answer? If we were asked about ‘cough syndrome’, we would list proximal rather than distal causes. Proximal causes are important, and symptoms have to result due to the firing of brain circuits.

But if we boil it down to this level, categorical symptoms aren’t so categorical anymore.

Roiser turned to the example of early neuroimaging work in depression, which homed in on the subgenual anterior cingulated cortex (sgACC). fMRI

suggested it is involved in emotion perception and regulation, and genetic risk for depression affects sgACC response. Yet there tends to be more variability in a patient group that in a control group: capturing and explaining that variability is key to using neuroscience in clinical psychology.

For example, the sgACC not only predicts treatment response, it predicts differentially the outcome of different kinds of treatment. Could it help psychologists to argue ‘maybe these particular guys would be better off having psychological treatment’?

In fact, highly treatment-resistant depression has been treated by stimulating the sgACC directly. But Roiser admitted that the sgACC is not the end of the story.

It is interconnected with a variety of other networks that may be important for other symptoms. It does, however, point the way to a multidimensional approach and a more personalised form of treatment. JS

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‘Adoption disruption’ is the term given to the irretrievable breakdown of a placement where a child re-enters the looked-after system. Around 20 per cent of UK adoptions ‘disrupt’. To understand why, and the consequences, Sarah Collinge (Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust) spoke to five female participants between the ages of 15 and 18, recruited from social care. They described feeling regulated and restrained, and unheard. Turning points included finding their voice, which could lead to an escalation of the conflict. No participant was aware that disruption was an option, but when it occurred it could be a positive outcome, leading to freedom, independence and a ‘determination to be better’.

AUTHORIAL IDENTITY ‘Plagiarism’ is such a negative term, don’t you think? James Elander (University of Derby) prefers the concept of ‘authorial identity’, the sense a writer has of themselves as an author and the textual identity they construct in their writing.

If we can encourage our students to take responsibility and credit for written work as the author, that can ‘take the author into the safe zone’. Elander’s Student Authorship Project aimed to improve authorial identity by workshopping the meanings of ‘author’ and ‘authorship’, discussing high-profile cases of alleged plagiarism, and discussing examples of student writing in order to analyse the decisions made by the authors.

SOCIAL INEQUALITY Rachel Tribe (University of East London), winner of the Society’s Award for Promoting Equality of Opportunity, delivered an impassioned plea for psychologists to challenge social inequalities. She criticised the concept and practice of neo-colonialism, taken from within psychology and exported wholesale, particularly to low- and middleincome countries. Tribe recounted being on the ground following major disasters, hearing professionals turning up and asking ‘Take me to your most traumatised people’, with little consideration for practicalities and the damaged infrastructure.

The BPS, Tribe said, has shown itself to be flexible and adaptable on occasions, but could it do more? Her own work is influenced by liberation psychology, holistic psychology, critical psychology and community psychology. She ended with an example of her use of football as a form of community psychology with a team of refugees, developing teamwork and resilience. JS

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Rewarding excellence: the Society’s Book Awards 2014 The BPS Book Awards recognise published work that has made a major contribution to the advancement of psychology. They are made jointly by our Research Board, Psychology Education Board and Professional Practice Board and are increasingly seen as a mark of excellence in the field. This year, for the first time, awards were made in four categories: academic monograph, practitioner text, textbook and popular science. The winners were invited to deliver a lecture in a special session at the Annual Conference where they were presented with a commemorative certificate.

The award in the popular science category went to psychologist and broadcaster Claudia Hammond for her book Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception (Canongate).

In 2012, Claudia won the Society’s Public Engagement and Media Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution towards raising the profile of psychology with the general public.

Claudia gave an engaging and wellreceived overview of some of the innovative (and sometimes eccentric) experiments that have assessed time perception. She also showed the audience some examples of the many diagrams and notes sent in by readers to illustrate the diverse ways in which they perceive time.

More and more psychologists are writing

popular science books, and Claudia provided the audience with some useful tips for making research findings come alive to a non-specialist audience.

The textbook award was won by Victoria Clarke, Sonja Ellis, Elizabeth Peel and Damien Riggs for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer Psychology: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press). The book draws on classic and cutting-edge research to discuss a wide range of topics, including diversity, prejudice, health, relationships, parenting and lifespan experiences from youth to old age. In their talk, Elizabeth and Damien highlighted the potential for the book to promote research, theory and practice that is non-heterosexist and gender-inclusive. The book is an excellent resource to support teaching programmes that will educate and inspire a new generation of psychologist, as well as engender new ideas and encourage debate.

Claire Hughes (University of Cambridge) won the award in the academic monograph category for her book Social Understanding and Social Lives: From Toddlerhood through to the Transition to School (Taylor & Francis).

This book draws on observational data gathered from children, their parents and their classmates over several years to identify why some children’s awareness of others lags behind their peers and how

this may influence social and cognitive development. Particular focus is placed on the enduring influence of children’s linguistic environments and the quality of their family relationships on their ability to understand other people’s thoughts and feelings. In her talk, Claire provided an overview of the book and also updated the audience about the cohort’s continuing development. She introduced the audience to some imaginative and effective ways of testing theory of mind in young children, such as the use of silent film clips and ‘strange stories’.

The award for best the best practitioner text was made to Emma Donaldson-Feilder, Joanna Yarker and Rachel Lewis for Preventing Stress in Organizations: How to Develop Positive Managers (Wiley-Blackwell). Based on a rigorous five-year research programme conducted with managers and employees from different sectors, this book examines ways in which managers can prevent, manage and reduce stress in their staff and promote healthy working environments. The authors outlined the framework presented in the book and its practical implications and discussed evidence-based approaches to shape positive manager behaviours. This book has been very well received in the business community, as well as by occupational psychologists and human resource professionals. GK

A sceptic’s paradise In this age of popular science and secularism, it may be surprising that opinion polls show that the majority of the public accept the occurrence of paranormal phenomena. Chris French, from Goldsmiths, University of London, argues that there are two possibilities: either the paranormal is real, and should be accepted by scientists, or seemingly paranormal phenomena can be explained in terms of known physical and psychological effects – the latter being the aim of anomalistic psychologists, such as French.

One reason that paranormal beliefs are so appealing is that humans are ‘lousy, interpretive statisticians’, prone to seeing links and patterns where there are none. We are also poor at estimating the likelihood of coincidences, which, after all, are a less exciting explanation. These tendencies can lead us to see the Madonna on a piece of toast, or believe that a surprise phone call from a friend is evidence of a psychic bond. The Barnum effect also

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illustrates our tendency to perceive vague, ambiguous statements to be especially relevant to our personalities – and only ours.

These extraordinary beliefs, and the biases allowing them, can also have wider implications. The observation that the one person’s recollection of events influences another’s memory for the same event holds true both during an illusionist’s ‘metal bending’ act, and in the courtroom. On a darker note, false memories, like paranormal beliefs, can be explained by suggestion and a person’s expectations, but may be more harmful, as they usually relate to an entirely fictitious trauma.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, French’s own research found that a tendency towards paranormal beliefs is associated with susceptibility to false memories.

‘Anomalistic psychology’, French concluded, ‘sorts the wheat from the chaff. It may be all chaff, but it’s still interesting, because it’s all “up here”.’ LT

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As part of a 400-year-old ritual, sumo wrestlers in Japan compete to make babies cry the loudest and longest. According to this tradition, the cries ward off evil spirits, and bestow good fortune and health upon the babies. The sight of such a ritual, as presented during Professor Marinus H. van IJzendoorn’s keynote speech on new directions in attachment theory, may appear bizarre to outside observers. Crying generally elicits a soothing response from a caregiver: an infant will be picked up, pacified or fed. But crying can also trigger harsh parenting and mistreatment. Some of van IJzendoorn’s recent work involves presenting crying sounds to participants in a scanner and monitoring brain responses to try to understand what leads some people to respond in potentially damaging ways. His team have also monitored hand-grip force responses to infant crying. Through this work they hope to explore how patterns of brain activation affect parenting style.

An interview with Marinus van IJzendoorn was published in the February edition of The Psychologist, where further discussion of this work can be found. ED

Degrees of drinking According to previous research by Tom Heffernan and colleagues (Northumbria University) many undergraduate students drink at hazardous levels. This means that many of them are at increased risk of drink-driving, unplanned sexual activity, violence-related behaviour, drug use, cognitive impairment (particularly pertinent, one feels), and increased medical problems. The subset at most risk appears to be those students who engage in sport: such undergraduates report significantly higher mean levels of hazardous drinking. However, there remain unanswered questions relating to student drinking. Comorbid factors are less understood, as is how student drinking patterns may or may not change after university life, or the effects of hazardous drinking on everyday functioning and academic motivation.

Using a web-based survey design, Mark Jankowski (Northumbria University) tested 241 students (50 engaged in sports) using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), prospective and everyday memory questionnaires (PMQ and EMQ respectively), and a measure of executive functioning (Webexec). Students engaged in sport scored significantly higher on hazardous drinking compared to the general student population, with a significant positive correlation between their hazardous drinking score and everyday memory functioning (number of memory lapses reported). Only non-sports students showed a significant relationship between prospective memory scores and executive functioning. One possible

explanation is that sports participation may offer a protective function against some of the harmful effects associated with hazardous drinking.

In addition to the web surveys, Jankowski conducted qualitative interviews that suggest many students see drinking as an enjoyable experience that is integral to their degree. Worryingly, some students who did not receive grades they were happy with, e.g. a 2:2 compared to the 2:1 they were hoping for, would not go back and change their drinking behaviour if given the opportunity.

Jankowski plans to conduct a follow-up study using a longitudinal design to analyse patterns of drinking and cognitive ability following graduation.

Of course, low to moderate alcohol use in university students can be associated with positive health outcomes, increased personal well-being, and improved academic performance. Tom Heffernan has conducted a preliminary study to investigate the relationship between binge drinking and perceived happiness using standardised measures of well-being. A comparison of binge drinkers and non-binge drinkers indicated no gender differences across the groups, as well as no differences in terms of general mood, cigarette use, alcohol use in the past 24 hours, or years of drinking (no students reported illicit drug use).

There were also no significant differences between the groups on anxiety or depression scales, although the student binge drinkers reported lower levels of psychological well-being.

These preliminary findings challenge

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the notion that student binge drinkers are happier. However, Heffernan points out that subjective well-being is probably mediated by a range of factors, such as: exercise levels, sense of group belonging, sleep (both quality and quantity), diet, social status and stress. Group belonging and social status in particular may impact on subjective well-being. Also, there is a need for more researchers to recognise finer distinctions between different types of binge drinking. There may be important differences between binge drinking which just meets the standard UK or international health criteria, and severe binge drinking which carries lifethreatening and severe effects.

What about the more temperate student? Unfortunately, their colleagues that do drink may not see them as positively as they would like. In an interesting study by Dominic Conroy (Surrey University), 609 English undergraduate students were primed to think of a prototypical drinker or nondrinker. Students then answered a series of questions, which included perceptions of favourability and sociability. Results indicated that a prototypical non-drinker was rated significantly less favourably and also less sociable than a prototypical drinker. And, for students who had strong perceptions of non-drinkers being less sociable, there was a significant relationship between intention to drink and harmful drinking amounts. The results suggest that tackling negative perceptions of non-drinkers may work as an intervention to reduce harmful drinking in student populations. TJ

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Materialism and more Parenting is a key predictor of children’s behaviour, lifelong learning and attainment. Katy Smart from Bristol University presented the preliminary findings of longitudinal research that is evaluating the impact of parenting programmes on parents’ behaviour and children’s developmental outcomes. The impact of three different types of initiative is being assessed (Triple-P, The Incredible

NORTH OF THE NECK A sizeable gap exists between what we think we know about the workings of the mind and brain, and what we really know. In his Student Stream address, Sergio Della Sala (University of Edinburgh) conveyed the dangers of filling this gap with pseudoscience.

Della Sala gave several humorous examples of ‘neurosciency flim-flam’ being accepted as truth in several fields. First up was Brain Gym, the infamous educational initiative that teaches children elaborate and fairly meaningless exercises to increase ‘whole-brain learning’. Despite making nonsensical claims, Brain Gym appeared convincing to many because it uses the language of science, albeit incorrectly, which added to its authority.

Such ‘flim-flam’ is also present in the field of medicine, in the form of dubiously designed trials. A noteworthy example was a clinical trial claiming that chocolate could be protective against dementia – a trial that just so happened to be sponsored by a confectionary company, and was given more attention by the media than it deserved.

Ultimately, when tackling pseudoscience, it is not what people think that matters, but how they think. Humans are prone to believing in pseudoscience because it appeals to our intuition, but this is not always the best way to analyse information. Human reasoning has developed in ways that make us prone to errors of judgement, including wrongly forming connections between isolated events. Such errors allow pseudoscience to gain credence. Becoming aware of the flaws of intuitive logic, and of the need to seek evidence outside our system of beliefs, allows us to avoid falling foul of pseudoscience. LT

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Years, and PEEP). Initial results suggest that parents are using the skills they have learned, and positive changes in parenting and children’s behaviour have been observed by trainers as well as the parents themselves. Such benefits include greater confidence in parenting skills, reduced stress and increased parental warmth.

Parents highlighted other advantages of parenting programmes, such as more opportunities to socialise with other parents and spend quality time with children as well as receive advice on problem behaviours and get ideas for play.

It is too early to draw conclusions about the longer-term implications of the programmes for parenting and children’s attainment, but the findings so far are promising. Sadly, recent cuts in funding mean that some local authorities have frozen such initiatives.

Cordelia Sutton (University of Bedfordshire) considered the impact of materialism on adolescents. The research was driven by a UNICEF report published in 2007 whereby the UK was found to be bottom of the league for children’s happiness. Unlike other EU countries,

unhappiness in British children was strongly related to over-consumption and materialism. Other research findings suggest that even young children are very aware of brand names and the negative implications associated with failing to conform have also been highlighted. The present study aimed to gain insight into how materialism on the part of parents and peers impacts on young people’s own materialism and, in turn, how this is related to their well-being. Findings revealed that adolescents who were more materialistic tended to have poorer wellbeing. Parental and peer materialism were linked to adolescent materialism, but the extent to which children considered their peers to be materialistic was a particularly salient factor. Nonetheless, social support from peers, and to some extent from parents, was found to reduce the negative consequences of materialism on adolescent well-being. Insight is now required into implications of materialism in childhood and adolescence for happiness over the longer term.

The role of attachment style in how mothers and fathers in adults’ attachment

What does it mean to be a competent parent?

This question was tackled from a number of different perspectives in a lively symposium by a team from Middlesex University. Andrea Oskis used the Parenting Role Interview to estimate overall level of parenting competence in 25 mothers of adolescent girls. High levels of competence were defined as providing good care and control, spending time, showing attention and affection, coping positively in the face of difficulties and managing practicalities. Oskis found that proximity seeking was particularly relevant to competent parenting and may be a viable target for parenting interventions.

But what about parents with mental health issues? Anthony Murphy interviewed mothers diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and found that although they were able to acknowledge and reflect on the specific challenges of parenting they faced, they felt unsupported by services and had difficulty knowing how and when to interact with their children.

In a contrasting paper, Olga van der Akker examined the experiences of donorconceived adults who seek out their genetically related siblings. A surprisingly high number had not found out that they were donor conceived until teenage years or later and this had a significant negative impact on their relationship with their parents.

Tom Dickens closed the symposium with a very different and evolutionary take on parenting: the fascinating idea that teenage pregnancy may be a natural response to harsh early-life conditions: those who are likely to have a shorter life show earlier reproductive maturity, thus early childbearing is a strategy for greater chance of propagating genes. We should not be fighting teenage pregnancy, Dickens argues, because these are perfectly rational organisms surveying their environment. In fact, competent parenting can be simply defined as rearing a child that has reproductive success themselves. CL

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Greece frightening Tough austerity measures imposed by the Greek government have resulted in salary reductions and sweeping cuts to health and social services funding. The toll this has taken on the well-being of the population is highlighted by rising levels of substance abuse, depression and suicide. Antigonos Sochos (University of Bedfordshire) considered the extent to which the Greek population is experiencing post-traumatic stress (PTS) as a result of the economic crisis. Also explored were links between PTS and perceptions of social cohesion and the rise of authoritarian sociopolitical attitudes observed in the country.

Scores on the Revised Impact of Events Scale administered to a community sample of 1208 Greeks suggested that a considerable proportion (60 per cent) were experiencing severe PTS symptoms, and a further 29 per cent moderate symptoms. More severe symptoms were observed in older, female, and lower-qualified participants and those with dependants. Individuals who reported severe PTS typically perceived a poorer sense of belonging; they also

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networks over time was explored by Fay Julal (Southampton University). Like infants and children, adolescents and adults tend to have primary and secondary attachment figures to which they turn when in need. Attachment networks are typically reorganised over time, with parents often being replaced with a romantic partner and/or friends. Assessing attachment networks can be complex, but the ‘bull’s-eye hierarchical mapping technique’ used in this study has strong potential to capture adults’ perceptions of their social support networks and where various people in their attachment hierarchies are positioned in relation to the self. Findings indicated that participants who were more insecurely attached to the parent at Time 1 tended to distance themselves from the parent at Time 2 a year later. Key differences between parents emerged, with attachment anxiety and avoidance with the mother predicting change in perceptions of maternal closeness, and attachment avoidance with the father and satisfaction with this relationship predicting change in paternal closeness. GK

Individuals reporting severe PTS tended to express stronger right-wing authoritarian beliefs

tended to express stronger right-wing authoritarian beliefs, such as negative attitudes towards immigration, dissent and free-thinking. PTS was also found to moderate the relationship between social cohesion and political authoritarianism, suggesting that a collective traumatising of the Greek population may have negative long-term implications for social equity as well as individual well-being. GK

Train not stopping The capacity to resist temptation and remain goal-focused is important for success in all aspects of our lives, from education to relationships. The teenager who is able to resist the lure of alcohol or drugs may perform better academically, while the ability to remain calm and avoid conflict may help us Temptation to maintain healthy relationships with partners and family members. A lack of self-control, when faced with life’s challenges, can be detrimental to our well-being and our mental health. Clinical psychologist Professor Tim Dalgleish, who was awarded the Presidents’ Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychological Knowledge, proposed that measures to improve self-control could have a huge impact on people’s lives.

Professor Dalgleish was recognised for the outstanding quality of his research, which focuses on mood and anxiety disorders, specifically clinical depression and post-

traumatic stress disorder.

His acceptance lecture provided delegates with a brief overview of how mindfulness and braintraining games might contribute to improved mental health and wellbeing.

Mindfulness has received a great deal of attention within the academic literature and popular press in recent years. The practice of paying attention to the breath, as a means of bringing a focus to the present moment, has been found to have a range of beneficial effects for health and well-being. It has been found to be particular helpful for people with chronic depression, who may find it difficult to break free from negative thought patterns.

As Dalgleish explained, we can picture a negative thought as a train approaching a station platform. We can either jump onto the train, letting the negative thought carry us away, or we can choose to watch it arrive and let it pass through.

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Through the practice of mindfulness we can learn to see thoughts as mental events, and stand back from them rather than being drawn into a cycle of negativity. In laboratory studies, Dalgleish and colleagues have demonstrated that mindfulness is able to help people improve their capacity for self-control.

As mindfulness is now increasingly being taught in schools, the potential benefits for a generation of young people are great.

Dalgleish’s recent work has also demonstrated that brain-training games can help people to regulate their emotions. Brain training has also featured widely in the media, but experimental studies fail to demonstrate that becoming better at a particular game increases our general cognitive abilities. However, practice effects may be useful in training better self-control. People who have been trained to ignore emotional words, such as ‘death’ and ‘cancer’, are able to exert better emotional regulation. This is significant because emotional regulation helps us to have better social relationships with other people, as well as being associated with an array of mental health difficulties. ED

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Getting at the specifics of trauma The way we remember the personal past is essential to how we deal with critical incidents. In some syndromes such as depression, anxiety or PTSD, memories and ruminations can become drivers of illness. In this sense, memory can be thought of a resource, or even a currency, that clinical psychologists work with in order to improve patient’s lives. But working with memories can be difficult, even distressing for the client, and demand for trained clinicians outstrips supply.

In the search for a low-intensity, cost-effective intervention, Professor Tim Dalgleish (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge) suggests a novel memory treatment that may provide a solution. So just how can a memory intervention treat a syndrome such as depression?

Fortunately, psychologists are experts when it comes to understanding the characteristics of memory. In a 1986 study

by Williams and Broadbent, suicide attempters were asked questions relating to their autobiographical memory. It was found that they displayed difficulty in recalling past events that related to negative words. This could suggest that the lack of ability to recall specific memories serves a protective function, preventing the mind from dwelling on traumatic events. Another explanation is that negative words trigger multiple ruminations and memory triggers that in turn prevent the individual from being able to drill down to specific memories.

But the problem of memory specificity in relation to trauma may not be limited to just negative recollections. Common observation of patient behaviour suggests difficulties associated in general memory can include recalling neutral or happy events, as well as negative ones. This difficulty in recalling any type of

MISPLACED TRUST During our everyday social interactions, we rely on our abilities to quickly and accurately judge the emotions and intentions of others to guide our own behaviour.

However, for people with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic condition, making these judgements is far more difficult. Despite often displaying ‘hyper-sociable’ behaviour, such individuals often show abnormal social responsiveness and lack ‘stranger danger’ awareness, which increases their vulnerability.

Research presented

by Deborah Riby (Durham University) shows that individuals with Williams syndrome have difficulties making judgements of approachability from facial

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appearances. A preliminary observation that such individuals were more likely to approach untrustworthylooking faces questioned whether they were able to judge trustworthiness as well as typically developing children. When making forcedchoice judgements of trustworthiness in faces, the Williams syndrome group were significantly less accurate than control participants, indicating difficulties in making social evaluations from faces. Such evaluations are more sophisticated than simple emotion recognition, so research in this area may inform our understanding of typical social cognition, as well as influencing support for individuals with Williams syndrome. LT

specific memory can exacerbate the effects of many syndromes.

It’s hard enough handling everyday life with depression, but without being able to draw on specific memories, processing events becomes that much more difficult. This is because we rely on our memories to make sense of current events. By recalling specific events in our past, we put the world into context, and we gain cultural understanding of the world. If we lose our ability to recall specific memories, then we also impair our ability to function with those around us.

Treating specific memory recall should improve patients’ daily lives somewhat, but it goes beyond even this. If difficulties in specific memory recall are observed after traumatic events occur, then one can test the assumption that improving specific recall ability will reduce traumatic symptoms. Further, if difficulties in negative memory recall are related to general memory impairment of specific events, then it is possible that patients don’t even need to focus on negative events to show clinical improvements. Can it be this simple? Could clinicians treat patients who have experienced profound trauma by asking them to recall specific non-trauma related memories?

To test this, Dalgleish and colleagues have designed the Memory Specificity Training intervention (MeST). The training involves groups of patients who sit around a table and attempt to recall specific memories as a group. Sessions can be fitted into convenient time slots, and there is no obligation to discuss anything difficult or even recall the traumatic event. Home-based tasks can be undertaken between sessions, with treatment continuing for around five weeks.

So far, three pilot RCT studies have been conducted. The first pilot involved adolescents diagnosed with clinical depression based in an orphanage in Northern Iran. The participants had all lost their parents in the Afghan conflict and were randomised to either MeST or a wait-list control. The MeST treatment resulted in a 30 per cent improvement in the ability to remember specific words. Depression scores also gradually decreased over several weeks to below clinical cut-off points, with no changes demonstrated in the control group. Specificity scores also mediated (i.e. explained) this effect. However, one caveat is that after a three-month follow-up, depression scores were no longer significantly reduced.

The second pilot involved a comparison of MeST with CBT in bereaved adolescents diagnosed with PTSD. The study took place in a war shelter in Kabul and participants were randomly assigned to either MeST, CBT or wait-list control. The control group showed no changes in depression scores, but both the MeST group and the CBT group showed comparable improvement. However, depression scores in the MeST group did increase compared to CBT at follow-up.

The third pilot involved a small group of war veterans, diagnosed with PTSD, that were recruited from a centre in Iran.

These patients had been diagnosed with severe cases of PTSD and could only recall specific autobiographical memories around 30 per cent of the time. Following MeST training, specific recall improved to 70–80 per cent and was maintained at follow-up.

PTSD scores were substantially reduced by up to 40 per cent, although overall scores remained extremely high.

Taken together, these findings show that MeST treatment is a promising, cost-effective solution; although more research is needed to understand why depression levels eventually returned to higher levels, despite the substantial improvements during treatment. Plans for a large Phase 2 trial are underway. TJ

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Giving a Presidential address at the end of your time as Society President is a double-edged sword, Richard Mallows explained. It’s too late to make any promises, but you do have the benefit of 20:20 hindsight. Richard put this to good use in considering the challenges of the past year.

Going back to the Society’s roots, including the formation of the first branch in Birmingham in 1924, Richard highlighted the original name of ‘The Psychological Society’ and pondered whether it was time for a return to this appellation. He also pointed to the Society’s one female founder, Sophie Bryant, and stressed that it was surely time for a Society award in her honour.

Richard said his motivation for being President was to promote change, but that this is not always easy. He quoted from Machiavelli: ‘It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or

more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things… the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions.’

Despite this, Richard is committed to a ‘proactive stance if we are not to stagnate’. His own vision is of a learned Society with policy at the forefront and international issues as ‘part of the Society conversation’.

This has fed into the trustees and members of the Society spending a ‘great deal of time and effort’ in drawing up a new strategic plan. Although this is for the years to come, Richard could point to some successes during his term: ‘we are in the Science Museum’ (with the ‘Mind Maps’ exhibition), and he sought and was part of a successful meeting with Secretary of State Oliver Letwin over the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme.

Richard concluded with a plea to

TONY DALE

Presidential address

‘seriously nurture’ the volunteer members of the Society. ‘We are a membership organisation, with pro-rata more volunteers than the National Trust.’

These members are central in helping the Society achieve an equilibrium between change and continuity. JS

No need to be down with the kids!

A large number of funding bodies require grant applicants to demonstrate how they have involved the public or target patient group in the development of a research project. Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) can benefit both the researcher and the participant group, according to Puja Joshi from the National Children’s Bureau and Claire Bourne from Coventry University. However, true PPI involves more than paying lip service to the idea on an application form. This practical workshop, ‘Creative Approaches to Patient and Public Involvement in Research’, aimed to provide hints and tips for researchers working with young people and older adults in order to maximise the benefits of this important process.

Delegates were guided through practical exercises and case studies from the

facilitators’ areas of expertise in running PPI groups on different research projects. Joshi works primarily with young people and has been involved with the management of hardto-reach groups, such as those in the care system, while Claire Bourne works with older adults, including those with dementia.

We started the session with an ‘icebreaker’ activity that Joshi had used with young people involving sugarcoated chocolates. The colour of the chocolate you selected, determined how you introduced yourself to the group. I had blue, which was to describe what you would have as a super power (I chose invisibility). Joshi recommended asking young people to do this in pairs to

read discuss contribute at www.thepsychologist.org.uk

begin with to help them overcome any fears about speaking in a group.

One of the keys to running a successful PPI group, regardless of age, is ensuring that you maximise the benefit that participants get from taking part. For example, Joshi highlighted the importance of demonstrating what skills the participants might gain, such as communicating and negotiating, that they could include on their CV. Other than providing plenty of tea

and coffee, Bourne’s participants appreciated having the opportunity to visit a museum or exhibition space, so she had arranged for interesting venues for her research groups to take place.

An important part of this workshop invited delegates to explore some of the myths about working with older adults and young people.

For example, it is commonly assumed that older people do not know how to use the internet, but computer ownership is rapidly increasing in the over-65s.

It is also important to recognise that you do not have try to be ‘down with the kids’ to work with young people. They can benefit from the experience of working with an adult researcher, who is not a teacher or a parent, and can feel empowered through their views being listened to and valued. ED

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From pain to possibility Tower Hamlets is one of the most deprived boroughs in the country. How do clinical psychologists deal with critical traumatic incidents in such a challenging environment?

Critical incidents can be thought of as any event that is atypical and that involves feelings of extreme distress.

These incidents can include murders, sexual assault and fatal accidents.

Henryk Holowenko (Deputy Principal Educational Psychologist, Tower Hamlets) gave the audience a telling example of a young girl who fell from height in a local school, fracturing her skull. This was witnessed by children at the school.

Such incidents can also have tragic effects on the staff involved, one extreme case leading a teacher to walk out of a school to be found dead under a train hours later.

When people are confronted with a critical incident, there are a number of typical reactions that the witnesses and

those involved can experience. Trauma can include numbing and detachment, euphoria with cheating death, guilt for survival, and traumatic intrusions such as flashbacks. If the trauma persists, it can lead to PTSD symptoms such as severe dissociation. There may also be key differences between adult and child reactions, as children may be less able to deal with trauma as they have less life experience, as well as more limited cognitive skills and language development. Children may also feel that they have less control over their physical and emotional needs. And critical incidents can have obvious impacts on academic performance, even for those children not directly involved.

A key focus of any intervention is to re-establish feelings of safety and security in the population, as well as a sense of self-efficacy and control. Children can be protected against harmful psychological trauma if they have a healthy self-esteem,

WHEN THE FACE DOESN’T FIT Recognising the faces of friends and acquaintances is an important social skill, if only to avoid the embarrassment of a mistaken identity. Indeed, extensive research on the way faces are perceived has led to the suggestion that face perception is a unique and special ability.

Like other cognitive abilities, such as spatial and mathematical skills, some people are better at face perception than others, suggesting that it too may be heritable. These specific abilities appear related to general cognitive ability, g, forming a single ‘cognitive hierarchy’ of skills more and less predictive of g.

Conversely, face perception seems unrelated to both g and object recognition. If face perception is not merely a type of object recognition, it may be a standalone ability falling outside the cognitive hierarchy.

Nicholas Shakeshaft (King’s College London) presented research addressing this argument. An analysis of twins’ performance on several tasks, including memory for faces and cars, showed that face perception was indeed moderately heritable. Face perception was also less closely related to g and object recognition than most specific abilities, suggesting it is partially independent from the cognitive hierarchy.

Kerry Schofield (also King’s College London) then expanded on these findings. Analyses from the same cohort of twins revealed that performance on a range of social abilities was related to face perception, but not object recognition ability. This relationship was mostly genetic. There was also a sizeable overlap between perception of face identity and emotion. Overall, this research suggests the existence of a domain of social abilities, independent of cognitive abilities, underlying the variance in face processing ability not explained by g. LT

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Critical incidents can have obvious impacts on academic performance, even for those children not directly involved

a sense of hope, high self-efficacy, good peer relationships and positive adult role models. In this latter case, perhaps a trusting bond that they can return to.

Behaviour change Behaviour change, and its shorthand of ‘nudge’, is never far from the news. A housing association in Wales has been offering a Creme Egg to tenants paying on time, and at a government level there is a preference for a non-regulatory approach to behaviour change.

They have been advised in recent years by the Behavioural Insights Team, led by psychology graduate David Halpern, which has been trialling different approaches to organ donor registration.

Into this arena, the British Psychological Society has launched a behaviour change group who have produced a range of briefing documents on what psychology can offer.

They plan to commission subsequent briefings, and presented several here.

First, Brian Apter, a local authority psychologist with Wolverhampton Council, tackled school attendance.

School is a safety factor in children’s lives, particularly

those with chaotic backgrounds. Parent fines for non-attendance are a ‘simple solution to what is seen as a simple problem’, but Apter says the stories are more complicated than that.

Children fail to attend for ‘complex reasons embedded in personal narratives’, and things become maintained by the systems that are in place rather than as a result of the original cause of the absence.

Apter concluded that remedies ‘can’t be left to people who have very blunt instruments’: psychologists must be involved at an early stage.

Turning to the nation’s drinking habits, Chris Armitage (University of Manchester) delivered the bad news that the UK is rather good at bingeing. Armitage suggests that a focus on unit pricing, currently on the statute books in Scotland, is unlikely to shift behaviour substantially. Instead, he advocates brief interventions

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Unfortunately, these are all qualities that might be lacking in some of the most deprived areas.

The first step in dealing with a critical incident is to acknowledge that it will happen. Some schools may be reluctant to put emergency procedures into place because deep down, they don't believe

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that critical incidents and traumatic events will happen in their school.

Holowenko encourages schools to prepare for trauma events and to detail a trauma plan, otherwise known as a critical incident stress management procedure.

The thinking brain can shut down in a crisis, so it’s necessary to be prepared.

The plan involves identifying a critical incident management team, plan logistical details in advance, and have procedural information in place. Schools should also consider including critical incident training as part of wider staff and school development.

When a critical incident takes place there are a number of common steps involved. These can range from obtaining factual information at the start of the crisis, as well as deciding on an intervention team, and when to contact the LEA or other external bodies. Later actions may identify high-risk pupils and debriefing of pupils and staff that were

closely involved. This latter suggestion may be somewhat controversial, as recent meta-analyses suggest that immediate debriefing can range from ineffective to deleterious. This issue may serve to illustrate a clash between best scientific practice and best ethical practice. What does a teacher say the day after a traumatic event, when they stand in front of a classroom? And is not talking about the incident that recently happened a feasible option? If talking is involved after a critical incident, then it may help if that talk is contained in safe territory, so that is remains reassuring and provides emotional and practical support.

One piece of practical advice from the Educational Psychologist Service in Tower Hamlets is not to intrude. The aim is to provide a service and be there to facilitate and consult, rather than impose. Another tip is to expect the unexpected, and ‘keep one foot in pain, while the other remains in possibility’. TJ

TONY DALE

focused on overcoming defensiveness to conscious messages, and identifying who to target with such messages.

In common with much of ‘nudge’, the approach is ‘geared around not wagging the finger at people’.

If we are good at drinking, said Mark Uphill (Canterbury Christ Church University), we are really poor at engaging in physical activity. If exercise is the active ingredient, he asked, what components of that medicine make it more palatable? Uphill pointed to serious issues of comorbidity: the people who are the most inactive don’t just need an intervention to boost physical

activity. We need to consult the body of literature on selfdetermination, and consider the environment so that people feel less regulated, more in control. However, it’s not just about facilities and accessibility: the Change4Life campaign, for example, increased awareness but attitudes and behaviour didn’t change.

Finally, David Uzzell (University of Surrey) offered some sound and sensible tips on climate change. In particular, we need to focus on environmentally significant changes rather than environmentally convenient ones. Switching off lights is all very well, but a change such as reducing our meat consumption would have an incredible impact on greenhouse gas emissions.

The focus should be on purchasing decisions rather than use, and on technological solutions as much as attitudes (why, for example, does a

read discuss contribute at www.thepsychologist.org.uk

television even have a standby option?). Uzzell also showed that for behaviour change to be effective it needs to fit into existing habits. It is not about ‘entering into the land of sacrifice and denial’: for example, insulation is both more comfortable and costeffective than turning the heating down. We need to not just survive but flourish, and Uzzell feels that requires a multidimensional, nuanced way of seeing people’s everyday practices.

As Chris Armitage said, perhaps what is needed for true behaviour change is something equivalent of the Large Hadron Collider: hundreds of scientists working together on a common problem. Let’s hope that the Society’s behaviour change group is a ‘nudge’ in that direction. JS I Read the briefings of the Behaviour Change Advisory Group at www.bps.org.uk/ behaviourchange

YOUR REPORTERS Dr Emma L. Davies – Oxford Brookes University Professor Gail Kinman – University of Bedfordshire Dr Alana James – Royal Holloway, University of London Trevor James – Royal Holloway, University of London Dr Catherine Loveday – University of Westminster Professor Catriona Morrison – Heriot-Watt University Dr Jon Sutton – Managing Editor Lexie Thorpe – Psychology graduate and science writer Dr Tony Wainwright – University of Exeter Articles based on some award talks will appear over the coming months.

For information on next year’s event, see www.bps.org.uk/ac2015

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ARTICLE

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On the trail of the elusive successful psychopath Sarah Francis Smith, Ashley L. Watts and Scott O. Lilienfeld

questions

For decades, researchers and social commentators have alluded to the successful psychopath.

Features associated with psychopathy such as interpersonal charm and charisma, fearlessness and a willingness to take calculated risks may predispose to success in a number of professional arenas, such as business, law enforcement, politics and contact sports.

A burgeoning body of research is taking strides to examine potential adaptive manifestations of psychopathy. Nevertheless, the existence of successful adaptations of psychopathy remains hotly contested. Can researchers track down the elusive successful psychopath or will the concept go down in history as clinical lore?

B

‘Successful psychopathy’ could be seen as an oxymoron because psychopathy is a mental disorder and therefore characterised by impairment. Do you agree? Why or why not?

resources

Hall, J.R. & Benning, S.D. (2006). The ‘successful’ psychopath. In C.J. Patrick (Ed.) Handbook of psychopathy (pp.459–475). New York: Guilford. www.psychopathysociety.org

references

In operationalising successful psychopathy, should we think of success as a single dimension or are there multiple underlying dimensions?

Babiak, P. & Hare, R.D. (2006). Snakes in suits: When psychopaths go to work.

New York: HarperCollins.

Babiak, P., Neumann, C.S. & Hare, R.D. (2010). Corporate psychopathy: Talking the walk. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 28(2), 174–193.

Benning, S.D., Patrick, C.J., Hicks, B.M. et al. (2003). Factor structure of the psychopathic personality inventory.

Psychological Assessment, 15, 340–350.

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est known as a British geographer and explorer, Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890) was as fearless as he was charismatic. Perhaps owing to his love of adventure, Burton joined the army in young adulthood, an outlet that afforded him many opportunities for travel and assimilation into unknown cultures (Brodie, 1967). After undertaking a dangerous pilgrimage to Mecca, Burton’s audacious attitude and passion for discovery led him to extensive explorations of Syria, India and the African Great Lakes. He was also an accomplished scholar and activist (Burton, 1893), publishing several books, and established the Anthropological Society of London in 1863. A progressive individual, Burton is credited with bringing about the publication of the Kama Sutra in English. Awarded a knighthood in 1886 by Queen Victoria, Burton was a man of many talents and achievements. Yet, according to some scholars, such as psychologist David Lykken (2006), Burton exhibited pronounced traits of successful psychopathy, sometimes also called ‘adaptive psychopathy’ or ‘highfunctioning psychopathy’.

Indeed, Burton often travelled the globe to areas ridden with turmoil that posed immense danger. After narrowly escaping a massive planned attack by one of his enemies, Burton spoke not of fear but of the flattery he experienced at the number of people sent to kill him.

Rumoured to have killed a young boy to prevent his discovery while disguised, Burton was often asked about this

Boddy, C.R. (2011). The corporate psychopaths theory of the global financial crisis. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(2), 255–259.

Boddy, C.R., Ladyshewsky, R.K. & Galvin, P. (2010). The influence of corporate psychopaths on corporate social responsibility and organizational commitment to employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(1), 1–19.

Brodie. F.M. (1967). The devil drives: A life of

incident. Although he denied committing this act, he described feeling ‘quite jolly’ about killing another person. Burton was also renowned for his insincerity, so much so that his obituary highlighted his love of ‘telling tales about himself that had no foundation in fact’. It is therefore perhaps no surprise that some psychopathy scholars identified Burton as possessing a ‘talent for psychopathy’ (Lykken, 2006, p.11). Others suggested that had Burton been the ‘son of a London butcher instead of the son of an army colonel his “monstrous talents” may have been used for criminal purposes’ (Walsh & Wu, 2008, p.139).

Burton’s life story raises a set of fascinating questions that have long puzzled clinical psychologists and psychiatrists (see Hall & Benning, 2006, for an informative review). Do successful psychopaths – people who possess the core traits of psychopathic personality but who achieve marked societal success in one or more domains – really exist? Indeed, some scholars have argued that the very concept of successful psychopathy is an ‘oxymoron’ because ‘by definition, to be afflicted with a personality disorder (e.g. psychopathy) one must have pathological symptoms that cause impairment in multiple domains of one’s life’ (Kiehl & Lushing, 2014).

The questions hardly end there. If successful psychopaths exist, how do they differ from psychopaths in jails and prisons? Do certain occupations and avocations serve as ‘magnets’ or niches for successful psychopaths? Are successful psychopaths also at elevated risk for criminal behaviour? How do we define successful psychopathy in the first place?

Can a psychopath be considered successful if he or she achieves success in a single domain of life (e.g. occupational, financial) or multiple? Or is simply evading arrest or legal entanglement sufficient?

Until recently, these questions were almost exclusively the stuff of clinical lore and speculation. But times, and attitudes, change. Despite a great deal of interest in the ‘dark side’ of leadership (Hogan et al., 1990) and interpersonal behaviour more

Sir Richard Burton. New York: Norton.

Burton, I. (1893). The life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton KCMG, FRGS (Vols.

1 and 2). London: Chapman and Hall.

Cale, E.M. & Lilienfeld, S.O. (2002).

Histrionic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder: Sexdifferentiated manifestations of psychopathy? Journal of Personality Disorders, 16(1), 52–72.

Cleckley, H. (1982). The mask of sanity

(6th edn). St Louis, MO: Mosby. (First published 1941) Connelly, B.S. & Ones, D.S. (2010). An other perspective on personality: Meta-analytic integration of observers' accuracy and predictive validity.

Psychological Bulletin, 136(6), 1092.

Falkenbach, D. & Tsoukalas, M. (2011, May). Can adaptive traits be observed in hero populations? Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society

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broadly, research suggests there may also be a bright side to some ‘dark triad’ personality traits (Judge et al., 2009).

Indeed, psychopathy, along with narcissism and Machiavellianism (the other two members of this triad), appear to predict both positive and negative social outcomes, including short-term occupational success (e.g. leadership: Judge & LePine, 2009). This academic research is mirrored by a burgeoning popular literature surrounding the concept of successful psychopathy (see box ‘Snakes in suits?’).

But how much of this is hype and how much is rooted in science? Over the past 10 to 15 years, a growing cadre of researchers – including those in our laboratory team – have begun to make inroads into this question.

A fine-grained analysis Often mistakenly equated with serial killers or violent criminals, psychopaths are characterised by a distinctive constellation of affective, interpersonal

Sir Richard Francis Burton – a successful psychopath?

for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, Montreal, Canada.

Fowles, D.C. & Dindo, L. (2009).

Temperament and psychopathy.

Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18(3), 179–183.

Furnham, A. (2007). Personality disorders and derailment at work: The paradoxical positive influence of pathology in the workplace. In J. Langan-Fox et al. (Eds.) Research

and behavioural features. As described by psychiatrist Hervey Cleckley (1941) in his classic book The Mask of Sanity, psychopathy comprises such characteristics as superficial charm, dishonesty, narcissism, lack of remorse, lack of empathy, unreliability and poor forethought. Although Cleckley regarded psychopaths as pathological, he noted that they exhibit at least some adaptive characteristics, such as social poise, venturesomeness and an absence of irrationality and anxiety. In fact, Cleckley wrote of a psychopathic business man who, save for the occasional extramarital affair and drinking spree, exploited his interpersonal charm and risk-taking to propel him to occupational success.

A more fine-grained examination of the concept of psychopathy may further our understanding of the potential adaptive manifestations of a disorder so often viewed as invariably sinister.

Although psychopathy was originally conceptualised as a global or unidimensional condition, factor analyses revealed that the most widely used psychopathy measures, such as the interview-based Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R: Hare, 1991) and the self-report Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R: Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005), are underpinned by at least two broad dimensions. In the case of the PPI-R (Benning et al., 2003; but see Neumann et al., 2008, for an alternative factor structure) these higher-order factors are termed Fearless Dominance and Self-Centered Impulsivity (one PPI-R subscale termed Coldheartedness does not load highly on either factor). The first of these factors consists of many of the affective and interpersonal features associated with psychopathy, such as physical fearlessness, social boldness, superficial charm and a relative immunity to anxiety. In contrast, the

companion to the dysfunctional workplace. Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

Goodwin, D.K. (2013). The bully pulpit.

New York: Simon & Schuster.

Hall, J.R. & Benning, S.D. (2006). The ‘successful’ psychopath. In C.J. Patrick (Ed.) Handbook of psychopathy (pp.459–475). New York: Guilford.

Hare, R.D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Toronto: Multi-

read discuss contribute at www.thepsychologist.org.uk

second of these factors consists primarily of the behavioural features associated with psychopathy, such as impulsivity, recklessness and a propensity toward antisocial acts.

This two-factor structure bears important implications for the potentially successful manifestations of psychopathy.

In particular, Fearless Dominance may be linked primarily to adaptive behaviour, whereas Self-Centered Impulsivity and Coldheartedness may be linked primarily to maladaptive behaviour (Fowles & Dindo, 2009).

The non-criminal psychopath Despite traditional views of psychopathy as purely maladaptive, some authors have proposed that certain features of the disorder can predispose to success in arenas characterised by physical or social risk, such as business, law, politics, highcontact or extreme sports, law enforcement, firefighting, and front-line military combat (Skeem et al., 2011).

Nevertheless, for decades, research on psychopathy focused almost exclusively on largely unsuccessful individuals, especially incarcerated males. It was not until the 1970s that researchers began to examine potentially adaptive manifestations of the condition.

These early investigations centred on community samples. The pioneering work of psychologist Cathy Widom, then at Harvard University, was one of the first attempts to examine psychopathy outside of prison walls. Straying from the typical inmate sample, Widom (1977) attempted to draw potentially psychopathic participants from the Boston community, attracting them with an enticing newspaper advertisement: ‘Psychologist studying adventurous carefree people who’ve led exciting impulsive lives. If you’re the kind of person who’d do almost anything for a dare…’

and a later version read: ‘Wanted charming, aggressive,

Health Systems.

Hicks, B.M., Markon, K.E., Patrick, C.J., et al. (2004). Identifying psychopathy subtypes on the basis of personality structure. Psychological assessment, 16(3), 276–288.

Hogan, R., Raskin, R. & Fazzini, D. (1990).

The dark side of leadership. In K.E. Clark & M.B. Clark (Eds.) Measures of leadership. West Orange, NJ: Leadership Library of America.

Jonason, P.K., Slomski, S. & Partyka, J. (2012). The dark triad at work: How toxic employees get their way.

Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 449–453.

Judge, T.A. & LePine, J.A. (2007). 20 The bright and dark sides of personality: Implications for personnel selection in individual and team contexts. In J. Langan-Fox et al. (Eds.) Research companion to the dysfunctional

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carefree people who are impulsively irresponsible but are good at handling people and at looking after number one.’ (p.675)

Once recruited, participants provided biographical and psychiatric information as well as criminal history. In Widom’s study, a full 65 per cent of the sample met criteria for sociopathy, an informal term similar to psychopathy. Several of Widom’s participants held jobs of significant ranking, such as business managers and investment bankers.

Nevertheless, much of the sample reported arrest records and engagement in criminal or antisocial behaviours.

Ultimately, Widom’s sample was composed not of especially successful individuals but rather of troublemakers who had largely escaped the detection of the legal system. Still, it was one of the first efforts to examine psychopathy beyond iron bars. More recently, researchers have continued to use Widom’s advertisementbased recruitment paradigm to attract nonincarcerated individuals with pronounced levels of psychopathic traits from community or undergraduate samples (e.g. Miller et al., 2011; Miller et al., 2013).

The psychopathic hero

Building on Widom’s work, some researchers have hypothesised that features related to psychopathy, such as fearlessness, may predispose individuals to heroic behaviour. In fact, David Lykken (1995, p.29) Perhaps in response to recent economic and social disasters, speculated that the ‘hero such as the United States housing market crash in 2008, the and the psychopath may be Enron scandal and Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi schemes, the twigs off the same genetic concept of successful psychopathy has become the subject branch’. of increasing interest to researchers and the general public Numerous intriguing alike. Scores of academic and trade books feature the examples supporting this successful or pseudo-successful psychopath, charming his conjecture can be found in or her (usually his: see Cale & Lilienfeld, 2002, for a review the popular media. Take of sex differences in psychopathy) way through life, business Jeremy Johnson, a deals and romantic relationships. Some of these recent prominent businessman and tomes include Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work millionaire from St. George, (2007, HarperCollins) by Paul Babiak and Robert Hare and Utah. Following the 2010 The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in Life from Saints, Spies, earthquake that devastated and Serial Killers by Kevin Dutton (2012, Macmillan).

Haiti, Johnson staged his More recently, a few individuals have ‘outed’ themselves own rescue mission. as successful psychopaths by chronicling their psychopathic Piloting his personal path to victory in such autobiographical pieces as Confessions aircraft, Johnson evacuated of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight (2013, children from the area and Sidgwick & Jackson) by M.E. Thomas, an anonymous delivered much-needed allegedly successful lawyer and academic, and The supplies to the shattered Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist’s Personal Journey into country. These heroic acts the Dark Side of the Brain (2013, by University of California were not unusual for at Irvine neuroscientist James Fallon (2013, Penguin).

Johnson, who was known Also in the limelight are business psychopaths, with for sending his own countless media pieces boasting such catchy titles as helicopter on rescue ‘Bad bosses: The psycho-path to success?’ (CNN: missions to retrieve tinyurl.com/pdgz6r3) and ‘Capitalists and other psychopaths’ stranded hikers in his home (New York Times: tinyurl.com/qgjnmao). state. Alas, there is more to

Snakes in suits?

workplace. Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar.

Judge, T.A., Piccolo, R.F. & Kosalka, T. (2009). The bright and dark sides of leader traits. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(6), 855–875.

Kiehl, K. & Lushing, J. (2014). Psychopathy.

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S.D. et al. (2012). The role of fearless dominance in psychopathy: Confusions, controversies, and clarifications.

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Lilienfeld, S.O., Waldman, I.D., Landfield, K. et al. (2012). Fearless dominance and the US presidency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(3), 489–505.

Lilienfeld, S.O. & Widows, M.R. (2005).

the story. A pure hero no longer, Johnson currently faces 86 criminal charges such as conspiracy, money laundering, fraud and the theft of $275 million from unwitting customers through fraudulent credit card charges. Although intriguing, stories such as Johnson’s are only anecdotal, so systematic research is called for.

Some investigators have responded to this call by examining psychopathic traits among individuals who hold occupations that afford frequent opportunities for heroic behaviour. In one interesting study (Falkenbach & Tsoukalas, 2011), members of potentially ‘heroic’ occupations, namely, law enforcement and firefighting, scored higher on the Fearless Dominance factor of the PPI than did incarcerated offenders. Still, because these intriguing findings relied on occupation as a proxy for heroism, they are open to several interpretations.

More recently, Smith et al.

(2013) examined the relation between psychopathy, again assessed using the PPI, and heroism. To assess heroism, they administered a questionnaire to assesses the frequency with which individuals engage in a variety of heroic behaviours that are reasonably common in daily life, such as assisting a stranded motorist, administering CPR to a collapsed individual, and breaking up a fight in public. Participants also completed a measure of altruistic behaviour subdivided into two subscales, altruism toward charities and altruism toward strangers.

Smith and colleagues reported a positive association between certain psychopathic traits, on the one hand, and heroic behaviour and altruism towards strangers, on the other. More specifically, the Fearless Dominance component of psychopathy was most related to heroism and altruism toward strangers, suggesting that predisposition towards fearlessness and a willingness to take risks may contribute to heroism. In a second part of the study, Smith et al. (2013) examined the relationship between psychopathy and a more objective indicator of heroism – war heroism among the US presidents.

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Drawing on personality ratings completed by expert historians, statistical algorithms were used to extract psychopathy levels for each of the US presidents. Conceptually replicating the findings in the first part of the study, the Fearless Dominance component of psychopathy was positively associated with presidential war heroism.

The presidential war heroes included Theodore Roosevelt and Zachary Taylor, who also scored well above the mean on Fearless Dominance. These findings, although promising, need to be extended to other samples, especially those marked by high levels of occupational heroism.

presidential performance by well-known historians (e.g. the 2009 C-SPAN Poll of Presidential Performance, the 2010 Siena College Poll) and objective indicators of presidential performance (e.g. re-election, winning an election by a landslide, initiating new legislation). Estimates of presidents’ psychopathic traits were obtained by using previously validated formulas for predicting these traits from normal-range personality dimensions.

The experts’ ratings of each president’s psychopathic traits displayed moderate to high inter-rater agreement. This methodology, although not flawless, is well-suited for rating past presidential figures, as meta-analytic evidence suggests The psychopathic president that informant ratings are strong predictors These same psychopathic traits, such of behaviour, often more so than are selfas interpersonal dominance reports of personality and persuasiveness, may be (Connelly & Ones, conducive to acquiring 2010). positions of power, Lilienfeld, particularly in the leadership Waldman et al. domain. Moreover, these (2012) found that traits may predict successful Fearless Dominance leadership among political was significantly figures (Hogan et al., 1990). associated not only Indeed, Lykken (1995) with historians’ speculated that such ratings of overall influential individuals as US presidential President Lyndon B. Johnson performance, but and Brigadier General Charles with independently Theodore Roosevelt – (‘Chuck’) Yeager, widely rated leadership, public nicknamed ‘The Lion’ known as the first pilot to persuasiveness, break the sound barrier, communication ability possessed certain personality features and willingness to take risks. Additionally, associated with psychopathy, such as Fearless Dominance was associated with boldness and adventurousness. initiating new legislation, winning Nevertheless, few studies have put this elections by a landslide, and being viewed notion to a systematic test. as a world figure. Interestingly, Fearless In an attempt to examine the relations Dominance was even associated positively between psychopathy and presidential with assassination attempts, perhaps leadership, Lilienfeld, Waldman et al. because bolder presidents tend to ruffle (2012) asked 121 presidential biographers more feathers. Theodore Roosevelt, and other experts to rate 42 US presidents, variously nicknamed ‘The Lion’, ‘The up to and including George W. Bush, on Happy Warrior’, and ‘The Dynamo of their pre-office personality traits, such as Power’, scored highest on Fearless extraversion, disagreeableness, and lack of Dominance, while his immediate conscientiousness. The authors compared successor, President William H. Taft, the presidential personality ratings with sometimes called ‘The Reluctant President’, the results of several large-scale polls of brought up the rear on this trait. Although

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(2013). Examining the relations among pain tolerance, psychopathic traits, and violent and non-violent antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. doi:10.1037/a0035072 Neumann, C.S., Malterer, M.B. & Newman, J.P. (2008). Factor structure

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read discuss contribute at www.thepsychologist.org.uk

the differences among presidents in their psychopathy levels must be qualified by the fact that they derived from only a few informants for each leaders, they are often broadly supported by historical evidence from multiple sources. For example, in a recent book on Roosevelt and Taft, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, Princeton presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (2013) highlighted the stark differences in personality and leadership style between these two chief executives.

The psychopathic businessman In the past decade, the topic of psychopathy in business settings has similarly attracted increasing attention.

Although such influential authors as Hervey Cleckley, David Lykken, Paul Babiak and Robert Hare have described vivid case examples of ruthless but prosperous businessmen who exhibited marked features of psychopathy, formal research on the implications of psychopathy in the workplace has been lacking – until recently.

Recent work indicates that psychopathy is related to the use of hard negotiation tactics (e.g. threats of punishment: Jonason et al., 2012), bullying (Boddy, 2011), counterproductive workplace behaviour (e.g. theft by employees: O’Boyle et al., 2011), and poor management skills (Babiak et al., 2010).

Although these results suggest that psychopathy has a marked ‘dark side’ in the workplace, there may be more to the story. Some authors have speculated that some psychopathic traits, such as charisma and interpersonal dominance, may contribute to effective leadership and management, at least in the short term (Babiak & Hare, 2006; Boddy et al., 2010; Furnham, 2007). Nevertheless, questions remain regarding the long-term effectiveness of such traits, with some suspecting that psychopathic traits tend eventually to be destructive.

Recent research tentatively supports

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Psychopathic personality bridging the gap between scientific evidence and public policy. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12(3), 95–162.

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and heroes twigs off the same branch? Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 634–646.

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the view that psychopathy can be a double-edged sword in business settings. For example, data using the PCL-R show that psychopathic individuals are viewed as good communicators, strategic thinkers and innovators in the workplace (Babiak et al., 2010). More recently, unpublished research from our own lab has further elucidated the potential dual implications of psychopathy for workplace behaviour and leadership.

In a sample of 312 North American community members, subdimensions of psychopathy, as measured by the PPI-R, were differentially related to leadership styles and counterproductive workplace behaviour. Specifically, Fearless Dominance was positively associated with adaptive leadership styles and minimally related to counterproductive workplace behaviour and maladaptive leadership styles. In contrast, Self-Centered Impulsivity was positively related to counterproductive workplace behaviour and negatively associated with adaptive leadership styles. In addition, individuals high on Fearless Dominance held more leadership positions over their lifetime than did other individuals.

Although preliminary, these findings raise intriguing questions about the varied implications of psychopathic traits in the business world. Charisma, fearlessness, and willingness to take calculated business risks may predispose to business and leadership success. In contrast, certain features associated with psychopathy, such as impulsivity and lack of empathy, may do the opposite.

Controversies Despite – and perhaps partly because of – the growing interest in successful psychopathy, the concept has been embroiled in increasing scientific controversy (Hall & Benning, 2006).

Some researchers have questioned the relevance of adaptive features to psychopathy, maintaining that because psychopathy is a disorder, the concept of the successful psychopath is logically contradictory. In response, proponents of the successful psychopathy construct, including our laboratory team, point out that individuals with some serious psychological conditions, such as bipolar disorder, can achieve remarkable success in certain creative endeavours, such as art, music and science (Santosa et al., 2006).

In addition, the relevance of Fearless Dominance to psychopathy has recently come under fire. In a meta-analytic

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(quantitative) examination of the construct validity of the PPI-R across multiple studies, Miller and Lynam (2012) criticised Fearless Dominance for its lack of relation to violence and antisocial behavior, and for its positive linkages to healthy personality traits, such as low neuroticism.

Nevertheless, classic clinical writings on psychopathy (e.g. Cleckley, 1941) and subtyping research (e.g. Hicks et al., 2004) have historically alluded to the existence of two ‘faces’ of psychopathy, one primarily associated with psychological health and adaptive functioning, and another associated with maladaptive features such as impulsivity and antisocial behaviour (Lilienfeld, Patrick et al., 2012). Hence, the a priori exclusion of adaptive functioning from the nomological network of psychopathy seems overly restrictive and contraindicated by both a rich body of clinical literature and controlled research.

Such exclusion would also leave unresolved the crucial question of why so many people, including business and romantic partners, find psychopaths superficially alluring and appealing. To understand what makes psychopaths ‘tick’ interpersonally, we almost certainly need a better grasp on the social implications of their adaptive characteristics.

psychopathy are more adaptive than the behavioural ones. Additionally, these features may interact statistically to propel individuals into divergent outcomes. It is also possible that the relation between psychopathic features, such as Fearless Dominance, and life success is ‘curvilinear’, meaning that such features may predispose to success in moderate, but not extremely high, doses. In fact, at very high doses of these traits, adaptive fearlessness may merge into maladaptive recklessness, although evidence for this intriguing possibility is lacking. Furthermore, competing conceptualisations of successful psychopathy exist. It is unknown whether successful psychopathy is merely a milder or subclinical form of the disorder or whether other variables, such as intelligence, effective impulse control, good parenting or social class moderate or channel the expression of psychopathy into adaptive avenues (Hall & Benning, 2006).

Finally, research examining occupations and avocations that may attract psychopathic individuals is sorely needed. For example, high-risk professions such as the military, law enforcement and extreme sports may be particularly desirable to individuals who are fearless and enjoy risk-taking (Lykken, 1982).

Research targeting these and other professions may help us to better understand the controversial and often elusive successful psychopath.

Sarah Francis Smith is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia sarah.francis.smith@emory. edu Ashley L. Watts is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology, Emory University ashleylwatts@gmail.com

Future directions The existence and nature of successful psychopathy continue to be flashpoints of scientific controversy and debate, largely because a host of questions remain unresolved. For example, the multidimensional structure of psychopathy raises questions about which psychopathic traits are most related to adaptive outcomes. It seems plausible that the interpersonal and affective features of

Scott O. Lilienfeld is Professor in the Department of Psychology, Emory University slilien@emory.edu

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