Cognitive and projective measures of differentiation and their relationship to empathy

The present investigation compared cognitive and projective methods of assessing “differentiation,” Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and Blatt's Concept of the Object Scale (COS), and reexamined expectations concerning the relationship between level of differentiation and capacity for empathy. Whether lesser or greater differentiation would promote empathy was of specific interest. Two forms of empathy were investigated, an “affective” form assessed by the Mehrabian Empathy Scale and a “cognitive” form assessed by the Hogan Empathy Scale. Expected sex differences in differentiation and empathy were also investigated. Results demonstrated consonance between COS and EFT measures of differentiation within the male sample only (p < .05). Individuals classified by EFT as relatively less differentiated (“field dependent”) produced more part object responses (p < .02) and those classified as more differentiated (“field independent”) showed a trend toward more whole object responses (p < .10) on the COS. Associations between measures of differentiation and empathy reached significance or showed trends in the male group only. Men with relatively lesser differentiation on the EFT (“field dependent”) showed greater “affective empathy” (p < .10) and men with greater differentiation on the COS showed greater “cognitive” empathy (p < .05). Women demonstrated higher levels of “affective” empathy than men (p < .001).     

The relationship between child-report, parent self-report, and partner report of perceived parental rearing behaviors and anxiety in children and parents

This study investigated the relationship between child anxiety, parental anxiety, and perceived current parental rearing practices, using a multiple informants approach, that is, by aggregating the perception of the child, parent and partner on parental rearing behaviors. Unselected children aged 9–12 (n=75) and both their biological parents filled in the SCARED-C to measure child anxiety, and parents completed the SCARED-A to measure parental anxiety. In addition, child report, parental self-report, and partner report of the rearing dimensions “autonomy-encouragement versus overprotection”, “acceptance versus rejection”, and “psychological control” of both parents was assessed. Results showed that the homogeneity of some rearing dimensions using a single informant was insufficient, but sufficient when using multiple informants. Inter-informant agreement was low (M=0.29). Three-informants' aggregates yielded good generalizability (M=0.54), and the generalizability of six-informants' aggregates (combining both parents) was impressive (M=0.76). Using multiple informants, parental autonomy granting versus overprotection was substantially related to child anxiety (r=−0.41, p<0.001), as well as to parental anxiety (r=−0.45, p<0.001). More precisely, paternal autonomy–overprotection was predominantly related to child anxiety, whereas maternal autonomy–overprotection was predominantly related to maternal anxiety. Acceptance versus rejection and psychological control were only modestly related to child and parental anxiety.     

Locus of control and persistence in structured and unstructured preschool classrooms

The effect of locus of control and classroom structure on persistence and attention in preschool children was examined. Teachers' ratings of persistence were obtained for 16 children from a relatively structured classroom and for 18 children from a relatively unstructured classroom. Locus of control was measured by administering the Preschool and Primary Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Scale (Nowicki & Duke, 1974). As predicted, teachers from the structured classrooms rated externally controlled children as more persistent (r=.55, p<.05), while teachers from the unstructured classroom rated internally controlled children as more persistent (r= -.35, p<.10). Practical implications of this line of research for making classroom placement decisions are discussed.     

Clarifying the role of impulsivity in dietary restraint: A structural equation modeling approach

This study was designed to clarify the relationship between the four dimensions of impulsivity in Whiteside and Lynam’s (2001) model and the two aspects of dietary restraint (Concern for Dieting and Weight Fluctuation) in a non-clinical sample. Data were collected from a volunteer community sample (N = 216) of women who responded to two self-report instruments related to impulsivity (UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale, Whiteside & Lynam, 2001) and dietary restraint (Restraint Scale, Polivy, Herman, & Warsh, 1978). A structural equation model was tested. The model provided a good fit to the data (χ²/df = 1.64, p < .0001, RMSEA = 0.054, 90% CI = 0.050–0.058, p-value for test of close fit (RMSEA > 0.05) = .035) and revealed that Concern for Dieting was positively related to Urgency (standardized β = 0.25, p < .01). Weight Fluctuation was related to lack of Perseverance (standardized β = 0.25, p < .01) and tended to relate to Sensation Seeking (standardized β = 0.17, p = .056). Urgency and lack of Perseverance were found to play a significant role in predicting Concern for Dieting and Weight Fluctuation.     

Joint attention in term and preterm infants at 12 months corrected age: the significance of gender and intervention based on a randomized controlled trial

This study tested the effects of optimized neonatal mother–infant transactions on joint attention performance at 12 months. Surviving infants <2000 g from a geographically defined area were randomly assigned to a preterm intervention (n = 71) or preterm control group (n = 69). Comparisons were made between preterm groups, secondary with a term group (n = 75). Joint attention was measured using the Early Social Communication Scales. Preterm intervention infants scored significantly higher than preterm control infants on elements Initiating Joint Attention (p < 0.05), Initiating Object Requests (p < 0.05), and Responding to Social Interaction (p < 0.0005). Intervention was not associated with performance on elements Responding to Joint Attention, or on Responding to Requests. ELBW infants scored significantly lower than VLBW and LBW infants on imperative functions. Girls outperformed boys on all communication elements. An intervention implemented during the neonatal period can be of advantage for certain aspects of joint attention performance in preterm infants.     

Designer testing: using subjects'' personal vocabulary to produce individualised tests

The principle of designer tests is that of using a subject's own semantics rather than lists of words that may or may not be relevant or even understandable for the subject. The Personalised Emotional Index (PEI) is a prototype designer test, in this case a mood test, that uses words that the subject chooses from a list of suggestions within mood categories. Each person's test is custom made from familiar and understandable words from his/her own vocabulary. Such a test has much face validity, can be succinct and has comprehensibility for the subject. The results obtained when using this test at the same time as the Profile of Mood States Bipolar Version (POMS-BI) were very similar (e.g. in a regression analysis, the ‘elated-depressed' variable predicted present overall mood on both tests (POMS: t=5.25, p<0.000, PEI: t=5.84, p<0.000) with a high correlation for total scores (r=0.82, p<0.000). The PEI results were correlated within the two week interval (r's about −0.74; p<0.000) and reasonably but not highly correlated on retesting some months after the first testing (r's about −0.25; p<0.000). It was successfully used to differentiate mood variables from a group consisting of caregivers of people with schizophrenia (n=30, producing 399 days of data) and a group of unselected controls (n=62, producing 1080 days of data). The test appears to have validity, reliability, comparability, and utility.     

The relationship between extraversion and time of data collection

According to Eysenck's theory introverts, because they are cautious or low in impulsivity, should fulfill their mandatory experimental credit hours by volunteering for experiments early in the semester while extraverts should wait until the last minute. Data collected during the 5th and 15th week of the semester and after the semester was completed provide modest support for the hypothesis. Extraversion scores for the last session were significantly higher than the prior four sessions in an a priori contrast (t = 3.48, df = 152, P < 0.001) but scores from the 15th week while higher than the 5th, were not significantly higher (t = 1.30, df = 152, P = 0.20).     

Extraversion and the effects of frequency and intensity on the auditory brainstem evoked response

Extraversion was positively correlated with the latency of wave I of the auditory brainstem evoked response (BER) at 75, 80 and 85 dB of intensity. Extraverts also tended to display longer latency for wave V than introverts to high frequency, 80-dB tone bursts and to click stimuli at intensity levels which ranged from 55 to 85 dB (SPL). These results are consistent with reports of greater auditory sensitivity (d') and enhanced amplitude of the late (N₁–P₂) cortical evoked response for introverts. The absence of differences in interpeak latency, or central transmission time. center the effects on wave I which is thought to be generated by the cochlear nerve. The present findings may require the elaboration of the neurophysiological bases of extraversion, which presently focuses on differences in cortico-reticular arousal systems, to accomodate individual differences in axonal or synaptic transmission.     

Higher-Order Unification: A structural relation between Huet's method and the one based on explicit substitutions

We compare two different styles of Higher-Order Unification (HOU): the classical HOU algorithm of Huet for the simply typed λ-calculus and HOU based on the λσ-calculus of explicit substitutions. For doing so, first, the original Huet algorithm for the simply typed λ-calculus with names is adapted to the language of the λ-calculus in de Bruijn's notation, since this is the notation used by the λσ-calculus. Afterwards, we introduce a new structural notation called unification tree, which eases the presentation of the subgoals generated by Huet's algorithm and its behaviour. The unification tree notation will be important for the comparison between Huet's algorithm and unification in the λσ-calculus whose derivations are presented into a structure called derivation tree. We prove that there exists an important structural correspondence between Huet's HOU and the λσ-HOU method: for each (sub-)problem in the unification tree there exists a counterpart in the derivation tree. This allows us to conclude that the λσ-HOU is a generalization of Huet's algorithm and that solutions computed by the latter are always computed by the former method.     

Dogmatism, field dependence, and perception of demand characteristics in a verbal operant conditioning experiment

Using a 2 × 2 analysis of variance design, effects of dogmatism and field dependence on subjects' awareness of demand characteristics in a verbal operant conditioning experiment were investigated. From 103 introductory psychology students who participated in a replication of an earlier verbal conditioning experiment, 92 were randomly selected for final study. It was found that only subjects aware of the purpose of the conditioning study appeared to “condition”. Subject awareness was assessed by a series of converging questions which were independently content analyzed by two judges and coded to yield a total awareness score. Based on earlier research it was expected that dogmatism and field dependence would interact to affect levels of awareness. The two-way interaction was statistically significant (p < .05) as predicted. The results were discussed in terms of speculations regarding the modes of perceptual functioning involved in perceiving demand cues.     

Dispositional happiness and college student GPA: Unpacking a null relation

We examined the mechanisms that underlie the null relation between dispositional happiness and college grade point average (GPA) by testing the hypothesis that dispositional happiness has positive and negative indirect links to GPA that offset each other. The sample consisted of 317 first-year students. Using structural equation modeling, we found that dispositional happiness exerted a positive indirect effect on cumulative GPA via commitment to college (p < .01) and a negative indirect effect on cumulative GPA via satisfaction with peer (student) relationships (p < .05). As predicted, the sum of its indirect effects on cumulative GPA was not significant (p = .22).     

Gray's three-arousal model: an empirical investigation

We evaluated the validity of Gray's and Fowles' three-arousal model in two studies of criminal offenders using a continuous motor task involving rewards and punishments. Consistent with predictions for the behavioral approach/activation system (BAS), offenders displayed significant (p<0.00001) increases in response time and heart rate (HR) from a no-incentive practice phase to a reward-only (experiment 1) and active-avoidance (experiment 2) phase. Trait impulsivity was correlated with the response time index of BAS activation in experiment 1 but not experiment 2. Consistent with predictions for the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), offenders showed a significant increase in number of skin conductance responses (SCRs) (p<0.05) from a reward-only to a mixed-incentive phase in experiment 1 and a significant increase in SC amplitude to punishment cues in both experiments. Consistent with predictions for the dynamics of the model, participants showed significant slowing of response time (p<0.0001) from reward-only (experiment 1) or active avoidance (experiment 2) to mixed-incentive phases despite showing an initial tendency toward response facilitation to the onset of the punishment cue signifying the beginning of the mixed-incentive phases. Participants also showed significant (p<0.002) decreases in HR between these phases in both studies, but this effect was only evident on trial 1. The BIS-influenced response time and HR indices were significantly (p<0.05) correlated with anxiety in experiment 1, but unexpectedly, anxiety was not correlated with SC indices of the BIS in either study. Although much of the data support the validity of the Gray/Fowles model, particular findings suggest that further refinement of this theory is indicated.     

Involvement of the σ Receptor inPassive-Avoidance Learning in the Day-Old Chick during the Second Wave of Neuronal Activity

The specific σ-receptor agonist (+)-SKF 10047 and antagonist BD 1047 were used to investigate whether this receptor was involved in passive-avoidance training in the day-old chick. We found 300 μM (+)-SKF 10047 to be amnesic when injected into the lobus parolfactorius 5 h after training (p < .01). Higher or lower concentrations of (+)-SKF 10047 did not disrupt memory formation. The amnesia produced by the efficacious dose of (+)-SKF 10047 was reversed by the specific antagonist, BD 1047. It is suggested that the σ-receptor may exert its effect on passive-avoidance memory consolidation during the later stages of long-term memory formation by modulation of memory-related neurotransmission.     

Is age kinder to the initially more able?: differential ageing of a verbal ability in the Healthy Old People in Edinburgh study

Studies that examine whether there is differential age-related decline in intelligence test scores according to initial cognitive status, social class and education are reviewed. We tested the differential ageing hypothesis which states that decline in ability scores over time will be lower in those with superior mental ability, more education and higher social class at the time of original testing. 387 healthy old people were tested at baseline and followed up 4 years later. The National Adult Reading Test (NART) was administered on both occasions. NART-estimated IQ fell by a mean of 2.1 points over 4 years (p<0.001). Subjects in higher social class categories had higher NART scores overall (p<0.001), and had smaller NART decrements over 4 years. Ex-professional and -secretarial groups fell by a mean of 1.4 points in this period, versus 3.2 points for skilled manual, semi-skilled and unskilled groups. In addition, those who fell more in NART were older (p=0.001), were less educated (p<0.001), and had lower NART (p<0.001) scores at baseline. In summary, those with higher baseline ability, in higher social class groups, with more education and who are younger are relatively protected from decline in this verbal ability with age. Possible mechanisms of differential decline in this verbal intelligence with age are discussed.     

The cerebellum and language: Evidence from patients with cerebellar degeneration

Clinical and imaging studies suggest that the cerebellum is involved in language tasks, but the extent to which slowed language production in cerebellar patients contributes to their poor performance on these tasks is not clear. We explored this relationship in 18 patients with cerebellar degeneration and 16 healthy controls who completed measures of verbal fluency (phonemic and semantic), word stem completion, and oral naming speed. Cerebellar patients showed significantly slower response times when naming common nouns, which correlated with their degree of motor impairment. Patients were significantly impaired on both phonemic and semantic fluency measures compared to controls (p < 0.001), even when naming speed was entered as a covariate (p = 0.03). On the word stem completion task, patients were significantly less accurate (p < 0.001), had more errors due to non-responses (p = 0.008), and were slower to respond (p = 0.036) than controls; group effects were significant for overall accuracy, but not response time, when the effects of naming speed were covaried (p = 0.014). These findings suggest that cerebellar patients’ poorer performance on language tasks cannot be explained solely by slower language production, and that the integrity of cerebellar-prefrontal loops might underlie poorer performance on measures of executive function in cerebellar patients.     

The evolutionary role of self-deceptive enhancement as a protective factor against antisocial cognitions

This study investigates the relationship between self-deception and variables associated with antisociality in the general population (i.e., mating effort, antisocial thinking, psychopathy, and personality), seeking to provide an evolutionary explanation for how self-deception might influence antisocial thinking. The Mating Effort Scale (MES); an adjusted version of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS); the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP); the NEO-Five Factor Inventory-Revised (NEO-FFI-R), and the Paulhus Deception Scales (PDS) were administered to 95 participants (33 males, 62 females, mean age = 36.4 years). Self-deceptive enhancement correlated significantly and negatively with Neuroticism (r = −.30, p < 0.01), and positively with Openness (r = .27, p < 0.05) and Conscientiousness (r = .43, p < 0.01). Mating effort related primarily to the PICTS and self-reported psychopathy. Factor analysis of the scales produced two underlying components; ‘careless non-cooperation’ (defined by impulsive antisociality) and ‘careful cooperation’ (reflecting dutifulness, emotional stability, and social desirability). Our results suggest self-deceptive enhancement may be a protective factor against antisocial thinking and behaviour, and that this is impeded by high neuroticism and impulsive thinking.     

Impulsivity as a predictor of smoking and alcohol consumption

This prospective study examined the relationships between impulsivity, smoking and alcohol use in a large non-clinical sample of 601 men and 4832 women working in 12 Finnish hospitals. Data on impulsivity, smoking and alcohol consumption were collected by two questionnaires with a two-year interval. At baseline, impulsivity was associated with smoking and alcohol use. After controlling for baseline smoking, impulsivity predicted increased number of cigarettes smoked per day in women (p=0.08), but not in men. After controlling for alcohol use at baseline, impulsivity predicted increased alcohol consumption similarly in both genders (p<0.01). Higher impulsivity was also associated with increased likelihood of taking up smoking or becoming a heavy drinker (p<0.05). This evidence suggests that impulsivity contributes to increasing health risk behaviours.     

Locus of control and the perception of freedom in an agent of reinforcement

Internals and externals observed a staged videotape presentation that portrayed a “teacher” and a “learner” engaging in a 20-item anagrams task. For externals, any variability (10, 50, and 90% schedule) in the reinforcing behavior of the “teacher” (agent of reinforcement) resulted in significantly greater perceived freedom than when no variability (0 and 100% schedule) occurred in behavior. For internals, perceived freedom was a negative linear function of the amount of reinforcement administered. Internals indicated that they could influence the behavior of the “teacher” in all reinforcement conditions, whereas externals indicated that they could influence only the “teachers” in the variable reinforcement conditions. It was concluded that greater freedom is attributed to a person whose behavior is perceived as congruent with the person's inner disposition.     

Skull size and intelligence, and King Robert Bruce's IQ

An estimate of someone's IQ is a potentially informative personal datum. This study examines the association between external skull measurements and IQ scores, and uses the resulting regression equation to provide an estimate of the IQ of King Robert I of Scotland (Robert Bruce, 1274–1329). Participants were 48 relatively healthy Caucasian men (age 71–76 years) resident in Scotland. Using magnetic resonance imaging data, intracranial volume estimated from external skull length and width correlated greater than .5 (p < .001) with measured intracranial area, which correlates very highly with brain volume. IQ scores estimated from the National Adult Reading Test (NART) correlated .56 (p < .001) with measured intracranial area, and .49 (p < .01) with estimated intracranial volume based on external skull width and length. The partial correlation coefficient of this latter association was .25 (p = .09) after adjustment for measured intracranial area. Thus, actual intracranial area accounts for about 74% of the variance shared by NART and estimated intracranial volume. A cast of the skull of Robert Bruce was measured and its intracranial volume estimated. A regression equation between IQ and estimated intracranial volume, based on data from the 48 subjects, estimated the IQ of Robert Bruce at about 128 (95% confidence interval 106 to  130), i.e. almost two standard deviations above the mean. NART scores show a ceiling effect, so this estimated IQ might be an underestimate. Robert Bruce's estimated high IQ is congruent with his military, political and other intellectual achievements.