Considering too few alternatives: The mental model theory of extensional reasoning

When solving a simple probabilistic problem, people tend to build an incomplete mental representation. We observe this pattern in responses to probabilistic problems over a set of premises using the conjunction, disjunction, and conditional propositional connectives. The mental model theory of extensional reasoning explains this bias towards underestimating the number of possibilities: In reckoning with different interpretations of the premises (logical rules, mental model theoretical, and, specific to conditional premises, conjunction and biconditional interpretation) the mental model theory accounts for the majority of observations. Different interpretations of a premise result in a build-up of mental models that are often incomplete. These mental models are processed using either an extensional strategy relying on proportions amongst models, or a conflict monitoring strategy. The consequence of considering too few possibilities is an erroneous probability estimate akin to that faced by decision makers who fail to generate and consider all alternatives, a characteristic of bounded rationality. We compare our results to the results published by Johnson-Laird, Legrenzi, Girotto, Legrenzi, and Caverni [Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 62 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]–88 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. doi:10 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].1037 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]/0033 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]-295X Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].106 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].1 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar].62 Johnson-Laird, P., Legrenzi, P., Girotto, V., Legrenzi, M., &; Caverni, J. (1999). Naive probability: A mental model theory of extensional reasoning. Psychological Review, 106, 62–88. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.106.1.62[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]], and we observe lower performance levels than those in the original article.     

Quality of Life in the U.S. Navy: Impact on Performance and Career Continuance

Previous research has shown the importance of quality of life (QOL) for critical organizational outcomes such as the retention of U.S. Navy personnel (Wilcove, Schwerin, &; Wolosin, 2003 Wilcove, G., Schwerin, M. and Wolosin, D. 2003. An exploratory model of quality of life in the U.S. Navy.. Military Psychology, 15(2): 133–152. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Marines (Hindelang, Schwerin, &; Farmer, 2004 Hindelang, R. L., Schwerin, M. J. and Farmer, W. L. 2004. Quality of life (QOL) in the U.S. Marine Corps: The validation of a QOL model for predicting reenlistment intentions.. Military Psychology, 16(2): 115–134. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). These studies employed a life domains approach addressing a full range of work and non-work life needs as well as specific aspects of each life domain. In contrast, most other research exploring outcomes critical to military organizations focused only on work life needs of personnel (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, command climate). This study extends previous research by (a) including both performance and career-continuance plans of personnel as outcomes of interest, (b) exploring the contribution of an additional life need—spiritual well-being—to the measurement of QOL, and (c) examining changes in perceptions of QOL over time between 1999 and 2002 among U.S. Navy personnel. Implications of findings to military personnel, families, and manpower and personnel policy as well as future directions for research are discussed.     

Matching Methods for Selection of Participants for Follow-Up

This work examines ways to make the best use of limited resources when selecting individuals to follow up in a longitudinal study estimating causal effects. In the setting under consideration, covariate information is available for all individuals but outcomes have not yet been collected and may be expensive to gather, and thus only a subset of the comparison participants are followed. Expressions in Rubin and Thomas (1996) Rubin, D. B. and Thomas, N. 1996. Matching using estimated propensity scores, relating theory to practice.. Biometrics, 52: 249–264. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] show the benefits that can be obtained, in terms of reduced bias and variance of the estimated treatment effect, of selecting comparison individuals well matched to those in the treated group compared with a random sample of comparison individuals. We primarily consider nonexperimental settings but also consider implications for randomized trials. The methods are illustrated using data from the Johns Hopkins University Baltimore Prevention Program, which included data collection from age 6 to young adulthood of participants in an evaluation of 2 early elementary-school-based universal prevention programs.     

Mind Perception and Individual Differences: A Replication and Extension

Mind perception involves attributing higher functional abilities to others (e.g., saying a dog feels pain). The relationships between mind perception and psychopathology—autism, psychopathy, and schizotypy—have been revealed by K. Gray, Jenkins, Heberlein, and Wegner (2011 Gray, K., Jenkins, A. C., Heberlein, A. S., &; Wegner, D. M. (2011). Distortions of mind perception in psychopathology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 477–479. doi:10.1073/pnas.1015493108[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]); however, mind perception has yet to be correlated with personality. Participants (N = 180) completed measures of personality, psychopathology, and mind perception. The psychopathology results were consistent with Gray et al. (2011 Gray, K., Jenkins, A. C., Heberlein, A. S., &; Wegner, D. M. (2011). Distortions of mind perception in psychopathology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108, 477–479. doi:10.1073/pnas.1015493108[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The Big Five captured mind perception virtually as much as the three psychopathologies captured mind perception. Mind perception is not solely relevant to psychopathology; it is also relevant to everyday personality.     

SNARC (spatial–numerical association of response codes) meets SPARC (spatial–pitch association of response codes): Automaticity and interdependency in compatibility effects

Concepts, including the mental number line, or addressing pitch as high and low, suggest that the spatial–numerical and spatial–pitch association of response codes (SNARC and SPARC) effects are domain-specific and thus independent. Alternatively, there may be dependencies between these effects, because they share common automatic or controlled decision mechanisms. In two experiments, participants were presented with spoken numbers in different pitches; their numerical value, pitch, and response compatibility were varied systematically. This allowed us to study SNARC and SPARC effects in a factorial design (see also Fischer, Riello, Giordano, &; Rusconi, 2013 Fischer, M. H., Riello, M., Giordano, B. L., &; Rusconi, E. (2013). Singing numbers?…?in cognitive space--a dual-task study of the link between pitch, space, and numbers. Topics in Cognitive Science, 5(2), 354–366. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12017[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Participants judged the stimuli on numerical magnitude, pitch, or parity (odd–even). In all tasks, the SNARC and SPARC effects had superadditive interactions. These were interpreted as both effects sharing a common mechanism. The task variation probes the mechanism: In the magnitude judgement task, numerical magnitude was explicit, whereas pitch was implicit; in the pitch judgement task, it was vice versa. In the parity judgement task, both dimensions were implicit. Regardless of whether they were implicit or explicit, both SNARC and SPARC effects occurred in all tasks. We concluded that by not requiring focal attention the common mechanism operates automatically.     

Spatial Training Improves Children's Mathematics Ability

We tested whether mental rotation training improved math performance in 6- to 8-year-olds. Children were pretested on a range of number and math skills. Then one group received a single session of mental rotation training using an object completion task that had previously improved spatial ability in children this age (Ehrlich, Levine, &; Goldin-Meadow, 2006 Ehrlich , S. , Levine , S. , &; Goldin-Meadow , S. ( 2006 ). The importance of gestures in children's spatial reasoning . Developmental Psychology , 42 , 1259 – 1268 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The remaining children completed crossword puzzles instead. Children's posttest scores revealed that those in the spatial training group improved significantly on calculation problems. In contrast, children in the control group did not improve on any math tasks. Further analyses revealed that the spatial training group's improvement was largely due to better performance on missing term problems (e.g., 4 + ____ = 11).     

Implicit and Explicit Sexual Motives as Related,But Distinct Characteristics

A measure of implicit sexual motives—the implicit AMORE—was constructed employing the Affect Misattribution Procedure (Payne, Cheng, Govorun, &; Stewart, 2005 Payne, B. K., Cheng, C. M., Govorun, O., &; Stewart, B. D. (2005). An inkblot for attitudes: Affect misattribution as implcit measurement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 277–293. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.3.277[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Subscales paralleled the 8 dimensions identified previously by the self-report measure of sexual motives, the explicit AMORE (Hill &; Preston, 1996 Hill, C. A., &; Preston, L. K. (1996). Individual differences in the experience of sexual motivation: Theory and measurement of dispositional sexual motives. Journal of Sex Research, 33, 27–45. doi:10.1080/00224499609551812[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the proposed 8-factor model in slightly revised form, which was confirmed based on a second independent set of participants. Consistent with hypotheses, the implicit scales correlated with nonconscious erotica-viewing behavior for women in a laboratory setting. In contrast to explicit scales, implicit scales were unrelated to self-report ratings of likely sexual behavior. Finally, self-reports of aspects of sexual behavior were generally associated with the measures of implicit motives independently of corresponding explicit motives for both women and men. The results support the conception of implicit sexual motives as related, but distinct from explicit sexual motives.     

Predictors of Self-Reported Prospective and Retrospective Memory in a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults

In this article, the authors examined predictors of self-reported everyday memory failures using the Prospective and Retrospective Questionnaire (PRMQ; Smith, Della Sala, Logie, &; Maylor, 2000 Smith, G. V., Della Sala, S., Logie, R. H. and Maylor, E. A. M. 2000. Prospective and retrospective memory in normal ageing and dementia: A questionnaire study. Memory, 8: 311–321. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) in a population-based sample of older adults (age range = 60–90 years; N = 250). The results showed that a higher frequency of reported failures was associated with lower scores on the personality dimension of self-directedness as assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI; Cloninger, Dragan, Svrakic, &; Przybeck, 1993 Cloninger, R. C., Dragan, M. S., Svrakic, D. M. and Przybeck, T. R. 1993. A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50: 975–990. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and more depressive symptoms on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977 Radloff, L. S. 1977. The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1: 385–401. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, PRMQ scores showed no relationships with objective memory ability, as reflected by a series of retrospective memory measures and a measure of prospective memory. Neither were the PRMQ scales associated with general cognitive functioning as assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; Folstein, Folstein, &; McHugh, 1977). Taken together, the results indicate that within the older population, self-reported memory as assessed by the PRMQ may reflect mood-state and personality factors rather than individual differences in memory and cognitive ability.     

Editorial

Abstract

The concept of mentalization (Fonagy, Steele, Moran, Steele, &; Higgitt, 1991 Fonagy, P., Steele, H., Moran, G., Steele, M. and Higgitt, A. 1991. The capacity for understanding mental states: The reflective self in parent and child and its significance of security of attachment. Infant Mental Health Journal, 13: 201–218. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) has been used to describe the way in which the child's ability to understand his own and others' minds crucially depends on the developmental opportunity to recognize himself as represented in the mind of another. Within the context of a case presented for supervision, this paper discusses the importance of mentalization or ‘reflective function’ in the development of the psychological self, drawing on recent attachment-related research. Peter Webber's film Girl with a Pearl Earring is also presented and discussed as illustration of the psychotherapeutic significance of searching for the individual's inner psychological potential.     

The Effect of the Accountability Variables of Responsibility,Openness, and Answerability on Authentic Leadership

One salient aspect of authentic leadership is the possibility that it can be developed (Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, &; Peterson, 2008 Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Wernsing, T. S., &; Peterson, S. J. (2008). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89–126. doi:10.1177/0149206307308913[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, the relative paucity of research on authentic leadership as a dependent variable needs to be addressed. The purpose of this cross-sectional quantitative study is to examine the three factors of accountability: (a) responsibility, (b) openness, and (c) answerability (Wood &; Winston, 2007 Wood, J. A., &; Winston, B. E. (2007). Development of three scales to measure leader accountability. Leadership &; Organization Development Journal, 28(2), 167–185. doi:10.1108/01437730710726859[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) as antecedents to authentic leadership. Using survey results from a sample of full-time employees at six faith-based institutions of higher education in the United States, a predictive relationship was investigated through hierarchical regression analysis. The results indicated that the variables of responsibility, openness, and answerability predict the perception of authentic leadership.     

Commentary Research on gene–environment interdependence: Honing the tools and examining the angles

The insightful overview by Sir Michael Rutter (this issue) on gene–environment interdependence comes about 10 years after the breakthrough Science publications on gene–environment interactions (G×E) involving the MAOA and 5-HTT genes by Caspi et al. (2002 Caspi, A., McClay, J., Moffitt, T. E., Mill, J., Martin, J.Craig, I. W. 2002. Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science, 297: 851–854. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2003 Caspi, A., Sugden, K., Moffitt, T. E., Taylor, A., Craig, I. W.Harrington, H. 2003. Influence of life stress on depression: Moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene. Science, 301: 386–389. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Since then, a field of research has burgeoned that has produced replications as well as intriguing new evidence of gene–environment interdependence. At the same time, however, the field has witnessed a growing scepticism about the relevance of studying gene–environment interactions and has seen replication failures (see Duncan & Keller, 2011 Duncan, L. E. and Keller, M. C. 2011. A critical review of the first 10 years of candidate gene-by-environment interaction research in psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168: 1041–1049. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Risch et al., 2009 Risch, N., Herell, R., Lehner, T., Liang, K.-Y., Eaves, L.Hoh, J. 2009. Interaction between the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), stressful life events, and risk of depression: A meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association, 301: 2462–2471. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Against this backdrop, we comment and elaborate on several of the key issues raised by Rutter, and suggest some directions for future research on G×E. Specifically, we discuss (1) replication issues; (2) the crucial role of experiments in understanding gene–environment interdependence; (3) current unknowns with regard to differential susceptibility; and (4) clinical and practical implications of G×E research.     

Lexicality and Stimulus Length Effects in Italian Dyslexics: Role of the Overadditivity Effect

The effect of lexicality and stimulus length was studied in 32 third- and fourth-grade Italian dyslexics and in 86 age-matched controls. A visual lexical decision task was used. As proposed by Faust et al. (1999) Faust, M. E., Balota, D. A., Spieler, D. H. and Ferraro, F. R. 1999. Individual differences in information-processing rate and amount: Implications for group differences in response latency. Psychological Bulletin, 125: 777–799. [INFOTRIEVE][CROSSREF][CSA][Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], the results were analyzed in terms of raw reaction time (RT) data and using the z-score transformation to control for the presence of overadditivity effects. In terms of RTs, dyslexics showed a larger difference between words and nonwords (lexicality effect) and between short and long stimuli (length effect) than proficient readers. When data were transformed into z scores, only the group by length interaction remained significant while that with lexicality vanished. This pattern indicates that stimulus length has a specific role in Italian dyslexics’ reading deficit; in contrast, slowness in responding to nonwords was not specific but was interpreted as one aspect of dyslexics’ general inability to deal with alphabetical material (overadditivity effect).     

Extending a Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect to a Research Program

We reanalyze the recent multilab preregistered study on ego-depletion by Hagger and Chatzisarantis (2016 Hagger, M. S., &; Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2016). A multilab preregistered replication of the ego-depletion effect. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 546–573. doi:10.1177/1745691616652873[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) as if their data were obtained under the research program-strategy (Witte &; Zenker, 2016a Witte, E. H., &; Zenker, F. (2016a). Beyond schools—Reply to Marsman, Ly, and Wagenmakers. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 38, 313–317. doi:10.1080/01973533.2016.1227710[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2016b Witte, E. H., &; Zenker, F. (2016b). Reconstructing recent work on macro-social stress as a research program. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 38, 301–307. doi:10.1080/01973533.2016.1207077[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This strengthens Hagger and Chatzisarantis’s (2016 Hagger, M. S., &; Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2016). A multilab preregistered replication of the ego-depletion effect. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 546–573. doi:10.1177/1745691616652873[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) main conclusion, because our reanalysis more directly corroborates the absence of a medium-sized, or a small-sized, ego-depletion effect (d?=?.50 under α?=?β?=?.05; d?=?.20 under α?=?β?=?.01). We explain how a smaller ego-depletion effect of d?=?.04 can be tested under similar conditions, having determined this value by maximum likelihood estimation, and compare the research program-strategy to a standard meta-analytic integration.     

Mutual Suppression: Comment on Paulhus et al. (2004)

Paulhus, Robins, Trzesniewski, and Tracy (Multivariate Behavioral Research, 2004 Paulhus, D. L., Robins, R. W., Trzesniewski, K. H. and Tracy, J. L. 2004. Two replicable suppressor situations in personality research. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39: 303–328. [Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 39, 305–328) suggested that the three types of two-predictor suppression situations—classical suppression, cooperative suppression, and net suppression—-can all be considered special cases of mutual suppression, in that the magnitude of each of the two standardized partial regression coefficients exceeds the magnitude of its corresponding standardized bivariate regression coefficient. Classical suppression and cooperative suppression can be considered mutual suppression, but net suppression cannot. Hypothetical and empirical examples of net suppression in which the magnitude of the standardized partial regression coefficient for the suppressor variable is greater than, equal to, and less than the magnitude of its standardized bivariate regression coefficient are provided. The empirical examples were drawn from the social psychology literature relating psychological well-being outcomes to life aspirations.     

“Why Do I Get in Trouble So Much?”: A Family Therapeutic Assessment Case Study

Recent case studies have demonstrated the potential benefits of Finn's Therapeutic Assessment (TA) model with families (e.g., Handler, 2007 Handler, L. 2007. “The use of therapeutic assessment with children and adolescents”. In The clinical assessment of children and adolescents: A practitioner's handbook, Edited by: Smith, S. R. and Handler, L. 53–72. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.  [Google Scholar]; Tharinger, Finn, Wilkinson, &; Schaber, 2007 Tharinger, D. J., Finn, S. E., Wilkinson, A. D. and Schaber, P. M. 2007. Therapeutic assessment with a child as a family intervention: A clinical and research case study. Psychology in the Schools, 44: 293–309. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This case study of a 6-year-old girl and her family follows the Therapeutic Assessment (TA) model, focusing on the specified goals of each session and how those goals were accomplished. In this article, we illustrate the flexibility afforded by the TA model to tailor an appropriate intervention for a specific family and also show that extensive experience with the TA model is not necessary for this approach to yield clinically significant results.     

Nonpathological and Pathological Narcissism: Which Self-Reported Characteristics Are Most Problematic in Adolescents?

Prior research indicates that dimensions of adolescent narcissism differ in their associations with indicators of positive and negative psychological functioning (e.g., Barry, Frick, Adler, &; Grafeman, 2007 Barry, C. T., Frick, P. J., Adler, K. K. and Grafeman, S. J. 2007. The predictive utility of narcissism among children and adolescents: Evidence for a distinction between adaptive and maladaptive narcissism. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16: 508–521. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Barry &; Wallace, 2010 Barry, C. T. and Wallace, M. T. 2010. Current considerations in the assessment of youth narcissism: Indicators of pathological and normative development. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32: 479–489. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This study investigated correlates of 2 empirically derived factors of adolescent narcissism (i.e., pathological and nonpathological narcissism) from 2 measures thought to differ based on their inclusion of pathological versus nonpathological content. In a sample of 188 at-risk adolescents ages 16 to 18, pathological narcissism was associated with various indicators of maladjustment, including aggression, low self-esteem, internalizing problems, and poor perceived interpersonal relationships. On the other hand, nonpathological narcissism was positively associated with self-esteem and aggression but negatively associated with internalizing problems. The implications for the conceptualization of adolescent narcissism are discussed.     

Neuropsychological Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioral Approach System (BAS) Assessment: A Shortened Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire Version (SPSRQ–20)

This research was designed to investigate the items and factor structure of the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ) proposed by Torrubia, Avila, Moltó, and Caseras (2001 Spielberger, C. D., Gorsuch, R. L. and Lushene, R. E. 1970. Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory., Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.  [Google Scholar]), as a measure of the behavioral inhibition system and behavioral activation system in Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory. Recent studies that analyzed this instrument by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis suggest the need for structural refinement. The Spanish version of the SPSRQ was analyzed by exploratory and confirmatory procedures in calibration (n = 2,102) and validation (n = 746) independent samples. In addition, convergent and discriminant validity was evaluated with the Zuckerman–Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (Zuckerman, Kuhlman, Teta, Joireman, &; Kraft, 1993 Torrubia, R. and Tobeña, A. 1984. A scale for the assessment of susceptibility to punishment as a measure of anxiety: Preliminary results. Personality and Individual Differences, 5: 371–375. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the Impulsiveness, Venturesomeness and Empathy Inventory (S. B. G. Eysenck, Pearson, Easting, &; Allsopp, 1985 Eysenck, S. B. G., Pearson, P. R., Easting, G. and Allsopp, F. J. 1985. Age norms for impulsiveness, venturesomeness and empathy in adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 6: 613–619. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) the Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness Five Factor Inventory (Costa &; McCrae, 1992 Costa, P. T. and McCrae, R. R. 1992. NEO–PI–R professional manual: Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO–PI–R) and NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO–FFI), Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.  [Google Scholar]), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scales (Barratt, 1985 Ball, S. and Zuckerman, M. 1990. Sensation seeking, Eysenck's personality dimensions and reinforcement sensitivity in concept formation. Personality and Individual Differences, 11: 343–355. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Results showed the robustness of a 20-item structure of the SPSRQ, with satisfactory fit adjustment, validity, and reliability. The findings are discussed in terms of the better functioning and sound psychometric properties of the SPSRQ 20-item version for Gray's personality theory.