Association between alexithymia, neuroticism, and social desirability scores among Italian graduate students

An inverse correlation between social desirability and alexithymia has been observed in undergraduate students in Japan and Australia. It is not clear how this association is influenced by the personality dimension of neuroticism. This study examined the association of scores on social desirability with those on alexithymia controlled for neuroticism, in a sample of 111 Italian graduate students, with age range of 24 to 58 years. Students completed the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (short form) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20). Social desirability scores inversely correlated with TAS-20 total scores, neuroticism scores, and the TAS-20 subscale, Difficulty identifying feelings. Neuroticism directly correlated with TAS-20 total score, Difficulty identifying feelings, and Difficulty describing feelings. Students with higher alexithymia and neuroticism scores seem to present themselves in less socially desirable ways. The correlation of social desirability with alexithymia was moderated by higher neuroticism scores.     

Is Alexithymia Related to Colon Cancer? A Survey of Patients Undergoing a Screening Colonoscopy Examination

The current study examined whether alexithymia is involved in colon cancer as has been found in breast and uterine cancer research. The TAS-20 was administered before examination to patients who underwent colon cancer screening. Histological data were obtained from the biopsies. Gender, age, education, smoking and drinking habits, and personal and family histories of neoplastic colonic disease were controlled for in the analysis. Both adenoma and adenocarcinoma patients had higher TAS-20 scores than negative cases, and both high and intermediate levels of alexithymia were implicated. Difficulty identifying feelings and externally oriented thinking were the most prominent facets related to the disease process.     

Beck Depression Inventory-II items associated with self-reported symptoms of ADHD in adult psychiatric outpatients

The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) and the Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scale-Self-Report: Screening Version (CAARS-S:SV; Conners, Erhardt, & Sparrow, 1999) were administered to 371 (64%) female and 204 (36%) male adult (> 18 years old) outpatients who were diagnosed with various psychiatric disorders to determine whether any of the 21 items or subsets of items in the BDI-II were related to symptoms of attention deficits and hyperactivity as measured by the CAARS-S:SV DSM-IV Total ADHD Symptoms scale (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] Symptoms). Stepwise multiple-regression analyses found that the BDI-II Concentration Difficulty explained 30% of the variance in these total scores. Ratings > 1 for the BDI-II Concentration Difficulty item were discussed as being useful for ruling out possible symptoms of ADHD.     

Predicting Cognitive and Social Consequences of Emotional Episodes: The Contribution of Emotional Intensity, the Five Factor Model, and Alexithymia

Emotional events are followed by recurrent thoughts (rumination) and talking about the event (social sharing of emotion). Factors that can account for variations in these consequences were examined (emotional intensity, the Five Factor Model, and two factors of alexithymia). In two samples, participants reported the most negative emotional event of recent months and in one sample also reported the most positive one. Results indicated that emotional intensity predicted social sharing and rumination, while neuroticism was positively related to intrusive thoughts about negative events and extraversion to rumination and social sharing about positive events. Difficulty describing feelings was negatively related to social sharing for negative events and reduced fantasy to rumination for positive events.     

Too much to count on: impaired very small numbers in corticobasal degeneration

Patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) have calculation impairments. This study examined whether impaired number knowledge depends on verbal mediation. We focused particularly on knowledge of very small numbers, where there is a precise relationship between a cardinality and its number concept, but little hypothesized role for verbal mediation. We evaluated accuracy and reaction time (RT) for matching dot arrays and Arabic numerals involving smaller (2-4) and larger (5-9) cardinalities in non-aphasic patients with CBD (n=16), frontotemporal dementia (FTD; n=23), and healthy controls (n=15). CBD were less accurate and slowed at judging smaller Arabic numeral-dot array stimuli compared to FTD patients and controls. Moreover, only CBD showed longer RTs judging successively larger number-dot array pairs among the smaller cardinalities. Difficulty judging very small numbers is impaired in CBD, suggesting degraded representation of precise number knowledge that does not depend on language functioning.     

Psychometric properties of a revised Spanish 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale adaptation in multiple sclerosis patients

There have been a small number of investigations of alexithymia in multiple sclerosis (MS) using the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). However, the TAS-20 factor structure has not yet been evaluated in a MS patient sample, and earlier Spanish translations of this instrument require some improvement. We aimed to evaluate the factorial validity and reliability of an improved Spanish translation of the TAS-20 (the TAS-20-S). The TAS-20-S was completed by 221 MS patients. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fit of six different factor models. Internal consistency and retest reliability coefficients were also computed. The correlated three-factor model and the higher-order factor model made up of Difficulty Identifying Feelings, Difficulty Describing Feelings, and Externally Oriented Thinking achieved the best fit. Alpha coefficients ranged between .87 and .67; mean inter-item correlations ranged between .48 and .20; and retest correlations after 6 months ranged between .61 and .52. A high degree of alexithymia was present in 18.1% of the sample. Reliability and the traditional three-factor structure were demonstrated for the TAS-20-S, which can now be recommended for assessing an aspect of emotional processing in MS patients.     

Projection across Sensory Modalities

Question is raised as to whether we are not setting our sights too high in trying to understand personality. Difficulty of understanding the “whole” personality is related to the fact that half of what is determining it at any given time is situationally defined and the other half is tied up with almost invisible inner processes. Homage is paid to Henry Murray for having put us on the right path.     

Right Hemisphere Activation during Indirect Semantic Priming: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials

Healthy subjects performed a lexical decision task in a semantic priming paradigm while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 64 channels. Semantic distance between prime and target was varied by including directly, indirectly, and nonrelated word pairs. At centro-parietal electrodes an N400 to nonrelated pairs was elicited bilaterally which was sensitive only to direct, but not to indirect semantic priming. These N400 priming effects were mirrored by the RT data. At inferior fronto-temporal sites directly related words showed ERP priming effects over both hemispheres. However, indirectly related words only elicited ERP priming effects over the right hemisphere. These results support the hypothesis that the right hemisphere semantic system is involved in processing of remote semantic information.     

Assessing reliability and validity of the Farsi version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale in a sample of substance-using patients

The aim of this study was to estimate reliability and factorial validity of the Farsi version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20) for 321 substance-abusing patients (187 men and 134 women). All were asked to complete the Farsi version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, the Emotional Intelligence Scale, and The Mental Health Inventory. Analysis supported the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and three-factor structure of the Farsi version of the TAS-20 for substance users. The factors are similar to the three reported previously and were labeled as Difficulty Identifying Feelings, Difficulty Describing Feelings, and Externally oriented Thinking. These results provide evidence for applicability of the TAS-20 and its cross-cultural validity.     

Reality and Philosophy: Reflections on Cora Diamond's Work

The publication of Cora Diamond's important 2002 “The Difficulty of Reality and the Difficulty of Philosophy” (in Philosophy and Animal Life) stimulated the writing of this essay. “The Difficulty of Reality and the Difficulty of Philosophy” attempted to show that there are experiences of reality (recounted especially in literature like John Coetzee's novels and Ted Hughes' poetry) in relation to which philosophical concepts and words encounter difficulty. The experiences resist conceptualization. By examining several of Diamond's earlier writings, I try to show that the difficulty of philosophical conceptualization of reality is due to the fact that reality does not exist external to experience. Reality being internal to experience means that reality contains an unfixed set of possibilities. Being experiential, reality is historical. The historical dimension of reality – such as the reality of animal life suffering – makes the words through we describe this reality too weak, i.e. they are not powerful enough to capture reality, hence the difficulty. Consequently, as I argue, for Diamond, the weakness of words means that words are never complete concepts. The meaning of them seems always still to come since reality seems always to have a surplus of possibilities. I suggest that because of this always still “to come” aspect of the meaning of words, we might characterise Diamond's thought as a messianism.     

Visual control of discrete aiming movements

An experiment is reported which investigated the visual control of discrete rapid arm movements. Subjects were required to move as rapidly as possible to several target width-movement distance combinations under both visual and non-visual conditions. The movement time (MT) data were supportive of Fitts' Law in that MT was linearly related and highly correlated to the Index of Difficulty (ID). MT was also similar for different target width-distance combinations sharing the same ID value. The error rate analysis, which compared visual to non-visual perfromance, indicated that vision was only used, and to varying degrees, when MT exceeded 200 ms (3.58 ID level). There was some evidence that vision was differentially used within target width-distance combinations sharing the same ID. Estimates of endpoint variability generally reflected the results of the error rate analysis. These results do not support the discrete correction model of Fitts' Law proposed by Keele (1968).     

Psychosocial mediators of antiretroviral nonadherence in HIV-positive adults with substance use and mental health problems.

This study used data from 1,889 HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral (ARV) medications who participated in the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study to investigate whether nonadherence to ARV medications among patients with mental health and substance use problems could be explained by difficulty getting and negative attitudes toward ARV medications, poor fit of the regimen with lifestyle, lack of instruction and cues for remembering the regimen from a health care provider, and poor support from others for taking ARV medications. Difficulty getting ARV medications and poor fit with lifestyle were significant mediators of nonadherence for patients with a probable psychiatric disorder. Difficulty getting medication was a mediator for heavy drinkers, and poor fit with lifestyle was a mediator for drug users who drank heavily. Further research is needed to identify and address the barriers to adherence in these populations.     

Evaluating a ward staff program for increasing spontaneous and varied communicative gesturing with individuals who are mentally retarded

In the present study we assessed the effect of a multifaceted program for ward staff members, which was intended to have severely/profoundly mentally retarded individuals improve their use of communicative gestures. The program consisted of instruction, verbal and visual (publicly posted) graphic feedback. There were two categories of dependent variables. The first category involved the number of gesture prompts by staff, number of unused opportunities to evoke gestures, and number of consequences given for gestures. The second category involved handicapped individuals' number of prompted gestures, number of spontaneous gestures, and number of different gestures. Results show that the program was effective with regard to all these variables. Changes in the number of spontaneous gestures were especially remarkable, as this variable had not been influenced directly. Follow-up data underline the effectiveness of the program.     

Experience of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of postpartum depression

This research examined experiences of pregnancy and delivery as predictors of three subscales identified within the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (nonspecific depression, anhedonia, and anxiety). Mothers of babies under 1 year (N = 415) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and gave information as to number of pregnancies, number of children, and their ratings of the difficulty of the course of pregnancy and delivery. Number of pregnancies and number of children did not predict scores on any of these subscales. Difficulty in the course of pregnancy was a significant positive predictor of nonspecific depression, and difficulty of delivery was a significant positive predictor of anxiety. Neither of these variables significantly predicted anhedonia. These results provide evidence of the heterogeneity of postpartum depression, indicating that risk factors differentially influence subscales of the EPDS.     

Reliability and factorial validity of a Farsi version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale with a sample of Iranian students

This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Farsi version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale for 587 undergraduate students (349 women and 238 men) at the University of Tehran. All participants were asked to complete the Farsi version of the TAS-20, the Emotional Intelligence Scale, and the Mental Health Inventory. Findings supported the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and three-factor structure of the Farsi version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The factors found in the Farsi version of this scale are similar to the three factors found previously and were accordingly labeled as Difficulty Identifying Feelings, Difficulty Describing Feelings, and Externally Oriented Thinking. The results provide evidence for applicability of the TAS-20 and its cross-cultural validity.     

Subjective Difficulty of Movements With Ongoing Visual Control

Objective difficulty of a single-component visually controlled movement may be defined by Fitts's (1954) Index of Difficulty, which is a measure of difficulty in the sense that movement time is linearly related to the objective measure. For movements that have multiple components, it becomes difficult to determine an objective measure of task difficulty due to unknown interactions between components of the movement and interactions with other factors. Thus, it may be necessary to use indirect methods for allocating a measure of task difficulty. The purpose of the study was to determine whether participants could validly construct a subjective measure of the movement difficulty and whether this measure was related to the known objective measure of difficulty. Experiments showed that for single-component movements, there was a close relationship between measures of subjective and objective difficulty. With two-component visually controlled movements it was found that subjective difficulty could be related to objective difficulty, but not as simply as for single-component tasks.     

Item characteristics and answer-changing behaviors

Difficulty and discrimination indices on 113 multiple-choice test items were compared with points gained or lost from students' changing answers. Difficulty of items was not significantly correlated with score gain from changing answers, a result consistent with previous research. Item discrimination had a low correlation with test score gain from changing answers, a result not consistent with previous research.     

Effect of preacquisition UCS exposure on classical conditioning of the rabbit's nictitating membrane response

Conditioning of the rabbit nictitating membrane response was found to be inversely related to the number (0, 50, 200, 350) and intensity, (0, 1, 3, 5 mA) of preacquisition UCS exposures and directly related to the interval between preexposure and acquisition (0 or 24 hr). The results were discussed in terms of sensory adaptation, habituation, blocking, and emotional reactivity.     

Alexithymia and risk preferences: Predicting risk behaviour across decision domains

Risk‐taking is a critical health factor as it plays a key role in several diseases and is related to a number of health risk factors. The aim of the present study is to investigate the role of alexithymia in predicting risk preferences across decision domains. One hundred and thirteen participants filled out an alexithymia scale (Toronto Alexithymia Scale—TAS‐20), impulsivity and venturesomeness measures (I7 scale), and—1 month later—the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE questionnaire). The hierarchical regression analyses showed that alexithymia positively predicted risk preferences in two domains: aggressive/illegal behaviour and irresponsible academic/work behaviour. The results also highlighted a significant association of the alexithymia facet, externally oriented thinking (EOT), with risky sexual activities. EOT also significantly predicted aggressive/illegal behaviour and irresponsible academic/work behaviour. The alexithymia facet, Difficulty Identifying Feelings, significantly predicted irresponsible academic/work behaviour. The results of the present study provide interesting insights into the connection between alexithymia and risk preferences across different decision domains. Implications for future studies and applied interventions are discussed.     

The ironic effect of guessing: increased false memory for mediated lists in younger and older adults

Younger and older adults studied lists of words directly (e.g., creek, water) or indirectly (e.g., beaver, faucet) related to a nonpresented critical lure (CL; e.g., river). Indirect (i.e., mediated) lists presented items that were only related to CLs through nonpresented mediators (i.e., directly related items). Following study, participants completed a condition-specific task, math, a recall test with or without a warning about the CL, or tried to guess the CL. On a final recognition test, warnings (vs. math and recall without warning) decreased false recognition for direct lists, and guessing increased mediated false recognition (an ironic effect of guessing) in both age groups. The observed age-invariance of the ironic effect of guessing suggests that processes involved in mediated false memory are preserved in aging and confirms the effect is largely due to activation in semantic networks during encoding and to the strengthening of these networks during the interpolated tasks.