Effects of hemispheric asymmetry on electrodermal conditioning in a dichotic listening paradigm

It was predicted that when an auditive verbal conditional stimulus (CS+), previously associated with an aversive unconditional stimulus (UCS), is presented to theright ear (initial left hemisphere input), in a dichotic listening task, with the CS-simultaneously presented in the left ear, the result would be greater resistance to extinction than when the same CS+ is presented to the left ear (initial right hemisphere input). In the same vein, it was predicted that, when a tonal CS+ is presented to theleft ear, greater resistance to extinction would occur as compared with when it is presented to the right ear. During a dichotic test phase, each group was split into two subgroups, and the CS+ and CS—repeatedly were presented simultaneously to each ear. Half of the subjects in each subgroup had the CS+ presented to the left ear. The other half had the CS+ presented to the right ear. Skin conductance responses were recorded from both hands. Results showed significantly larger responding in all groups to the CS+/UCS compound during the acquisition phase. However, during the dichotic extinction phase, the verbal CS+ right-ear subgroup showed significantly larger resistance to extinction as compared with the verbal CS+ left-ear subgroup. No differences were found between the two tonal subgroups.     

Leader Member Exchanges: Distinction Between Two Factors

Abstract

The dimensionality of Graen's Leader Member Exchange concept was examined in a cross-sectional questionnaire study among 1147 Dutch nurses. The total sample was divided into two subgroups by means of stratified random selection (n1 = 574; n2 = 573) and analyses were performed in each subgroup separately. The factorial structure of a 12-item self-report Leader Member Exchange questionnaire was examined. Exploratory factor analysis on the data of subgroup 1 yielded two factors, which were labelled “consideration/coaching by the leader” and “filling an assistant position”. Confirmatory factor analyses with LISREL showed that a two-factor oblique model had the best fit in both subgroups. Equality of factor structures in both subgroups was clearly demonstrated. Differential validity of the two Leader Member Exchange factors was studied by correlating each factor with measures of job-related affect. In both subgroups, the consideration/coaching factor had a significantly stronger, positive relationship with job satisfaction and a significantly stronger, negative relationship with propensity to quit the job, whereas the assistant position factor had a significantly stronger, positive relationship with job-responsibility. Results concerning the relationships with effectiveness ratings were inconclusive. The results of this study indicate that the Leader Member Exchange concept is two-dimensional rather than unidimensional.     

Automatic Activation and Use of Gender Subgroups

Two experiments tested whether, similarly to global gender categories, gender subgroups are activated and applied on an automatic basis. In Experiment 1 (N?=?90) the female subgroup career woman was activated in a subliminal priming procedure. Experiment 2 (N?=?40) contrasted the subliminal priming of career woman with the activation of the global category woman. In both experiments the activated subgroup was applied to a target person in an ostensibly unrelated judgment task: Judgments of the target person were significantly higher on features typical for the subgroup than on untypical features. Activating the global category led to clearly different judgments than when the subgroup was activated. Results are discussed with respect to the use of global and subordinate gender categories in social categorization.     

Obsessive-compulsive disorder subtypes: an attempted replication and extension of a symptom-based taxonomy

A symptom-based subgroup taxonomy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was evaluated and refined. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale symptom checklist was scored and cluster analysis was conducted with a sample of OCD patients (N = 114). Results were compared to Calamari et al.'s (Behaviour Research and Therapy 37 (1999) 113) five subgroup model. Rules for determining the number of subgroups supported a more complex model. In between sample comparisons, a stable contamination subgroup was found in both a five and seven subgroup taxonomy. Between sample stability was not as strong for Harming, Obsessionals, Symmetry, and Certainty subgroups. Hoarding, as a distinctive subgroup, was unstable in separate samples. When the Calamari et al. sample and the present sample were combined (N = 220), we found a reliable Hoarding subgroup. More interpretable and stable models emerged with the combined samples suggesting that large clinical samples are needed to identify OCD subgroups. Greater support was found for a seven subgroup taxonomy based subgroup interpretability and validation measure differences. The potential utility of symptom-based subgroup models of OCD and alternative approaches are discussed. Identification of reliable and valid OCD subtypes may advance theory and treatment.     

The risk of dental caries in extraverts

It has been demonstrated that extraverts have a lower saliva secretion rate than introverts. Furthermore, extraverts as well as subjects with high P-scores on the EPQ have been demonstrated to have a more pronounced risk-taking behaviour, possibly including a tendency to neglect health care programs. Thus it was hypothesised that extraverts and possibly also subjects with high P-scores would have an increased risk of caries. The Swedish translation of the 97 items JEPQ was administered to 101 15-year-old adolescents controlled at the annual dental status health control. Extraverts were found to have significantly more earlier caries and significantly more total caries and a tendency towards higher values in initial and manifest caries. Subjects with high P-scores were found to have significantly more manifest caries. No significant relationships were found between the frequency of caries and the N- or L-scales in the JEPQ.     

Dimensions of perception of posture in dance

This study reports a preliminary investigation designed to assess the possibility of using a semantic differential in the appraisal of expressive characteristics of posture in dance.Twenty still photographs of postures displayed by one female dancer were judged on 25 bipolar scales by 50 Ss. Ratings of eight of these Ss were used for estimating reliabilities of the scales — resulting in elimination of five scales. Intercorrelation matrices of the 20 remaining scales were obtained for each of the 42 remaining Ss. Consideration of homogeneity of the distribution of these matrices led to the exclusion of four of them, leaving 38 matrices for further analysis.After random division of these matrices into two equally sized subgroups, principal component analyses with VARIMAX rotation were carried out on the average intercorrelation matrix for each subgroup. This resulted in two very similar three-factor solutions. The three factors, identified as similar to Osgood's well-known factors of activity, evaluation and potency, accounted for about 55% of the total variance. The results, discussed in terms of Berlyne's conception, suggest that the semantic differential may be a reliable instrument for measuring connotations of posture in dance.     

如何消除子团队的消极作用——子团队成员交换的作用

本文探究子团队层面的团队构成动态变化, 即子团队成员交换是否有助于消除子团队的消极影响。本文将存在两个平衡的以认同为基础的子团队的团队作为研究对象, 试图通过实验的研究方法来探讨子团队成员交换是否能够消除子团队对团队的消极影响。通过对75组子团队进行实验后发现: (1)相较于无子团队成员交换的团队, 有子团队成员交换的团队其团队信息深化及团队决策质量更佳; (2)团队信息深化在子团队成员交换与团队决策质量关系间呈中介作用。     

Investigating a socially anxious‐impulsive subgroup of adolescents: A prospective community study

Previous research has identified a subgroup of socially anxious adults who are both anxious and impulsive. To date, however, this subgroup has not been identified in adolescence. Therefore, in this study we aimed to identify this subgroup in a sample of adolescents. In addition, we hypothesized that this subgroup would be higher on problem behaviors, and that these processes would be moderated by gender. We used longitudinal data from 714 adolescents who were in the 7th and 8th grades at Time 1. They were followed annually for three years. Cluster analyses identified an anxious‐inhibited subgroup as well as an anxious‐impulsive subgroup in early adolescence (Time 1). The socially anxious‐impulsive adolescent boys were generally higher on both intoxication frequency and delinquency compared with all other adolescents in all clusters at each time point. Findings suggest that social anxiety subgroups may differ on problem behavior, and that early detection of an anxious‐impulsive subgroup may be important to prevent maladjustment, especially for adolescent boys.     

Psychopathological Symptom Dimensions in Patients with Gastrointestinal Disorders

The current study aims to investigate the factorial validity of a widely used psychopathological rating scale, the Symptom Check List-90-R (SCL-90-R), in a group of patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders, and to determine the specific psychopathological profiles that characterize the individual patient subgroups. Patients suffering from either irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, non-erosive reflux disease or erosive reflux disease completed the SCL-90-R at a tertiary care gastroenterology department. Seven factors were identified, with one major distress factor and six minor factors. Comparison of the gastrointestinal disorder subgroups indicated that irritable bowel syndrome patients exhibited significantly more psychological distress compared to the other groups, and that gastrointestinal patients as a group, compared to healthy controls, were characterized by high levels of irritable depression and somatization. In planning further studies we encourage the use of factors identified in our study. The treatment of substantial irritable depression can be an important factor in improving quality of life in patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders.     

Differences in Internalizing Symptoms Across Specific Ethnic Minority Groups: An Analysis Across Chinese American,Filipino American,Japanese American,Native Hawaiian,and White Youth

Research to date on child and adolescent anxiety and depression have focused predominantly on major ethnic groups. Very few studies to date have been conducted on specific ethnic minority groups and the relatively few studies on these ethnic minority samples have produced mixed findings. The following question therefore still remains: Do specific ethnic subgroups differ with respect to their expression of anxiety and depression? And do these differences differ as a function of reporter type (i.e., youth versus parent)? If the expression of internalizing symptoms differs across specific ethnic subgroups, these differences could inform approaches to assessing and treating these populations. In the current study, we therefore examined ethnic differences in anxiety and depression symptoms in ethnic subgroups. A total of 629 children and adolescents from various public and private schools, aged 8–18 years (M = 12.37, SD = 2.8) and their caregivers completed anxiety and depression scales. Multiple indicators, multiple causes confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the following specific ethic subgroups were associated with significantly greater anxiety and depression relative to Caucasian youth: Chinese American, Filipino American, Japanese American, and Native Hawaiian. These results were found only among parent (but not youth) reports. Age and low SES status was also associated with more internalizing problems among Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese American youth. Implications related to ethnic minority subgroup differences and the role of multi-informant reports in understanding the relationship between anxiety, depression and ethnic minority subgroups are discussed.     

Heterogeneity of auditory verbal working memory in schizophrenia

The heterogeneity of schizophrenia remains an obstacle for understanding its pathophysiology. Studies using a tone discrimination screening test to classify patients have found evidence for 2 subgroups having either a specific deficit in verbal working memory (WM) or deficits in both verbal and nonverbal memory. This study aimed to (a) replicate in larger samples differences between these subgroups in auditory verbal WM; (b) evaluate their performance on tests of explicit memory and sustained attention; (c) determine the relation of verbal WM deficits to auditory hallucinations and other symptoms; and (d) examine medication effects. The verbal WM and tone discrimination performance did not differ between medicated (n = 45) and unmedicated (n = 38) patients. Patients with schizophrenia who passed the tone screening test (discriminators; n = 60) were compared with those who did not (nondiscriminators; n = 23) and healthy controls (n = 47). The discriminator subgroup showed poorer verbal WM than did controls and a deficit in verbal but not visual memory on the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (Wechsler, 1987), whereas the nondiscriminator subgroup showed overall poorer performance on both verbal and nonverbal tests and a marked deficit in sustained attention. Verbal WM deficits in discriminators were correlated with auditory hallucinations but not with negative symptoms. The results are consistent with a verbal memory deficit in a subgroup of schizophrenia having intact auditory perception, which may stem from dysfunction of language-related cortical regions, and a more generalized cognitive deficit in a subgroup having auditory perceptual and attentional dysfunction.     

Does personality moderate the link between women’s testosterone and relationship status? The role of extraversion and sensation seeking

Research shows that testosterone (T) is lower among partnered women, but not for women with a more unrestricted sociosexuality. There are fundamental personality traits, which are indices of mating effort and might moderate the association between T and relationship status. Two such traits are extraversion (E) and sensation seeking (SS). The present study tests if E and SS moderate the association of women’s T with relationship status and parental care. Seventy-three Portuguese women completed a short form of the NEO-FFI and the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS-V). Salivary T was assayed using luminescence immunoassays. Being involved in a committed relationship was related to lower T for the total sample, and for the subgroups low in E and SS, but not for the subgroups high in E and SS. Parental care was related to lower T in the subgroup low in E, and marginally in the subgroup low in SS. In multivariate analyses, only relationship status predicted T in the total sample and in the subgroups low in E and SS. The results were not confounded by age and oral contraception. These results provide support for lower T being important for monogamous pair bonding rather than for being partnered per se.     

子团队的结构与情感对团队创造力的影响

为细化现有团队研究,着眼于子团队并结合团队同质情感,挖掘了团队中的子团队平衡性、团队情感与团队创造力关系。通过对某高校333名学生的团队实验研究,得出主要结论认为：团队中子团队的平衡性与团队情感对影响团队创造存在交互作用,具有积极情感且子团队平衡的团队创造力更高。当子团队不平衡时,情感积极团队会比中性情感下的团队有更大的创造力波动性。     

IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF AN ASSESSMENT CLASSIFICATION MODEL FOR MANPOWER UTILIZATION1

The present study deals with implementing and evaluating Schoenfeldt's assessment-classification model in an industrial setting using a multiplicity of job families and a range of criteria. A total of 1,987 non-exempt employees of a U. S. oil company were administered an extensive autobiographical inventory. Hierarchical clustering of the resulting biographical profiles produced 18 subgroups of employees such that within any one subgroup, background experiences and interests were similar and between subgroups they were different. A similar methodology was applied to job analysis data in creating a structure of 19 job families for 939 office and clerical jobs. Significant relationships were found between biodata subgroups and criteria of sex, education level, termination rate, equal employment opportunity job classification and performance ratings. There was no statistically significant relationship between subgroup membership and race. In addition, there was a significant relationship between subgroups and job families. Applications for a variety of personnel management practices are discussed.     

Psychosocial Subgroups, Coping, and Chronic Low-Back Pain

The purpose of this study was to compare psychosocial subgroups in terms of pain coping strategies, pain severity, physical impairment, pain behavior, affective distress, and response to pain management treatment. The Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) was used to classify 67 chronic low-back pain (CLBP) patients into the following psychosocial subgroups: Dysfunctional, Interpersonally Distressed, Adaptive Coping, and Anomalous. These MPI subgroups were compared on the Pain Behavior Checklist, Behavioral Observation Measure of Pain Behavior, Revised Coping Strategies Questionnaire, and Chronic Disease Index. The Dysfunctional subgroup reported significantly more pain behavior, disability, affective distress, and catastrophizing than either the Interpersonally Distressed subgroup or Adaptive Copers, but were not significantly different on measures of adaptive coping strategies. The percentage of dropouts from treatment was significantly less among Adaptive Copers (11%) than among the Dysfunctional (33%) or Interpersonally Distressed (47%) subgroups. Differences in affective distress found among the MPI subgroups at baseline were not evident at the posttreatment assessment. The present findings support the use of MPI psychosocial subgroup analysis to enhance our understanding of differential response to chronic pain and pain management intervention.     

Musculoskeletal status and disability of MMPI profile subgroups among patients with low back pain

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) profiles of 205 male and 157 female patients with acute and chronic low back pain (LBP) were studied for replicable homogeneous subgroups using three cluster-analysis procedures. Two normal and three clinically elevated profile subgroups were identified. The two normal subgroups were characterized by relatively normal musculoskeletal condition and were least disabled, but they differed somewhat from each other in duration of pain, presence of physical abnormalities, and daily functioning. The third subgroup had the following characteristics: an elevated neurotic triad, greatest duration of symptoms, most abnormal physical findings, greatest limitation of motion, most pain complaints during physical examination, and the fewest number of intact functional activities. The fourth subgroup, with an elevated neurotic triad plus subclinical elevations on other scales, had somewhat less musculoskeletal impairment but had extensive work disability, financial compensation, and previous surgeries. The fifth and most pathologic profile subgroup surprisingly consisted largely of acute-pain patients whose musculoskeletal condition and daily functioning were similar to those of the normal subgroups. Patients in the three abnormal MMPI subgroups were exposed to more LBP physical-risk factors in the workplace. Implications for psychological treatment with these different profile types are discussed.     

The Role of Hope in the Psychological Adjustment of Gastropareutic Patients Receiving the Gastric Pacemaker: A Longitudinal Study

Hope, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and physical quality of life (QOL) were assessed in three subgroups of patients receiving the gastric pacemaker. Patients (n = 22) completed questionnaires prior to pacemaker implantation and at 3 and 6 months post-surgery. The idiopathic subgroup reported a significantly greater degree of hope and less anxiety at 6-month follow-up, compared to the diabetes patients. The idiopathic patients also reported significantly less anxiety at 6 months than the postsurgical patients. Across all subgroups, there was an increase in hope and physical QOL, and decrease in depressive symptoms and anxiety, from baseline levels. There was a significant negative relationship between hope and both depressive symptoms and anxiety at baseline and 3- and 6-month follow-up. Presurgical hope level did not significantly predict depressive symptoms or anxiety after implantation. This study provides evidence that the pacemaker improves the physical and psychological health of gastropareutic patients; hope appears to play a role in the psychological adjustment of these patients.     

Subgrouping in obesity based on Rorschach personality characteristics

Conceptual (a priori) subgroups in obesity based on personality findings from the Rorschach Comprehensive System were suggested for 100 obese patients. The subgroups were further compared in terms of general anamnestic and behavioral data. The largest subgroup was Rorschach characterized by difficulties with emotions and a tendency towards depression. Demographic and behavioral data for this subgroup revealed intermediate or higher education, regular meals, eating disorders like binge eating, periodic variations in eating during the year and experiencing body size as having a psychological meaning. The other subgroup was characterized by coping liabilities and was further associated with a lower socio-economic level and irregular or chaotic meal patterns. For the group with emotional difficulties, the results suggest a more complex psychological pattern, where eating and emotions could be closely related. The group with coping liabilities could have difficulties other than emotional ones concerning food and eating, such as finding a structure for eating and making changes in lifestyle and habits.     

Alternative Predictors for Dealing with the Diversity–Validity Dilemma in Personnel Selection: The constructed response multimedia test

In the context of the diversity–validity dilemma in personnel selection, the present field study compared ethnic subgroup differences on an innovative constructed response multimedia test to other commonly used selection instruments. Applicants (N = 245, 27% ethnic minorities) for entry‐level police jobs completed a constructed response multimedia test, cognitive ability test, language proficiency test, personality inventory, structured interview, and role play. Results demonstrated minor ethnic subgroup differences on constructed response multimedia test scores as compared to other instruments. Constructed response multimedia test scores were related to the selection decision, and no evidence for predictive bias was found. Subgroup differences were also examined on the dimensional level, with cognitively loaded dimension scores displaying larger differences.