Can Inattention/Overactivity Be an Institutional Deprivation Syndrome?

Elevated rates of attention deficit and overactivity have been noted previously in samples of institution-reared children. This study examined the hypothesis that inattention/overactivity(I/O) might constitute a specific deprivation syndrome. One hundred and sixty five children adopted at varying ages (e.g., 0–42 months of age) into the UK following severe early deprivation were compared with 52 within-UK adoptees who did not suffer deprivation. The children were rated by teachers and parents on levels of I/O, conduct difficulties, and emotional difficulties using the Revised Rutter Scales. Data were collected at age 6 for the entire sample and at age 4 for the UK adoptees and for the subsample of Romanian children who entered the UK before the age of 2 years. Mean level analyses suggested a significant effect of duration of deprivation on I/O, but not on conduct or emotional difficulties. The effects of duration of deprivation were specific to I/O and were not accounted for by low birth weight, malnutrition, or cognitive impairment. Levels of I/O correlated with attachment disturbances. Furthermore, the effects of duration of deprivation on I/O did not attenuate over time. We conclude that I/O may well constitute an institutional deprivation syndrome, but that the type of attention deficit and overactivity exhibited by these children may present a different clinical picture from that of ordinary varieties of attention deficit disorder or hyperkinetic syndrome.     

A Comparison of ML,WLSMV, and Bayesian Methods for Multilevel Structural Equation Models in Small Samples: A Simulation Study

Multilevel structural equation models are increasingly applied in psychological research. With increasing model complexity, estimation becomes computationally demanding, and small sample sizes pose further challenges on estimation methods relying on asymptotic theory. Recent developments of Bayesian estimation techniques may help to overcome the shortcomings of classical estimation techniques. The use of potentially inaccurate prior information may, however, have detrimental effects, especially in small samples. The present Monte Carlo simulation study compares the statistical performance of classical estimation techniques with Bayesian estimation using different prior specifications for a two-level SEM with either continuous or ordinal indicators. Using two software programs (Mplus and Stan), differential effects of between- and within-level sample sizes on estimation accuracy were investigated. Moreover, it was tested to which extent inaccurate priors may have detrimental effects on parameter estimates in categorical indicator models. For continuous indicators, Bayesian estimation did not show performance advantages over ML. For categorical indicators, Bayesian estimation outperformed WLSMV solely in case of strongly informative accurate priors. Weakly informative inaccurate priors did not deteriorate performance of the Bayesian approach, while strong informative inaccurate priors led to severely biased estimates even with large sample sizes. With diffuse priors, Stan yielded better results than Mplus in terms of parameter estimates.     

The Sacred Bed: Sex Guilt Mediates Religiosity and Satisfaction for Unmarried People

The relationship between religion and sexual satisfaction has long been debated. Oftentimes, previous research on the relationship between these two constructs has been directly contradictory. The current study sought to provide more detail, or perhaps clarify the way that religiosity may relate to sexual satisfaction. Past studies have shown that high religiosity is connected to lower sexual activity, lower desires, and more conservative values. Thus, the current study examined sexual guilt, resulting from sensitivity to internalized religious beliefs and teachings, as a potential mediator between the two constructs. Participants completed an online questionnaire that included measures of religious identification and internalization, sexual satisfaction, and sex guilt. Results suggest that sex guilt mediates the relationship between religiosity and sexual satisfaction for unmarried individuals, but not for married individuals. We suggest calling this finding the sacred bed phenomenon because the difference between the models for married and unmarried samples may be due to a belief in the sacred marital bed.     

Temporal pattern and spectral complexity as stimulus parameters for eliciting a cardiacorienting reflex inhuman fetuses

The purpose of this study was to determine whether temporal pattern and/or spectral complexity were important stimulus parameters for eliciting a cardiac orienting reflex (OR) in low-risk human fetuses. Each of 28 term fetuses was exposed to four sounds formed from the four different combinations of temporal pattern (pulsed, continuous) and spectral complexity (sine wave, IsJ). The fetal cardiac electrical signal was captured transabdominally at a rate of 1024 Hz, and fetal R-waves were extracted by using adaptive signal-processing techniques. We found that pulsed sounds elicited a significantly greater decrease in heart rate (HR) than did continuous sounds. However, the HR response was relatively unaffected by spectral complexity. For the pure tone and the phoneme used in this study, our results indicate that temporal characteristics were more effective at eliciting a cardiac OR in human fetuses than was spectral complexity.     

Conscientiousness as a Predictor of Productive and Counterproductive Behaviors

This article extends the integrity testing literature by examining relationships between conscientiousness subscales and productive and counterproductive workplace behaviors. Correlational analyses (n = 359 employees) indicated conscientiousness predicted overall performance, supervisors' willingness to rehire and employee attendance, but not integrity/safety ratings. Conscientiousness subscales differentially predicted criteria and were more parsimonious.     

Estimation of the probability of fighting in fallow deer (Dama dama) during the rut

Fighting between males is a frequent component of the rutting behavior of Cervidae. Frequent conflicts are exhausting; fighting may be risky and can lead to serious injuries or even death. We focused on the process of assessment of the opponent's fighting ability and escalation of the combat, estimating the probability of fighting based on the encounter components such as groaning and parallel walk. In this study, we observed the agonistic behavior of fallow deer bucks (Dama dama) during the rut over four seasons. During this time, we recorded 205 encounters between bucks. Non-contact display, which allows contestants to assess their opponents fighting ability, occurred in 83% of the encounters. The highest predicted probability of a fight was found when both of the males vocalized and turned into the parallel walk. The chance of a clear outcome decreased when the males were fighting in comparison to when they did not fight. The initiator of the competitive encounter won 41% of the cases, while the attacked buck won 23% of the encounters. If the contestants avoided fighting, however, the initiator won 78% of encounters. Therefore, the initiator was more successful when no fight occurred compared to when the encounters escalated into fighting. In most cases where ritualized behavior occurred, one of the opponents left after vocalization or parallel walk occurred. Thus, vocalization and parallel walk increased the probability for a clear outcome. The probability of a fight was lowest in situations where the males displayed asymmetric behavior. Increased symmetry of the contestants' behavior was strongly correlated with a higher probability of a fight. Thus, these results indicate that fallow deer bucks use efficient tactic during the rut, which, in turn, minimizes the chance of injury while fighting during the breeding season.     

Junior version of the Spanish NEO PI-R (JS NEO)

This article presents the preliminary data of the development of a Junior version of the Spanish NEO PI-R (JS NEO), suitable for teenagers from 12 to 17 years of age. From the 240 original English items, 92 were modified or reworded to some degree to make the vocabulary adequate for this age group. The psychometric properties of the JS NEO were investigated in a sample of 2,505 adolescents. Results showed that the adult NEO PI-R factor structure was replicated in the junior version of the inventory. Internal consistency and temporal stability reliabilities of the scales were adequate for most scales. Furthermore, the cross-form correlations between the junior (JS NEO) and the adult (NEO PI-R) scales indicated satisfactory construct validity of the junior version of the inventory.     

Are Speedy Brains Needed when Divergent Thinking is Speeded—or Unspeeded?

In this study, we focus on mental speed and divergent thinking, examining their relationship and the influence of task speededness. Participants (N = 109) completed a set of processing speed tasks and a test battery measuring divergent thinking. We used two speeded divergent-thinking tasks of 2 minutes and two unspeeded tasks of 8 minutes to test the influence of task speededness on creative quality and their relation to mental speed. Before each task, participants were instructed to be creative in order to optimally measure creative quality. We found a large main effect of task speededness: less creative ideas were generated when tasks were speeded as compared to unspeeded (Cohen's d = −1.64). We could also replicate a positive relationship of mental speed with speeded divergent thinking (r = .21) and mental speed with unspeeded divergent thinking (r = .25). Our hypothesis that the relation is higher for the speeded divergent-thinking tasks was not confirmed. Importantly, variation in creative quality scores under speeded conditions was not explained by mental speed beyond the predictive power of unspeeded creative quality. The latter finding implies that measurement of creative quality under speeded conditions is not confounded by mental speed.     

Traditional Chinese Thought: Philosophy or Religion?

Contemporary theoretical streams in sinology and modern Chinese philosophy have devoted increasing attention to investigating and comparing the substantial and methodological assumptions of the so-called ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ traditions. In spite of the complexity of these problems, the most important methodological condition for arriving at some reasonably valid conclusions will undoubtedly be satisfied if we consciously endeavor to preserve the characteristic structural blocks and observe the specific categorical laws of the cultural contexts being discussed. Whenever sinologists speak of Chinese philosophy, they must inevitably consider the appropriateness of this term. Due to the fact, that the general theory and genuine philosophical aspects of Chinese thought have only rarely been treated by Western scholars, they namely continue to remain quite obscure for the majority of them. Therefore, we must examine the fundamental question (or dilemma) of whether it is possible to speak of traditional Chinese thought as philosophy at all.     

Expectations and motivations of Hondurans migrating to the United States

This study explores the expectations and decision‐making processes of potential migrants at a community in Honduras. Hondurans have become one of the fastest growing populations in New York. Yet, although approximately 80 000 Hondurans try to reach the US annually, only 25 per cent succeed. To reach the United States they must undergo a dangerous journey across Guatemala and Mexico, a process to date under‐researched by social sciences. As new undocumented migrant streams continue to expand within the global economies, scholars and practitioners who work on their behalf should understand the pre‐migration values and expectations because they shape the way migrants adjust to and develop new cultural patterns in the receiving countries. Drawing on immigration and narrative theory, I hypothesize that narratives of migration from media, prior migrants, coyotes and community practices play an important role in the construction of potential migrant expectations. To represent narratives across several individual and community domains, the research design includes individual interviews, analysis of local newspapers, participant observations and teaching English classes. Analysis across these data reveals complex dilemmas potential migrants face as they weigh the costs and benefits of migration. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.