Performance of the CJDATS Co-Occurring Disorders Screening Instruments (CODSIs) among minority offenders

Previous research has shown the performance of the CJDATS Co-Occurring Disorders Screening Instruments (CODSI-MD and SMD)--six- and three-item instruments to screen for any mental disorder (CODSI-MD) and for severe mental disorders (CODSI-SMD), respectively--to be comparable or superior to other, longer instruments. This study tested the stability of the performance of the CODSI-MD and SMD across three racial/ethnic groups of offenders entering prison substance abuse treatment programs (n = 353), consisting of 96 African American, 120 Latino, and 137 White admissions. The Structured Clinical Interview (SCID) was used to obtain DSM-IV Axis I and II diagnoses; a lifetime SCID diagnosis of a mental disorder or a severe mental disorder was the criterion against which the CODSI-MD and SMD were validated. Results showed no statistical differences in sensitivity or specificity for either the CODSI-MD or SMD across the African American, Latino, and White prisoner groups. The value of the CODSI-MD and SMD as brief screens for mental disorders among offenders with diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds is discussed.     

Genetic and environmental influences on personality trait stability and growth during the transition to adulthood: a three-wave longitudinal study

During the transition to adulthood individuals typically settle into adult roles in love and work. This transition also involves significant changes in personality traits that are generally in the direction of greater maturity and increased stability. Competing hypotheses have been offered to account for these personality changes: The intrinsic maturation hypothesis suggests that change trajectories are endogenous, whereas the life-course hypothesis suggests that these changes occur because of transactions with the social environment. This study investigated the patterns and origins of personality trait changes from ages 17 to 29 using 3 waves of Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire data provided by twins. Results suggest that (a) trait changes were more profound in the first relative to the second half of the transition to adulthood; (b) traits tend to become more stable during the second half of this transition, with all the traits yielding retest correlations between .74 and .78; (c) Negative Affectivity declined over time, and Constraint increased over time; minimal change was observed on agentic or communal aspects of Positive Emotionality; and (d) both genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for personality changes. Overall, these genetically informed results support a life-course perspective on personality development during the transition to adulthood.     

Attentional disengagement in adults with Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a distinctive behavioral and cognitive profile, including widespread problems with attention. However, the specific nature of their attentional difficulties, such as inappropriate attentional allocation and/or poor attentional disengagement abilities, has yet to be elucidated. Furthermore, it is unknown if there is an underlying difficulty with the temporal dynamics of attention in WS or if their attentional difficulties are task-dependent, because previous studies have examined attention in established areas of deficit and atypicality (specifically, visuospatial and face processing). In this study, we examined attentional processing in 14 adults with WS (20–59 years) and 17 typically developing controls (19–39 years) using an attentional blink (AB) paradigm. The AB is the decreased ability to detect a second target when it is presented in close proximity to an initial target. Overall, adults with WS had an AB that was prolonged in duration, but no different in magnitude, compared with typically developing control participants. AB performance was not explained by IQ, working memory, or processing speed in either group. Thus, results suggest that the attention problems in WS are primarily due to general attentional disengagement difficulties rather than inappropriate attentional allocation.     

Examining Temporal Associations between Perceived Maternal Psychological Control and Early Adolescent Internalizing Problems

The present study examined a) the associations between adolescent-reported maternal psychological control and self-reported internalizing problems one year later, while simultaneously examining the opposite direction of effects and b) the equivalence of these associations across gender. Participants were 479 10-to-14-year old adolescents (55% female) participating in two waves of a study. Results from multi-group, cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that although early adolescents’ depressive symptoms and social anxiety predicted change in perceived maternal psychological control one year later, perceived maternal psychological control did not predict change in early adolescents’ internalizing problems. Elevated levels of depressive symptoms were associated with increased levels of perceived maternal psychological control one year later, whereas elevated levels of social anxiety were associated with decreased levels. Aforementioned findings were consistent across boys’ and girls’ data. Study findings extend limited research on adolescent effects, demonstrating that early adolescents’ internalizing problems play a role in perceived maternal psychological control.     

The Interaction Between Conscientiousness and General Mental Ability: Support for a Compensatory Interaction in Task Performance

Journal of Business and Psychology - We propose a compensatory interactive influence of conscientiousness and GMA in task performance such that conscientiousness is most beneficial to performance...     

Train‐the‐trainer: Methodology to learn the cognitive interview

Research has indicated that police may not receive enough training in interviewing cooperative witnesses, specifically in use of the cognitive interview (CI). Practically, for the CI to be effective in real‐world investigations, police investigators must be trained by law enforcement trainers. We conducted a three‐phase experiment to examine the feasibility of training experienced law enforcement trainers who would then train others to conduct the CI. We instructed Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement trainers about the CI (Phase I); law enforcement trainers from both agencies (n = 4, 100% male, mean age = 50 years) instructed university students (n = 25, 59% female, mean age = 21 years) to conduct either the CI or a standard law enforcement interview (Phase II); the student interviewers then interviewed other student witnesses (n = 50, 73% female, mean age = 22 years), who had watched a simulated crime (phase III). Compared with standard training, interviews conducted by those trained by CI‐trained instructors contained more information and at a higher accuracy rate and with fewer suggestive questions.     

A Taxonomy of Ethical,Legal and Social Implications of Wearable Robots: An Expert Perspective

Science and Engineering Ethics - Wearable robots and exoskeletons are relatively new technologies designed for assisting and augmenting human motor functions. Due to their different possible design...     

Interference and facilitation among personal goals: differential associations with subjective well-being and persistent goal pursuit

Three studies demonstrate that mutual facilitation and interference among personal goals are distinct characteristics rather than mutually exclusive opposites and have different functions for psychological well-being and goal pursuit. The three studies vary in design (cross-sectional, short-termlongitudinal) and follow a multimethod approach using questionnaires, diaries, and objective behavioral information. Results show that interference among goals (resulting from resource constraints and incompatible goal attainment strategies) is negatively associated with trait and state well-being, whereas mutual facilitation among goals (resulting from instrumental goal relations and overlapping goal attainment strategies) is positively associated with involvement in goal pursuit.     

A secreted form of the beta-amyloid precursor protein (sAPP695) improves spatial recognition memory in OF1 mice

The beta-amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and appears to be a multifunctional protein. Secreted forms of APP (sAPP) have memory-enhancing effects in certain behavioral paradigms. To investigate sAPP's role in spatial memory processes, we adapted a spatial recognition task and evaluated (1) the performance of OF1 mice after massed training (single 15-min acquisition session) and distributed training (three 5-min acquisition sessions), (2) the decline of spatial recognition performance by introducing different delays (5min, 1, 3, and 24h) between the acquisition and retention phases, and (3) the effects of sAPP(695) on spatial recognition memory. In the present study, mice selectively reacted to a change in the spatial configuration of five objects. Indeed, 3min post-acquisition, mice performed similarly in the massed and distributed versions of the task, by re-exploring the two displaced objects only, whereas mice exposed to the same spatial configuration did not. Additionally, all mice did react to a novel object in a subsequent object recognition phase. Mice detected object displacements 5min, 1h, or 3h post-acquisition, but no more at a 24h-delay. Finally, mice treated with sAPP(695) intracerebroventricularly at a dose of 0.5pg/4microL/mouse, 20-min pre-acquisition or 5-min post-acquisition, still reacted to a spatial change in objects position 24h post-acquisition, in marked contrast to NaCl-treated mice. Our data demonstrate that sAPP(695) significantly improves a form of spatial memory, and confirms the hypothesis of an action of this protein on early memory processes.