Middle Response Functioning in Likert-responses to Personality Items

Two studies examined whether the middle response option in graphic rating scales indicates a moderate standing on a trait/item, or rather a “dumping ground” for unsure or non-applicable (N/A) responses. Study One identified middle response-option dysfunction. Study Two indicated that respondents use the middle response option as an N/A proxy, even under implicit ‘skip if you do not know’ instructional sets. Although middle response category ‘misuse’ did not adversely affect reliability and validity in these studies, it is recommended that assessment developers (especially in on-line administration contexts) regularly include an N/A response option when administering graphic rating scales.

Progesterone to ovariectomized mice enhances cognitive performance in the spontaneous alternation, object recognition, but not placement, water maze, and contextual and cued conditioned fear tasks

Research on how steroid hormones mediate mnemonic processes have focused on effects of 17β-estradiol (E₂); yet, progesterone (P₄) co-varies with E₂ across endogenous hormonal milieu, and itself may influence cognitive processes. We investigated the hypothesis that acute P₄ treatment enhances cognitive performance compared to vehicle. Ovariectomized (OVX) c57/BL6J mice were randomly assigned to be subcutaneously injected with oil vehicle or P₄ (10 mg/kg). Mice were trained in the spontaneous alternation, object recognition, object placement, water maze, or fear conditioning tasks, and injected with vehicle or P₄ before training or immediately post-training, and then were tested 1, 4, or 24 h later. The data obtained from these experiments supported our hypothesis. P₄ increased the percentage of spontaneous alterations made in a T-maze more so than did vehicle. P₄, compared to vehicle, increased the percentage of time spent exploring the novel object in the object recognition task, but did not alter performance in the object placement task. P₄, compared to vehicle, decreased latencies to reach the location in the water maze where the platform had been during training in a probe trial, but did not alter performance in the control, cued trial. Compared to vehicle, P₄ treatment increased freezing in contextual and cued fear testing. Thus, acute P₄ treatment to OVX mice can improve cognitive performance across a variety of tasks.     

Tactile “capture” of audition

Previous research has demonstrated that the localization of auditory or tactile stimuli can be biased by the simultaneous presentation of a visual stimulus from a different spatial position. We investigated whether auditory localization judgments could also be affected by the presentation of spatially displaced tactile stimuli, using a procedure designed to reveal perceptual interactions across modalities. Participants made left—right discrimination responses regarding the perceived location of sounds, which were presented either in isolation or together with tactile stimulation to the fingertips. The results demonstrate that the apparent location of a sound can be biased toward tactile stimulation when it is synchronous, but not when it is asynchronous, with the auditory event. Directing attention to the tactile modality did not increase the bias of sound localization toward synchronous tactile stimulation. These results provide the first demonstration of the tactilecapture of audition.     

Juries,Gender, and Assault Weapons1

Firearms appearance can have psychological import in legal proceedings by keying aggressive ideations, impacting sentencing and gender‐based attributions. We presented mock jurors with a homeowner's defensive gun use. Reasonable arguments were for shooting or not in the scenario by the defendant. The firearm varied in type. Assault rifle use led to harsher legal outcomes than did other firearms. A female defendant was at more risk than a male. In the last experiment, a police shooting scenario was tested. In that case, the male officer was at more risk than the female officer when wielding the assault rifle. Weapons and gender interactions were, for the most part, congruent with social cognitive theories of attribution and weapons priming of aggressive ideation.     

Lack of effects of anabolic-androgenic steroids on locomotor activity in intact male mice

Anabolic-androgenic steroid abusers have reported hyperactivity, euphoria, and decreased fatigue, among other behavioral effects. It has been suggested that the effects of these substances on the central nervous system are similar to those of psychostimulants; however, the influence of steroids on general locomotor activity in laboratory animals is not well understood, especially how noncastrated male rodents are affected. In this study, spontaneous locomotor activity displayed by gonadally intact male mice submitted to several experimental conditions was analyzed. Different housing conditions (individual or cohabiting with a female), diverse steroids (testosterone propionate, nandrolone decanoate, and a mixture of both steroids) and single or repeated injections were employed. At 24 hours after the injection (after the three last injections in the case of chronic treatment) spontaneous locomotor activity was registered on an activity recorder for one 15-min. period. No effects due to the treatment were found in almost every experimental condition. These results contrast with the dramatic decreases in activity described for female mice after treatment with such steroids. It seems that in intact males the steroids' influence on spontaneous locomotor activity may be more subtle than expected. These effects seem very complex depending on duration of treatment and specific situations (spontaneous or forced activity) as well as the interaction with endogenous androgen levels.     

Zygmunt Adamczewski (1921–1990)

In Memoriam

Zygmunt Adamczewski (1921–1990)     

Evaluating psychological injury in motor vehicle accidents (MVA): development and validation of a protocol for detecting pretense

In order to assess the feigning ability of the psychological injury in a motor vehicle accident (MVA), a total of 105 subjects, which never had suffered a serious MVA and lay in psychopathology, responded to the MMPI-2 in line with the standard instructions. Thereafter, subjects were instructed to feign moral damage generated by a MVA prior to being evaluated using a clinical-forensic interview a week later, and responding to the MMPI-2 another week later. The results show that 60.9% of the subjects were able to effectively feign moral damage on the MMPI-2, and 3.8% in the forensic clinical interview. The analysis of the instruments and procedures for the validation of subject responses i.e., the original validity control scales of the MMPI-2 and the analysis of feigning strategies in the forensic clinical interview, revealed no efficacy in feigning detection. Nevertheless, collectively, all the control measures and procedures were effective for the detection of feigning. Therefore, a protocol for the detection of feigning of moral damage has been proposed.