Lexically-driven syntactic priming

Syntactic priming studies demonstrate that exposure to a particular syntactic structure leads speakers to reproduce the same structure in subsequent utterances. Explanations for this phenomenon rely on either the retrieval of morphosyntactic features associated with the verb in the prime sentence or the preservation of the mapping between message and word sequences in the prime sentence. Two experiments test the featural account of syntactic priming. We used single word primes to investigate the dative alternation in German (Experiment 1) and Dutch (Experiment 2). Native speakers read ditransitive verbs that are restricted either to the prepositional (dative) or double object construction, followed by pictures that can be described with either structure. We find that a single verb in isolation is sufficient to bias speakers' production preferences supporting lexically-driven accounts of syntactic priming.     

Person factors associated with suicidal behavior among African American women and men

This study compared person risk factors among the following groups of low-income, African American adults in an urban, public hospital: (a) suicide attempters and nonattempters, (b) male and female attempters, and (c) all 4 groups (50 female attempters, 50 female nonattempters, 50 male attempters, and 50 male nonattempters). Participants completed psychological distress, aggression, substance use, cognitive processes, religiosity/spirituality, and ethnic identity measures. Compared with nonattempters, attempters reported more psychological distress, aggression, substance use, and maladaptive coping strategies; less religiosity/spirituality; and lower levels of ethnic identity. Male attempters endorsed more substance use than female attempters. No person risk factors differentiated among the 4 groups. Assessment of person risk factors and implementation of commensurate culturally competent interventions are recommended.     

Personality profiles of effective leadership performance in assessment centers

Most research examining the relationship between effective leadership and personality has focused on individual personality traits. However, profiles of personality traits more fully describe individuals, and these profiles may be important as they relate to leadership. This study used latent class analysis to examine how personality traits combine and interact to form subpopulations of leaders and how these subpopulations relate to performance criteria. Using a sample of 2,461 executive-level leaders, six personality profiles were identified: Unpredictable Leaders with Low Diligence (7.3%); Conscientious, Backend Leaders (3.6%); Unpredictable Leaders (8.6%); Creative Communicators (20.8%); Power Players (32.4%); and Protocol Followers (27.1%). One profile performed well on all criteria in an assessment center; remaining profiles exhibited strengths and weaknesses across criteria. Implications and future directions for research are highlighted.     

Developmental Personality Styles: An Attachment Theory Conceptualization of Personality Disorders

Attachment theory, as a developmentally based theory of personality formation, provides a viable framework for understanding the development and maintenance of personality disorders, or what A. E. Ivey and M. B. Ivey (1998) have referred to as “developmental personality styles.” Using K. Bartholomew's (1990) 4‐dimensional model of adult attachment as an organizational framework, 10 developmental personality styles are differentiated regarding their unique attachment experiences, working models of self and other, and feedforward beliefs. Implications of an attachment theory framework for counseling clients with problematic developmental personality styles are discussed.     

Attentional control and reflexive orienting to gaze and arrow cues

A wealth of data indicate that central spatially nonpredictive eyes and arrows trigger very similar reflexive spatial orienting, although the effects of eyes may be more strongly reflexive (e.g., Friesen, Ristic, & Kingstone, 2004). Pratt and Hommel (2003) recently reported that the orienting effect for arrows is sensitive to arbitrary cue-target color contingencies; for example, an attentional orienting effect for blue colored arrows is evident only for blue targets. We reasoned that if the orienting effect elicited by eye direction is more strongly reflexive than the orienting effect elicited by arrow direction, it follows that eyes, unlike arrows, may trigger orienting effects that generalize across congruent and incongruent cue-target color contingencies. Replicating Pratt and Hommel (2003), we found that the reflexive attention effect elicited by arrows is specific to color-congruent target stimuli. The attention effect triggered by eyes, however, generalizes across color-congruent and color-incongruent target stimuli. These data support the hypothesis that eye direction and arrow direction trigger similar reflexive shifts in spatial attention, but that the attention effect triggered by eye direction is more strongly reflexive.     

A Randomized Comparison of Two Psychosocial Interventions on Family Functioning in Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder

Impairments in family functioning are associated with more severe depressive and manic symptoms, earlier recurrences, and more suicidal behaviors in early-onset bipolar disorder. This study examined whether family-focused treatment for adolescents (FFT-A) with BD I or II disorder led to greater increases in family cohesion and adaptability and decreases in conflict over 2 years compared to a briefer psychoeducational treatment (enhanced care, EC). Participants were 144 adolescents (mean age: 15.6 ± 1.4 years) with BD I or II with a mood episode in the previous 3 months. Adolescents and parents were randomized to either FFT-A (21 sessions) or EC (three sessions). Patients received guideline-based pharmacotherapy throughout the 2-year study. Trajectories of adolescent- and parent-rated family cohesion, adaptability, and conflict were analyzed over 2 years. FFT-A had greater effects on adolescent-rated family cohesion compared to EC over 2 years. Participants in FFT-A and EC reported similar improvements in family conflict across the 2 years. In the FFT-A group, low-conflict families had greater adolescent-rated family cohesion throughout the study compared to high-conflict families. High-conflict families in both treatment groups tended to show larger reductions in conflict over 2 years than low-conflict families. Family psychoeducation and skills training may improve family cohesion in the early stages of BD. Measuring levels of family conflict at the start of treatment may inform treatment responsiveness among those receiving FFT-A.     

Community-delivered infant–parent psychotherapy improves maternal sensitive caregiving: Evaluation of the Michigan model of infant mental health home visiting

The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a home-based psychotherapeutic Infant Mental Health Home Visiting (IMH-HV) intervention for enhancing parenting sensitivity; a secondary aim was to evaluate whether the use of video feedback was associated with greater treatment response. Participants were N = 78 mothers and their children (age at entry ranged from prebirth to 24-month old (M = 9.8, SD = 8.4), who were initiating IMH-HV services with community mental health-based therapists (N = 51). Dyads were assessed during extended home visits via standardized interviews and observational and questionnaire methods within the first month of treatment (baseline), and again 6 and 12 months thereafter. Following each of these extended home visits, study evaluators completed a standard Q-sort to capture observations of maternal sensitivity during the visit. Therapists completed fidelity checklists used to derive the total number of IMH-HV sessions received (i.e., dosage) and frequency with which therapists provided video feedback. Results indicated a dose–response relationship between number of sessions and maternal sensitivity, and that video review with parents independently contributed to improved maternal sensitivity. Discussion focuses on the effectiveness of this community-based psychotherapeutic home visiting model for enhancing parenting, as well as the value of video feedback as a specific therapeutic strategy.