Understanding supplement use: an application of temporal self-regulation theory

Vitamin and mineral supplement use is increasing worldwide. As evidence of the effects of these practices are equivocal at best, it is important to determine why individuals engage in vitamin and mineral supplement use through the application of a theoretical framework. The aim of this study was to employ temporal self-regulation theory (TST) to establish the determinants of supplement use. A cross-sectional design was used with a sample of 121 individuals who consume vitamins or minerals as dietary supplements. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine the influence of intention, habit, self-control, and the interaction between intention and habit and self-control on the frequency of supplement use. The model accounted for a significant proportion of variance in behaviour (R² = .44) with intention and habit significantly related to supplement use. Self-control moderated the relationship between intention and behaviour indicating that intention was not related to behaviour when self-control was low. The TST model offers a satisfactory account of supplement use and provides avenues for interventions aimed at increasing safe and beneficial supplement use and decreasing potentially harmful supplement use.     

Personal and Professional Development for Judges: The Institute for Faculty Excellence

This interview study describes the role that participation in the Institute for Faculty Excellence in Judicial Education (IFEJE) played in the personal and professional development of four judges. Judicial education is a relatively new field of adult and continuing professional education. There is limited literature devoted to this area of study outside of the arena of substantive legal or judging topics. Interviews served as the primary data source for this study along with program evaluations, photographs, and e-mail correspondence from Institute participants. The findings revealed that the combined safe environment, challenges, and support participants experienced at the Institute and learning about adult learning helped them: feel less isolated in their work; stretch their normal work boundaries resulting in the completion of projects for which they had great passion; and benefited them as judges, supervisors, teachers, and in other social relationships.     

Glucocorticoids are required for extinction of predator stress-induced hyperarousal

Background

The role of glucocorticoids in extinction of traumatic memories has not been fully characterized despite its potential as a therapeutic target for acquired posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The predator stress paradigm allows us to determine whether glucocorticoids mediate the extinction of both context-dependent and context-independent fear memories.

Methods

Male C57BL/6J mice were exposed to a predator (cat) then repeatedly exposed to the predator stress context in the absence of the cat. Context-dependent (associative) fear memory was assessed as suppression of activity during re-exposure to the predator stress context without the cat (extinction trials). Context-independent fear (non-associative) was assessed seven days after extinction trials using measures of hyperarousal and anxiety-like behaviours in environments unlike the predator stress context. To assess the role of glucocorticoids, mice were injected with metyrapone (50 mg/kg) 90 min prior to extinction trials in predator stressed mice and context-dependent and context-independent fear memories were assessed. Finally, metyrapone-treated predator stressed mice were injected with corticosterone (5 or 10 mg/kg) immediately following extinction trials and context-dependent and context-independent fear memories were assessed.

Results

Repeated re-exposure to the predator stress context without the cat present extinguished context-dependent fear memory, and also reduced hyperarousal, a generalized, chronic PTSD-like symptom. We show that extinction of context-independent predator stress-induced hyperarousal is dependent on endogenous glucocorticoids during the extinction trials. Furthermore, the inhibition of extinction by metyrapone on startle amplitude was reduced by exogenous administration of corticosterone following extinction trials. Overall, these data implicate glucocorticoids in the extinction of hyperarousal, a core symptom of PTSD.     

Person perception informs understanding of cognition during visual search

Does person perception—the impressions we form from watching others—hold clues to the mental states of people engaged in cognitive tasks? We investigated this with a two-phase method: In Phase 1, participants searched on a computer screen (Experiment 1) or in an office (Experiment 2); in Phase 2, other participants rated the searchers’ video-recorded behavior. The results showed that blind raters are sensitive to individual differences in search proficiency and search strategy, as well as to environmental factors affecting search difficulty. Also, different behaviors were linked to search success in each setting: Eye movement frequency predicted successful search on a computer screen; head movement frequency predicted search success in an office. In both settings, an active search strategy and positive emotional expressions were linked to search success. These data indicate that person perception informs cognition beyond the scope of performance measures, offering the potential for new measurements of cognition that are both rich and unobtrusive.     

Cognitive Load and the Equality Heuristic: A Two-Stage Model of Resource Overconsumption in Small Groups

Two studies were conducted to test a two-stage model of the psychological mechanisms underlying the overconsumption of scarce resources in small groups. The model proposes that members of groups sharing resources first anchor their consumption choices on an “equal-division” heuristic and then, given sufficient cognitive capacity, adjust their choices in a self-serving direction. The results from both studies support the model. The first study found that when faced with a common resource pool almost all group members expressed thoughts regarding equality; however, individuals with sufficient cognitive capacity requested more from the pool and expressed more task-relevant thoughts than individuals lacking the necessary cognitive resources. The second study provided additional support for the two-stage model by demonstrating that group members' cognitions occur in the order predicted by the model and by demonstrating that an individual difference, social value orientation, affects thought processes only when individuals are not experiencing high cognitive loads. Implications are discussed.     

Asian American college women's body image: a pilot study

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of values acculturation and the influence of media on Asian American college women's overall body image. A sample of 59 Asian American women from two large universities completed self-report surveys, which included questions regarding values acculturation, media internalization, and overall body satisfaction. Results showed that Asian American women who identified more strongly with traditional Asian values reported higher levels of body image dissatisfaction. Further, Asian American women who reported higher internalization of media portrayals of beauty ideals reported higher body image dissatisfaction. Research and clinical recommendations are made to enhance psychologists' understanding of Asian American women's body image and acculturation.     

Psychometric properties of the French and English versions of the Vancouver Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory and the Symmetry Ordering and Arranging Questionnaire

The Vancouver Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (VOCI) and the Symmetry Ordering and Arranging Questionnaire (SOAQ) are self-report measures that assess a wide variety of symptoms and features of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) including checking, contamination, obsessions, hoarding, "just right", indecisiveness, and symmetry, ordering and arranging obsessions and compulsions. The original English versions of the VOCI and SOAQ have been shown to demonstrate excellent psychometric properties. The present study examined the reliability and validity of French translations of these measures in a non-clinical sample, and also involved the collection of supplementary psychometric information about the English versions of the scales from a new sample. Volunteer undergraduate students completed questionnaire packages including the VOCI and SOAQ, as well as measures of obsessive-compulsive, phobic and depressive symptomatology in their native language of either French or English. Results indicate that the French versions of the VOCI and SOAQ demonstrate similar and excellent psychometric properties to the English versions and that these measures are highly valid and reliable assessment tools for use in clinical and research applications in both languages.     

Adolescent depression and externalizing problems: testing two models of comorbidity in an inpatient sample

Differentiating between additive (quantitative) and interactive (qualitative) effects of comorbidity has important treatment implications. This study illustrates the heuristic superiority of a multifactorial approach over simple group comparisons in testing quantitative versus qualitative models of comorbidity. Analysis of variance was used to compare 266 adolescent inpatients identified as depressed, externalizing, both, or neither on self-report measures of personality, school problems, and substance abuse. The results support quantitative rather than qualitative models of comorbidity. Depressed status related most strongly to group differences in interpersonal and self-critical concerns. Externalizing status related most strongly to group differences in school problems and drug use. Main effects for the two statuses together explained especially elevated levels of reactance and alcohol abuse among the comorbid adolescents.