An investigation of cognitive test performance across conditions of silence,background noise and music as a function of neuroticism

The present study investigates the role of trait neuroticism on cognitive performance under distraction. Seventy participants were given a personality test and then undertook a number of different cognitive tasks in silence, in the presence of popular music and in background noise. It was predicted that performance on a general intelligence test, a test of abstract reasoning, and a mental arithmetic task would be adversely affected by background sounds. It was predicted that neuroticism would be negatively correlated with performance on the mental arithmetic task but only when the individuals were working in the presence of background sound. Stable vs. unstable participant's performance on a mental arithmetic task during noise was significantly higher as predicted. The results provided partial support for the hypotheses and are discussed with respect to previous findings in the literature on personality (particularly introversion–extraversion) and distraction on cognitive task performance. Limitations are noted.     

Comparing the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Response Repetition to Simultaneous Prompting on Acquisition and Maintenance of Multiplication Facts

This study compared the effectiveness and efficiency of an error-correction procedure, response repetition, to a prompting procedure, simultaneous prompting, on the acquisition and maintenance of multiplication facts for three typically developing 3rd grade students. This study employed an adapted alternating treatments design nested in a multiple probe design across three sets of multiplication facts. Results indicated that correct responding increased upon intervention implementation for all participants. For two participants, response repetition was a more effective teaching procedure. For one participant, while both teaching procedures were effective, response repetition was more efficient in terms of sessions to mastery while simultaneous prompting was more efficient in terms of errors and seconds to mastery. Maintenance data were variable. Discussion focuses on conceptual differences between response repetition and simultaneous prompting that might have accounted for results.     

The Adolescent Behavior Checklist: Validation Using Structured Diagnostic Interviews

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the discriminant validity of scores from the Adolescent Behavior Checklist (ABC), a self-report measure of ADHD symptomatology for adolescents ages 11–17 years. Validity was assessed through correlational, univariate, and discriminant function analyses using three groups: (1) adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, (2) adolescents currently experiencing a mood and/or anxiety disorder, and (3) adolescents with no major psychological disorder. Convergent and divergent validity of the ABC factor scores was demonstrated through correlational results with (1) parent and adolescent report of ADHD symptoms during structured psychiatric interviews and (2) scores on questionnaires measuring related and nonrelated constructs. Univariate analyses indicated that the ADHD group obtained significantly higher scores than did the nonclinical adolescents across all ABC factors. Additionally, the ADHD group scored significantly higher than did the psychiatric controls on the following ABC factors: Conduct Problems, Impulsivity/Hyperactivity, and Social Problems. Results from discriminant analyses supported the reliability of ABC scores in correctly classifying participants into groups. Compared to the Youth Self-Report, the ABC was found to be somewhat better at classifying when used in a multiinformant discriminant analysis. Therefore, overall results from the current study suggest that the ABC is a valid and useful self-report screening measure for ADHD symptoms and related difficulties.     

The Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS): Community‐Based Validation Study of a New Scale for the Measurement of Suicidal Ideation

While suicide prevention efforts are increasingly being delivered using technology, no scales have been developed specifically for web‐based use. The Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS) was developed and validated as a brief, web‐based measure for severity of suicidal ideation, using an online survey of Australian adults (n = 1,352). The SIDAS demonstrated high internal consistency and good convergent validity. Frequency and controllability of thoughts were more strongly associated with suicide plans and attempts than other attributes assessed. Scores ≥ 21 indicated high risk of suicide behavior. The SIDAS appears to be a valid web‐based measure for severity of suicidal ideation.     

A Conversation Worth Having: Hauerwas and Gustafson on Substance in Theological Ethics

When a debate is misplaced, new problems are cast in the distorting language of the settled problems of the past while, at the same time, the participants in the debate are assimilated into communities of thought with which they have little in common. The result is that their work, and our response to it, is distorted. This article contends that the polemical debate between James Gustafson (and his followers) and Stanley Hauerwas (and his followers) is just such a misplaced debate. In fact, both can be shown to be Troeltschianhistoricists, and it is only when this commonality is recognized that their very real and deep differences can be rightly appreciated as emblematic of the true sources of disagreement at the growing edge of the discipline.     

Suicidal Ideation in Elderly Bereaved: The Role of Complicated Grief

This study examined whether symptoms of complicated grief at baseline predicted suicidal ideation during a depressive episode in elderly bereaved individuals. Over a 17-month period, serial ratings of suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and complicated grief were obtained from 130 elderly participants who had lost their spouses within the past 2 years. Groups of active and passive suicidal ideators, as well as nonideator controls, were compared via analysis of variance (ANOVA) with respect to levels of complicated grief, depression, and anxiety. Elderly bereaved with both active and passive suicidal ideation were found to have higher symptomatic levels of depression, hopelessness, complicated grief, and anxiety, as well as lower levels of perceived social support, than nonideators at study entry. Fifty-seven percent of the patients with high complicated grief scores were found to be ideators during the follow-up versus 24% of the patients with low complicated grief scores. Patients with any suicidal ideation had higher symptom levels of depression, anxiety, and complicated grief when they were ideators as compared with periods when they denied ideation. Fifteen out of the 39 ideators had recurrent depressive episodes versus 5 of the 91 nonideators. Patients with a history of suicide attempts were more likely to be ideators after loss than other bereaved. Thus, the condition of having high levels of complicated grief symptoms and depressive symptoms appears to make bereaved individuals vulnerable to suicidal ideation. Detection of high levels of complicated grief could help clinicians identify patients who may be at heightened risk for suicide.