A Meta-Analysis of the Convergent Validity of Self-Control Measures

There is extraordinary diversity in how the construct of self-control is operationalized in research studies. We meta-analytically examined evidence of convergent validity among executive function, delay of gratification, and self- and informant-report questionnaire measures of self-control. Overall, measures demonstrated moderate convergence (r_random = .27 [95% CI = .24, .30]; r_fixed = .34 [.33, .35], k = 282 samples, N = 33,564 participants), although there was substantial heterogeneity in the observed correlations. Correlations within and across types of self-control measures were strongest for informant-report questionnaires and weakest for executive function tasks. Questionnaires assessing sensation seeking impulses could be distinguished from questionnaires assessing processes of impulse regulation. We conclude that self-control is a coherent but multidimensional construct best assessed using multiple methods.     

Stereotypes as justifications of prejudice

Three experiments investigate how stereotypes form as justifications for prejudice. The authors created novel content-free prejudices toward unfamiliar social groups using either subliminal (Experiment 1, N = 79) or supraliminal (Experiment 2, N = 105; Experiment 3, N = 130) affective conditioning and measured the consequent endorsement of stereotypes about the groups. Following the stereotype content model, analyses focused on the extent to which stereotypes connoted warmth or competence. Results from all three experiments revealed effects on the warmth dimension but not on the competence dimension: Groups associated with negative affect were stereotyped as comparatively cold (but not comparatively incompetent). These results provide the first evidence that-in the absence of information, interaction, or history of behavioral discrimination-stereotypes develop to justify prejudice.     

The effects of pure pair repetition on younger and older adults' associative memory

Although aging causes relatively minor impairment in recognition memory for components, older adults' ability to remember associations between components is typically significantly compromised, relative to that of younger adults. This pattern could be associated with older adults' relatively intact familiarity, which helps preserve component memory, coupled with a marked decline in recollection, which leads to a decline in associative memory. The purpose of the current study is to explore possible methods that allow older adults to rely on pair familiarity in order to improve their associative memory performance. Participants in 2 experiments were repeatedly presented with either single items or pairings of items prior to a study list so that the items and the pairs were already familiar during the study phase. Pure pair repetition (the effects of pair repetition after the effects of item repetition are taken into account) increased associative memory for older and younger adults. Findings based on remember and know judgments suggest that familiarity but not recollection is involved in mediating the repetition effect.     

Item banks for measuring emotional distress from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®): depression, anxiety, and anger

The authors report on the development and calibration of item banks for depression, anxiety, and anger as part of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS?). Comprehensive literature searches yielded an initial bank of 1,404 items from 305 instruments. After qualitative item analysis (including focus groups and cognitive interviewing), 168 items (56 for each construct) were written in a first person, past tense format with a 7-day time frame and five response options reflecting frequency. The calibration sample included nearly 15,000 respondents. Final banks of 28, 29, and 29 items were calibrated for depression, anxiety, and anger, respectively, using item response theory. Test information curves showed that the PROMIS item banks provided more information than conventional measures in a range of severity from approximately -1 to +3 standard deviations (with higher scores indicating greater distress). Short forms consisting of seven to eight items provided information comparable to legacy measures containing more items.     

Predictors of recidivism by stalkers: a nine-year follow-up of police contacts

In a subsample of a multisite stalking study (Mohandie, Meloy, McGowan, & Williams, 2006) comprising 78 offenders from one site, 77% committed new offenses within an average follow-up of 106 months (8.8 years). Over half (56%) were charged for new stalking related offenses and 33% for violent recidivism. Violent reoffending, including sexual offenses, was predicted by risk factors consistent with existing literature: younger age at first conviction, prior release failures, and criminal history. Stalking recidivism was predicted by pre-index offending scores, using the Cormier-Lang, and prior diagnosis of a mental illness. In addition, stalkers with previously diagnosed mental illness had significantly more police contacts as complainants than those without; their recidivism was also more likely to be non-violent.     

Multicultural Environments of Academic Versus Internship Training Programs: Lessons to Be Learned

Psychology training programs have a responsibility to train multiculturally competent psychologists. Predoctoral interns were surveyed to compare the multicultural environment of academic and internship programs. Internship programs were perceived as more multicultural than were academic programs. Factors contributing to differences are examined, and suggestions are made for improving multicultural environments in training. Los programas de formación en psicología tienen la responsabilidad de formar psicólogos competentes multiculturalmente. Se entrevistó a interinos predoctorales para comparar el ambiente multicultural de sus programas académicos y de interinidad. Se percibió que los programas de interinidad eran más multiculturales que los programas académicos. Se examinan los factores que contribuyen a estas diferencias, y se ofrecen sugerencias para mejorar los ambientes multiculturales en la formación.     

When all signs point to you: lies told in the face of evidence

Young children's ability to tell a strategic lie by making it consistent with the physical evidence of their transgression was investigated along with the sociocognitive correlates of such lie-telling behaviors. In Experiment 1, 247 Chinese children between 3 and 5 years of age (126 boys) were left alone in a room and asked not to lift a cup to see the contents. If children lifted up the cup, the contents would be spilled and evidence of their transgression would be left behind. Upon returning to the room, the experimenter asked children whether they peeked and how the contents of the cup ended up on the table. Experiment 1 revealed that young children are able to tell strategic lies to be consistent with the physical evidence by about 4 or 5 years of age, and this ability increases in sophistication with age. Experiment 2, which included 252 Chinese 4-year-olds (127 boys), identified 2 sociocognitive factors related to children's ability to tell strategic lies. Specifically, both children's theory-of-mind understanding and inhibitory control skills were significantly related to their ability to tell strategic lies in the face of physical evidence. The present investigation reveals that contrary to the prevailing views, even young children are able to tell strategic lies in some contexts.     

Healing the wounds of our fathers: intergenerational trauma, memory, symbolization and narrative

This paper explores the history of psychoanalytical approaches to intergenerational trauma, both from the Freudian and from the Jungian schools, and addresses the need when we speak of intergenerational or transmitted trauma to better define the nature and the different categories of trauma with particular reference to extreme and cumulative traumas such as those experienced by the survivors of the Nazi death camps and the Russian gulags. Therapy with survivors and with their children requires a particular adaptation of analytical technique as what is at stake is not so much the analysis of the here and now of the transference and countertransference dynamics which indeed can in the early stages be counterproductive, but the capacity of the analyst to accept the reality of the trauma with all its devastating and mind-shattering emotions without losing the capacity to imagine and to play metaphorically with images, essential if the patient is to be able to create a space for representation.     

Bringing science to bear: an empirical assessment of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program

This article outlines the U.S. Army's effort to empirically validate and assess the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) program. The empirical assessment includes four major components. First, the CSF scientific staff is currently conducting a longitudinal study to determine if the Master Resilience Training program and the Comprehensive Resilience Modules lead to lasting resilience development in soldiers. Second, the CSF program has partnered with other researchers to conduct a series of longitudinal studies examining the link between physiological, neurobiological, and psychological resilience factors. Third, the CSF program is also incorporating institutional-level data to determine if its material influences health, behavioral, and career outcomes. Fourth, group randomized trials are being conducted to ensure that resilience training incorporated under the CSF program is effective with soldiers. A specific rationale and methodologies are discussed.