Visual/cognitive correlates of vehicle accidents in older drivers

Older drivers have more accidents per miles driven than any other age group and tend to have significant impairments in their visual function, which could interfere with driving. Previous research has largely failed to document a link between vision and driving in the elderly. We have taken a comprehensive approach by examining how accident frequency in older drivers relates to the visual/cognitive system at a number of levels: ophthalmological disease, visual function, visual attention, and cognitive function. The best predictor of accident frequency as recorded by the state was a model incorporating measures of early visual attention and mental status, which together accounted for 20% of the variance, a much stronger model than in earlier studies. Those older drivers with a visual attentional disorder or with poor scores on a mental status test had 3-4 times more accidents (of any type) and 15 times more intersection accidents than those without these problems.     

Affective instability and suicidal ideation and behavior in patients with borderline personality disorder

This study employed an Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) to test whether various elements of affective instability can predict future suicide ideation in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and a history of recurrent suicidal behavior. Eighty-two individuals with BPD and a history of recurrent suicidal behavior were followed prospectively for one month during which time they recorded their current mood states, 6 times daily over three weeks. Accounting for a set of robust suicide risk factors in multiple regression analyses, only negative mood intensity was significantly related to intensity of self-reported suicide ideation and to number of suicidal behaviors over the past year. Other elements of affective instability examined (e.g., mood amplitude, dyscontrol, and reactivity) were not associated with future suicide ideation or with recent suicidal behavior. Affective instability in patients with BPD is highly variable from one individual to another and is characterized by high levels of intense negative mood. These negative mood states, versus other aspects of mood variability, seem to be more closely tied to the occurrence of suicidal ideation and behavior.     

Dealing constructively with negatively evaluated emotional situations: the key to understanding the different reactions of teachers with high and low levels of emotional intelligence

Recent work on the distinctive features of emotions appraised as either negative or positive has links to the investigation of differences in levels of emotional intelligence. In a study with experienced teachers as participants, it was found that emotional reactions to positive or negative situations was moderated by level of emotional intelligence. The reactions to positively charged emotional situations involving students and peers were similar for teachers with high and low levels of emotional intelligence, although the low level group showed somewhat lower likelihood of making an “emotionally intelligent” response compared to the high level group. A much sharper contrast in response likelihood was found for negatively charged emotional situations involving students and peers. Teachers with high levels of emotional intelligence responded quite differently to those with low levels of emotional intelligence. The results indicate the prospect of clarifying a neglected area of exploration of differences in the likely behaviour of teachers differing in levels of emotional intelligence.     

Working memory, metacognitive uncertainty, and belief bias in syllogistic reasoning

Studies of syllogistic reasoning have shown that the size of the belief bias effect varies with manipulations of logical validity and problem form. This paper presents a mental models-based account, which explains these findings in terms of variations in the working-memory demands of different problem types. We propose that belief bias may reflect the use of a heuristic that is applied when a threshold of uncertainty in one's processing-attributable to working-memory overload-is exceeded during reasoning. Three experiments are reported, which tested predictions deriving from this account. In Experiment 1, conclusions of neutral believability were presented for evaluation, and a predicted dissociation was observed in confidence ratings for responses to valid and invalid arguments, with participants being more confident in the former. In Experiment 2, an attempt to manipulate working-memory loads indirectly by varying syllogistic figure failed to produce predicted effects upon the size of the belief bias effect. It is argued that the employment of a conclusion evaluation methodology minimized the effect of the figural manipulation in this experiment. In Experiment 3, participants' articulatory and spatial recall capacities were calibrated as a direct test of working-memory involvement in belief bias. Predicted differences in the pattern of belief bias observed between highand lowspatial recall groups supported the view that limited working memory plays a key role in belief bias.     

Contrast class cues and performance facilitation in a hypothesis-testing task: evidence for an iterative counterfactual model

Hypothesis-testing performance on Wason’s (Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 12:129–140, 1960) 2–4–6 task is typically poor, with only around 20% of participants announcing the to-be-discovered “ascending numbers” rule on their first attempt. Enhanced solution rates can, however, readily be observed with dual-goal (DG) task variants requiring the discovery of two complementary rules, one labeled “DAX” (the standard “ascending numbers” rule) and the other labeled “MED” (“any other number triples”). Two DG experiments are reported in which we manipulated the usefulness of a presented MED exemplar, where usefulness denotes cues that can establish a helpful “contrast class” that can stand in opposition to the presented 2–4–6 DAX exemplar. The usefulness of MED exemplars had a striking facilitatory effect on DAX rule discovery, which supports the importance of contrast-class information in hypothesis testing. A third experiment ruled out the possibility that the useful MED triple seeded the correct rule from the outset and obviated any need for hypothesis testing. We propose that an extension of Oaksford and Chater’s (European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 6:149–169, 1994) iterative counterfactual model can neatly capture the mechanisms by which DG facilitation arises.     

The convergent and concurrent validity of trait-based prototype assessment of personality disorder categories in homeless persons

The DSM-5 proposal indicates that personality disorders (PDs) be defined as collections of maladaptive traits but does not provide a specific diagnostic method. However, researchers have previously suggested that PD constructs can be assessed by comparing individuals' trait profiles with those prototypic of PDs and evidence from the five-factor model (FFM) suggests that these prototype matching scores converge moderately with traditional PD instruments. The current study investigates the convergence of FFM PD prototypes with interview-assigned PD diagnoses in a sample of 99 homeless individuals. This sample had very high rates of PDs, which extends previous research on samples with more modest prevalence rates. Results indicated that diagnostic agreement between these methods was generally low but consistent with the agreement previously observed between explicit PD measures. Furthermore, trait-based and diagnostic interview scores evinced similar relationships with clinically important indicators such as abuse history and past suicide attempts. These findings demonstrate the validity of prototype methods and suggest their consideration for assessing trait-defined PD types within DSM-5.     

Genius [corrected] without the "Great Man": new possibilities for the historian of psychology

The Carlylian style of history, more commonly known as the "Great Man" approach, presented the "genius" as an individual worthy of celebration: history as hero worship. This style, which characterized the first wave of the history of psychology, has gone out of historiographic fashion. In its place is the "new history," which is marked by its external focus and privileging of social factors and cultural context in its explanations. This shift in historiographic sensibilities has also led to a revision in the appropriate subject matter for psychologist-historians. This article argues, in contrast, that it is possible to study eminent individuals without resorting to hagiography, and it presents various methods that could be used for this purpose. The aim of such an endeavor is to create a space for critically and historically informed perspectives on greatness and to suggest a reconsideration of the value of an "historical psychology".     

Subliminal priming of autobiographical memories

The current research examined subliminal priming of autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1 the subliminal primes consisted of affect-associated words (positive vs negative) and were presented just before the participants retrieved specific experiences to cue-words. The subliminal primes produced an inhibitory effect on autobiographical memory retrieval, with significantly lower positive ratings given to the emotional content of experiences retrieved after positive primes than given to experiences retrieved after negative primes. The subliminal primes for the second experiment consisted of words that related to specific lifetime periods (early childhood vs late childhood/early adulthood). A negative priming effect resulted again, with earlier life experiences retrieved after the presentation of late childhood/early adulthood primes. We believe the negative priming effects obtained in both experiments are consistent with predictions based on the self-memory system model of autobiographical memory. The results of this research may also explain mood-incongruent recall.