The Sad Truth: Optimism, Pessimism, and Pragmatism

Pragmatists (such as William James) recommend optimism as a successful strategy, and recent psychological research has confirmed its value. But optimism comes at a price: optimists are less accurate in their assessments and expectations than are pessimists. Thus optimism 'proves itself to be good in the way of belief', and by pragmatic standards should count as true; but that makes the accuracy costs of optimism invisible (the problem is only exacerbated by Rorty's recommendation that pragmatists stop speaking of truth altogether). The problem prevents pragmatists from offering a Darwinian explanation of why pessimism survives, and also blocks any pragmatist account of the well-documented and highly successful exploratory behavior of many animal species.     

Idiodynamic Profiles of Cardiovascular Activity: A P-technique Approach

A study was conducted to expand the conventional view of cardiovascular (CV) reactivity by using the idiodynamic paradigm for investigation of individuals. Patterns of autonomic CV regulation were assessed in six subjects across diverse laboratory tasks on three separate occasions. Individual CV profiles were derived from these data with P-technique factor analysis, and then group aggregated with chain P-technique. The composite pattern suggested a three-component solution consisting of cardiac rate, cardiac contractility, and peripheral resistance factors. Individual profiles were compared to the composite pattern; these profiles differed in the number of components derived, percentage variance explained by these components, and relative dominance of specific CV components. A hypothesis that emerged is that the subjects differed in the complexity of CV control. It appears that the idiodynamic framework, combined with novel research designs and statistical methods, may help expand the view of CV reactivity beyond the traditional unitary view as response magnitude.     

Analogue Measures of DSM-IV Mood and Anxiety Disorders Based on Behavior Checklists

Although symptom checklists are commonly used to assess childpsychopathology, confusion arises due to differences between empirically derived checklist syndromes and rationally derived DSM-IV diagnostic categories. This paper explores analogue measures of DSM-IV mood and anxiety disorders created using items from the Youth Self-Report and Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1991a, 1991b) that parallel DSM-IV symptoms. In a matched sample of clinically referred and nonreferred adolescents, analogue measures demonstrated expected patterns of age differences, sex differences, and comorbidity. Meeting criteria for an analogue diagnosis was also associated with referral for mental health services and poor social competence. Informant effects are highlighted and the potential benefits and limitations of using existing behavior checklists to assess DSM disorders are discussed. These findings suggest the utility of checklists in identifying analogues of anxiety and mood disorders in children and adolescents.     

Assessing the Psychological Type Profile of Canadian Baptist Youth: A Study Employing the Francis Psychological Type Scales for Adolescents (FPTSA)

A growing body of international research employing psychological type theory within the context of congregation studies has drawn attention to the way in which churches draw larger numbers of feeling types than thinking types (among both men and women). These studies have focused on adult churchgoers. The present study extends this field of research among 1630 Canadian Baptist youth attending church-based summer youth programmes (aged 12 to 19 years) who completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales for Adolescents. In this new study, 87 % of male youth and 93 % of female youth preferred feeling. The implications of these findings are assessed for the ministry of the Church among thinking types.     

Reducing Disparities in Cancer Screening and Prevention through Community‐Based Participatory Research Partnerships with Local Libraries: A Comprehensive Dynamic Trial

Reduction of cancer‐related disparities requires strategies that link medically underserved communities to preventive care. In this community‐based participatory research project, a public library system brought together stakeholders to plan and undertake programs to address cancer screening and risk behavior. This study was implemented over 48 months in 20 large urban neighborhoods, selected to reach diverse communities disconnected from care. In each neighborhood, Cancer Action Councils were organized to conduct a comprehensive dynamic trial, an iterative process of program planning, implementation and evaluation. This process was phased into neighborhoods in random, stepped‐wedge sequence. Population‐level outcomes included self‐reported screening adherence and smoking cessation, based on street intercept interviews. Event‐history regressions (n = 9374) demonstrated that adherence outcomes were associated with program implementation, as were mediators such as awareness of screening programs and cancer information seeking. Findings varied by ethnicity, and were strongest among respondents born outside the U.S. or least engaged in care. This intervention impacted health behavior in diverse, underserved and vulnerable neighborhoods. It has been sustained as a routine library system program for several years after conclusion of grant support. In sum, participatory research with the public library system offers a flexible, scalable approach to reduce cancer health disparities.     

DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY,NATURAL SELECTION,AND THE CONCEPTUAL BOUNDARIES OF THE MODERN EVOLUTIONARY SYNTHESIS

Using the evolution of the stickleback family of subarctic fish as a touchstone, we explore the effect of new discoveries about regulatory genetics, developmental plasticity, and epigenetic inheritance on the conceptual foundations of the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis. Identifying the creativity of natural selection as the hallmark of the Modern Synthesis, we show that since its inception its adherents have pursued a variety of research projects that at first seemed to conflict with its principles, but were accommodated. We situate challenges coming from developmental biology in a dialectic between innovation and tradition, suggesting on the basis of past episodes that even if developmental plasticity and epigenetic inheritance are aligned with its principles the Modern Synthesis (and its image in the public reception of evolution) will be significantly affected.     

Quality Vs. Quantity: Assessing Behavior Change over Time

Beyond the typical design factors that impact a study’s power (e.g., participant sample size), planning longitudinal research involves additional considerations such as assessment frequency and participant retention. Because this type of research relies so strongly on individual commitment, investigators must be judicious in determining how much information is necessary to study the phenomena in question; collecting too little information will render the data less useful, but requiring excessive participant investment will likely lower participation rates. We conducted a simulation study to empirically examine statistical power and the trade-off between assessment quality (as a function of instrument length) and assessment frequency across a number of sample sizes with intermittently missing data or attrition. Results indicated that reductions in power resulting from shorter, less reliable measurements can be at least somewhat offset by increasing assessment frequency. Because study planning involves a number of factors competing for finite resources, equations were derived to find the balance points between pairs of design characteristics affecting statistical power. These equations allow researchers to calculate the amount that a particular design factor (e.g., assessment frequency) would need to increase to result in the same improvement in power as increasing an alternative factor (e.g., measurement reliability. Applications for the equations are discussed.     

The Unintentional Procrastination Scale

Procrastination refers to the delay or postponement of a task or decision and is often conceptualised as a failure of self-regulation. Recent research has suggested that procrastination could be delineated into two domains: intentional and unintentional. In this two-study paper, we aimed to develop a measure of unintentional procrastination (named the Unintentional Procrastination Scale or the ‘UPS’) and test whether this would be a stronger marker of psychopathology than intentional and general procrastination. In Study 1, a community sample of 139 participants completed a questionnaire that consisted of several items pertaining to unintentional procrastination that had been derived from theory, previous research, and clinical experience. Responses were subjected to a principle components analysis and assessment of internal consistency. In Study 2, a community sample of 155 participants completed the newly developed scale, along with measures of general and intentional procrastination, metacognitions about procrastination, and negative affect. Data from the UPS were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and revised accordingly. The UPS was then validated using correlation and regression analyses. The six-item UPS possesses construct and divergent validity and good internal consistency. The UPS appears to be a stronger marker of psychopathology than the pre-existing measures of procrastination used in this study. Results from the regression models suggest that both negative affect and metacognitions about procrastination differentiate between general, intentional, and unintentional procrastination. The UPS is brief, has good psychometric properties, and has strong associations with negative affect, suggesting it has value as a research and clinical tool.     

Recollection and familiarity for words and faces: a study comparing Remember–Know judgements and the Process Dissociation Procedure

Measures of recollection and familiarity often differ depending on the paradigm utilised. Remember–Know (R–K) and Process Dissociation Procedure (PDP) methods have been commonly used but rarely compared within a single study. In the current experiments, R–K and PDP were compared by examining the effect of attention at study and time to respond at test on recollection and familiarity using the same experimental procedures for each paradigm. We also included faces in addition to words to test the generality of the findings often obtained using words. The results from the R–K paradigm revealed that recollection and familiarity were similarly affected by attention at study and time to respond at test. However, in the case of PDP, the measures of recollection and familiarity showed a different pattern of results. The effects observed for recollection were similar to those obtained with the R–K method, whereas familiarity was affected by time to respond but not by attention at study. These results are discussed in relation to the controlled-automatic processing distinction and the contribution of each paradigm to research on recognition memory.     

Functional Psychopathy in Morally Relevant Business Decisions

Literature addressing organizational ethical behavior has focused intensely on cognitive moral development, and more recently the automatic and natural moral inclinations (i.e., moral intuitions). Research addressing the incapacity for moral reasoning, such as psychopathy, is rarely addressed in organizational behavior (Smith & Lilienfeld, 2013; Stevens, Deuling, & Armenakis, 2011). Our first aim is to develop a construct definition for functional psychopathy that is appropriate for organizational science and theoretically consistent with the extensive previous clinical and criminal research in this field. Second, we apply two versions of a scale not previously used in business research relative to moral judgments. This scale is a self-reported measure of functional psychopathy and is useful for its relationships with ethically relevant business decisions. Further, we examine which factors emerge as having the highest relationship with ethical decision making. Third, we seek to advance the usefulness of this construct by more precisely placing psychopathy within its nomological network. With these goals in mind, a combined sample of business school seniors (N = 418) participated in three studies. Findings indicate a significant influence of psychopathy over a range of ethically relevant business decisions, as well as negative correlations with factors of the Moral Approbation (Ryan & Riordan, 2000) and the Moral Awareness (Reynolds, 2006a) scales. We conclude with directions for future research and considerations for practice.