Personality for free: Psychometric properties of a public domain Australian measure of the five‐factor model

Fifty items from Goldberg's International Personality Item Pool were compiled to form a public‐domain measure of personality, the Australian Personality Inventory (API). Data from a random community sample (N = 7615) and a university‐based sample (N = 271) were used to explore psychometric properties of this 50‐item measure of the five‐factor model of personality (FFM). In both samples, internal reliabilities were adequate. In the university‐based sample an appropriate pattern of convergent and divergent relationship was found between scale scores and domain scores from the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory. After adjusting for an apparent response set (mean response across items), exploratory factor analyses clearly retrieved the FFM in both samples. It is provisionally concluded that raw scale scores from the API provide reliable estimates of the FFM, but adjustment for mean response across the 50 items might clarify the five‐factor structure, especially in less educated samples.     

Males' Greater Tolerance of Same-Sex Peers

ABSTRACT— Three studies were conducted to examine the often-cited conclusion that human females are more sociable than males. Using perceptions of roommates, roommate changes at three collegiate institutions, and an experimental manipulation of friendship beliefs, the studies demonstrated unequivocally that males exhibit a higher threshold of tolerance for genetically unrelated same-sex individuals than females do. Tolerance was defined as acceptance of the stresses and strains within relationships. Results are discussed in terms of potential underlying mechanisms and ultimate explanations.     

Food preferences before and during treatment for a pediatric feeding disorder

Little is known about the food preferences of children with a feeding disorder and medical diagnoses. Therefore, we conducted repeated paired-stimulus-preference assessments with foods to which we either exposed or did not expose 3 children with a feeding disorder and medical diagnoses during clinical treatment. Responding was relatively equivalent for exposure and nonexposure foods throughout the preference assessments, suggesting that preferences for foods did not change due to exposure during treatment.     

Pediatric Feeding Disorders: A Quantitative Synthesis of Treatment Outcomes

A systematic review of the literature regarding treatment of pediatric feeding disorders was conducted. Articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals (1970–2010) evaluating treatment of severe food refusal or selectivity were identified. Studies demonstrating strict experimental control were selected and analyzed. Forty-eight single-case research studies reporting outcomes for 96 participants were included in the review. Most children presented with complex medical and developmental concerns and were treated at multidisciplinary feeding disorders programs. All studies involved behavioral intervention; no well-controlled studies evaluating feeding interventions by other theoretical perspectives or clinical disciplines met inclusion criteria. Results indicated that behavioral intervention was associated with significant improvements in feeding behavior. Clinical and research implications are discussed, including movement toward the identification of key behavioral antecedents and consequences that promote appropriate mealtime performance, as well as the need to better document outcomes beyond behavioral improvements, such as changes in anthropometric parameters, generalization of treatment gains to caregivers, and improvements in nutritional status.     

Repeated study of items with and without repeated context: aging effects on memory discriminability

Presenting items multiple times during encoding is a common way to enhance recognition accuracy. Under such conditions, older adults often show an increase in false recognition that counteracts benefits of repeated study. Using a false-memory paradigm with related study items and related lures, we tested whether repetition within the same encoding task or repetition across two different encoding tasks would be more beneficial to older adults’ memory discriminability. Results showed that, compared to items not repeated at study, items repeated in the same context and items repeated across different contexts showed improvements in memory discriminability in both young and older adults. This improvement was primarily reflected in improved recollection responses for both age groups across both repeat study conditions, as compared to no repetition. Importantly, the results demonstrated that repetition can be used to successfully mitigate age-related deficits by increasing memory discriminability and without incurring a cost of false recognition specific to any one age group.     

Interpretation Bias Training in Depressed Adolescents: Near- and Far-Transfer Effects

Depressed adolescents are characterized by negative interpretation biases. Although investigators have used cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) to experimentally manipulate interpretation biases in depressed adults, the near- and far-transfer effects are not well understood in adolescents diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). In this study, we extend previous research by investigating the near- and far-transfer effects of 6 sessions of Positive versus Neutral CBM-I on independent measures of interpretation bias (near-transfer effects) and on attention biases and clinical symptoms (far-transfer effects) in a sample of adolescents with MDD (n = 46). At post-training, adolescents who received Positive CBM-I interpreted ambiguous scenarios more positively than did participants who received Neutral CBM-I, providing evidence of training effectiveness. There was no evidence, however, of near- or far-transfer effects. These findings raise concerns about the malleability of interpretation biases in adolescent depression and suggest that further work is needed to establish the clinical utility of CBM-I for adolescents with MDD.     

Recommendations to disclose sexual assault are motivated by retribution among women who endorse honor values

Rape arrests are higher in US states wherein residents more typically endorse honor values. Because honor values reflect an association between reputation and self-worth, which is based on one's ability to uphold traditional gender norms, one should expect that women who endorse honor values are motivated to conceal a sexual assault. However, honor values also engender the expectation that women defend their reputations if threatened. Thus, women from honor cultures should be more likely to seek retribution by disclosing a sexual assault to others. The current research investigates the impact of honor values on the recommendation to disclose a sexual assault when women believe the victim is motivated to protect her reputation. We evaluated the role of common post-rape emotions (shame, anger, and fear) on motivations to either conceal a “victim” status or to punish the transgression. In two studies, US women (total n = 842) responded to vignettes of sexual assault that varied the relationship of the perpetrator (acquaintance or husband). Using path modeling to test the two competing hypotheses, we found that women who endorsed honor values more strongly perceived that the victim of a sexual assault experienced more anger and fear, was more likely to seek retribution, and, in turn, were more likely to recommend that she disclose to confidants (similar across the acquaintance and husband scenarios). These findings may help increase researchers' and practitioners' cultural understanding of the help-seeking behavior of survivors of sexual assault across different communities.