Regularized Multiple-Set Canonical Correlation Analysis

Multiple-set canonical correlation analysis (Generalized CANO or GCANO for short) is an important technique because it subsumes a number of interesting multivariate data analysis techniques as special cases. More recently, it has also been recognized as an important technique for integrating information from multiple sources. In this paper, we present a simple regularization technique for GCANO and demonstrate its usefulness. Regularization is deemed important as a way of supplementing insufficient data by prior knowledge, and/or of incorporating certain desirable properties in the estimates of parameters in the model. Implications of regularized GCANO for multiple correspondence analysis are also discussed. Examples are given to illustrate the use of the proposed technique. The work reported in this paper is supported by Grants 10630 and 290439 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to the first and the second authors, respectively. The authors would like to thank the two editors (old and new), the associate editor, and four anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Matlab programs that carried out the computations reported in the paper are available upon request.     

Psycho-educational group treatment for the severely and persistently mentally ill: how much leader training is necessary?

Psycho-educational groups (PEGs) have been shown to be a particularly effective form of treatment for patients classified under the rubric of severely and persistently mentally ill (SPMI). However, recent surveys suggest that certain professionals, such as nurses and clinical psychologists, called on to conduct these groups may have limited to no training. This study tested three methods (self-instructional, workshop, and workshop plus clinical supervision) designed to provide on-the-job training to practicing clinicians. Specifically, training was based on two manuals; one that operationalized the basic knowledge and skills needed to run an effective PEG and the second being a commonly used PEG program for symptom management targeted at SPMI patients. Eight nurses from four adult units at a state psychiatric hospital initially received self-instructional or workshop training and then conducted a 12-session symptom management PEG composed of four to five SPMI patients (e.g., schizophrenia, schizoaffective or major depression disorders). In a second wave of additional training, nurses received workshop training or clinical supervision and then conducted a second PEG. Differences between training methods were assessed by nurse- and patient-completed measures that tapped the knowledge and skills emphasized in the symptom management and PEG (nurses only) manuals. Results indicated limited support for the superiority of the workshop method on the nurse measures alone. Implications for training working professionals in group treatments and assessing outcomes with chronic SPMI patients are discussed.     

AIDS, FRAIDS, and Quarantine: Student Responses to Pro-Quarantine Initiatives in California

In the literature on AIDS, only a few empirical social reactivist studies of heterosexuals have been done, probably due to the preoccupation with explaining the incidence of AIDS among high-risk groups. The following study of 563 students enrolled in a large Southern California university adds to the heterosexual student literature by operationalizing an important research variable, FRAIDS, and by embarking on explanatory analysis of attitude and self-reported behavior. FRAIDS, which we will define as the fear of getting AIDS from casual contact sources, may be helpful in explaining both high-risk sexual behavior among heterosexuals and pro-quarantine sentiment. However, only the subsets of the FRAIDS variable (FRAIDS-dry and FRAIDS-wet) proved explanatory. FRAIDS-dry (fear of HIV infection from dry sources) proved significant in explaining sexual activity, while FRAIDS-wet (fear of HIV infection from wet casual contact sources) was found significant in explaining pro-quarantine sentiment. The converse was not true. Using homophobia as a control variable, homophobia was found to overshadow FRAIDS-wet for males but FRAIDS-wet rivaled homophobia in predicting pro-quarantine sentiment for females. Growing quarantine sentiment was noted among the students, as the survey took place during two different time periods (Fall of 1986 ( N = 375) and Spring of 1988 ( N = 188)), essentially before and after the actual vote in November 1986 on a pro-quarantine initiative (Proposition 64) that appeared on the California ballot. This apparent increase in pro-quarantine sentiment among students (and voters) highlights the need for attention to homophobia as well as detailed discussion of the fear of wet casual contact in AIDS education.     

To What Extent Does the Reporting Behavior of the Media Regarding a Celebrity Suicide Influence Subsequent Suicides in South Korea?

This study investigated the nature of media coverage of a national entertainer's suicide and its impact on subsequent suicides. After the celebrity suicide, the number of suicide‐related articles reported surged around 80 times in the week after the suicide compared with the week prior. Many articles (37.1%) violated several critical items on the World Health Organization suicide reporting guidelines, like containing a detailed suicide method. Most gender and age subgroups were at significantly higher risk of suicide during the 4 weeks after the celebrity suicide. Results imply that massive and noncompliant media coverage of a celebrity suicide can cause a large‐scale copycat effect.     

Functional Parallel Factor Analysis for Functions of One- and Two-dimensional Arguments

Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) is a useful multivariate method for decomposing three-way data that consist of three different types of entities simultaneously. This method estimates trilinear components, each of which is a low-dimensional representation of a set of entities, often called a mode, to explain the maximum variance of the data. Functional PARAFAC permits the entities in different modes to be smooth functions or curves, varying over a continuum, rather than a collection of unconnected responses. The existing functional PARAFAC methods handle functions of a one-dimensional argument (e.g., time) only. In this paper, we propose a new extension of functional PARAFAC for handling three-way data whose responses are sequenced along both a two-dimensional domain (e.g., a plane with x- and y-axis coordinates) and a one-dimensional argument. Technically, the proposed method combines PARAFAC with basis function expansion approximations, using a set of piecewise quadratic finite element basis functions for estimating two-dimensional smooth functions and a set of one-dimensional basis functions for estimating one-dimensional smooth functions. In a simulation study, the proposed method appeared to outperform the conventional PARAFAC. We apply the method to EEG data to demonstrate its empirical usefulness.     

Meta-analytic techniques reveal that corvid causal reasoning in the Aesop’s Fable paradigm is driven by trial-and-error learning

The classic Aesop’s fable, Crow and the Pitcher, has inspired a major line of research in comparative cognition. Over the past several years, five articles (over 32 experiments) have examined the ability of corvids (e.g., rooks, crows, and jays) to complete lab-based analogs of this fable, by requiring them to drop stones and other objects into tubes of water to retrieve a floating worm (Bird and Emery in Curr Biol 19:1–5, 2009b; Cheke et al. in Anim Cogn 14:441–455, 2011; Jelbert et al. in PLoS One 3:e92895, 2014; Logan et al. in PLoS One 7:e103049, 2014; Taylor et al. in Gray R D 12:e26887, 2011). These researchers have stressed the unique potential of this paradigm for understanding causal reasoning in corvids. Ghirlanda and Lind (Anim Behav 123:239–247, 2017) re-evaluated trial-level data from these studies and concluded that initial preferences for functional objects, combined with trial-and-error learning, may account for subjects’ performance on key variants of the paradigm. In the present paper, we use meta-analytic techniques to provide more precise information about the rate and mode of learning that occurs within and across tasks. Within tasks, subjects learned from successful (but not unsuccessful) actions, indicating that higher-order reasoning about phenomena such as mass, volume, and displacement is unlikely to be involved. Furthermore, subjects did not transfer information learned in one task to subsequent tasks, suggesting that corvids do not engage with these tasks as variants of the same problem (i.e., how to generate water displacement to retrieve a floating worm). Our methodological analysis and empirical findings raise the question: Can Aesop’s fable studies distinguish between trial-and-error learning and/or higher-order causal reasoning? We conclude they cannot.     

Parenting Surviving Children After the Death of a Child from Cancer: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The death of a child is a tragic, devastating event with enormous emotional and relational impact on the family unit. Parental changes are significant,...     

Interdependence in Ethnic Identity and Self: Implications for Theory and Practice

This article broadens the conceptual framework of ethnic identity theory by integrating an interdependent perspective of self into counseling theory and practice. An extensive review of ethnic identity theory is presented with a focus on the literature emphasizing the relational and cultural context in the development of self. A dynamic, situationally based theory of ethnic identity is presented, and implications for counseling from an interdependent perspective are discussed.