Assessing the Development of Inflated Responsibility Beliefs: The Pathways to Inflated Responsibility Beliefs Scale

Inflated responsibility beliefs are hypothesized to be a central feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; Rachman, 1998, 2002; Salkovskis, 1985), but the etiology of these beliefs remains untested. Salkovskis and colleagues (1999) proposed 5 primary pathways to the development of inflated responsibility beliefs (e.g., heightened responsibility as a child, exposure to rigid and extreme codes of conduct as a child). The current paper presents 2 studies developing a self-report measure—the Pathways to Inflated Responsibility Beliefs Scale (PIRBS)—of these hypothesized pathways. In the first study, an initial version of the scale is developed and the number of items are reduced. In the second study, the revised scale is shown to provide a reasonable match to the proposed structure and to have good internal consistency, retest reliability, and convergent and divergent validity. These initial data suggest that the PIRBS may be useful for studying the etiology of inflated responsibility beliefs that are hypothesized to be central to the development of OCD. Limitations and future directions are discussed.     

Family-of-origin maltreatment, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, social information processing deficits, and relationship abuse perpetration

In this study, the authors examined the interrelations among family-of-origin maltreatment variables, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, social information processing deficits, and male-to-female psychological and physical intimate relationship abuse perpetration in adulthood among a community sample of 164 men and their partners. In bivariate analyses, higher family-of-origin childhood parental rejection was associated with the perpetration of psychological and physical abuse in adulthood, and childhood exposure to interparental violence was also associated with adult psychological abuse perpetration. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that when childhood variables and other study variables were considered together, only childhood parental rejection was associated with the abuse perpetration outcomes, and these effects were indirect through PTSD symptoms and social information processing deficits. Results indicate a need for further investigation into the mechanisms accounting for the impact of early maltreatment on the development of abusive intimate relationship behavior.     

Intimate partner violence against African American women: An examination of the socio-cultural context

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health concern that affects an alarmingly high percentage of women. There is evidence to suggest that African American women are impacted by IPV at higher rates than are Caucasian women, yet little of the IPV literature addresses the cultural and structural factors that differentially affect African American and Caucasian couples. The present paper reviews the existing literature on IPV towards African American women, including prevalence, theories, risk factors for victimization, victims' psychological sequelae, barriers to service utilization, coping strategies, and interventions for survivors and perpetrators of IPV. Recommendations for counseling, research, and policy are explored.     

An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of Acute Sleep Deprivation on Panic-Relevant Biological Challenge Responding

Prospective research indicates sleep deprivation potentiates anxiety development, yet relatively little research has examined the effects of sleep deprivation in terms of specific types of anxiety. The current study tested the association between acute sleep deprivation and panic-relevant biological challenge responding among nonclinical participants. One hundred and two participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental (acute sleep deprivation) or control (no sleep deprivation) group. The day prior to and following the experimental (sleep) manipulation, participants completed a 5-minute 10% carbon dioxide–enriched air laboratory-based biological challenge. As predicted, sleep deprivation increased anxious and fearful responding to the challenge. Findings suggest sleep deprivation may be an important factor to consider in models of panic development. There are several areas in this general domain that warrant additional investigation.     

NONCONTINGENT REINFORCEMENT AS TREATMENT FOR SEVERE PROBLEM BEHAVIOR: SOME PROCEDURAL VARIATIONS

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) as a treatment for problem behavior has typically included (a) continuous access to reinforcers at the onset of treatment and (b) extinction. We extended research on NCR by conducting a three-phase preliminary investigation of these components. In Phase 1, a functional analysis showed that the problem behavior of 3 participants with developmental disabilities was maintained by tangible positive reinforcement. In Phase 2, treatment started with the initial NCR interval based on the latency to the first problem behavior during baseline. In Phase 3, treatment consisted of NCR without extinction to determine whether extinction was an essential treatment component. Results showed that the initial NCR schedule based on latency (Phase 2) and NCR without extinction (Phase 3) were effective for reducing rates of problem behavior compared with baseline. Findings are discussed regarding the initial schedule of reinforcement and extinction as components of NCR.     

阅读预期对快速阅读理解的影响的实验研究

探讨阅读预期对快速阅读的理解水平与进程的影响。实验１探讨阅读预期对快速阅读理解水平的影响。阅读文章前分别给予被试正确、中性与误导的标题提示,结果表明,不同类型的标题提示对快速阅读的理解成绩有显著的影响,而对正常速度阅读的理解成绩影响效果不显著。实验２探讨阅读预期对快速阅读过程的词句加工程度的影响。结果表明,对优生来说,正确标题提示组发现文章中锗字的成绩显著低于误导标题提示组,差生的不同标题提示组发现错字的成绩差异不显著。两个实验的结果初步表明,快速阅读文章过程会更多地利用概念推动,较少地需要材料信息。     

Boundary effects of vague risk information on taxpayer decisions

In compliance decisions, the decision maker usually has only vague or ambiguous knowledge of the probability of being caught and the outcome (amount of penalty). An experiment is reported which extends work on effects of probability ambiguity by manipulating outcome ambiguity as well. When outcomes were limited to a bounded range and probabilities ranged between their natural boundaries [0, 1] in experimental tax decisions, symmetrical boundary effects were found in which vague estimates for both the probability and outcome dimensions caused vagueness aversion (and higher compliance) when the vague estimate was near the more favorable lower boundary of either dimension and vagueness seeking (and lower compliance) when the vague estimate was near the less favorable upper boundary. Probability and outcome vagueness effects were found to be independent of the vagueness of the other dimension, and vagueness effects were not systematically related to the level of the other dimension.The results suggest that a common cognitive process mediates the impact of vagueness on both dimensions. This may be a vagueness-adjustment process in which vague estimates are adjusted toward the middle of the bounded range, or a vagueness-preference process in which vague outcomes, and vague probabilities as well, are evaluated based on utility considerations, as though probability were a tangible commodity. For increasing compliance, the results suggest that risk information should be disseminated only when risks of punishment are relatively high. When risks are low, random enforcement techniques that enhance vagueness become more effective.