Abstractionist versus exemplar-based theories of visual word priming: A subsystems resolution

Three experiments addressed abstractionist versus exemplar-based theories of the visual representations underlying word priming. Participants first read centrally presented whole words (each displayed in all lowercase or in all uppercase letters), and then they completed laterally presented word stems (each displayed in all lowercase or in all uppercase letters). Word stem completion priming was letter-case specific (greater for same-case primed items than for different-case primed items) when stems were presented directly to the right cerebral hemisphere but not when stems were presented directly to the left cerebral hemisphere. This interaction was not influenced by the typicality of the test stems, but it was observed only for stems composed of letters with visually dissimilar lowercase and uppercase structures (e.g., bea/BEA) and not for stems composed of letters with visually similar lowercase and uppercase structures (e.g., sco/SCO). In contrast, cued recall was letter-case specific when similar-case or dissimilar-case stems were presented directly to the right hemisphere. Results do not support strongly abstractionist or exemplar-based theories. Instead, they suggest a resolution to these differing perspectives: Relatively independent neural subsystems operate in parallel to underlie abstract-category and specific-exemplar priming of word forms.     

Mindfulness as a means of reducing aggressive behavior: dispositional and situational evidence

Recent research and theory suggest that mindfulness, or enhanced attention and awareness in the present moment [Brown and Ryan, 2003], may be linked to lower levels of ego-involvement and, as a result, may have implications for lowering hostility and aggressive behavior. Accordingly, we conducted two studies to examine the potential aggression-mitigating role of mindfulness. In Study 1, we found that dispositional mindfulness correlated negatively with self-reported aggressiveness and hostile attribution bias. In Study 2, participants made mindful before receiving social rejection feedback displayed less-aggressive behavior than did rejected participants not made mindful. Discussion centers on potential mechanisms by which mindfulness operates to reduce aggressive behavior.     

Semantic priming,not repetition priming,is to blame for false hearing

Contextual and sensory information are combined in speech perception. Conflict between the two can lead to false hearing, defined as a high-confidence misidentification of a spoken word. Rogers, Jacoby, and Sommers (Psychology and Aging, 27(1), 33–45, 2012) found that older adults are more susceptible to false hearing than are young adults, using a combination of semantic priming and repetition priming to create context. In this study, the type of context (repetition vs. sematic priming) responsible for false hearing was examined. Older and young adult participants read and listened to a list of paired associates (e.g., ROW–BOAT) and were told to remember the pairs for a later memory test. Following the memory test, participants identified words masked in noise that were preceded by a cue word in the clear. Targets were semantically associated to the cue (e.g., ROW–BOAT), unrelated to the cue (e.g., JAW–PASS), or phonologically related to a semantic associate of the cue (e.g., ROW–GOAT). How often each cue word and its paired associate were presented prior to the memory test was manipulated (0, 3, or 5 times) to test effects of repetition priming. Results showed repetitions had no effect on rates of context-based listening or false hearing. However, repetition did significantly increase sensory information as a basis for metacognitive judgments in young and older adults. This pattern suggests that semantic priming dominates as the basis for false hearing and highlights context and sensory information operating as qualitatively different bases for listening and metacognition.     

Lapses in sustained attention and their relation to executive control and fluid abilities: An individual differences investigation

A latent variable analysis was conducted to examine the nature of individual differences in lapses of attention and their relation to executive and fluid abilities. Participants performed a sustained attention task along with multiple measures of executive control and fluid abilities. Lapses of attention were indexed based on the slowest reaction times in terms of both quintiles and the τ parameter from the ex-Gaussian distribution. It was found that the slowest, but not the fastest, RTs in the sustained attention task were related to a broad based executive control factor and a fluid intelligence factor. The results further suggested that only the working memory capacity and response inhibition sub-executive control factors were related to the slowest RTs, with the fluency measures not being related to any of the RT variables. The results are consistent with the idea that fluctuations or lapses in sustained attention, as indexed by the slowest responses, are related to executive control and fluid abilities.     

A bifactor model of negative affectivity: fear and distress components among younger and older youth

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS-C) is a 27-item youth-report measure of positive affectivity and negative affectivity. Using 2 large school-age youth samples (clinic-referred sample: N = 662; school-based sample: N = 911), in the present study, we thoroughly examined the structure of the PANAS-C NA and PA scales and fit a bifactor model to the PANAS-C NA items. Our exploratory factor analytic results demonstrated that negative affectivity is comprised of 2 main components-NA: Fear and NA: Distress-specifically among older youth. A bifactor model also evidenced the best model fit relative to a unidimensional and second-order factor structure of the PANAS-C NA items. The NA: Fear group factor evidenced significant correspondence with external criterion measures of anxiety. However, the original PANAS-C NA scale evidenced equal (and in some cases greater) correspondence with criterion measures of anxiety. We thus recommend continued usage and interpretation of the full PANAS-C NA scale despite the identification of the fear and distress group factors underlying general negative affectivity. The identification of these fear and distress group factors nonetheless suggest that negative affectivity may be comprised largely of a fear and distress component among older youth. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to better understanding the structure of psychopathology across childhood development and informing the development of future treatments of negative emotions.     

Online racial discrimination and the protective function of ethnic identity and self-esteem for African American adolescents

A growing body of literature has shown that being victimized online is associated with poor mental health. Little is known about the factors that protect youth from the negative outcomes that may result from these victimization experiences, particularly those related to race. Using a risk and resilience framework, this study examined the protective function of ethnic identity and self-esteem among African Americans who experience online racial discrimination. For the sample of 125 adolescents, hierarchical regression results revealed that higher levels of ethnic identity and self-esteem significantly moderated the negative impact of online racial discrimination on anxiety levels. These findings show that ethnic identity and self-esteem can buffer the negative mental health outcomes associated with online racial discrimination, at least with respect to adolescents' anxiety. Findings from the current study have significant implications for adolescent adjustment given the increased time youth spend doing online activities.     

The Loneliness Questionnaire-Short Version: an evaluation of reverse-worded and non-reverse-worded items via item response theory

Although reverse-worded items have often been incorporated in scale construction to minimize the effects of acquiescent reporting biases, some researchers have more recently begun questioning this approach and wondering whether the advantages associated with incorporating reverse-worded items is worth the complexities that they bring to measures (e.g., Brown, 2003 ; Marsh, 1996 ). In this study, we used item response theory (IRT) to determine whether there is statistical justification to eliminate the reverse-worded items (e.g., "I have lots of friends") from the Loneliness Questionnaire (LQ; Asher, Hymel, & Renshaw, 1984) and retain only the non-reverse-worded items (e.g., "I'm lonely") to inform the provision of a shortened LQ version. Using a large sample of children (Grades 2-7; n = 6,784) and adolescents (Grades 8-12; n = 4,941), we examined the psychometric properties of the 24-item LQ and found support for retaining the 9 non-reverse-worded LQ items to make up a shortened measure of loneliness in youth. We found that the non-reverse-worded items were associated with superior psychometric properties relative to the reverse-worded items with respect to reliability and IRT parameters (e.g., discrimination and item information). A 3-point Likert-type scale was also found to be more suitable for measuring loneliness across both children and adolescents compared to the original 5-point scale. The relative contributions of reverse-worded and non-reverse-worded items in scale development for youth instruments are also discussed.     

Predicting Treatment Response for Oppositional Defiant and Conduct Disorder Using Pre-Treatment Adrenal and Gonadal Hormones

Variations in adrenal and gonadal hormone profiles have been linked to increased rates of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). These relationships suggest that certain hormone profiles may be related to how well children respond to psychological treatments for ODD and CD. The current study assessed whether pre-treatment profiles of adrenal and gonadal hormones predicted response to psychological treatment of ODD and CD. One hundred five children, 6–11?years old, participating in a randomized, clinical trial provided samples for cortisol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, and androstenedione. Diagnostic interviews of ODD and CD were administered up to 3?years post-treatment to track treatment response. Group-based trajectory modeling identified two trajectories of treatment response: (1) a High-response trajectory where children demonstrated lower rates of an ODD or CD diagnosis throughout follow-up, and (2) a Low-response trajectory where children demonstrated higher rates of an ODD or CD diagnosis throughout follow-up. Hierarchical logistic regression predicting treatment response demonstrated that children with higher pre-treatment concentrations of testosterone were four times more likely to be in the Low-response trajectory. No other significant relationship existed between pre-treatment hormone profiles and treatment response. These results suggest that higher concentrations of testosterone are related to how well children diagnosed with ODD or CD respond to psychological treatment over the course of 3?years.     

Disentangling Heidegger’s transcendental questions

Recapitulating two recent trends in Heidegger-scholarship, this paper argues that the transcendental theme in Heidegger’s thought clarifies and relates the two basic questions of his philosophical itinerary. The preparatory question, which belongs to Being and Time, I.1–2, draws from the transcendental tradition to target the condition for the possibility of our openness to things: How must we be to access entities? The preliminary answer is that we are essentially opened up ecstatically and horizonally by timeliness. The fundamental question, which belongs to the unpublished Being and Time, I.3, and the rest of Heidegger’s path of thinking, is accessed by means of the first. In a turn of perspective, it targets that in terms of which we relate to the givenness of being. Heidegger first attempts to handle this question using the transcendental language of temporal horizon before happening upon the terminologically more fitting “event of appropriation” and thereafter criticizing transcendental terms. By reconstructing the preparatory question and its reversal, we can see that Heidegger’s later criticism of transcendence in fact relies on its initial success. The turn from timeliness to appropriation (initially by means of transcendental temporality) happens within the domain initially disclosed by the preparatory question.     

A transportable assessment protocol for prescribing youth psychosocial treatments in real-world settings: reducing assessment burden via self-report scales

Current evidence-based assessment methods, such as structured interviews and lengthy assessment batteries, often require hours to administer, score, and interpret and thus are infrequently used in real-world practice. As evidence-based assessment tools are developed for implementation in real-world youth mental health settings, the transportability properties of assessment procedures (including administration and interpretation burden) need to be considered and improved. In the present study, we thus conducted an initial feasibility study using a clinical sample of community-based youths (N = 306) to develop an assessment protocol based on 2 child and 2 parent self-report questionnaires (thus low on administration burden). Using decision-tree analysis, we identified a series of cutoff scores across these scales that may be used to inform treatment need related to anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and disruptive behavior problems. This algorithm-based approach to interpreting assessment information provided clear and simple guidelines (thus low on interpretation burden) that matched the best estimate treatment determinations derived by trained assessors, supervisors, and expert consultants who integrated information provided by child and parent structured interviews and self-report scales. The present study demonstrated the feasibility of developing an assessment protocol to inform various treatment allocation decisions in a way that imposes little assessment administration and interpretation burden yet maintains adequate classification accuracy. These characteristics make the proposed protocol promising with regard to its transportability and suitability for adoption and implementation in real-world mental health settings.