Aspects of Code-Specific Memory Development

We investigated the development of code specific representations of different kinds of information in long term memory. Forty second graders, 40 sixth graders and 40 adults learned the associations between 12 pictures and one position each in a 4 × 3 grid of squares, 12 pictures and 1 of 12 monosyllabic words each or 12 pictures and 1 of 12 faces. After a 3 min distractor task, a picture was presented in the retrieval phase, and the associated position, word or face had to be selected. Performance in the verbal condition improved as a function of age, while performance in the spatial condition turned out to be independent of age, and the performance in the facial condition showed a difference between both child groups and the adults. The results revealed a developmental difference of code specific representation of different kinds of information.     

An Examination of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory‐3 Correctional Scale in a College Student Population

In this study, the authors examined the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory‐3 Correctional scale's sensitivity and specificity at detecting college students' illegal behaviors. Sensitivity was strong, but specificity was weak. Implications for counseling and suggestions for future research are included.     

Socioeconomic Differences in Psychosocial Factors Contributing to Coronary Heart Disease: A Review

Psychosocial factors have been shown to play an important role in the aetiology of coronary heart disease (CHD). A strong association between CHD and socioeconomic status (lower-level education, poor financial situation) has also been well established. Socioeconomic differences may thus also have an effect on psychosocial risk factors associated with CHD, and socioeconomic disadvantage may negatively affect the later prognosis and quality of life of cardiac patients. The aim of this study was to review the available evidence on socioeconomic differences in psychosocial factors which specifically contribute to CHD. A computer-aided search of the Medline and PsycINFO databases resulted in 301 articles in English published between 1994 and 2007. A comprehensive screening process identified 12 empirical studies which described the socioeconomic differences in CHD risk factors. A review of these studies showed that socioeconomic status (educational grade, occupation or income) was adversely associated with psychosocial factors linked to CHD. This association was evident in the case of hostility and depression. Available studies also showed a similar trend with respect to social support, perception of health and lack of optimism. Less consistent were the results related to anger and perceived stress levels. Socioeconomic disadvantage seems to be an important element influencing the psychosocial factors related to CHD, thus, a more comprehensive clarification of associations between these factors might be useful. More studies are needed, focused not only on well-known risk factors such as depression and hostility, but also on some lesser known psychosocial factors such as Type D and vital exhaustion and their role in CHD.     

The validity and utility of the positive presentation management and negative presentation management scales for the Revised NEO Personality Inventory

Schinka, Kinder, and Kremer developed "validity" scales for the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R; Costa & McCrae) to detect underreporting-the Positive Presentation Management (PPM) Scale and overreporting-the Negative Presentation Management (NPM) Scale. In this investigation, the clinical utility of these scales was examined using the established validity scales from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2; Butcher et al.) as the referent. The sample was composed of 370 psychiatric patients who completed the NEO PI-R and the MMPI-2 as part of a routine evaluation. Results indicated that response distortion compromised the utility of the NEO PI-R domain scales. Moreover, the PPM and NPM scales and an NPM-PPM index significantly differentiated invalid under-and overreporting groups from a valid responding group. The PPM and NPM-PPM index were adequate in classifying under- and overreporters, respectively.     

Methylphenidate amplifies long-term plasticity in the hippocampus via noradrenergic mechanisms

Methylphenidate treatment is used for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and can improve learning and memory. Previously, improvements were considered a by-product of increased attention; however, we hypothesize that methylphenidate directly alters mechanisms underlying learning and memory, and therefore examined its effects on hippocampal long-term potentiation and long-term depression. Methylphenidate enhanced both mechanisms in the absence of presynaptic changes and in a noradrenalin beta-receptor-dependent manner. These findings can explain both the improved learning and memory and decreased learning selectivity found with methylphenidate treatment and constitute the first demonstration of direct actions of methylphenidate on mechanisms implicated in cognition.     

Judgments about judgments: the dissociation of consideration price and transaction commitment judgments

There are many contexts in which people make judgments about prior judgments. For example, Internet shopping bots (e.g., NexTag.com) allow consumers to search for products and, if the price is too high, list a price at which they would consider making the purchase (i.e., base judgment). If the price drops to this level, the vendor generates an e-mail inviting the consumer to execute the transaction at the reduced price (i.e., contingent judgment). The authors show that the consideration price depends on the content of retrieved information, whereas the willingness to execute the transaction at the consideration price depends on the ease-of-retrieving the information. The authors use different offer prices to encourage the consumer to retrieve information consistent with different product quality levels. The authors also select offer prices so that information retrieval is more difficult at moderate offer prices than at high or low offer prices. Accordingly, the authors show that the consideration price increases as the offer price increases, but the willingness to execute the transaction at the consideration price is greater when there are high and low, as opposed to moderate, offer prices.     

Research Note: Rejecting Monotheism? Polytheism,Pluralism, and Battlestar Galactica

In an interview on BeliefNet.com, Battlestar Galactica producer Ronald Moore claimed that his portrayal of the human colonials as polytheistic in contrast to the monotheistic Cylons was a deliberate statement about tolerance and the lack of tolerance in modern monotheistic religions. The underlying assumption about the tolerance of polytheism is also percolating through wider Western society. The idea of multiple deities seems to strike a chord with some proponents of religious pluralism and thus seems a suitable contrast to monotheistic constructs of one God, one Truth. This research note is concerned with the discourse of polytheism versus monotheism. I argue that the sci-fi TV show Battlestar Galactica provides an opportunity to complicate a definition of polytheism as inherently more tolerant of religious diversity than monotheism.     

Divine Appetites: Food Miracles,Authority and Religious Identities in the Gujarati Hindu Diaspora

Research of the Gujarati Hindu communities of the United Kingdom and New Zealand has uncovered an extraordinary diversity of belief concerning the miraculous consumption of devotional food offerings by murtis. Devotees of certain traditions have experienced these events first-hand, but many Hindus believe the process is more subtle. Others suggest that such claims are attempts to gain spiritual authority among Hindus in the diaspora, some dismiss them as simply fraudulent. This article examines the appetite of the divine and how it is understood and contested by various Gujarati Hindu traditions in the United Kingdom and in New Zealand. It will assess the significance of food miracles and how they strengthen ideas of religious identity and spiritual validity as well as their role creating a palpable tension between traditions as to who authoritatively represents Hinduism in the diaspora.     

Decision making, impulsivity and time perception

Time is an important dimension when individuals make decisions. Specifically, the time until a beneficial outcome can be received is viewed as a cost and is weighed against the benefits of the outcome. We propose that impulsive individuals experience time differently, that is with a higher cost. Impulsive subjects, therefore, overestimate the duration of time intervals and, as a consequence, discount the value of delayed rewards more strongly than do self-controlled individuals. The literature on time perception and impulsivity, however, is not clear cut and needs a better theoretical foundation. Here, we develop the theoretical background on concepts of time perception, which could lead to an empirically based notion of the association between an altered sense of time and impulsivity.     

Understanding evaluation of faces on social dimensions

People reliably and automatically make personality inferences from facial appearance despite little evidence for their accuracy. Although such inferences are highly inter-correlated, research has traditionally focused on studying specific traits such as trustworthiness. We advocate an alternative, data-driven approach to identify and model the structure of face evaluation. Initial findings indicate that specific trait inferences can be represented within a 2D space defined by valence/trustworthiness and power/dominance evaluation of faces. Inferences along these dimensions are based on similarity to expressions signaling approach or avoidance behavior and features signaling physical strength, respectively, indicating that trait inferences from faces originate in functionally adaptive mechanisms. We conclude with a discussion of the potential role of the amygdala in face evaluation.