Union commitment and participation: a 10-year longitudinal study

The authors longitudinally investigated the causal nature of the relationship between union commitment and participation in informal union activities. A total of 134 members of the National Association of Letter Carriers were studied over a 10-year period. Using cross-lagged regression analysis, early union commitment was found to predict the level of informal union participation 10 years later. The reverse and reciprocal relationships were not supported. These findings support and extend earlier research on the causal nature of the short-term relationship between union commitment and participation. The implications of the findings for researchers and labor unions are discussed.     

Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood

Using prospective data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study birth cohort, the authors found that adolescents with low self-esteem had poorer mental and physical health, worse economic prospects, and higher levels of criminal behavior during adulthood, compared with adolescents with high self-esteem. The long-term consequences of self-esteem could not be explained by adolescent depression, gender, or socioeconomic status. Moreover, the findings held when the outcome variables were assessed using objective measures and informant reports; therefore, the findings cannot be explained by shared method variance in self-report data. The findings suggest that low self-esteem during adolescence predicts negative real-world consequences during adulthood.     

Complementary and lateralized forms of processing in Bufo marinus for novel and familiar prey

Amphibian vision is one of the most comprehensively studied of all vertebrate sensory systems. However, the processes of object recognition and memory in anuran amphibians have resisted satisfactory explanation. Our research shows that insight to the issue of visual discrimination and recognition in toads may be gained by investigation of the specialized and complementary functions carried out by the left and right brain hemispheres. We report that specialized processes associated with the left eye (right hemisphere) of the Bufo marinus toad carry out decisions to view and strike at complex prey stimuli recognized as 'novel.' This was demonstrated in the toads' preferences when provided a choice between identical novel insect models presented simultaneously into the left and right lateral, monocular visual fields. In a second experiment, videotaped trials of toad groups competing in an open field for live crickets were analysed for lateralized prey-catching behaviour. Concomitant with a preference for directing agonistic strikes at conspecifics within the left visual hemifield, toads were found to possess a significant preference for directing predatory responses at the familiar prey viewed in the right visual hemifield. The preference for directing prey-catching responses at freely moving crickets in the right visual hemifield supports the earlier findings drawn from automated and familiar model insect prey. We present a hypothesis explaining differences in hemispheric processing in toads responding to 'novel' and 'familiar' prey types, utilizing a range of long-term memories found to be lateralized in other vertebrates.     

Can children recognize pride?

Recent research has shown that pride, like the "basic" emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise, has a distinct, nonverbal expression that can be recognized by adults (J. L. Tracy & R. W. Robins, 2004b). In 2 experiments, the authors examined whether young children can identify the pride expression and distinguish it from expressions of happiness and surprise. Results suggest that (a) children can recognize pride at above-chance levels by age 4 years; (b) children recognize pride as well as they recognize happiness; (c) pride recognition, like happiness and surprise recognition, improves from age 3 to 7 years; and (d) children's ability to recognize pride cannot be accounted for by the use of a process of elimination (i.e., an exclusion rule) to identify an unknown entity. These findings have implications for the development of emotion recognition and children's ability to perceive and communicate pride.     

Confabulation and constructive memory

Synthese - Confabulation is a symptom central to many psychiatric diagnoses and can be severely debilitating to those who exhibit the symptom. Theorists, scientists, and clinicians have an...     

The structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: Theoretical and methodological considerations

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Zigmond - Snaith, 1983) is widely used; however, its factor structure is unclear, with studies reporting differing unidimensional, two-factor and three-factor models. We aimed to address some key theoretical and methodological issues contributing to inconsistencies in HADS structures across samples. We reviewed existing HADS models and compared their fit using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We also investigated methodological effects by comparing factor structures derived from Rasch and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) methods, as well as effects of a negative wording factor. An Australian community-dwelling sample consisting of 189 females and 158 males aged 17–86 (M = 35.73, SD = 17.41) completed the 14-item HADS. The Rasch Analysis, PCA and CFA all supported the original two-factor structure. Although some three-factor models had good fit, they had unacceptable reliability. In the CFA, a hierarchical bifactor model with a general distress factor and uncorrelated depression and anxiety subscales produced the best fit, but the general factor was not unidimensional. The addition of a negative wording factor improved model fit. These findings highlight the effects of differing methodologies in producing inconsistent HADS factor structures across studies. Further replication of model fit across samples and refinement of the HADS items is warranted.