Effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching

Self-touching is defined as self-directed touches, e.g., scratching or rubbing, that have no apparent conscious motivation. Earlier research on self-touching focused on internal processes associated with self-touching, e.g., mental conflict, while more recent research has considered external motivators, such as an auditory or visual presentation of a provocative stimulus, e.g., leeches. Here, 110 undergraduate psychology students (68 women, 42 men; M age = 18.7 yr., SD = 1.0) were shown a video about chiggers to replicate previous findings, while simultaneously studying the social influence of self-touching modeled by the presenter. A significant interaction was found as modeled self-touching significantly increased participants' self-touching when they were also attending to the video about chiggers. The results are discussed in terms of potential processes underlying this behavior and directions for research.     

Microswitch programs for persons with multiple disabilities: an overview of the responses adopted for microswitch activation

Background: To introduce a person with multiple disabilities to a microswitch-aided program, one has to select a plausible response(s), that is, a response(s) that can be performed reliably and without excessive effort by the person and can successfully activate the microswitch(es) available (producing preferred stimuli). This paper provides an overview of the responses adopted for microswitch activation in research studies during the last 20 years. Method: Computerized and manual searches were carried out to identify the studies published between 1986 and 2005. Forty-eight research studies were identified. They concerned the use of (1) a single (typical) response, (2) a single (non-typical) response, (3) multiple (typical and non-typical) responses, and (4) multiple (vocal) responses. Results and discussion: The results showed that 151 of the 190 participants involved in the studies had a positive outcome (i.e., clear increases in their responding, which suggested that they had learned the association between responding and consequent preferred stimuli). Failures were largely concentrated in the first group of studies. The discussion focused on (a) the importance of selecting plausible responses for increasing the chances of success, (b) the need of non-typical responses for persons with minimal motor behavior, (c) implications of programs with multiple responses on engagement and choice, and (d) relevance of using vocal utterances. Some suggestions for future research concerning these points were also examined.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring Historical Trauma Among American Indian People

This article reports on the development of two measures relating to historical trauma among American Indian people: The Historical Loss Scale and The Historical Loss Associated Symptoms Scale. Measurement characteristics including frequencies, internal reliability, and confirmatory factor analyses were calculated based on 143 American Indian adult parents of children aged 10 through 12 years who are part of an ongoing longitudinal study of American Indian families in the upper Midwest. Results indicate both scales have high internal reliability. Frequencies indicate that the current generation of American Indian adults have frequent thoughts pertaining to historical losses and that they associate these losses with negative feelings. Two factors of the Historical Loss Associated Symptoms Scale indicate one anxiety/depression component and one anger/avoidance component. The results are discussed in terms of future research and theory pertaining to historical trauma among American Indian people.     

Within-session delay-of-reinforcement gradients

Within-session delay-of-reinforcement gradients were generated with pigeons by progressively increasing delays to reinforcement within each session. In Experiment 1, the effects of imposing progressive delays on variable-interval and fixed-interval schedules were investigated while controlling for simultaneous decreases in reinforcer rate across the session via a within-subject yoked-control procedure. Rate of key pecking decreased as a negatively decelerated function of delay of reinforcement within a session. These rate decreases were greater than those during a yoked-interval session in which the rate of immediate reinforcement decreased at the same rate as it did under the progressive-delay procedure. In Experiment 2, delay-of-reinforcement gradients were shallower when the progressive delay intervals were signaled by a blackout than when they were unsignaled. The delay gradients obtained in each experiment were similar to those generated under conditions in which different delays of reinforcement are imposed across blocks of sessions. The present procedure offers a technique for rapidly generating delay-of-reinforcement gradients that might serve as baselines for assessing the effects of other behavioral and pharmacological variables.     

Temporal variation in Irish suicide rates

Using Irish suicide data for the period 1990-1998, the independent effects of month and day adjusting for age, gender, and calendar year effects and distinguishing between holiday and working Mondays were assessed. The male suicide rate was significantly higher on working Mondays (+31%) and Saturdays (+14%), and during April, June, and August (+17%), after adjustment for the other variables. In contrast, female suicide rates were higher only in August (+35%) and exhibited no day effect. Teenage men had a greater elevation of risk on Saturdays, Sundays, and both working and holiday Mondays than any other group. The study findings should be taken into account in the planning of specialized health care services and helplines for suicidal people. Furthermore, the findings provide support for Gabennesch's (1988) broken promise theory and the relationship between dysfunctions of the serotonergic system and suicidal behavior.     

The redux of cognitive consistency theories: evidence judgments by constraint satisfaction

The authors suggest that decisions made from multiple pieces of evidence are performed hy mechanisms of parallel constraint satisfaction, which are related to cognitive consistency theories. Such reasoning processes are bidirectional--decisions follow from evidence, and evaluations of the evidence shift toward coherence with the emerging decision. Using a factually complex legal case, the authors observed patterns of coherence shifts that persisted even when the distribution of decisions was manipulated (Study 1) and influenced by the participants' attitudes (Study 2). The evaluations of the evidence cohered with the preferred decision even when participants changed their preference (Study 3). Supporting the bidirectionality of reasoning. Study 4 showed that assigning participants to a verdict affected their evaluation of the evidence. Coherence shifts were observed also in related background knowledge. This research suggests that cognitive consistency theories should play a greater role in the understanding of human reasoning and decision making.     

When stereotypes get in the way: stereotypes obstruct stereotype-inconsistent trait inferences

There is a growing body of evidence indicating that people spontaneously make trait inferences while observing the behavior of others. The present article reports a series of 5 experiments that examined the influence of stereotypes on the spontaneous inference of traits. Results consistently showed weaker spontaneous trait inferences for stereotype-inconsistent behavioral information than for stereotype-consistent and stereotype-neutral information. Taken together, the current results suggest that specific spontaneous trait inferences become obstructed by inhibitory processes when behavior is inconsistent with an already activated stereotype. These findings are discussed in relation to stereotype maintenance processes and recent models of attribution in social judgment.     

Timed picture naming: Extended norms and validation against previous studies

Factors affecting word retrieval were compared in a timed picture-naming paradigm for 520 drawings of objects. In prior timed and untimed studies by Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980) and Snodgrass and Yuditsky (1996), concerns were raised that participants could not reliably name large numbers of items in a single session. We show that reliable results are obtained in a single session for 520 items and validate our method against previous findings by Snodgrass and colleagues for overlapping items. For these items, comparable levels of name agreement and latency are obtained, and we replicate effects of length, frequency, both objective and subjective age of acquisition, and visual complexity on reaction time (RT) and name agreement measures. Name agreement is unaffected by order of presentation, although there is a gradual increase in RTs across the session, requiring use of multiple random orders. Current extensions of our method include cross-linguistic, bilingual, developmental, and neuropsychological studies and comparisons of action naming and object naming.     

Local Solidarity

In this article I am particularly interested in the question of solidarity within the boundaries of one's own country. I discuss a qualified beneficence requirement, which claims that we ought to prevent something very bad from happening if it is in our power and if we can do it without sacrificing anything morally significant. I also discuss a fair-share principle, according to which, in Liam B. Murphy's version, "the sacrifice each agent is required to make is limited to the level of sacrifice that would be optimal if the situation were one of full compliance". I argue that the qualified beneficence requirement is reasonable only in the proximity of the one who needs help. When there is no proximity we ought to be guided by a fair-share principle. I also argue that there is an intimate relation between the fair-share principle and the welfare-state ideology.