Varying Cautionary Instructions,Monetary Incentives,and Comorbid Diagnostic Training in Malingered Psychopathology Research

In this article, we combine two analogue experiments in which we empirically examined three malingering methodological issues in individuals trained and instructed to simulate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on the Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI; Briere, 1995 Briere, J. 1995. Trauma Symptom Inventory professional manual, Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.  [Google Scholar]). In Experiment 1, we examined TSI scale effects of the following manipulations using a 2 × 2 design with 330 college students: (a) inclusion or exclusion of cautionary instructions regarding believability of participants' simulation and (b) different financial incentive levels. In Experiment 2, we examined comorbid psychiatric diagnostic training with 180 college students who were either trained to simulate PTSD and comorbid major depressive disorder or trained to simulate only PTSD. Caution main effects were significant for all but two TSI Clinical Scales, incentive main effects and interactions were only significant for one Clinical scale each, and the comorbidity manipulation did not yield any scale differences. We discuss malingering research design implications regarding the use of cautionary instructions, financial incentive levels, and comorbid training.     

Exploring the association between the 2-repeat allele of the MAOA gene promoter polymorphism and psychopathic personality traits,arrests, incarceration,and lifetime antisocial behavior

A line of research has revealed that a polymorphism in the promoter region of the MAOA gene is related to antisocial phenotypes. Most of these studies examine the effects of low MAOA activity alleles (2-repeat and 3-repeat alleles) against the effects of high MAOA activity alleles (3.5-repeat, 4-repeat, and sometimes 5-repeat alleles), with research indicating that the low MAOA activity alleles confer an increased risk to antisocial phenotypes. The current study examined whether the 2-repeat allele, which has been shown to be functionally different from the 3-repeat allele, was associated with a range of antisocial phenotypes in a sample of males drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Analyses revealed that African-American males who carried the 2-repeat allele were, in comparison with other African-American male genotypes, significantly more likely to be arrested and incarcerated. Additional analyses revealed that African-American male carriers of the 2-repeat allele scored significantly higher on an antisocial phenotype index and on measures assessing involvement in violent behaviors over the life course. There was not any association between the 2-repeat allele and a continuously measured psychopathic personality traits scale. The effects of the 2-repeat allele could not be examined in Caucasian males because only 0.1% carried it.     

The Reading Maturity Survey: Steps Toward Instrument and Construct Validation with College-Level Readers

There is a need to promote growth past basic reading proficiency toward the more substantial idea of reading maturity. The reading maturity construct has a history of being valued, at least in principle. However, it is a complex construct, and this makes its measurement challenging. The present research study addressed aspects of this challenge by using data collected from an instrument called The Reading Maturity Survey, administered twice to 382 college students, to help validate the instrument and to add one piece of validation evidence to the internal structure of the reading maturity construct. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to identify the latent literacy constructs and to examine the relationships between these constructs. The findings contribute to further psychometric validation of The Reading Maturity Survey, and add one new piece of quantitative evidence supporting the theory-based construct of reading maturity. Because this study provides some preliminary evidence of viable ways to both measure and define this construct, our hope is that the findings would move the reading field one step closer to being able to better recognize an overarching unified construct of reading maturity, perhaps eventually (re)establishing it as a goal that literacy education could pursue.     

Hyperactivity in boys with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): The association between deficient behavioral inhibition,attentional processes,and objectively measured activity

Contemporary models of ADHD hypothesize that hyperactivity reflects a byproduct of inhibition deficits. The current study investigated the relationship between children's motor activity and behavioral inhibition by experimentally manipulating demands placed on the limited-resource inhibition system. Twenty-two boys (ADHD = 11, TD = 11) between the ages of 8 and 12 years completed a conventional stop-signal task, two choice-task variants (no-tone, ignore-tone), and control tasks while their motor activity was measured objectively by actigraphs placed on their nondominant wrist and ankles. All children exhibited significantly higher activity rates under all three experimental tasks relative to control conditions, and children with ADHD moved significantly more than typically developing children across conditions. No differences in activity level were observed between the inhibition and noninhibition experimental tasks for either group, indicating that activity level was primarily associated with basic attentional rather than behavioral inhibition processes.     

Using an Imagery Intervention to Train Visual Exploratory Activity in Elite Academy Football Players

Football players adapt their movements to opportunities within the surrounding environment by engaging in visual exploratory activity (VEA) to pick up information. This study adds to the extant literature by using a 6-week PETTLEP imagery intervention to train VEA and improve performance with the ball. A single-case, multiple baseline across participants' design was conducted with 5 elite academy football players. Results indicated that a PETTLEP imagery intervention improved VEA, particularly in center midfielders. In addition, indications of improvements in performance with the ball were present within some participants. Future researchers could examine the processes underpinning VEA to enhance applied interventions for this skill.     

Development and validation of the Minnesota borderline personality disorder scale

Although large epidemiological data sets can inform research on the etiology and development of borderline personality disorder (BPD), they rarely include BPD measures. In some cases, however, proxy measures can be constructed using instruments already in these data sets. In this study, the authors developed and validated a self-report measure of BPD from the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ). Items for the new instrument-the Minnesota BPD scale (MBPD) -were identified and refined using three large samples: undergraduates, community adolescent twins, and urban substance users. The authors determined the construct validity of the MBPD scale by examining its association with (a) diagnosed BPD, (b) questionnaire-reported BPD symptoms, and (c) clinical variables associated with BPD: suicidality, trauma, disinhibition, internalizing distress, and substance use. The authors also tested the MBPD scale in two prison inmate samples. Across samples, the MBPD scores correlated with BPD indices and external criteria and showed incremental validity above measures of negative affect, thus supporting its construct validity as a measure of BPD.     

Subtle priming of shared human experiences eliminates threat-induced negativity toward Arabs, immigrants, and peace-making

Many studies demonstrate that mortality salience can increase negativity toward outgroups but few have examined variables that mitigate this effect. The present research examined whether subtly priming people to think of human experiences shared by people from diverse cultures increases perceived similarity of members of different groups, which then reduces MS-induced negativity toward outgroups. In Study 1, exposure to pictures of people from diverse cultures engaged in common human activities non-significantly reversed the effect of MS on implicit anti-Arab prejudice. In Study 2, thinking about similarities between one's own favorite childhood memories and those of people from other countries eliminated MS-induced explicit negative attitudes toward immigrants. In Study 3, thinking about similarities between one's own painful childhood memories and those of people from other countries eliminated the MS-induced reduction in support for peace-making. Mediation analyses suggest the effects were driven by perceived similarity of people across cultures. These findings suggest that priming widely shared human experiences can attenuate MS-induced intergroup conflict.     

Genetic and environmental influences on personality trait stability and growth during the transition to adulthood: a three-wave longitudinal study

During the transition to adulthood individuals typically settle into adult roles in love and work. This transition also involves significant changes in personality traits that are generally in the direction of greater maturity and increased stability. Competing hypotheses have been offered to account for these personality changes: The intrinsic maturation hypothesis suggests that change trajectories are endogenous, whereas the life-course hypothesis suggests that these changes occur because of transactions with the social environment. This study investigated the patterns and origins of personality trait changes from ages 17 to 29 using 3 waves of Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire data provided by twins. Results suggest that (a) trait changes were more profound in the first relative to the second half of the transition to adulthood; (b) traits tend to become more stable during the second half of this transition, with all the traits yielding retest correlations between .74 and .78; (c) Negative Affectivity declined over time, and Constraint increased over time; minimal change was observed on agentic or communal aspects of Positive Emotionality; and (d) both genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for personality changes. Overall, these genetically informed results support a life-course perspective on personality development during the transition to adulthood.     

Nonaddictive instrumental drug use: Theoretical strengths and weaknesses

The potential to instrumentalize drug use based upon the detection of very many different drug states undoubtedly exists, and such states may play a role in psychiatric and many other drug uses. Nevertheless, nonaddictive drug use is potentially more parsimoniously explained in terms of sensation seeking/impulsivity and drug expectations. Cultural factors also play a major role in nonaddictive drug use.     

An advantage for active versus passive aperture-viewing in visual object recognition

In aperture viewing the field-of-view is restricted, such that only a small part of an image is visible, enforcing serial exploration of different regions of an object in order to successfully recognise it. Previous studies have used either active control or passive observation of the viewing aperture, but have not contrasted the two modes. Active viewing has previously been shown to confer an advantage in visual object recognition. We displayed objects through a small moveable aperture and tested whether people's ability to identify the images as familiar or novel objects was influenced by how the window location was controlled. Participants recognised objects faster when they actively controlled the window using their finger on a touch-screen, as opposed to passively observing the moving window. There was no difference between passively viewing again one's own window movement as generated in a previous block of trials versus viewing window movements that had been generated by other participants. These results contrast with those from comparable studies of haptic object recognition, which have found a benefit for passive over active stimulus exploration, but accord with findings of an advantage of active viewing in visual object recognition.