Testing the actual equivalence of automatically generated items

If the automatic item generation is used for generating test items, the question of how the equivalence among different instances may be tested is fundamental to assure an accurate assessment. In the present research, the question was dealt by using the knowledge space theory framework. Two different ways of considering the equivalence among instances are proposed: The former is at a deterministic level and it requires that all the instances of an item template must belong to exactly the same knowledge states; the latter adds a probabilistic level to the deterministic one. The former type of equivalence can be modeled by using the BLIM with a knowledge structure assuming equally informative instances; the latter can be modeled by a constrained BLIM. This model assumes equality constraints among the error parameters of the equivalent instances. An approach is proposed for testing the equivalence among instances, which is based on a series of model comparisons. A simulation study and an empirical application show the viability of the approach.     

Verbal, behavioural and physiological assessment of the generalization of exposure-based fear reduction in a spider-anxious population

Clinical fear of spiders was assessed in 39 patients before and after exposure treatment and at a 3-month follow-up. The assessment included behavioral, physiological and self-report measures. Some patients were tested in the treatment context (group Same), while others were tested in a different context (group Different). Both groups demonstrated a significant fear reduction from pre- to post-treatment in all measures, which persisted at the 3-month follow-up. Contrary to our expectations, no clear difference was observed between the groups at any moment. However, a 1-year follow-up test of the self-report measure revealed a return of fear in group Same, but not in group Different. These results show (1) that the effects of exposure treatment persisted over contexts and time in the short term, and (2) that conducting treatment and tests in different contexts enhanced efficiency of exposure treatment in the long term.     

Gender differences in pressure pain threshold in a repeated measures assessment

The objective of this study was to evaluate gender differences in the pain threshold, considering the type of pressure point, its location and the repetition of the assessment. The pressure pain threshold was evaluated in 30 healthy volunteers (12 men and 18 women) in three assessment sessions separated by 15 min and 7 days, respectively. Each assessment session was in turn composed of two trials in each of which 24 different pressure points (symmetrically located), representing the 18 tender points for the diagnosis of fibromyalgia and six control points, were assessed. Gender differences were found in the pain threshold for all of the points and the measures taken, women showing a lower pain threshold in comparison to men and being these differences more pronounced for control points than for tender points, the former reaching statistical significance in all cases. The analysis of the influence of repeated measures on gender differences in the pain threshold showed a distinct pattern of recuperation in men than in women, although only one difference in pain threshold was significant. The utility of the tender point concept to study gender differences in pain threshold and the mechanisms that may explain different patterns of recuperation between genders are discussed.     

Non-differential return of fear in humans after a reinstatement procedure

The present experiment investigated reinstatement of fear in humans using a differential fear conditioning preparation. In this experiment, one neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus; CS+) was paired with an aversive stimulus (unconditioned stimulus; US) during the acquisition phase, while another neutral stimulus was not (CS−). This procedure led to a difference in responding between the CS+ and the CS− (i.e., differential conditioning). After this acquisition phase, an extinction phase followed, during which both CSs were presented without the US, resulting in a decrease in differential conditioned responding. Reinstatement refers to the return of extinguished conditioned responses due to the experience of US-only trials after the extinction phase. This phenomenon was investigated by presenting half of the participants (reinstatement group) with unpredictable USs after the extinction phase. The control group did not receive these USs after the extinction procedure. The results show that return of fear was clearly apparent after the reinstating USs. This return of fear was, however, not limited to the CS+. An increase in ‘conditioned’ responding was also observed for the control stimulus. This interesting observation will be discussed against the background of a number of recent theoretical conceptualizations of reinstatement.     

Counterconditioning reduces cue-induced craving and actual cue-elicited consumption

Cue-induced craving is not easily reduced by an extinction or exposure procedure and may constitute an important route toward relapse in addictive behavior after treatment. In the present study, we investigated the effectiveness of counterconditioning as an alternative procedure to reduce cue-induced craving, in a nonclinical population. We found that a cue, initially paired with chocolate consumption, did not cease to elicit craving for chocolate after extinction (repeated presentation of the cue without chocolate consumption), but did so after counterconditioning (repeated pairing of the cue with consumption of a highly disliked liquid, Polysorbate 20). This effect persisted after 1 week. Counterconditioning moreover was more effective than extinction in disrupting reported expectancy to get to eat chocolate, and also appeared to be more effective in reducing actual cue-elicited chocolate consumption. These results suggest that counterconditioning may be more promising than cue exposure for the prevention of relapse in addictive behavior.     

Pre-extinction of sensory preconditioned electrodermal activity

In the present study, sensory preconditioning of human electrodermal activity was demonstrated. In the first phase of the experiment, two pairs of neutral pictures of human faces were presented (A/B and C/D) sequentially. In the second phase, one picture of one pair was immediately followed by an electrocutaneous stimulus (B+), and one picture of the other pair was not (D-). In the third phase the other picture of each pair (A and C) was tested. The effect of A and C alone presentations (pre-extinction) between the first and the second phase was investigated. When only those participants that showed reliable B+/D- differentiation were considered, the extinction group did not show stronger conditioned electrodermal activity to A than to C, whereas the control group did. These findings suggest that sensory preconditioning of anticipatory/preparatory responding only occurs when the pre-conditioned stimulus (A) actually predicts the conditioned stimulus (B).     

The Relationship Between Perceived Parenting Style and Emotion Regulation Abilities in Adulthood

Emotion regulation abilities are very important for psychological and social wellbeing during the whole course of life. By contrast, emotion dysregulation is a significant risk factor for several psychological disorders. According to developmental research, an optimal parenting style, described as warmth and affectionate, promotes the development of an adequate emotion regulation in children and adolescents. However, little research has examined the relationship between parenting style and emotion regulation in adulthood. In the present study, we tested the relationship between perceived experiences with parents, in terms of parental care and parental overprotection, during childhood, and emotion regulation abilities in a sample of adults. One hundred participants completed the Parental Bonding Instruments, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that perceived parental care was more related to emotion regulation abilities than perceived parental overprotection. In particular, perceived paternal care was strictly linked to several difficulties in emotion regulation. By contrast, perceived maternal care was negatively associated with the use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and a specific emotion dysregulation dimension, that is lack of emotional awareness. In summary, perceived parental care seemed to have a key role to protect individuals from emotion dysregulation. These results demonstrate that parenting styles still exert their influence on emotion regulation abilities also in adulthood. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

The developing role of prosody in novel word interpretation

This study examined whether children use prosodic correlates to word meaning when interpreting novel words. For example, do children infer that a word spoken in a deep, slow, loud voice refers to something larger than a word spoken in a high, fast, quiet voice? Participants were 4- and 5-year-olds who viewed picture pairs that varied along a single dimension (e.g., big vs. small flower) and heard a recorded voice asking them, for example, “Can you get the blicket one?” spoken with either meaningful or neutral prosody. The 4-year-olds failed to map prosodic cues to their corresponding meaning, whereas the 5-year-olds succeeded (Experiment 1). However, 4-year-olds successfully mapped prosodic cues to word meaning following a training phase that reinforced children’s attention to prosodic information (Experiment 2). These studies constitute the first empirical demonstration that young children are able to use prosody-to-meaning correlates as a cue to novel word interpretation.     

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire—Past Day: Development and Validation of a Measure Assessing Daily Levels of Worry

Based on the widely used Penn State Worry Questionnaire for trait worry, a scale was developed to measure the level of worry experienced during the past 24 h. This instrument, the Penn State Worry Questionnaire—Past Day (PSWQ-PD), was administered to a student sample and two clinical samples. The PSWQ-PD demonstrated high internal consistency, good convergent validity and adequate test-retest reliability. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a unifactorial solution provided the best fit. Moreover, it was shown that the PSWQ-PD is a more state-like worry measure than the original PSWQ. The PSWQ-PD is a promising, brief tool for daily worry assessment, which is apt for frequent administration.