Group differences in IQ are best understood as environmental in origin

Responds to the comments by J. P. Rushton (see record 2012-24333-012); M. A. Woodley and G. Meisenberg (see record 2012-24333-013); and J. D. Mayer, D. R. Caruso, A. T. Panter, and P. Salovey (see record 2012-24333-014) on the present authors' original article, "Intelligence: New findings and theoretical developments" (see record 2011-30298-001). Here, the authors address the concerns raised by Rushton and by Woodley and Meisenberg, and conclude by agreeing with Mayer et al's claim that many types of abilities can be thought of as intelligence of a kind. They note, however, that it has proved hard to show that measures of emotional intelligence or social intelligence contribute to behavior we would want to call intelligent over and above their correlation with conventional IQ tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Moderators of the predictive efficacy of the Historical,Clinical and Risk Management-20 for aggression in psychiatric facilities: Systematic review and meta-analysis

This paper presents results from a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of the predictive efficacy of the Historical, Clinical, and Risk Management-20 (HCR-20) for aggressive behavior in residential psychiatric facilities. Variations in efficacy were investigated based on aggression-type, HCR-20 scale used, and as moderated by clinical, demographic and methodological variables. Comprehensive terms were used to search seven electronic databases between January 1995 and August 2012. Additional papers were located by examining references lists and hand-searching. Twenty non-overlapping studies involving 2067 participants were identified. Few (n = 4) studies reported methodology and results sufficiently to ensure a transparently low risk of bias. The summary judgment (d_w = 1.166) had the largest mean effect size for prediction of any inpatient aggression. HCR-20 had best predictive efficacy among samples containing higher proportions of patients with schizophrenia, women, Caucasians, and those with greater risk of bias. Predictive efficacy was reduced in studies containing higher proportions of patients with personality disorder. HCR-20 is a significant predictor of aggression in residential psychiatric facilities but does not appear to have equal efficacy across groups. Future research should aim to verify current findings using more heterogeneous samples and should report methodology with greater rigor.     

Black Americans reduce the racial IQ gap: evidence from standardization samples

It is often asserted that Black Americans have made no IQ gains on White Americans. Until recently, there have been no adequate data to measure trends in Black IQ. We analyzed data from nine standardization samples for four major tests of cognitive ability. These data suggest that Blacks gained 4 to 7 IQ points on non-Hispanic Whites between 1972 and 2002. Gains have been fairly uniform across the entire range of Black cognitive ability.     

What are the combined effects of negative emotions and illness cognitions on self-care in people with type 2 diabetes? A longitudinal structural equation model

Objective: To explore whether negative emotions mediate the effect of diabetes cognitions on diabetes self-care and conversely whether diabetes cognitions mediate the effect of negative emotions on diabetes self-care.

Design: Longitudinal observational study in adults with type 2 diabetes.

Main outcome measures: Self-reported depression and anxiety (Diabetes Wellbeing Questionnaire), cognitions (Illness Perceptions Questionnaire-Revised; Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire), and diabetes self-care (Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Scale) were completed at baseline and six months. Analyses used structural equation modelling.

Results: Baseline medication concerns were associated with elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety at follow-up, but emotions did not mediate medication concern’s effect on diabetes self-care. Baseline depression and anxiety symptoms were associated with specific diabetes cognitions over time, but these cognition domains did not mediate emotion’s effect on diabetes self-care. Personal control remained independent of emotions and was associated with diabetes self-care over time.

Conclusions: Negative emotions did not act directly or alongside cognitions to influence diabetes self-care. The reciprocal relationship between diabetes cognitions and emotions suggests cognitive restructuring, in addition to other mood management intervention techniques would likely improve the emotional wellbeing of adults with type 2 diabetes. Likewise, personal control beliefs are likely important intervention targets for improving self-care.     

Explaining Delay in Care Seeking for Breast Cancer Symptoms1

From a theory of care-seeking behavior, this study answered two questions: Do psychosocial variables (anxiety, utility, norm, and habit) and objective, facilitating conditions (e. g., regular practitioner) influence care-seeking delay with a breast symptom directly, or are psychosocial influences moderated by facilitating conditions? Do demographic or clinical factors explain delay, controlling for psychosocial variables and facilitating conditions? Women with breast cancer symptoms (N= 106) completed questionnaire measures. Delay was measured by the days between symptom detection and first contact with the health system. Norm and having a regular practitioner were related inversely to delay. The influence of anxiety was moderated by having a regular practitioner. Among women lacking a practitioner, anxiety was related inversely to delay; among women with a practitioner, anxiety was not related to delay. Controlling for psychosocial variables and facilitating conditions, women of color delayed longer than did Caucasians. Findings can guide research and theory about care seeking.     

閃光頻率辨認中的时間知觉問題

一、問題 这項研究是从“閃光信号的頻率选择实驗研究”总課題派生出来的一个問題。在进行上述研究,尤其是有关“閃光頻率辨认和等辨量表”的实驗时,許多被試口头报告曾使用数数法,帮助自己辨认閃光的頻率。經与实驗結果对照,发現在閃光頻率低于30—40周/分时,用数数法确实有效,頻率較高(例如100周/分以上)时,則漸难使用数数法了,其轉折点似在50周/分左右。由于閃光頻率与閃光每周的时距有一定的关系,閃光頻率的辨认,归根結底,主要是以时間知觉为基础的。     

开关板电表刻度线粗细、长短、间隔与观察距离的初步研究

电测量指示仪表标度盘的刻度、数字、符号等合理配置的研究,是工程心理学的一个重要组成部分。开关板电表,由于观察距离随工作现场的情况而有相当大的差别,刻度线的粗细、长短、间隔对阅读速度及准确度的影响,便显得更为重要了。本文就是有关课题的一系列研究报告之一。     

学前儿童因果思惟发展的初步实驗研究(Ⅱ)

目的 本研究是在实驗第一部分的基础上,探索学前儿童怎样从实际中掌握客体的因果依存性的特点,向理解(即推理的思惟)水平过渡。 研究的問題,包括两个主要方面:(一)学前儿童在什么条件下能使带有因果性貭的实践动作順利地向因果思惟过渡?在教学影响下,怎样实現这一过渡?在实現过渡的內化过程中,有哪些特点?(二)在学前儿童的因果思惟发展过程中,有无所謂“可逆性”?学前儿童是否如皮亚杰(J.Piaget)所說,只能有“从特殊到特殊”的所謂“轉导推理”而沒有可     

Examining the Effects of Reading Modality and Passage Genre on Reading Comprehension in Middle School Students

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of reading modality (oral versus silent) and passage genre (narrative versus expository) on the reading comprehension of middle school students. A normative sample of sixth- and seventh-grade students (n = 175) read narrative and expository texts from the Qualitative Reading Inventory, Fifth Edition (QRI-5; Leslie &; Caldwell, 2011 Leslie, L., &; Caldwell, J. A. (2011). Qualitative Reading Inventory (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education. [Google Scholar]) aloud or silently and then answered questions about what they read. General reading skill was assessed by the Test of Silent Contextual Reading Fluency, Second Edition (TOSCRF-2; Hammill, Wiederholt, &; Allen, 2014 Hammill, D. D., Wiederholt, J. L., &; Allen, E. A. (2014). Test of Silent Contextual Reading Fluency, second edition. Austin, TX: PRO-ED. [Google Scholar]). A 2 (passage genre) X 2 (reading modality) mixed between-within subjects ANOVA was conducted separately by grade. Findings suggest that text genre influenced reading comprehension across both sixth- and seventh-grade students. Expository text was more challenging than narrative text in terms of students' understanding. Importantly, reading modality was not found to influence the reading comprehension of seventh-grade students and only approached significance for the sixth-grade students. These results suggest that although students may have effectively transitioned to being independent silent readers, additional pedagogical support may be required to develop effective strategies for understanding expository text.     

Parenting after Weight Loss Surgery: A Conceptual Model and Two Case Reports

The ways families approach eating, shape, and weight can result in stress for individual family members and challenge the overall functioning of the family. This is further complicated among families with a parent who has history of obesity or undergone weight loss surgery (WLS). Although WLS can positively impact other family members, it can also exacerbate conflicts regarding feeding and weight. Such conflicts can involve uncertainty regarding the extent to which the entire family should make the dietary changes recommended for the post-WLS parent. Conflict might also center on the appropriate level of concern regarding the children’s risk of developing (or maintaining) obesity. This paper uses two case examples to describe the application of a specialized, time-limited intervention: Parent-Based Prevention following Bariatric Surgery (PBP-B). The program was developed to address the unique challenges and concerns that arise after, or are exacerbated by, WLS. Each detailed case example illustrates a common child-feeding challenge and the employment of key PBP-B strategies throughout the course of treatment. In the first case, the parent who had undergone WLS believed the family’s current eating behaviors were the same as those that had led to her own overeating, obesity, and co-occurring psychiatric symptoms, while her husband disagreed. In the second case, both parents were concerned about their son’s weight, yet due to their prior eating histories, they felt unable to construct boundaries around the feeding experience. Both cases follow families through the entire intervention and illustrate key points and challenges. These cases underscore the need for novel treatment modalities to support families following parental WLS.