The use of reliable digits to detect malingering in a criminal forensic pretrial population

The present research is a cross-validation of previous investigation by Greiffenstein, Baker; and Gola; Greiffenstein, Gola, and Baker; and Meyers and Volbrecht on the reliable digits (RELD) method of detecting suspected malingering on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R). The results support the use of the RELD method on a criminalforensic pretrial population (N = 187). Sensitivities, specificities, and incremental hit ratesfor two cut levels of the RELD method, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) Infrequency and the Personality Assessment Inventory Negative Impression Scales, as well as multiple combined cut scores, were comparable to those observed in previous studies that used neuropsychologically evaluated participants. The selection of which cut score or combination of cut scores is appropriate on the RELD method is also discussed.     

The time course of response suppression: no evidence for a gradual release from inhibition

Most models of serial recall postulate that recalled items are suppressed and thus temporarily rendered unavailable. Response suppression can explain several results, for example the small number of erroneous repetitions and people's reluctance to report repeated items. Although it is clear that response suppression is not permanent (thus permitting renewed recall of an item on the next trial), nothing is known about its time course. We report two experiments that measured the time course of response suppression with a multiple cued-retrieval response-deadline method. Emphasis was on the extent of repetition inhibition for lists that contained a repeated item. Regardless of whether presentation was rapid (Experiment 1; 150 ms/item) or slow (Experiment 2; 500 ms/item), (a) the standard pattern of repetition inhibition and erroneous repetitions occurred and (b) repetition inhibition remained constant across increasing retrieval time. This suggests that the release from response suppression is a discrete, list-wide effect rather than a continuous, gradual wearing off. The latter conclusion is consistent with the operation of the SOB model (Farrell & Lewandowsky, 2002) but not with models that postulate complete suppression with gradual wearing off.     

Body esteem and body fat in British school children from different ethnic groups

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between body esteem and body fat in British school children. Two hundred and seventy seven, 11–14-year-old children from central England took part in the study. Body esteem was measured using the Body Esteem Scale for children and percent body fat was determined by skin-fold measures. Results indicate that body esteem and adiposity were negatively related for the whole sample, for boys and girls and for White children, Black children and Asian children. Factorial ANOVA also indicated differences in body esteem according to gender and ethnicity. Boys and Black children had significantly higher body esteem than girls and Asian children respectively. Differences in body fat were also evident according to gender with boys being leaner than girls. No differences in body esteem or body fat were evident across school years.     

The Dimensionality of Memory Strength Between Levels of Both Serial Position and Word Frequency Category

In recognition tasks where Signal Detection Theory (SDT) is applied, a suitable decision variable is required. This variable is typically assumed to be a global assessment of memory strength. A further assumption is that factors such as old-new, serial position (SP), and word frequency (WF) simply act to change the value of strength across levels within the factor. In terms of SDT, the decision variable is assumed to be uni-dimensional. Four experiments are reported that provide a direct empirical assessment of this assumption for SP and WF. Judgements of items (JOI), recency (JOR), and primacy (JOP) were measured for SP; and subjective frequency (JOF) was measured for WF. Multiple dimensions imply non-additive effects across factor levels and different retrieval processes or the influence of an extra process. A single dimension is consistent with an additive effect of factor levels and current theorizing. The data are in fairly good agreement with the uni-dimensional assumption across all four factors with the exception of JOR and JOP. These showed less uni-dimensionality for comparisons between beginning vs. end list items. The implications of this are discussed.     

Sexuality attitudes and behaviors of self-described very religious urban students in middle school

Data from a survey of 869 students aged 11 to 15 years and attending six urban middle schools were analyzed to identify differences in sex attitudes and behaviors between self-reported very religious students and their less religious peers. The two groups were demographically similar. They differed on only two attitude items, one suggesting that intercourse was a normal part of teenage dating and the other suggesting intercourse was alright if the two people were in love. The groups did not differ in their estimation of their peers' sexual activity or attitude or in terms of their own intercourse behavior or future intentions.     

El lugar de la interferencia en la percepción de estímulos simultáneos

RESUMEN

En una amplia variedad de tareas de detección de objetivos auditivos y visuales, la ejecución era escasamente influida por el número de no-objetivos simultáneos, pero le afectaba si los objetivos simultáneos debían ser detectados por separado. Se ha sugerido que sólo los objetivos necesitan pasar por un sistema de capacidad limitada que conduce a la conciencia; los no-objetivos pueden ser identificados y rechazados por un procesamiento paralelo e inconsciente. Puesto que las palabras no- objetivo, por ejemplo, se pueden rechazar en base al significado, el estímulo debe ser completamente analizado antes de pasar por el sistema de capacidad limitada. De modo general, la disminución en la ejecución debida a la atención dividida es acusada siempre que la estimulación simultánea (psicofísica, verbal, etc.) se deba identificar por separado, puesto que bajo estas circunstancias cualquier estimulación debe pasar por un sistema de capacidad limitada hasta la conciencia.     

Who uses community mental health centres? A study of one health district

A caseload analysis was undertaken to investigate those clients seen by five community mental health centre teams within one healthcare district. The 985 clients are described in terms of demographic and clinical features and questions relating to service provision are discussed.