Temporal memory over the adult lifespan

Performances of noncollege student young adults, middle-aged adults, and elderly adults were contrasted on word temporal memory and paired-associate learning tasks. A comparison group of college-student subjects was also evaluated on each task. Significant effects for age variation were found for each task. The age sensitivity for temporal memory conflicts with one of the criteria commonly established for determining the automaticity of a memory task. In addition, moderately high positive correlations were found for each age group between word temporal memory scores and paired-associate learning scores, implying the involvement of effortful processes over the adult lifespan in word temporal memory.     

The utility of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test in the detection of alcoholics and problem drinkers

This study examined the vulnerability of the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), a widely used, direct alcohol inventory, to positive dissimulation. An earlier study by developers of the MAST suggested that most alcoholics were unable to alter their scores and thereby avoid detection by the instrument. But closer examination indicated that a standard scoring procedure was not employed. This study examined the ability of alcoholics to avoid detection by the MAST when using a standard scoring procedure. As predicted, alcoholics readily manipulated their MAST scores and avoided detection when so motivated. These results are discussed, indications and contraindications for use are included, and recommendations regarding future research are made.     

Drinking practices among black and white alcoholics and alcoholics of different personality types

In order to examine the effects that race and personality type have on self-reported drinking practices, samples of 49 White and 49 Black male alcoholics were matched on age and education, and classified into two personality types according to MMPI scores. The results of multivariate and univariate analyses of variance yielded significant main effects. White alcoholics reported a greater: (a) use of alcohol for symptomatic relief of psychological distress, (b) loss of motor control and tendency to engage in destructive acts, and (c) daily consumption of beverage alcohol than Black alcoholics. Alcoholics with psychiatric-appearing MMPI profiles reported greater: (a) social benefits of alcohol use, (b) alcohol use for symptomatic relief of psychological distress, and (c) perceptual distortions associated with alcohol withdrawal than alcoholics with characterlogical-appearing MMPIs. Results were discussed in terms of need to control confounding effects of biosocial variables in cross-cultural research and implications that these effects may have on the generalizability of alcoholic personality typologies.     

Clinical utility of the MMPI in the evaluation of adolescent suicide attempters

MMPI profiles of female adolescents hospitalized on a general pediatrics floor following a suicide attempt were compared to a control group of medically hospitalized, female adolescents referred for psychiatric evaluation. The suicide attempters had only a lower score on the K scale when compared to the control group. Results do not suggest that a single MMPI profile differentiates suicide attempters from a comparison group of adolescents with emotional difficulties. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Validity of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory in the assessment of affective disorders

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) was administered to 270 adult outpatients with major affective disorders at the same time that a semistructured, diagnostic interview was conducted by a clinician. The mood of the patient was then rated, and the clinician completed the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Mania Rating Scale. A consensual diagnosis was arrived at by the team of investigators using DSM-III criteria. Significant correlations were found between four MCMI affective scales and the global mood state of the patient. Analysis of covariance indicated that the MCMI affective scales are significantly related to DSM-III affective disorders even after the effect of the current mood of the patient is partialled out. The clinical usefulness of each of the scales is discussed.     

A comparison of two measures of egocentrism

This study examined the relationship between two prominent measures of egocentrism, Enright's Adolescent Egocentrism Scale (AES) and Elkind's Imaginary Audience Scale (IAS), in a sample of 458 adolescents, between 10 and 15 years old. Both correlational and factor analyses indicated that the two measures assess distinctly different phenomena. As predicted, IAS scores were correlated with self-reported levels of shyness, nervousness, and social skills. These results provide partial evidence for the validity of the IAS as a measure of self-consciousness, though not necessarily egocentrism per se. The validity of the AES was not examined.     

The emotions of professional writers

In this study, 24 professional writers completed a short pencil-and-paper questionnaire on which they indicated how they felt before, at a pause, and after specific writing episodes. The intensity with which they experienced 20 emotions was assessed, as was the frequency with which these emotions were experienced when writing in general. Results indicated that the professionals experienced positive emotions significantly more often when writing in general than they experienced either negative-active or negative-passive emotions. Negative-passive emotions such as boredom, shame, and shyness were particularly rare and weak. During the actual writing process, positive emotions tended to intensify, whereas negative-passive and negative-active emotions resisted change. Sponsorship of writing had little impact on the quality of emotions experienced during the process. The professional poets, however, experienced negative-active emotions significantly more often when writing in general than did the prose writers.