Maternal depressive history, teen 5HTTLPR genotype, and the processing of emotional faces: Exploring mechanisms of risk

Variations in the serotonin transporter gene (5HTTLPR) and biased processing of face-emotion displays both have been implicated in the transmission of depression risk, but little is known about developmental influences on these relationships. Within a community sample of adolescents, we examine whether 5HTTLPR genotype moderates the link between maternal depressive history and errors in face-emotion labeling. When controlling for current levels of depression and anxiety among youth, a two-way interaction between maternal depressive history and 5HTTLPR genotype was detected. Specifically, adolescents whose mothers reported a depressive history and who had a low expressing genotype made more errors in classifying emotional faces when compared with adolescents with an intermediate or high expressing genotype, with or without maternal depression history. These findings highlight the complex manner in which maternal depression and genetic risk may interact to predict individual differences in social information processing.     

Culturally adapted CBT (CA-CBT) for Latino women with treatment-resistant PTSD: a pilot study comparing CA-CBT to applied muscle relaxation

We examined the therapeutic efficacy of a culturally adapted form of CBT (CA-CBT) for PTSD as compared to applied muscle relaxation (AMR) for female Latino patients with treatment-resistant PTSD. Participants were randomized to receive either CA-CBT (n = 12) or AMR (n = 12), and were assessed before treatment, after treatment, and at a 12-week follow-up. The treatments were manualized and delivered in the form of group therapy across 14 weekly sessions. Assessments included a measure of PTSD, anxiety, culturally relevant idioms of distress (nervios and ataque de nervios), and emotion regulation ability. Patients receiving CA-CBT improved significantly more than in the AMR condition. Effect size estimates showed very large reductions in PTSD symptoms from pretreatment to posttreatment in the CA-CBT group (Cohen’s d = 2.6) but only modest improvements in the AMR group (0.8). These results suggest that CA-CBT can be beneficial for previously treatment-resistant PTSD in Latino women.     

Pride and respect in volunteers' organizational commitment

As volunteer organizations cannot rely on instrumental means to motivate their workers, we examine organizational commitment as a focal indicator of work motivation among volunteers. Based on a social identity analysis and previous work among paid employees, we argue that pride in the organization and respect from the organization predicts organizational commitment among volunteers. We further propose that among volunteers the perceived importance of volunteer work is an antecedent of pride, and that perceived support from the organization is an antecedent of respect. In this study among volunteer workers, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) offers empirical support for our hypothesized model. In addition to the theoretical significance of developing a model that explains organizational commitment among volunteer workers, this study also has practical relevance, as it indicates that volunteer organizations might convey the importance of volunteer work and provide organizational support to induce pride and respect as a means of enhancing organizational commitment among their volunteers. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motor programming in apraxia of speech

Apraxia of Speech (AOS) is an impairment of motor programming. However, the exact nature of this deficit remains unclear. The present study examined motor programming in AOS in the context of a recent two-stage model [Klapp, S. T. (1995). Motor response programming during simple and choice reaction time: The role of practice. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 21, 1015–1027; Klapp, S. T. (2003). Reaction time analysis of two types of motor preparation for speech articulation: Action as a sequence of chunks. Journal of Motor Behavior, 35, 135–150] that proposes a preprogramming stage (INT) and a process that assigns serial order to multiple programs in a sequence (SEQ). The main hypothesis was that AOS involves a process-specific deficit in the INT (preprogramming) stage of processing, rather than in the on-line serial ordering (SEQ) and initiation of movement. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that AOS involves a central (i.e., modality-general) motor programming deficit. We used a reaction time paradigm that provides two dependent measures: study time (the amount of time for participants to ready a motor response; INT), and reaction time (time to initiate movement; SEQ). Two experiments were conducted to examine INT and SEQ in AOS: Experiment 1 involved finger movements, Experiment 2 involved speech movements analogous to the finger movements. Results showed longer preprogramming time for patients with AOS but normal sequencing and initiation times, relative to controls. Together, the findings are consistent with the hypothesis of a process-specific, but central (modality-independent) deficit in AOS; alternative explanations are also discussed.     

Beyond "objective" and "projective": a logical system for classifying psychological tests: comment on Meyer and Kurtz (2006)

I present a formal system that accounts for the misleading distinction between tests formerly termed objective and projective, duly noted by Meyer and Kurtz (2006). Three principles of Response Rightness, Response Latitude and Stimulus Ambiguity are shown to govern, in combination, the formal operating characteristics of tests, producing inevitable overlap between "objective" and "projective" tests and creating at least three "types" of tests historically regarded as being projective in nature. The system resolves many past issues regarding test classification and can be generalized to include all psychological tests.     

New Directions in Goal-Setting Theory

ABSTRACT— Goal-setting theory is summarized regarding the effectiveness of specific, difficult goals; the relationship of goals to affect; the mediators of goal effects; the relation of goals to self-efficacy; the moderators of goal effects; and the generality of goal effects across people, tasks, countries, time spans, experimental designs, goal sources (i.e., self-set, set jointly with others, or assigned), and dependent variables. Recent studies concerned with goal choice and the factors that influence it, the function of learning goals, the effect of goal framing, goals and affect (well-being), group goal setting, goals and traits, macro-level goal setting, and conscious versus subconscious goals are described. Suggestions are given for future research.     

Predicting job seeking for temporary employment using the theory of planned behaviour: The moderating role of individualism and collectivism

Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the role of behavioural, normative, and control beliefs and individualism/collectivism was examined in the context of job seeking for temporary employment. Data were collected in a two‐wave longitudinal design, using a culturally diverse sample of 138 temporary workers in The Netherlands. Results supported the TPB‐relationships, with the exception of the role of perceived behavioural control (PBC). Of the behavioural beliefs, sense of security, work–life balance, and status were most strongly related to intentions to seek temporary employment. Further, hypothesized moderating effects of collectivism were confirmed such that people low on collectivism were more strongly motivated by their personal attitudes about job seeking and less by perceptions of social pressure than people high on collectivism. Thus, the TPB was demonstrated to work somewhat differently depending on people's cultural value orientations.     

Genetic studies of stuttering in a founder population

Genome-wide linkage and association analyses were conducted to identify genetic determinants of stuttering in a founder population in which 48 individuals affected with stuttering are connected in a single 232-person genealogy. A novel approach was devised to account for all necessary relationships to enable multipoint linkage analysis. Regions with nominal evidence for linkage were found on chromosomes 3 (P=0.013, 208.8 centiMorgans (cM)), 13 (P=0.012, 52.6 cM), and 15 (P=0.02, 100 cM). Regions with nominal evidence for association with stuttering that overlapped with a linkage signal are located on chromosomes 3 (P=0.0047, 195 cM), 9 (P=0.0067, 46.5 cM), and 13 (P=0.0055, 52.6 cM). We also conducted the first meta-analysis for stuttering using results from linkage studies in the Hutterites and The Illinois International Genetics of Stuttering Project and identified regions with nominal evidence for linkage on chromosomes 2 (P=0.013, 180-195 cM) and 5 (P=0.0051, 105-120 cM; P=0.015, 120-135 cM). None of the linkage signals detected in the Hutterite sample alone, or in the meta-analysis, meet genome-wide criteria for significance, although some of the stronger signals overlap linkage mapping signals previously reported for other speech and language disorders. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (1) summarize information about the background of common disorders and methodology of genetic studies; (2) evaluate the role of genetics in stuttering; (3) discuss the value of using founder populations in genetic studies; (4) articulate the importance of combining several studies in a meta-analysis; (5) discuss the overlap of genetic signals identified in stuttering with other speech and language disorders.     

Anxiety and defensiveness: individual differences in affective startle modulation

Anxious individuals selectively attend to threatening information, and defensiveness may influence the experience and expression of anxiety. Fifty-eight undergraduates scoring high and low on measures of anxiety and defensiveness viewed pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures. Acoustic startle probes were presented 60, 240, or 2,000 ms after picture onset. At 60 ms and 240 ms, repressors (low anxiety, high defensiveness) showed weaker blinks during both pleasant and unpleasant compared to neutral pictures, suggesting enhanced early attention to affective stimuli, regardless of valence. At 2,000 ms, high-anxious but not low anxious participants showed potentiated startle responses during unpleasant compared to pleasant pictures. Although this result replicated previous research on anxiety and valence modulation of startle, exploratory analyses suggested that the valence effect was restricted to trait anxious individuals tending toward a defensive coping style. Across probe conditions, defensiveness was associated with heightened startle reactivity independent of self-reported anxiety and foreground stimulus characteristics.