Central slowing during the night

The present study determined whether central information processing is subject to a circadian rhythm and, therefore, contributes to the well-known time-of-day effect on reaction time (RT). To assess the duration of central processing chronometrically, we employed the psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm. In this task, subjects make fast responses to two successive stimuli. RT to the second stimulus is usually prolonged as the interval between the two stimuli decreases. This PRP effect is commonly attributed to a central-processing bottleneck. Subjects performed the PRP task every 2 hr during 28 hr of constant wakefulness under controlled conditions. The PRP effect was most pronounced in the early morning. We conclude that central processing is subject to a circadian rhythm, exhibiting a slowing during the night and a nadir in the early morning.     

Knowing when to hear aids what to hear

Temporal preparation often has been assumed to influence motor stages of information processing. Recent studies, however, challenge this notion and provide evidence for a facilitation of visual processing. The present study was designed to investigate whether perceptual processing in the auditory domain also benefits from temporal preparation. To this end, we employed a pitch discrimination task. In Experiment 1, discrimination performance was clearly improved when participants were temporally prepared. This finding was confirmed in Experiment 2, which ruled out possible influences of short-term memory. The results support the notion that temporal preparation enhances perceptual processing not only in the visual, but also in the auditory, modality.     

Longitudinal evidence that psychopathy scores in early adolescence predict adult psychopathy

This study examined the relation between psychopathy assessed at age 13 by using the mother-reported Childhood Psychopathy Scale (D. R. Lynam, 1997) and psychopathy assessed at age 24 by using the interviewer-rated Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995). Data from over 250 participants of the middle sample of the Pittsburgh Youth Study were used to examine this relation; approximately 9% of the sample met criteria for a possible PCL:SV diagnosis. Despite the long time lag, different sources, and different methods, psychopathy from early adolescence into young adulthood was moderately stable (r=.31). The relation was present for the PCL:SV total and facet scores, was not moderated by initial risk status or initial psychopathy level, and held even after controlling for other age 13 variables. Diagnostic stability was somewhat lower. Both specificity and negative predictive power were good, and sensitivity was adequate, but positive predictive power was poor. This constitutes the first demonstration of the relative stability of psychopathy from adolescence into adulthood and provides evidence for the incremental utility of the adolescent psychopathy construct. Implications and future directions are discussed.     

Self-analysis and post-termination improvement after psychoanalysis and long-term psychotherapy

Long-term follow-up studies of long-term psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy or psychoanalysis are extremely rare, and few have focused on the post-treatment process itself. In the Stockholm Outcome of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy project, one of the results was that patients in psychoanalysis continued to improve after termination to a higher degree than patients in long-term psychotherapy. In this study 20 patients selected from the project were interviewed on two occasions, one and two years after termination, in order to explore how they described their post-treatment processes. The interviews were studied qualitatively using a multiple case study design, and categories of different types of post-treatment development were created from these case studies. Results indicate that the variation within treatment groups is large, and that development may continue in several ways after termination. The most striking difference between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy was not, as hypothesized, in the self-analytic function, but in various self-supporting strategies described by former analysands but not by former psychotherapy patients. However, only self-analysis was significantly correlated with post-termination improvement across both treatments. Three patients improving after termination and three deteriorating are described in detail as illustrations. Some methodological constraints of the design limit the generalizeability of results.     

A study of the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory‐II,the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale,and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in a sample from a healthy population

The objective of this study is to evaluate internal consistency and psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Beck Depression inventory‐II (BDI‐II) and the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) for screening for major depressive episode (MDE) in a selected sample from a healthy population. Participants answered the BDI‐II and the HADS questionnaires and were interviewed with MADRS. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)‐IV Axis I Disorders‐Clinician Version (SCID‐CV) was used to diagnose MDE. Current MDE was diagnosed in 20 (6%) of the 357 participants. All three scales including the depression sub‐scale for HADS had high area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) (AUC) (0.84–0.87), and internal consistency was also high for all scales (0.75–0.89). Optimal cut‐off for MDE was ≥ 12 for BDI‐II, MADRS ≥ 8, HADS total ≥ 9, and HADS‐D ≥ 4, which all resulted in sensitivities = 85% and specificities > 78%. Diagnostic accuracy was low on all depression scales (Cohen's kappa = 0.20–0.40). Reports of the properties of depression scales in a healthy population are limited. We found BDI‐II, HADS and MADRS to be acceptable as screening instruments for MDE in a selected sample from healthy population with recommend cut‐offs as mentioned above.     

Some Fundamentals of Integral Economics

There has been a growing interest in the integration of knowledge but few broad theoretical attempts in the field of economics. If integration is to be taken seriously, combining economic questions with the social and the natural sciences will not suffice. Psychology and the humanities will have to be incorporated, too. Inspired by the works of K. W. Kapp, C. G. Jung, and others, we develop a preliminary framework combining three key “integrative concepts”—(a) social metabolism, (b) the institutional structure, and (c) the inner world—within a perspective characterized by the interior/exterior distinction, evolution, openness, and the dialectics of potentials and actualizations. We argue that these three concepts help to integrate economics with the environment, the collective, and the self and spirituality. For each one of these integrated areas, we highlight some fundamental economic principles, namely (a) the implications of the differentiation of “natural resources,” (b) the signification of the distinction between property and possession, and (c) the need to take into account the unconscious and the individuation process in order to reach a realistic picture of the “economic actor” in search of existential fulfilment. Finally, we suggest sixteen economic propositions that could form a preliminary basis for an integral economics.     

Gender and Leadership in Spain: a Systematic Review of Some Key Aspects

As Spain experienced rapid societal and gender equality changes after the end of the dictatorship in 1975, the development of gender equality in Spain has differed from other European countries and the United States. Therefore, the results of Spanish studies conducted on gender and leadership might differ from those conducted in countries with other historical backgrounds such as other European countries or the United States. We systematically reviewed the current theoretical and empirical literature on gender and leadership with a special emphasis on this comparison. Thereby, we focused on four essential aspects: (a) the underlying mechanism of gender inequality (e.g., traditional gender roles), (b) gender and leadership behavior, (c) the relation of female representation in top management and on boards with organizational performance, and d) female representation and non-performance-related organizational outcomes. Further, Spain is currently experiencing a severe economic crisis. On the one hand, such a crisis might provide a chance for gender equality development; on the other hand, it might trigger a regression toward traditional gender roles in society. Thus, in our discussion, we relate the results of our comparison to these two different but possible consequences of the crisis. To conclude, we outline directions for future research that we hope will provide answers to important questions in this area of research.     

Psychological resilience: the impact of affectivity and coping on state anxiety and positive emotions during and after the Washington,DC sniper killings

This research examined the impact of affectivity and coping on state anxiety and positive emotions among young adults living in the Washington, DC metro area both during and after the Washington, DC sniper killings. Participants completed questionnaires during three waves of data collection: (1) during the sniper attacks (n=92); (2) within two weeks after the snipers were captured (n=45); and (3) six months later (n=43). Affectivity (measured by neuroticism) was significantly associated with state anxiety and positive emotions during all three time periods. Coping (measured by constructive thinking) predicted state anxiety and positive emotions during the shootings, but was unrelated to either outcome immediately after the attacks, and marginally related to them six months later. Consistent with the Dynamic Model of Affect, state anxiety and positive emotions were more strongly (and negatively) correlated with each other during the killings than they were after the snipers were apprehended. Taken together, these results support transactional models of stress that emphasize the interaction between dispositional and situational influences, and they suggest that affectivity reflects a fundamental set of reactions to one's environment, while coping dispositions result in more stress-specific responses. Additional theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.