Personal need for structure and creative performance: the moderating influence of fear of invalidity

Previous research has suggested that personal need for structure (PNS) is negatively related to creative performance. In this article, it is argued that this relation, in fact, depends on another personality variable: personal fear of invalidity (PFI). When PFI is high, PNS should indeed be negatively associated with creativity. However, PNS should be positively associated with creativity when PFI is low, because this combination enables people to take a structured approach to creative tasks and this can be helpful to overcome their reliance on conventional and accessible task strategies. In four studies, this hypothesis is tested using different measures of creative performance. The expected interaction effect is found for measures of ideational fluency and measures of originality but not for measures of flexibility. Moreover, it is shown that the interaction effect between PNS and PFI is mediated by perseverance within thought categories.     

The Influence of Perceived Product Risk on Consumers’ e-Tailer Shopping Preference

Increasingly, retailers are combining Internet and store based operations to become “multi-channel” as they attempt to attract and retain customers. This study investigates how the type and level of perceived product risk (specifically economic and psychosocial risk) influence patronage preference for shopping from three types of e-tailers. The e-tailer formats studied are: pure play e-tailers (e.g., Overstock.com), value-oriented store based e-tailers (e.g., Wal-Mart.com), and prestigious store based e-tailers (e.g., Bloomingdales.com). The hypotheses, based upon prior research in the area of perceived product risk, show that type and level of risk do matter. Further, e-tailers linked with prestigious stores have an advantage over both other e-tailer types. Results also show an interaction between perceived product risk and the e-tail format. Based on samples from the Northeast and Southeast USA, the results are found to be similar in these diverse regions, improving the generalizability of the findings.     

The angry cognitions scale: a new inventory for assessing cognitions in anger

Although cognitive–behavioral therapy is the preferred anger management treatment, research on the cognitive processes associated with anger is relatively sparse. One reason for this has been a lack of adequate measures of the cognitive processes associated with anger. The current study addresses this limitation by developing a theoretically derived instrument to measure the cognitive processes thought to be associated with maladaptive anger. Pilot work identified a set of 72 items written to reflect 5 domains that cut across cognitive theories of anger: overgeneralizing, inflammatory labeling, demandingness, catastrophic evaluation, and misattributing causation. Items were administered to 362 participants and statistical analyses yielded the 54-item Angry Cognitions Scale (ACS). Evidence supporting the construct validity of the ACS was demonstrated through relationships with the experience and expression/control of anger, hostile thoughts, anger consequences, depression and anxiety, and other measures of positive and negative cognitions.     

When gains loom larger than losses: reversed loss aversion for small amounts of money

Previous research has generally shown that people are loss averse; that is, they weigh losses more heavily than gains. In a series of three experiments, we found that for small outcomes, this pattern is reversed, and gains loom larger than losses. We explain this reversal on the basis of (a) the hedonic principle, which states that individuals are motivated to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain, and (b) the assumption that small losses are more easily discounted cognitively than large losses are.     

Validity of Treatment Target Progress Ratings as Indicators of Youth Improvement

We examined whether clinical progress ratings on the Monthly Treatment and Progress Summary form (MTPS), an idiographic treatment progress measure, were meaningfully related to changes measured by two separate standardized instruments; the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) and the Child and Adolescent Level of Care Utilization System (CALOCUS). Validity coefficients were examined at intake and three-, six-, and nine-month follow-up periods. Samples were selected for each measure and follow-up period from the population of youth receiving services through the Hawaii Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division’s (CAMHD) system of care. Significant youth improvement was evident on all three measures across all follow-up intervals. The type of changes measured by the MTPS and CAFAS were more alike over longer follow-up intervals than changes measured by the CALOCUS. The MTPS captures distinct aspects of client change that overlaps somewhat with CAFAS and CALOCUS measures. The MTPS is a brief client-tailored measure that seems to provide valid, sensitive, and nonredundant client specific treatment outcome information that can be collected on a frequent basis within a complex system of care.     

Parallel central processing between tasks: Evidence from lateralized readiness potentials

The present dual-task study used lateralized readiness potentials (LRPs) and behavioral measures to determine whether response activation for Task 1 and Task 2 can occur in parallel. We also examined whether task similarity (known as dimensional overlap) increases parallel central processing by making it difficult to selectively activate one task set. With dimensional overlap, the behavioral data replicated previous findings of backward correspondence effects: The Task 1 response was influenced by its compatibility with the Task 2 response. This finding suggests parallel response activation. The LRP data supported this conclusion: Task 2 response activation (indexed by the LRP) began before Task 1 central operations had finished. When there was no dimensional overlap, backward correspondence effects could not be measured, but the LRP data confirmed that parallel response activation still occurred. We argue that parallel response activation does occur, perhaps due to accidental activation of Task 2 mapping rules when the intention is to selectively execute Task 1 mapping rules.     

Comprehensive treatment of three patients with comorbid OCPD and ADHD

Three patients were seen in an outpatient setting with work difficulties involving disorganization and task completion. They were evaluated and found to have significant symptoms of both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, inattentive subtype and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and were then treated with a creative combined behavioral and medication treatment, which emphasized the use of external aides (eg, paraprofessionals). Significant symptom reduction was observed as a result of this combined intervention.