The role of functional and perceptual attributes: evidence from picture naming in dementia

We examined the performance of a group of people with moderately severe Alzheimer's type dementia on a naming task. We found that functional information plays an important role in determining naming performance on both living and non-living things. Perceptual information may play some role in naming living things. We also found some evidence that the semantic category to which an item belongs may also have some effect on naming performance. We argue that both the sensory-functional and domain-specific knowledge hypotheses may be correct: the brain is to some organized on taxonomic grounds, while the semantic representations of living and non-living things depend differentially on perceptual and functional information. These representations can be differentially disrupted by damage to modality-specific stores. At a moderate level of severity, dementia causes global damage that has the effect of disrupting both the localized taxonomic and the modality-specific stores. We discuss the nature of functional information.     

Neuropsychology,genetic liability,and psychotic symptoms in those at high risk of schizophrenia

Neuropsychological assessments were compared among individuals at enhanced genetic risk of schizophrenia (n = 157) and controls (n = 34). The relationship between cognitive impairments and the presence of psychotic symptoms and measures of genetic risk was explored in the high-risk subjects. Neuropsychological differences were identified in many areas of function and were not accounted for by the presence of psychotic symptoms. Genetic liability was not associated with neuropsychological performance or with psychotic symptoms, but exploratory analysis showed some tests were associated with both liability measures. These results suggest that what is inherited is not the disorder itself but a state of vulnerability manifested by neuropsychological impairment, occurring in many more individuals than are predicted to develop the disorder.     

Clarifying achievement goals and their impact

The study of achievement goals has illuminated basic motivational processes, though controversy surrounds their nature and impact. In 5 studies, including a longitudinal study in a difficult premed course, the authors show that the impact of learning and performance goals depends on how they are operationalized. Active learning goals predicted active coping, sustained motivation, and higher achievement in the face of challenge. Among performance goals, ability-linked goals predicted withdrawal and poorer performance in the face of challenge (but provided a "boost" to performance when students met with success); normative goals did not predict decrements in motivation or performance; and outcome goals (wanting a good grade) were in fact equally related to learning goals and ability goals. Ways in which the findings address discrepancies in the literature are discussed.     

Development and validation of a modified version of the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire

This article reports results from 3 studies conducted to develop and validate a modified version of the self-administered form of the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ; C. R. Marmar, D. S. Weiss, & T. J. Metzler, 1997). The objective was to develop an instrument suitable for use with persons from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. In Study 1, the original PDEQ was administered to a small sample (N = 15) recruited from among men admitted to the hospital for physical injuries stemming from exposure to community violence. Results led to modifications aimed at improving the utility of the instrument. In Study 2, the modified PDEQ was subjected to structural equation modeling and item response theory analyses to assess its psychometric properties in a larger, primarily male, sample of community violence survivors (N = 284). In Study 3, the reliability and validity of the modified instrument were further assessed in a sample of female survivors of sexual assault (N = 90). Results attest to the psychometric properties as well as the reliability and validity of the modified 8-item PDEQ.     

The Southern Pub Crawl and Brawl: An Examination of the Alcohol–Violence Nexus in a Southern City

This research examines the relationship between alcohol availability and crime, specifically the variation of effects between the presence of off- and on-site establishments on violent crime. We contribute to extant research by providing a more comprehensive disaggregation of alcohol establishments. Framed in routine activities theory, we argue that alcohol availability will exacerbate violent crime rates by increasing quantities of motivated offenders and suitable targets, while simultaneously decreasing the number of capable guardians. We find a nuanced relationship between the presence of alcohol establishments and violence that varies based on establishment type as well as the characteristics of its block group.     

Bridging Science and Religion: How Health‐Care Workers as Storytellers Construct Spiritual Meanings

Contrary to the notion that medical science has supplanted religious understandings of human suffering, recent research suggests that health‐care workers like nurses can still portray their confrontations with illness and death in spiritual terms through storytelling. However, scholars have yet to systematically analyze the rhetorical devices used to construct spiritual meanings. Drawing on a symbolic interactionist perspective, we theorize that front‐line health professionals can deploy various rhetorical devices to infuse their workplace interactions with a spiritual significance. We also propose novel fuzzy set analysis techniques for determining which configurations of devices are most important in developing spiritual meanings. This approach was illustrated by examining 173 stories elicited from nurses at a nonsectarian, teaching hospital about encounters at work that significantly impacted their understanding of spirituality. Consistent with our expectations, the way in which nurses tell stories about their experiences not only shapes whether they attach spiritual significance to them, but whether they perceive spirituality and medicine to be compatible. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research on lived religion, conflicting identities, and institutional boundaries.     

Adoptees' Contact with Birth Parents in Emerging Adulthood: The Role of Adoption Communication and Attachment to Adoptive Parents

As adoptees transition to adulthood, their roles in the family may shift, providing them with opportunities to have increasing autonomy in their decisions about contact and initiating conversations about adoption. Research has often focused more on adoptees as children, yet in emerging adulthood, there are important shifts in the life roles and relationships of adoptees during which adoptive parents continue to be meaningful. This study examined associations among attachment and communication within the adoptive family during adulthood with emerging adult adoptees' experience of birth family contact (frequency of and satisfaction with birth family contact), in a sample of 167 emerging adults with varied contact with birth family (from no contact to frequent contact). Results suggest that perceptions of secure parent–child attachment relationships, as well as sensitive and open communication with adoptive parents about adoption, continue to be important for emerging adult adoptees and lead to greater satisfaction for adoptees with birth parent contact—regardless of whether adoptees actually have birth family contact. In particular, positive family communication about adoption during adulthood was predictive of satisfaction with birth parent contact. Limitations and implications are discussed.     

Rumination and Excessive Reassurance Seeking: Mediators of the Relationship Between Social Anxiety and Depression?

Social anxiety and depression are highly comorbid conditions. Although this has led researchers to suggest that social anxiety may convey risk for depression, few studies have examined mechanisms of comorbidity between these two conditions. The current study tested two mechanisms of comorbidity between symptoms of these disorders: brooding and excessive reassurance seeking. The data were evaluated in an undergraduate sample assessed three times over a 2 month period. Results suggested that brooding mediated the relationship between social anxiety at Time 1 and depression at Time 3, although no evidence was found for excessive reassurance-seeking as a mediator of these two variables. These findings support recent research suggesting that brooding may be a transdiagnostic process. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Counselor Education Doctoral Program Faculty Members’ Refereed Article Publications

This study investigated articles published in refereed journals by counselor educators (N = 378) employed by 55 doctoral programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. The counselor educators published in 321 different journals, and the variables that predicted publications rates included (a) year earned doctoral degree, (b) academic rank, (c) Carnegie category classification of current university, and (d) gender. Implications for counselor education and scholarly productivity are discussed.     

Employee Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Inhibition Systems,Manager Ratings of Employee Job Performance,and Employee Withdrawal

Employee behavioral activation system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS) sensitivities have potential to add value to understanding employee personality, job performance ratings, and withdrawal. After controlling for three Big Five personality trait dimensions (Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Extraversion), structural equations modeling results from 102 employees and their managers indicated that employee BAS sensitivity was negatively related to manager ratings of employee job performance and that employee self-defeating behavior partially accounted for the hypothesized negative relations. BAS sensitivity was also indirectly and positively related to employee turnover intentions by failure to delay gratification. BIS sensitivity was positively related to employee self-defeating behavior but was not related to manager ratings of job performance or withdrawal. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings and future research are discussed.