Infant visual fixation: The effect of concentricity,curvilinearity, and number of directions

The goal of the study was to define certain of the effective dimensions of visual stimulation in the infant's visual environment by analyzing the well-documented preference for the bullseye over a pattern of horizontal stripes. The stimuli were ten black and white patterns, including the bullseye and the stripes, designed to vary along three dimensions: concentricity, curvilinearity and number of directions within the stimulus. The dependent measure was total fixation time corrected for position bias. The subects, 18 three-month-old infants, were tested three times each in order to present them with the ten stimuli in all possible combinations with positions reversed.All three dimensions were found to be effective in varying degrees. The results were discussed in terms of underlying mechanisms and the infant's ability to process information from a multidimensional stimulus.     

Software review

Summary Word Works certainly provides a technological approach to creating educational worksheets. These programs ar designed to enhance instructional management and increase student vocabulary efficiently. Educators with at least word processing capability are able to operate this menudriven program.Given that the appropriateness of instructional worksheets is often bantered about the educational community, the contributions of these programs are somewhat limited. Although it is assumed by the software manufacturers that programs as such are motivating for students, the extended use of such activities are often criticized by educational experts. Further, the on-going use of worksheets is tempered by such student variables as student reading ability, students' age-grade level, and other variables.     

Place of Birth, Place of Residence, and Concentration in Social Occupations

To explore the hypothesis that people who migrate across international, provincial, and state borders tend to veer away from occupations that require intense social interaction, demographic data were obtained on 2,638 North Americans who have attained eminence within their chosen fields. Occupations were blind-coded either as "social" or "nonsocial." While there were similar concentrations in social occupations among Native Americans (75.00%) and Native Canadians (73.02%), there were successively fewer social occupations among Canadian emigres (59.53%), world (predominantly European) emigres (51.46%), and Asian emigres (40.99%) to the U.S. Findings suggest that Asian Americans' well-documented tendencies to veer away from lines of work that involve forceful self-expression reflects a continuous variable rather than a dichotomous variable that sharply separates Asian and North American cultures.     

Investigation of a developmental model of risk for depression and suicidality following spousal bereavement

Data from a community-based multi-wave investigation were used to examine a developmental model of risk for depression and suicidality following the death of a spouse. Measures of perceived parental affection and control during childhood were administered to 218 widowed adults 11 months after the death of the spouse. Self-esteem, spousal dependency, depression, and suicidality were assessed 9 months later. Dependency on the deceased spouse mediated a significant association between retrospectively reported parental control during childhood and post-loss depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms mediated significant associations of dependency on the deceased spouse and low self-esteem with suicidal ideation and behavior.     

The Effectiveness of Individual Wellness Counseling on the Wellness of Law Enforcement Officers

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the effectiveness of wellness counseling on increasing wellness among law enforcement officers. The study also examined whether position in the Transtheoretical Model (J. O. Prochaska & C. C. DiClemente, 1982) and self‐efficacy influenced the effectiveness of counseling on wellness. These findings indicate that counseling may increase wellness among law enforcement officers.     

A Review of the Stereotype Threat Literature and Its Application in a Neurological Population

Stereotype threat is a situational phenomenon, leading to test performance decrements, in which a member of a stigmatized group feels pressured by the possibility of confirming or being judged by a negative stereotype. This review article highlights the progression of research in the stereotype threat field, and its relevance to neurological populations. Early studies focused on demonstrating this effect in African American, women, and elderly populations. Since this time, research has continued to focus on these populations but has moved to elucidating stereotype threat's mediating psychological factors, studying the impact of individual differences in response to stereotype threat, and attempting to reduce its overall effect. A proposal for further study in neurological populations, under the framework of stereotype threat, comprises the last portion of the paper. It is argued that this social psychological phenomenon may, at least in part, account for poor neuropsychological test performance for neurologically compromised individuals.     

Detection strategies for malingering with the Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test: a confirmatory factor analysis of its underlying dimensions

Two of the most widely used measures for the assessment of malingering in forensic populations are the Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST) and the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS). The underlying dimensions of the SIRS have been well established in the literature, but the structure of the M-FAST remains relatively untested. Understanding of its dimensions is critical for construct validity and guiding its proper use. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to provide evidence of a single parsimonious malingering factor to account for the covariation of the M-FAST items in a sample of 244 forensic patients. In addition, the model was cross-validated with an independent sample of 210 forensic patients. Finally, the M-FAST factor was modeled in conjunction with two factors of the SIRS. Results provide further validation of the underlying detection strategy found in the M-FAST.