Examining the narrative roles in suicide notes

The present study examines suicide notes, using a sample of suicide notes from published corpora (N = 50), combined with a sample of recent suicide notes from a suicide website (N = 50). The present study proposes a model of differentiation in completed suicides. The characteristics of the suicide notes were analysed using a content dictionary developed by Giles in 2007, and the data subjected to smallest space analysis. Four themes of suicide completer were discovered: Egoistic Victim, Anomic Hero, Altruistic Professional and Fatalistic Revenger. The implications of these findings and the potential use in therapy work with suicide survivors and those with suicidal ideation are discussed, as well as suggestions for the direction of future research.     

Mathematics of forgiveness

This study was aimed at determining the integration rule--summation or averaging--underlying the forgiveness schema. The main reason for distinguishing between these structures is that they have very different practical implications regarding the influence of various factors specific to each case on the propensity to forgive. In a summative model, the impact of the different factors and the direction of the effects are constant. For example, the presence of apologies always is a positive element even when these apologies assume a very weak form. By contrast, in an averaging model, the apologies can be a positive or a negative element depending on the current level of propensity to forgive and the form of the apologies. Two experiments were conducted using the functional theory of cognition framework. Experiment 1 applied the missing information test. Experiment 2 applied the credibility of information test. In both experiments, clear evidence favored a summative rule for judging willingness to forgive from circumstantial information such as presence or absence of intent, presence of absence of apologies, and degree of cancellation of consequences.     

The role of oral language revisited: a comment on the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2005)

This article comments on the discussion of S. A. Storch and G. J. Whitehurst's literacy development model in the article by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Early Child Care Research Network (ECCRN). Specifically, this comment focuses on concerns raised by the NICHD ECCRN that Storch and Whitehurst's model does not afford an important role to oral language in the development of early reading skill. Four important issues are presented that provide a serious and careful challenge to the model and conclusions of the NICHD ECCRN's report.     

Distress tolerance as a predictor of early treatment dropout in a residential substance abuse treatment facility

A large percentage of individuals who enter residential substance abuse treatment drop out before completing treatment. Given that early treatment dropout places individuals at an increased risk for relapse, identifying the mechanisms underlying treatment dropout would have several important theoretical and clinical implications. In the current study, the authors examined levels of psychological and physical distress tolerance as a predictor of early treatment dropout in a residential substance abuse treatment facility. In a sample of 122 individuals entering a residential substance abuse treatment facility, level of psychological distress tolerance was predictive of early treatment dropout above and beyond relevant self-report variables. There was no relationship between physical distress tolerance and early treatment dropout. Implications for future studies and treatment development or modification are discussed.     

MORPHINE TOLERANCE AS A FUNCTION OF RATIO SCHEDULE: RESPONSE REQUIREMENT OR UNIT PRICE?

Key pecking by 3 pigeons was maintained by a multiple fixed-ratio 10, fixed-ratio 30, fixed-ratio 90 schedule of food presentation. Components differed with respect to amount of reinforcement, such that the unit price was 10 responses per 1-s access to food. Acute administration of morphine, l-methadone, and cocaine dose-dependently decreased overall response rates in each of the components. When a rate decreasing dose of morphine was administered daily, tolerance, as measured by an increase in the dose that reduced response rates to 50% of control (i.e., the ED50 value), developed in each of the components; however, the degree of tolerance was smallest in the fixed-ratio 90 component (i.e., the ED50 value increased the least). When the l-methadone dose-effect curve was redetermined during the chronic morphine phase, the degree of cross-tolerance conferred to l-methadone was similar across components, suggesting that behavioral variables may not influence the degree of cross-tolerance between opioids. During the chronic phase, the cocaine dose-effect curve shifted to the right for 2 pigeons and to the left for 1 pigeon, which is consistent with predictions based on the lack of pharmacological similarity between morphine and cocaine. When the morphine, l-methadone, and cocaine dose-effect curves were redetermined after chronic morphine administration ended, the morphine and l-methadone ED50s replicated those obtained prior to chronic morphine administration. The morphine data suggest that the fixed-ratio value (i.e., the absolute output) determines the degree of tolerance and not the unit price.     

Selection of tool diameter by New Caledonian crows<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Corvus moneduloides</Emphasis>

One important element of complex and flexible tool use, particularly where tool manufacture is involved, is the ability to select or manufacture appropriate tools anticipating the needs of any given task—an ability that has been rarely tested in non-primates. We examine aspects of this ability in New Caledonian crows—a species known to be extraordinary tool users and manufacturers. In a 2002 study, Chappell and Kacelnik showed that these crows were able to select a tool of the appropriate length for a task among a set of different lengths, and in 2002, Weir, Chappell and Kacelnik showed that New Caledonian crows were able to shape unfamiliar materials to create a usable tool for a specific task. Here we examine their handling of tool diameter. In experiment 1, we show that when facing three loose sticks that were usable as tools, they preferred the thinnest one. When the three sticks were presented so that one was loose and the other two in a bundle, they only disassembled the bundle when their preferred tool was tied. In experiment 2, we show that they manufacture, and modify during use, a tool of a suitable diameter from a tree branch, according to the diameter of the hole through which the tool will have to be inserted. These results add to the developing picture of New Caledonian crows as sophisticated tool users and manufacturers, having an advanced level of folk physics.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at     

The role of distress tolerance in the relationship between depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use

Empirical evidence and theory implicate the role of distress tolerance in the relationship between negative affect and alcohol use. However, limited research has been conducted to explore these relationships. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine whether distress tolerance moderates the relationship between current depressive symptoms and problematic alcohol use in a community sample of adults. Participants included 150 adults, primarily female, recruited from the local community. Problematic alcohol use was measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) total score, which is a composite measure of harmful and hazardous patterns of alcohol use and several current alcohol dependence symptoms. Distress tolerance was measured using a computerized behavioral distress tolerance task, the Computerized Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT-C). Tobit regression analyses indicated a significant interaction between distress tolerance and depressive symptoms in predicting alcohol problems, such that depressive symptoms were significantly associated with problematic alcohol use among adults with low, but not high, distress tolerance. Thus, alcohol use interventions with a focus on distress tolerance skills in the context of depressive symptoms may be particularly effective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The deviant citizen: Measuring potential positive relations between counterproductive work behaviour and organizational citizenship behaviour

Studies have shown a strong negative correlation between counterproductive work behaviour (CWB) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and opposite correlations with hypothesized antecedents. Such observed correlations may have been erroneously caused by three measurement artefacts: items measuring absence of CWBs, rather than behaviours that exceed requirements or expectations in OCB scales; supervisory halo; and agreement rather than frequency response format. A new OCB scale, the OCB‐checklist (OCB‐C) was used that did not have these artefacts. Contrary to prior expectations from the literature, positive relations were found between CWB and OCB, and stressors and OCB. Theoretical explanations for positive CWB/OCB relations (demand‐elicited OCB, social loafing, work process problems, rater perceptions and attributions, and aggravated job stress processes) are discussed.