Sensitivity and specificity of depression questionnaires in a college-age sample

The authors evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996) and Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CESD; L. S. Radloff, 1977) questionnaires for a college-student sample. Results indicate that the BDI-II and CES-D evidenced satisfactory levels of specificity and positive predictive value for current, past-year, and lifetime depressive disorder ratings on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Researchers can use the questionnaires as valid initial screens in a two-stage process designed to identify individuals meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (American Psychiatic Association) criteria for depressive disorders. However, if the questionnaires are the only method used to select participants, the resulting sample may include a number of false positives.     

Links between casino proximity and gambling participation, expenditure, and pathology.

Two studies investigated the relationship between casino proximity and gambling participation, expenditure, and pathology. In Study 1, 8,842 participants were categorized into 1 of 4 driving distances from their home to the nearest casino in the province of Quebec: 0-100 km, 100.01-200 km, 200.01-300 km, or 300.01-981 km. In Study 2, 5,158 participants, who lived within a 100-km driving distance from the Montreal casino, were classified into 1 of 5 equidistant, 20-km driving distances. A survey company interviewed participants regarding their gambling habits. Results indicated a positive link between casino proximity and gambling participation (at the provincial and Montreal levels) and expenditure (at the provincial level only) but no link with the current prevalence rate of probable pathological gambling or of problem gambling. In a setting in which many types of gambling activities are available, casino proximity in itself does not appear to explain the rate of gambling-related problems. It is necessary to continue prospective research on exposure and adaptation theories as potential explanations for the development of pathological gambling.     

Women's eye contact and men's later interest: two field experiments

Previous studies indicated various nonverbal behaviors including eye contact of women are associated with men's approach; however, duration of the eye contact was not tested. In Exp. 1, a female confederate established eye-contact of 3 sec. or 1 sec. with a man when entering a bar. Duration of returned glance was the dependent variable. Analysis showed mean duration of the return glance was statistically shorter in the 1-sec. condition. In Exp. 2, the confederate made eye contact with a man and looked at him less than 1 sec., 2 sec., or 4 sec. The presence versus absence of smile was the dependent variable. Longer duration of eye contact was associated with an increase of smiling.     

From Sole Learning to Soul Learning

Abstract. Is it effective or even possible to teach an introductory course in religious studies that not only provides first‐year university students with the fundamental vocabulary, concepts, and critical tools of religious inquiry but also invites and stimulates the transformation of the religious imagination? In what kind of teaching and learning method could the process of personal transformation occur and how might one assess it? These are the questions that led to an experiment in teaching religion the objective of which was to prepare beginning students for the academic approach to religion and, at the same time, transmit the experience of learning as an embodied process that engages personal narrative within a community context. This essay is based on a three‐year project that has made considerable progress in meeting these goals and answering these questions. (Supplementary materials for this essay are available on the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion web site http://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/journal/baldwin.html .)     

A new methodology providing evidence of two distinct processes in the production of hand/foot simultaneous responses

To get simultaneous responses of the hand and the foot, it is mandatory to compensate for the longer peripheral motor conduction delay of the foot. According to the reactive-projective model [Paillard, J. (1948). Quelques données psychophysiologiques relatives au déclenchement de la commande motrice (Some psychophysiological data in relation to the releasing of the motor commands). Année Psychologique, 28-47; Paillard, J. (1990). Réactif et prédictif: deux modes de gestion du geste de la motricité. In V. Nougier, & J. Blanchi (Eds.), Pratiques sportives et modélisation du geste (Sport activity and gesture modeling) (pp. 13-56). Grenoble: Université Joseph-Fourier.] no compensation occurs in a reaction time situation; the hand responds before the foot, which indicates a single motor command released for both effectors. However, in a self-initiated condition, the foot tends to precede the hand suggesting that two distinct motor commands are issued, with the foot command first. Fully self-initiated movements are not usual. It is more usual to prepare a response in anticipation of the time occurrence of a stimulus (e.g., a musician following a conductor, synchronized swimmers emerging together with the music). Therefore, we developed a methodology to test whether the model holds in an anticipation coincidence task. In Experiment 1, the participants were asked to initiate a synchronized hand/foot response when the continuous visual stimulus (constant speed) reaches a target. The results fitted the model. In Experiment 2, anticipation coincidence tasks were performed in three conditions: using the foot (1) or the hand (2) alone, and using the hand and the foot simultaneously (3). Following a constant stimulus protocol, short tones were randomly produced, prior the stimulus, to indicate the participants to inhibit their response. As expected, the frequencies of correct inhibition in each preset period followed a sigmoid curve. The command release is assumed to occur at the biserial point (50% of inhibition). The results confirmed that the motor command of the foot is released sooner than the command of the hand. The hand/foot delay is lower in the simultaneous condition, because the command of the hand is released 40 ms earlier; while the foot command is 10 ms earlier. These data confirm and extend the projective-reactive model to a new category of coordination behavior.     

Locus of control, self-control, and family income as predictors of young children's mathematics and science scores

Locus of control, self-control, and family income were investigated as possible predictors of 138 young children's mathematics and science scores. The children, 60 boys and 78 girls, ranging from 4 to 8 years of age (M = 5.4, SD = 1.3) were administered the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview Scale, the Self-control Rating Scale, the Comprehensive Mathematics Inventory, and a science test based on the work of D. K. Dickinson. Analysis showed mathematics scores were positively related to income, locus of control, and science scores. Mathematics and science scores were negatively related to lack of self-control. Also, science scores were positively related to locus of control. Multiple regression analysis with mathematics as the dependent variable indicated income had the greatest predictive value followed by self-control and locus of control. The multiple regression model of science was also significant, with locus of control having the greatest influence followed by self-control.     

Biphasic ERK1/2 activation in both the hippocampus and amygdala may reveal a system consolidation of contextual fear memory

There is accumulating evidences to suggest that memory consolidation in some conditions involves two waves of neuronal plastic change. Using two fear conditioning procedures in male C57BL/6J mice, we have recently shown that consolidation of the foreground contextual fear memory required two waves of ERK1/2 activation in hippocampal CA1, while consolidation of cue conditioning was only associated with the early phase of activation. The present experiment further showed that this bi-phasic pattern of ERK1/2 activation was not restricted to hippocampal CA1, but could also be observed in other fear memory-related brain areas. The unpaired conditioning procedure (context in foreground) induced two waves of ERK1/2 activation in hippocampal CA1 and CA3, as well as in the LA and BLA nuclei of the amygdala. In contrast, the paired conditioning procedure (context in background) led to a transient early phase only in hippocampal CA1 and LA. In addition, ERK1/2 phosphorylation in the hippocampus was found to correlate with that in the amygdala nuclei specifically after the unpaired procedure. Taken together, our data suggest that the observed biphasic pattern of neuronal plastic events may reflect the interplay between hippocampal and amygdala activity-dependent plasticity critical for the system consolidation of contextual fear memory.     

The hidden sides of self-esteem: Two dimensions of implicit self-esteem and their relation to narcissistic reactions

Implicit, or nonconscious, self-esteem is often assumed to involve a unidimensional evaluation of the self. Our studies demonstrate that implicit self-esteem is in fact multifaceted and can be divided into at least two dimensions, which we term self-liking and self-attractiveness. Among participants for whom narcissistic thoughts and feelings were experimentally activated, we found that the two dimensions of implicit self-esteem were differentially associated with self-reported narcissism (Study 1) and feelings of aggressiveness (Study 2). In particular, narcissistic reactions were predicted by the combination of a high level of implicit self-attractiveness and a low level of implicit self-liking. These findings add to the growing understanding of the complexities of implicit self-esteem.