Biomarkers, health, lifestyle, and demographic variables as correlates of reaction time performance in early, middle, and late adulthood

We aimed to identify demographic, health, and biomarker correlates of reaction time performance and to determine whether biomarkers explained age differences in reaction time performance. The sample comprised three representative cohorts aged 20-24, 40-44, and 60-64 years, including a total of 7,485 participants. Reaction time measures of intraindividual variability and latency were used. The measure of intraindividual variability used was independent of mean reaction time. Older adults were more variable than younger adults in choice reaction time performance but not simple reaction time performance. The most important correlates of reaction time performance after gender and education were biological markers such as forced expiratory volume at one second, grip strength, and vision. Few measures of physical or mental health or lifestyle were associated with poorer performance on reaction time measures. Biomarkers explained the majority of age-related variance in simple reaction time and a large proportion of variance in choice reaction time. We conclude that for the ages studied, biomarkers are more important than health factors for explaining age differences in reaction time performance.     

Factors Associated with Suicide Ideation in Severely Obese Bariatric Surgery‐Seeking Individuals

There are high rates of suicide ideation and/or behavior in severely obese individuals. The potential contributors to suicide ideation in a sample of 334 severely obese bariatric surgery candidates was explored. Lack of college education, a history of suicide ideation and/or behavior, psychological distress, hopelessness, loneliness, history of physical and/or sexual abuse, and lifetime major depression were associated with current suicide ideation. Some of the correlates of suicide ideation in severely obese bariatric surgery‐seeking samples are similar to those found in the general community and this knowledge may serve to improve the psychological assessment and care for this group.     

Autobiographical Memory and Suicide Attempts in Schizophrenia

According to the cry of pain model of suicidal behavior, an over‐general autobiographical memory function is often found in suicide attempters. The model has received empirical support in several studies, mainly of depressed patients. The present study investigated whether deficits in autobiographical memory may be associated with an increased frequency of suicide attempts in patients with schizophrenia. We found support for our hypothesis that patients with schizophrenia and previous suicide attempts have an over‐generalized autobiographical memory compared to patients with schizophrenia without previous suicide attempts. Adjustment for sociodemographic and clinical variables did not change the results.     

Gender Differences in Loneliness Across the Lifespan: A Meta‐Analysis

Different theoretical contentions on gender differences in loneliness exist, often including the emergence of gender differences in particular developmental periods. To explain those ideas, the current meta‐analysis synthesizes the available evidence on gender differences in loneliness across the lifespan. Three‐level meta‐analyses were conducted with 751 effect sizes, covering 399,798 individuals (45.56% males). Results showed a close‐to‐zero overall effect (g = 0.07). Most examined moderators were non‐significant, except for age, the scope of the sampling area, and year of publication. Most importantly, all effects were small, suggesting that across the lifespan mean levels of loneliness are similar for males and females.     

Effect of color on judgments of food aroma and flavour intensity in young and elderly adults

The hypothesis was tested that subjects' judgments of food aroma and flavour strength will be increasingly influenced by food color as the chemosensory differences between foods become less apparent. Elderly (n = 24) and young (n = 22) adults were presented with pairs of food samples and instructed to indicate which sample had the more intense aroma or flavor. The chemosensory discriminations varied in difficulty, and the color of the food pairs was also manipulated so that either they were similarly colored, or the color strength differed so that it was either positively or inversely correlated with flavour strength. Overall, the results failed to support the hypothesis that color alters the perceived intensity of the food aroma or flavor. There was a weak trend toward a greater number of errors among sample pairs that varied in color, especially when color strength was inversely related to flavor strength. Elderly and young adult groups did not differ in chemosensory ability or in their responses to food color differences, although the elderly adults were significantly more certain of the accuracy of their chemosensory judgments.     

Suicide Prevention in Australian Aboriginal Communities: A Review of Past and Present Programs

A review of Aboriginal suicide prevention programs were conducted to highlight promising projects and strategies. A content analysis of gray literature was conducted to identify interventions reported to have an impact in reducing suicidal rates and behaviors. Most programs targeted the whole community and were delivered through workshops, cultural activities, or creative outlets. Curriculums included suicide risk and protective factors, warning signs, and mental health. Many programs were poorly documented and evaluations did not include suicidal outcomes. Most evaluations considered process variables. Results from available outcome evaluations suggest that employing a whole of community approach and focusing on connectedness, belongingness and cultural heritage may be of benefit. Despite the challenges, there is a clear need to evaluate outcomes if prevention is to be progressed.     

Perceptual fluency effects in judgments of creativity and beauty: creative objects are perceived fluently yet they are visually complex

ABSTRACT

Perceptual fluency typically has a positive influence on aesthetic evaluations of beauty, but few studies have examined its influence on creativity evaluations. Creativity has two facets, originality and quality. If creativity judgments involve estimating product originality, such judgments may be associated with perceptual disfluency, while product quality may be associated with perceptual fluency. We examined the relationship between perceptual fluency and judgments of creativity and beauty across seven experiments. Creativity judgments were affected by most perceptual fluencysources. We observed a highly-fluent-is-beautiful-and-creative relation when testing repeated exposure and figure-ground contrast. Prototypicality displayed a high-fluency–is-beautiful relation, with creativity judgments unaffected. Visual complexity displayed a consistent disfluent-is-creative effect, with mixed results for beauty. For creativity (but not beauty) evaluations, increased saliency of visual complexity led to discounting fluent-is-creative effects, supporting the hypothesis that there are at least two fluency pathways to creativity judgments that take both originality and quality into account.