Effect of two different videotaped instructional models on motor and verbal behaviors of adults' lifting: a pilot study

This study examined two different videotaped instructional models on subsequent motor and verbal behaviors of adults (N=9) learning how to lift properly. The correct model group viewed a narrated videotape of a skilled individual demonstrating lifting; the learning model group viewed a videotape of an unskilled individual being taught lifting by an instructor, and the controls received no intervention. Adults lifted from floor to waist a plastic crate during 15 acquisition and 3 retention trials and lowered the crate from waist to floor during 3 transfer trials. Learning and correct model motor performances were similar yet higher than those of controls during acquisition and transfer trials. Verbal reports indicated learning, and correct models generated more extensive and associated mechanical concepts than controls yet rarely monitored such concepts during performance. A single presentation of videotapes of proper lifting using either correct or learning models is effective in enhancing motor performance and proper lifting knowledge.     

Role of Parenting and Maltreatment Histories in Unipolar and Bipolar Mood Disorders: Mediation by Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression

In this article, we review empirical research on the role of individuals' parenting and maltreatment histories as developmental antecedents for symptoms and diagnosable episodes of unipolar and bipolar spectrum disorders. Our review is focused on the following three overarching questions: (1) Do negative parenting and a history of maltreatment contribute risk to symptoms or diagnosable episodes of unipolar and bipolar disorders? (2) Are the associations of negative parenting and maltreatment histories with bipolar disorders similar to those for unipolar depression? and (3) Are the associations between negative parenting and maltreatment histories and unipolar and bipolar symptoms or disorders mediated by cognitive vulnerability to depression? We begin by discussing the methodological requirements for demonstrating a psychosocial risk factor and the methodological issues that plague the parenting and maltreatment literatures. Next, we review the extant studies on the role of parenting histories in unipolar and bipolar disorders. We consider the specificity and possible moderators of the parenting-mood disorder relationship, as well as cognitive vulnerability to depression as a mediator of this relationship. Then, we review studies on the association of maltreatment histories with unipolar and bipolar disorders and the role of cognitive vulnerability to depression as a mediator of this association. We conclude with an assessment of the state of the parenting and maltreatment literatures in unipolar and bipolar disorder with regard to our guiding questions.     

Psychological Adjustment and Knowledge About Hereditary Hemochromatosis in a Clinic-Based Sample: A Prospective Study

This study assessed psychological adjustment and quality of life relative to population-based norms and knowledge about hereditary hemochromatosis in a sample of 101 patients who attended a hemochromatosis clinic. Participants were assessed prior to their clinic visit, and two weeks and 12 months after attendance, using self-administered questionnaires. Mean Mental Health Component Scores from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) (45.3, 95% CI 43.2, 47.4) were as compromised as those found amongst stroke victims (45.9, 95% CI 42.8, 49.0) who had participated in a national health survey. Recall of the genetic testing result was less than optimal, in that only 69.3% of those with genetic testing results knew whether they carried one or two mutations. This study demonstrates that patients would benefit from routine assessment of psychological distress and referral to mental health professionals of those whose levels of distress suggest a need for clinical intervention. Results also show that patients may benefit from strategies aimed at improving recall of genetic testing results.     

An IRT Model with a Parameter-Driven Process for Change

An IRT model with a parameter-driven process for change is proposed. Quantitative differences between persons are taken into account by a continuous latent variable, as in common IRT models. In addition, qualitative interindividual differences and autodependencies are accounted for by assuming within-subject variability with respect to the parameters of the IRT model. In particular, the parameters of the IRT model are governed by an unobserved or “hidden'” homogeneous Markov process. The model includes the mixture linear logistic test model (Mislevy & Verhelst, 1990), the mixture Rasch model (Rost, 1990), and the Saltus model (Wilson, 1989) as specific instances. The model is applied to a longitudinal experiment on discontinuity in conservation acquisition (van der Maas, 1993). Frank Rijmen was supported by the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO), the GOA/2000/02 granted by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven to Paul De Boeck and Iven Van Mechelen, and the PDM/02/067 granted by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven to Paul De Boeck.     

Syntactic development in children with hemispherectomy: the I-, D-, and C-systems

This study reports on functional morpheme (I, D, and C) production in the spontaneous speech of five pairs of children who have undergone hemispherectomy, matching each pair for etiology and age at symptom onset, surgery, and testing. Our results show that following left hemispherectomy (LH), children evidence a greater error rate in the use of functional category elements than their right hemispherectomy (RH) counterparts. Nevertheless, error rates are surprisingly low and comparable across groups. We interpret these results as (a) weak empirical evidence for a left hemisphere advantage in acquisition of functional structure, (b) strong support that functional structure is a property of all human grammars, and (c) strong support that each isolated developing hemisphere has the potential to acquire a grammar embodying and constrained by highly specific structural principles defining human language.     

A Bivariate Generalized Linear Item Response Theory Modeling Framework to the Analysis of Responses and Response Times

A generalized linear modeling framework to the analysis of responses and response times is outlined. In this framework, referred to as bivariate generalized linear item response theory (B-GLIRT), separate generalized linear measurement models are specified for the responses and the response times that are subsequently linked by cross-relations. The cross-relations can take various forms. Here, we focus on cross-relations with a linear or interaction term for ability tests, and cross-relations with a curvilinear term for personality tests. In addition, we discuss how popular existing models from the psychometric literature are special cases in the B-GLIRT framework depending on restrictions in the cross-relation. This allows us to compare existing models conceptually and empirically. We discuss various extensions of the traditional models motivated by practical problems. We also illustrate the applicability of our approach using various real data examples, including data on personality and cognitive ability.     

The Attitudinal Entropy (AE) Framework as a General Theory of Individual Attitudes

Abstract

This article introduces the Attitudinal Entropy (AE) framework, which builds on the Causal Attitude Network model that conceptualizes attitudes as Ising networks. The AE framework rests on three propositions. First, attitude inconsistency and instability are two related indications of attitudinal entropy, a measure of randomness derived from thermodynamics. Second, energy of attitude configurations serves as a local processing strategy to reduce the global entropy of attitude networks. Third, directing attention to and thinking about attitude objects reduces attitudinal entropy. We first discuss several determinants of attitudinal entropy reduction and show that several findings in the attitude literature, such as the mere thought effect on attitude polarization and the effects of heuristic versus systematic processing of arguments, follow from the AE framework. Second, we discuss the AE framework’s implications for ambivalence and cognitive dissonance.     

A generalized linear factor model approach to the hierarchical framework for responses and response times

We show how the hierarchical model for responses and response times as developed by van der Linden (2007), Fox, Klein Entink, and van der Linden (2007), Klein Entink, Fox, and van der Linden (2009), and Glas and van der Linden (2010) can be simplified to a generalized linear factor model with only the mild restriction that there is no hierarchical model at the item side. This result is valuable as it enables all well‐developed modelling tools and extensions that come with these methods. We show that the restriction we impose on the hierarchical model does not influence parameter recovery under realistic circumstances. In addition, we present two illustrative real data analyses to demonstrate the practical benefits of our approach.     

Meaning in Life and Volunteerism in Older Adults

Researchers explored predictors of meaning in life such as physical and mental health and volunteerism in a representative sample of older adults. Measures included the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Life Regard Index. Implications for counseling older adults are discussed.     

How to measure post-error slowing: A confound and a simple solution

In many response time tasks, people slow down after they make an error. This phenomenon of post-error slowing (PES) is thought to reflect an increase in response caution, that is, a heightening of response thresholds in order to increase the probability of a correct response at the expense of response speed. In many empirical studies, PES is quantified as the difference in response time (RT) between post-error trials and post-correct trials. Here we demonstrate that this standard measurement method is prone to contamination by global fluctuations in performance over the course of an experiment. Diffusion model simulations show how global fluctuations in performance can cause either spurious detection of PES or masking of PES. Both confounds are highly undesirable and can be eliminated by a simple solution: quantify PES as the difference in RT between post-error trials and the associated pre-error trials. Experimental data are used as an empirical illustration.