Depression and self-focused attention

Recent research on self-focused attention has indicated effects that parallel several cognitive and affective phenomena associated with depression. Specifically, discrepancies between perceived real and ideal self, increased affective response, self-attribution for negative events, and accurate self-reports occur both in depression and as a result of self-focused attention. A study is reported that investigated the relationship between depression and a measure of private self-consciousness, a dispositional measure of the tendency to attend to one's inner thoughts and feelings. As predicted, a reliable positive relationship was found. The potential role of self-focused attention in maintaining and exacerbating depression was discussed.The order of authorship was determined randomly.     

Bars and lines: A study of graphic communication

Interpretations of graphs seem to be rooted in principles of cognitive naturalness and information processing rather than arbitrary correspondences. These predict that people should more readily associate bars with discrete comparisons between data points because bars are discrete entities and facilitate point estimates. They should more readily associate lines with trends because lines connect discrete entities and directly represent slope. The predictions were supported in three experiments--two examining comprehension and one production. The correspondence does not seem to depend on explicit knowledge of rules. Instead, it may reflect the influence of the communicative situation as well as the perceptual properties of graphs.     

Switching or sharing in dual-task line-length discrimination?

In two experiments, we tested whether subjects switched or shared attention between two simultaneously relevant line-length discrimination tasks. Switching models that allowed within- as well as between-trial switching were considered. In the first experiment, stimulus duration was varied randomly from trial to trial. With varied durations, many switching models predict negative contingencies: for a given duration and attentional allocation, accurate responses on one task should be associated with inaccurate responses on the other task. The results, however, showed no negative contingencies, which is consistent with sharing models. In the second experiment, stimulus duration was reduced to 20 msec, yet responses were more than 75% correct overall. This implies that information was obtained about both of the tasks within single trials, contradicting those switching models which predict that information can be obtained from, at most, one task within a period of 20 msec or less. In short, the results of both experiments support sharing models.     

A computer program for Spearman-K?rber and probit analysis of psychometric function data.

PMETRIC is a computer program for the analysis of observed psychometric functions. It can estimate the parameters of these functions, using either probit analysis (a parametric technique) or the Spearman-K?rber method (a nonparametric one). For probit analysis, either a maximum likelihood or a minimum chi 2 criterion may be used for parameter estimation. In addition, standard errors of parameter estimates can be estimated via bootstrapping. The program can be used to analyze data obtained from either yes-no or m-alternative forced-choice tasks. To facilitate the use of PMETRIC in simulation work, an associated program, PMETGEN, is provided for the generation of simulated psychometric function data. Use of PMETRIC is illustrated with data from a duration discrimination task.     

A study of artificial eyes for the measurement of precision in eye-trackers

The precision of an eye-tracker is critical to the correct identification of eye movements and their properties. To measure a system’s precision, artificial eyes (AEs) are often used, to exclude eye movements influencing the measurements. A possible issue, however, is that it is virtually impossible to construct AEs with sufficient complexity to fully represent the human eye. To examine the consequences of this limitation, we tested currently used AEs from three manufacturers of eye-trackers and compared them to a more complex model, using 12 commercial eye-trackers. Because precision can be measured in various ways, we compared different metrics in the spatial domain and analyzed the power-spectral densities in the frequency domain. To assess how precision measurements compare in artificial and human eyes, we also measured precision using human recordings on the same eye-trackers. Our results show that the modified eye model presented can cope with all eye-trackers tested and acts as a promising candidate for further development of a set of AEs with varying pupil size and pupil–iris contrast. The spectral analysis of both the AE and human data revealed that human eye data have different frequencies that likely reflect the physiological characteristics of human eye movements. We also report the effects of sample selection methods for precision calculations. This study is part of the EMRA/COGAIN Eye Data Quality Standardization Project.     

Predictors of Recent Mental Health Service Use in a Medical Population: Implications for Integrated Care

This study investigated the relationship between physical and mental health and psychosocial variables and recent (within the last 12 months) mental health service use among 240 medical patients recruited from general and specialty outpatient clinics at an academic medical center. Results indicated 43.3% of the participants had recently received mental health services in the form of psychotropic medication (75%), psychotherapy (2%), or a combination of these treatments (20.2%). Among patients with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety or depression, approximately two-thirds were receiving mental health treatment. Moreover, four variables (healthcare provider referral for mental health services, perceived need for mental health services, prior use of mental health services, and frequency of medical appointments) were significant unique predictors of recent mental health service use. This suggests collaborative/integrated medical care may increase needed mental health service use.     

Physical Characteristics of the Menstrual Cycle and Premenstrual Depressive Symptoms

ABSTRACT— Little is known about the associations between premenstrual depressive symptoms and specific physical symptoms of the menstrual cycle. In a nonclinical sample of 183 female university students, six physical symptoms of the menstrual cycle (headaches, skin changes, gastrointestinal problems, breast changes, and coagulation and heaviness of menstrual bleeding) were tested for their associations with premenstrual depressive symptoms. The physical symptoms explained nearly 30% of the variance in depressive symptoms. Moreover, when the summed score for all six physical symptoms was used as a predictor of depressive symptoms, a strong linear effect and a moderate curvilinear effect were observed. These results could not be explained by response bias or by the presence of a small group of highly depressed individuals. This study emphasizes the need to consider physical symptoms of the menstrual cycle to better understand premenstrual depressive symptoms, and suggests that the contribution of the menstrual cycle to depressive symptoms in the general population is underrecognized.     

Reconsidering the “aspiration–expectation gap” and assumed gender differences among urban youth

The present study investigated the relevance of the “aspiration–expectation gap” and traditional gender differences among urban youth in middle school and high school (N = 294). Results failed to indicate a significant difference between the occupational prestige levels of aspired and expected careers, but did indicate a significant difference between aspired and expected levels of education. In general, the proportion of girls significantly outweighed the proportion of boys in traditionally “masculine” occupations with high levels of prestige; girls also had higher levels of occupational prestige than boys in terms of careers they hoped and expected to obtain. Black and bi/multi-racial youth expected to have higher levels of education than White youth.     

A longitudinal examination of risky sexual behaviors among Canadian and Italian adolescents: Considering individual, parental, and friend characteristics

In this study, two longitudinal models of early adolescent risky sexual behaviors (RSB) were compared using a pooled sample of 267 Canadian and Italian adolescents (55% females; 53% Canadians) assessed yearly from grade 8 to 10. We focused on parenting practices (monitoring, control, limit setting), adolescent problem behaviors (antisocial behaviors, substance use) and their friends' deviance (antisocial behaviors, substance use) as predictors of condom use frequency and lifetime number of sexual partners. The socialization model postulates that youths' problem behaviors and RSB are behaviors learned within the friendship network where deviancy training can occur. The selection model posits that delinquent youth tend to affiliate with each other, and that RSB is one of many behaviors that can form the basis of selection. Using structural equation modeling, this study showed that the socialization model was the most accurate to explain the emergence of RSB. A full mediation of parenting practices, passing through deviant friends and youths' problem behavior, was observed for condom use. The same process applied to number of sexual partners, but a direct effect for parenting practices was also found.