Self-punishment as a regulation strategy in borderline personality disorder

Studies using the Thought Control Questionnaire (TCQ; Wells & Davies, 1994) suggest that the tendency to use self-punishment (e.g., shouting at oneself) in order to control unpleasant internal experiences (e.g., cognitive and emotional) is associated with psychopathology. To evaluate the role of self-punishment in borderline personality disorder (BPD), we first examined whether TCQ scales, including Self-Punishment, were different among adults with BPD (n = 31) when compared to those with other personality disorders (OPD; n = 24), elevated symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 24), and healthy controls (n = 105). Findings indicated that Self-Punishment was elevated in the BPD group relative to other groups. Next, Self-Punishment was examined as a potential mediator in the relationship between negative affectivity and BPD symptom severity in all participants. Results indicated that Self-Punishment did not mediate this relationship, but did account for significant variance in BPD symptoms over and above negative affectivity. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Behavioral limits of auditory temporal resolution in the rat: amplitude modulation and duration discrimination

Thresholds for detecting the presence of amplitude modulation in a noise carrier were determined for rats using conditioned avoidance procedures. There was a progressive increase in threshold with modulation rates between 5 Hz and 2 kHz. Further tests were conducted to determine difference thresholds for detecting an increase in modulation rate for standard rates of 10, 50, and 100 Hz. The size of the difference threshold increased progressively as the standard rate increased. In addition, thresholds for detecting an increase in the duration of a noise burst were determined for various standard durations. The difference thresholds were constant for values between 10 and 50 ms but increased progressively, with standard durations between 0.1 and 1.0 s.     

Virtual reality exposure therapy and standard (in vivo) exposure therapy in the treatment of fear of flying

This controlled clinical trial tested virtual reality exposure (VRE) therapy for the fear of flying (FOF), a relatively new and innovative way to do exposure therapy, and compared it to standard (in vivo) exposure therapy (SE) and a wait list (WL) control with a 6- and 12-month follow-up. Eighty-three participants with FOF were randomly assigned to VRE, SE, or WL. Seventy-five participants, 25 per group, completed the study. Twenty-three WL participants completed randomly assigned treatment following the waiting period. Treatment consisted of 4 sessions of anxiety management training followed either by exposure to a virtual airplane (VRE) or an actual airplane at the airport (SE) conducted over 6 weeks. Results indicate that VRE was superior to WL on all measures, including willingness to fly on the posttreatment flight (76% for VRE and SE; 20% for WL). VRE and SE were essentially equivalent on standardized questionnaires, willingness to fly, anxiety ratings during the flight, self-ratings of improvement, and patient satisfaction with treatment. Follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months indicated that treatment gains were maintained, with more than 70% of respondents from both groups reporting continued flying at follow-up. Based on these findings, the use of VRE in the treatment of FOF was supported in this controlled study, suggesting that experiences in the virtual world can change experiences in the real world.     

Students' perceptions of rewards for academic performance by parents and teachers: relations with achievement and motivation in college

In the present study, the authors examined college students' (N= 136) perceptions of the provision of extrinsic rewards given by parents and teachers for academic performance from elementary school through high school. They also examined the relations between reward history and present student motivational orientation. External rewards for students' grades were common at all levels of schooling. Reward history related significantly to students' motivational orientation and performance in college, and these relations were generally stronger for boys than for girls. The authors discuss implications of these findings.     

Windows into nothingness: terror management, meaninglessness, and negative reactions to modern art

Why do people dislike art that they find meaningless? According to terror management theory, maintaining a basic meaningful view of reality is a key prerequisite for managing concerns about mortality. Therefore, mortality salience should decrease liking for apparently meaningless art, particularly among those predisposed to unambiguous knowledge. Accordingly, mortality salience diminished affection for modern art in Study 1, and this effect was shown in Study 2 to be specific to individuals with a high personal need for structure (PNS). In Studies 3 and 4, mortality salient high-PNS participants disliked modern art unless it was imbued with meaning, either by means of a title or a personal frame of reference induction. Discussion focused on the roles of meaninglessness, PNS, and art in terror management.     

Behavioral assessment of impulsivity: a comparison of children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

We conducted a brief computer-based assessment involving choices of concurrently presented arithmetic problems associated with competing reinforcer dimensions to assess impulsivity (choices controlled primarily by reinforcer immediacy) as well as the relative influence of other dimensions (reinforcer rate, quality, and response effort), with 58 children. Results were compared for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who were and were not receiving medication, and with typically developing children without ADHD. Within-subject and between-groups analyses of the ordinal influence of each of the reinforcer dimensions were conducted using both time- and response-allocation measures. In general, the choices of children with ADHD were most influenced by reinforcer immediacy and quality and least by rate and effort, suggesting impulsivity. The choices of children in the non-ADHD group were most influenced by reinforcer quality, and the influence of immediacy relative to the other dimensions was not statistically significant. Results are discussed with respect to the implications for assessment and treatment of ADHD.     

Direct selection by color for visual encoding

In two experiments, we used rapid serial visual presentation tasks to examine the usefulness of color for the direct selection of visual information for perceptual encoding. The participants' task was to make a discrimination as to whether a target letter within a rapid sequence appeared in its upper- or lowercase version, and an advance cue indicated the color in which the target letter was most likely to occur. To maximize the usefulness of the cued color, in validly cued trials, we used sequences in which the target was the only item appearing in the cued color. In both experiments, accuracy was highest for validly cued trials. A cost-benefit analysis revealed a facilitory effect of valid cues and an inhibitory effect of invalid ones. These results support the idea that color cuing allows the direct selection of objects for further perceptual processing.     

Illuminating the dark side of creative expression: assimilation needs and the consequences of creative action following mortality salience

Previous research indicates that mortality salience and creative behavior combine to increase feelings of guilt, presumably over the disruption to social connection elicited by the call for innovative expression. The present studies examined whether satiating assimilation motives by highlighting conformity to others reduces this effect (Study 1) and facilitates positive psychological engagement (Study 2). Study 1 used a 2 (conformity vs. neutral feedback)x2 (mortality salience vs. control)x2 (creative task vs. noncreative task) design and had participants complete a self-report measure of guilt. Study 2 used a 2 (mortality salience vs. control)x2 (other goal task vs. self-goal task) design, and after a creativity exercise, had participants complete measures of positive mood, vitality, and creative problem solving. Results indicated attending to assimilation needs reduced the elevated guilt that follows the juxtaposition of mortality salience and creative behavior and also increased a sense of positive engagement. Implications are briefly discussed.