Memory and attention in combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Vietnam combat veterans assigned diagnoses of PTSD were compared on measures of attention/concentration, new learning, and memory with Army National Guard enlistees who reported no unusual traumatic events or stress-related symptoms. Results showed that PTSD veterans performed more poorly than the comparison sample on a measure of verbal learning, exhibiting less proficient cumulative acquisition across repeated exposures, greater sensitivity to proactive interference, and more perseverative errors. Veterans with PTSD diagnoses also evidenced impairments in word fluency and visual attention/tracking abilities. These preliminary findings suggest that diagnoses of chronic PTSD in combat veterans are associated with cognitive performance deficits, when comparisons are made with military troops judged to be free of stress-related psychopathology. Results are consistent with self-reported complaints of concentration and memory impairments among PTSD-diagnosed clinical samples, thus highlighting the need for continued investigation of the neuropsychologlcal sequelae of prolonged stress exposure.     

Time Structure and Purpose as a Mediator of Work-Life Linkages

This study explores time structure and purpose as a mediator of the relationship between the experience of work and well-being in life, taking into account personality factors. A recursive model is presented in which value attainment at work and job satisfaction are expected to positively affect life satisfaction directly and indirectly through their effects on time structure and purpose. A test of the model using questionnaire responses from 336 workers generally was supportive of the hypothesized relationships suggesting that one mechanism through which work may affect well-being is through work's influence on people's sense of time being spent in purposeful and meaningful ways. Support for the hypothesized role of personality in the model also was obtained. In general, these results are consistent with top-down and bottom-up theories of well-being suggesting that both types of processes likely operate in tandem. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Measuring Daily Events and Experiences: Decisions for the Researcher

There has been a burgeoning interest in studying daily events and experiences. This article discusses a variety of methodologic challenges that face daily event and experience researchers. The issues discussed include techniques for measuring events, the development of event checklists, sampling event content, specifying event appraisals, event validation procedures, and the creation of summary measures derived from event checklists. Procedural issues discussed include determining the number of observations and persons needed for daily event studies, the evaluation of response, attrition, and missing item bias, and problems linking event reports over time.     

PROSPECT (HE): An Evaluation of User Responses

The main features of PROSPECT (HE), a major new computer-aided guidance system for higher education institutions, are described. The results of its field trials within six higher education careers services show that the reactions of students and staff to the system are predominantly positive and that it has already established credibility with its users. There are, however, some 'tensions' between some of the principles on which the system is based: between matching and exploration; between coherence and flexibility; and between a phenomenological approach and an approach based on objective realism.     

Comparing the effects of static and dynamic signals during multiple schedules

The extent to which multiple schedules are an effective schedule thinning method following functional communication training (FCT) relies on the control the schedule-correlated stimuli exert over behavior. Thus, the stimuli used to signal the schedule in place (e.g., reinforcement and extinction) in a multiple schedule arrangement require special attention. To date, the majority of the research on multiple schedules has evaluated the use of different arbitrary signals as schedule-correlated stimuli (e.g., poster boards). These signals are considered static as they lack movement. More recently, some studies have successfully used dynamic signals, which include movement or animation, within multiple schedule arrangements. However, the extent to which one type of signal may result in faster stimulus control over behavior has not been evaluated. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the use of static and dynamic signals as schedule-correlated stimuli in multiple schedules used within the context of FCT. Four children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder participated in the study. The results suggest that no differences in discriminated manding were observed for three out of four participants. Only dynamic signals resulted in discriminated manding for one participant.     

Openness relates to COVID-19 vaccination rates across 48 United States but politics trump personality

Does geographic variation in personality across the United States relate to COVID-19 vaccination rates? To answer this question, we combined multiple state-level datasets: (a) Big Five personality averages (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness; Rentfrow et al., 2008), (b) COVID-19 full-vaccination rates (CDC, 2021a), (c) health-relevant demographic covariates (population density, per capita gross domestic product, and racial/ethnic data; Webster et al., 2021), and (d) political and religiosity data. Analyses showed openness as the strongest correlate of full-vaccination rates (r = 0.51). Controlling for other traits, demographic covariates, and spatial dependence, openness remained significantly related to full-vaccination rates (r_p = 0.55). Adding political and religiosity data to this model diminished openness effects for full-vaccination rates to non-significance (r_p = 0.26); however, extraversion emerged as a significant correlate of full-vaccination rates (r_p = 0.37). Although politics are paramount, we suspect that states with higher average openness scores are more conducive to novel thinking and behavior—dispositions that may be crucial in motivating people to take newly-developed vaccines based on new technologies to confront a novel coronavirus.     

Envy,entitlement, and cutting the line: Dark personality predicted selfishness during the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machivellianism) predict increased selfish thinking and behavior. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been related to behaviors such as greater hoarding and decreased COVID-preventative behaviors. Here we examined whether the Dark Triad might predict selfish beliefs and behavior surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations during the 2021 U.S. vaccine rollout—a time when availability was scarce and people were prioritized based on factors like preexisting medical conditions or line of work. In a sample of 499 people, we found that the constellation of Dark Triad traits predicted skipping one's priority in line to get the COVID-19 vaccine earlier among the vaccinated. Among the unvaccinated it predicted greater envy, entitlement, perceptions of unfairness, and willingness to skip the line. Taken together, these findings suggest that those high in the Dark Triad do not simply care less about their health and safety, instead there may be circumstances in which dark traits predict preventative, albeit selfish, behavior.     

Risks and Benefits of Pediatric Bone Marrow Donation: A Critical Need for Research

Healthcare providers assume that there are minimal risks and potential psychosocial benefits for children who undergo a bone marrow harvest for the benefit of their critically ill siblings. Ethical justifications for the use of children as donors rely on there being minimal risks since donors receive no direct medical benefits from the intervention. There is little empirical research regarding psychosocial consequences. This article reviews relevant research in three contexts: a) psychosocial outcomes for adults and children who donate tissue and organs; b) psychosocial impacts on a sibling of a pediatric cancer patient; and c) children's decision-making regarding medical decisions. The relevant research literature supports the belief that the psychosocial impact on a child bone marrow donor will be influenced by the survival of the recipient, the age of the donor, and the donor's participation in the decision to donate. In order to empirically validate the actual psychosocial risks (and benefits) for donors, it is argued that direct research is needed so that a donor's well-being can be protected.