Social perspective coordination in youth with borderline personality pathology

This study investigated social perspective coordination (SPC) in youth (15-24-year-olds) with first-presentation borderline personality disorder (BPD). SPC is defined as the capacity to differentiate and integrate the perspective of the self with the perspectives of others (Selman, Beardslee, Schultz, Krupa, & Podorefsky, 1986). Two groups: patients with full or sub-syndromal BPD (n = 30) and patients with major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 30) completed measures of SPC derived from the interpersonal negotiation strategies (INS) model (Selman et al., 1986). Compared with the MDD group, the BPD group responded to all vignettes with significantly lower SPC scores and SPC was a significant predictor of BPD status over and above self-reported, personality factors (Neuroticism and Agreeableness), attachment disturbance and functional impairment. These findings suggest that disturbances in social cognition are an important characteristic of individuals with BPD pathology. These difficulties extended beyond attachment contexts and were not limited to situations involving BPD-related themes of abandonment, deprivations or mistrust/abuse.     

Using prequestions to enhance learning from reading passages: the roles of question type and structure building ability

ABSTRACT

Answering questions before learning something (“prequestions”) enhances learning. However, these benefits usually occur for information that was asked in the prequestions (i.e. prequestioned material), and not for non-prequestioned material. We reasoned that this narrow benefit may be due to the fact that studies typically use fairly simple prequestions that have a clear answer within one part of the learning material – isolative prequestions. We explored the effects of integrative prequestions that required participants to make connections across different parts of a reading passage. Experiment 1 showed the usual benefit of isolative prequestions on prequestioned but not on non-prequestioned material, but no benefit of integrative prequestions. However, in Experiment 2 when participants were given instructions to seek the answers while reading, integrative prequestions benefited learning of both prequestioned and non-prequestioned material. Individual differences in structure building positively predicted performance, but did not interact with the effects of prequestions.     

Blocking by fixed and variable stimuli: Effects of stimulus distribution on blocking

An experiment with rats compared the ability of fixed and variable duration cues to produce blocking. Rats in group B (Blocking) were trained that both fixed- (F) and variable- (V) duration cues would be followed by food delivery. In a subsequent training stage F and V continued to be reinforced, but F was accompanied by X, and V by Y. In the test phase responding to X and Y was examined. Control group O (Overshadowing) received identical treatment, except that F and V were nonreinforced in the first training stage. In group B there was evidence for blocking, but only of X, which had been conditioned in compound with the fixed-duration F; there was no evidence for blocking of Y, which had been conditioned in compound with the variable-duration V. It is suggested that this result may occur because fixed cues reach a higher, more stable asymptote of associative strength than do their variable equivalents.     

A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of the Effects of Police Body-Worn Cameras (BWCs) on Response-to-Resistance in a Large Metropolitan Police Department

The current study provides a statistically rigorous program evaluation of the impact of police body-worn cameras (BWCs) on police response-to-resistance (e.g., use of force). Results indicate that BWC officers’ mean frequency of response-to-resistance decreased by 8.4% from the 12 months pre-BWC implementation to the 12 months post-BWC implementation compared with a 3.4% increase observed for the matched sample of non-BWC officers. Police departments should consider adopting BWCs alongside other strategies to reduce police response-to-resistance, and to improve transparency and accountability. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

Increased hedonic differences despite increases in hedonic range

Viewing hedonically negative paintings increased the hedonic ratings of subsequently viewed test paintings (positive hedonic contrast; Experiment 1) and also increased the degree of preference between the test paintings (Experiments 2 and 3). This result differs from the reduction in hedonic preference (hedonic condensation) that accompanies negative hedonic contrast. It also differs from the reduction in perceived differences that usually accompanies expansion of stimulus range and that is predicted by numerous theories.     

Effects of Performance Context on Processing Speed and Performance Ratings

The present study demonstrated that the presence of evaluatively polarized context performances not only produces contrast and halo effects on judgments of a target performance, but also causes judgments to be made much faster. Processing speed and positive halo were highly correlated, supporting the notion that halo in performance ratings results from raters' recall and use of a single, general impression. Furthermore, regression analyses demonstrated that processing speed mediates the relationship between context and halo. The relationship between these findings, halo, processing speed, and general impressions, as well as implications for performance appraisals, are discussed.     

Reliability and Validity of the Complex Postformal Thought Questionnaire: Assessing Adults’ Cognitive Development

Three studies investigated the psychometric properties of the complex postformal thought (PFT) questionnaire (Sinnott, unpublished scale, 1998; Sinnott and Johnson 1997), which is a measure of adult cognitive development. The scale was found to be moderately reliable (α = .63). To assess construct validity, a comparison of participants’ performance on the PFT scale to their performance on the Need for Cognition scale was conducted, which indicated the PFT scale is valid measure of complex thought. Factor analysis reduced the scale to three factors, which correspond to important components of PFT: Multiple Elements, Subjective Choice, and Underlying Complexities. Implications for understanding the nature of adult cognitive development and the usefulness of this new measure for research in this area are discussed.