MMPI--2 Code-Type Congruence of Injured Workers

In this study, the authors examined the stability of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory--2 (J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989) code types in a sample of 94 injured workers with a mean test-retest interval of 21.3 months (SD = 14.1). Congruence rates for undefined code types were 34% for high-point codes, 22% for 2-point codes, and 22% for 3-point codes. The data provide tentative evidence suggesting that defined code types are more stable than undefined code types. Cohen's kappa, a statistic that controls for chance agreement, was calculated for each clinical scale for both 2-point and 3-point code types. Only 2 of the 20 kappa coefficients were not significant at the p = .05 level.     

Relational Spirituality and Dealing With Transgressions: Development of the Relational Engagement of the Sacred for a Transgression (REST) Scale

In the study of spirituality and forgiveness, researchers have begun to look at how dynamic spiritual experiences influence forgiveness. In three studies, we develop the Relational Engagement of the Sacred for a Transgression (REST) Scale, which assesses the extent to which victims actively engage a relationship with the Sacred to deal with a specific transgression. In Study 1, exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of the REST. In Study 2, the factor structure was replicated using confirmatory factory analysis. The REST was correlated with religious commitment and negatively related to avoidant attachment to God. In Study 3, evidence supporting the scale's construct validity was adduced. REST scores were correlated with other appraisals of relational spirituality. Structural equation modeling was used to compare theoretical models. REST scores were related to dedication to the Sacred and viewing the transgression as a desecration. In addition, REST scores were positively related to empathy, which was positively related to forgiveness. Furthermore, REST scores predicted forgiveness above and beyond other appraisals of relational spirituality.     

Toddlers' Social Behaviors in Dyads and Groups

Although toddlers are clearly capable of interacting with peers, the amount and type of interactions among toddlers is controversial. Objectives of the present study were (a) to determine the effect of dyad versus group settings on the amount and type of social behaviors with peers, (b) to determine preference for interacting with peers versus adults, and (c) to determine differences in the types of behaviors directed to peers and adults. Sixteen children (with a mean age of 27 months) were observed in both a group setting and a dyad setting; their mothers were present in both settings. The children were from three different toddler classes, each meeting once a week. Specific social behaviors were coded, as well as the person to whom the behavior was directed (i.e., peer or adult). Setting affected toddlers' behaviors with adults but not behaviors with peers. Regardless of setting, toddlers preferred interacting with adults. The types of behaviors directed to peers and adults differed. Direct interactions with peers were rare, but interest and awareness of peers was shown by moderately high levels of proximity and parallel play. The use of different criteria to define social play appears to account for differences across studies in the amount of peer interaction.     

Evidence of Incomplete Motor Programming in Parkinson's Disease

One of the essential questions regarding movement deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD) is whether they stem from impaired selecting and switching among movements, impaired use of predictive information to prepare movement, or impaired execution of movement. PD subjects (n = 9) and age-matched control subjects (n = 8) performed a cued, sequential-response RT task. The cue provided either no information, accurate information, or inaccurate information about the upcoming response. PD subjects used predictive information to prepare and to switch among movement sequences normally, but second and third key press latencies were prolonged in comparison with the first key press latency. In Experiments 2 and 3, the effects of choice set and sequence length on key press latencies were examined. These results provide evidence that PD subjects initiate movement before the entire response sequence is prepared. PD does not impair motor programming or execution processes themselves but impairs the smooth coordination of those processes.     

Brutality of assault in political cartoons affecting humor appreciation

Political cartoons depicting a presidential candidate undergoing an aggressive assault were manipulated to assess the effect on humor appreciation of variations in the degree of brutality of the aggressive tactics (minimal, intermediate, extreme). The identity of the depicted candidate (Richard Nixon vs George McGovern) was also manipulated. Humor-appreciation ratings were given to these cartoons by student subjects during the week preceding the 1972 presidential elections. Attitudes toward the depicted candidates were assessed in a postexperimental questionnaire. Neither degree of brutality nor affect toward the victim exerted a significant main effect, but a significant transverse interaction between the two variables was observed. When the assault involved minimal levels of brutality, the victimization of a rejected candidate was appreciated significantly more than that of a favored one; when intermediate levels of brutality were depicted, assaults against rejected candidates did not differ appreciably from attacks upon favored candidates in the level of mirth they elicited; when the brutality was extreme, aggression against rejected candidates was appreciated less than assaults against favored candidates, although nonsignificantly so. Of the various theoretical notions which were advanced to predict the results, a rationale involving the decoder's motivation to favor or object to the manner in which the aggressive agent is characterized as well as his motivation to enjoy or dislike the communication's projected outcome was considered to account best for the findings.     

Breaking gendered boundaries? Exploring constructions of counter-normative body hair practices in Āotearoa/New Zealand using story completion

ABSTRACT

Do women with body hair continue to evoke disgust? Are men without body hair read only as athletes and/or gay? To explore contemporary sense-making practices around apparently counter-normative gendered body hair practice, we developed a two-stem story completion task. We collected stories from 161 undergraduate students (129 women and 32 men) about David, who had decided to start removing body hair, and Jane, who had decided to stop removing body hair. We analysed the data thematically within a constructionist framework, resulting in three themes: secrecy and shame; the personal benefits of going against the grain; and the personal is political. The personal benefits theme included four distinct (gendered) subthemes: increased heterosexual attractiveness; increased sporting prowess; removal of a hassle; and liberation from conformity. These story data gave access to familiar but also somewhat different accounts than those collected through typical self-report measures.     

VoiceRelay: voice key operation using visual basic.

Using a voice key is a popular method for recording vocal response times in a variety of language production tasks. This article describes a class module called VoiceRelay that can be easily utilized in Visual Basic programs for voice key operation. This software-based voice key offers the precision of traditional voice keys (although accuracy is system dependent), as well as the flexibility of volume and sensitivity control. However, VoiceRelay is a considerably less expensive alternative for recording vocal response times because it operates with existing PC hardware and does not require the purchase of external response boxes or additional experiment-generation software. A sample project demonstrating implementation of the VoiceRelay class module may be downloaded from the Psychonomic Society Web archive, www.psychonomic.org/archive.     

Examining Factors Associated with Utilization of Chaplains in the Acute Care Setting

Journal of Religion and Health - Hospitalized persons want their spiritual needs addressed and discussed by the healthcare team, but medical providers and nurses lack the necessary training....     

Increased brain serotonin turnover in panic disorder patients in the absence of a panic attack: reduction by a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Since the brain neurotransmitter changes characterising panic disorder remain uncertain, we quantified brain noradrenaline and serotonin turnover in patients with panic disorder, in the absence of a panic attack. Thirty-four untreated patients with panic disorder and 24 matched healthy volunteers were studied. A novel method utilising internal jugular venous sampling, with thermodilution measurement of jugular blood flow, was used to directly quantify brain monoamine turnover, by measuring the overflow of noradrenaline and serotonin metabolites from the brain. Radiographic depiction of brain venous sinuses allowed differential venous sampling from cortical and subcortical regions. The relation of brain serotonin turnover to serotonin transporter genotype and panic disorder severity were evaluated, and the influence of an SSRI drug, citalopram, on serotonin turnover investigated. Brain noradrenaline turnover in panic disorder patients was similar to that in healthy subjects. In contrast, brain serotonin turnover, estimated from jugular venous overflow of the metabolite, 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid, was increased approximately 4-fold in subcortical brain regions and in the cerebral cortex (P < 0.01). Serotonin turnover was highest in patients with the most severe disease, was unrelated to serotonin transporter genotype, and was reduced by citalopram (P < 0.01). Normal brain noradrenaline turnover in panic disorder patients argues against primary importance of the locus coeruleus in this condition. The marked increase in serotonin turnover, in the absence of a panic attack, possibly represents an important underlying neurotransmitter substrate for the disorder, although this point remains uncertain. Support for this interpretation comes from the direct relationship which existed between serotonin turnover and illness severity, and the finding that SSRI administration reduced serotonin turnover. Serotonin transporter genotyping suggested that increased whole brain serotonin turnover most likely derived not from impaired serotonin reuptake, but from increased firing in serotonergic midbrain raphe neurons projecting to both subcortical brain regions and the cerebral cortex.