Relationship between WAIS-R and wide range achievement test in a sample of mixed patients

Correlations between the WAIS-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs, WAIS-R subtest scaled scores, and Wide Range Achievement Test Reading, Spelling, and Arithmetic standard scores were computed for a sample of 60 patients at a V.A. medical center who were referred for routine psychological evaluation. The Full Scale IQ and Verbal IQ yielded large correlations with the three achievement area standard scores (rs of .60 to .76). However, Performance IQs correlated moderately with reading and spelling scores (rs of .41 and .42), but a larger correlation obtained with arithmetic scores (r = .66). The results support the concurrent validity of the WAIS-R.     

Mental-task instructions and optokinetic nystagmus to the left and right

The frequency of elicited optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) in both directions was studied in subjects instructed to perform mental tasks thought to be asociated primarily with either the right or left hemisphere or a combination of both. A negative relationship between OKN frequency and right-hemisphere activity was more strongly confirmed than the alternative hypotheses that OKN frequency would be negatively related to the total amount of inner processing or to the amount of visualization required by a task. A significantly higher frequency of OKN was elicited (in nonmyopic subjects) when the stripes were moving in the direction contralateral to the hemisphere presumably involved in the instructed mental task. Subjects showing higher rates of right lateral eye shift (in an interview situation) made greater adjustments in OKN frequency according to the nature of the mental task.     

Type A behavior pattern, inhibited power motivation, and activity inhibition

The constructs of the Type A behavior pattern and the Inhibited Power Motive Syndrome (IPMS) have many features in common. The empirical relation between the two constructs was investigated in this study with 45 employed, male medical and surgical patients. Four different measures of the Type A pattern were examined. Results showed that, of the four measures, the Structured Interview and the Hostility Scale were related significantly to the IPMS. Systolic blood pressure reactivity was also related significantly to the IPMS. These relations could be ascribed largely to activity inhibition alone. The contribution of activity inhibition to an understanding of the biological and psychological substrates of the Type A behavior pattern is discussed.     

Music and Suicidality: A Quantitative Review and Extension

This article provides the first quantitative review of the literature on music and suicidality. Multivariate logistic regression techniques are applied to 90 findings from 21 studies. Investigations employing ecological data on suicide completions are 19.2 times more apt than other studies to report a link between music and suicide. More recent and studies with large samples are also more apt than their counterparts to report significant results. Further, none of the studies based on experimental research designs found a link between music and suicide ideation, prompting us to do a brief content analysis of 24 suicide songs versus 24 nonsuicide songs from the same album. Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software, we found no difference in the content of the suicide songs and controls, including the percentage of sad words, negative affect, and mentions of death, thus providing an explanation for nonfindings from experimental research. In summary, ecologically based (which capture at‐risk persons not in typical school‐based samples) and more recent investigations (which have used superior or new methodologies) tend to demonstrate a linkage between music and suicidality. Experimental research is needed with a control group of songs from an alternative genre with low suicidogenic content.