Demonstrating the Effects of Presentation Rate on Aging Memory Using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)

Previous research has repeatedly found that the elderly demonstrate significant declines in direct measures of memory. This study examined verbal learning and memory in the young and old participants using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). We hypothesized that slowing down the presentation rate of a list of words, therefore giving the participants more time to rehearse while learning new information, would decrease the normal differences found between the young and old adults on memory recall. However, at a faster presentation rate, the usual differences would be found. Participants took the CVLT, and correct recall responses were measured as a function of age and presentation rate. It was found, as expected, that at the faster presentation rate, the young did significantly better than the old on recall, but at the slower presentation rate, the differences between age groups diminished. It was concluded that by giving the elderly more time to rehearse information, age-related differences in memory recall could be greatly diminished.     

Validation of the UPPS impulsive behaviour scale: a four‐factor model of impulsivity

The current study attempts to clarify the multi‐faceted nature of impulsivity through the use of the four‐factor UPPS Impulsive Behaviour scale. In order to build the nomological network surrounding this scale, the UPPS was administered to individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), pathological gamblers (PG), alcohol abusers (divided into two groups based on the presence of antisocial features), and a control group. Several of the UPPS scales (e.g. Urgency, lack of Premeditation, and Sensation Seeking) differentiated the BPD, PG, and alcohol abusers with antisocial features from a group of non‐antisocial alcohol abusers and a control group. Overall, the UPPS scales accounted for between 7% (pathological gambling) and 64% (borderline personality disorder features) of the overall variance in the psychopathology measures. Individual UPPS scales also made unique contributions to several of these disorders, which may provide insight into which of these personality traits may predispose individuals to behave in maladaptive or problematic ways. The results provide support for the differentiation of impulsivity‐related constructs into the current four‐factor model. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring "negative body image": validation of the Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire in a nonclinical population

Despite numerous measures of facets of the body image construct, no single assessment broadly measures a continuum of body image disturbance. Accordingly, this study developed the Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire (BIDQ), derived from the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire. Participants were 220 college women and 75 college men who completed an online survey containing this new assessment and established measures of body image and psychosocial functioning. Results confirmed that the Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire was internally consistent and free of impression-management response bias. For both sexes, the measure converged appropriately with other body image indices (evaluation, affect, investment, and impact), was positively correlated with depression, social anxiety, and eating disturbance. Scores on this assessment also predicted psychosocial functioning above and beyond body dissatisfaction as a predictor. Greater body image disturbance was observed among women than men, among heavier than lighter women, and among White than African American women. Limitations and future research implications are discussed.     

An examination of the Validity of the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment: Relations with Other Psychopathy Measures,Aggression, and Externalizing Behaviors

The Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (EPA) is a new self-report measure of psychopathy designed to assess the personality traits associated with psychopathy from a Five Factor Model perspective. The current study examined the validity of the EPA in sample of undergraduates by examining the relations between the EPA scales and three validated self-report psychopathy instruments, as well as assessments of aggression, substance use, and antisocial behavior. The EPA scales manifested strong convergent validity with the extant psychopathy measures and an expected pattern of relations with measures of externalizing behaviors. Overall, the EPA appears to be a promising measure of psychopathy which provides new opportunities to explore the underlying structure of this construct and parse its relations with constructs central to its nomological network.     

How semantic categorization influences inhibitory processing in middle-childhood: an Event Related Potentials study

Throughout middle-childhood, inhibitory processes, which underlie many higher order cognitive tasks, are developing. Little is known about how inhibitory processes change as a task becomes conceptually more difficult during these important years. In adults, as Go/NoGo tasks become more difficult there is a systematic decrease in the P3NoGo response, indicating the use of effective inhibitory strategies (Maguire et al., 2009). This paper investigates the age at which children employ similar inhibitory strategies by studying behavioral and Event Related Potential (ERP) measures of response inhibition for three Go/NoGo tasks. Seventeen 7-8 year-olds and twenty 10-11-year-olds completed three Go/NoGo tasks that differed in the level of categorization necessary to respond. Both age groups displayed slower reaction times as the tasks became more difficult. Further, both groups displayed the predicted Go vs. NoGo P3 amplitude differences in the two simplest tasks, but no significant P3 differences for the most complex task. The reason for this pattern of responses was different in the different age groups. Similar to adults in previous work, the oldest children showed an attenuation of the P3 NoGo response with task difficulty, and no corresponding changes in the Go amplitude. The younger children displayed the opposite pattern, a significant increase in the Go amplitude with task difficulty, and no changes in the NoGo response. These response patterns indicate that efficient inhibitory strategies are developing throughout middle-childhood.     

Interpersonal competence across domains: relevance to personality pathology

Interpersonal problems are significant markers of personality disorders (PDs). There is little research examining the specific interpersonal problems which lead to social impairment in PD. This study used canonical correlation analyses to examine the relationship between interpersonal competence and PDs, first as categorized by DSM-IV diagnoses, then as categorized by empirically-derived factors, in a sample at risk for recurrence of major depression. The most significant sources of shared variance were social inhibition and self-disclosure competence. The empirically-derived PD categories accounted for more variance in interpersonal competence than the DSM-IV diagnostic categories. Social skills training in initiation and self-disclosure may be useful for treating individuals with PD who experience interpersonal problems. Empirically-derived categories of PD symptoms may capture interpersonal problems experienced by individuals with PD which DSM-IV categories do not.     

A new look at the consequences of attitude certainty: the amplification hypothesis

It is well established that increasing attitude certainty makes attitudes more resistant to attack and more predictive of behavior. This finding has been interpreted as indicating that attitude certainty crystallizes attitudes, making them more durable and impactful. The current research challenges this crystallization hypothesis and proposes an amplification hypothesis, which suggests that instead of invariably strengthening an attitude, attitude certainty amplifies the dominant effect of the attitude on thought, judgment, and behavior. In 3 experiments, the authors test these competing hypotheses by comparing the effects of attitude certainty manipulations on univalent versus ambivalent attitudes. Across experiments, it is demonstrated that increasing attitude certainty strengthens attitudes (e.g., increases their resistance to persuasion) when attitudes are univalent but weakens attitudes (e.g., decreases their resistance to persuasion) when attitudes are ambivalent. These results are consistent with the amplification hypothesis.     

Examinations of identity invariance in facial expression adaptation

Faces provide a wealth of information essential to social interaction, including both static features, such as identity, and dynamic features, such as emotional state. Classic models of face perception propose separate neural-processing routes for identity and facial expression (Bruce & Young, 1986), but more recent models suggest that these routes are not independent of each other (Calder & Young, 2005). Using a perceptual adaptation paradigm in the present study, we attempted to further examine the nature of the relation between the neural representations of identity and emotional expression. In Experiment 1, adaptation to the basic emotions of anger, surprise, disgust, and fear resulted in significantly biased perception away from the adapting expression. A significantly decreased aftereffect was observed when the adapting and the test faces differed in identity. With a statistical model that separated surface texture and reflectance from underlying expression geometry, Experiment 2 showed a similar decrease in adaptation when the face stimuli had identical underlying prototypical geometry but differed in the static surface features supporting identity. These results provide evidence that expression adaptation depends on perceptual features important for identity processing and thus suggest at least partly overlapping neural processing of identity and facial expression.