Chronic self-destructiveness: Conceptualization,measurement, and initial validation of the construct

Individual differences in various behaviors suggest that those who are primarily motivated by current emotional factors are more likely than those motivated by more distant cognitive considerations to engage in acts that are ultimately self-destructive. To assess and explore these behavioral differences, 12 samples of undergraduate subjects, totaling 864 (527 females, 337 males), a group of 15 businesswomen, and 111 male VA patients were used to develop a measure of this construct in a series of reliability and construct validity studies. By means of internal-consistency item analyses, two cross-validated 52-item measures of chronic self-destructiveness were constructed for males and females. Reliability was established with respect to internal consistency (alpha coefficients range from .73 to .97) and temporal consistency over a 1-month period (test-retest correlations range from .90 to .98). There is a slight drop in chronic self-destructiveness scores across age groups. Test scores were found to be positively related to external locus of control, negatively related to Type A coronary-prone behavior, and unrelated to either social desirability response set or need for achievement. Individuals high in chronic self-destructiveness, compared to those with low scores, are more likely to be in treatment for drug or alcohol abuse, to report having cheated in courses, to have had traffic violations, to report having gone through a rebellious stage in adolescence, and to postpone obtaining a medical test for cancer. Chronic self-destructiveness appears to be a personality dimension that affects behavior across a wide range of ages and situations.We wish to thank John Wapner for his assistance in obtaining data in the clinical sample.     

Familiarity decisions for faces presented to the left and right cerebral hemispheres

Right-handed subjects were asked to decide whether or not faces presented briefly in the RVF or in the LVF were familiar (familiar faces were those of famous people). This task avoids the need for extensive semantic processing or temporary storage involved in conventional naming or identification tasks, and thus eliminates the contribution of such factors to any observed asymmetry. The resulting finding of faster reaction times to LVF faces, with no overall visual hemifield difference in error rates, is taken to indicate a right-hemisphere superiority either in the processes used to construct facial representations or in the accessing of face recognition units, or both.     

Assessing structure building in college classrooms at scale

Structure building refers to the way in which people construct meaning from incoming information by creating a foundation of mental nodes, mapping incoming information to the foundational structure, and shifting to a new structure when necessary. Structure building ability has been shown to moderate learning both in laboratory-based and classroom-based research (e.g., use of outlines for effective note-taking and course final grades, respectively). However, measurement of structure building can be resource intensive. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a shortened, scalable measure of structure building (developed by a textbook publisher) in a real-world context. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that this tool, embedded in the online ancillary materials accompanying a textbook, can be used to measure a variable that is relevant to students' learning in introductory psychology courses.     

Social Function and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children and Adults with Neurofibromatosis Type 1: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

In light of the proliferation of recent research into social function in neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a systematic review and meta-analysis is required to synthesise data and place findings within the context of a theoretical framework. This paper reviews findings from research into social function and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children and adults with NF1 and integrates these findings with the Socio-Cognitive Integration Abilities Model (SOCIAL). It also critically appraises links between social outcomes, internal and external factors moderating social functioning, cognitive domains implicated in social functioning, and underlying neural pathology in NF1. A systematic literature search conducted in MedLine (Ovid), PsycINFO (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and PubMed electronic databases yielded 35 papers that met inclusion criteria for the systematic review. Out of these papers, 22 papers provided sufficient data for meta-analysis. Findings from this review and meta-analysis provide evidence that children and adults with NF1 exhibit significantly higher prevalence and severity of social dysfunction and ASD symptomatology. To date, very few studies have examined social cognition in NF1 but results indicate the presence of both perceptual and higher-level impairments in this population. The results of this review also provide support for age, gender, and comorbid ADHD as moderating factors for social outcomes in NF1. Suggestions for future research are offered to further our understanding of the social phenotype in NF1 and to facilitate the development of targeted interventions.