Testing visual short-term memory of pigeons (Columba livia) and a rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) with a location change detection task

Change detection is commonly used to assess capacity (number of objects) of human visual short-term memory (VSTM). Comparisons with the performance of non-human animals completing similar tasks have shown similarities and differences in object-based VSTM, which is only one aspect (“what”) of memory. Another important aspect of memory, which has received less attention, is spatial short-term memory for “where” an object is in space. In this article, we show for the first time that a monkey and pigeons can be accurately trained to identify location changes, much as humans do, in change detection tasks similar to those used to test object capacity of VSTM. The subject’s task was to identify (touch/peck) an item that changed location across a brief delay. Both the monkey and pigeons showed transfer to delays longer than the training delay, to greater and smaller distance changes than in training, and to novel colors. These results are the first to demonstrate location-change detection in any non-human species and encourage comparative investigations into the nature of spatial and visual short-term memory.     

Does anxiety sensitivity correlate with startle habituation? An examination in two independent samples

Individuals with anxiety disorders have previously demonstrated abnormal habituation to aversiveness over time. As anxiety sensitivity (AS), or an individuals' propensity to fear of anxiety-related sensations, has been shown to be a risk factor for anxiety disorders (particularly panic disorder), the present study examined whether AS was also associated with abnormal habituation. This association was examined in two independent samples of undergraduates (N_total=178). Habituation was operationalised as the reduction in startle response to multiple startle probes presented over 2.5 minutes and three definitions of this reduction were employed. Results indicated that individuals with higher levels of AS evidenced deficits in startle habituation, but the strength of this relationship was somewhat dependent on the definition of startle habituation, with the most robust definition being an analysis of participants' individual slopes across all nine blinks. The present findings suggest that startle habituation is a key mechanism underlying AS, and may help elucidate the role this risk factor plays in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders.     

War Experiences Inventory: Initial Psychometric and Structural Properties

We examined the structural and psychometric properties of the War Experiences Inventory (WEI) with data from 255 post deployed service members (224 men and 31 women). Results from principal components analyses yielded a five-factor solution assessing sexual trauma, combat exposure, interpersonal distress, circumstances of deployment, and personal injury. Psychometric analyses revealed scale scores were internally consistent; validity evidence showed WEI subscales were significantly correlated with measures of readjustment, PTSD, psychological distress, and alcohol abuse. Findings provide preliminary evidence of structural and psychometric properties of the WEI and its utility in assessing war-related experiences in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.     

An Egyptian Sufi Interprets His Dreams: ‘Abd al-Wahhâb al-Sha‘rânı 1493–1565

This study presents a sampling of dreams as recounted in ‘Abd al-Wahhâb al-Sha‘rânâ's autobiography, Latâ’if al-minan. Examining the methodology employed by the 16th-century Cairene sheikh in interpreting his own dreams, the study places al-Sha‘rânâ within the context of sufi and medieval Islamic traditions of dream interpretation. The examples given by al-Sha‘rânân? demonstrate that he valued dreams not for their alleged ability to portend the future but for their psychological merit as monitors of his spiritual condition.     

Impact of Depression and Anxiety on the Quality of Life of Constipated Patients

Constipation negatively affects quality of life (QOL), however, the specific mechanisms through which this relationship occurs are unclear. The present study examined anxiety and depression as potential mediators of the relationship between constipation severity and QOL in a sample of 142 constipated patients. Results indicated that depression symptom severity mediated the relationship between constipation severity and mental health-related QOL. For patients meeting diagnostic criteria for Major Depressive Disorder, indirect effects were observed in the relationship between constipation severity and both physical and mental health-related QOL. Anxiety did not contribute to this model. Treating depression may be useful in improving QOL in severely constipated patients, which highlights the importance of psychological screening and treatment referrals in primary care settings.     

The First Man in Her Life: Father Emotional Responsiveness During Adolescence and College Women's Sexual Refusal Behaviors

Few empirical studies have examined how fathers influence daughters’ sexual interactions with male peers. We hypothesized that paternal emotional responsiveness would empower daughters to refuse unwanted sex. Female undergraduates (N = 144) and their fathers completed measures of paternal responsiveness during adolescence; daughters also reported their global self-worth, acceptance of male partner dominance, and sexual refusal behaviors. As expected, paternal responsiveness promoted daughters’ refusals of unwanted sex. Paternal responsiveness predicted daughters’ self-worth, partially explaining daughters’ increased sexual assertiveness. Perceived paternal responsiveness also negatively predicted daughters’ acceptance of male dominance. These results suggest that positive paternal relationships promote daughters’ sexual agency.     

Consistency in individual and family theoretical orientation from assessment to therapy: Its impact on the effectiveness of therapy

Abstract

The effect of consistency in theoretical orientation, whether individual or family, from assessment to therapy on the effectiveness of psychotherapy was examined in archival data. All identified patients (N=131) were ages 5-18 and comprised four groups according to the orientation of their assessment and therapy: the individual-individual (n=49) and family-family (n=49) groups and the individual-family (n=21) and family-individual (n=12) groups. Theoretical consistency was positively associated with therapy duration and participation, as well as with outcome. This association was attributable to the significant relation between family assessment prior to family therapy and the dependent variables of continuation in therapy, percent of sessions attended, nature of termination, and percent of missed sessions. Results support the theoretical position of family therapists that family assessment is the assessment method of choice.     

Are individual differences in appetitive and defensive motivation related? A psychophysiological examination in two samples

Appetitive and defensive motivation account for a good deal of variance in personality and mental health, but whether individual differences in these systems are correlated or orthogonal has not been conclusively established. Previous investigations have generally relied on self-report and have yielded conflicting results. We therefore assessed the relation between psychophysiological indices of appetitive and defensive motivation during elicitation of these motivational states: specifically, frontal electroencephalogram asymmetry during reward anticipation and startle response during anticipation of predictable or unpredictable threat of shock. Results in a sample of psychopathology-free community members (n=63), an independent sample of undergraduates with a range of internalising symptoms (n=64), and the combination of these samples (n=127) revealed that differences in responding to the two tasks were not significantly correlated. Average coefficients approached zero in all three samples (community: .04, undergraduate: ?.01, combined: .06). Implications of these findings for research on normal and abnormal personality are discussed.     

Parental meta-emotion structure predicts family and child outcomes

Abstract

Fifty-six families with a preschool child whose parents varied widely in parental marital satisfaction were studied at two time points: at time-I when the children were 5 years old and again at time-2 when the children were 8 years old. At time-1 each parent was separately interviewed about their “meta-emotion structure”, that is, their feelings about their own emotions, and their attitudes, and responses to their children's anger and sadness. Their behaviour during this interview was coded with a meta-emotion coding system. Two meta-emotion variables were studied for each parent, awareness of the parent's own sadness, and parental “coaching” of the child's anger. We termed the high end of these variables an “emotion coaching” (EC) meta-emotion structure. Meta-emotion structure was found to relate to time-1 marital and parent-child interaction. EC-type parents had marriages that were less hostile and they were less negative and more positive during parent-child interaction. Their children showed less evidence of physiological stress, greater ability to focus attention, and had less negative play with their best friends. At time-2 those children showed higher academic achievement in mathematics and reading had fewer behaviour problems, and were physically healthier than non-EC parents. The relations between child outcome and parental meta-emotion structure were not explained by social class variables, emotional expressiveness, or the greater happiness and stability of parents with an EC-type meta-emotion structure.