Examination of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in a Sample of Bariatric Surgery Candidates

The current study examined the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) scales (Tellegen et al., MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) scales: Development, validation, and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003) in a sample of 1,091 bariatric surgery candidates. The RC scales were developed to address concerns about limited discriminant validity of the Clinical scales. Internal consistency and external validity analyses were conducted to evaluate the RC scales in this setting. Results indicated that the RC scales are generally more internally consistent than the Clinical scales and display significantly better convergent and discriminant validity in predicting a variety of behavioral, psychological, and developmental variables relevant to preoperative bariatric psychological evaluations. Implications of the results and recommendations for future research with the RC scales in medical settings are discussed.     

Collaboration during visual search

Two experiments examine how collaboration influences visual search performance. Working with a partner or on their own, participants reported whether a target was present or absent in briefly presented search displays. We compared the search performance of individuals working together (collaborative pairs) with the pooled responses of the individuals working alone (nominal pairs). Collaborative pairs were less likely than nominal pairs to correctly detect a target and they were less likely to make false alarms. Signal detection analyses revealed that collaborative pairs were more sensitive to the presence of the target and had a more conservative response bias than the nominal pairs. This pattern was observed even when the presence of another individual was matched across pairs. The results are discussed in the context of task-sharing, social loafing and current theories of visual search.     

Factors in the assessment of suicidality in youth

Suicide remains a leading cause of death among youth, and suicide ideation and behavior are relatively common in both normal and clinical populations. Clinicians working with young people must assess for the presence of suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, and other risk factors, in order to determine the level of risk. This paper provides the clinician with a summary of risk factors for youth suicide, as well as providing standardized terminology to enhance assessment of suicidal ideation and behavior.     

Word-list-learning performance in younger and older adults: intra-individual performance variability and false memory

We investigated the word-list-learning performance of younger and older adults over 4 consecutive days at different times of day to study age-related differences in consistency of performance over time and the influence of circadian variation on performance. Eighteen younger (M age, 23.4 years) and 18 older (M age, 73.3 years) men and women participated. The start time of testing alternated between morning and early evening across the 4 days of testing. On each test day, participants learned a different list of 15 unrelated words over four learning trials. As expected, younger adults performed better than older adults on immediate recall, delayed recall, and recognition. Contrary to our expectations, time of day did not significantly influence recall or recognition performance in either the older or younger adults. Older adults did show a greater incidence of false memory (i.e., previously learned list intrusions in free recall and false alarms in recognition) than younger adults. Older adults also exhibited greater intra-individual performance variability on the measures of false memory across test days. This variability was not related to circadian variation. False memory and variability of performance have both been linked to frontal systems dysfunction. The findings presented here are consistent with the notion that changes in cognition with aging in part reflect age-related decline in frontal lobe function.     

Physicalism and sparse ontology

A major stumbling block for non-reductive physicalism is Kim’s disjunctive property objection. In this paper I bring certain issues in sparse ontology to bear on the objection, in particular the theses of priority monism and priority pluralism. Priority pluralism (or something close to it, anyway) is a common ontological background assumption, so in the first part of the paper I consider whether the disjunctive property objection applies with equal force to non-reductive physicalism on the assumption that priority monism is instead true. I ultimately conclude that non-reductive physicalism still faces a comparable problem. In the second part, I argue, surprisingly enough, that what I call ‘fine-grained reductionism’, a particular version of which Kim proposes as an alternative to non-reductive physicalism, may work better in the monist framework than the pluralist one. I conclude that issues in sparse ontology, therefore, are more relevant to the debate about physicalism than one may have thought.

The modal status of materialism

Materialism, as traditionally conceived, has a contingent side and a necessary side. The necessity of materialism is reflected by the metaphysics of realization, while its contingency is a matter of accepting the possibility of Cartesian worlds, worlds in which our minds are roughly as Descartes describes them. In this paper we argue that the necessity and the contingency of materialism are in conflict. In particular, we claim that if mental properties are realized by physical properties in the actual world, Cartesian worlds are impossible.

Which training method works best? A randomized controlled trial comparing three methods of training clinicians in dialectical behavior therapy skills

This study evaluated the efficacy of three methods of training community mental health providers (N = 150) in Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills, including a written treatment manual; an interactive, multimedia online training (OLT); and a two-day instructor-led training workshop (ILT). A hybrid design was utilized that incorporated aspects of efficacy and effectiveness trials. Assessments were completed at baseline, post-training, and 30- and 90-days following training. The results indicate that learner satisfaction with the training was highest in OLT and ILT, and both resulted in significantly higher satisfaction ratings than the manual. OLT outperformed ILT and the manual in increasing knowledge of the treatment, whereas ILT and the manual did not differ. All three training methods resulted in comparable increases in clinicians' ability to apply course content in clinical simulations. Overall, the results provide strong support for the efficacy of technology-based OLT methods in disseminating knowledge of empirically supported treatments to community mental health providers, suggesting that OLT may be a high-quality, easily accessible, and affordable addition to traditional training methods.     

Associations between emotional avoidance,anxiety sensitivity,and reactions to an observational fear challenge procedure

Research has shown that emotional avoidance and anxiety sensitivity are associated with more self-reported fear and distress in response to laboratory fear challenge procedures. The present study aimed to expand upon this work and examined how emotional avoidance and anxiety sensitivity are related to emotional and physiological responses to an observational fear challenge procedure. To accomplish this aim, a carefully screened, non-clinical sample (N = 43) was administered the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ), a measure of emotional avoidance, and the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). Participants then engaged in an observational fear challenge paradigm. During the fear challenge, participants watched mock panic attacks while emotional (e.g., fear and panic) and skin conductance levels were assessed. Consistent with expectation, emotional avoidance and anxiety sensitivity were positively associated with more self-reported fear and more severe panic symptoms to the challenge procedure. However, anxiety sensitivity was more highly associated with self-reported fear and panic symptoms in response to the challenge procedure than emotional avoidance. Emotional avoidance and anxiety sensitivity were not associated with levels of physiological arousal to the observational fear challenge procedure. Discussion focuses on the interplay between emotional avoidance, anxiety sensitivity, and the development of vicarious fear responses and how these constructs may contribute to the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders.     

Dispositional Affectivity and Work-Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

This study meta-analytically reviews the influence of individuals' dispositional negative affectivity (NA) and positive affectivity (PA) on a broad range of work-related outcomes grouped into 3 categories: (a) work attitudes; (b) workplace experiences; and (c) work behavior. Across cumulative studies, it was found that NA and PA demonstrated significant effects on most of these outcomes. Moreover, we found some interesting differences in NA's and PA's relationships with work outcomes. Specifically, while NA had more influence on variables pertinent to work stressors (e.g., role problems), PA demonstrated a stronger effect on variables related to positive job and organizational context (e.g., job autonomy, procedural justice). Implications for theory advancement and future research in this area are discussed.