Uninformed Consent? The Effect of Participant Characteristics and Delivery Format on Informed Consent

Although many people choose to sign consent forms and participate in research, how many thoroughly read a consent form before signing it? Across 3 experiments using 348 undergraduate student participants, we examined whether personality characteristics as well as consent form content, format, and delivery method were related to thorough reading. Students repeatedly failed to read the consent forms, although small effects were found favoring electronic delivery methods and traditional format forms. Potential explanations are discussed and include participant apathy, participants trying to save time by not reading the consent form, and participant assumptions about consent forms.     

Decision biases in intertemporal choice and choice under uncertainty: Testing a common account

Two experiments were performed to test a psychophysical account of parallels between biases in risky choice and intertemporal choice. Experiment 1 demonstrated the common difference effect in intertemporal choice and the common ratio effect in risky choice. As was predicted, these two biases were uncorrelated with each other, although each was correlated across monetary/health domains. This result is consistent with the supposition that these two biases result from psychophysical properties of two different dimensions (time and probability, respectively). Experiment 2 examined the magnitude effect in intertemporal choice and the peanuts effect in risky choice. These two biases were correlated with each other but were uncorrelated across monetary/health domains. This result is consistent with the supposition that these two biases result from psychophysical properties of the same dimension (utility of money or health).     

Applicability of the Somatomorphic Matrix computer program in Japanese and Australian Caucasian males in relation to measured body composition

The Somatomorphic Matrix (SM) is a computer-based body image assessment program that allows assessment of the individual's body image in relation to known body composition values. To date, no study has compared the SM results to the measured body composition and assessed the usefulness in multi-ethnic samples. Japanese and Australian Caucasian males underwent testing to examine the SM body image results to their measured body composition. Japanese males showed significant (p < 0.01) discrepancy in their measured and the perceived ‘current’ muscularity compared with Australians. Both groups showed wide variability in the perception of their ‘current’ body composition in relation to the measured values, indicating an incomparability of the SM results to the measured results. The study also showed Japanese males to have lower consistency in the SM results than Australian males after a 12-month interval. In order to use the program in multi-ethnic populations further development of the program is recommended.     

Cognitive behavior therapy for fear of flying: sustainability of treatment gains after September 11

This study examines the long-term efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for fear of flying (FOF) after a catastrophic fear-relevant event, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Participants (N = 115) were randomly assigned to and completed treatment for FOF using 8 sessions of either virtual reality exposure therapy (VRE) or standard exposure therapy (SE) prior to September 11, 2001. Individuals were reassessed in June, 2002, an average of 2.3 years after treatment, with a response rate of 48% (n = 55). Analyses were run on the original data and, using multiple imputation procedures, on imputed data for the full sample. Individuals maintained or improved upon gains made in treatment as measured by standardized FOF questionnaires and by number of flights taken. There were no differences between VRE and SE. Thus, results suggest that individuals previously treated for FOF with cognitive-behavioral therapy can maintain treatment gains in the face of a catastrophic fear-relevant event, even years after treatment is completed.     

Re-visiting the competence/performance debate in the acquisition of the counting principles

Advocates of the "continuity hypothesis" have argued that innate non-verbal counting principles guide the acquisition of the verbal count list (Gelman & Galistel, 1978). Some studies have supported this hypothesis, but others have suggested that the counting principles must be constructed anew by each child. Defenders of the continuity hypothesis have argued that the studies that failed to support it obscured children's understanding of counting by making excessive demands on their fragile counting skills. We evaluated this claim by testing two-, three-, and four-year-olds both on "easy" tasks that have supported continuity and "hard" tasks that have argued against it. A few noteworthy exceptions notwithstanding, children who failed to show that they understood counting on the hard tasks also failed on the easy tasks. Therefore, our results are consistent with a growing body of evidence that shows that the count list as a representation of the positive integers transcends pre-verbal representations of number.     

Psychosocial correlates of dating violence victimization among Latino youth

To examine the association between physical dating violence victimization and risk and protective factors, an anonymous, cross-sectional, self-reported survey was administered to Latino youth (n=446) residing in suburban Washington, DC. Multivariate logistic regression models were constructed, and adjusted OR and 95% CI were examined. Approximately 9% of Latino adolescents reported physical dating violence victimization. Overall, youth who reported carrying a gun, involvement in physical fights and suicidal thoughts were at greater odds of reporting dating violence. Among females, fighting was the sole risk behavior associated with dating violence. Girls who reported a stronger sense of self were less likely to report dating violence. Among males, gun carrying, but not physical fighting, and having considered suicide were associated with dating violence. Spending time each week with a mentor was also positively associated with male dating violence victimization. Dating violence appeared to cluster with other risk behavior engagement. Important gender differences in associated risk and protective behaviors were identified and should be incorporated into primary and secondary prevention activities.     

Maternal depression, adult attachment, and children's emotional distress

INTRODUCTION: Our goal was to evaluate the impact of depressed mothers' marital intimacy and attachment security in romantic relationships on children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. METHOD: Forty-six clinically depressed mothers rated attachment security, marital intimacy, and symptoms shown by their children aged 8 to 12. RESULTS: Maternal avoidance of closeness predicted increases in children's internalizing symptoms over a 6-month period. DISCUSSION: Avoidance of closeness in depressed mothers may be implicated in the development of internalizing symptoms in their children, possibly because individuals who are avoidant of closeness are poor caregivers.     

Psychopathy and intelligence: a second look

Empirical studies using the PCL-R (Hare, 2003) have shown no intelligence differences between psychopaths and nonpsychopaths. However, Cleckley (1976) argued that psychopaths often show superior intelligence. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the correlation between intelligence and severity of criminal development is the opposite in psychopaths than in nonpsychopathic criminals using a sample of 370 men sentenced for violent (nonsexual) crimes. That pattern would provide a way of explaining the discrepancy between Cleckley's view and later empirical work. The results showed that for nonpsychopaths, higher total IQ and particularly verbal intelligence meant a later start in violent crime. For those diagnosed as psychopaths, however, this association was reversed.