The Use of the MMPI-2 Infrequency–Psychopathology Scale in the Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Male Veterans

This study evaluated the use of the F_P (Infrequency–Psychopathology) scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory—2 (MMPI-2) as a measure of symptom overreporting among 423 service-seeking male veterans with and without PTSD. Results were consistent with several predictions based on the logic of the F_P scale. F_P produced lower scores for PTSD and non-PTSD patients than the other two MMPI-2 measures of infrequent responding; F and F_B. F_P also resulted in fewer invalid protocols than did F or F_B. Finally, F_P yielded lower correlations with MMPI-2 and other measures of psychopathology than did F or F_B. Consistent with previous studies, compensation-seeking status was associated with extreme elevations across clinical and validity scales. Contrary to previous findings, however, compensation-seeking veterans were also more likely to receive a PTSD diagnosis. Implications for the relationship between compensation seeking and symptom overreporting are discussed.     

Paying the Way: The Ticket to Gender Equality in Sports

Past research shows that consumers tend to equate higher prices with higher value. However, it remains unclear whether consumers of athletic events follow the predictions of equity theory when attributing value to particular teams. We conducted 3 studies to investigate the existence and consequences of a disparity between men's and women's college basketball ticket prices. In Study 1, a survey of 303 NCAA Division I programs demonstrated that the gender of a basketball team is a primary indicator of the price of a ticket, such that women's tickets are significantly less expensive than men's tickets nationwide, even after controlling for a number of contextual factors (e.g., win–loss records, size of the schools). Consistent with equity theory, Studies 2 and 3 revealed that such a price disparity can result in lower evaluation of women's teams than men's. These findings indicate a need to consider the costs and benefits of maintaining differences in ticket prices within a context of gender inequity.     

Research Report: How do GPs make referral and treatment decisions when patients present with mental health problems?

The purpose of this pilot study was to identify factors considered by GPs when making mental health referral decisions and to explore referral strategies and related individual differences between GPs. In structured interviews with nine GPs from two surgeries, brief case scenarios were presented. The GPs were asked what treatment or referral option they would recommend in each case, what the main reasons for their choices were and what outcomes they would expect. A short questionnaire was also used. The interviews were transcribed and a content analysis was carried out. Evidence for a variety of patient-related, service-related and doctor-related factors influencing referral decisions was found and compared with previous research findings. In line with results from earlier studies, individual differences between GPs in terms of referral rates, strategies used, confidence and interest in dealing with mental health problems were found. Implications of the findings and of previous research for referrers, service providers and for therapy were discussed. As the present study has obvious limitations, suggestions for future research were made.     

Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of an Internet Support Group for Parents of a Child with Neurofibromatosis Type 1: a Pilot Study

This pilot study investigated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an Internet Support Group (ISG) for parents of children with NF1. Eligible parents were recruited by email and completed baseline questionnaires assessing social support, self-efficacy, depression, and anxiety. The ISG involved eight weekly 90-min chat sessions and a discussion forum open 24 h/day for 8 weeks. Follow-up measures were completed immediately post-intervention and 3 months later. Parents from 33 families (29 mothers, 4 fathers) completed baseline measures. Over half of parents (52 %) rated their child’s disease severity as mild, 33 % moderate, and 15 % severe. Among 21 parents who completed post-intervention measures, ratings of perceived emotional (p = .0008) and informational (p = .0003) support increased. There were no significant changes in self-efficacy, depression, or anxiety (ps > .05). The mean satisfaction rating was moderately high (7.6/10; range 4–10). Some parents commented that the chat sessions were at inconvenient times, which may have limited participation. Preliminary evidence in this small sample of parents suggests that ISGs may be a feasible and potentially efficacious method of providing support to parents of children with NF1. Having multiple weekly chat sessions held at various days and times may improve accessibility and participation. Clinicians are encouraged to help parents access online support resources.     

The socialization of prosocial behavioral tendencies among Mexican American adolescents: The role of familism values

This study investigates the role of familism values in fostering socialization experiences that promote prosocial behavioral tendencies among Mexican American adolescents. Two hundred and four Mexican American mothers and their adolescent children (104 girls, age M = 10.91 years) completed measures of familism values, prosocial parenting practices, and prosocial behavioral tendencies. Structural equation modeling tests indicated that mothers' familism values are related to parenting behaviors that promote prosocial behavioral tendencies, which in turn are related to adolescents' perception of prosocial parenting practices. Furthermore, adolescents' perception of prosocial parenting practices is related to familism values and prosocial behavior tendencies. Last, the relation between adolescents' perception of prosocial parenting practices and prosocial behavioral tendencies is partially mediated by familism values. These findings are consistent with the theoretical suggestion that the transmission of traditional familism values may serve as a social medium through which prosocial behavioral tendencies are fostered among Mexican American adolescents.     

Type and token bigram frequencies for two-through nine-letter words and the prediction of anagram difficulty

Recent research on anagram solution has produced two original findings. First, it has shown that a new bigram frequency measure called top rank, which is based on a comparison of summed bigram frequencies, is an important predictor of anagram difficulty. Second, it has suggested that the measures from a type count are better than token measures at predicting anagram difficulty.Testing these hypotheses has been difficult because the computation of the bigram statistics is difficult. We present a program that calculates bigram measures for two-to nine-letter words. We then show how the program can be used to compare the contribution of top rank and other bigram frequency measures derived from both a token and a type count. Contrary to previous research, we report that type measures are not better at predicting anagram solution times and that top rank is not the best predictor of anagram difficulty. Lastly we use this program to show that type bigram frequencies are not as good as token bigram frequencies at predicting word identification reaction time.     

Cross-cultural similarities and differences in person-body reasoning: experimental evidence from the United Kingdom and Brazilian Amazon

We report the results of a cross-cultural investigation of person-body reasoning in the United Kingdom and northern Brazilian Amazon (Marajó Island). The study provides evidence that directly bears upon divergent theoretical claims in cognitive psychology and anthropology, respectively, on the cognitive origins and cross-cultural incidence of mind-body dualism. In a novel reasoning task, we found that participants across the two sample populations parsed a wide range of capacities similarly in terms of the capacities' perceived anchoring to bodily function. Patterns of reasoning concerning the respective roles of physical and biological properties in sustaining various capacities did vary between sample populations, however. Further, the data challenge prior ad-hoc categorizations in the empirical literature on the developmental origins of and cognitive constraints on psycho-physical reasoning (e.g., in afterlife concepts). We suggest cross-culturally validated categories of "Body Dependent" and "Body Independent" items for future developmental and cross-cultural research in this emerging area.     

Measuring Inconsistency

I provide a method of measuring the inconsistency of a set of sentences – from 1-consistency, corresponding to complete consistency, to 0-consistency, corresponding to the explicit presence of a contradiction. Using this notion to analyze the lottery paradox, one can see that the set of sentences capturing the paradox has a high degree of consistency (assuming, of course, a sufficiently large lottery). The measure of consistency, however, is not limited to paradoxes. I also provide results for general sets of sentences.     

The impact of orbital prefrontal cortex damage on emotional activation to unanticipated and anticipated acoustic startle stimuli

Damage to the orbital prefrontal cortex has been implicated in selectively diminishing electrodermal autonomic nervous system responses to anticipated punishing stimuli (e.g., losing money; Bechara, Damasio, & Damasio, 2000), but not to unanticipated punishing stimuli (e.g., loud noises; Damasio, Tranel, & Damasio, 1990). We extended this research by examining the effects of orbitofrontal damage on emotional responses to unanticipated and anticipated acoustic startles and collecting a more extensive set of physiological measures, emotional facial behavior, and self-reported emotional experience. Consistent with previous research, patients showed intact physiology to an unanticipated startle but failed to show appropriate anticipatory cardiovascular responses (patients’ heart rates decreased, controls’ increased). In addition, patients displayed more surprise facial behavior and reported marginally more fear than did controls in response to the unanticipated startle. Thus, orbitofrontal damage may compromise the ability to anticipate physiologically the onset of aversive stimuli, despite intact or enhanced emotional responses when such stimuli occur unexpectedly.