Use of the Abuse Disability Questionnaire in screening a clinical outpatient sample of women

A sample of 50 women who sought services at a community mental health center were administered screening questionnaires which measure impairment from abuse and mental symptomatology. Scores on Psychiatric Symptomatology and Depression were correlated with impairment associated with partner abuse. Impairment was intermediate between those of a shelter sample and well-functioning community sample. The importance of screening for impairment from partner abuse in women seeking outpatient mental health care was emphasized.     

Nodal structure and the partitioning of equivalence classes

By definition, all of the stimuli in an equivalence class have to be functionally interchangeable with each other. The present experiment, however, demonstrated that this was not the case when using post-class-formation dual-option response transfer tests. With college students, two 4-node 6-member equivalence classes with nodal structures of A-->B-->C-->D-->E-->F were produced by training AB, BC, CD, DE, and EF. Then, unique responses were trained to the C and D stimuli in each class. The responses trained to C generalized to B and A, while the responses trained to D generalized to E and F. Thus, each 4-node 6-member equivalence class was bifurcated into two 3-member functional classes: A-->B-->C and D-->E-->F, with class membership precisely predicted by nodal structure. A final emergent relations test documented the intactness of the underlying 4-node 6-member equivalence classes. The coexistence of the interchangeability of stimuli in an equivalence class and the bifurcation of such a class in terms of nodal structure was explained in the following manner. The conditional discriminations that are used to establish a class also imposes a nodal structure on the stimuli in the class. Thus, the stimuli in the class acquire two sets of relational properties. If the format of a test trial allows only one response option per class, responding on those trials will be in accordance with class membership and will not express the effects of nodal distance. If the format of a test trial allows more than one response option per class, responding on those trials will be determined by the nodal structure of the class. Thus, the relational properties expressed by the stimuli in an equivalence class are determined by the discriminative function served by the format of a test trial.     

Is it Too Soon to Meet? Examining Differences in Geosocial Networking App Use and Sexual Risk Behavior of Emerging Adults

Location-based geosocial networking smartphone applications (GSN apps) have become a popular way to meet romantic and casual sex partners. Although first used primarily by men who have sex with men (MSM), GSN apps are now commonly used in the population at large, particularly among emerging adults. Although, these apps may potentially contribute to increases in STI/HIV incidence, previous research linking GSN app use to sexual risk behavior has been mixed, with some suggesting app users report greater sexual risk behavior and others suggesting less. The present paper details findings of two studies with independent samples of emerging adults. The first, a pilot study, examined GSN app use among young MSM (n = 64) to identify possible within-group factors relating dating app use to sexual risk behavior. Results indicated that the time app users spent talking to each other through the app before meeting in person (time before meeting) was related to engagement in sexual risk behavior. Those who talked less before meeting in person engaged in more sexual risk behaviors than those who spent more time talking before meeting in person. The second study sought to expand upon this finding in a more representative sample of GSN app users (n = 129) and compared sexual risk behavior and impulsivity to non-users (n = 88). There were no differences in sexual risk behavior between GSN app users and non-users. However, when examining app users by time before meeting, those with a shorter time before meeting were more impulsive and more likely to report sexual risk behavior. These findings highlight the importance of understanding GSN app use in the spread of STIs/HIV among emerging adults.     

Contextualizing Gender and Acculturative Influences on Sexual Initiation of Asian Indian Emerging Adults

Although Asian Indians represent one the fastest growing demographics in the United States, no studies exist on the sexual behavior of Asian Indian youth or its association with acculturation. Previous research has demonstrated a link between earlier sexual initiation and subsequent sexual risk and the role of acculturation and sexual initiation in other Asian groups. The present exploratory study examined gender and acculturation with regard to sexual initiation in Asian Indians (n = 37). Results reveal no significant gender differences in sexual initiation and total acculturation scores. Gender differences did emerge for the association among sexual behaviors and the influence of specific areas of acculturation on sexual initiation. Findings suggest that gender and acculturation may be important variables in understanding sexual behavior but that current acculturation measures may be insufficient to adequately assess acculturation levels of Asian Indian youth. Future research should focus on Asian Indians as an understudied minority group.     

“What It Means To Be a Woman:” Ambivalent Sexism in Female College Students’ Experiences and Attitudes

This study used content analysis to examine if themes related to ambivalent sexism (Glick and Fiske 1996) emerged when female students wrote an essay answering the question “What does it mean to be a woman?” and examined the relationship between Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) scores (Glick and Fiske 1996) and content analysis. Participants were 78 female undergraduate students in the Southeastern U.S. Findings revealed themes related to ambivalent sexism were present in 99% of essays, indicating that ambivalent sexism is highly relevant to women’s gendered experiences. Furthermore participants’ ASI scores were positively correlated with a sexism score created from coded essay content. The discussion addresses theoretical and contextual implications of the findings.     

Gender Differences in Positive and Negative Feelings Between Adolescents and Their Fathers and Mothers

Given the connections between feelings and well-being within the family, we addressed gender differences and similarities of feelings within the family. We explored adolescents’, mothers’, and fathers’ positive and negative affect within a community sample of 224 families from the southeast of the United States. Adolescents ranged in age from 12 to 19 years. Findings suggest more gender differences in positive and negative affect for parental gender (i.e., mothers versus fathers) than for adolescent gender (i.e., boys versus girls). There were more consistent associations within the family for positive affect as opposed to negative affect. We discussed the results in the context of gender differences within the family within the family systems theoretical perspective.     

Aspects of Repetition in Bonobo–Human Conversation: Creating Cohesion in a Conversation Between Species

Ape language research has primarily focused on specific isolated language features. In contrast, in research into human language, traditions such as conversational analysis and discourse analysis propose to study language as actual discourse. Consequently, repetitions are seen as accomplishing various discursive and pragmatic functions in human conversations, while in apes, repetitions are seen as rote imitations and as proof that apes do not exhibit language. Tools from discourse analysis are applied in this study to a conversation between a language-competent bonobo, Pan paniscus and a human. The hypothesis is that the bonobo may exhibit even larger linguistic competency in ordinary conversation than in controlled experimental settings. Despite her limited productive means, the bonobo Panbanisha competently engages in co-constructing the conversational turns. She uses shared knowledge and repetitions to achieve compliance with a request. This reveals a knowledge about socio-linguistic interactions which goes beyond the pure informational content of words. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Early and late introduction of probes and stimulus control acquisition in fading

College students learned to name Braille patterns presented visually using a fading procedure in which Braille patterns were superimposed on letter names after which letter names were attenuated. Measurement of acquisition was accomplished by presenting probes—consisting of the Braille stimuli only—throughout fading. Effects of probes upon acquisition were assessed by introducing probes early or late in fading. Fewer fading levels were needed for Braille elements to acquire control when probes were introduced early rather than late. When probes were introduced late, all subjects learned to name the Braille elements as the letters were being faded out. When probes were introduced early, however, most subjects learned to name the Braille elements as they were being faded in. Since virtually no errors occurred during compound-stimulus presentations, the probe procedure did not induce errors during acquisition. Quantitative analysis of probe data suggested that inclusion of probes enhanced the control acquired by the Braille elements during compound-stimulus presentations. The reported effects may have been due to differences in the relative frequency of reinforcement presented during compounds and probes.     

The formation of linked perceptual classes

Multiple-exemplar training with stimuli in four domains induced two new fill-based (A1' and A2') and satellite-image-based (B1' and B2') perceptual classes. Conditional discriminations were established between the endpoints of the A1' and B1' classes as well as the A2' and B2' classes. The emergence of linked perceptual classes was evaluated by the performances occasioned by nine cross-class probes that contained fill variants as samples and satellite variants as comparisons, along with nine other cross-class probes that consisted of satellite variants as samples and fill variants as comparisons. The 18 probes were first presented serially and then concurrently. Class-consistent responding indicated the emergence of linked perceptual classes. Of the linked perceptual classes, 70% emerged during the initial serial test. An additional 20% of the linked perceptual classes emerged during the subsequently presented concurrent test block. Thus, linked perceptual classes emerged on an immediate or delayed basis. Linked perceptual classes, then, share structural and fuctional similarities with equivalence classes, generalized equivalence classes, cross-modal classes, and complex maturally occurring categories, and may clarify processes such as intersensory perception.     

Health-related quality of life in Parkinson's disease after pallidotomy and deep brain stimulation

This study explored the multidimensional outcome of three neurosurgical interventions for Parkinson's disease (PD): pallidotomy (N = 23), pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS) (N = 9), and thalamic DBS (N = 7). All patients completed the Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) and the Beck Depression Inventory. Pallidotomy patients also completed the Profile of Mood States, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and a disease-specific quality of life (QOL) measure, the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Three months after surgery, all neurosurgical groups showed significant improvements in mood and function, including physical, psychosocial, and overall functioning. Pallidal DBS and pallidotomy patients who completed additional QOL measures reported decreased anxiety and tension, increased vigor, improved mobility and ability to perform activities of daily living, and decreased perceived stigma. Psychosocial dysfunction scores from the SIP were related to depressed mood both at baseline (r = .42) and at followup (r = .45), but the physical dysfunction subscale was not related to mood at either time point, suggesting that disruption of social relationships due to PD may have more impact on affective distress than physical symptoms alone. Results suggest that neurosurgical interventions for PD improve disabling PD motor symptoms and also improve several domains of quality of life.