Preliminary examination of the psychometric properties of the Psychiatric Scepticism Scale

Despite much commentary on "psychiatric skepticism", there remains a dearth of appropriate psychometric scales for the measurement of this concept. To overcome this limitation, the present study examined the psychometric properties and correlates of the recently developed Psychiatric Scepticism Scale (PSS). A total of 564 individuals from the community in London, England, completed the PSS along with measures of anti-scientific attitudes, attitudes to authority, knowledge of mental health disorders, and demographics. Results showed that the PSS has a one-dimensional factor structure with very good internal consistency. In addition, it showed adequate convergent (anti-scientific attitudes, knowledge of mental health disorders) and construct validity (attitudes to authority, religiosity). Results also showed that there were small but significant differences in psychiatric skepticism by ethnicity and education, but not sex or previous diagnosis of mental health disorder. These results confirm that the PSS has adequate psychometric properties for the measurement of psychiatric skepticism.     

Trait complexes and academic achievement: Old and new ways of examining personality in educational contexts

Background . Although recent research has provided evidence for the predictive validity of personality traits in academic settings, the path to an improved understanding of the nature of personality influences on academic achievement involves a reconceptualization of both criterion and predictor construct spaces. Aims . For the criterion space, one needs to consider student behaviours beyond grades and level of educational attainment, and include what the student does among other things outside of the classroom. For the predictor space, it is possible to bring some order to the myriad personality constructs that have been developed over the last century, by focusing on common variance among personality and other non‐ability traits. Methods . We review these conceptual issues and several empirical studies. Conclusions . We demonstrate the possible increments in understanding non‐ability determinants of academic achievement that may be obtained by focusing on areas where there is a theoretical convergence between predictor and criterion spaces.     

The memory of two great mental calculators: Charcot and Binet's neglected 1893 experiments

French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893) and French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911) are almost unknown as investigators who conducted original and fascinating studies in the area of memory. In a series of 1893 experiments, they compared the performance of two expert mental calculators, Jacques Inaudi and Périclès Diamandi, in tasks that consisted of recalling digits. Inspired by Ribot's psychological work (1881), they believed in the existence of not one type of memory but several partial, special, and local memories, each devoted to a particular domain. In all arithmetical prodigies, memory for digits is abnormally developed compared with other memories. Inaudi was considered to be an auditory memory-based mental calculator; when memorizing digits, he did not rely onthe appearance of the items or create visual imagery of any kind. Rather, he remembered digits principally by their sounds. Inaudi's methods of calculation and memorization were original and different from those used by Diamandi, who was a typical visual memory-based mental calculator. The experiments presented in the 1893 article were among the first scientific demonstrations of the importance to psychology of studying different types of memory. The present work gives a translation of this pioneering experimental article on expert calculators by Charcot and Binet, instructive for the comprehension of normal memory.     

Unpacking Links between Fathers’ Antisocial Behaviors and Children’s Behavior Problems: Direct,Indirect, and Interactive Effects

Building upon previous evidence for the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behaviors, this research assessed and compared three models seeking to explain links between fathers’ antisocial behaviors and children’s behavior problems. A representative sample of children from low-income families (N?=?261) was followed from age 3 through age 9. Lagged OLS regression models assessed both short-term (1½?years) and longer-term (5½?years) prospective links between fathers’ antisocial behaviors and children’s behavior problems. Results supported a direct effects model: fathers’ antisocial behaviors predicted growth in children’s externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, with links stronger among resident-father families. Limited evidence of indirect effects emerged, with links between fathers’ antisocial behaviors and children’s behavior problems only slightly attenuated controlling for related risk factors and for parenting quality, showing limited evidence of mediation. A new interactive model was proposed and supported, with high levels of harsh discipline exacerbating negative links between fathers’ antisocial behaviors and children’s internalizing problems. Results suggest caution in policies and programs which seek to universally increase marriage or father involvement without attention to fathers’ behaviors.     

P3 event-related potentials and childhood maltreatment in successful and unsuccessful psychopaths

Although P3 event-related potential abnormalities have been found in psychopathic individuals, it is unknown whether successful (uncaught) psychopaths and unsuccessful (caught) psychopaths show similar deficits. In this study, P3 amplitude and latency were assessed from a community sample of 121 male adults using an auditory three-stimulus oddball task. Psychopathy was assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare, 2003) while childhood physical maltreatment was assessed using the Conflict Tactic Scale (Straus, 1979). Results revealed that compared to normal controls, unsuccessful psychopaths showed reduced parietal P3 amplitudes to target stimuli and reported experienced more physical abuse in childhood. In contrast, successful psychopaths exhibited larger parietal P3 amplitude and shorter frontal P3 latency to irrelevant nontarget stimuli than unsuccessful psychopaths. This is the first report of electrophysiological processing differences between successful and unsuccessful psychopaths, possibly indicating neurocognitive and psychosocial distinctions between these two subtypes of psychopathy.     

Risk for suicidal ideation and suicide attempts associated with co-occurring depression and conduct problems in early adolescence

This study investigates the early manifestation of co-occurring depression and conduct problems as a predictor of heightened risk for later suicidal ideation and behavior in a community sample of 521 adolescents. Self-reported symptoms of depression and conduct problems were evaluated in early 6th grade. Suicidal thoughts and behaviors were tracked through multiple assessments carried out over the middle school years. Compared to adolescents with depression symptoms only, conduct problem symptoms only, or low psychopathology, those with co-occurring depression and conduct problem symptoms had the highest risk for subsequent suicidal ideation, recurrent suicidal behaviors, and suicide attempts.     

How Accurate are Recruiters' First Impressions of Applicants in Employment Interviews?

The ability of recruiters and laypersons (students) to detect applicant personality traits and deception was studied. Participants viewed mock videotapes of target applicants answering interview questions. They subsequently judged the applicants' personality on the Big Five dimensions. Then, they viewed another videotape with other applicants presenting themselves either truthfully or not, and subsequently guessed which version was truthful. Personality judgments were compared with targets' self‐assessments and peer assessments to create an accuracy score. Both recruiters and students accurately detected applicants' global personality profile. Recruiters were better at this than students. However, students were better at judging the specific traits of openness, extraversion, and conscientiousness, whereas recruiters only accurately detected openness. Recruiters detected lies above chance whereas students did not.     

Third parties, violence, and conflict resolution: the role of group size and collective action in the microregulation of violence

Although researchers know much about the causes of aggression, they know surprisingly little about how aggression leads to violence or how violence is controlled. To explore the microregulation of violence, we conducted a systematic behavioral analysis of footage from closed-circuit television surveillance of public spaces. Using 42 incidents involving 312 people, we compared aggressive incidents that ended in violence with those that did not. Behaviors of antagonists and third parties were coded as either escalating or conciliatory acts. Results showed that third parties were more likely to take conciliatory actions than to escalate violence and that this tendency increased as group size increased. This analysis revealed a pattern of third-party behaviors that prevent aggression from becoming violent and showed that conciliatory behaviors are more successful when carried out by multiple third parties than when carried out by one person. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of collective third-party dynamics in understanding conflict resolution.     

Two (or three) is one too many: testing the flexibility of contextual cueing with multiple target locations

Visual search for a target object is facilitated when the object is repeatedly presented within an invariant context of surrounding items ("contextual cueing"; Chun & Jiang, Cognitive Psychology, 36, 28-71, 1998). The present study investigated whether such invariant contexts can cue more than one target location. In a series of three experiments, we showed that contextual cueing is significantly reduced when invariant contexts are paired with two rather than one possible target location, whereas no contextual cueing occurs with three distinct target locations. Closer data inspection revealed that one "dominant" target always exhibited substantially more contextual cueing than did the other, "minor" target(s), which caused negative contextual-cueing effects. However, minor targets could benefit from the invariant context when they were spatially close to the dominant target. In sum, our experiments suggest that contextual cueing can guide visual attention to a spatially limited region of the display, only enhancing the detection of targets presented inside that region.     

Childhood cognitive ability,education, and personality traits predict attainment in adult occupational prestige over 17 years

This study explored a longitudinal data set of nearly 5000 adults examining the effects of childhood cognitive ability (measured at age 11), parental social class (measured at birth), and personality on current occupational prestige (all measured at age 50), taking account the effects of education and the previous occupational levels (both measured at age 33). Participants' levels of occupational attainment significantly went up from age 33 to age 50. Correlational analysis showed childhood cognitive ability, parental social class, education and occupation, and personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, emotional stability) were all significantly associated with current occupational prestige. The strongest correlates of current occupational levels were educational qualifications, followed by childhood cognitive ability, parental social class, and personality traits. Structural equation modelling showed that for the change of occupation over 17 years, the strongest predictor was education, followed by childhood intelligence. Personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness) had modest but significant influence in the upgrading of occupational attainment over the period of time, and parental social status predicted occupational change mediated through education and initial occupational levels. Education and childhood intelligence are more powerful predictors of current occupational prestige than personality factors or family social background. The implications for policy making and equal opportunities for education are discussed.