Depression and vulnerability as assessed by the Rorschach method

We examined clinically depressed (CD; n = 16), previously depressed (PD; n = 19) and never depressed (ND; n = 18) individuals on 13 theoretically selected Rorschach (Exner, 1993; Rorschach, 1942) variables and on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). The group assignment was made according to the criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). We tested 2 contradictory models for depressive vulnerability, Beck's (Clark & Beck, 1999) and Miranda and Persons's (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992), in a planned comparison design with focused contrasts. The CDs significantly contrasted the combined group of NDs and the PDs in a pathological direction on 8 of the 13 Rorschach variables and on the BDI. However, the combined group of CDs and PDs also significantly contrasted the NDs in a pathological direction on 3 of these Rorschach variables and on the BDI. In addition, logistic regression analyses indicated that Rorschach indexes significantly improved the prediction of major depression above and beyond that achieved by the BDI. The findings show that the Rorschach method was able to identify (a) cognitive and aggressive disturbances that are present in individuals who are actively depressed but not in individuals who have been depressed in the past or never been depressed and (b) affective and coping disturbances that are present in depressed individuals and to some degree in PD individuals but not in individuals who have not experienced depression. We discuss the scanty evidence of psychological disturbances in PD individuals, as measured with the Rorschach, in relation to the mood-state dependent hypothesis of Miranda and Persons (1988; Persons & Miranda, 1992).     

Competence,guilt, and victimization: Sex differences in attribution of causality in television dramas

Sex differences in attribution of causality are investigated in three types of television programs: prime-time family, violent, and daytime serial shows. Both frequency and type of causal statements were studied, using DeCharm's conceptualization of personal causation as origin-like (internal to the self) or pawn-like (external to the self). There were striking sex differences in violent programs, with males modeling more origin behavior and females modeling more pawn behavior. In soap operas there were no sex differences, but both origin and pawn ideas were expressed in terms of personal responsibility, with fewer references to more competent origin behaviors such as goal setting, planned decision making, or self-confidence. These findings have implications for differential socialization of competent coping skills for males and females.The authors would like to express appreciation to Katie Henry and Jennifer Mardoyan, who assisted with this research.     

Prospects for Computerized Memory Training in Normal Elderly: Effects of Practice on Explicit and Implicit Memory Tasks

We gave 12 cognitively normal, elderly adults (mean age = 76.33 years) training and practice on the Colorado Neuropsychology Tests, a computerized battery of explicit and implicit memory tasks. Half the subjects practised on the explicit memory tasks for 1.5 hours a week for 9 weeks with the assistance of a psychologist, while the other half practised on the implicit tasks for the equivalent amount of time. Subjects in both training conditions showed significant improvement within and across training sessions, with those in the implicit memory condition showing the most overall improvement, as indicated by standardized change scores. However, the improved performance on the training tasks did not result in more positive self-assessments of memory capability. In general, subjects displayed favourable attitudes toward the computer technology and were capable of learning to operate the computer software. The results support the practical application of computerized memory training with normal elderly adults.     

Expectancies, Setting, Age, and Beverage Choice as Predictors of Sexual Behaviors in Hypothetical Dating Situations

Brief vignettes depicting heterosexual dates were used to examine how date location (bar/restaurant), age (21/35), female character's beverage choice (alcohol/soda), and respondents' gender interacted to determine participants' estimations of the likelihood of sexual behaviors between daters. Participants were randomly assigned to read vignettes that combined these factors in a factorial design. Younger, alcohol-drinking females in a bar date were perceived as more likely to engage in sex than were nondrinking females at a restaurant. For older daters, neither factor was relevant. The drinking female was perceived as more likely to initiate sex than was the nondrinker. Alcohol use by the male target was not related to perceived initiation likelihood. Participants with stronger alcohol expectancies gave higher estimates of likelihood of sex.     

The Role of Animacy in Children's Interpretation of Relative Clauses in English: Evidence From Sentence–Picture Matching and Eye Movements

Subject relative clauses (SRCs) are typically processed more easily than object relative clauses (ORCs), but this difference is diminished by an inanimate head-noun in semantically non-reversible ORCs (“The book that the boy is reading”). In two eye-tracking experiments, we investigated the influence of animacy on online processing of semantically reversible SRCs and ORCs using lexically inanimate items that were perceptually animate due to motion (e.g., “Where is the tractor that the cow is chasing”). In Experiment 1, 48 children (aged 4;5–6;4) and 32 adults listened to sentences that varied in the lexical animacy of the NP1 head-noun (Animate/Inanimate) and relative clause (RC) type (SRC/ORC) with an animate NP2 while viewing two images depicting opposite actions. As expected, inanimate head-nouns facilitated the correct interpretation of ORCs in children; however, online data revealed children were more likely to anticipate an SRC as the RC unfolded when an inanimate head-noun was used, suggesting processing was sensitive to perceptual animacy. In Experiment 2, we repeated our design with inanimate (rather than animate) NP2s (e.g., “where is the tractor that the car is following”) to investigate whether our online findings were due to increased visual surprisal at an inanimate as agent, or to similarity-based interference. We again found greater anticipation for an SRC in the inanimate condition, supporting our surprisal hypothesis. Across the experiments, offline measures show that lexical animacy influenced children's interpretation of ORCs, whereas online measures reveal that as RCs unfolded, children were sensitive to the perceptual animacy of lexically inanimate NPs, which was not reflected in the offline data. Overall measures of syntactic comprehension, inhibitory control, and verbal short-term memory and working memory were not predictive of children's accuracy in RC interpretation, with the exception of a positive correlation with a standardized measure of syntactic comprehension in Experiment 1.     

Up or down: the influence of upcoming reinforcement on consummatory and operant behavior

Research has shown that animal subjects that are given a chance to consume a low-valued substance will consume less of it if a high-valued substance will soon be available than they would if the low-valued substance were to remain available (negative consummatory contrast). Research has also shown that subjects that lever press for a low-valued reinforcer will press the lever more often for that reinforcer if they will soon be able to lever press for a high-valued reinforcer than they would if they continue to press for the low-valued reinforcer (positive induction). The present study investigated these different changes in behavior across 3 experiments. The results suggest that the occurrence of contrast or induction does not depend on the type of substances that are used. We argue that further investigation of the contrast vs. induction issue is warranted because it has empirical, theoretical, and applied implications.     

Putting Emotional Reactivity in its Place? Exploring Family-of-origin Influences on Emotional Reactivity,Conflict, and Satisfaction in Premarital Couples

The purpose of this research was to develop a structural equation model that tested the effects of emotional reactivity on the relational health of a representative sample of 736 premarital couples. We hypothesized that partners’ perceived family-of-origin experience would be predictive of partners’ reports of their own and their partners’ emotional reactivity. These reports were hypothesized to predict partners’ reports of their own and their partners’ ability to manage conflict, which were hypothesized to predict relationship satisfaction. Overall, the model fit the data quite well, with particularly interesting differences by gender. We discuss the model’s fit within the larger body of literature, the potential implications and limitations of our findings, and future research considerations. Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

School social climate and teachers’ perceptions of classroom behavior problems: a 10 year longitudinal and multilevel study

Using longitudinal and cross-sectional data, the present research sought to identify school social climate predictors of teachers’ perceptions of classroom behavior problems. The social climate and classroom behavior in 107 public and private French speaking Canadian high schools was evaluated by 1399 teachers. The present analysis is unique in its ability to control for school differences in the enrollment of students with a history of problem behavior. As hypothesized, between-school variation in the proportion of students with histories of disruptive problems predicted high school classroom behavior problems. Moreover, when controlling for these between-school differences, concurrently measured school-level variables (type of school, location of school, and academic emphasis) are found to be significant predictors of classroom behavior problems. The theoretical and practical implications of the present findings are examined and recommendations are made for future research.