Paper and voice MAYSI-2: format comparability and concordance with the voice DISC-IV

The authors examine the comparability of paper and voice formats of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Second Version (MAYSI-2) as well as each format's concordance with the Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) among adjudicated youth. Comparability is assessed among 248 youths admitted to a South Carolina Assessment Center. Mean scores and alpha coefficients are calculated, and area under the curve and positive and negative predictive values are used to compare concordance to the DISC. Paper and voice formats are significantly correlated, have similar alpha coefficients, and have comparable concordance with the DISC, suggesting that the MAYSI-2 paper and voice formats are comparable instruments. The voice format may be preferable to the paper format for screening justice youth for mental health problems because it may reduce incomplete data and increase reporting of stigmatized behaviors and because of its ability to automatically generate scored reports and aggregate data.     

Same-different conceptualization by baboons (Papio papio): the role of entropy

The authors trained 6 baboons (Papio papio) to make 1 of 2 report responses to 16-icon same arrays versus 16-icon different arrays. In the same arrays, the icons were all the same as one another, whereas in the different arrays the icons were all different from one another. In Experiment 1, the baboons discriminated the same arrays from the different arrays, and they transferred their discriminative responding to arrays of novel icons. In Experiments 2 and 3, the baboons exhibited strong sensitivity to the degree of display variability when they were shown mixed arrays that comprised some same and some different items. The information theoretic measure "entropy" systematically described these results and outperformed several rival metrics. Finally, in Experiments 4 and 5, the baboons' responses to displays that contained jittered and blurred icons suggested that their same-different conceptual behavior was not based on the spatial orderliness of the visual arrays.     

A model of union participation: the impact of perceived union support, union instrumentality, and union loyalty

Perceived union support and union instrumentality have been shown to uniquely predict union loyalty. This study was the first to explicitly examine the relation between perceived union support and union instrumentality. Surveys were completed by 273 union members and 29 union stewards. A comparison of 2 models, 1 based on organizational support theory and 1 based on union participation theories, found that the model based on organizational support theory, in which union instrumentality was an antecedent to perceived union support and led to union loyalty and subsequently union participation, best fit the data. The model based on union participation theories, in which perceived union support was an antecedent of union instrumentality and led to union loyalty and subsequently union participation, was not supported. Union instrumentality was related to union commitment, but the relation was completely mediated by perceived union support.     

Secular or nonreligious? Investigating and interpreting generic ‘not religious’ categories and populations

In research dealing with religious affiliation, generic nonreligious categories – ‘no religion’, ‘not religious’, ‘nonreligious’, ‘nones’ – are frequently used to measure secularity and secularisation processes. Analysis of these categories is, however, problematic because they have not received dedicated methodological attention. Using qualitative research conducted in the UK, this article investigates what nonreligious categories measure and, specifically, whether they indicate non-identification or disaffiliation as assumed or an alternative form of cultural affiliation. Findings suggest that generic nonreligious categories are sometimes used to express substantive positions and public identities, and that these are diverse. These findings flatten distinctions between religious and nonreligious categories as ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ respectively and indicate problems therefore in using nonreligious identification to measure secularity and secularisation. They suggest nonreligious identification is, however, a useful indicator of the advance of nonreligious cultures and the ‘nonreligionisation’ of societies.     

Validating the virtual string task with the gap test

Relational concepts—such as connectedness—may be easy for human adults to appreciate; but, obtaining evidence of other species’ understanding of connectedness has been challenging. One key test of connectedness involves an organism’s responding to variants of the string task. Using a virtual string task, we gave pigeons a pair of strings from which to choose: one connected to a full dish of food and a second disconnected from another full dish of food. Our pigeons did not at first choose the connected string under conditions of non-differential reinforcement; later, the birds rapidly learned to choose the connected string under conditions of differential reinforcement. Our results replicate prior findings with real strings and food dishes, thereby demonstrating that pigeons can appreciate the connectedness between a string tether and a dish of food, and attesting to the utility and fidelity of the virtual string task.