Intramuscular electrical stimulation of facial muscles in humans and chimpanzees: Duchenne revisited and extended

The pioneering work of Duchenne (1862/1990) was replicated in humans using intramuscular electrical stimulation and extended to another species (Pan troglodytes: chimpanzees) to facilitate comparative facial expression research. Intramuscular electrical stimulation, in contrast to the original surface stimulation, offers the opportunity to activate individual muscles as opposed to groups of muscles. In humans, stimulation resulted in appearance changes in line with Facial Action Coding System (FACS) action units (AUs), and chimpanzee facial musculature displayed functional similarity to human facial musculature. The present results provide objective identification of the muscle substrate of human and chimpanzee facial expressions- data that will be useful in providing a common language to compare the units of human and chimpanzee facial expression.     

Hostility, anger, aggressiveness, and coronary heart disease: an interpersonal perspective on personality, emotion, and health

The related traits of hostility, anger, and aggressiveness have long been suggested as risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). Our prior review of this literature (Smith, 1992) found both considerable evidence in support of this hypothesis and important limitations that precluded firm conclusions. In the present review, we discuss recent research on the assessment of these traits, their association with CHD and longevity, and mechanisms possibly underlying the association. In doing so, we illustrate the value of the interpersonal tradition in personality psychology (Sullivan, 1953; Leary, 1957; Carson, 1969; Kiesler, 1996) for not only research on the health consequences of hostility, anger, and aggressiveness, but also for the general study of the effects of emotion, personality and other psychosocial characteristics on physical health.     

The end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine): comment on Erard

We review Erard's (this issue) article. We laud him for the measured tone and carefully reasoned position that is taken. Although his main point that The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the new American Psychological Association (APA) Ethics Code (2002) need not be seen as disasters for the practice of assessment, we pose several problems with his analysis. In particular, we argue that although his point that test security is not airtight at present is well taken, nonetheless, it is important to set the bar as high as possible to limit breaches in security. Although Erard is correct that more complex instruments may withstand attempts to manipulate the results, many smaller or more focused instruments may be irrevocably damaged. Furthermore, the release of raw test data can have a deleterious effect in the clinical arena, especially in instances in which it could be subject to misinterpretation and misuse. Finally, we criticize the APA for subjugating the interests of the profession to political expediency.     

Attachment predicts treatment completion in an eating disorders partial hospital program among women with anorexia nervosa

The goal of this study was to examine if attachment theory can provide a framework for understanding treatment completion in an eating disorders partial hospital program among women with anorexia nervosa (AN). Attachment was measured using the Attachment Styles Questionnaire (Feeney, Noller, & Hanrahan, 1994). As hypothesized, self-reports of high avoidant attachment predicted noncompletion of treatment for those with AN binge-purge subtype (ANB). However, this relationship did not emerge for those with AN restricting subtype (ANR). Also as hypothesized, self-reports of high anxious attachment predicted completing treatment for those with ANB but not for those with ANR. For completers with ANB and ANR, the program was helpful in increasing body weight and lowering drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, interpersonal problems, and depression. Attachment avoidance, characterized by devaluing one's need for relationships, may be a contraindication for group-based partial hospital treatment of ANB. Attachment anxiety, characterized by high preoccupation with relationships, may facilitate remaining in treatment for those with ANB.     

On the origin and preservation of cumulative record in its struggle for life as a favored term

This paper offers a case study of the origins, emergence, and evolution of the term cumulative record as the name for the means by which B. F. Skinner brought his behavior under the control of his subject matter. Our methods included on-line searches, reviews of Skinner's publications, and journal codings and counts. The results reveal that the term is not originally attributable to Skinner, but emerged earlier in ordinary language and in another discipline--education. It was not even original to Skinner in print in his own science. Still, the term was once original to him, which we address with additional analyses of his having originated and advanced it. We conclude with a discussion the constraints of our methods, suggestions for future research, and the variable appreciation of technology and terminology in science studies.     

Factors contributing to the utilization of mental health services in a rural setting

The purpose of this study was to examine if age, attitudes toward help-seeking, education, and sex were related to previous or intended future mental health utilization in a rural population. Data were collected via a mail survey from 438 adults. Regression analyses suggested that positive attitudes toward help-seeking, being female, and being younger were significantly related to both previous and intended future mental health service utilization. In addition, prior mental health use was significantly related to whether one would seek out mental health services in the future, Implications for mental health practitioners in rural settings are addressed, and limitations of the study discussed.     

Understanding trust and confidence: two paradigms and their significance for health and social care

Trusting agents characteristically anticipate beneficial outcomes, under conditions of uncertainty, in their engagement with others. However, debates about trust incorporate different interpretations of risk, uncertainty, calculation, affect, morality and motivation in explaining when trust is appropriate and how it operates. This article argues that discussions about trust have produced a concept without coherent boundaries and with little operational value. Two paradigms are identified, which distinguish the characteristics of trust and confidence. It is argued that a reliance on confidence in human affairs makes trust redundant and that this has undesirable moral consequences. Discussion is illustrated by the UK Government's 'modernisation' policy in health and social care, which privileges confidence in systems over trust in moral agents.     

Psychometric Evaluation of 5- and 7-Year-Old Children's Self-Reports of Conduct Problems

Past research suggests that young children are incapable of reporting information about their own behavior problems. To test this, we examined the validity and the usefulness of children's self-reports in the E-Risk Study, a nationally representative birth cohort of 2,232 children. We used the Berkeley Puppet Interview to obtain children's self-reports of conduct problems when they were 5-years old and the Dominic-R when they were 7-years old. We also collected information about the children and their families by interviewing mothers, sending questionnaires to teachers, and rating examiners' observations during home visits. Results indicate that when children's self-reports are gathered with structured and developmentally appropriate instruments, they are shown to be valid measures: conduct problems reported by the children themselves were associated with known correlates including individual characteristics (e.g., IQ), related behaviors (e.g., hyperactivity), and family variables (e.g., economic disadvantages). Observed correlations closely matched effect sizes reported in the literature using adults' reports of children's behavioral problems. In addition, children's self-reports can be useful: both measures distinguished children meeting DSM-IV criteria for research diagnoses of conduct disorder. Children's reports also contributed unique information not provided by adults. For research and clinical purposes, young children's self-reports can be viewed as a valuable complement to adults' ratings and observational measures of children's behavior problems.     

Specific-token effects in screening tasks: possible implications for aviation security

Screeners at airport security checkpoints perform an important categorization task in which they search for threat items in complex x-ray images. But little is known about how the processes of categorization stand up to visual complexity. The authors filled this research gap with screening tasks in which participants searched for members of target categories in visual displays. The authors found that when targets were sampled with replacement and repetition, participant screeners relied on recognizing familiar targets and had great difficulty using category-general knowledge. The authors observed a "heartbeat" in detection performance--it improved while test images repeated but dropped sharply when unfamiliar targets from the same categories appeared. This reliance on familiarity illuminates the processes of categorization under conditions of visual complexity and suggests limits on those processes. This reliance also has implications for the training and evaluation of screeners in the field.