Sustained Attention and Executive Functioning Performance in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The aim of this study was to further refine the cognitive phenotype of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with respect to the ability to sustain attention and executive functioning. Participants were 34 boys with ADHD (combined type) and 28 normal controls. The groups were closely matched for age and IQ. All participants were 12 years of age. Both groups performed a computerized sustained attention task and a response interference task. Measures related to speed, accuracy, and time on task were collected. We found that children with ADHD performed slower, less accurately, more impulsively, and with less stability than controls. Both groups produced more errors with increasing time on task, reflecting reduced vigilance. Importantly, no interaction with time on task was found. The overall pattern of results suggests that measures related to accuracy are more informative than measures related to speed of responding in refining the cognitive phenotype of ADHD.     

Extending the Rorschach Trauma Content Index and Aggression Indexes to Dream Narratives of Children Exposed to Enduring Violence: An Exploratory Study

The relationship between a measure of interpersonal stress and report of physical symptoms was investigated. The data were obtained on 85 undergraduate students using a structured diary for a period of one week. A positive relationship was found between the diary measure of interpersonal stress and an overall tendency to report physical complaints. Positive relationships were also found between the measure of interpersonal stress and report of specific symptoms, such as dizziness and back problems. Interpersonal stress appeared higher on symptom days than non-symptom days but little evidence was found for higher stress on days immediately preceding symptoms.     

Distinct pathways to persuasion: The role of affect in message‐framing effects

Health‐promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains that are associated with healthy behaviour (gain frame) or the losses that are associated with unhealthy behaviour (loss frame). In the present research, we examined the role of positive and negative affect in the persuasive effects of gain‐ and loss‐framed health‐promoting information. Experiment 1 (N = 98) showed that gain‐framed information resulted in higher levels of information acceptance than loss‐framed information and that this effect was mediated by positive affect. The results of Experiment 2 (N = 129) showed that gain‐framed information resulted in higher levels of information acceptance and attitude, an effect that was again mediated by positive affect. In addition, loss‐framed information resulted in more negative affect than gain‐framed information and negative affect increased participants' intention to engage in the healthy behaviour. These results suggest that affect may be of great importance in the persuasion process and may be particularly helpful to explain the underlying mechanisms of message framing effects. The findings also suggest that gain‐ and loss‐framed messages offer distinct pathways to persuasion. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effectiveness of family-based cognitive-behavior grief therapy to prevent complicated grief in relatives of suicide victims: the mediating role of suicide ideation

Grief interventions are more effective for high risk individuals. The presence of suicide ideation following suicide bereavement was examined to determine whether it indicates a high risk status. Using data from a randomized controlled trial (n = 122) on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavior therapy, the effect of suicide ideation on the effectiveness of grief therapy on the bereavement outcome at 13 months post loss was examined. Results show that suicide ideators more often have a history of mental disorder and suicidal behavior than non-ideators, and suicide ideation indicates a high risk for adverse bereavement outcome. Grief therapy likely reduces the risk of maladaptive grief reactions among suicide ideators. Therefore, suicide ideators may benefit from grief therapy following a loss through suicide.     

A clusterwise simultaneous component method for capturing within‐cluster differences in component variances and correlations

This paper presents a clusterwise simultaneous component analysis for tracing structural differences and similarities between data of different groups of subjects. This model partitions the groups into a number of clusters according to the covariance structure of the data of each group and performs a simultaneous component analysis with invariant pattern restrictions (SCA‐P) for each cluster. These restrictions imply that the model allows for between‐group differences in the variances and the correlations of the cluster‐specific components. As such, clusterwise SCA‐P is more flexible than the earlier proposed clusterwise SCA‐ECP model, which imposed equal average cross‐products constraints on the component scores of the groups that belong to the same cluster. Using clusterwise SCA‐P, a finer‐grained, yet parsimonious picture of the group differences and similarities can be obtained. An algorithm for fitting clusterwise SCA‐P solutions is presented and its performance is evaluated by means of a simulation study. The value of the model for empirical research is illustrated with data from psychiatric diagnosis research.     

Indistinguishability tests in the actor–partner interdependence model

When considering dyadic data, one of the questions is whether the roles of the two dyad members can be considered equal. This question may be answered empirically using indistinguishability tests in the actor–partner interdependence model. In this paper several issues related to such indistinguishability tests are discussed: the difference between maximum likelihood and restricted maximum likelihood based tests for equality in variance parameters; the choice between the structural equation modelling and multilevel modelling framework; and the use of sequential testing rather than one global test for a set of indistinguishability tests. Based on simulation studies, we provide guidelines for best practice. All different types of tests are illustrated with cross-sectional and longitudinal data, and corroborated with corresponding R code.     

Extending the Rorschach trauma content index and aggression indexes to dream narratives of children exposed to enduring violence: an exploratory study

In this study, we compared dream narratives of children and adolescents living under conditions of enduring interpersonal violence (n = 220) versus those living in peaceful surroundings (n = 99) on content variables that have been associated with traumatic experiences in Rorschach (Exner, 1995) imagery. As predicted, children and adolescents living in circumstances of enduring violence reported a higher proportion of content scorable by Armstrong and Loewenstein's (1990) Trauma Content Index and a much higher proportion of aggressive objects in their dreams (AgC; Gacono & Meloy, 1994). In support of discriminant validity, no consistent group differences were observed for the relative frequencies of Animal (A), Clothing (Cg), or Cooperative movement (COP) content. The modest association between manifest dream content and psychological symptom scales suggests that the former may alternatively reflect adaptive or psychopathological processes. Our findings suggest that content analysis of dreams may be a valuable adjunct in tapping the psychological state of children traumatized by violence.     

Justice and the human alarm system: The impact of exclamation points and flashing lights on the justice judgment process

Extending theory within the justice domain and work on the human alarm system, the current paper argues that the process by which justice judgments are formed may be influenced reliably by the activation of psychological systems that people use to detect and handle alarming situations. Building on this analysis, it is further proposed that if this line of reasoning is true then presenting alarm-related stimuli, such as exclamation points and flashing lights, to people should lead to more extreme judgments about subsequent justice-related events than not presenting these alarming stimuli. Findings collected using different experimental paradigms provide evidence supporting these predictions both inside and outside the psychology lab. Implications for the social psychology of justice and the human alarm system literature are discussed.     

The influence of self‐efficacy on the effects of framed health messages

Health promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains that are associated with healthy behaviour, or the losses that are associated with unhealthy behaviour. In this study, we examined the influence of self‐efficacy to quit smoking on the effects of gain framed and loss framed anti‐smoking messages in a randomized controlled trial among 539 adult smokers. Participants with a high self‐efficacy to quit smoking reported higher levels of motivation to quit smoking after receiving a loss framed message than after receiving a gain framed message or no message. For these participants receiving a gain framed message did not result in a higher motivation to quit smoking than receiving no message. For participants with a low self‐efficacy to quit smoking there were no differences in motivation to quit smoking between the gain framed message condition, loss framed message condition and control condition. Our results suggest that self‐efficacy can moderate the effects of message framing on persuasion. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitivity to social contingency or stability of interaction? Modelling the dynamics of perceptual crossing

We introduce a series of evolutionary robotics simulations that address the behaviour of individuals in socially contingent interactions. The models are based on a recent study by Auvray, Lenay and Stewart [(2006). The attribution of intentionality in a simulated environment: The case of minimalist devices. In Tenth meeting of the association for the scientific study of consciousness, Oxford, UK, 23-26 June, 2006] on tactile perceptual crossing in a minimal virtual environment. In accordance, both the empirical experiments and our simulations point out the essential character of global embodied interaction dynamics for the sensitivity to contingency to arise. Rather than being individually perceived by any of the interactors, sensitivity to contingency arises from processes of circular causality that characterise the collective dynamics. Such global dynamical aspects are frequently neglected when studying social cognition. Furthermore, our synthetic studies point out interesting aspects of the task that are not immediately obvious in the empirical data. They, in addition, generate new hypotheses for further experiments. We conclude by promoting a minimal but tractable, dynamic and embodied account to social interaction, combining synthetic and empirical findings as well as concrete predictions regarding sensorimotor strategies, the role of time-delays and robustness to perturbations in interactive dynamics.