Adult age differences in the effects of goals on self-regulated sentence processing

The authors examined age differences in adults' allocation of effort when reading text for either high levels of recall accuracy or high levels of efficiency. Participants read a series of sentences, making judgments of learning before recall. Older adults showed less sensitivity than the young to the accuracy goal in both reading time allocation and memory performance. Memory accuracy and differential allocation of effort to unlearned items were age equivalent, so age differences in goal adherence were not attributable to metacognitive factors. However, comparison with data from a control reading task without monitoring showed that learning gains among older adults across trial were reduced relative to those of the young by memory monitoring, suggesting that monitoring may be resource consuming for older learners. Age differences in the responsiveness to (information-acquisition) goals could be accounted for, in part, by independent contributions from working memory and memory self-efficacy. Our data suggest that both processing capacity ("what you have") and beliefs ("knowing you can do it") can contribute to individual differences in engaging resources ("what you do") to effectively learn novel content from text.     

Phenomenological reports diagnose accuracy of eyewitness identification decisions

This study investigated whether measuring the phenomenology of eyewitness identification decisions aids evaluation of their accuracy. Witnesses (N = 502) viewed a simulated crime and attempted to identify two targets from lineups. A divided attention manipulation during encoding reduced the rate of remember (R) correct identifications, but not the rates of R foil identifications or know (K) judgments in the absence of recollection (i.e., K/[1 − R]). Both RK judgments and recollection ratings (a novel measure of graded recollection) distinguished correct from incorrect positive identifications. However, only recollection ratings improved accuracy evaluation after identification confidence was taken into account. These results provide evidence that RK judgments for identification decisions function in a similar way as for recognition decisions; are consistent with the notion of graded recollection; and indicate that measures of phenomenology can enhance the evaluation of identification accuracy.     

A test of the relations between avoidance of panic-related situations and substance use, substance dependence, and depression among subclinical panickers

The hypotheses that among subclinical panickers, avoidance of panic-related situations would be associated with elevated substance use levels and increased likelihood of lifetime diagnoses of substance dependence and major depressive disorder (MDD) were tested. Findings confirmed that panic-related avoidance was associated with an elevated likelihood of lifetime diagnoses of nicotine and alcohol dependence as well as MDD, but not drug dependence. Panic avoidance was also related to relatively greater daily levels of cigarette and alcohol use.     

Features of graded category structure: Generalizing the family resemblance and polymorphous concept models

Many real-world categories contain graded structure: certain category members are rated as more typical or representative of the category than others. Research has shown that this graded structure can be well predicted by the degree of commonality across the feature sets of category members. We demonstrate that two prominent feature-based models of graded structure, the family resemblance (Rosch & Mervis, 1975) and polymorphous concept models (Hampton, 1979), can be generalized via the contrast model (Tversky, 1977) to include both common and distinctive feature information, and apply the models to the prediction of typicality in 11 semantic categories. The results indicate that both types of feature information play a role in the prediction of typicality, with common features weighted more heavily for within-category predictions, and distinctive features weighted more heavily for contrast-category predictions. The same pattern of results was found in additional analyses employing rated goodness and exemplar generation frequency. It is suggested that these findings provide insight into the processes underlying category formation and representation.     

Intrusive imagery in severe health anxiety: Prevalence, nature and links with memories and maintenance cycles

Increased understanding of the nature and role of intrusive imagery has contributed to the development of effective treatment protocols for some anxiety disorders. However, intrusive imagery in severe health anxiety (hypochondriasis) has been comparatively neglected. Hence, the current study investigates the prevalence, nature and content of intrusive imagery in 55 patients who met DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000) criteria for the diagnosis of hypochondriasis. A semi-structured interview was used to assess the prevalence, nature and possible role of intrusive imagery in this disorder. Over 78% of participants reported experiencing recurrent, distressing intrusive images, the majority (72%) of which either were a memory of an earlier event or were strongly associated with a memory. The images tended to be future orientated, and were reliably categorised into four themes: i) being told ‘the bad news’ that you have a serious/life threatening-illness (6.9%), ii) suffering from a serious or life-threatening illness (34.5%), iii) death and dying due to illness (22.4%) and iv) impact of own death or serious illness on loved ones (36.2%). Participants reported responding to experiencing intrusive images by engaging in avoidance, checking, reassurance seeking, distraction and rumination. Potential treatment implications and links to maintenance cycles are considered.     

Rate, Probability and Matching: Comments on ��The Identities Hidden in the Matching Laws, and Their Uses�� by David Thorne

David Thorne's (2010) article, “The Identities Hidden In The Matching Laws, And Their Uses” performs a valuable service in pointing out alternative expressions of matching. However, some identities tend to obscure rather than illuminate empirical relationships. Three such problematic instances are discussed: interresponse time as a function of interval and ratio schedule parameters; probability equality as implying rate matching; the apparent simplicity of probabilistic functions, as opposed to response rate functions, of reinforcement rate.     

Rate, probability and matching: comments on "The identities hidden in the matching laws, and their uses" by David Thorne

David Thorne's (2010) article, "The identities hidden in the matching laws, and their uses" performs a valuable service in pointing out alternative expressions of matching. However, some identities tend to obscure rather than illuminate empirical relationships. Three such problematic instances are discussed: interresponse time as a function of interval and ratio schedule parameters; probability equality as implying rate matching; the apparent simplicity of probabilistic functions, as opposed to response rate functions, of reinforcement rate.     

Reliability of 16 balance tests in individuals with Down syndrome

To assess test-retest reliability scores on 16 balance tests of 21 individuals with Down syndrome whose ages ranged from 5 to 31 yr., participants performed a standing test on firm and soft surfaces with the eyes open and closed, the balance subset of the Bruininks-Oseretsky test, full turn, timed-up-and-go test, forward reach, and sit-to-stand. Each participant completed all 16 tests twice in one day and then again on a subsequent day for a total of 4 sessions. The interclass reliability correlation coefficients (ICC) value for each measure of balance varied considerably by age and sex. Based on having an ICC > .50, only 3 tests were reliable in young males and young females, whereas 5 tests could reliably be used in adult females and 9 tests could reliably be used in adult males. The results of this study raise suspicions as to the reliability of tests commonly used to assess balance and differences in reliability due to age and sex. Results of balance tests should be interpreted with caution in males and females with Down syndrome across the age span.     

Financial stress, attitudes toward money, and scores on a Dream Inventory

During stock market losses in 2009 and high unemployment, ratings on the KJP Dream Inventory were correlated with factors of the Money Attitude Scale and items on the Contemporary Financial Stress Inventory for 71 graduate students in Counseling Psychology and Education. Correlations were significant for Retention on the Money Attitude Scale with Dissociative Avoidance (-.31), Dreams of falling (.26), Risk-taking in dreams (.24), and Dreaming of being chased (.28). Also, ratings for the Money Attitude Scale of Distrust correlated with Discontentedness in dreams (.33) and Dreams of being chased (.26), Repetitive trauma (.33), Nightmares (.30), and Recurring nightmares (.35). Concern about retention in graduate school due to finances correlated with recalled frequencies of nightmares (.27) and dreams of flying (.25).