Multiple trajectories of physical aggression among adolescent boys and girls

Latent growth mixture modeling was used to identify discrete patterns of physical aggression from Grades 7 to 11 among a sample of 1,877 youth. Four trajectory classes adequately explained the development of physical aggression in both boys and girls: Low/No Aggression; Persistent High Aggression; Desisting Aggression, characterized by decreasing risk throughout adolescence; and Adolescent Aggression, characterized by low early risk that increases until Grade 9, levels out, and then declines in late adolescence. Girls were less likely than boys were to be in any trajectory besides the Low/No Aggression trajectory. Parental supervision, deviant peer association, academic orientation, impulsivity, and emotional distress at Grade 7 were all strongly associated with trajectory class membership. These associations did not differ by gender. These findings strongly suggest that the processes involved in the development of physical aggression in adolescence operate similarly in boys and girls.     

Examining the Test Of Memory Malingering Trial 1 and Word Memory Test Immediate Recognition as screening tools for insufficient effort

Assessing effort level during neuropsychological evaluations is critical to support the accuracy of cognitive test scores. Many instruments are designed to measure effort, yet they are not routinely administered in neuropsychological assessments. The Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) and the Word Memory Test (WMT) are commonly administered symptom validity tests with sound psychometric properties. This study examines the use of the TOMM Trial 1 and the WMT Immediate Recognition (IR) trial scores as brief screening tools for insufficient effort through an archival analysis of a combined sample of mild head-injury litigants ( N = 105) who were assessed in forensic private practices. Results show that both demonstrate impressive diagnostic accuracy and calculations of positive and negative predictive power are presented for a range of base rates. These results support the utility of Trial 1 of the TOMM and the WMT IR trial as screening methods for the assessment of insufficient effort in neuropsychological assessments.     

The Complexity of the Relation between Fear of Failure and Procrastination

This study investigated the indirect and conditional relation between fear of failure and procrastination based on constructs from self-determination theory. Using structural equation modeling to analyze data from 300 university students, we found that the relation between fear of failure and procrastination was moderated by perceived competence. The relation was positively significant for students with low levels of competence and negatively significant for those with high level of competence. However, in the latter group, fear of failure negatively affected satisfaction of the need for autonomy, which in turn increased the likelihood of problematic delay on academic and everyday-life tasks. The results are discussed in relation to the complex interplay of motivational variables related to self-regulatory failure.     

Innovation relies on the obscure: a key to overcoming the classic problem of functional fixedness

A recent analysis of real-world problems that led to historic inventions and insight problems that are used in psychology experiments suggests that during innovative problem solving, individuals discover at least one infrequently noticed or new (i.e., obscure) feature of the problem that can be used to reach a solution. This observation suggests that research uncovering aspects of the human semantic, perceptual, and motor systems that inhibit the noticing of obscure features would enable researchers to identify effective techniques to overcome those obstacles. As a critical step in this research program, this study showed that the generic-parts technique can help people unearth the types of obscure features that can be used to overcome functional fixedness, which is a classic inhibitor to problem solving. Subjects trained on this technique solved on average 67% more problems than a control group did. By devising techniques that facilitate the noticing of obscure features in order to overcome impediments to problem solving (e.g., design fixation), researchers can systematically create a tool kit of innovation-enhancing techniques.     

Perception of spasmodic dysphonia speech in background noise

The purpose of this investigation was to judge whether the Lombard effect, a characteristic change in the acoustical properties of speech produced in noise, existed in adductor spasmodic dysphonia speech, and if so, whether the effect added to or detracted from speaker intelligibility. Intelligibility, as described by Duffy, is the extent to which the acoustic signal produced by a speaker is understood by a listener based on the auditory signal alone. Four speakers with adductor spasmodic dysphonia provided speech samples consisting of low probability sentences from the Speech Perception in Noise test to use as stimuli. The speakers were first tape-recorded as they read the sentences in a quiet speaking condition and were later tape-recorded as they read the same sentences while exposed to background noise. The listeners used as subjects in this study were 50 undergraduate university students. The results of the statistical analysis indicated a significant difference between the intelligibility of the speech recorded in the quiet versus noise conditions (F(1,49) = 57.80, p < or = .001). It was concluded that a deleterious Lombard effect existed for the adductor spasmodic dysphonia speaker group, with the premise that the activation of a Lombard effect in such patients may detract from their overall speech intelligibility.     

Issues associated with repeated neuropsychological assessments

Distinguishing practice effects from other factors in repeated neuropsychological assessments are discussed in the context of research studies and clinical/forensic assessments. Potential methodological procedures for reducing the impact of practice effects in research settings are outlined. In contrast, the potential clinical utility and interpretation of practice effects in clinical assessments and forensic evaluations are highlighted.     

Effects of UCS intensity and postpeak acquisition trials on classical conditioning of the SCR

The present study examined the effects of UCS intensity and number of postpeak acquisition trials on classical conditioning and extinction of the SCR. A 2 × 3 design was employed in which subjects received either a 1, 2, or 4 mA shock UCS and either two or 16 acquisition trials beyond the peak CR. While conditioning was demonstrated during acquisition, there was no relationship between strength of conditioning and intensity of UCS. The phenomenon of stronger resistance to extinction following fewer acquisition trials (e.g., two past the peak CR) than with many (e.g., 16 past the peak CR) was demonstrated only for the groups that were conditioned with the 4 mA UCS. Resistance to extinction varied positively with UCS intensity, but only for the subjects who received two postpeak acquisition trials. Sixteen trials beyond the peak CR resulted in the UCS intensity having little or no effect on resistance to extinction.     

A solid-state device for eliminating electrical noise and biopotentials in electromyographic (EMG) recordings

A small, low-cost, integrated circuit device is described. This circuit reduces electrical noise, such as that produced from a poor electrode-skin interface and power-line interference (60 Hz). Advantages of this device, with regard to use in electrically noisy environments and with long cables, are discussed.     

Operant conditioning permits voluntary,noninvasive measurement of blood pressure in conscious,unrestrained baboons (Papio cynocephalus)

This report describes a computerized apparatus and procedure for completely automated noninvasive measurement of systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure in conscious, unrestrained nonhuman primates. We used a specially constructed, cage-mounted oscillometric blood pressure instrument and operant reward conditioning methods to train adult baboons(Papio cynocephalus) to submit voluntarily to frequent self-initiated determinations of their blood pressures in the absence of a human operator/observer. Details concerning the operant training procedure and illustrative blood pressure data are presented. The accuracy of the method was evaluated by comparing the noninvasive blood pressure readings with simultaneously taken direct measurements obtained by means of chronically indwelling arterial catheters.