UCSD PASCAL with a VAX as a floppy disk

The increasing sophistication of laboratory microcomputers has brought an attendant need for efficient programming systems. One such system, UCSD PASCAL, has been made commercially available as an adaptable package for many popular microcomputers. This paper addresses the implementation of UCSD PASCAL and describes a powerful extension of the package to use a host timesharing system as a virtual floppy-disk facility.     

Distress tolerance in romantic relationships: A daily diary exploration with methodological considerations

Motivation and Emotion - Despite growing research interest in distress tolerance (DT), studies have routinely neglected the role that DT plays in close, interpersonal relationships and how DT...     

Interactional patterns of bipolar patients and their spouses

This study examined the interactional patterns of eight bipolar patients (when manic and in remission) and their spouses by videotaping the couples' interactions and then quantifying those interactions using the Marital Interaction Coding system. These couples' interactions were compared to the interactions of eight happily and eight unhappily married nonbipolar psychiatric control patients and their spouses. The purposes were to determine (a) whether the interactional pattern between bipolar patients and their spouses changes or remains the same when the patient is in a manic vs. a nonmanic state and (b) how the interaction patterns of bipolar patients when manic and nonmanic compare to happily and unhappily married nonbipolar psychiatriccontrol patients. Significant differences in interactions were found between manic and nonmanic states, in addition to significant differences between these patients and the control groups. There were also expected differences between happily and unhappily married psychiatric control groups. Implications are discussed for marital therapy for manies that involves problemsolving and communication training.     

Systematic review of the psychometric properties of transphobia scales

Introduction: Prejudice and discrimination against transgender individuals (i.e., transphobia) is pervasive and has been shown to have pernicious effects on the physical (e.g., substance abuse and other self-harm behaviors) and psychological (e.g., depression and suicidal ideation) well-being of those targeted.

Aims: To date, a review of the psychometric properties of scales assessing transphobia has not been conducted; this gap compromises researchers' ability to make informed measurement decisions.

Methods: In the current study, 61 articles that contained 83 scales were identified, and their adherence to best practices in psychometric testing was evaluated.

Results: Most of the transphobia scales included in the current review did not provide sufficient information about item generation and refinement, scale dimensionality, scale score reliability, or validity. Each scale was entered into a table and was ranked on the basis of its total score. A score of 1 was issued for each psychometric feature that adhered to best practice guidelines, with total scores ranging from 0 to 5 (i.e., higher scores denote greater psychometric soundness).

Discussion: Properties of the reviewed scales are summarized and recommendations are made for future transphobia scale development and validation. The measures that emerged as possessing the highest scores and, subsequently, the greatest utility are identified.     

When social anxiety disorder co-exists with risk-prone, approach behavior: Investigating a neglected, meaningful subset of people in the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication

Little is known about people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) who are not behaviorally inhibited. To advance knowledge on phenomenology, functional impairment, and treatment seeking, we investigated whether engaging in risk-prone behaviors accounts for heterogeneous outcomes in people with SAD. Using the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R) dataset, our analyses focused on people with current (N = 679) or lifetime (N = 1143) SAD diagnoses. Using latent class analysis on NCS-R risk-prone behavior items, results supported two SAD classes: (1) a pattern of behavioral inhibition and risk aversion and (2) an atypical pattern of high anger and aggression, and moderate/high sexual impulsivity and substance use problems. An atypical pattern of risk-prone behaviors was associated with greater functional impairment, less education and income, younger age, and particular psychiatric comorbidities. Results could not be subsumed by the severity, type, or number of social fears, or comorbid anxiety or mood disorders. Conclusions about the nature, course, and treatment of SAD may be compromised by not attending to heterogeneity in behavior patterns.     

Failure to capitalize on sharing good news with romantic partners: Exploring positivity deficits of socially anxious people with self-reports,partner-reports,and behavioral observations

Extending prior work on social anxiety and positivity deficits, we examined whether individual differences in social anxiety alter the ability to share and respond to the good news of romantic partners (i.e., capitalization support) and how this influences romantic relationship satisfaction and commitment. In this study of 174 heterosexual couples (average age of 21.5 with 58.3% identifying as Caucasian), greater social anxiety was associated with the provision and receipt of less supportive responses to shared positive events as measured by trait questionnaires, partner reports, and behavioral observations in the laboratory. In longitudinal analyses, individuals in romantic relationships with socially anxious partners who experienced inadequate capitalization support were more likely to terminate their relationship and report a decline in relationship quality six months later. As evidence of construct specificity, social anxiety effects were independent of depressive symptoms. Taken together, social anxiety influenced a person's ability to receive and provide support for shared positive events; these deficits had adverse romantic consequences. Researchers and clinicians may better understand social anxiety by exploring a wider range of interpersonal contexts and positive constructs. The addition of capitalization support to the social anxiety literature offers new insights into interpersonal approaches and treatments.     

On Defining Illness

K. W. M. Fulford argues that illness can be defined as action failure where someone finds themselves unable to do something which they would normally 'just get on and do' though there is no external impediment. Thus a paralysed person intends to raise their arm but finds that they cannot or an alcoholic intends to stop drinking but is unable to. I argue that such people are ill whether or not they have the relevant intentions and that their illness may consist in the fact that even if they had had those intentions they would have been unable to act on them.     

Development and evaluation of a microcomputer testing terminal for testing and instruction

This paper describes the development and evaluation of the hardware and software of a stand-alone microcomputerized testing terminal. The microterminal represents a viable way of conducting and scoring multiple-choice tests and reliably obtains this information for presentation to a centralized management computer system. Obligating informational presentation to regular programmed materials and eliminating the need to handle constructed responses removes the requirements for large display features, thus contributing greatly to the low-cost feature of the microterminal.     

The Effect of Shame‐Proneness,Guilt‐Proneness,and Internalizing Tendencies on Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury

Nonsuicidal self‐injury is especially common in adolescents and young adults. Self‐injury may be related to shame or guilt—two moral emotions—as these differentially predict other maladaptive behaviors. Using a college sample, we examined not only how shame‐proneness, guilt‐proneness, and internalizing emotional tendencies related to self‐injury, but also whether these moral emotions moderate the relation between internalizing tendencies and self‐injury. High shame‐proneness was associated with higher frequencies of self‐injury. High guilt‐proneness was associated with less self‐injury, although this effect was mitigated at higher levels of internalizing tendencies. These results suggest shame‐proneness is a risk factor for self‐injury, while guilt‐proneness is protective.