Influences on employee perceptions of organizational work–life support: Signals and resources

This study examined predictors of employee perceptions of organizational work–life support. Using organizational support theory and conservation of resources theory, we reasoned that workplace demands and resources shape employees' perceptions of work–life support through two mechanisms: signaling that the organization cares about their work–life balance and helping them develop and conserve resources needed to meet work and nonwork responsibilities. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that higher demands (work hours and work overload) were associated with reduced perceptions that the organization was supportive of work–life integration. Resources (job security, fit between employees' needs and the flexible work options available to them, supervisor support and work group support) were positively associated with perceptions of organizational work–life support. The results of this study urge further scholarly attention to work-based demands and resources as predictors of perceived organizational work–life support and yield implications for managerial practice.     

Memory for sound, with an ear toward hearing in complex auditory scenes

An area of research that has experienced recent growth is the study of memory during perception of simple and complex auditory scenes. These studies have provided important information about how well auditory objects are encoded in memory and how well listeners can notice changes in auditory scenes. These are significant developments because they present an opportunity to better understand how we hear in realistic situations, how higher-level aspects of hearing such as semantics and prior exposure affect perception, and the similarities and differences between auditory perception and perception in other modalities, such as vision and touch. The research also poses exciting challenges for behavioral and neural models of how auditory perception and memory work.     

Can I trust you? Negative affective priming influences social judgments in schizophrenia

Successful social interactions rely on the ability to make accurate judgments based on social cues as well as the ability to control the influence of internal or external affective information on those judgments. Prior research suggests that individuals with schizophrenia misinterpret social stimuli and this misinterpretation contributes to impaired social functioning. We tested the hypothesis that for people with schizophrenia, social judgments are abnormally influenced by affective information. Twenty-three patients with schizophrenia and 35 healthy control participants rated the trustworthiness of faces following the presentation of neutral, negative (threat-related), or positive affective primes. Results showed that all participants rated faces following negative affective primes as less trustworthy than faces following neutral or positive primes. Importantly, this effect was significantly more pronounced for participants with schizophrenia, suggesting that schizophrenia may be characterized by an exaggerated influence of negative affective information on social judgment. Furthermore, the extent that the negative affective prime influenced trustworthiness judgments was significantly associated with patients' severity of positive symptoms, particularly feelings of persecution. These findings suggest that for people with schizophrenia, negative affective information contributes to an interpretive bias, consistent with paranoid ideation, when judging the trustworthiness of others. This bias may contribute to social impairments in schizophrenia.     

The structure of PTSD among two cohorts of returning soldiers: before, during, and following deployment to Iraq

Evidence suggests either a four-factor emotional numbing or dysphoria model likely reflects the underlying structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Questions remain as to which of these structures best represents PTSD, how the structure changes with time, the applicability of models to returning veterans, and the validity of the symptom clusters. The present study addresses these questions among two longitudinal samples of National Guard soldiers assessed prior to, during, and following a combat deployment to Iraq. Findings support a four-factor intercorrelated dysphoria model of PTSD that remains stable across samples and time points. Differential associations were observed among PTSD symptom clusters over time and between symptom clusters and both depression and combat exposure, supporting important distinctions between symptom clusters.     

The role of psychopathic personality disorder in violence risk assessments using the HCR-20

Antisocial and psychopathic traits are essential to evaluate when assessing risk for violence using the HCR-20. The role of the PCL-R on the HCR-20 was investigated using a series of meta-analytic tests. Across 34 samples in which both tools were rated, AUCs for violence were similar (～.69), and exclusion of the psychopathy item (H7) did not reduce the HCR-20's accuracy. Quantitative synthesis of results from multivariate analyses conducted in 7 raw datasets that used both tools demonstrated that the average probability of observing violence for every point increase on the HCR-20 (without H7), while controlling for the PCL-R, was 23%, whereas for the PCL-R it was -1%. The HCR-20 (without H7) added incremental validity to the PCL-R, whereas the converse was not true, and only the HCR-20 (without H7) possessed unique predictive validity. Results suggest the HCR-20's predictive validity was not negatively impacted by excluding the PCL-R. Areas for future study are discussed, including research on various ways to assess and incorporate into risk assessment personality traits related to violence.     

Medroxyprogesterone acetate impairs memory and alters the GABAergic system in aged surgically menopausal rats

In women, medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) is the most commonly used progestin component of hormone therapy (HT). In vitro, MPA negatively impacts markers of neuronal health and exacerbates experimentally-induced neurotoxicity. There is in vitro evidence that these factors are driven by GABAergic and neurotrophic systems. Whether these effects translate to a negative impact on brain function has not been tested in vivo, clinically or preclinically. Here we evaluate the mnemonic and neurobiological effects of MPA in the surgically menopausal rat. Aged ovariectomized (OVX) rats were given subcutaneous vehicle, natural progesterone, low-dose MPA or high-dose MPA. Multiple cognitive domains were analyzed via the water radial-arm maze (WRAM) and Morris maze (MM). Cognitive brain regions were assayed for changes in the GABAergic system by evaluating GAD protein, the synthesizing enzyme for GABA, and neurotrophins. On the WRAM, both progestin types impaired learning. Further, high-dose MPA impaired delayed memory retention on the WRAM, and exacerbated overnight forgetting on the MM. While neurotrophins were not affected by progesterone or MPA treatment, both progestin types altered GAD levels. MPA significantly and progesterone marginally decreased GAD levels in the hippocampus, and both MPA and progesterone significantly increased GAD levels in the entorhinal cortex. These findings suggest that MPA, the most commonly used progestin in HT, is detrimental to learning and two types of memory, and modulates the GABAergic system in cognitive brain regions, in aged surgically menopausal rats. These findings, combined with in vitro evidence that MPA is detrimental to neuronal health, indicates that MPA has negative effects for brain health and function.     

How the presence of persons biases eye movements

We investigated modulation of gaze behavior of observers viewing complex scenes that included a person. To assess spontaneous orientation-following, and in contrast to earlier studies, we did not make the person salient via instruction or low-level saliency. Still, objects that were referred to by the orientation of the person were visited earlier, more often, and longer than when they were not referred to. Analysis of fixation sequences showed that the number of saccades to the cued and uncued objects differed only for saccades that started from the head region, but not for saccades starting from a control object or from a body region. We therefore argue that viewing a person leads to an increase in spontaneous following of the person’s viewing direction even when the person plays no role in scene understanding and is not made prominent.     

Has someone moved my plate? The immediate and persistent effects of object location changes on gaze allocation during natural scene viewing

In this study, we investigated the immediate and persisting effects of object location changes on gaze control during scene viewing. Participants repeatedly inspected a randomized set of naturalistic scenes for later questioning. On the seventh presentation, an object was shown at a new location, whereas the change was reversed for all subsequent presentations of the scene. We tested whether deviations from stored scene representations would modify eye movements to the changed regions and whether these effects would persist. We found that changed objects were looked at longer and more often, regardless of change reportability. These effects were most pronounced immediately after the change occurred and quickly leveled off once a scene remained unchanged. However, participants continued to perform short validation checks to changed scene regions, which implies a persistent modulation of eye movement control beyond the occurrence of object location changes.     

What Motivates People to Participate More in Community‐based Coalitions?

The purpose of this study was to identify potential opportunities for improving member participation in community-based coalitions. We hypothesized that opportunities for influence and process competence would each foster higher levels of individual member participation. We tested these hypotheses in a sample of 818 members within 79 youth-oriented coalitions. Opportunities for influence were measured as members' perceptions of an inclusive board leadership style and members' reported committee roles. Coalition process competence was measured through member perceptions of strategic board directedness and meeting effectiveness. Members reported three types of participation within meetings as well as how much time they devoted to coalition business beyond meetings. Generalized linear models accommodated clustering of individuals within coalitions. Opportunities for influence were associated with individuals' participation both within and beyond meetings. Coalition process competence was not associated with participation. These results suggest that leadership inclusivity rather than process competence may best facilitate member participation.