Effects of aging on interference control in selective attention and working memory

Working memory decay in advanced age has been attributed to a concurrent decrease in the ability to control interference. The present study contrasted a form of interference control in selective attention that acts upon the perception of external stimuli (access) with another form that operates on internal representations in working memory (deletion), in order to determine both of their effects on working memory efficiency in younger and older adults. Additionally, we compared memory performance under these access and deletion functions to performance in their respective control conditions. The results indicated that memory accuracy improved in both age groups from the access functions, but that only young adults benefited from the deletion functions. In addition, intrusion effects in the deletion condition were larger in older than in younger adults. The ability to control the irrelevant perception- and memory-elicited interference did not decline in general with advancing age; rather, the control mechanisms that operate on internal memory representations declined specifically.     

Assessing and Promoting Spiritual Wellness as a Protective Factor in Secondary Schools

Spiritual wellness, much like resilience, is a multidimensional protective factor for students. This article reviews the relevant literature linking spiritual wellness and thriving in the adolescent population. Assessment and intervention methods that can be used in secondary school settings to promote spiritual wellness are provided.     

Personality correlates of party preference: The Big Five in five big European countries

The Big Five Model was used to assess the role of personality traits in orienting voting choice across five European countries (n = 1288). Findings from Italy, Spain, Germany, Greece, and Poland showed that the Big Five were linked to party preference in theoretically consistent ways. Traits had substantial effects on voting, whereas the socio-demographic characteristics of gender, age, income, and educational level had weaker influences. In each country, voters’ traits are seemingly congruent with the policies of their preferred party. The Openness trait has been shown to be the most generalizable predictor of party preference across the examined cultures. Conscientiousness was also a valid predictor, although its effect was less robust and replicable. Similarities and differences across countries were discussed and linked to the nature of the respective political discourses.     

From narcissistic personality disorder to frontotemporal dementia: a case report

Premorbid personality characteristics could have a pathoplastic effect on behavioral symptoms and personality changes related to neurodegenerative diseases. Patients with personality disorders, in particular of the dramatic cluster, may present functional frontolimbic abnormalities. May these neurobiological vulnerabilities linked to a premorbid personality disorder predispose or represent a risk factor to subsequently develop a neurodegenerative disorder? Are subjects with personality disorders more at risk to develop a dementia than mentally healthy subjects? This topic is discussed presenting the clinical case of a patient who suffered of a probable Narcissistic Personality Disorder and subsequently developed a clinically diagnosed Frontotemporal Dementia.     

Gender differences in personal values of national and local Italian politicians,activists and voters

Theorists of politics of presence postulate that women elected to political office would still hold values similar to ordinary women and therefore represent them better than male politicians. Gender differences in personal values, which underline and give coherence to core political values, have been found among voters: males score higher on self‐enhancement values (power and achievement) and females higher on self‐transcendence values (universalism and benevolence). Our study aims to explore if gender differences in personal values are still present among activists, local and national politicians. We administer a shortened version of the Portrait Values Questionnaire to 233 Italian national politicians (46% females), 425 local politicians (56% females), 626 political activists (44% females), and 3249 ordinary citizens (49% females). Our results confirm only partially politics of presence theory: females at all levels of political involvement score higher in self‐transcendent values that emphasise concern for the welfare of others, but no significant gender differences emerge for self‐enhancement, which favour the pursuit of self‐interest. Our findings support ethical struggles for more balanced gender representation: a higher proportion of women in politics could strengthen the political representation of self‐transcendence values.     

Basic Personal Values,Core Political Values,and Voting: A Longitudinal Analysis

We theorize that political values express basic personal values in the domain of politics. We test a set of hypotheses that specify how the motivational structure of basic values constrains and gives coherence to core political values. We also test the hypothesis that core political values mediate relations of basic personal values to voting demonstrated in previous research. We measured the basic personal values, core political values, and vote of Italian adults both before (n = 1699) and after (n = 1030) the 2006 national election. Basic values explained substantial variance in each of eight political values (22% to 53%) and predicted voting significantly. Correlations and an MDS projection of relations among basic values and political values supported the hypothesized coherent structuring of core political values by basic values. Core political values fully mediated relations of basic values to voting, supporting a basic values—political values—voting causal hierarchy.     

Culture,essentialism, and agency: are individuals universally believed to be more real entities than groups?

Are human individuals universally seen to be more real entities (or more entitative, to use Campbell's, 1958, term) than social groups? Although the individual may be seen to be more entitative than social groups in the West, it is unclear whether this is the case in other cultures, especially in East Asia. Two aspects of perceived entitativity are distinguished: psychological essentialism (belief in the presence of essence‐like unchangeable properties) and agency (perception that a social entity is an agent), and examined for four social targets (individual, family, friendship group, and society) in three English‐speaking cultures (Australia, UK, and USA), three East Asian cultures (Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea), and two continental European cultures (Belgium and Germany). In all cultures, the individual person was seen to possess essence‐like unchangeable characteristics more than social groups (i.e. essentialized). As for agency, the individual person was seen to be more agentic than groups in Western cultures, but both individuals and groups were conferred an equal level of agency in East Asia. Individuals may be universally more essentialized than friendship groups and societies, but not always seen to be more agentic, than social groups. Implications of the results for conceptions of individualism and collectivism are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ethnicity, Acculturation, and Religiosity as Predictors of Female College Students' Role Expectations

The present study was designed to examine ethnicity, acculturation, and religiosity as predictors of European American and Korean American evangelical female college students' role expectations. Fifty-seven European American and 37 Korean American single women, who ranged in age from 17 to 24 years, completed a demographic questionnaire, a role expectation measure, three religiosity measures, and an acculturation measure. The results indicated a significant negative correlation between fundamentalism and role-sharing expectations for European American women and a significant positive correlation between level of acculturation and role-sharing expectations for Korean American women. The results suggest that fundamentalism is a stronger predictor of role expectations than religious commitment in European American women and that acculturation is a more accurate predictor of role expectations than generation in the United States among Korean American women.     

Pyramidal parent training using behavioral skills training: Training caregivers in the use of a differential reinforcement procedure

Six caregivers participated in a research study in which behavioral skills training (BST) was used within a pyramidal training model to train a differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior (DRA) procedure. Physical prompting was utilized to obtain correct responses across the identified alternative behavior. The caregivers were split into two tiers, comprised of three caregivers each. The experimenter trained tier‐one caregivers, who then trained tier‐two caregivers after meeting a predetermined mastery criterion. A multiple baseline design across participants research design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of correct implementation of the DRA procedure, demonstrating experimental control across participants. During baseline, caregivers did not implement DRA correctly. Following training, tier‐one and tier‐two caregivers demonstrated correct implementation of the DRA and prompting procedure. Intervention score was (M = 96%), from a baseline score of (M = 34.6%), for tier‐one participants. Intervention score was (M = 96.6%), from a baseline score of (M = 33%), for tier‐two participants. A follow‐up maintenance probe demonstrated correct implementation of the DRA procedure with prompting across both tiers of trained caregivers.