Applicability of the Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitude Questionnaire in Moslem women

There are some valuable questionnaires to assess the body attitude but applicability of those in Moslem women is unknown and the aim of this study was assessment of the validity and reliability of the Iranian-translated versions of the Ben-Tovim Walker Body Attitudes Questionnaire (BAQ) in Iranian women. The BAQ 44 item was administered to 304 healthy non-pregnant Iranian women. A confirmatory factor analysis was carried out. The internal consistency reliability and Inter-correlations of the BAQ subscales and concurrent validity were assessed. The results showed that 9 out of 44 items had insignificant regression weights on the respective factors that further were nominated to deletion. The 6-factor model has an acceptable fit with the data. The internal consistency was .91 for all scale of 35-item BAQ. The coefficient of repeatability (ICC) respectively were .78, .77, .89, .94, .86 and .79 for attractiveness, disparagement, feeling fat, salience of weight/shape, lower body fat and strength and fitness. Results showed that the 6-factor model the 35-item questionnaire is appropriate for evaluating body attitude in Moslem women.     

Crossover of burnout: An experimental design

Two studies tested the hypothesis that burnout may cross over from one person to another. In Study 1, teachers were randomly exposed to a bogus newspaper article in which a colleague expressed himself negatively about his work (burnout condition), or about a topic unrelated to work (control condition). The results showed that participants' burnout (exhaustion and depersonalization) was higher in the burnout condition compared to the control condition. In Study 2, soldiers were randomly exposed to a videotape of a burned-out or an engaged colleague who was either similar in profession and status (soldier), or who had a considerably higher status (squadron leader). The results were partly consistent with those of Study 1, and confirmed the crossover of burnout (cynicism and reduced professional efficacy). In line with predictions, a significant interaction effect for cynicism revealed that the crossover of burnout is moderated by similarity with the stimulus person.     

Suppression of sourness: a comparative study involving mixtures of organic acids and sugars

The degree of sourness suppression of perceptually equisour levels of citric, lactic, and malic acids by equal molar and weight amounts of sucrose, fructose, and glucose was determined in binary mixtures. Equisour acid levels were obtained by magnitude estimation. Mixture intensity ratings were collected on a categorical scale, using trained panelists. In general, equal sugar molarities and weights did not effect equivalent suppression. Instead, the perceived intensity of the sugars appeared to suppress sourness more systematically, implying that dominantly central neural mechanisms underlie suppression. This was confirmed when no significant differences were found between the suppressive abilities of sweetness-matched levels of sucrose, fructose, and an equiratio mixture of the two on citric acid sourness. The possibility of a separate receptor site/mechanism for glucose and a small peripheral component to suppression is also suggested.     

Informant-Based Determinants of Symptom Attenuation in Structured Child Psychiatric Interviews

Informant-related determinants of item attenuation, that is, the drop-off in symptom endorsement rates at retest, were examined in an enriched community subsample of 245 parent–child pairs drawn from the National Institute of Mental Health Methods for Epidemiology of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders Study. Youngsters and their parents were interviewed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (Version 2.3; DISC-2.3) on two occasions with a mean test–retest interval of 12 days. Item attenuation rates were high for both informants, with adults failing to confirm 42% and children 58% of baseline responses at retest. Stepwise regressions revealed that item attenuation at DISC-P retest was higher for adult informants who were younger, and who reported on older and less impaired children. On the DISC-C, attenuation was higher for children who were less impaired, rated as doing worse in school, and who had a longer test–retest interval. These results are broadly consistent with past studies examining the determinants of attenuation and test–retest reliability and have implications for the design and use of structured diagnostic instruments.     

International business travels and the work‐family interface: A longitudinal study

We examined fluctuations in the levels of work‐family conflict (WFC), family‐work conflict (FWC), and burnout during three different stages of international business trips among 66 business travellers. Participants completed questionnaires prior to the trip, during the stay abroad and after the trip. Analysis of variance detected differences in WFC, FWC, and burnout levels among the three stages of the trip, moderated by gender. The relationships of WFC and FWC with burnout were positive, whereas the direction of the relationship was reciprocal. This study advances the work‐family interface theory and research by focusing on both between‐ and within‐individual variations in work‐family attitudes. Thus it captures the dynamic of this phenomenon.     

Fragile X syndrome: Neural network models of sequencing and memory

A comparative framework of memory processes in males with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and typically developing (TYP) mental age-match children is presented. Results indicate a divergence in sequencing skills, such that males with FXS recall sequences similarly to TYP children around five and a half years of age, but the males with FXS recall significantly worse when compared to TYP children around seven and a half years of age. Performance on one working memory measure, an n-back Card Task, is modeled with a neural network. To date, no network models explicate the sequencing and memory processes in those with FXS. Noise was added to various levels (weight matrices) in the FXS model and outputs approximated human FXS performance. Three models were compared: (1) FXS; (2) younger mental age-TYP matches; (3) older reading level-TYP matches. Modeling can help to reify conceptualizations of deficits and to guide in the creation of more valid, science-based remediations. The FXS model suggested that the levels of phonological representation and sequencing in memory were candidates for targeted therapies in males with FXS.     

Visual Attention and Lexical Involvement in L1 and L2 Word Processing: Emotional Stroop Effect

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - Given the fact that the process of engaging and interacting with the text is not only the function of a reader but also the text itself, the current study...