Interstimulus Intervals and Sensory Modality Modulate the Impact of a Cognitive Task on Postural Control

The present literature not only reveals the use of a wide variety of cognitive tasks but variability in their interaction with postural control. The question then arises, as to, whether postural control is sensitive to specific features of a cognitive task. The present experiment assessed the impact of cognitive tasks with interstimulus intervals (ISI) of varied duration and sensory modality on postural control in young adults. Seventeen participants (23.71 ± 1.99 years old) were instructed to stand on a force platform while concurrently performing cognitive tasks with ISIs of two and 5 s. The tasks were presented both, auditorily and visually. The visual tasks consisted of counting the total occurrence of a single digit. The auditory tasks consisted of counting the total occurrence of a single letter. Performing the cognitive tasks with an ISI of 2 s resulted only in an increase in the anteroposterior mean power frequency. Presenting the tasks visually also significantly reduced area of 95% confidence ellipse and AP and mediolateral sway variability. These results may suggest that ISIs can modify postural performance by altering the allocation of attentional focus. Also, presenting tasks using a visual sensory modality appears to yield lower postural sway.     

Does a Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Program Work in a School Setting? Evaluating Training Outcome and Moderators of Effectiveness

The suicide prevention gatekeeper training program QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) was evaluated among school personnel using a nonequivalent control group design. Substantial gains were demonstrated from pre- to post-test for attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs regarding suicide and suicide prevention. Exploratory analyses revealed the possible moderating effects of age, professional role, prior training, and recent contact with suicidal youth on QPR participants' general knowledge, questioning, attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention, QPR quiz scores, and self-efficacy. The need for replication using a more rigorous experimental design in the context of strong community collaboration is discussed.     

The Role of Core Self-Evaluations in Explaining Depression and Work Engagement among Managers

The present study tests interaction effects between working characteristics and core self-evaluations (CSE) among managers. Based on the job demands-resources model, we outline that CSE is a buffer for negative health-related consequences initialized by facing high job demands. Moreover, we hypothesize that CSE is positively linked to job resources and motivation. A sample of 282 managers participated in the study in Germany. Results based on hierarchical regression analysis confirmed that high CSE significantly weakens the positive relationship between high job demands and depression among managers. Furthermore, a significant interaction effect between job resources and CSE on work engagement was found. Therefore, the study reveals that it seems unlikely that CSE biases how managers appraise the environment since individuals low in CSE benefitted more from favorable working conditions than those high in CSE. Suggestions for future research as well as implications for theory and practice are derived.     

Child Abuse—Suicide Resilience Link in African American Women: Interpersonal Psychological Mediators

The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior (IPTS) is an exemplary model for understanding the desire for suicidal behavior. As such, it is important to explore its applicability in ethnoracial minority groups at increasing risk for suicidal behavior, such as low-income, African American women. Guided by the IPTS, the current study used 5 parallel mediation models to examine if there are links between individual types of childhood abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) and suicide resilience, and between cumulative abuse (higher levels of abuse inclusive of all three types, more types of severe levels of abuse) and suicide resilience, and whether the three components of the model (thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, acquired capability for suicide) mediate these associations. In a sample of low-income, African American women (n = 179), higher levels of each of the 3 types of childhood abuse and cumulative abuse correlated with lower levels of suicide resilience. Parallel mediation analyses using bootstrapping techniques revealed that increased acquired capability for suicide mediated all 5 associations and perceived burdensomeness mediated 3 of the links (emotional abuse, cumulative abuse, and cumulative abuse–severe with suicide resilience). Attention is paid to the clinical implications of the findings in terms of attending to the acquired capability for suicide and suicide resilience in the assessment and treatment of low-income, suicidal, African American women.     

Spirituality, depression, and loneliness among Jewish seniors residing in New York City

This article reports the results of research that examined a randomized group of 118 Jewish seniors who were clients of one of three Jewish social service agencies in New York City. They were interviewed by four Clinical Pastoral Education residents at the Jewish Institute for Pastoral Care. During the interview, participants were asked to respond to the questions contained in the Brief Depression Scale, Version 3 of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Index of Core Spiritual Experience--INSPIRIT. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between the depression and loneliness scores, r(116) = .56, p < .001. Spirituality was not correlated with either of these scales. Both depression and loneliness were significantly higher among women, among people who had physical impairments and those who had been victims of Nazi persecution. Depression and loneliness were inversely related to participants' ability to venture out of their house and to their relationship with their families. Having a sense of meaning or purpose in life was also inversely related to depression and loneliness. Spirituality tended to be higher among women, those participants, with more years of religious education, and those with physical impairments, but only the gender effect was statistically significant.     

A review of climate and culture research in selling and sales management

Despite the extensive literature on organizational climate and culture and their impact on an organization's sales activities, the diversity of theoretical perspectives makes it difficult for sales professionals and scholars to understand the effect of specific climate- and culture-related factors on the performance of salespeople and sales units in an organization. The objective of this article is to clarify the conceptual underpinnings of organizational climate and culture research within the sales context through an extensive review of extant literature. In doing so, we offer a critical review of research on organizational climate and culture, a conceptual frame for viewing the literature across different levels of analysis, and specific questions to guide future research. We also make a case for more research on industry-level climate and culture in the sales context.     

Redefining the psychological autopsy: A proposal for collaboration between forensic pathology and investigative psychology

Excepting psychiatry, psychology and medicine remain largely separate disciplines. In forensic inquiries, the psychologist assesses the mind, whereas the pathologist examines the body. Both fields, however, actively participate in the same investigations, albeit from different standpoints, contributing to explorations of crime scene dynamics, identification of offenders, and legal proceedings. In recent years, peer review has become a staple of research, because subjecting work to scrutiny by other experts promotes accuracy. Forensic pathologists would benefit from insights provided by investigative psychology, particularly if asked to apply psychology to their testimony, and integration with forensic pathology may increase the acceptance of empirical profiling evidence in the courtroom. Additionally, incorporation of medical findings—such as wound patterns, evidence of range of fire, and cause of death determinations—could add another level of detail to techniques like smallest space analysis. The following functions as a proposal for the incorporation of forensic pathological findings into investigative psychology research and the application of investigative psychology to forensic pathology practice. Cooperation has the potential to extend the scope of knowledge in both disciplines, to increase their applicability to and acceptance in legal contexts and to maximize the probative value of evidence provided in the court of law.     

Multisensory-mediated auditory localization

Multisensory integration is a powerful mechanism for maximizing sensitivity to sensory events. We examined its effects on auditory localization in healthy human subjects. The specific objective was to test whether the relative intensity and location of a seemingly irrelevant visual stimulus would influence auditory localization in accordance with the inverse effectiveness and spatial rules of multisensory integration that have been developed from neurophysiological studies with animals [Stein and Meredith, 1993 The Merging of the Senses (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press)]. Subjects were asked to localize a sound in one condition in which a neutral visual stimulus was either above threshold (supra-threshold) or at threshold. In both cases the spatial disparity of the visual and auditory stimuli was systematically varied. The results reveal that stimulus salience is a critical factor in determining the effect of a neutral visual cue on auditory localization. Visual bias and, hence, perceptual translocation of the auditory stimulus appeared when the visual stimulus was supra-threshold, regardless of its location. However, this was not the case when the visual stimulus was at threshold. In this case, the influence of the visual cue was apparent only when the two cues were spatially coincident and resulted in an enhancement of stimulus localization. These data suggest that the brain uses multiple strategies to integrate multisensory information.