Factor comparison of two Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory short forms

A sample of 315 valid Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) protocols were selected from inpatient files and scored for both the MMPI-168 and Faschingbauer Abbreviated MMPI short forms. Each short form was then factor-analyzed by a principal axis strategy with varimax rotation. The six factors extracted from each short form were then compared as to their similarity by use of the s index. This procedure showed five of the six factors in each short form as having a significant relationship of the pattern of salient variables they had in common with the complimentary factors of the other form. These data suggest that both short forms, though based on different construction methodologies, share the same underlying personality attributes. Future research is suggested to replicate these results and extend them to the full MMPI.     

Verb effects during sentence processing.

We describe a study that explores how the properties of a verb's lexical entry contribute to on-line sentence processing. Schmauder (1991) has recently suggested that the verb-processing effects shown previously by Shapiro and his colleagues (Shapiro & Levine, 1990; Shapiro, Zurif, & Grimshaw, 1987; 1989) are not generalizable and may have been artifacts precipitated by experimental design factors. In this paper we logically analyze such a possibility and then present experiments that systematically investigate the design differences between the Shapiro et al. studies cited above and the Schmauder study. These analyses and experiments provide further evidence that verb effects during sentence processing are real, are to be expected given the architectures of recent parsing models, and are replicable using a dual task that is modified in reasonable ways.     

Persistent depression of rearing behavior in rats after extensive septal lesions.

Extensive septal lesions produced a persistent (76 days) reduction in rearing behavior which was not directly attributable to altered deprivation states, emotionality, activity levels, or competing behaviors and which occurred in familiar as well as various novel testing environments. Changes in visual, olfactory, or conspecific stimuli ameliorated or had no effect on the lesion effect. The results indicate that the septal area is importantly involved in normal rearing behavior and that lesion-induced alterations in responsiveness to some forms of stimulation may play a modulatory role in reduced rearing. It is also suggested that the septal area may constitute a portion of a neural system responsible for the initiation of this form of response.     

The muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) as a laboratory animal

Methods for the capture, maintenance, taming, and behavioral testing of wild-born muskrats(Ondatra zibethicus) are described. The muskrat is simple and inexpensive to maintain in the laboratory and seems suitable for behavioral research.     

Enhanced inhibitory avoidance learning produced by post-trial injections of substance P into the basal forebrain

The effects of injections of the neuropeptide substance P or the GABA agonist muscimol on performance of a step-down inhibitory avoidance task were examined. Immediately after the training trial, rats with chronically implanted cannulas were injected with 100 or 10 ng of substance P or 500 or 50 ng of muscimol into the region of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis. Control groups included vehicle-injected rats, a sham-operated group, a substance P 5-h delay group, and a substance P no-footshock group. Rats injected with 100 ng of substance P exhibited longer step-down latencies when tested 24 h later than did vehicle-injected rats. The retention latencies for rats in the substance P 5-h delay group did not differ from those of vehicle-injected animals, indicating that proactive effects on performance were not responsible for the effect. In contrast to injections of SP, injections of 500 or 50 ng of muscimol disrupted performance. However, in the absence of a delayed-injection control group, proactive effects cannot be ruled out.     

A Comparison of Verbal Response Modes Used by Master's-Level Career Counselors and Other Helpers

The verbal response modes of 4 master's-level career counselors, each in middle sessions of career counseling with 2 adult clients, were categorized and compared with those of other types of helpers. Career counselors primarily used information, direct guidance, paraphrase, and closed question. In comparison with data presented in Hill, Thames, and Rardin (1979) Toro (1986) and Levy (1989) career counselors were most similar to Albert Ellis, mental health professionals, psychologists on radio talk shows, and family practice lawyers in that all frequently used information and direct guidance. They were most dissimilar to Carl Rogers, who used more paraphrase, interpretation, and confrontation.     

Prediction of dietary adherence in cholesterol reduction: Relative contribution of personality variables and health attitudes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify personality and health attitude variables that might predict adherence to a cholesterol-reducing diet.

After taking a battery of psychological inventories, 66 subjects entered a 26 week diet program. Adherence indices included attendance rate at scheduled appointments, changes in diet, and changes in serum cholesterol levels.

Of the 55 subjects with complete data, 7 dropped out, 7 attended inconsistently, and 41 completed the program. Drop-outs scored significantly lower on the Health Belief measures of seriousness, susceptibility, and benefits. Improvement in serum cholesterol was positively correlated with the Health Belief Benefits Scale and negatively correlated with the Health Locus of Control chance scale. Dietary reduction in saturated fat was positively associated with the Health Belief Seriousness and Benefits Scales.

Health attitudes and beliefs were better predictors of adherence than personality trait measures.     

The neural basis of updating: Distinguishing substitution processes from other concurrent processes

Sörqvist, P. & Sætrevik, B. (2010). The neural basis of updating: Distinguishing substitution processes from other concurrent processes. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 357–362. Most previous studies of updating processes have not been able to contrast processes of substituting items in memory with other concurrent processes. In the present investigation, we used a new task called “number updating” and an fMRI protocol to contrast the activation of trials that require item substitution (adding a new item to the working memory representation and suppressing an old item) with trials that involve no substitution (discarding the new item). Trials that require item substitution activated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the posterior medial frontal cortex and the parietal lobes, areas typically seen activated for working memory tasks in general. Trials that do not require substitution activated the anterior medial frontal cortex. Studies examining executive functions have associated this area with cognitive conflict, and may represent suppression of the substitution processes.