Flow and Happiness in Later Life: An Investigation into the Role of Daily and Weekly Flow Experiences

Fifty-four older adults ranging in age from 70 to 86 years old (M = 77.54) reported daily levels of positive and negative affect, life satisfaction and daily activities for seven consecutive days. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to investigate inter- and intra-individual effects of flow experiences on affect. Higher quality of flow was positively associated with high arousal positive affect (i.e., feeling peppy, enthusiastic, happy), negatively associated with low arousal negative affect (i.e., feeling sad and disappointed), and positively associated with life satisfaction. However, more frequent flow experiences throughout the week predicted lower average levels of positive affect and life satisfaction. Overall, the results demonstrate that flow is linked to the affective experiences of older adults, and that an individual’s overall propensity to experience flow may be influential beyond the immediate effects of a given flow experience.     

Vocal group signatures in the goitred gazelle Gazella subgutturosa

The potential for vocal modification in mammals has recently been of great interest. This study focuses on the potential for vocal matching in juvenile and adolescent goitred gazelles Gazella subgutturosa that were group housed as part of an animal management programme. Two groups of animals (16 and 19 unrelated individuals, respectively) were recorded at two different ages, juvenile and adolescent, regarding 20–25 calls per individual per age; each group was evaluated in a separate year. Vocal similarity of group members compared to non-members was prominent in both ages, but higher in juveniles. Individual identity was prominent in both ages and higher in adolescents. The more prominent vocal indicators of group membership in juveniles could be related to their higher social dependence compared to adolescents. The more individualized calls of adolescents could be a mechanistic consequence of more stable growth at older age. Our results suggest vocal plasticity of goitred gazelles under social influences. These data add to recent evidence about domestic goat kids Capra hircus, suggesting that vocalizations of species that are not capable of imitation are more flexible than previously thought.     

The inconsistency of inconsistency scales: a comparison of two widely used measures

This study compared the inconsistent responding validity scales of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI)/PPI-Revised (PPI-R) in two correctional samples to determine the extent to which they overlap in identifying invalid profiles. Results revealed substantial differences in the way the inconsistent responding validity scales of these measures performed. In particular, the PAI identified far fewer participants as having responded inconsistently compared with the PPI/PPI-R. We discuss the implications of our findings for clinical practice, and potential concerns with the use of a single measure to identify inconsistent responding in clinical practice and research.     

Extralinguistic control of language comprehension and production in the nonfluent child

The study investigated (1) the developmental progression postulated to exist between comprehension and production of sentences having the same grammatical form, and (2) the effects of syntactic, semantic, and extralinguistic variables on comprehension and production in nursery-school children. Comprehension trials required choices among four puzzle piece alternatives for which (a) both subject and object pieces differed (Phase I) or (b) only grammatical subject pictures differed (Phase II). During production trials children were asked to label preconstructed puzzles. Results indicated the comprehension-production relationship to vary as a function of age, sentence prepositions, and phases. Differential effects of semantic and extralinguistic variables during comprehension were found primarily for the youngest children, suggesting that logical relations among agent-actor-object were not sole controllers of language comprehension. Nonsyntactic control of production responses was not found.     

Ignoring information in binary choice with continuous variables: When is less “more”?

When can a single variable be more accurate in binary choice than multiple sources of information? We derive analytically the probability that a single variable (SV) will correctly predict one of two choices when both criterion and predictor are continuous variables. We further provide analogous derivations for multiple regression (MR) and equal weighting (EW) and specify the conditions under which the models differ in expected predictive ability. Key factors include variability in cue validities, intercorrelation between predictors, and the ratio of predictors to observations in MR. Theory and simulations are used to illustrate the differential effects of these factors. Results directly address why and when “one-reason” decision making can be more effective than analyses that use more information. We thus provide analytical backing to intriguing empirical results that, to date, have lacked theoretical justification. There are predictable conditions for which one should expect “less to be more.”