The effect of organismic disadvantage on allocation behavior in children

Equity theory (Adams, 1965) suggests that when persons are asked to divide a given amount of reward between two other persons, one relatively more disadvantaged than the other at performing a task, they will make allocations that are disproportionate to the two persons' performance levels, giving the disadvantaged person a disproportionately larger share and the advantaged person a disproportionately smaller share of the reward. The theory attributes this effect to the allocator's perception that the disadvantaged individual expended a disproportionately greater amount of effort. A group of third- and fourth-graders and a group of seventh-graders were asked to divide rewards between pairs of children that were described to vary in age (“younger” vs. older) or ability (“unskilled” vs. skilled) or that were the “same” in age and ability and that were described to vary (5 vs. 15, or 0 vs. 20 baskets) or to be equal (10 vs. 10 baskets) in performance on a basketball-shooting task. Unlike the group of third- and fourth-graders, the seventh-graders generally made significantly larger allocations to the disadvantaged individuals (“younger” and “unskilled”) than to the “same” individuals, making the largest allocations under the most discrepant performance condition (0 vs. 20). Overall, the results suggested that the equity principle becomes more salient in children as age increases.     

An empirical study of the reports of APA's peer review panel in the congressional review of the U.S.S. IOWA incident

The U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee (HASC) review of the US. Navy's investigation of the U.S.S. IOWA incident provides a case study of the problems with reconstructive psychological evaluations. The US. Navy attributed the explosion on board the U.S.S. IOWA to the intentional suicidal acts of Gunner's Mate Clayton Hartwig, a conclusion supported primarily by an Equivocal Death Analysis (EDA) conducted by the FBI. Systematic analysis of the reports of the expert panelists who consulted to the NASC reveals that 11 of the 14 panelists were critical of the conclusions reached by the Navy/FBI. There was considerable variability among the judgments of the panelists, who reached consensus only for broad categories. Because the reliability and validity of postmortem psychological reconstructions such as EDA and psychological autopsy have not been established, clinicians are urged to exercise caution in the use of such procedures and to be sensitive to ethical obligations to consumers when using such techniques.     

Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES) and school performance

The aims of this study were to explore the validity of a set of computerized tests, and to explore the validity of reaction time variability as an index of sustained attention. In Phase 1, 105 children 7–10 years old were presented with five tests from the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES). The children were able to complete four of the tests: the Continuous Performance, Simple Reaction Time, Symbol-Digit Substitution, and Digit Span tests. In Phase 2, a follow-up of 88 children, performance on these tests was significantly associated with teachers' ratings of attention and with standardized academic achievement measures. Moreover, variability on the Simple Reaction Time and performance on the Digit Span and Symbol-Digit tests significantly predicted reading achievement. Similarly, performance on the Digit Span and Symbol-Digit tests significantly predicted mathematics achievement. In addition, variability on the Simple Reaction Time and Digit Span test performance were significant predictors of reading achievement above and beyond the prediction provided by teachers' ratings.     

Two strategies to increase adherence to HIV antiretroviral medication: life-steps and medication monitoring

Advances in the medical treatment of HIV have made it clear that adherence to highly active antiretroviral treatment is a crucial feature for treatment success. The present paper had two goals: (1) to examine psychosocial predictors of adherence in persons receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy; (2) to compared two minimal-treatment interventions to increase HIV medication adherence in a subset of persons who self-reported less than perfect adherence. One of the interventions, Life-Steps, is a single-session intervention utilizing cognitive-behavioral, motivational interviewing, and problem-solving techniques. The other intervention, self-monitoring, utilizes a pill-diary and an adherence questionnaire alone. Significant correlates of adherence included depression, social support, adherence self-efficacy, and punishment beliefs about HIV. Depression was a significant unique predictor of adherence over and above the other variables. Both interventions yielded improvement in adherence from baseline, and the Life-Steps intervention showed faster improvements in adherence for persons with extant adherence problems.     

The anxiety sensitivity index: item analysis and suggestions for refinement.

Anxiety sensitivity is the fear of anxiety-related sensations, and is measured by the 16-item Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). Despite the popularity and utility of the ASI in research, a number of studies have provided evidence for the inadequacy of several items, and item-to-scale correlations for the ASI have not been published. In this study, a converging set of analyses to evaluate the item adequacy and factor structure of the ASI was used. The results of these multiple analyses converged nicely suggesting that Items 1, 5, 7, 8, and 13 should be considered for removal from the instrument. The impact of removing these problematic items from the scale was explored through the reanalysis of data from 3 previously published studies that compared the original ASI with the new 11-item version (the ASI minus the 5 problematic items). The results of these analyses suggest that the 2 scales function comparably in many respects but that the new version may be a more precise measure of anxiety sensitivity. The 11-item ASI appears to tap 2 primary aspects of anxiety sensitivity: fears of somatic sensations of anxiety and fears of loss of mental control. Suggestions for further development of the ASI are offered.