Reputation, loneliness, satisfaction with life and aggressive behavior in adolescence

The present study analyses the relationship between adolescents' perception of reputation and aggressive behavior among peers. The sample is made up of 1319 adolescents aged 11 to 16-years-old. Statistical analyses with structural equation modeling were carried out to examine the direct and indirect effect of perception of reputation (real and ideal) on aggressive behavior. Results indicate that adolescents' real and ideal reputations are related both directly and indirectly to aggressive behavior. The indirect effects suggest that loneliness and life satisfaction mediate the relationship between adolescents' reputation and their aggressive behavior. These findings and their implications are discussed.     

A comparison of the peers method and traditional methodologies, and risk behaviors in studies of the prevalence of drug consumption in a population of female, Chilean students

The present study investigates drug consumption and risk behaviors among female students between 8th and 12th grade in two communities in the city of Santiago, Chile. Based on studies of university populations, we hypothesize that the students' reports of their consumption of licit drugs will tend to be consistent with their actual use of said drugs using two methods to investigate consumption, while their consumption of illicit drugs will be susceptible, and will tend to be under-reported when evaluated through traditional self-report measures. In order to compare the two methods, a cross-sectional study was designed that would compare reported drug consumption, first using the peers method, and then by means of traditional self-report in a group of 350 students. The results show that women's reports of licit drug consumption converge using the two methods, while as earlier suggested, women's illicit drug consumption was found to be under-reported when traditional methodologies were used.     

Comparison of single- and double-stage designs in the prevalence estimation of eating disorders in community samples

The aim of this research was to compare two different case-identification designs: (a) a one-stage anonymous design using the Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q; Fairburn & Beglin, 1994) as diagnostic instrument and (b) a two-stage-non-anonymous design using the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT; Garner & Garfinkel, 1979) and the EDE-Q as screening instruments and the clinical interview Eating Disorders Examination (EDE; Fairbumrn & Cooper, 1993) as diagnostic instrument, in the estimation of eating disorders prevalence in community samples. Both epidemiological designs were compared in: eating disorders prevalence, population at risk, and weekly frequency of associated symptomatology (binge eating episodes, self-vomiting) within a sample of 559 scholars (14 to 18 year-old males and females) studying in the region of Madrid. Eating disorders prevalence estimation using single-stage design was 6.2%, and 3% using the two-stage design; however, these differences were not significant (p = .067). No significant differences between the two procedures were found either in population at risk or in weekly frequency of reported self-vomiting. Reported binge eating episodes were higher in the one-stage design. The use of a two-stage procedure with clinical interview (vs. questionnaire) leads to a better understanding of the items (specially the most ambiguous ones) and thus, to a more accurate prevalence estimation.     

Analysis of effects of distribution of practice in learning and retention of a continuous and a discrete skill presented on a computer

This investigation examined the effects of distributed and massed practice on the learning and retention of a discrete computerized skill (Exp. 1) and a continuous computerized skill (Exp. 2). 40 men were randomly assigned to one of four groups, of which two groups took part in Exp. 1 and two groups in Exp. 2. Performance was assessed at various points during acquisition and then on 8 retention tests conducted at varying times after acquisition. Learning curves for practice were highly similar for the two conditions. Participants in the distributed-practice group performed significantly better than those in the massed-practice group at the end of practice on both the discrete and continuous skills. However, participants in the distributed-practice group performed significantly more poorly on retention during 24 hr. and after acquisition. Participants in the massed-practice condition performed significantly better on retention tests than did those who learned in the distributed-practice condition.     

Influence of articulation rate on two memory tasks in young and older adults

This study investigated the relation between phonological loop functioning and age. Phonological loop is a time-based subsystem of the Working Memory Model of Baddeley and Wilson, which uses rehearsal of information as an active process to avoid phonological decay. Performance differences were examined between young and older adults in two speech-based memory tasks, such as the immediate serial recall of words and the Digit Ordering Task. Analysis showed that performance on both tasks was lower for the older group. Articulation rate was also measured to test the hypothesis that the impairment of some cognitive functions in adults can be associated to their slowness or the greater time needed by older adults for the rehearsal process. A significant negative correlation was found for articulation rate with age. When the effect of articulation rate on Serial Recall and Digit Ordering Tasks was partialled out, the difference between the two groups was eliminated.     

On the Relationships between Sum Score Based Estimation and Joint Maximum Likelihood Estimation

This paper analyzes the sum score based (SSB) formulation of the Rasch model, where items and sum scores of persons are considered as factors in a logit model. After reviewing the evolution leading to the equality between their maximum likelihood estimates, the SSB model is then discussed from the point of view of pseudo-likelihood and of misspecified models. This is then employed to provide new insights into the origin of the known inconsistency of the difficulty parameter estimates in the Rasch model. The main results consist of exact relationships between the estimated standard errors for both models; and, for the ability parameters, an upper bound for the estimated standard errors of the Rasch model in terms of those for the SSB model, which are more easily available. The authors acknowledge partial financial support from the FONDECYT Project No. 1060722 from the Chilean Government, and the BIL05/03 grant to P. De Boeck, E. Lesaffre and G. Molenberghs (Flanders) for a collaboration with G. del Pino, E. San Martín, F. Quintana and J. Manzi (Chile).     

Neophilia in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and its implication for studies of dog cognition

This study examined novel-object preference in dogs. In a free choice test 17 dogs were presented with a novel toy in a line up with two familiar toys. The unfamiliar object was chosen first in 38 out 50 tests suggesting a strong preference for novel over familiar items. Neophilia may be an adaptive trait for domestic dogs that has helped their adaptation towards man.     

Co-occurrence of Rape Myth Acceptance, Sexism, Racism, Homophobia, Ageism, Classism, and Religious Intolerance

Rape myth acceptance has been extensively studied. Little research is available, however, on the relationship of this variable to other oppressive belief systems. A sample of 492 male and 506 female college students completed the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (short form), the Neosexism Scale, the Modern and Old Fashioned Racism Scale, the Modern Homophobia Scale, a modified version of the Economic Belief Scale, the Fraboni Scale of Ageism, and the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale (short form). Because there were no existing measures of intolerance toward multiple religions, the Religious Intolerance Scale was developed for this study (using relevant items from the Godfrey Richman Isms Scale). Findings here suggested that greater racism (both modern and old fashioned), sexism (both modern and old fashioned), homophobia (toward both gay men and lesbians), ageism, classism, and religious intolerance were each associated with greater rape myth acceptance. Moreover, each belief system collectively added to the prediction of rape myth acceptance, although sexism has the highest overlap with rape myth acceptance. Although gender did not moderate the relationship between oppressive belief systems and rape myth acceptance, results, across analyses, did indicate that men reported greater rape myth acceptance than women did. Results point to the interrelatedness of rape myth acceptance, racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ageism, and religious intolerance.     

Social and Economic Exchange: Construct Development and Validation

This study examined the economic and social exchanges between employee and employer within a model in which perceived organizational support and affective and continuance commitment served as predictors and performance, altruism citizenship behavior, absence, and lateness served as outcomes. Two samples were used. 384 master of business administration students participated in Study 1, and Study 2 consisted of 181 aerospace employees and their managers, working for a single organization. Both studies supported the distinctiveness between economic and social exchanges. Study 2 showed the overall fit of the proposed model was adequate, though only social exchange, and not economic exchange, directly predicted the performance outcomes. These results suggest the importance of perceived exchanges between employee and employer.