Cultural influence on COVID-19 cognitions and growth speed: The role of collectivism

Major challenges faced by humans often require large-scale cooperation for communal benefits. We examined what motivates such cooperation in the context of social distancing and mask wearing to reduce the transmission intensity of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). We hypothesized that collectivism, a cultural variable characterizing the extent that individuals see themselves in relation to others, contributes to people's willingness to engage in these behaviors. Consistent with preregistered predictions, across three studies (n = 2864), including a U.S. nationally representative sample, collectivist orientation was positively associated with intentions, positive beliefs, norm perceptions, and policy support for the preventive behaviors. Further, at a country level, more collectivist countries showed lower growth rates in both COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths. Together, these studies demonstrate the role of collectivism in reducing COVID-19 transmission, and highlight the value of considering culture in public health policies and communications.     

Children''s ability to make transitive inferences: The importance of premise integration and structural complexity

Four experiments investigated 4- to 6-year-olds' transitive inferences. In Experiments 1–3, there was a nonmapping condition in which inferences were made either about stacked blocks, or about sticks ordered left to right. In the mapping condition, inferences were made by mapping either from blocks to sticks, or the reverse. In Experiments 2–4, relational complexity was manipulated by requiring either 1 or 2 premise relations to be processed in a single decision. Mapping was harder than nonmapping, but relational complexity was the main source of variance, with 2 relations being harder in both mapping and nonmapping conditions. The percentage of participants integrating 2 relations in a single decision was estimated at 20% at age 4, 53% at age 5 and 57% at age 6, suggesting gradual development of transitive inference ability. Results suggest that relational complexity has a strong effect on transitive inference in 4- to 6-year-old children.     

Interviewing older adults: validity of self-reports of satisfaction

Respondents in a personal interview study were asked to evaluate several domains of their lives using several different response scales that included both verbal and pictorial response alternatives. Structural equation models were specified to permit estimation of the validity of these survey measures. Across all of the items, the concept factors explain an average of about one half of the total variance, method factors explain about one tenth of the variance, and the remaining one third or so of the variance is unique to each item. Comparisons of the validity of reports by respondents of different ages indicate that method factors explain almost twice as much of the variance in the responses of older respondents as in those of younger respondents.     

Family Support and Conflict: Prospective Relations to Adolescent Depression

The relations between family support, family conflict, and adolescent depressive symptomatology were examined longitudinally in a sample of 231 female and 189 male adolescents and their mothers. Structural equation models revealed that less supportive and more con-flictual family environments were associated with greater depressive symptomatology both concurrently and prospectively over a 1-year period. Conversely, adolescent depressive symptomatology did not predict deterioration in family relationships. Depressive symptomatology and, to a greater extent, family characteristics showed high levels of stability over the 1-year period. Counter to our expectations, the relations between family variables and depressive symptomatology were similar for boys and girls. The results suggest that the quality of family interactions is relevant for understanding the development of depressive symptoms in adolescents.     

Adjunctive brainstem behaviors in the rat

Adjunctive behaviors refers to behaviors that are “out of context” and/or excessive in amount. The terminology was first used for unexplained behaviors associated with food pellet ratio contingencies in food deprived rats (Falk, 1971). Clinically, unrelated and complex excessive behaviors were also noted with brainstem and diencephalic discharges (Andy, 1986, 1989 and 1995; Andy and Jurko, 1986). The objective of this study was to develop a model of brainstem generated adjunctive behaviors in the rat. Method: Sixty-one adult rats were used. Kindling was induced by mechanical and DC electrical perturbations in the midbrain. Nine different treatment groups were established in which lesions and drugs were used separately and in different combinations. Cocaine was used to accentuate, and dextrorphan to attenuate the kindling process. Behaviors were visually analyzed and recorded by video camera; they were not quantified. DC stimulation and EEGs were done with Grass instruments. Recording and stimulation sights were verified histologically. Results: A total of 45 different behaviors were elicited. DC stimulation kindled subjects had significantly more behaviors than did electrode insertion alone and cocaine alone. However, cocaine combined with DC stimulation increased the number and intensity of the kindled behaviors. Dextrorphan tended to facilitate catatonic and sleep states. Behaviors occurred randomly and were unrelated, even when they occurred in clusters. The behaviors were associated with four abnormal EEG discharge patterns. Conclusion: We speculate that brainstem behaviors are innate adjunctive drives that are generated in the brainstem reticular formation. They are monitored by the cortex and partially modified by environmental and cortical inputs.     

An analysis of a token economy in stuttering therapy

A stuttering therapy program in which adult stutterers were hospitalized and treated in small groups (n = 4) under token economy conditions is described. The Token System reinforced reductions and penalized increases in stuttering during conversation. The therapy program was divided into three stages. Initially, subjects were treated by the token system, which was then integrated with a delayed auditory feedback schedule designed to instate and shape a prolonged speech pattern into normal fluent speech. Finally, subjects passed through a speech situation hierarchy while under token control conditions. Experiments conducted in the first two stages of treatment are described. The first-stage experiments examined the design of the token system; the second-stage experiment assessed the effect of a contingent punishment schedule integrated with the delayed auditory feedback procedure in order to shape rate of speaking as well as fluency.     

Facilitating accuracy of imitative articulation through reception training

Accuracy of imitation of nonsense words was examined in first- and second-grade children (65–99 months of age) as a function of prior reception training. Two experiments were conducted, involving within-subject comparisons. In the first, one group of words was trained as labels for nonsense objects, a second received noncontingent feedback yoked to the labeling words, a third was presented an equal number of times to control for exposure, and a fourth group was not included in the training phase. Testing involved accuracy of imitation of all four groups of words. Both the feedback and exposure words were imitated less accurately than the labeling words, but more accurately than the nonexposure controls. The second experiment examined the length of the label-object association, using an overtraining procedure. Words which came under the discriminative control of objects for greater numbers of trials were imitated more accurately than those meeting only a minimum discrimination criterion.     

Multitrait-multimethod model of adolescent deviance,drug use,academic, and sexual behaviors

A multitrait-multimethod design was used to test Jessor and Jessor's (1977) problem behavior theory with a sample of adolescents, their parents, and peers. Behaviors included general deviance, drug use, low academic motivation, and precocious sexual behavior. While research has supported this theory, the reliance on self-report data for the majority of this work may threaten the validity of these findings. Results from hierarchical confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the convergent and discriminant validity of the seven behavior constructs was high and method effects were low. A two-factor second-order model, representing General Drug Use and Other Problem Behavior, accounted for a larger proportion of variance in the lower order factors compared to a single-factor model.This research was supported by Grant DA 03706 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.     

Marital discord and psychiatric disorder in children and adolescents

The relationship between marital discord and any DISC-2.1/DSM-III-R child psychiatric diagnosis was explored. Interview data from a community sample of 90 parent/child pairs and a clinic sample of 37 parent/child pairs were analysed. The data were collected at Columbia University/the New York State Psychiatric Institute as part of the pilot project of a multi-site methodological study. Rates of marital discord and DISC diagnoses were found higher in the clinic sample than in the community sample. The association between marital discord and any diagnosis remained significant when other risk and protective factors were controlled. Policy implications and recommendations for future research strategies suggested by the current exploratory study were discussed.