Commercial cognitive/memory systems: A case study

Commercial cognitive/memory systems are products that enhance human cognition and memory. Using one of our own product developments as a case study, we describe three phases of commercial systems development and evaluation. We review published examples of Phase One research, report two quasi-experimental investigations that are representative of successful Phase Two research, and provide some measures used to assess the product's success in the early stages of Phase Three. Finally, we discuss the use of theories and findings from basic research in cognitive psychology to develop products of value to individuals and society.     

Depression combined with somatic symptomatology among adolescent females who report concerns regarding maternal achievement

Recent research suggests that many females who mature during periods of great change in women's roles develop, beginning at adolescence, depressive symptomatology combined with such somatic problems as headache, dyspnea, insomnia, disordered eating, and preference for thinness. In this study of possible psychological mechanisms underlying the apparently paradoxical development of such symptomatology during periods of increased opportunity for women, 20% of females attending a suburban high school reported concerns regarding the limited achievements of their mothers and the limitations being female had placed upon their mothers. Compared to other female students, these respondents exhibited a greater correlation between depressive and somatic symptomatology and a higher prevalence of depression combined with somatic symptomatology. Prevalence of combined symptomatology was particularly high among respondents who also reported paternal biases against females and among those who indicated concerns regarding the limitations that being female had placed upon themselves.     

Implications of human genome research: Impact on graduate education in genetic counseling

A conference of genetic counseling and clinical nurse specialist graduate program directors was hosted by the National Society of Genetic Counselors and funded by the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications Program of the National Center for Human Genome Research in June 1992. One aspect of the conference addressed implications of the Human Genome Initiative for graduate education in genetic counseling. Within this paper, the topics of human variation and diversity, genetic discrimination, issues in non-directiveness, and genetic screening and policy development are reviewed and recommendations made for graduate curricula development and enhancement. In addition, suggestions are included for practicing genetic counselors.     

TRAINING INTERACTIONAL BEHAVIORS OF ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES: A SYSTEMATIC REPLICATION AND EXTENSION

This study was a replication and extension of research by Foxx, McMorrow, Bittle, and Ness (1986) that assessed generalization effects of a social skills training program on the interactional behavior of adults with developmental disabilities. Target skills were a verbal action or reaction in six skill areas that specifically addressed the participants' skill deficits. In the present study, we trained 5 adult residents of a group home across these six skill areas using the “Sorry” game format and the scoring criteria described by Foxx et al. We extended the results of Foxx et al. by (a) using pretreatment assessment procedures to identify participants' specific skill deficits, (b) training all residents in the natural environment, (c) training participant—participant interactions, (d) training participants to respond to four of the six skill areas through the use of a role-play procedure, and (e) omitting rewards, criterion levels, and self-monitoring. Additionally, the trainer in the present study modeled correct responses only as an error correction procedure during training. Similar to those of Foxx et al., our results indicated that all participants increased their use of the trained interactional behaviors during the generalization assessments in the presence of other trained peers.     

Personality and the Problems of Everyday Life: The Role of Neuroticism In Exposure and Reactivity to Daily Stressors

This article investigates mechanisms through which neuroticism leads to distress in daily life. Neuroticism may lead to distress through exposing people to a greater number of stressful events, through increasing their reactivity to those events, or through a mechanism unrelated to environmental events. This article evaluates the relative importance of these three explanations. Subjects were 339 persons who provided daily reports of minor stressful events and mood for 6 weeks. Exposure and reactivity to these minor stressors explained over 40% of the distress difference between high- and low-neuroticism subjects. Reactivity to stressors accounted for twice as much of the distress difference as exposure to stressors. These results suggest that reactions within stressful situations are more important than situation selection in explaining how neuroticism leads to distress in daily life.     

Newborn behavioral observations system in rural Pakistan: A feasibility and acceptability study

The Newborn Behavioral Observations (NBO) system is a relationship-based tool that helps parents recognize their infant's competencies and learn their behavioral cues, with the goals of enhancing parental responsiveness and satisfaction in the infant-parent relationship. In our study, a pediatrician integrated the NBO into 44 pediatric health care visits of infants in rural Pakistan villages, under the remote guidance of two U.S.-based child psychiatrists. A clinician then gave the mothers a survey about their experience of the NBO and found that the mothers were highly satisfied, reporting greater appreciation of their infant's strengths, greater understanding of their infant's behavioral cues, stronger attachment to their infant, and greater self-confidence as a mother. In their consideration of these results, the authors explore cultural reasons for the mothers’ responses and generate hypotheses to inform an outcome study of a similar intervention. This was a feasibility and acceptability study and was not randomized, had no control group, and did not use objective measures of outcome.     

Belief in COVID-19 misinformation: Hopeful claims are rated as truer

Misinformation surrounding COVID-19 spread rapidly and widely, posing a significant threat to public health. Here, we examined whether some types of misinformation are more believable than others, to the extent that they offer people hope in uncertain times. An initial group of subjects rated a series of COVID-19 misinformation statements for whether each made them feel more or less hopeful (if true). Based on these ratings, we selected two sets of misinformation that differed in their average rated hopefulness; the two sets did not differ in word length or reading ease. In two studies, people rated their belief in each statement. Results from both studies revealed that people rated the more hopeful misinformation (e.g., COVID cures and prevention methods) as truer than less hopeful misinformation (e.g., transmission vectors). These findings are consistent with a motivated reasoning account of misinformation acceptance.     

Predictors of hazardous drinking and internet gaming severity among a military sample

Researchers have placed a necessary focus on the mental health and substance use needs of U.S. military populations. In the present study, we examined a sequential regression model in which psychological, emotional, and spiritual factors predicted hazardous drinking and internet gaming severity in a national sample of 207 with military identities. Results indicated that posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, shame, and negative religious coping predicted hazardous alcohol use. Additionally, religious and spiritual struggles predicted higher internet gaming severity. Future research is needed to better contextualize combat era demographics and mental health risk and protective factors associated with alcohol use and internet gaming among military populations.     

Openness relates to COVID-19 vaccination rates across 48 United States but politics trump personality

Does geographic variation in personality across the United States relate to COVID-19 vaccination rates? To answer this question, we combined multiple state-level datasets: (a) Big Five personality averages (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness; Rentfrow et al., 2008), (b) COVID-19 full-vaccination rates (CDC, 2021a), (c) health-relevant demographic covariates (population density, per capita gross domestic product, and racial/ethnic data; Webster et al., 2021), and (d) political and religiosity data. Analyses showed openness as the strongest correlate of full-vaccination rates (r = 0.51). Controlling for other traits, demographic covariates, and spatial dependence, openness remained significantly related to full-vaccination rates (r_p = 0.55). Adding political and religiosity data to this model diminished openness effects for full-vaccination rates to non-significance (r_p = 0.26); however, extraversion emerged as a significant correlate of full-vaccination rates (r_p = 0.37). Although politics are paramount, we suspect that states with higher average openness scores are more conducive to novel thinking and behavior—dispositions that may be crucial in motivating people to take newly-developed vaccines based on new technologies to confront a novel coronavirus.