A validation of a computerised task of risk-taking and moral decision-making and its association with sensation-seeking,impulsivity and sociomoral reasoning

The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the computer based application of the Secret Agent (SA) task of risk-taking and moral decision-making. The participants were 100 male patients in a maximum security hospital (50 with severe mental illness and 50 with personality disorder) and 50 community based healthy controls. All participants completed the SA task, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and measures of IQ, antisocial personality traits, sensation-seeking, impulsivity and sociomoral reasoning. The SA risk-taking and moral decision-making scales had satisfactory levels of reliability (Cronbach’s alpha). Risk-taking correlated significantly with sensation-seeking across all three participant groups. In contrast, risk-taking only correlated with impulsivity among the severe mental illness group. Moral decision-making correlated with sociomoral reasoning among the personality disorder group. No correlation was found between the SA scores and the IGT score and the IGT did not correlate with sensation-seeking or impulsivity. IQ and antisocial personality traits did not correlate with the SA or IGT scales. The study highlights the importance of context, the nature of the risk-taking task, and ‘problem framing’ of the instructions in their relationship with individual differences.     

A Review of: “A Guide to the Books of James Hollis”

This article provides a small, personal glimpse of what occurs in a barroom subculture, both negative and positive (e.g., the camaraderie of my Friday night “family members”). I look at life in a barroom from different angles and perspectives, ultimately discovering a great deal of sadness as I try to connect barroom life to my own personal background.     

A Review of “Channeling Your Higher Self.” (1989/2007). By Henry Reed

Abstract

Mining the Soul: From the Inside Out. 2000. By Robin Robertson. York Beach: Nicholas-Hays.

The Soul in Grief: Love, Death and Transformation. 1999. By Robert Romanyshyn. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Healing Dreams. 2000. By Marc-Barasch. New York: Riverhead Books.

The Wounded Body. 2000. By Dennis Slattery. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.     

Attention and Memory in Children with Brain Tumors

The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test was utilized to examine attention, learning, and memory abilities in 42 children with cerebellar (N?=?18) and third ventricle tumors (N?=?24). Children with cerebellar tumors exhibited significant auditory attentional impairments and displayed adequate encoding and retrieval across subsequent learning and memory trials. In contrast, children with third ventricle tumors exhibited average auditory attentional abilities, but they displayed mild encoding deficits across trials 2–5. Furthermore, the third ventricle group's compromised performance on the delayed recall trial and average performance on the delayed recognition trial is suggestive of underlying retrieval deficits.     

Exploring the Factor Structure of the Proactive Coping Inventory: A Southern African Study

This study explored the factor structure of the Proactive Coping Inventory (PCI) to determine whether its six-factor structure holds within the Southern African context. Data on proactive coping were collected from students attending three universities, one each in Botswana (n=88, females=45.5%, mean age=21.31 years, SD=2.04), Namibia (n=38, females=47.4%, mean age=24.21 years, SD=3.47) and South Africa (n=496, females=56.9%; mean age=22.27 years, SD=2.60). Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of the PCI. Findings suggest that the PCI is comprised of two factors: Future-Oriented Coping (comprised of Proactive Coping, Reflective Coping, Strategic Planning and Preventive Coping) and Support Seeking (comprised of Instrumental Support Seeking and Emotional Support Seeking). This is in line with theory that suggests that individuals cope by means of persisting towards goal attainment.     

A Review of “Telling Children About the Past: An Interdisciplinary Perspective”

ABSTRACT

World Heritage listing aims to provide protection for the planet's most precious natural and cultural sites. Listing can also increase awareness and visitation, particularly as presentation is a tenet of the World Heritage Convention. Visitor management, based on empirical research, is therefore required to ensure an appropriate balance between these, often conflicting, obligations of protection and presentation. Many World Heritage visitor studies have considered iconic, accessible, international tourism destinations that are facing issues of visitor congestion and threatened heritage values. To provide a balanced understanding of World Heritage tourism, further research is required, particularly focusing on various site types and different World Heritage visitors. To support this agenda, this research identified a lesser-known World Heritage Area with low visitation levels, developed a self-administered visitor questionnaire appropriate for the site, and studied the visitor characteristics, motivations, and experiences. Findings regarding visitors to the remote Riversleigh World Heritage Site in Australia indicate that these visitors differ from visitors to iconic World Heritage Areas, although motivational aspects are similar. The outcomes of the research have informed the visitor interpretive plan developed by the state government responsible for delivering on the Convention requirements for the Riversleigh World Heritage Site, and provide a visitor questionnaire that can be used, or further developed, for other sites.     

The effects of transformational leadership behaviours on follower outcomes: An identity-based analysis

The aim of this study was to explore two of the mechanisms by which transformational leaders have a positive influence on followers. It examined the mediating role of follower's leader and group identification on the associations among different transformational leader behaviours and follower job satisfaction and supervisor-rated job performance. One hundred and seventy-nine healthcare employees and 44 supervisors participated in the study. The results from multilevel structural equation modelling provided results that partially supported the predicted model. Identification with the leader significantly mediated the positive associations between supportive leadership, intellectual stimulation, personal recognition, in the prediction of job satisfaction and job performance. Leader identification also mediated the relationship between supportive leadership, intellectual stimulation, personal recognition, and group identification. However, group identification did not mediate the associations between vision leadership and inspirational communication, in the prediction of job satisfaction and job performance. The results highlight the role of individualized forms of leadership and leader identification in enhancing follower outcomes.     

Age,context, and spatial memory: A neuropsychological approach

Abstract

The hypothesis that a reduction in age differences in spatial location memory in the presence of distinctive cues reflects a decreased dependence on a hippocampally based memory system was tested in three experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2 the presence of distinctive cues did not reduce age differences in spatial location memory nor did these cues eliminate the significant relation between spatial location memory and a measure of hippocampal function. Distinctive cues did, however, place additional demands on processing resources and spatial visualization abilities. In Experiment 3 the relevance of prior knowledge was manipulated. With irrelevant prior knowledge there was a strong unique association between the hippocampal measure and outcome measure. With relevant prior knowledge there was no such association. the implications of these findings for understanding the role of the hippocampus in age-related decline in memory for locations are discussed.