“One Size Fits All”: An Existential-Constructivist Perspective on the Crisis Intervention Approach with Suicidal Individuals

The empirical data on the relationship between suicide and suicide attempts are interpreted as suggesting that the contemporary assessment and intervention approaches to suicidal individuals are, by and large, ineffective. In support of our argument, we focus on the crisis intervention model as one example and suggest that the crisis intervention approach to responding to suicidal individuals is at best, ineffective and, at worst, can be viewed as exacerbating suicidal risk through its distancing, marginalizing, and stigmatizing effects. Additionally, we hypothesize that the mechanics of the crisis intervention model contribute to the societal message that a meaning and contextual-based discussion of suicidality is taboo and that this message tends to continue into more long-term psychotherapeutic approaches. Along these lines, we present an alternative to the crisis intervention model grounded in an existential-constructivist theory of suicidal behavior and the principles of therapeutic and feminist assessment philosophies as an heuristic intended to stimulate the development of new and innovative approaches to working with suicidal individuals.     

Effectiveness of the MMPI-2-RF Validity Scales for Feigned Mental Disorders and Cognitive Impairment: A Known-Groups Study

The MMPI and MMPI-2 validity scales have long been accepted as standard tools in the assessment of feigned mental disorders (FMD) based on their extensive empirical validation. Studies are now examining MMPI-2-RF with modified validity scales plus the new Infrequent Somatic Responses Scale (F_S) and the recently-adapted Response Bias Scale (RBS). The current investigation used a known-groups design to examine the effectiveness of the MMPI-2-RF for differentiating FMD and feigned cognitive impairment (FCI) from patients with genuine disorders for a large civil forensic sample. Criterion measures included the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms-2 (SIRS-2) for the FMD group, and below-chance performances on the Victoria Symptom Validity Test (VSVT) and the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) for the FCI group. For FMD, both F-r and F_P-r produced very large effect sizes (ds > 2.00). Moreover, the absence of severe elevations (≥80 T) on F-r proved effective at ruling-out most FMD. For the current study, a F_P-r cut score ≥90 T for FMD produced virtually no false-positives (0.01) and only a moderate level of false-alarms. As predicted by its detection strategies, most MMPI-2-RF validity scales have limited effectiveness with the FCI group. However, FBS-r and RBS may be useful in conjunction with other clinical data for ruling out FCI for genuine neuropsychological consults. An entirely separate concern is whether certain diagnostic groups, such as major depression, will have marked elevations on MMPI-2-RF scales thereby increasing the likelihood of false-positives. On this point, F_P-r performed exceptionally well with unelevated scores (Ms < 55 T) consistently across diagnostic categories.     

Paranormal belief and the conjunction fallacy: Controlling for temporal relatedness and potential surprise differentials in component events

Recent research suggests paranormal believers are especially prone to the ‘conjunction fallacy’. The current study extends this work by presenting believers and non‐believers with eight paranormal plus eight non‐paranormal scenarios. Participants were given either a paranormal or virtually identical non‐paranormal version of each scenario. Of these, half incorporated component events which were (virtually) co‐occurring with half including components which were temporally disjointed. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA; controlling for gender and maths/stats/psychology qualifications) found believers made more conjunction errors than non‐believers. Neither event type (paranormal vs. non‐paranormal) nor components' temporal relationship (co‐occurring vs. disjointed) had a significant effect on conjunction biases. Believers' tendency to produce larger conjunctive estimates was unrelated to group differences in component probability estimates (surprise values) and further, could not be attributed to group differences in the perceived functional relationship between component and conjunctive events. Possible explanations are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experiences and perspectives of African American, Latina/o, Asian American, and European American psychology graduate students: A national study

A national, Web-based survey of 1,219 African American, Latina/o, Asian American, and European American psychology graduate students revealed both similarities and differences in experiences and perspectives. Mentoring was found to be the strongest predictor of satisfaction across groups. Academic supports and barriers, along with perceptions of diversity within the academic environment, were also important predictors of satisfaction. Students of color perceived less fairness of representation of their ethnic group within psychology than European American students, and a greater linkage between aspects of the graduate school experience and their ethnicity. Limitations of the study and implications for future research and action are discussed.     

Intact and impaired mechanisms of action understanding in autism

Typically developing children understand and predict others' behavior by extracting and processing relevant information such as the logic of their actions within the situational constraints and the intentions conveyed by their gaze direction and emotional expressions. Children with autism have difficulties understanding and predicting others' actions. With the use of eye tracking and behavioral measures, we investigated action understanding mechanisms used by 18 children with autism and a well-matched group of 18 typically developing children. Results showed that children with autism (a) consider situational constraints in order to understand the logic of an agent's action and (b) show typical usage of the agent's emotional expressions to infer his or her intentions. We found (c) subtle atypicalities in the way children with autism respond to an agent's direct gaze and (d) marked impairments in their ability to attend to and interpret referential cues such as a head turn for understanding an agent's intentions.     

Imitation from 12 to 24 months in autism and typical development: a longitudinal Rasch analysis

The development of imitation during the second year of life plays an important role in domains of sociocognitive development such as language and social learning. Deficits in imitation ability in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from toddlerhood into adulthood have also been repeatedly documented, raising the possibility that early disruptions in imitation contribute to the onset of ASD and the deficits in language and social interaction that define the disorder. This study prospectively examined the development of imitation between 12 and 24 months of age in 154 infants at familial risk for ASD and 78 typically developing infants who were all later assessed at 36 months for ASD or other developmental delays. The study established a developmental measure of imitation ability and examined group differences over time, using an analytic Rasch measurement model. Results revealed a unidimensional latent construct of imitation and verified a reliable sequence of imitation skills that was invariant over time for all outcome groups. Results also showed that all groups displayed similar significant linear increases in imitation ability between 12 and 24 months and that these increases were related to individual growth in both expressive language and ratings of social engagement but not in fine motor development. The group of children who developed ASD by age 3 years exhibited delayed imitation development compared with the low-risk typical outcome group across all time-points, but were indistinguishable from other high-risk infants who showed other cognitive delays not related to ASD.     

Malingering as a categorical or dimensional construct: the latent structure of feigned psychopathology as measured by the SIRS and MMPI-2

The 6 nonoverlapping primary scales of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) were subjected to taxometric analysis in a group of 1,211 criminal and civil examinees in order to investigate the latent structure of feigned psychopathology. Both taxometric procedures used in this study, mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC) and maximum covariance (MAXCOV), produced dimensional results. A subgroup of participants (n = 711) with valid Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) protocols were included in a second round of analyses in which the 6 nonoverlapping primary scales of the SIRS and the Infrequency (F), Infrequency-Psychopathology (Fp), and Dissimulation (Ds) scales of the MMPI-2 served as indicators. Again, the results were more consistent with dimensional latent structure than with taxonic latent structure. On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that feigned psychopathology forms a dimension (levels of fabrication or exaggeration) rather than a taxon (malingering-honest dichotomy) and that malingering is a quantitative distinction rather than a qualitative one. The theoretical and clinical practice implications of these findings are discussed.     

Different responses in two strains of chickens (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gallus gallus</Emphasis>) in a magnetic orientation test

Previous studies demonstrated that layer strain domestic chicks bred for egg production can orient using directional cues from the magnetic field; here we report that chicks from a broiler strain bred for meat production do not use magnetic cues for orientation. We imprinted both strains of chicken on a red ball and subsequently trained them in a featureless testing arena. Between rewarded trials in the geomagnetic field, we inserted unrewarded tests under the following conditions: (1) in the geomagnetic field, (2) in a magnetic field with North shifted by 90 degrees and (3) in a magnetic field with the inclination inverted. The layer chicks made a correct axial response in 75-80% of the tests, shifting their choices following a rotation of magnetic North. Chicks of the broiler strain, in contrast, performed at chance level with between 47 and 60% of choices on the correct axis. This difference between the strains does not appear to be due to substantial strain differences in motivation to perform the task. It therefore appears possible that the selection of the broiler strain has led to the elimination of the specific ability to respond to magnetic cues in the test situation.     

Facets of psychopathy, Axis II traits, and behavioral dysregulation among jail detainees

Forensic evaluations of offender populations often consider psychopathy as an integral component of these consultations. Vexing issues remain of whether psychopathic traits should be evaluated consistently irrespective of demographic characteristics (e.g. gender), comorbidity (e.g. other Axis II pathology), or setting (e.g. jail or community). The current study examined gender differences for psychopathy and Axis II traits in a nonreferred jail sample of predominantly nonviolent offenders. Participants with moderate to high levels of psychopathy evidenced substantial comorbidity, especially with Cluster B personality disorders. Facets of psychopathy and Axis II traits varied substantially across both genders. In addition, the research evaluated Lynam's Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, and Attention difficulties (HIA) model of psychopathy. These initial data found little support for the HIA model in this jail sample. In testing competing hypotheses, the HIA model was substantially better at predicting Cluster B traits than psychopathy per se.     

Behavioral characterization of a transection of dorsal CA3 subcortical efferents: comparison with scopolamine and physostigmine infusions into dorsal CA3

Cholinergic projections from the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca into the hippocampus have long been implicated in learning and memory. Projections from CA3 to neurons in the medial septum and the diagonal band of Broca have been anatomically characterized. The present experiments were designed to evaluate interactions between the dorsal CA3 subcortical efferents and the cholinergic efferents from the medial septum and diagonal band of Broca for spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection in the rat. In Experiment 1, physostigmine and scopolamine (both 0.4 microL at 30 microM) were infused into dorsal CA3 and animals were tested on a spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection paradigm. Scopolamine infusions into dorsal CA3 caused deficits for both spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection. Physostigmine infusions into dorsal CA3 enhanced both spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection. These data support models proposing that acetylcholine may control the dynamics for encoding, consolidation, and retrieval in the hippocampus. In Experiment 2, a selective transection of dorsal CA3 efferents in the fimbria resulted in deficits for spatial and nonspatial (visual object) novelty detection. These deficits were similar to the deficits caused by scopolamine infusions into dorsal CA3. These data demonstrate that dorsal CA3 and the medial septum/diagonal band of Broca interact, and that dorsal CA3 influences cholinergic inputs into the hippocampus to facilitate encoding.