The relationship between creativity and psychosis-proneness

One-hundred and fifteen undergraduates were repeatedly administered a battery measuring schizotypal personality type and creativity (remote associations). Principal Components Analysis found a two-factor model to be most parsimonious. The pattern of results suggests that magical ideation and perceptual aberration items are represented by one factor and suspiciousness by the second. Analysis of consistent versus inconsistent high scorers on the schizoptypia measure indicated that inconsistent high scorers on the suspiciousness factor scored significantly higher than consistent high scorers on the creativity measure.     

Relationship between Psychological Needs and the Five-Factor Model of Personality Classification

The relationship between psychological needs, operationalized by the Adjective Check List (ACL), and the Five-Factor model of personality classification, operationalized by the NEO-PI-R, was evaluated in 147 (101 women and 46 men) psychology graduate students. We found presence of the Five Factors in the ACL in that 30 of 37 ACL scales correlated greater than 40 with at least one of the NEO-PI-R factors. This replicates and extends previous findings and is further evidence of construct validity of the five-factor model, as it pertains to personality classification.     

The self-reference effect: Methodological issues and implications from a schema-theoretical perspective

A number of investigators demonstrated that processing verbal stimuli by encoding them in reference to the self facilitates recall for these stimuli, compared with other kinds of semantic processing. On the basis of a critical discussion of the relevant research, it is hypothesized that the superiority of self-reference is due to some specific features of semantic orienting tasks that serve as control groups for self-referent encoding. This hypothesis is tested in three experiments demonstrating that, when changing certain features of these semantic orienting tasks, the self-reference-effect (SRE) is no longer obtained. In Experiment 3, the statistical difficulties are addressed that arise when not rejecting the null-hypothesis. Furthermore, several implications of schema-oriented explanations of the SRE are tested. Several dependent measures provide evidence in support of the motion that a self-schema is activated during encoding and retrieval of self-relevant material. However, results show that self-referent processing — in contrast to the most general claim of the relevant literature—does not lead to superior recollection.     

Mothers as a Resource in Times of Stress: Interactive Contributions of Socialization of Coping and Stress to Youth Psychopathology

This study examined the hypothesis that maternal socialization of coping would make a differential contribution to youth depression and externalizing psychopathology depending on youths’ level of exposure to life stress. A sample of 155 youth (M age = 12.41, SD = 1.21) and their maternal caregivers completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal study over a 1-year period. Results provided evidence for two types of socialization × stress interactions—an amplification-effects model and a differential-effects model. In the context of interpersonal stress, findings supported an amplification-effects model wherein the risk and protective effects of engagement and disengagement socialization of coping emerged in youth exposed to high but not mild levels of stress. In the context of noninterpersonal stress, findings supported a differential-effects model wherein disengagement socialization of coping contributed to heightened risk among youth exposed to high stress but dampened risk among youth exposed to mild stress. This research identifies maternal socialization of coping as a noteworthy contributor to risk for youth psychopathology, and highlights the need to consider parenting × environment interactions when investigating parenting processes related to youth psychopathology.     

The effect of performance trend on performance ratings occurs through observer attributions,but depends on performance variability

Research regarding the influence of dynamic performance characteristics on performance ratings suggests that raters are remarkably susceptible to observed trends in performance over time, such that systematic trends or patterns in performance can have an undue influence on how performance is evaluated. However, research in this domain has not fully explained how dynamic performance characteristics influence performance judgments. Drawing on attribution theory, we introduce a model whereby the impact of dynamic performance characteristics on subsequent performance judgments occurs through attributions for performance. Then, in three experimental studies, we show that dynamic performance characteristics influence attributions for performance, which in turn affect performance ratings.     

The combined effect of ratee's bodyweight and past performance information on performance judgments

Few studies have examined how various biases operate in combination to influence performance judgments. Along these lines, the current study used experimental methods to test four competing models of the combined influence of ratee's bodyweight and past performance information on performance judgments. Results were consistent with an additive model, such that ratee's bodyweight and information about ratee's past performance combined independently to affect performance judgments. Consistent with a double disadvantage effect, the least favorable performance judgments were made for an overweight ratee with poor previous performance. Finally, mixed evidence was obtained for the interaction of ratee's bodyweight and perceptions of ratee's physical attractiveness, such that high‐perceived attractiveness buffered against the otherwise negative performance ratings associated with overweight status.     

Developmental influences on interpersonal stress generation in depressed youth

This research tested the hypothesis that the transition through adolescence, particularly undergoing puberty early relative to one's peers, would amplify the effect of depression on the subsequent generation of interpersonal stress. This hypothesis was examined in 158 youth (M age=12.39 years, SD=1.21) using semistructured interviews of depression and life stress. Three indexes of development--chronological age, pubertal status, and pubertal timing--were examined as possible moderators of the stress-generation effect. As anticipated, depression predicted interpersonal stress generation in early-maturing but not late-maturing youth. These findings provide an important developmental context for theory and research on stress generation.