The spontaneous use of memory aids at different educational levels

Three groups of students in different educational levels: 8th–9th grade students (average age 15); 10th–11th grade students (average age 16); and college students (average age 21), completed a metamemory questionnaire on the use of external, general, and formal memory aids in everyday life and study situations. Short-term repetition, mental rehearsing, and summary elaboration were the most frequent aids. The least frequently used were those that require a special training to be used effectively (e.g. Digit-letters and method of loci). There were differences in the use of general memory aids due to education level, but not in the case of external and formal memory aids. Results showed also that women used memory aids more frequently than men.     

Competing Contingencies Over Derived Relational Responding: A Behavioral Model of the Implicit Association Test

The Psychological Record - Subjects were exposed to a word-picture association training phase in which each of 2 arbitrary nonsense syllables printed in blue and red font, respectively, were paired...     

Externalizing pathology and the five-factor model: a meta-analysis of personality traits associated with antisocial personality disorder, substance use disorder, and their co-occurrence

In this meta-analysis we examined Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM) characteristics of externalizing disorders. Two pathologies, Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD), have significant levels of co-occurrence that may be due to shared personality traits. Results from 63 samples (N = 15,331) were analyzed in order to summarize and compare five-factor results for APD, SUD, and co-occurring APD/SUD. Shared and unique personality features were identified at both the domain and the facet level of the FFM. Moderation analyses indicated that sample source (clinical versus community) and diagnosis (psychopathy versus DSM-based APD) accounted for some of the variability at the domain level. Results are discussed with respect to personality and externalizing disorders.     

Vigilance, active coping, and cardiovascular reactivity during social interaction in young men.

This study of 72 undergraduate men examined the effects of two determinants of cardiovascular response-active coping and vigilance-on blood pressure and heart rate responses to social stressors. Observation of a future debate partner (i.e., vigilance) evoked larger increases in blood pressure than did observation of a less relevant person, apparently through the combination of increases in cardiac output and vascular resistance. Preparation and enactment of efforts to exert social influence (i.e., active coping) evoked heightened blood pressure and heart rate responses through increased cardiac contractility and output. Thus, both vigilance and active coping in social contexts increased cardiovascular reactivity, but apparently through different psychophysiological processes.     

Coping Self‐Efficacy and Psychological Distress Following the Oklahoma City Bombing1

Findings from a study of 27 victims of the Oklahoma City bombing are reported. This research focused on the importance of subjective appraisals of coping self‐efficacy in predicting psychological distress following this tragedy. Results supported the hypothesis that judgments of coping self‐eficacy taken 2 months after the bombing added significantly to the explanation of general and trauma‐related distress after controlling for income, social support, threat of death, and loss of resources. Coping self‐eficacy judgments taken I year later were also important in explaining psychological distress after controlling for loss of resources and social‐support perceptions. Although coping self‐efficacy perceptions taken at 2 months were related to distress levels 1 year later, they did not remain significant in a regression analysis controlling for loss of resources and income. Implications of these findings for post‐terrorist bombing interventions are discussed.     

Close Relationships,Gender, and Career Salience

Sex Roles - According to traditional gender roles and stereotypes, men are given the primary role of breadwinners (work orientation), whereas women are responsible for the nurturance of children...     

A Meta-Analysis of Neuropsychological Effort Test Performance in Psychotic Disorders

Neuropsychology Review - Psychotic disorders are characterized by a generalized neurocognitive deficit (i.e., performance 1.5 SD below controls across neuropsychological domains with no specific...     

Retraction Note: Globalization and vulnerable populations in times of a pandemic: A Mayan perspective

Understanding representations of disease in various art genres provides insights into how patients and health care providers view the diseases. It can also be used to enhance patient care and stimulate patient self-management. This paper reviews how cardiovascular diseases are represented in novels, films, and paintings: myocardial infarction, aneurysm, hypertension, stroke, heart transplantation, Marfan’s disease, congestive heart failure. Various search systems and definitions were used to help identify sources of representations of different cardiovascular diseases. The representations of the different diseases were considered separately. The Common Sense Model was used a theoretical model to outline illness perceptions and self-management in the various identified novels, films, and paintings. Myocardial infarction followed by stroke were the most frequently detailed diseases in all three art genres. This reflects their higher prevalence. Representations ranged from biomedical details through to social and psychological consequences of the diseases. Artistic representations of cardiovascular diseases reflect cognitions, emotions, and images of prevalent disease. These representations shape views and behaviour of ill and healthy persons regarding heart diseases. As these representations are amenable to change, they deserve further research, which may be instrumental in improving the quality of life of persons struck by cardiovascular diseases. Changing illness perceptions appears to be a method to improve self-management and thereby quality of life in patients with various cardiovascular diseases.     

Interpersonal responses among sibling dyads tested for BRCA1/BRCA2 gene mutations.

OBJECTIVE: The familial context plays an important role in psychosocial responses to genetic testing. The purpose of this study was to compare sibling pairs with different combinations of BRCA1/BRCA2 test results on measures of affect, interpersonal responses, and physiological reactions. DESIGN: Forty-nine sibling dyads with different combinations of BRCA1/BRCA2 test results (i.e., mixed, positive, negative) completed a questionnaire, and 35 of the dyads also participated in a laboratory-based discussion of genetic testing. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome variables included participant reports of supportive actions toward their sibling, state anger and anxiety, perceptions of sibling behavior, and electrodermal responses. RESULTS: Compared to positive and negative dyads, mixed pairs reported less friendly general support actions, noted more anger, and perceived their sibling to be less friendly and more dominant during the interactions. In comparisons between same-result (i.e., positive, negative) pairs, positive dyads reported more dominant support behaviors and perceived their sibling to be friendlier during the interactions. CONCLUSION: Data suggest that siblings who have different test results may experience more interpersonal strain than siblings who have the same test result. Future research on genetic testing and family relationships can expand upon these findings.