Extraversion and positive affect: A day reconstruction study of person–environment transactions

Extraversion is robustly correlated with positive affect, but the reasons for this correlation remain unclear. One possibility is that extraverts and introverts both enjoy interacting with others, but extraverts do so more frequently. Another possibility is that extraverts enjoy social interactions more. Both hypotheses were tested using the Day Reconstruction Method. Subjects reported on interactions with others and positive affect experienced during all of the episodes from a single day. Results were consistent with the first hypothesis: the relation between extraversion and positive affect was partially mediated by extraverts’ greater social participation. The findings support a transactional approach to personality, in which traits like extraversion are seen as styles of actively engaging with the environment.     

Is Consequential Luck Morally Inconsequential? Empirical Psychology and the Reassessment of Moral Luck

Philosophical discussions of the phenomenon that has come to be known as ‘moral luck’ have either dismissed it as illusory or touted it as the evidence for doubting the probative value of our commitment to certain widely avowed views concerning interpersonal assessments of responsibility. In this discussion, we present a third, distinctive interpretation of the moral luck phenomenon. Drawing upon empirically robust results from psychological studies of judgment bias, we argue that the phenomenon of moral luck is demonstrably not illusory. What we suggest, however, is that the phenomenon ought not to be taken to countenance doubts about the standards generally taken to be regulative of assessments of interpersonal responsibility. Rather, its significance lies in foregrounding certain generally unacknowledged obstacles we face in the process of conclusively applying general valid moral standards in making specific judgments of responsibility and desert.¹     

On Measuring Forgiveness: Implications from Smallest Space Analysis of the Forgiveness Likelihood Scale

The structure of the Rye et al.’s Forgiveness Likelihood Scale was evaluated using the principal components analysis and Guttman’s Smallest Space Analysis. Participants (n = 98) were students in Introduction to Psychology classes. While the former suggested a one-factor solution, the latter suggested differentiating the items based on the facet of ease of forgiving with three subsets: easy, medium, and difficult items. Unexpectedly, the Total Forgiveness Likelihood Scale score and the subscale based on just difficult items correlated significantly with the Fantasy subscale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. A mapping sentence is offered with four facets and their putative constituent elements as a way to conceptualize the development of new, or to improve upon current, forgiveness likelihood scales.     

Measurement of intimacy attitudes: the Intimacy Attitude Scale--revisited

The study evaluated the reliability and validity of a revised version of the Intimacy Attitude Scale originally developed by Amidon. The Cronbach alpha measure of internal consistency showed alpha values between .78 and .86 in five different groups. The test-retest correlation was .57 which improved to .84 after exclusion of three extreme scores. Validity was examined by correlating with several variables. It was concluded that the revised Intimacy Attitude Scale is a reliable instrument with Some degree of Validity for use in research, diagnosis, and training.     

Effectiveness of filler items in disguising scale purpose.

Subjects (n = 246) were asked to identify the trait(s) measured by Rotter's Interpersonal Trust Scale with and without filler items, either by responding freely or by circling traits listed on a sheet. Half the subjects were informed prior to filling out the questionnaire that their task was to identify the traits being measured by the questionnaire; the remaining half of the subjects were informed of their task after they completed the questionnaire. Very few subjects were able to identify correctly the trait being measured by Rotter's scale regardless of the experimental condition. Most subjects named multiple traits. It was concluded that the use of filler items per se was not the key factor in disguising the true purpose of Rotter's test; rather item wording may have produced multiple interpretations.     

PSYCHOLOGY IN INDIA: A SURVEY OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS

This study examines profile, research area, research activities, perception of psychology, self-image and profession-related satisfaction doctoral students of psychology in India. Seventy-seven participants responded to a mailed questionnaire. It has subsections related to self-image as researcher, student-supervisor relationship, research process, profession-related satisfaction, and status of psychology in India. It was observed that most participants belonged to urban background, middle class, and nuclear family. They perceived job opportunities in various fields and aspired most for teaching and research. Further, gender and financial assistance did not influence self-image and student-supervisor relationship. However, financial assistance influenced satisfaction with different aspects of profession. Implications of the findings are discussed in light of doctoral training of psychology in India and reorientation of psychology as a profession.     

Performance of neurotics and stables on the standard progressive matrices

The significance of the role of Neuroticism (N) as an important determiner of learning and performance was investigated. The relation of N to performance on intelligence tests was analyzed and it was predicted that as item difficulty increased high N subjects would perform progressively worse and low N subjects would perform better. This type of analysis was shown to demonstrate the Yerkes-Dodson phenomenon better than a single total test score. In the present investigation, 400 subjects were selected for a 2 × 2 design consisting of two personality groups (neurotics vs. stables) and two sexes. Subjects were administered the Standard Progressive Matrices, an intelligence test having five progressively more difficult stages. The findings were that neurotics performed better on the simpler set, but as items became more difficult the stables performed significantly better than neurotics. A correlational analysis also showed a positive relation between N and the first set of items, and a negative relation between N and the other four sets.     

Medical Education for Social Justice: Paulo Freire Revisited

Although social justice is an integral component of medical professionalism, there is little discussion in medical education about how to teach it to future physicians. Using adult learning theory and the work of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, medical educators can teach a socially-conscious professionalism through educational content and teaching strategies. Such teaching can model non-hierarchical relationships to learners, which can translate to their clinical interactions with patients. Freirian teaching can additionally foster professionalism in both teachers and learners by ensuring that they are involved citizens in their local, national and international communities.     

Canavan disease: a white matter disorder

Breakdown of oligodendrocyte-neuron interactions in white matter (WM), such as the loss of myelin, results in axonal dysfunction and hence a disruption of information processing between brain regions. The major feature of leukodystrophies is the lack of proper myelin formation during early development or the onset of myelin loss late in life. These early childhood WM diseases are described as hypomyelination or dysmyelination arising from a primary block in normal myelin synthesis because of a genetic mutation expressed in oligodendrocytes, or failure in myelination secondary to neuronal or astroglial dysfunctions (van der Knaap 2001 Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 43:705-712). Here, we describe the pathophysiological parameters of Canavan disease (CD), caused by genetic mutations of the aspartoacylase (ASPA) gene, a metabolic enzyme restricted in the central nervous system (CNS) to oligodendrocytes. CD presents pathophysiological dysfunctions similar to diseases caused by myelin gene mutations, such as Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease (PMD) and several animal models, such as myelin deficient rat (md), jimpy (jp), shiverer (sh), and quaking (qk viable) mutant mice. These single gene mutations have pleiotropic effects, whereby the alteration of one myelin gene expression disrupts functional expression of other oligodendrocyte genes with an outcome of hypomyelination/dysmyelination. Among all of the known leukodystrophies, CD is the first disorder, which was approved and tested for the adeno-associated virus vector (AAV)-ASPA gene therapy (Leone et al. 2000 Ann. Neurol. 48:27-38; Janson et al. 2001 Trends Neurosci. 24:706-712) without much success following the first two attempts. ASPA gene delivery attempts in animal models have shown a lowering of N-acetyl L-aspartate and a change in motor functions, while sponginess of the WM, a characteristic of CD remained unchanged (Matalon et al. 2003 Mol. Ther. 7 (5, Part 1):580-587; McPhee et al. 2005 Brain Res. Mol. Brain Res. 135:112-121) even with better viral serotype and delivery of the gene during early phase of development (Klugmann et al. 2005 Mol. Ther. 11:745-753). While different approaches are being sought for the success of gene therapy, there are pivotal developmental questions to address regarding the specific regions of the CNS and cell lineages that become the target for the onset and progression of CD symptoms from early to late stages of development.     

Knowing your place: self-perceptions of status in face-to-face groups

Status is the prominence, respect, and influence individuals enjoy in the eyes of others. Theories of positive illusions suggest that individuals form overly positive perceptions of their status in face-to-face groups. In contrast, the authors argue that individuals' perceptions of their status are highly accurate--that is, they closely match the group's perception of their status--because forming overly positive status self-perceptions can damage individuals' acceptance in a group. Therefore, the authors further argue that individuals are likely to refrain from status self-enhancement to maintain their belongingness in a group. Support for their hypotheses was found in 2 studies of status in face-to-face groups, using a social relations model approach (D. A. Kenny & L. La Voie, 1984). Individuals showed high accuracy in perceiving their status and even erred on the side of being overly humble. Moreover, enhancement in status self-perceptions was associated with lower levels of social acceptance.