Person factors associated with suicidal behavior among African American women and men

This study compared person risk factors among the following groups of low-income, African American adults in an urban, public hospital: (a) suicide attempters and nonattempters, (b) male and female attempters, and (c) all 4 groups (50 female attempters, 50 female nonattempters, 50 male attempters, and 50 male nonattempters). Participants completed psychological distress, aggression, substance use, cognitive processes, religiosity/spirituality, and ethnic identity measures. Compared with nonattempters, attempters reported more psychological distress, aggression, substance use, and maladaptive coping strategies; less religiosity/spirituality; and lower levels of ethnic identity. Male attempters endorsed more substance use than female attempters. No person risk factors differentiated among the 4 groups. Assessment of person risk factors and implementation of commensurate culturally competent interventions are recommended.     

The scrambling theorem: a simple proof of the logical possibility of spectrum inversion

The possibility of spectrum inversion has been debated since it was raised by and is still discussed because of its implications for functionalist theories of conscious experience (e.g., Palmer, 1999). This paper provides a mathematical formulation of the question of spectrum inversion and proves that such inversions, and indeed bijective scramblings of color in general, are logically possible. Symmetries in the structure of color space are, for purposes of the proof, irrelevant. The proof entails that conscious experiences are not identical with functional relations. It leaves open the empirical possibility that functional relations might, at least in part, be causally responsible for generating conscious experiences. Functionalists can propose causal accounts that meet the normal standards for scientific theories, including numerical precision and novel prediction; they cannot, however, claim that, because functional relationships and conscious experiences are identical, any attempt to construct such causal theories entails a category error.     

Compatibility effects in stopping and response initiation in a continuous tracking task

Two experiments explored stopping performance using a new stimulus-response compatibility effect spanning action initiation and stopping. Participants tracked a sometimes-moving, sometimes-stationary target by controlling the speed of a response marker via a force sensor. In the compatible condition, participants pressed the sensor in response to the target moving and stopped pressing in response to the target stopping. In the incompatible condition, participants stopped pressing in response to the target moving and initiated pressing in response to the target stopping. Response initiation and stopping were found to be faster under compatible than under incompatible conditions, regardless of whether compatible and incompatible trials were blocked or mixed. These findings indicate that stopping, like response initiation, is influenced by stimulus-response properties such as compatibility. This in turn suggests that stopping is governed by constraints similar to those of other behaviours.     

Driven to tears or to joy: response dominance and trait-based predictions

The present studies reinvigorate the construct of traitedness from a cognitive perspective. Tendencies toward habit (vs. flexibility) were assessed by examining response dominance performance within choice reaction time tasks. Consistent with the idea that response dominance reflects a tendency toward habitual modes of thought and action, three studies involving 428 undergraduates revealed that trait-outcome and test-retest correlations were higher among individuals higher in response dominance. In Studies 1 and 2, such trait-consistency effects took the form of stronger relations between extraversion and neuroticism, on one hand, and mood states and behavior, on the other. In Study 3, such tendencies took the form of higher test-retest correlations related to daily experiences of mood states, somatic symptoms, and life satisfaction. Together, the studies reveal a consistent effect of response dominance on trait-like consistency and raise some important issues for future studies of the traitedness construct.     

The thematic apperception test: toward a standard measure of the big three motives

The application of the Thematic Apperception Test to the assessment of motives has been heralded as an important milestone in personality psychology. However, although this approach is well established, there is at present no standard battery of cues for measuring the Big Three motives (achievement, affiliation, power). Furthermore, the extent to which scoring subcategories contribute to overall motive scores has been neglected. Our research with students and managers examined the effectiveness of picture cues in eliciting motive imagery and the prevalence of scoring subcategories within each motive scoring system. Results from 2 data sets comprising 547 men and women suggested that there were 3 cues that should be retained for future research and that motive scoring systems could be refined through removal of redundant subcategories. Further research is needed to systematically investigate the effectiveness of a standard battery of cues and the validity of revised motive scoring systems.     

Toward Mapping Daily Challenges of Living with ADHD: Maternal and Child Perspectives Using Electronic Diaries

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has an impact on the family as well as the affected child. This study developed and tested an electronic diary for mapping the challenges of everyday family life in a sample of children with ADHD being treated with pharmacotherapy. Across 7 days, mothers and children (27 ADHD; 25 non-ADHD) independently reported their moods, behaviors, and social contexts every 30 min during nonschool hours. Symptomatic behaviors and negative moods were elevated in the ADHD group, combined with maternal perceptions of lower parenting effectiveness and quality of life. Differences in the contexts of maternal anger were salient, with mothers in the ADHD group more often angry when with their children and comparison mothers more often angry when not. Although mothers' diaries were more informative, children's diaries also distinguished the two groups, especially during mornings and weekends. The need for family-wide interventions, the utility of child self-reports, and the promise of electronic diaries are discussed.     

Virtual reality in the treatment of spider phobia: a controlled study

This study explored whether virtual reality (VR) exposure therapy was effective in the treatment of spider phobia. We compared a treatment condition vs. a waiting list condition in a between group design with 23 participants. Participants in the VR treatment group received an average of four one-hour exposure therapy sessions. VR exposure was effective in treating spider phobia compared to a control condition as measured with a Fear of Spiders questionnaire, a Behavioural Avoidance Test (BAT), and severity ratings made by the clinician and an independent assessor. Eighty-three percent of patients in the VR treatment group showed clinically significant improvement compared with 0% in the waiting list group, and no patients dropped out. This study shows that VR exposure can be effective in the treatment of phobias.     

Predicting handwriting performance of early elementary students with the developmental test of visual-motor integration

The purpose of this study was to examine use of the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration in predicting handwriting performance of early elementary students and the contribution of sex. An additional purpose was to examine whether successful completion of the first nine figures or the oblique cross from the test predicted handwriting. 101 children were tested at the beginning of their kindergarten year and again in the middle of the first-grade year on the Scale of Children's Readiness In PrinTing (SCRIPT). The VMI kindergarten scores did not significantly predict first-grade SCRIPT scores for the sample as a whole. When boys and girls were considered separately. VMI scores predicted handwriting SCRIPT scores for girls, but accounted for only 10% of the variance. Successful performance on the first nine VMI figures was significantly associated with handwriting for girls but not boys, while the oblique cross did not significantly predict handwriting performance. These results do not provide clear support for administration of the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration during kindergarten as a tool to identify children at risk for handwriting difficulties.     

A multiple case study of rape victim advocates' self-care routines: the influence of organizational context

This study assumes that rape victim advocates who provide community outreach services to victimized women must adjust to a heightened awareness of sexual violence to do their jobs. Using qualitative methodology, this multiple case study explored rape victim advocates' strategies for incorporating repeated exposure to sexual assault into their daily lives as well as ways that organizations can support such endeavors. Findings suggest that advocates' self-care routines draw upon various personal resources (i.e., cognitive, physical, social, spiritual, verbal), and serve 2 roles for coping with rape-related pain: (a) cathartic releasing of traumatic material, and (b) improving capacity to integrate the traumatic material into one's life. Additionally, over 20 organizational characteristics that workers perceive to be supportive (e.g., weekly meetings, flexible hours) were identified. Nonparametric and categorical statistical analyses were used to analyze the relationship between organizational support and self-care routines, finding that advocates working in organizations with higher levels of support utilize more strategies that are integrative in nature. Implications of these findings are discussed.