Moderator effects of cognitive ability and social support on the relation between race-related stress and quality of life in a community sample of black Americans

The current study examined the combined moderating effects of cognitive ability and social support on the relation between race-related stress and quality of life in a sample of Black Americans. Participants (N = 323) were administered the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT; E. F. Wonderlic Associates, Inc., 1983), the Multidimensional Social Support Scale (MDSS; Winefield, Winefield, & Tiggemann, 1992), the Index of Race-Related Stress-Brief (Utsey, 1999), and the WHOQOL-BREF (The WHO Group, 1998). The findings indicated that cognitive ability and social support, conjointly, moderated the relation between individual and cultural race-related stress and quality of life for Black Americans in the current sample. The paper concludes by discussing the study's findings, limitations, and by offering recommendations for future research related to this area of inquiry.     

Impact of personality disorders on treatment outcome for female assault survivors with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder

This study examined the impact of comorbid personality disorders on the outcome of cognitive behavioral treatment for women with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Seventy-five adult women with PTSD resulting from rape or nonsexual assault in adulthood or sexual abuse in childhood were treated with prolonged exposure with or without cognitive restructuring. Assessment of personality disorders found that 39% of participants met DSM-IV criteria for some personality disorder diagnosis. No difference was found between women with and without personality disorders on the prevalence of PTSD at the end of treatment. Participants with a personality disorder were less likely to attain good end-state functioning, but this may be attributable to the fact that they started off slightly worse than those without personality disorders. Finally, the comorbid patients treated by community therapists fared as well or better than those treated by cognitive behavioral treatment experts in posttreatment prevalence of PTSD and end-state functioning.     

Procedural learning in perceptual categorization

In two experiments, observers learned two types of category structures: those in which perfect accuracy could be achieved via some explicit rule-based strategy and those in which perfect accuracy required integrating information from separate perceptual dimensions at some predecisional stage. At the end of training, some observers were required to switch their hands on the response keys, whereas the assignment of categories to response keys was switched for other observers. With the rule-based category structures, neither change in response instructions interfered with categorization accuracy. However, with the information-integration structures, switching response key assignments interfered with categorization performance, but switching hands did not. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that abstract category labels are learned in rule-based categorization, whereas response positions are learned in information-integration categorization. The association to response positions also supports the hypothesis of a procedural-learning-based component to information integration categorization.     

Figure Preferences in Two Generations of Men: The Use of Figure Drawings Illustrating Differences in Muscle Mass

Using a new set of male figure drawings which(unlike the Stunkard, Sorensen, & Schulsinger, 1983figures) illustrate differing degrees of muscle massrather than body fat, college men and adult men selected their current figure, ideal figure,figure they thought most attractive to women and figurethat they thought would be the ideal for other men.Adult men's choices indicated satisfaction with their current bodies, but college men's selectionsindicated a desire to be larger (partly because theybelieve that a much larger body is what everybody {menand women} finds most attractive). The male body college women find most attractive is largerthan what college men indicate they currently have butsmaller than what the college men want to look like.Adult women chose an ideal male figure which is the same as that which the adult men indicate theyhave. Thus, selections using the new figure drawingsshow a desire for more muscle mass in college men andsatisfaction in adult men, while selections using the Stunkard et al. (1983) figuredrawings indicated satisfaction in college men and adesire for less body fat in the adult men (Rozin &Fallon, 1988). Both sets of figures provide valuableinformation.     

Effect of isotocin on shoaling behaviour of the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

Animal Cognition - Pro-social effects of oxytocin and its homologues are well-documented in birds and mammals. However, in fishes, the effect of isotocin, the homologue of oxytocin, on social...     

Further investigation of increasing vocalizations of children with autism with a speech-generating device

We replicated and extended the findings of Gervarter et al. (2016) by using prompting and reinforcement to produce increased vocal speech with 3 young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who used a speech generating device (SGD). We extended Gervarter et al. by adopting a more robust experimental design, conducting session-by-session preference assessments, and measuring the emergence of novel vocalizations. The frequency of vocalizations increased for all 3 participants after the introduction of an echoic prompt. These results suggest that SGD-based interventions may lead to increased vocal output for children with ASD.     

The efficacy of noncontingent escape for decreasing children's disruptive behavior during restorative dental treatment

We evaluated the effectiveness of a dentist-implemented behavioral intervention in which brief escape from dental treatment was provided on a regular basis, independent of the child's behavior. Within a multiple baseline design across subjects, 5 children, ages 4 to 7 years, were provided with temporary escape from dental treatment on a fixed-time schedule. The intervals were signaled by an electronic timer worn by the dentist. Clinically significant reductions were observed in physically disruptive behavior across all 5 children with the introduction of noncontingent escape, and verbally disruptive behavior was markedly reduced in 4 of the 5 children. In addition, the dental staff s use of physical restraint was reduced to near zero across all 5 children. The research extends the literature in both clinical dentistry and in applied behavior analysis by demonstrating that a dentist can easily and effectively implement noncontingent reinforcement to produce clinically significant and socially important changes in children's health behavior.     

A confirmatory test of the underlying factor structure of scores on the collective self-esteem scale in two independent samples of Black Americans

In this study, we examined the factor structure of the Collective Self-Esteem Scale (CSES; Luhtanen & Crocker, 1992) across 2 separate samples of Black Americans. The CSES was administered to a sample of Black American adolescents (n = 538) and a community sample of Black American adults (n = 313). Results of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs), however, did not support the original 4-factor model identified by Luhtanen and Crocker (1992) as providing an adequate fit to the data for these samples. Furthermore, an exploratory CFA procedure failed to find a CSES factor structure that could be replicated across the 2 samples of Black Americans. We present and discuss implications of the findings.     

The effects of category overlap on information-integration and rule-based category learning

In three experiments, we investigated whether the amount of category overlap constrains the decision strategies used in category learning, and whether such constraints depend on the type of category structures used. Experiments 1 and 2 used a category-learning task requiring perceptual integration of information from multiple dimensions (an information-integration task) and Experiment 3 used a task requiring the application of an explicit strategy (a rule-based task). In the information-integration task, participants used perceptual-integration strategies at moderate levels of category overlap, but explicit strategies at extreme levels of overlap--even when such strategies were suboptimal. In contrast, in the rule-based task, participants used explicit strategies, regardless of the level of category overlap. These data are consistent with a multiple systems view of category learning, and suggest that categorization strategy depends on the type of task that is used, and on the degree to which each stimulus is probabilistically associated with the contrasting categories.     

Do Internet‐Based Support Interventions Change Perceptions of Social Support?: An Experimental Trial of Approaches for Supporting Diabetes Self‐Management

Internet-based support groups are a rapidly growing segment of mutual aid programs for individuals with chronic illnesses and other challenges. Previous studies have informed us about the content of online exchanges between support group members, but we know little about the ability of these interventions to change participants' perceptions of support. A randomized trial of 160 adult Type 2 diabetes patients provided novice Internet users with computers and Internet access to 1 of 4 conditions: (a) diabetes information only, (b) a personal self-management coach, (c) a social support intervention, or (d) a personal self-management coach and the support intervention. After 3 months, individuals in the 2 support conditions reported significant increases in support on a diabetes-specific support measure and a general support scale. Participants' age was significantly related to change in social support, but intervention effects were still significant after accounting for this relationship. This report is a critical first step in evaluating the long-term effects of Internet-based support for diabetes self-management. The discussion identifies directions for future research.