Recognition hypermnesia: how to get it

Although recall hypermnesia (enhanced recall) over time with repeated testing has by now become an established empirical fact, its recognition counterpart, recognition hypermnesia, has defied clear-cut laboratory confirmation. In four studies, which relied on the retrieval component of recognition memory, it was shown that recognition memory, indexed by d', reliably improved over three successive recognition tests. The stimuli consisted of 140 cartoons, each comprising a picture and a verbal caption. Recognition memory was tested on transforms or part-forms (parts) of the original stimulus material (pictures only, verbal paraphrases of the pictures, the latent content of the cartoons, or the combination of paraphrases and latent contents). The strongest effects were obtained when the originally presented cartoons were tested on their latent (deep semantic) contents. Recognition hypermnesia for part-forms or transforms of earlier presented stimuli has potentially wide-ranging implications since real-world recognition--of faces, texts, visual scenes--usually involves recognising stimuli that are variants, not exact copies, of the originally encountered materials.     

The Impact of Sexual Victimization on Personality: A Longitudinal Study of Gendered Attributes

Little is known about how sexual victimization may affect a woman’s self-reported personality ratings. In the present study endorsement ratings of gendered attributes, as measured by the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire, were examined over a 3-year span using multiple group latent growth modeling. Differences in the endorsement of gendered attributes between college female non-victims (N?=?158) and victims (N?=?158) of sexual aggression were tested. Whereas endorsement of communal and positive agentic attributes were stable across time, victims remained consistently less traditionally feminine (i.e., positively communal and nurturing) than non-victims. Victims also appeared to become relatively more self-focused (i.e., negative masculinity) across time than non-victims. This pattern suggests that sexual victimization may have lasting effects on victims’ ability to focus on the nurturing, trusting aspects of relationships; rather they have a preoccupation with their own needs and goals that appears to strengthen with time. Such a pattern sheds insight into how self-processes may contribute to the relationship difficulties often observed in sexual assault victims. Implications of these results for both personality and sexual aggression researchers are discussed.     

The Relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences to PTSD,Depression, Poly-Drug Use and Suicide Attempt in Reservation-Based Native American Adolescents and Young Adults

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with numerous risk behaviors and mental health outcomes among youth. This study examines the relationship between the number of types of exposures to ACEs and risk behaviors and mental health outcomes among reservation‐based Native Americans. In 2011, data were collected from Native American (N = 288; 15–24 years of age) tribal members from a remote plains reservation using an anonymous web‐based questionnaire. We analyzed the relationship between six ACEs, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect, witness to intimate partner violence, for those <18 years, and included historical loss associated symptoms, and perceived discrimination for those <19 years; and four risk behavior/mental health outcomes: post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depression symptoms, poly‐drug use, and suicide attempt. Seventy‐eight percent of the sample reported at least one ACE and 40 % reported at least two. The cumulative impact of the ACEs were significant (p < .001) for the four outcomes with each additional ACE increasing the odds of suicide attempt (37 %), poly‐drug use (51 %), PTSD symptoms (55 %), and depression symptoms (57 %). To address these findings culturally appropriate childhood and adolescent interventions for reservation‐based populations must be developed, tested and evaluated longitudinally.     

The effects of behavioral activation therapy with inpatient geriatric psychiatry patients

This study examined the effects of Behavioral Activation (BA) treatment on depressive symptoms and quality of life among older adult patients in a geriatric psychiatry facility. There were 50 participants with mild to moderate cognitive impairment, each being 65 years of age or older. A 2 (between) × 3 (time of measurement) design was used in this study comparing control (treatment-as-usual) and experimental (BA) conditions at pre-, mid-, and posttreatment. BA consisted of eight 30- to 60-minute sessions across 4 weeks. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated a significant Group × Time interaction on depressive symptoms, with this effect remaining when only completer data were included. Further analyses indicated that this effect was due to significant change early in treatment in both the full and completer samples. There was no evidence of a significant effect on the quality-of-life measure. Cognitive status was not related to change in depressive symptoms, suggesting that BA may be useful across a range of older adults.     

A Study of Black and White College Women

In an examination of career aspirations, 101 black and 530 white college women were asked to indicate their occupational and educational plans, important considerations for career choices, and their attitudes toward combining the roles of career and family. Results indicated that women who planned careers in male-dominated occupations had higher career and educational aspirations than women who desired careers in femaledominated occupations. Black women who planned careers in male-dominated professions showed high levels of aspirations, planned more education than was necessary for the desired occupations, and perceived less conflict in combining the roles of career and family than their white counterparts. There were few differences between black and white women in their attitudes toward the traditional roles of men and women. Those choosing female-dominated careers, however, had more traditional attitudes regardless of race. Implications of these findings for the influence of occupational gender dominance on career aspirations are discussed.     

Basic Language Skills and Young Children's Understanding of Causal Connections During Storytelling

The current study examined the role of basic language skills for individual differences in preschoolers’ understanding of causal connections. Assessments of basic language skills, expressive vocabulary, phonological processing, and receptive language comprehension were examined in relation to the production of causal connections in a storytelling task, at two time periods. Similar to previous cross-sectional research, children's causal connections increased over six months. As hypothesized, expressive vocabulary and phonological processing predicted causal connections at Time 1. Six months later, only phonological processing predicted causal connections. Results provide new information regarding the significance of basic language skills for early narrative skills.