Examining the construct validity of the Eating Disorder Inventory

The construct validity of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI) was examined in 3 samples. An archival clinic sample (n = 318) of women completed the EDI, a structured interview, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) indicated that neither null nor 1-factor models of the EDI fit item-level or item-parcel data. The proposed 8-factor model did not fit at the item level but did fit item-parcel data. Reliability estimates of the 8 scales ranged from .82 to .93, and low-to-moderate interscale correlations among the eating and weight-related scales provided partial support for convergent validity. EDI personality scales showed moderate interscale correlations and were associated with MCMI-II scales. A final CFA of the EDI scales supported a 2-factor model (Eating and Weight, Personality) of the 8 EDI scales. Strong associations between depression and several EDI scale scores were found in a treatment study sample (n = 50). The archival clinic sample scored significantly higher on the 8 EDI scales than the nonpatient college comparison sample (n = 487).     

Perceptual organization influences visual working memory

Previous studies have demonstrated that top-down factors can bias the storage of information in visual working memory. However, relatively little is known about the role that bottom-up stimulus characteristics play in visual working memory storage. In the present study, subjects performed a change detection task in which the to-be-remembered objects were organized in accordance with Gestalt grouping principles. When an attention-capturing cue was presented at the location of one object, other objects that were perceptually grouped with the cued object were more likely to be stored in working memory than were objects that were not grouped with the cued object. Thus, objects that are grouped together tend to be stored together, indicating that bottom-up perceptual organization influences the storage of information in visual working memory.     

Emerging therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease: an avenue of hope

Emerging therapies for Alzheimer's disease offer hope to patients and their caregivers. Future treatments will probably include combination approaches with agents that modify amyloid processing, deposition, and clearance. One example, the AD vaccine, reduced amyloid burden and changed behavior in animal models of AD, but the human trial was halted when several subjects developed brain inflammation. Anti-inflammatory agents have epidemiologic support, but clinical trials have been disappointing, possibly related to inadequate study with anti-inflammatory agents that modify amyloid processing. Agents that target known cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance, have epidemiologic, preclinical, and clinical evidence to warrant further investigation. Heavy metal chelators, antioxidants, neurotrophic factors, glutaminergic modulators, and agents that modify hyperphosphorylation of Tau are other approaches in research and development.     

Boredom proneness and sleep disorders as predictors of adult attention deficit scores

This study examined the extent to which boredom proneness and sleep disturbances were related to attention deficit scores in college-aged adults. In a sample of 148 college students, Attention scores on the Adult Behavior Checklist were best predicted by Boredom Proneness (BP) subscale scores, which assess one's inability to maintain internal stimulation and feelings of constraint, and scores on the Epworth Daytime Sleepiness Scale and Athens Insomnia Scale (R2 = .57). Hyperactivity scores were best predicted by the BP subscales, which assess one's need for a stimulating environment, the perception of time passing slowly, and feelings of constraint, and the Epworth Scale (R2 = .51). The findings contribute to the understanding of the symptomatology of attention deficit in adults and provide further evidence of the validity of this measure.     

Children Exposed to Community Violence: The Rationale for Early Intervention

Children are exposed to violence in their homes and communities at extraordinarily high rates. Given the alarming rates of exposure and its known impact on child developmental outcomes, crisis intervention geared at interrupting the negative effects of violence exposure are increasingly important. This review provides a rationale for the implementation of early and crisis intervention strategies for children exposed to community violence and recommends principles for applying these interventions. These principles are based on the body of research concerning risk and protective factors for children who have been exposed to violence. Relevant factors are reviewed and recommended principles are explicated that correlate to these factors. Issues concerning developmentally informed crisis intervention, support of parental executive functioning, and the need for active community partnership to help ameliorate risk factors are highlighted.     

Individual differences in the responses of naïve rhesus monkeys to snakes

The authors demonstrated individual differences in inhibited behavior and withdrawal responses of laboratory-born rhesus monkeys when initially exposed to a snake. Most monkeys displayed a small significant increase in their behavioral inhibition in the presence of a snake. A few monkeys had marked responses, and some actively withdrew. Although the responses of the most extreme laboratory-born monkeys were comparable to feral-born monkeys, the responses of the laboratory-born monkeys rapidly habituated. The individual differences in the responses of na?ve monkeys likely reflect a continuum from orienting to wariness to fear. A neurobiological model is presented that addresses potential mechanisms underlying these individual differences, their relation to fear, and how they may predispose to phobia development.     

Efficacy of telephone-administered cognitive behaviour therapy for obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders: case studies

Cognitive behaviour therapy is effective for obsessive-compulsive disorder and for obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders such as trichotillomania. Unfortunately, many people with these disorders, especially those living in rural areas, have limited access to treatment. Telephone-administered cognitive behaviour therapy may help address this problem. In a recent study of telephone treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder, we found that such treatment was often effective (42% in remission at post-treatment, and 47% in remission at 12-week follow-up). This article presents 2 case reports of the same treatment, applied to obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders (trichotillomania and compulsive skin picking). Treatment was associated with symptom reduction for both participants, although one subsequently relapsed. Possible reasons for relapse are discussed. The findings encourage further studies to identify the characteristics of people most likely to benefit from telephone treatment for spectrum disorders.     

Visual perspective taking for avatars in a Simon task

In modern digital applications, users often interact with virtual representations of themselves or others, called avatars. We examined how these avatars and their perspectives influence stimulus–response compatibility in a Simon task. Participants responded to light/dark blue stimuli with left/right key presses in the presence of a task-irrelevant avatar. Changes in stimulus–response compatibility were used to quantify changes in the mental representation of the task and perspective taking toward this avatar. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that perspective taking for an avatar occurred in orthogonal stimulus–response mappings, causing a compatibility effect from the avatar’s point of view. In the following two experiments we introduced a larger variety of angular disparities between the participant and avatar. In Experiment 3, the Simon effect with lateralized stimulus positions remained largely unaffected by the avatar, pointing toward an absence of perspective taking. In Experiment 4, after avatar hand movements were added in order to strengthen the participants’ sense of agency over the avatar, a spatial compatibility effect from the avatar’s perspective was observed again, and hints of the selective use of perspective taking on a trial-by-trial basis were found. Overall, the results indicate that users can incorporate the perspective of an avatar into their mental representation of a situation, even when this perspective is unnecessary to complete a task, but that certain contextual requirements have to be met.