The relation of multiserial eta to other measures of correlation

Ordinary product-moment correlation and regression methods are frequently not immediately applicable to qualitative data, whereas multiserialr, point-multiserialr, and multiserial eta can be easily applied. The multiserialr is rejected for prediction since it tells us only what the correlationmight be if certain assumptionswere true and if wecould measure what isnot now measured. The point-multiserialr and multiserial eta are identical when the number of categories is two but differ when it is three or greater. The multiserial eta is identical with the product-momentr when categories are assigned scale values equal to their means on the continuous variable. With three or more categories, the point-multiserialr, whichassumes linearity withequal step intervals, is always lower than the multiserial eta, whichforces linearity by adoption ofunequal step intervals based upon difference in criterion attainment. While the multiserial eta expends one degree of freedom with the weighting of each category, this is known and correctable, whereas the vague partial loss of degrees of freedom due to the ordering of categories in the point-multiserial is not correctable.Personnel Research Section, A.G.O.     

Social position and competition in laboratory rats.

Two experiments with rats as subjects are described, which control for social position, i.e., relative dominance/submission, in an appetitive social learning-performance setting. The results indicate that animals that perform quite effectively when alone exhibit significantly reduced levels of responding when placed into a social environment. The severity of the response decrement is, at least in part, a function of the relative social position of the subjects involved. A dominant male made few responses when paired with another dominant male. Yet, a dominant subject made even fewer responses when paired with a submissive subject, which bar pressed at approximately half the individual level. These findings are interpreted as suggesting that social position, with its accompanying characteristic form of aggression, is an important determinant of performance in a social learning environment.     

Processing of repeated letters in search and matching tasks

Several published experiments have used a variant of the matching or “same”-“different” paradigm in which the subject indicates whether or not all of the items in a visual array are the same. Contrary to the results of most paradigms in which subjects process multiple items, reaction time (RT) in this matching task is independent of the number of items in the display (N). One possible explanation of this independence holds that subjects respond to some overall property of the display, such as its general symmetry, and not to the individual items. I tested this hypothesis with a visual search task in which subjects searched a circular display of N=2, 4, or 6 letters for a specified target letter under three stimulus conditions. In the varied condition, the nontarget letters were all different from each other. In the repeated condition, the nontargets were repetitions of the same letter, but a single discrepant letter was always present in the display. The uniform condition also used repeated nontargets, but the negative (target-absent) displays contained N repetitions of a single nontarget item. I found that RT increased at a rate of 27 msec/item for the varied condition, but at only 13 and 8 msec/item in the repeated and uniform conditions, respectively. The slopes in the latter conditions were significantly lower than the slope for the varied condition, and they also differed significantly from each other. Hence, there was some advantage attributable to properties of the overall patterns associated with positive and negative responses, suggesting that at least some responses were based on these properties. There was a much larger advantage, however, attributable to the use of repeated nontargets, regardless of whether the overall patterns differed. This latter observation implies that the flat RT functions observed in matching studies must be interpreted primarily in terms of responses to individual items rather than to the pattern as a whole.     

Mosque-Based Emotional Support Among Young Muslim Americans

Despite a growing literature on social support networks in religious settings (i.e., church-based social support), little is known about mosque-based support among Muslims. This study investigates the demographic and religious behavior correlates of mosque-based social support among a multi-racial and ethnic sample of 231 young Muslims from southeast Michigan. Several dimensions of mosque-based support are examined including receiving emotional support, giving emotional support, anticipated emotional support and negative interactions with members of one’s mosque. Results indicated that women both received and anticipated receiving greater support than did men. Higher educational attainment was associated with receiving and giving less support compared to those with the lowest level of educational attainment. Moreover, highly educated members reported fewer negative interactions than less educated members. Mosque attendance and level of congregational involvement positively predicted receiving, giving, and anticipated emotional support from congregants, but was unrelated to negative interactions. Overall, the study results converge with previously established correlates of church-based emotional support.     

Epidemiology of Insomnia in College Students: Relationship With Mental Health,Quality of Life,and Substance Use Difficulties

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and correlates of insomnia using rigorous diagnostic criteria and a comprehensive assessment battery. In a large sample (N = 1,074) of college students (mean age 20.39 years), participants were asked to complete a week-long sleep diary and comprehensive questionnaire packet assessing recommended daytime functioning domains (i.e., fatigue, quality of life, depression, anxiety, stress, academic performance, substance use) during the academic year. A significant portion of this sample of college students met proposed DSM-5 criteria for chronic insomnia (9.5%). The chronic insomnia group reported significantly worse sleep, fatigue, depression, anxiety, stress, and quality of life, and greater hypnotic and stimulant use for sleep problems. There were no differences between groups on excessive daytime sleepiness, academic performance, or substance use. This was a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of the prevalence and psychosocial correlates of insomnia. Insomnia is a significant problem in college students and should be regularly assessed. More research is also needed to guide treatment in this population.     

The influence of partial-match cues on event-based prospective memory

In event-based prospective memory tasks people form an intention to respond when an environmental cue signals that conditions are appropriate to fulfil an intended activity. In the ongoing activity the authors embedded partial-match cues that only partially, but not completely, satisfied the conditions required to make a prospective response. The consequence of encountering these partial-match cues was to increase responses to appropriate prospective memory cues encountered later. This outcome occurred both with semantic and orthographic cues, but only the former led to longer processing latencies of the partial-match cues. This asymmetry suggests that partial-match cues may not need to be processed consciously in order to benefit event-based prospective memory. A parametric manipulation of the number of partial-match cues resulted in numerically but not statistically better prospective memory. Consequently, partial-match cues may function as overt reminders of the intention to respond or they may serve to engage participants in self-initiated remindings of the intention.     

Chosen striking location and the user-tool-environment system

Controlling a hand-held tool requires that the tool user bring the tool into contact with an environmental surface in a task-appropriate manner. This, in turn, requires applying muscular forces so as to overcome how the object resists being moved about its various axes. Perceived properties of hand-held objects tend to be constrained by inertial variables that describe such resistance to movement. In 3 experiments, the authors investigated whether participants choose different striking locations on striking implements when using that implement under different constraints. The results suggest that the constraints of the striking task and the grasp position on the striking implement together contribute to the chosen striking location. Furthermore, such choices are constrained by inertial variables that reflect combinations of these constraints.     

Cognitive behavioural and neuropsychiatric treatment of post-traumatic conversion disorder: a case study

Conversion disorder consists of involuntary sensory or motor symptoms and deficits that cannot be explained by a general medical condition. There are several treatment options, although none has emerged as the treatment of choice. The present case study examined the effects of adding cognitive behaviour therapy to neuropsychiatric management of conversion disorder (motor subtype). The patient, a retired emergency services worker, presented with a history of intermittent episodes of speech disruption (inability to speak or difficulty speaking properly). Although episodes of speech disturbance sometimes occurred unexpectedly, they were more likely to occur under conditions of stress and fatigue, and were triggered by reminders of work-related traumatic events. The patient was treated with pharmacotherapy and psychoeducation from a neuropsychiatrist. With the aim of improving treatment outcome, cognitive behaviour therapy was added, involving imaginal exposure to trauma memories, along with cognitive restructuring. The frequency of between- and within-session speech disturbance episodes declined over the course of cognitive behaviour therapy to the point that the patient was essentially symptom-free. Within-session distress ratings also decreased, which suggested habituation to trauma-related memories. This case study demonstrates how particular cognitive behaviour therapy interventions can be usefully applied to one form of conversion disorder.