Visual signal detection and the locus of foreperiod effects

The effect of alertness on S's sensitivity to external signals was determined by varying the foreperiod in a visual signal detection task. Discriminability increased with increasing foreperiods up to an optimal foreperiod, beyond which it decreased slightly. This pattern of results parallels closely that of many foreperiod studies in which reaction time was the dependent variable. Because no speeded response was required in this signal detection task, it was concluded that alertness must be affecting an information processing stage prior to those associated with responding. Other evidence indicates that alertness does not affect sensory stages either. Alertness, by elimination, must be affecting the operation of a central stage, Posner's view of alertness which implicates the central stages is discussed.     

Parenting Behaviors of Mothers and Fathers of Preschool Age Children with Internalizing Disorders

This study investigated parenting behaviors of mothers and fathers of clinically anxious preschool children (with or without depressive comorbidity) and healthy comparison children. Studies assessing children from early school age onwards have found that parental control, rejection, and inconsistent discipline are associated with the presence of children’s internalizing symptoms/disorders. Despite the scarcity of studies investigating these associations at preschool age, we assumed that findings with older children would also apply to children in this age group. In a cross-sectional study we assessed N = 176 children of preschool age (M = 5; 2 years) and both of their parents. A diagnostic interview (Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment) was conducted to determine children’s psychiatric diagnoses, yielding the following results: a group of n = 67 children with pure anxiety disorders (AD group), a group of n = 38 children with anxiety disorders with depressive comorbidity (AD/DC group), and a comparison group of n = 71 children without psychiatric disorders. Both parents completed the German extended version of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. We evaluated maternal depressive symptoms and children’s temperament as further correlates. All variables that differed significantly between groups were entered into multinomial logistic regression analyses to test which variables predict group membership. When comparing each of the two anxiety groups with the comparison group we obtained the following results: (1) Inconsistent paternal discipline and maternal depressive symptoms increased and children’s positive affectivity decreased the probability of children of being in the AD group rather than in the comparison group. (2) Maternal overinvolvement, maternal depressive symptoms and children’s negative affectivity increased and children’s positive affectivity decreased the probability of children of belonging to the AD/DC group rather than to the comparison group. When comparing the two anxiety groups with each other, we found that inconsistent paternal discipline increased and children’s negative affectivity decreased the probability of children of being in the AD group rather than in the AD/DC group. The results suggest that paternal parenting behaviors show different associations with internalizing disorders at preschool age than maternal parenting behaviors. This underlines the importance of including fathers in the prevention and treatment of internalizing disorders at preschool age.     

Profiles of commitment in standard and fixed-term employment arrangements: Implications for work outcomes

This paper develops and tests a framework for understanding the relative importance and predictive efficacy of commitment to one’s profession, organization, supervisor and job in both standard and fixed-term employment arrangements. Drawing from the commitment and employment arrangement literatures, we test a set of hypotheses identifying distinct patterns of commitments (i.e., commitment profiles) to these four targets that should yield desired work-related outcomes in standard and fixed-term employment arrangements. We test our hypotheses using latent profile analysis on data collected from two Finnish universities (N1 = 235, N2 = 233). A high macro profile, characterized by high commitment to profession, organization and job, and moderate commitment to supervisor, emerged for employees in standard employment relationships, and this profile was associated with significantly higher positive work behaviours and work effort and lower turnover intentions than the other profiles. For employees with fixed-term employment contracts, a high cosmopolitan profile emerged, characterized by high commitment to the profession and job and low commitment to the organization and supervisor. For these employees, this profile was associated with positive work behaviours and work effort comparable to the high macro profile. Implications for theory, research and practice are discussed.     

The development of and interaction among alerting,orienting, and executive attention in children

A sex-balanced sample (N = 96) of children from age 6.5 to age 12.5 completed a modified Attention Network Test. Across these ages, we found evidence for developmental changes to alerting and executive control but stable orienting. Additionally, we found that the youngest members of our sample manifested an interaction between alerting and executive control that is opposite to that typically found in adults; a reversal that diminishes with age to achieve the adult pattern by the older end of the age range of our sample.     

The Role of Conviction in Personal Disease Risk Perceptions: What Can We Learn From Research on Attitude Strength?

Perceived risk for disease is included as a predictor of intentions and behavior in many health behavior theories. However, perceived risk is not always a strong predictor of intentions and behaviors. One reason may be suboptimal conceptualization and measurement of risk perceptions; in particular, research may not capture the conviction and certainty with which a risk perception is held. The rich and independent literature on attitudes might be leveraged to explore whether conviction is an important moderator of the effects of risk perceptions on intentions and behavior. Attitudes are more predictive of intentions when they are high in multiple aspects of attitude strength, including attitude certainty and being more accessible and stable over time. Working from the assumption that risk perceptions have a similar structure and function to attitudes, we consider whether factors known to strengthen the attitude–behavior correspondence might also strengthen the risk perception–behavior correspondence. Although by strict definition risk perceptions are not evaluations (a critical component of attitudes), the predictive validity of risk perceptions may be increased by attention to one's “conviction” or certainty of perceived risk. We also review recent strategies designed to improve risk perception measurement, including affective and experiential assessments of perceived risk and the importance of allowing people to indicate that they “don't know” their disease risk. The aim of this paper is to connect two disparate literatures – attitudes and persuasion in social psychology with risk perceptions in health psychology and decision science – in an attempt to stimulate more work on characteristics and proper measurement of risk perceptions.     

Verbal memory deficits in children with less than 750 g birth weight.

Numerous studies have documented memory deficits in very low birthweight (VLBW, < 1500 g) children, yet we know little about the nature of these memory problems. To clarify memory sequelae and examine memory deficits in relation to the degree of low birth weight, we administered the California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version (CVLT-C) to a regional sample of 57 < 750 g birthweight children and to groups of 53 750-1499 g birthweight children and 49 term-born controls. Group comparisons revealed significant differences between the < 750 g birthweight group and term-born children on measures of list learning, delayed recall, and inaccurate recall. In addition, the percentage improvement in correct recognitions relative to long-term delayed recall was greater in the < 750 g group than in the term-born controls. Similar differences were observed between VLBW children with and without abnormal neonatal cerebral ultrasounds (high- and low-risk groups). Differences in learning rate between the VLBW and term-born groups, and between high- and low-risk VLBW children, were evident even when vocabulary skill was covaried or when children with neurosensory deficits or IQ < 80 were excluded from analysis. The findings document deficits in verbal memory in the subset of VLBW children at greatest biological risk, and suggest that acquisition processes are selectively impaired.     

The role of expectation and memory‐retrieval techniques in the construction of beliefs about past events

This study assessed social factors affecting the elicitation of false reports for events occurring the day after birth. High, medium and low hypnotizable participants (N=170) were randomly assigned to hypnotic, guided imagery (non‐hypnotic), expectancy or control conditions. Participants were led to believe that they had experienced a specific event on the day after birth. Hypnotic and guided imagery participants were age regressed, while participants in the expectancy condition were provided with cues suggesting access to this memory was feasible. Relative to controls, these participants recalled higher levels of day‐after‐birth reports, although age‐regressed participants reported significantly more event specific details than expectancy participants. Furthermore, high and medium hypnotizables were more likely than low hypnotizables to recall events occurring the day after birth. Implications of this study within the therapeutic setting are discussed. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The response to domestic violence in a model court: some initial findings and implications

This study utilized a non-experimental design to obtain information on a full range of domestic violence incidents brought before the Quincy, Massachusetts District Court, a model court. One limitation of previous research on spouse assaults using more sophisticated designs is that the target population has been restricted to specific subgroups of cases thereby limiting subsequent discussions of policy/practice implications of the findings vis-a-vis all spouse assault cases. To address this research “shortfall”, we obtained permission from the Quincy District Court to examine all the spouse assault cases brought before the court during a 7-month period (June, 1995, through February, 1996). The findings show that in a full enforcement environment, victims took out restraining orders only against the most violent, criminally abusive men. Most men who were arrested for domestic violence had prior criminal histories for a variety of offenses. Domestic violence offenders appeared to be of two types: those with extensive and diverse criminal histories and those with little or no such involvement. However, active criminal justice intervention against domestic violence offenders appears to be primarily directed toward offenders already active in the criminal justice system. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gratitude,Rights, and Moral Standouts

Many maintain that if a beneficiary has a right to a benefit provided by his benefactor, then the former cannot owe the latter gratitude for that benefit. In this paper I argue against that view. I provide examples in which benefactors provide others with benefits to which they have a right even though most others are denying them that right. These benefactors are moral standouts; they do what is right when most similarly situated agents fail to do so. I then spell out some of the features of these benefactors’ actions that make them worthy of gratitude.