Vitamin D and executive function: a preliminary report

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between vitamin D levels and cognition, both executive and nonexecutive functions, in men incarcerated in a Norwegian prison. Participants were divided into high vitamin D and low vitamin D groups based on established criteria (high level > or = 50 nmol/L; low level < 50 nmol/L). The mean vitamin D concentration was 69 (SD = 12) and 38 (SD = 9) nmol/L in the high-level group (n = 14) and the low level group (n = 11), respectively. Results revealed that the high vitamin D group had significantly more correct responses than the low vitamin D group on the executive function task. There was no difference between the groups on the nonexecutive function task. The reaction time data indicated that the high levels of correct responses in the high vitamin D group on the executive function tasks were not due to a speed-accuracy trade-off.     

The language of social pretend play

The literature dealing with the structure and communication of social pretend play activity in preschool-age children is examined. The two objectives of this review were to determine (1) whether there are any differences in the linguistic forms and expressions children use in pretend as opposed to nonpretend activity and (2) whether age-related differences appear in the language of social pretending over the preschool years. The results of a cross-sectional study of a number of linguistic features occurring in the pretend and nonpretend activities of 35 dyads of children are also presented. The evidence supports the hypotheses that the language of social pretending differs from that of other social activities at several levels of language organization and that some of these differences in the “language of social pretending” appear at different ages during the preschool years. Suggestions are made for further research on the communicative techniques by which social pretend interactions are achieved.     

Energy, tiredness, and tension effects of a sugar snack versus moderate exercise

After either eating a candy bar or walking briskly for 10 min on 12 selected days, 18 volunteers made systematic self-ratings of their energy, tiredness, and tension feelings for a fixed 2-hr period each day in the context of their normal daily activities. The snacking or walking activity was randomly selected on each test day after completion of a pretest. Results indicated that walking was associated with higher self-rated energy and lower tension significantly more than was snacking. In the walk condition reliable increases in energy and decreases in tension were observed for 2 hr. The sugar snack condition was associated with significantly higher tension after 1 hr, and a pattern of initially increased energy and reduced tiredness, followed 1 hr later by increased tiredness and reduced energy. The results partially support a general conceptual hypothesis that sugar snacking is often motivated by a low-awareness attempt to raise energy. Additionally, the results clarify an apparent conflict between neurochemical research, which indicates that sugar ingestion increases the tendency to sleep, and popular nutrition theory, which indicates that it increases tension.     

Psychological distress: A hierarchical factor model of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL)

Recent investigations of the structure of psychological distress have indicated that hierarchical models can accommodate both unitary and multifaceted conceptions of distress. The present study tested the hierarchical framework suggested by Zuckerman, Lubin, and Rinck (1983) for the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL), a commonly used measure of psychological distress. One- and two-factor models were estimated using maximum-likelihood methods. Results indicated that the two-factor solution, with correlated positive and negative affect factors, provided a significantly better fit to the data than did the omnibus one-factor solution. These results provide further support for hierarchical models of distress.     

EM algorithms for ML factor analysis

The details of EM algorithms for maximum likelihood factor analysis are presented for both the exploratory and confirmatory models. The algorithm is essentially the same for both cases and involves only simple least squares regression operations; the largest matrix inversion required is for aq ×q symmetric matrix whereq is the matrix of factors. The example that is used demonstrates that the likelihood for the factor analysis model may have multiple modes that are not simply rotations of each other; such behavior should concern users of maximum likelihood factor analysis and certainly should cast doubt on the general utility of second derivatives of the log likelihood as measures of precision of estimation.     

Time urgency: the construct and its measurement

Time urgency may be an important construct in industrial and organizational psychology. Preliminary analyses have indicated that time urgency may be multidimensional, and available self-report measures have been criticized on psychometric grounds. The present research addressed the dimensionality of time urgency. Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS), in which behavioral statements are substituted for qualitative anchors, were used to construct time urgency measures. The BARS technique produced multidimensional measures of time urgency that possessed adequate reliability and construct validity. The scales were tested on a wide variety of subjects. It is concluded that time urgency is a multidimensional construct. Relationships between the time urgency measures, job satisfaction, and work stress are discussed in light of previous research findings.     

Measuring post-traumatic stress: A psychometric evaluation of symptom- and coping questionnaires based on a Norwegian sample

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the Norweigian versions of the Impact of Event Scale, the Post Traumatic Stress Scale-10 item version and General Coping Questionnaire-30 item version. A group of 40 male and 56 female medical students was tested one week and four months after having started dissection of cadavers for the first time. The results showed that all scales had good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The student sample scored lower on the IES and PTSS-10 than comparable groups of traumatized subjects. A gender difference emerged, with female subjects scoring higher than male subjects. The factor analysis of the instruments indicated good construct validity for the symptom scales. The analysis of content validity related to DSM IV criteria indicated that the IES and PTSS-10 may have some limitations in their predictive validity of PTSD. Taken together, the three scales have shown good psychometric properties and could be used in future research and clinical work.     

Interacting effects of worry and anxiety on attentional disengagement from threat

Recent work suggests that the ability to disengage attention from threatening information is impaired in people who suffer from anxiety and dysphoria. It has been suggested that this impaired ability to disengage from threat might specifically be associated with the tendency to perseverate about threat (i.e., worry), which is a main characteristic of anxiety disorders and a wide range of other psychopathologies. However, no studies have yet addressed this issue. The present study examined whether trait worry as well as worry intensity after experimental worry induction are associated with impaired ability to disengage attention from threatening cues (angry faces), independently from or in conjunction with anxiety. Sixty-one participants performed a visual cueing experiment that required detection of a target stimulus at one of two possible locations. Prior to the target neutral, happy or angry facial cues appeared at one of these two locations; when there is a relatively long period between the cue and the target (>300 ms), an overall faster responding to invalidly cued trials relative to validly cued trials is believed to indicate inhibition of return (IOR) to a recently attended location. A reduced IOR for angry faces was only found when both trait worry and anxiety were high. When anxiety was kept constant, both trait worry and state worry were associated with enhanced IOR for neutral faces instead. The results seem to suggest that specific threat-related deficiencies in IOR may be a function of the co-occurrence of worry and anxiety.