Differential Item Functioning of the Symptoms of Major Depression by Race and Ethnicity: An Item Response Theory Analysis

This study examines the psychometric properties, and particularly differential item functioning (DIF) due to racial and ethnic group, of the criteria for a major depressive episode using a large sample (N?=?1,063) of outpatients seeking treatment for mood and anxiety disorders. DIF was evaluated using multiple group confirmatory factor analysis. Item thresholds fell along a continuum with the core features of depressed mood and anhedonia, along with fatigue, being endorsed at lower levels of depression, and change in appetite and suicidal ideation endorsed at more severe levels of depression. Item discriminations, reflecting an item’s ability to discriminate between lower and higher levels of depression, were highest for depressed mood and anhedonia, and lowest for change in appetite and suicidal ideation. When examining model fit among the racial groups we did not find differences in symptom functioning, providing support for the use of these symptoms across diverse groups. This is of particular importance given the paucity of studies examining this question using a semi-structured clinician administered instrument to a clinical sample.     

Reliability of the 5-min psychomotor vigilance task in a primary school classroom setting

This study evaluated the reliability of the 5-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) in a single-sex Australian primary school. Seventy-five male students (mean age 5 11.82 years, SD = 1.12) completed two 5-min PVTs using a Palm personal digital assistant (PDA) in (1) an isolated setting and (2) a classroom setting. Of this group of students, a subsample of 37 students completed a test-retest reliability trial within the classroom setting. Using a mixed-model analysis, there was no significant difference in the mean response time (RT) or number of lapses (RTs ≥ 500 msec) between the isolated and the classroom setting. There was, however, an order effect for the number of lapses in the isolated setting, with the number of lapses being greater if the isolated test was conducted second. Test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) in the classroom setting indicated moderate to high reliability (mean RT = .84, lapses = .59). Bland-Altman analysis showed no systematic difference between the two settings. Findings suggest that the 5-min PDA PVT is a reliable measure of sustained attention in the classroom setting in this sample of primary-aged schoolchildren. The results provide further evidence for the versatility of this measuring device for larger interventions outside the laboratory.     

Global Predictions of Memory in Alzheimer’s Disease: Evidence for Preserved Metamemory Monitoring

Previous researchers have argued that there is a metamemory monitoring deficit in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) because patients tend to overestimate their recall performance on a word list. We propose that these previous results are a misleading by-product of the methodologies used, rather than evidence of an underlying metamemory deficit. In two experiments, AD patients and older adult controls made predictions of performance both before and after encoding a to-be-remembered list. Metamemory function was measured by observing the shift in predictions made with, and without, an opportunity to monitor the list. Experiment 1 found that although there were differences between the groups’ accuracy for their prestudy predictions of recall, both groups were equally accurate after encoding. Experiment 2 explored this using four lists that varied in item difficulty and semantic relatedness. This experiment replicated the findings of Experiment 1, and it was also found that the AD group became more accurate at predicting their performance with more exposure to study-test trials. These studies suggest that metamemory monitoring is intact in AD, because AD patients utilize information gained during processing the to-be-remembered items to revise their predictions of subsequent performance.     

Russell T. McCutcheon's manufacturing religion

Jeremy Carrette. Religion and Culture by Michel Foucault (selected and edited by Jeremy Carrette). Manchester University Press. 1999.

Jeremy Carrette. Foucault and Religion: Spiritual Corporality and Political Spirituality. London and New York: Routledge. 2000.     

The Development of Graphophonological-Semantic Cognitive Flexibility and Its Contribution to Reading Comprehension in Beginning Readers

Reading-specific and general color-shape cognitive flexibility were assessed in 68 first and second graders to examine: 1) the development of graphophonological-semantic cognitive flexibility (the ability to process concurrently phonological and semantic aspects of print) in comparison to color-shape cognitive flexibility, 2) the contribution of reading experience to graphophonological-semantic flexibility, and 3) the unique contribution of graphophonological-semantic flexibility to reading comprehension. Second graders scored significantly higher than first graders on both cognitive flexibility tasks; the general flexibility task was easier for all children than the graphophonological-semantic flexibility task; reading experience contributed uniquely to children's graphophonological-semantic flexibility; and graphophonological-semantic flexibility contributed significant, unique variance to children's reading comprehension, consistent with Cartwright's (2002 Cartwright , K. B. ( 2002 ). Cognitive development and reading: The relation of reading-specific multiple classification skill to reading comprehension in elementary school children . Journal of Educational Psychology , 94 , 56 – 63 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) work with second- to fourth-grade students and adults (2007 Cartwright , K. B. ( 2007 ). The contribution of graphophonological-semantic flexibility to reading comprehension in college students: Implications for a less simple view of reading . Journal of Literacy Research , 39 , 173 – 193 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]).     

Self-discrepancy and suicidal ideation

The purpose of this study was to determine whether certain self-discrepancies predicted the extent to which individuals experienced suicidal ideation. The Selves Questionnaire (an idiographic measure of self-beliefs) was administered to 152 undergraduate participants, who also completed measures of hopelessness, depression, and suicidal ideation. Three kinds of self-discrepancies were associated with suicidal ideation: actual:ideal, actual:ought, and actual:ideal:future. Covariance structure analyses indicated a best-fitting model suggesting that, actual:ideal and actual:ideal:future self-discrepancies contribute to hopelessness, which in turn contributes to depression and suicidal ideation. The findings suggest that self-discrepancy, as a form of negative self-evaluation, may contribute to an individual's risk for suicidal ideation. Moreover, the findings point to an integration of self-discrepancy theory with hopelessness theory.     

Psychological Help‐Seeking Intention Among College Students Across Three Problem Areas

The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to understand psychological help‐seeking intention for 3 common concerns: anxiety or depression, career choice concerns, and alcohol or drug use. Eight hundred eighty‐nine university students completed surveys for the TPB variables plus belief in personal efficacy and control to solve the problems. Path analysis demonstrated path invariance, indicating that the importance of TPB variables do not vary based on concern in the decision‐making process.