Classification and differentiation of bladder and bowel related anxieties: A socio-cognitive exploration

Current Psychology - The current study aimed to explore the validity of a single, self-report measure for bladder and bowel anxieties (Bladder and Bowel Anxiety Grouping Item; BABAGI), using two...     

Commitment to organizational change: extension of a three-component model

Three studies were conducted to test the application of a three-component model of workplace commitment (J. P. Meyer & N. J. Allen, 1991: J. P. Meyer & L. Herscovitch, 2001) in the context of employee commitment to organizational change. Study 1, conducted with 224 university students, provided preliminary evidence for the validity of newly developed Affective, Continuance, and Normative Commitment to Change Scales. Studies 2 and 3, conducted with hospital nurses (N = 157 and 108, respectively), provided further support for the validity of the three Commitment to Change Scales, and demonstrated that (a) commitment to a change is a better predictor of behavioral support for a change than is organizational commitment, (b) affective and normative commitment to a change are associated with higher levels of support than is continuance commitment, and (c) the components of commitment combine to predict behavior.     

Response styles in affect ratings: making a mountain out of a molehill

Ratings of affect words are the most commonly used method to assess pleasant affect (PA) and unpleasant affect (UA). The reliance on self-reports would be problematic if affect ratings were heavily influenced by response styles. Several recent publications have indeed suggested (a) that the influence of response styles on affect ratings is pervasive, (b) that this influence can be controlled by variations of the response format using multitrait-multimethod models, and (c) the discriminant validity of PA and UA is spurious. In this article, we examined the evidence for these claims. We demonstrate that (a) response styles have a negligible effect on affect ratings, (b) multiple response formats produce the same results as a single response format, and (c) the discriminant validity of PA and UA is not a method artifact. Rather, evidence against discriminant validity is due to the use of inappropriate response formats that respondents interpreted as bipolar scales.     

A replication of Rorschach and MMPI-2 convergent validity

We replicated prior research on Rorschach and MMPI-2 convergent validity by testing 8 hypotheses in a new sample of patients. We also extended prior research by developing criteria to include more patients and by applying the same procedures to 2 self-report tests: the MMPI-2 and the MCMI-II. Results supported our hypotheses and paralleled the prior findings. Furthermore, 3 different tests for methodological artifacts could not account for the results. Thus, the convergence of Rorschach and MMPI-2 constructs seems to be partially a function of how patients interact with the tests. When patients approach each test with a similar style, conceptually aligned constructs tend to correlate. Although this result is less robust, when patients approach each test in an opposing manner, conceptually aligned constructs tend to be negatively correlated. When test interaction styles are ignored, MMPI-2 and Rorschach constructs tend to be uncorrelated, unless a sample just happens to possess a correlation between Rorschach and MMPI-2 stylistic variables. Remaining ambiguities and suggestions for further advances are discussed.     

Contents Volume 29 2000

Volume Contents

Contents Volume 29 2000     

Articulatory/phonetic sequencing at the level of the anterior perisylvian cortex: a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study

Damage to the anterior peri-intrasylvian cortex of the dominant hemisphere may give rise to a fairly consistent syndrome of articulatory deficits in the absence of relevant paresis of orofacial or laryngeal muscles (apraxia of speech, aphemia, or phonetic disintegration). The available clinical data are ambiguous with respect to the relevant lesion site, indicating either dysfunction of the premotor aspect of the lower precentral gyrus or the anterior insula in the depth of the Sylvian fissure. In order to further specify the functional anatomic substratum of this syndrome, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed during reiteration of syllables differing in their demands on articulatory/phonetic sequencing (CV versus CCCV versus CVCVCV). Horizontal tongue movements and a polysyllabic lexical item served as control conditions. Repetition of the CV and CCCV monosyllables elicited a rather bilateral symmetric hemodynamic response at the level of the anterior and posterior bank of the central sulcus (primary sensorimotor cortex), whereas a more limited area of neural activity arose within this domain during production of lexical and nonlexical polysyllables, significantly or exclusively lateralized toward the left hemisphere. There is neurophysiological evidence that primary sensorimotor cortex mediates the "fractionation" of movements. Assuming that the polysyllables considered are organized as coarticulated higher-order units, the observed restricted and lateralized cortical activation pattern, most presumably, reflects a mode of "nonindividualized" motor control posing fewer demands on "movement fractionation." These findings may explain the clinical observation of disproportionately worse repetition of trisyllabic items as compared to monosyllables in apraxia of speech. The various test materials failed to elicit significant activation of the anterior insula. If at all, only horizontal tongue movements yielded a hemodynamic reaction extending beyond the sensorimotor cortex to premotor areas. Since limbic projections target the inferior dorsolateral frontal lobe, the enlarged region of activation during horizontal tongue movements might reflect increased attentional requirements of this task.