School-related stress,social support,and distress: prospective analysis of reciprocal and multilevel relationships

This three-wave prospective study investigated the reciprocal relationships among school-related stress, school-related social support, and distress in a cohort of 767 secondary school students (mean age 13.9 years). Stress, support, and distress were measured at three occasions with six-month lags between. Reciprocal relationships were analyzed with multivariate multilevel modeling (MLwiN). Each of the three factors at baseline predicted change in one or two of the other factors at subsequent measurements, indicating a complex pattern of reciprocal relationships among stress, support, and distress across time. A high level of distress at baseline predicted a lower level of support and a higher level of stress six months later. High levels of stress at baseline predicted a higher level of distress and a lower level of support 12 months later. The results are consistent with a transactional and dynamic model of stress, support, and distress, and indicate the need to view school-related stress, support, and distress as mutually dependent factors.     

The symptoms of resource scarcity: judgments of food and finances influence preferences for potential partners

Male preferences for female body weight follow a consistent cross-cultural pattern such that in cultures with scarce resources, heavier women are preferred, whereas in cultures with abundant resources, thinner women are preferred. We offer a social-cognitive account for these findings based on the individual experience of resource scarcity. In four studies (N=1,176), we explored the possibility that this cross-cultural relationship emerges at the individual level; that is, we investigated whether situational feelings of resource scarcity predict personal preferences within a single culture. We operationalized intraindividual resource scarcity through feelings of financial and caloric dissatisfaction. Accordingly, we hypothesized-and found-that men who feel either poor or hungry prefer heavier women than men who feel rich or full. We discuss these findings in terms of how patterns of cross-cultural norms may be evinced at the individual level through an implicit psychological mechanism.     

A longitudinal study of gendered vocabulary and communicative action in young children

Development of children's vocabularies for gender-typed words and communicative actions was investigated longitudinally from 13 to 36 months and in a group of 9.5-month-olds. Vocabularies of gendered words were assessed using lists of adult-rated gender-typed words from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI; L. Fenson et al., 1994). At 24 to 36 months, girls' and boys' productive vocabularies contained more same-gender-typed words than other-gender-typed words. Receptive vocabulary gender-differential effects were apparent among boys at 18 months. At 13 and 18 months, gender-typed differences were apparent in communicative actions. The research reveals the utility of unobtrusive, nonexperimental measures for assessing gender-related knowledge and behavior in young children.     

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among inmates in Bergen Prison

The aim of this study was to investigate whether clinical findings are consistent with research indicating a high prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among prison inmates. Forty‐three male inmates who were referred for ADHD assessment at the health service in Bergen prison participated. Although most of them reported symptoms in accordance with ADHD both in childhood and adulthood, only 35% of the referred inmates fulfilled the criteria for ADHD when a comprehensive assessment was conducted. The results emphasize the importance of a comprehensive assessment when diagnosing ADHD among prison inmates.     

Facilitating memory‐based lie detection in immediate and delayed interviewing: The role of mnemonics

We experimentally investigated how different mnemonic techniques employed in an interview conducted immediately after an event affected truth tellers' and liars' responses when they were interviewed again after a 2‐week delay. We also compared how verbal accounts changed over time within truth tellers and liars, and how consistent both groups were. Participants (n = 143) were shown a mock intelligence operation video and instructed either to tell the truth or lie about its contents in two interviews, one of which was immediately after watching the video and the other after a 2‐week delay. In the immediate interview, they were asked to provide a free recall and then asked to provide further information via one of three mnemonics: context reinstatement, sketch, or event‐line. In the delayed interview, they were asked to provide only a free recall. Truth tellers reported more visual, spatial, temporal, and action details than did liars both immediately and after a delay. Truth tellers experienced more of a decline in reporting details after a delay than did liars, and this decline was affected by the mnemonic used. Truth tellers thus showed, more than liars, patterns of reporting indicative of genuine memory decay. Liars produced patterns of a “stability bias” instead. Truth tellers and liars were equally consistent between their immediate and delayed statements.     

The effect of accuracy motivation on anchoring and adjustment: do people adjust from provided anchors?

Increasing accuracy motivation (e.g., by providing monetary incentives for accuracy) often fails to increase adjustment away from provided anchors, a result that has led researchers to conclude that people do not effortfully adjust away from such anchors. We challenge this conclusion. First, we show that people are typically uncertain about which way to adjust from provided anchors and that this uncertainty often causes people to believe that they have initially adjusted too far away from such anchors (Studies 1a and 1b). Then, we show that although accuracy motivation fails to increase the gap between anchors and final estimates when people are uncertain about the direction of adjustment, accuracy motivation does increase anchor-estimate gaps when people are certain about the direction of adjustment, and that this is true regardless of whether the anchors are provided or self-generated (Studies 2, 3a, 3b, and 5). These results suggest that people do effortfully adjust away from provided anchors but that uncertainty about the direction of adjustment makes that adjustment harder to detect than previously assumed. This conclusion has important theoretical implications, suggesting that currently emphasized distinctions between anchor types (self-generated vs. provided) are not fundamental and that ostensibly competing theories of anchoring (selective accessibility and anchoring-and-adjustment) are complementary.     

When deciding to cooperate by direct reciprocity,Norway rats sometimes benefit from olfactory competence and seem not impaired by insufficient cognitive abilities

Animal Cognition - Direct reciprocity requires the ability to recognize and memorize social partners, and to remember their previous actions. ‘Insufficient cognitive abilities’ have...     

The meaning of service questionnaire and its association with psychological growth among Veterans

ABSTRACT

Few studies have investigated what soldiers find meaningful after being exposed to highly stressful events and what positive effects they might have in the aftermath. This study reports the psychometric properties of a newly developed questionnaire, Meaning of Service (MoS), and its application to the study of how strongly meaning-making processes are associated with psychological growth. One hundred eighty-four Norwegian Air Force Veterans who have participated in various missions abroad in different branches of the military completed the MoS questionnaire along with other scales reflecting psychological growth, hardiness, resilience, stress, and exposure, as well as personal and mission characteristics. The principal component analysis mainly identified three major meaning themes as expected from previous qualitative research (Confirmation of ability, Cohesion of peers, and Significance of effort). The hierarchical regression analysis showed that all three meaning themes and two coping strategies were associated with psychological growth, and that Confirmation of ability (coping and recognition of coping) seems particularly important to enhance Veterans’ prospects of psychological growth. Future research directions are proposed including suggestions for minor modifications of the questionnaire.