Using the Research Domain Criteria Framework to Explore Associations Between MMPI–2–RF Constructs and Physiological Variables Assessed by Eye-Tracker Technology

The National Institute of Mental Health has proposed a paradigm shift in the conceptualization of psychopathology, abandoning the traditional categorical model in favor of one based on hierarchically organized dimensional constructs (Insel et al., 2010 Insel, T., Cuthbert, B., Garvey, M., Heinssen, R., Pine, D. S., Quinn, K., … Wang, P. (2010). Research domain criteria (RDoC): Toward a new classification framework for research on mental disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167, 748–751.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). One explicit goal of this initiative, the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project, is to facilitate the incorporation of newly available neurobiologic variables into research on psychopathology. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form (MMPI–2–RF; Ben-Porath &; Tellegen, 2008/2011 Ben-Porath, Y., &; Tellegen, A. (2011). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Restructured Form: Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 2008) [Google Scholar]) represents a similar paradigm shift, also adopting a hierarchical arrangement of dimensional constructs. This study examined associations between MMPI–2–RF measures of psychopathology and eye-movement metrics. Participants were college students (n = 270) who completed the MMPI–2–RF and then viewed a sequence of 30-s video clips. Results show a pattern of positive correlations between pupil size and emotional/internalizing dysfunction scales when viewing video eliciting negative emotional reactions, reflecting greater arousability in individuals with higher scores on these measures. In contrast, when viewing stimuli depicting angry, threatening material, a clear pattern of negative correlations was found between pupil size and behavioral/externalizing trait measures. These data add to the construct validity of the MMPI–2–RF and support the use of the RDoC matrix as a framework for research on psychopathology.     

An Empirically Keyed Scale for Measuring Managerial Attitudes Toward Women Executives

A scale (MATWES) is presented providing reliability and some validity measures regarding managerial attitudes toward women executives. Methodology used demonstrates an empirical approach to scale development through the employment of a projective test for item generation and the use of a panel of women executives who served as Q-sorters to select the items. The use of the Scale as a research instrument and its value in minimizing researcher bias in its construction are discussed.     

Infants generate goal-based action predictions

Predicting the actions of others is critical to smooth social interactions. Prior work suggests that both understanding and anticipation of goal-directed actions appears early in development. In this study, on-line goal prediction was tested explicitly using an adaptation of Woodward's (1998) paradigm for an eye-tracking task. Twenty 11-month-olds were familiarized to movie clips of a hand reaching to grasp one of two objects. Then object locations were swapped, and the hand made an incomplete reach between the objects. Here, infants reliably made their first look from the hand to the familiarized goal object, now in a new location. A separate control condition of 20 infants familiarized to the same movements of an unfamiliar claw revealed the opposite pattern: reliable prediction to the familiarized location, rather than the familiarized object. This study suggests that by 11 months infants actively use goal analysis to generate on-line predictions of an agent's next action.     

Action production influences 12-month-old infants' attention to others' actions

Recent work implicates a link between action control systems and action understanding. In this study, we investigated the role of the motor system in the development of visual anticipation of others' actions. Twelve-month-olds engaged in behavioral and observation tasks. Containment activity, infants' spontaneous engagement in producing containment actions; and gaze latency, how quickly they shifted gaze to the goal object of another's containment actions, were measured. Findings revealed a positive relationship: infants who received the behavior task first evidenced a strong correlation between their own actions and their subsequent gaze latency of another's actions. Learning over the course of trials was not evident. These findings demonstrate a direct influence of the motor system on online visual attention to others' actions early in development.     

Relations between physical activity, weight discrepancies, body-cathexis, and psychological well-being in college women

This study examined the relations between physical activity, weight discrepancies, body-cathexis, and indicators of psychological well-being in college women. Factor analysis and zero-order correlation, and partial correlation analyses show that physical activity was not directly related to psychological well-being, however, physical activity did reduce weight discrepancies and improved body-cathexis. When specific body types were examined, there were distinctive patterns of satisfaction with body parts and processes depending on whether the women's body types conformed to or deviated from idealized weights and heights.     

Correspondence between MMPI PTSD measures and clinical diagnosis

Correspondence of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) subscale and the clinical scale decision rules reported by Keane, Malloy, and Fairbank (1984) with clinical diagnoses of PTSD was measured on a sample of 595 veterans. The measures demonstrated good sensitivity and selectivity, but the false-positive rate was high. It is suggested the MMPI measures be used to rule out, but not to establish, the diagnosis of PTSD. The construct validity of the PTSD subscale was supported by the finding of a higher mean score in combat than noncombat veterans.     

Loudness enhancement and summation in pairs or short sound bursts

When a pair of short, temporally spaced sound bursts is presented and the listeners are requested to match the loudness of a third, comparison burst to the overall loudness of the pair, a fundamentally different result is obtained than when they are instructed to match the loudness of the comparison burst to that of the second burst in the pair. Loudness-level changes occurring in the first situation are designated as loudness summation; those occurring in the second situation, as loudness enhancement. Some parameters of both phenomena are studied. The results lead to the suggestion of a principle of maximum similarity in stimulus matching and to a reinterpretation of some earlier data.     

Walter Bradford Cannon: Reflections on the man and his contributions

My father's early research was with X-rays and led him to a serendipity finding concerning the role of distress in the physiological responses of cats. This chance finding led to further studies of the effects of emotional stimuli on various organs and systems in the body. These studies were the foundation for Cannon's discovery of the fight-or-flight, or stress response, and the development of his companion notion of homeostasis, embodied inThe Wisdom of the Body. While being fond of William James from undergraduate coursework under him, Cannon challenged and refuted the validity of the James-Lange Theory of emotions during his research career. Always fascinated by the psychological and emotional realm of human functioning, Cannon enjoyed warm and close relationships with Robert Yerkes and Ivan Pavlov over the years. The only time in my father's life when he felt strong pressure to produce may have been during World War I when he was part of the Allied medical team solving the problem of traumatic shock experienced by Allied troops in Europe.