Openness, fluid intelligence, and crystallized intelligence: Toward an integrative model

Many studies are concerned with the bivariate relationships between Openness, fluid intelligence (Gf), and crystallized intelligence (Gc). Results suggest an influence of Gf and Openness on Gc. However, the overlap between Gf and Openness is rarely controlled for. Moreover, interaction effects or longitudinal influences are also often neglected. The present two studies aimed to elucidate exactly these interactions and longitudinal influences. Besides a main effect of Gf on Gc, Study 1 (N = 180) revealed an interaction effect between Openness and Gf. Study 2 utilized longitudinal data (N = 172) and identified an effect of Openness on the development of Gf. Gf and Openness predicted Gc 6 years later. A model integrating the results and providing a theoretical framework and outlook is proposed.     

Emotions in reading: Disgust, empathy and the contextual learning hypothesis

Emotion effects in reading have typically been investigated by manipulating words' emotional valence and arousal in lexical decision. The standard finding is that valence and arousal can have both facilitatory and inhibitory effects, which is hard to reconcile with current theories of emotion processing in reading. Here, we contrasted these theories with the contextual-learning hypothesis, according to which, sensitivity to a specific emotion - disgust in the present study - rather than valence or arousal affects lexical decision performance. Participants were divided into two groups (high versus low disgust sensitivity). Results showed that participants with high disgust sensitivity showed an inhibitory effect, whereas participants with low-disgust sensitivity showed a facilitatory effect. Individual differences in lexical decision performance were predicted by disgust sensitivity but not valence, arousal, or general emotion sensitivity. These findings highlight the need to focus on individual differences both in studies and theories of emotion processing in reading.     

Rasch analysis of a simplified Beck Depression Inventory

Depression is one of the most clinically relevant mood disorders, and many assessment instruments have been developed to measure it. Probably the most frequently used instrument is Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI). The simplified BDI (BDI-S) is a more efficient version of the BDI that has been shown to be no less reliable or valid. As the BDI-S has not yet been subjected to rigorous tests of Item Response Theory, it is the aim of the present paper to conduct such an analysis using the Rasch model. This study subjected a simplified version of the BDI consisting of 20 items (BDI-S20) to a Rasch analysis in a sample of N = 5,035 participants. The scale, minus one misfitting item (BDI-S19), yielded a good approximation to Rasch assumptions. Moderate differential item functioning (DIF) was present. It is concluded that the BDI-S19 is an internally valid instrument for assessing depression, although some room for improvement exists.     

A randomized clinical trial of Behavioral Activation (BA) therapy for improving psychological and physical health in dementia caregivers: Results of the Pleasant Events Program (PEP)

Dementia caregiving is associated with elevations in depressive symptoms and increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This study evaluated the efficacy of the Pleasant Events Program (PEP), a 6-week Behavioral Activation intervention designed to reduce CVD risk and depressive symptoms in caregivers. One hundred dementia family caregivers were randomized to either the 6-week PEP intervention (N = 49) or a time-equivalent Information-Support (IS) control condition (N = 51). Assessments were completed pre- and post-intervention and at 1-year follow-up. Biological assessments included CVD risk markers Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and D-dimer. Psychosocial outcomes included depressive symptoms, positive affect, and negative affect. Participants receiving the PEP intervention had significantly greater reductions in IL-6 (p = .040), depressive symptoms (p = .039), and negative affect (p = .021) from pre- to post-treatment. For IL-6, clinically significant improvement was observed in 20.0% of PEP participants and 6.5% of IS participants. For depressive symptoms, clinically significant improvement was found for 32.7% of PEP vs 11.8% of IS participants. Group differences in change from baseline to 1-year follow-up were non-significant for all outcomes. The PEP program decreased depression and improved a measure of physiological health in older dementia caregivers. Future research should examine the efficacy of PEP for improving other CVD biomarkers and seek to sustain the intervention's effects.     

Syllable frequency and syllable structure in apraxia of speech

Recent accounts of the pathomechanism underlying apraxia of speech (AOS) were based on the speech production model of Levelt, Roelofs, and Meyer, and Meyer (1999)1999. The apraxic impairment was localized to the phonetic encoding level where the model postulates a mental store of motor programs for high-frequency syllables. Varley and Whiteside (2001a) assumed that in patients with AOS syllabic motor programs are no longer accessible and that these patients are required to use a subsyllabic encoding route. In this study, we tested this hypothesis by exploring the influence of syllable frequency and syllable structure on word repetition in 10 patients with AOS. A significant effect of syllable frequency on error rates was found. Moreover, apraxic errors on consonant clusters were influenced by their position relative to syllable boundaries. These results demonstrate that apraxic patients have access to the syllabary, but that they fail to retrieve the syllabic motor patterns correctly. Our findings are incompatible with a subsyllabic route model of apraxia of speech.     

Applying evidence to support ethical decisions: Is the placebo really powerless?

Using placebos in day-to-day practice is an ethical problem. This paper summarises the available epidemiological evidence to support this difficult decision. Based on these data we propose to differentiate between placebo and “knowledge framing”. While the use of placebo should be confined to experimental settings in clinical trials, knowledge framing — which is only conceptually different from placebo — is a desired, expected and necessary component of any doctor-patient encounter. Examples from daily practice demonstrate both, the need to investigate the effects of knowledge framing and its impact on ethical, medical, economical and legal decisions. An earlier version of this paper was presented at an international conference, “Placebo: Its Action and Place in Health Research Today,” held in Warsaw, Poland on 12–13 April, 2003.     

Do differences in brain activation challenge universal theories of dyslexia?

It has been commonly agreed that developmental dyslexia in different languages has a common biological origin: a dysfunction of left posterior temporal brain regions dealing with phonological processes. Siok, Perfetti, Jin, and Tan (2004, Nature, 431, 71-76) challenge this biological unity theory of dyslexia: Chinese dyslexics show no deficits in posterior temporal brain regions but a functional disruption of the left middle frontal gyrus. Here, I will argue that these data do not challenge universal cognitive theories of dyslexia according to which weaknesses in the ability to process the phonological features of language are at the origin of dyslexia.