Recent research on family factors and readiness: implications for military leaders.

Past research on the relationship between family factors and military readiness in the Army has suggested that family issues affect retention far more than readiness. New data on individual soldier readiness were analyzed to assess the relative importance of family factors (internal and external family adaptation) compared to unit readiness, longevity, rank, and gender. Family factors were significant predictors, although external family adaptation appeared to be more important than internal family adaptation. Although variables related to retention were more strongly related to family factors than our readiness variables, the differences were less substantial than those reported previously. The data seemed to suggest that reserve-component readiness might be more affected by family stress than the active component and that officer readiness might be more strongly affected by family worries than enlisted personnel readiness, but more research is needed to confirm those results.     

Recognition of nonverbal affect and schizotypy

The authors assessed the degree to which schizotypal characteristics in a nonclinical population were associated with impairments in the ability to correctly identify emotions as expressed in facial, paralinguistic, and postural cues. Participants completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ; A. Raine, 2005), and the 3 receptive subtests of the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 (DANVA2; S. Nowicki Jr., 2005). The SPQ subscales No close friends and Suspiciousness were correlated with impaired ability to correctly identify postural affective cues on the DANVA2. Unusual perceptual experiences were correlated with deficits in the ability to identify emotions on the DANVA2 paralinguistic measure. Impairments in the ability to correctly perceive and respond to expressions of affect may be part of a deficit in social cognition that contributes to development of schizotypal traits.     

Relationships between Gender Role Attitudes, Role Division, and Perception of Equity among Heterosexual, Gay and Lesbian Couples

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between gender role attitudes, household tasks, and the perception of equity among heterosexual, gay and lesbian couples. One hundred and twenty-four participants (54 heterosexuals, 30 gay men and 40 lesbians) were tested. It was found that same-sex couples had more liberal attitudes toward gender roles than did heterosexual couples. In addition, significant differences were found between the spouses in their responses regarding role division in housekeeping in each group. The responses of heterosexual spouses correlate more closely with each other regarding the role of each of the spouses than was the case for same-sex couples. However, the role division among lesbian couples was more egalitarian than that of heterosexual couples. In addition, heterosexual women consider their married life less equitable than heterosexual men do. Similarly, one of the gay spouses considers the relationship less equitable than the other spouse does. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance to theories of social perception and cultural backgrounds.     

A Review of “Suicidal Intent” Within the Existing Suicide Literature

The results of a systematic literature review that investigated suicide intent are presented. Of the 44 relevant articles identified, 17 investigated the relationships between various suicide risk factors and suicide intent and 25 publications investigated the relationships between suicide intent and various suicide outcomes. Despite recent advancements in the definition and nomological validity of suicide intent, a high degree of variability in the empirical measurement and analysis of suicide intent was found. Such variability limits future research related to measuring suicidal risk and outcomes, reporting suicide intent, or the meaningful comparison of diagnostic approaches or treatments across multiple studies.     

Absolute and relative pitch: Global versus local processing of chords

Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify or produce notes without any reference note. An ongoing debate exists regarding the benefits or disadvantages of AP in processing music. One of the main issues in this context is whether the categorical perception of pitch in AP possessors may interfere in processing tasks requiring relative pitch (RP). Previous studies, focusing mainly on melodic and interval perception, have obtained inconsistent results. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of AP and RP separately, using isolated chords. Seventy-three musicians were categorized into four groups of high and low AP and RP, and were tested on two tasks: identifying chord types (Task 1), and identifying a single note within a chord (Task 2). A main effect of RP on Task 1 and an interaction between AP and RP in reaction times were found. On Task 2 main effects of AP and RP, and an interaction were found, with highest performance in participants with both high AP and RP. Results suggest that AP and RP should be regarded as two different abilities, and that AP may slow down reaction times for tasks requiring global processing.     

Juror Decision‐making in Death Penalty Sentencing when Presented with Defendant's History of Child Abuse or Neglect

Previous studies have found aggravating, mitigating, and null effects of defendant histories of abuse and neglect on punishment preferences in capital sentencing. Perceiving these defendants as more dangerous, jurors may be more likely to favor the death penalty when such evidence is presented. This is counter to the intuition that abuse or neglect reduces culpability, and therefore mitigates the severity of punishment. We investigated the effect of defendant childhood physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect on the probability of a prospective juror preferring the death penalty in an between‐subject experimental design. Using vignettes and two large samples (students and jurors), defendant histories were found to mitigate the probability that the hypothetical defendant received the death penalty, with sexual abuse having the most salient effect. Further, the effects were conditioned by preference for the death penalty – larger mitigating effects were observed among individuals who favor the death penalty. These findings suggest that initial judgments of abuse and neglect are related to juror leniency, and further research on the interaction of jury instructions and defendant histories is needed. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global cognitive function before,surrounding, and after ischemic stroke: the role of risk and protective factors varies with time among ischemic stroke survivors

An estimated 65% of individuals demonstrate multidomain cognitive impairment poststroke, although little is known about the varying role of cognitive risk and protective factors in preischemic, peri-ischemic, and postischemic stroke phases. Longitudinal changes in global cognitive function after ischemic stroke are not well characterized, especially in older adults over age 80. We examined global cognitive function trajectories in these three phases across a mean follow-up of 8.12 (2.30) years in 159 female stroke survivors aged 65–79 at baseline using linear mixed models with change points. In separate models controlling for demographic variables, we tested the interaction of baseline risk and protective factors with stroke phase on global cognitive function. None of the prestroke global cognitive function means or trajectories differed significantly. At the time of ischemic stroke, higher body mass index (BMI), the presence of hypertension (HTN), low optimism, and higher physical function were all associated with significantly greater mean decreases in global cognition (all p’s <.0.0001), but were not significantly different from the contrasting level (all p’s >0.05). Higher BMI, the presence of HTN, low optimism, and higher physical function were in turn protective of global cognitive decline postischemic stroke (all contrasting p values <.01). Baseline factors may play either a risk or a protective role in global cognitive function depending on the phase of ischemic stroke.