The Need for Closure and the Spontaneous Use of Complex and Simple Cognitive Structures

Abstract

The authors performed 2 experiments that explored the causal role of need for closure in producing the use of simple structures. In particular, the authors gave the participants a cue that called for a complex or a simple solution on a cognitive complexity task. The authors created the participants' need for closure through the use of time pressure. The results of both experiments revealed that participants only generated complex solutions in the complex cue-no time pressure condition. The discussion is focused on the effects of need for closure in tasks calling for adaptive and spontaneous flexibility.     

Effects of anxiety on the execution of police arrest and self-defense skills

We investigated the effects of anxiety on the execution of police officers' arrest and self-defense skills. Police officers (n=13) performed three tasks in which they kicked, blocked, or restrained an opponent who attacked them with a rubber knife (low anxiety, LA) or a shock knife (high anxiety, HA) in a within-subject design. We analyzed performance (on a 5-point Likert scale), movement times, posture, and movement velocity and acceleration. Results revealed that performance was worse in the HA compared to the LA condition. Furthermore, analysis of full-body movement showed that under increased anxiety, police officers' performance contained characteristics of avoidance behavior, such as faster reactions (to reduce the time being exposed to the threat), leaning further backward (kick), and ducking down (block). In line with recent theoretical developments, it appears that under increased anxiety, police officers were less able to inhibit stimulus-driven processing (fear of getting hit) and enforce goal-directed processing (perform the skill as well as possible) leading to avoidance behavior and a decrease in performance.     

High arousal and low arousal work-related positive affects and basal cardiovascular activity

Basal cardiovascular activity may be modulated by positive affect activation levels. In the current study, it was hypothesized that work-related high arousal positive affect (HAPA) will have a U-shaped association with basal cardiovascular activity and low or un-aroused positive affect (LAPA) will be negatively associated with basal cardiovascular activity. Participants were 1807, apparently, healthy adults. HAPA and LAPA were assessed with the Job-related Affective Well-being Scale. Outcome measures were resting heart rate (HR), systolic (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels. Results for HAPA supported the hypothesized relationships, such that HR and SBP were lower when HAPA was at moderate levels, but higher when HAPA was at high or low levels. LAPA was negatively associated with SBP and DBP. Our findings suggest that HAPA and LAPA have differential consequences regarding cardiovascular function.     

The Many Faces of Malingering and Participant Response Strategies: New Methodologies in the Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ)

Four studies created malingering and response bias scales for a new test battery, the Attachment and Clinical Issues Questionnaire (ACIQ). In the first calibration study, a new approach to identifying fake good and fake bad respondents was outlined. In Study 2, this scale was cross validated in a within-subjects design that also found only weak correlations between the scales of the ACIQ and measures of social desirability. The third study developed a method violator scale (one who responds randomly to the content of the scales due to carelessness, low IQ, etc.). It was tested by Monte Carlo and empirical studies. The fourth study combined the two cross validation studies to offer clear cutoffs for the practitioner. These studies successfully led to the creation of malingering and response bias scales for the ACIQ and also introduced new methods that could be adapted to other instruments.     

Curriculum-based measurement of oral reading (R-CBM): A diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis of evidence supporting use in universal screening

A great deal of research over the past decade has examined the appropriateness of curriculum-based measurement of oral reading (R-CBM) in universal screening. Multiple researchers have meta-analyzed available correlational evidence, yielding support for the interpretation of R-CBM as an indicator of general reading proficiency. In contrast, researchers have yet to synthesize diagnostic accuracy evidence, which pertains to the defensibility of the use of R-CBM for screening purposes. The overall purpose of this research was to therefore conduct the first meta-analysis of R-CBM diagnostic accuracy research. A systematic search of the literature resulted in the identification of 34 studies, including 20 peer-reviewed articles, 7 dissertations, and 7 technical reports. Bivariate hierarchical linear models yielded generalized estimates of diagnostic accuracy statistics, which predominantly exceeded standards for acceptable universal screener performance. For instance, when predicting criterion outcomes within a school year (≤ 9 months), R-CBM sensitivity ranged between .80 and .83 and specificity ranged between .71 and .73. Multiple moderators of R-CBM diagnostic accuracy were identified, including the (a) R-CBM cut score used to define risk, (b) lag in time between R-CBM and criterion test administration, and (c) percentile rank corresponding to the criterion test cut score through which students were identified as either truly at risk or not at risk. Follow-up analyses revealed substantial variability of extracted cut scores within grade and time of year (i.e., fall, winter, and spring). This result called into question the inflexible application of a single cut score across contexts and suggested the potential necessity of local cut scores. Implications for practices, directions for future research, and limitations are discussed.     

中年人睡眠相关行为与高血压关系的病例对照研究

为探讨中年人睡眠相关行为与高血压发病风险之间的关系。本研究采用1：1匹配的病例对照研究法;资料收集方法采用问卷调查法;资料处理分析采用t检验及多元条件Logistic回归模型分析法。结果显示中年人病例组与对照组睡眠质量存在显著性差异（t=6．19,P〈0．05）。（1）睡眠相关行为（每日睡眠不足、夜间睡眠不足、睡眠时点延迟、睡眠质量差、入睡困难、每周入睡困难次数增加及打鼾等因素）多元条件Logistic回归模型的OR值和95％CI分别为[（OR=5．07,95％CI：3．12～8．21）;（OR=5．57,95％CI：3．43～9．04）;（OR=2．27,95％CI：1．49～3．47）;（OR=2．17,95％CI：1．60～2．94）;（OR=3．36,95％CI：1．47～7．69）;（OR=1．55,95％CI：1．08～2．24）;（OR=2．69,95％CI：1．86～3．88）]。（2）适当午睡为（OR=0．85,95％CI：0．74～0．98）。（3）早起与否（OR=1．40,95％CI：0．87～2．20）。因此（1）中年人睡眠相关行为与高血压发病密切相关,每日睡眠不足、夜间睡眠不足、睡眠时点延迟、睡眠质量差、入睡困难、每周入睡困难次数增加及打鼾等因素可能为高血压发病的危险因素;（2）中年人适当午睡可能是高血压发病的保护性因素;（3）是否早起与高血压发病关系尚不清晰。     

Daily Behavior Report Cards with and without Home-Based Consequences: Improving Classroom Behavior in Low Income,African American Children with ADHD

Daily Behavior Report Cards (DBRC), which typically require teachers to evaluate students' daily behavior and parents to provide contingent consequences, are an effective and acceptable method for improving children's classroom behavior. The current study evaluated whether parent involvement is an essential treatment component or whether teacher feedback alone would be sufficient to produce children's behavior changes. The effectiveness of DBRC with teacher feedback to students and parent delivered consequences (PC) was compared to teacher feedback to students only (no parent delivered consequences, NPC) for increasing appropriate classroom behavior and academic productivity in African American, low income, elementary school children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Both treatments led to increased on-task behavior, although PC was superior to NPC. Academic productivity outcomes are less clear. Treatment implications and future directions for research on teacher feedback interventions are discussed.     

Relationship Between the Children's Assertiveness Inventory (CAI) and the Revised Behaviorial Assertiveness Test for Children (BAT-CR)

In this study, the relationship between a self-report measure of assertive behavior in children, the Children's Assertiveness Inventory, and a role-play measure of assertive behavior, the Revised Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children, was examined in 69 elementary school children. Measures of assertive responding to positive (initiating interactions/giving and receiving compliments) and negative (standing up for one's own rights/refusing unreasonable requests) situations were obtained for both self-report and role-play measures. Results suggest that self-report of positive assertion is more closely related to role-play measures and expert ratings of assertiveness than is self-report of negative assertion. Results are discussed in terms of relationship between assertive behavior and aggressive behavior in children and the need to "unbind" these two notions in future studies. Developmental issues which limit the finings are also addressed.     

Reducing Child Whining Through Self-Instructional Parent Training Materials

Parents used self-instructional booklets to decrease their children's (age4-8) whining. In each of 9 families, a multiple-baseline design across three problems, whining and two other was used. Parent data indicate mean improvement of 26% of the maximum possible from baseline means, with 8 of 9 children showing improvement. All parent final consumer ratings were positive. All interobserver reliabilities exceeded 80% agreement weighted for occurrence and nonoccurrence. Correlations for two sets of data between frequencies of whining estimated by parents twice an hour and percent of intervals recorded for whining from observer interval data for the hour produced median correlations of .62 and .51. Percent agreement between observer and parent data, both using interval recording at the same time, produced a median coefficient of agreement weighted for occurrence and non-occurrence of 59%. Results suggest that parents using self-instructional materials alone could reduce children's whining from levels originally considered excessive to levels parents considered acceptable.     

Game Birds: The Ethics of Shooting Birds for Sport

This paper aims to provide an ethical assessment of the shooting of animals for sport. In particular, it discusses the use of partridges and pheasants for shooting. While opposition to hunting and shooting large wild mammals is strong, game birds have often taken a back seat in everyday animal welfare concerns. However, the practice of raising game birds for sport poses significant ethical issues. Most birds shot are raised in factory-farming conditions, and there is a considerable amount of evidence to show that these birds endure extensive suffering on these farms. Considering the fact that birds do have interests, including interests in life and not suffering, what are the ethical implications of using them for blood sports? Indeed, in the light of the suffering that game birds endure in factory farms, it may be that shooting such birds for sport is more morally problematic than other types of hunting and shooting which many people are often fiercely opposed to, for while it seems plausible to say that some animals may be harmed more by death than others (due to, say, their greater capacities), there may be harms that are worse than death (such as a life of intolerable suffering). The objective of this paper is to assess the ethics of shooting animals for sport, and in particular the practice of raising game birds for use in blood sports, by applying principles commonly used in ethics; specifically the principle of non-maleficence and equal consideration of (like) interests.