Validation of the Multidimensional Blood/Injury Phobia Inventory: Evidence for a Unitary Construct

The Multidimensional Blood/Injury Phobia Inventory (MBPI) was developed from a theoretical framework to characterize a broad range of feared stimuli and phobic reactions associated with this pathology. The MBPI consists of 40 items that cross 4 types of stimulus content (injections, hospitals, blood, injury), 5 types of phobic responses (fear, avoidance, worry, fainting, disgust), and a self versus other focus. This study reports on administration of the MBPI to 558 undergraduates, 9 of whom had blood/injury phobia. The instrument had a Cronbach's alpha of .91 and demonstrated good concurrent validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. One large factor emerged in an unrotated principal components analysis, suggesting that blood/injury phobia is a unitary psychometric construct. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a 6-factor solution defined by stimulus content domains and fainting, each of which may be important to consider clinically when assessing the unique concerns of treatment-seeking individuals.     

Path analytic examination of a cognitive model of PTSD

Ehlers and Clark (2000) developed a cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom maintenance which implicated the role of posttraumatic cognitions and aspects of the trauma memory in maintaining symptoms via an increased sense of current threat. The aim of the current study was to empirically test a variant of this model using path analysis. Participants in the current study were 514 undergraduates at a midwestern university who reported experiencing at least one traumatic event. Path analyses examined various models of the possible relationships between one’s posttraumatic cognitions and the centrality of the traumatic event to the sense of self (considered an aspect of memory integration) in predicting current level of PTSD symptoms. Results indicate that both event centrality and posttraumatic cognitions are unique and independent predictors of current symptom level. Overall, the results of this study support aspects of Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model of PTSD; cognitive appraisals of the self and centrality of the event were highly related to levels of distress. However, the current study suggests that overly integrated trauma memories may lead to greater distress and not poorly integrated ones as suggested by Ehlers and Clark.     

A computational cognitive model of syntactic priming

The psycholinguistic literature has identified two syntactic adaptation effects in language production: rapidly decaying short-term priming and long-lasting adaptation. To explain both effects, we present an ACT-R model of syntactic priming based on a wide-coverage, lexicalized syntactic theory that explains priming as facilitation of lexical access. In this model, two well-established ACT-R mechanisms, base-level learning and spreading activation, account for long-term adaptation and short-term priming, respectively. Our model simulates incremental language production and in a series of modeling studies, we show that it accounts for (a) the inverse frequency interaction; (b) the absence of a decay in long-term priming; and (c) the cumulativity of long-term adaptation. The model also explains the lexical boost effect and the fact that it only applies to short-term priming. We also present corpus data that verify a prediction of the model, that is, that the lexical boost affects all lexical material, rather than just heads.     

COVARIATION WITHIN FUNCTIONAL RESPONSE CLASSES: IMPLICATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF SEVERE PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

Two studies examined the effects of a reductive treatment versus instruction-based treatments on the generalized reduction of problem behaviors. Each study involved a detailed analysis of multiple problem behaviors performed by school-aged youth with severe intellectual disabilities. The analysis examined the contrasting effects of one of two different positive intervention procedures (teaching a positive alternative behavior or providing additional teacher assistance during instruction) versus blocking and/or verbally reprimanding a problem behavior. The focus of each analysis was on the covariation of multiple problem behaviors within functional response classes. Results of the investigation indicated that when only one member of the response class was blocked, a collateral increase was observed in one or more different problem behaviors from the same response class. Alternatively, when 1 participant was taught a functionally equivalent mand response, all problem behaviors in the response class were reduced. Problem behaviors also were reduced for the remaining participant by presenting antecedent teacher assistance. Implications of the research extend to analysis of covariation within response classes and to procedures that result in generalized reduction of problem behaviors within a response class.     

Distortion of probability and outcome information in risky decisions

Substantial evidence indicates that information is distorted during decision making, but very few studies have assessed the distortion of probability and outcome information in risky decisions. In two studies involving six binary decisions (e.g., banning blood donations from people who have visited England, because of “mad cow disease”), student and nonstudent participants distorted their evaluations of probability and outcome information in the direction of their preferred decision alternative and used these biased evaluations to update their preferences. Participants also evaluated the utilities of possible outcomes more positively when the outcomes could follow only from the preferred alternative and more negatively when they could follow only from the competing alternative. Such circular reasoning is antithetical to the normative consequentialist principles underlying decision analysis. Presenting numerical information as precise values or as ranges of values did not significantly affect information distortion, apparently because the manipulation did not affect perceived ambiguity as intended.     

Overweight and cognition

There is a growing concern among health authorities that an increasing number of people in the Western world become overweight and even obese. It is well known that obesity is related to several diseases (e.g., diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure) and that such diseases related to obesity lead to early death. It has also been discussed whether overweight and obesity in themselves or in relation to such diseases lead to cognitive decline. On the basis of data from a large, population‐based, prospective study we examined three cognitive domains: episodic memory, semantic memory, and spatial ability. Two body measures were used to define normal weight and overweight, body‐mass index and waist/hip ratio. Although these two body measures reveal quite different prevalence data of overweight, the associations between overweight and cognition are similar. For episodic memory, overweight interacts with age, but when controlling for hypertension, stroke and diabetes, this interaction disappears. For semantic memory, normal weight participants outperform overweight participants even after controlling for these diseases. For spatial ability, the well‐established advantage for men holds for young‐old and old‐old normal‐weight participants. For overweight participants, this advantage holds for middle‐age participants only. We conclude that there is a weight‐cognition relationship even after controlling for obesity‐related diseases. The results are discussed in terms of possible biological mechanisms.     

Negative self-evaluations and the relation to performance level in socially anxious children and adolescents

The current study investigated whether negatively biased self-evaluations of nervousness and social skills are related to how well an individual actually performs, that is performance level. Sixty-eight high socially anxious and 68 control participants (age range 9–17 years) gave a 5 min speech in front of a pre-recorded audience of same age peers and a teacher. Participants' evaluations immediately after the task were measured on a number of performance dimensions. Three independent observers also evaluated recordings of the speech performances. Participants were further divided into good and bad performers based on their actual performance level as judged by the observers. Self-evaluations of the high socially anxious participants were negatively biased for nervous appearance regardless of how well they actually performed. In contrast, a negative bias for social skills only occurred in the high anxious participants with a good performance. The social skill evaluations of the poor performers appear warranted. Taking actual performance level into account may help to clarify the exact nature of a negative bias in socially anxious youth and has clear implications for the choice of treatment approach.     

大学生合作学习的问题解决过程及其对问题解决水平的影响

以认知风格为依据,将合作学习小组分为场依存同质组、场独立同质组以及异质组。通过小组对开放问题以及逻辑问题的解决,考察不同认知风格个体、不同类型小组的问题解决过程。同时考察问题解决过程对问题解决水平的影响。结果表明：（1）个体在解决不同类型问题时的过程体验不同。（2）问题解决过程在个体的认知风格和逻辑问题解决水平之间起调节作用。（3）不同类型小组的问题解决过程不同。（4）合作是影响小组合作学习效果的重要因素之一。     

我国产后抑郁研究现状分析

本文通过系统分析产后抑郁领域的国内研究现状,为研制针对性的干预策略奠定基础。研究遵循循证医学的理念,运用文献计量分析方法,对国内1998年～2007年间发表的111篇产后抑郁领域的研究文献进行分析。可见研究文献数量呈现逐年上升趋势,但研究范围主要局限于医学中心及区域范畴,研究内容主要涉及产后抑郁的评估与诊断、危险因素研究和预防干预方法的探索,但总体研究设计存在较大缺陷。可见亟需加强社区层面研究,提高研究设计的科学性,并将预防干预方法研究作为重点。     

高考生学校决策问卷的编制

目的：编制高考考生学校决策问卷。方法：对400名大学一年级新生入学一周后进行了测量,通过项目分析、探索性因素分析、验证性因素分析、信度分析等方法对量表的结构效度、和信度进行了检验。结果：问卷的总体内部一致性系数为0.911（n=392,p〈0.01）。探索性因素分析发现,所有项目因子载荷都在0.570-0.833之间,四个因子解释方差比率总计69.55%。验证性因素分析显示NNFI、CFI、RMSEA指数分别为0.95,0.96,0.090。结论：高考生学校决策问卷具有较好的信度和效度,是评定高考生学校决策的有效工具。