Attitudes towards seeking psychological help among a sample of Turkish university students: the roles of rumination and internal working models

The current study investigates how attitudes towards seeking psychological help relate to internal working models of attachment (self-model and other-model) and ruminative tendencies. The study includes 589 Turkish university students (278 females, 308 males and 3 unknown) by implementing a convenient sampling procedure. The average age of the participants was 22.4 years (SD = 2.2). Participants were administered the Attitudes toward Seeking Psychological Help-Short, the Relationship Questionnaire and the Rumination Scale. The results of the study indicate that the other-model and rumination have a relationship to women's help-seeking attitudes whereas the self-model has a relationship to men's help-seeking attitudes. The results are discussed in light of the related literature.     

Theory and teen dating violence victimization: Considering adolescent development

Teen dating violence is an important public health problem, with implications for the future health and well-being of adolescents. However, most work on teen dating violence has developed separately from literature on normative adolescent romantic relationships and development; understanding teen dating violence within the framework of adolescent psychosocial development may provide new areas for research. Thus, the present paper summarizes five theories of adolescent development that are relevant to the study of teen dating violence victimization, as well as empirical literature that demonstrates support for key theoretical tenets in research examining adolescent romantic relationships. We also present questions for future dating violence study that arise from these key theoretical tenets and past empirical research. Researchers interested in dating violence victimization can use the presented theories to guide new directions in research inquiry, so that findings are situated within the broader field of adolescent development.     

Working memory retrieval differences between medial temporal lobe epilepsy patients and controls: A three memory layer approach

Multi-store models of working memory (WM) have given way to more dynamic approaches that conceive WM as an activated subset of long-term memory (LTM). The resulting framework considers that memory representations are governed by a hierarchy of accessibility. The activated part of LTM holds representations in a heightened state of activation, some of which can reach a state of immediate accessibility according to task demands. Recent neuroimaging studies have studied the neural basis of retrieval information with different states of accessibility. It was found that the medial temporal lobe (MTL) was involved in retrieving information within immediate access store and outside this privileged zone. In the current study we further explored the contribution of MTL to WM retrieval by analyzing the consequences of MTL damage to this process considering the state of accessibility of memory representations. The performance of a group of epilepsy patients with left hippocampal sclerosis in a 12-item recognition task was compared with that of a healthy control group. We adopted an embedded model of WM that distinguishes three components: the activated LTM, the region of direct access, and a single-item focus of attention. Groups did not differ when retrieving information from single-item focus, but patients were less accurate retrieving information outside focal attention, either items from LTM or items expected to be in the WM range. Analyses focused on items held in the direct access buffer showed that consequences of MTL damage were modulated by the level of accessibility of memory representations, producing a reduced capacity.     

SAwSu: An Integrated Model of Associative and Reinforcement Learning

Successfully explaining and replicating the complexity and generality of human and animal learning will require the integration of a variety of learning mechanisms. Here, we introduce a computational model which integrates associative learning (AL) and reinforcement learning (RL). We contrast the integrated model with standalone AL and RL models in three simulation studies. First, a synthetic grid‐navigation task is employed to highlight performance advantages for the integrated model in an environment where the reward structure is both diverse and dynamic. The second and third simulations contrast the performances of the three models in behavioral experiments, demonstrating advantages for the integrated model in accounting for behavioral data.     

基于结构方程模型的多重中介效应分析

多重中介模型是指存在多个中介变量的模型。多重中介模型可以分析特定中介效应、总的中介效应和对比中介效应。指出了目前多重中介模型分析普遍存在的问题,包括分析不完整、使用Sobel检验带来的局限。建议通过增加辅助变量的方法进行完整的多重中介效应分析,使用偏差校正的Bootstrap方法进行中介检验。总结出一个多重中介SEM分析流程,并有示例和相应的MPLUS程序。随后展望了辅助变量和中介效应检验方法的发展方向。     

The Influence of Rater Effects in Training Sets on the Psychometric Quality of Automated Scoring for Writing Assessments

Automated essay scoring engines (AESEs) are becoming increasingly popular as an efficient method for performance assessments in writing, including many language assessments that are used worldwide. Before they can be used operationally, AESEs must be “trained” using machine-learning techniques that incorporate human ratings. However, the quality of the human ratings used to train the AESEs is rarely examined. As a result, the impact of various rater effects (e.g., severity and centrality) on the quality of AESE-assigned scores is not known. In this study, we use data from a large-scale rater-mediated writing assessment to examine the impact of rater effects on the quality of AESE-assigned scores. Overall, the results suggest that if rater effects are present in the ratings used to train an AESE, the AESE scores may replicate these effects. Implications are discussed in terms of research and practice related to automated scoring.     

汉语声调水平映射规则的内隐学习及其长度迁移效应

内隐学习领域关注的重要问题是被试能够习得何种结构及其相应的学习机制。远距离规则的研究为澄清这一问题提供了新的视角。现有研究已证实被试能够内隐地习得并迁移固定长度的远距离规则。按照内隐学习抽象性的观点,如果被试习得的是远距离的抽象规则本身,那么迁移也同时会发生在不同长度的材料上。因此,研究以独特的汉语声调水平映射规则为材料,通过对表面特征与底层规则之间的分离操作,探讨声调水平映射规则的内隐习得和长度迁移,结果表明被试不仅能够习得这一规则,还能够将该规则灵活迁移到不同长度的材料上,进一步为内隐学习的抽象性特点和无限性的学习机制提供强有力的新证据。     

自恋与心理健康:适应性自恋与病理性自恋的不同作用

目的:探讨适应性自恋与病理性自恋对个体心理健康的不同影响。方法:750名大学生完成了一套由自恋人格问卷(NPI)、病理性自恋量表(PNI)和症状自评量表(SCL-90)组成的测验。利用结构方程模型对变量间的关系进行分析。结果表明:病理性自恋的二阶因子自恋易损性对个体心理健康具有显著的负向预测作用,自恋易损性水平越高,个体心理健康水平越低。自恋夸大性和适应性自恋(自恋人格问卷,NPI)对心理健康的正向预测作用达到边缘显著,自恋夸大性和适应性自恋得分越高,心理健康水平越高。结论:病理性自恋的二阶因子自恋易损性对心理健康具有明显的破坏作用,而自恋夸大性和正常/适应性自恋可能对心理健康存在微弱的保护作用。     

Serotonin transporter 5-HTTLPR genotype is associated with intrusion and avoidance symptoms of DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Chinese earthquake survivors

Background and Objectives: Prior studies have found that the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) interacts with trauma exposure to increase general risk for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, there is little knowledge about the effects of the interaction on distinct symptom clusters of PTSD. This study aimed to investigate the relation between the interaction of 5-HTTLPR and earthquake-related exposures and a contemporary phenotypic model of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms in a traumatised adult sample from China.

Design: A cross-sectional design with gene-environment interaction (G?×?E) approach was adopted. Methods: Participants were 1131 survivors who experienced 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. PTSD symptoms were assessed with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism was genotyped with capillary electrophoresis (CE) in ABI 3730xl genetic Analyzer.

Results: Although there was no significant interaction between 5-HTTLPR and traumatic exposure on total PTSD symptoms, respondents with the LL genotype of 5-HTTLPR who were highly exposed to the earthquake experienced lower intrusion and avoidance symptoms than those with the S-allele carriers.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that the 5-HTTLPR may have an important impact on the development of PTSD and add to the extant knowledge on understanding and treating of posttraumatic psychopathology.