Validity of the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) in screening for eating disorders in community samples

In order to examine the concurrent and criterion validity of the questionnaire version of the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE-Q), self-report and interview formats were administered to a community sample of women aged 18-45 (n = 208). Correlations between EDE-Q and EDE subscales ranged from 0.68 for Eating Concern to 0.78 for Shape Concern. Scores on the EDE-Q were significantly higher than those of the EDE for all subscales, with the mean difference ranging from 0.25 for Restraint to 0.85 for Shape Concern. Frequency of both objective bulimic episodes (OBEs) and subjective bulimic episodes (SBEs) was significantly correlated between measures. Chance-corrected agreement between EDE-Q and EDE ratings of the presence of OBEs was fair, while that for SBEs was poor. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, based on a sample of 13 cases, indicated that a score of 2.3 on the global scale of the EDE-Q in conjunction with the occurrence of any OBEs and/or use of exercise as a means of weight control, yielded optimal validity coefficients (sensitivity = 0.83, specificity = 0.96, positive predictive value = 0.56). A stepwise discriminant function analysis yielded eight EDE-Q items which best distinguished cases from non-cases, including frequency of OBEs, use of exercise as a means of weight control, use of self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives and guilt about eating. The EDE-Q has good concurrent validity and acceptable criterion validity. The measure appears well-suited to use in prospective epidemiological studies.     

The factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index among Northern Plains Native Americans

Within our current research climate, an emphasis has been placed on examining the cross-cultural applicability of psychological tools, and exploring their utility with people of different backgrounds. Within this line of investigation lies the risk of classifying people too broadly and masking important regional, tribal, or dialectical differences. This may be particularly potent among Native Americans, given the number of distinct indigenous entities. This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index with a tribally homogeneous sample, as compared to previous tribally-heterogeneous and majority culture findings. Results suggested that data from a homogeneous Native American sample poorly fit factor solutions reported from heterogeneous Native American and Caucasian samples, and favored a unifactorial solution. Implications for assessment with Native American peoples are discussed.     

Matching: its acquisition and generalization

Choice typically is studied by exposing organisms to concurrent variable-interval schedules in which not only responses controlled by stimuli on the key are acquired but also switching responses and likely other operants as well. In the present research, discriminated key-pecking responses in pigeons were first acquired using a multiple schedule that minimized the reinforcement of switching operants. Then, choice was assessed during concurrent-probe periods in which pairs of discriminative stimuli were presented concurrently. Upon initial exposure to concurrently presented stimuli, choice approximated exclusive preference for the alternative associated with the higher reinforcement frequency. Concurrent schedules were then implemented that gave increasingly greater opportunities for switching operants to be conditioned. As these operants were acquired, the relation of relative response frequency to relative reinforcement frequency converged toward a matching relation. An account of matching with concurrent schedules is proposed in which responding exclusively to the discriminative stimulus associated with the higher reinforcement frequency declines as the concurrent stimuli become more similar and other operants-notably switching-are acquired and generalize to stimuli from both alternatives. The concerted effect of these processes fosters an approximate matching relation in commonly used concurrent procedures.     

Measuring Qualitative Aspects of Preschool Boys' Noncompliance: The Response Style Questionnaire (RSQ)

Child noncompliance is a core maladjustment factor in current clinical models of aggression and antisocial development. However, little is known about the relations among qualitative aspects of child noncompliance and aggressive maladjustment. The authors developed the Response Style Questionnaire, an instrument designed to measure the multidimensional qualities of child noncompliance, and tested its validity and reliability. Tests of internal validity provided a five-factor solution, featuring distinctions in noncompliance quality between and among skilled noncompliance (verbally skilled and emotionally regulated) and unskilled noncompliance (overt/confrontational, covert/sneaky, and emotionally labile). Theory-driven tests of external validity using peer-adjustment variables as criteria provided discriminant prediction (a) among qualitatively distinct aspects of noncompliance and (b) between noncompliance qualities and rate. Discussion focuses on a modified view of the nature and role of noncompliance in aggressive and antisocial development.     

Distractor effect on the latent inhibition of conditioned flavor aversion in rats

Using a conditioned flavor aversion procedure with rats as subjects, the effect of the addition of a distractor stimulus on the magnitude of the latent inhibition effect was examined. Experiment 1 showed that latent inhibition to vinegar was attenuated by the addition of sucrose during preexposure. On the other hand, sucrose added during conditioning to vinegar did not attenuate latent inhibition. It was also found that the degree of latent inhibition to the vinegar-sucrose compound solution was less when vinegar alone was preexposed (i.e., when sucrose was added only during conditioning) than when the compound solution was preexposed (i.e., when sucrose was added both during preexposure and during conditioning). Experiment 2 gave similar results but with sucrose assigned as the target flavor and vinegar as the distractor. These findings are in full agreement with the generalization decrement account of latent inhibition.     

组织变革背景下团队主动性的结构与测量

旨在探索组织变革背景下团队主动性行为的结构,并开发出相应的测量工具。首先对20家企业的27位高管进行了深度访谈,然后按照扎根理论思路对获取资料进行细致分析,探索团队主动性的结构,再按照严格的心理测量学程序开发团队主动性的测量问卷,并以来自60家企业的70个团队（共292位成员）为对象进行了测验。研究发现：团队主动性的主要维度包括群策、协作和适应。经过探索性因素分析和验证性因素分析,结果表明测量工具有着良好的信度和构思效度。     

THE INFLUENCE OF MOTIVATING OPERATIONS ON GENERALIZATION PROBES OF SPECIFIC MANDS BY CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

We investigated the influence of motivating operations on the generalization of newly taught mands across settings and communication partners for 3 children with autism. Two conditions were implemented prior to generalization probes. In the first condition, participants were given access to a preferred item until they rejected the item (i.e., abolishing operation). In the second condition, the item was not available to participants prior to generalization probes (i.e., establishing operation). The effects of these conditions on the generalization of newly taught mands were evaluated in a multielement design. Results indicated differentiated responding during generalization probes in which more manding with the target mand was observed following the presession no‐access condition than in the presession access condition. These results support the consideration of motivating operations when assessing generalization of target mands to various untrained contexts.     

Relational learning in a context of transposition: a review

In a typical transposition task, an animal is presented with a single pair of stimuli (for example, S3+ S4−, where plus and minus denote reward and nonreward and digits denote stimulus location on a sensory dimension such as size). Subsequently, an animal is presented with a testing pair that contains a previously reinforced or nonreinforced stimulus and a novel stimulus (for example, S2–S3 and S4–S5). Does the choice of a novel S2 instead of previously reinforced S3 in a testing pair S2–S3 indicate that the animal has learned a relation (i.e., “select smaller”)? This review of empirical evidence and theoretical accounts shows that an organism''s behavior in a transposition task is undoubtedly influenced by prior reinforcement history of the training stimuli (Spence, 1937). However, it is also affected by two other factors that are relational in nature—a similarity of two testing stimuli to each other and an overall similarity of the testing pair as a whole to the training pair as a whole. The influence of the two latter factors is especially evident in studies that use multiple pairs of training stimuli and a wide range of testing pairs comprising nonadjacent stimuli (Lazareva, Miner, Young, & Wasserman, 2008; Lazareva, Wasserman, & Young, 2005). In sum, the evidence suggests that both prior reinforcement history and relational information affect an animal''s behavior in a typical transposition task.     

The interaction of temporal generalization gradients predicts the context effect

In a temporal double bisection task, animals learn two discriminations. In the presence of Red and Green keys, responses to Red are reinforced after 1-s samples and responses to Green are reinforced after 4-s samples; in the presence of Blue and Yellow keys, responses to Blue are reinforced after 4-s samples and responses to Yellow are reinforced after 16-s samples. Subsequently, given a choice between Green and Blue, the probability of choosing Green increases with the sample duration-the context effect. In the present study we asked whether this effect could be predicted from the stimulus generalization gradients induced by the two basic discriminations. Six pigeons learned to peck Green following 4-s samples (S(+)) but not following 1-s samples (S(-)) and to peck Red following 4-s samples (S(+)) but not following 16-s samples (S(-)). Temporal generalization gradients for Green and Red were then obtained. Finally, the pigeons were given a choice between Green and Red following sample durations ranging from 1 to 16 s. Results showed that a) the two generalization gradients had the minimum at the S(-) duration, an intermediate value between the S(-) and the S(+) durations, and the maximum at the S(+) as well as more extreme durations; b) on choice trials, preference for Green over Red increased with sample duration, the context effect; and c) the two generalization gradients predicted the average context effect well. The Learning-to-Time model accounts for the major trends in the data.