Influence of positive affect on the subjective utility of gains and losses: it is just not worth the risk

A modification of the procedure originally used by Davidson, Suppes, and Siegel (1956) to measure subjective utility was used to study the influence of positive affect on individuals' perceived value (utility) functions. Results indicated, as expected, that persons in whom positive affect had been induced showed a more negative subjective utility for losses than did controls. This indicates that losses seem worse to people who are feeling happy than to those in a control condition. The subjective utility functions of the two groups did not differ as much, however, when people were considering potential gain. Thus, at least in the situation tested in this study, potential gains did not seem to be more appealing (nor less so) for affect subjects than they did for controls. These findings are discussed in relation to theoretical issues in decision making and work suggesting that positive affect can promote increased sensitivity to losses in situations of potential meaningful loss.     

Testosterone intake and aggressiveness: Real effect or anticipation?

In a double-blind experiment, human males (n = 27) were given either testosterone (40 mg/day), placebo, or no treatment, over a one week period. Subjective and observer assessed mood estimations were conducted before and after treatment. Testosterone levels in saliva were measured with radioimmunoassay. The results revealed a significant placebo effect [c. f. Medicine and Science in Sports 4: 124–126]: After treatment, the placebo group scored higher than both the testosterone and the control group on self-estimated anger, irritation, impulsivity, and frustration. Observer-estimated mood yielded similar results. The lack of a placebo effect in the testosterone group is intriguing, and may be due to secondary effects caused by suppression of the body's own testosterone production, since recorded non-protein bound testosterone did not significantly rise due to treatment. The resultss suggest that androgen usage causes expectations, rather than an actual increase of aggressiveness. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Long-term, non-specific spinal pain: reliable and valid subgroups of patients

The aim of this study was to identify reliable and valid subgroups of spinal pain patients, using data from the Swedish version of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI-S). A second aim was to test the generalisability of the three patient profiles described in earlier studies on the MPI ("adaptive coper", "dysfunctional" and "interpersonally distressed" patients). The study base consisted of two samples of individuals suffering from long-term, non-specific spinal pain and the results were validated across these samples. Cluster analysis was used to detect distinct groups of patients and the validity of these subgroups was evaluated on variables not used to generate the cluster solution. One subgroup was characterised by lower pain severity, lower interference with everyday activities, lower affective distress and higher life control than the other two subgroups. This patient profile was similar to the MPI adaptive coper patients. A second subgroup resembled the dysfunctional patient profile, thus displaying a worse adjustment to chronic pain than the AC patients. The third patient group reported significantly lower levels of social support from "significant others" than the other subgroups. This patient profile was similar to that of the interpersonally distressed patient group. Taken together, the results support the reliability, validity and generalisability of three subgroups of chronic pain patients derived from the MPI-S.     

Time- and space-order effects in timed discrimination of brightness and size of paired visual stimuli

Despite the importance of both response probability and response time for testing models of choice, there is a dearth of chronometric studies examining systematic asymmetries that occur over time- and space-orders in the method of paired comparisons. In this study, systematic asymmetries in discriminating the magnitude of paired visual stimuli are examined by way of log odds ratios of binary responses as well as by signed response speed. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling is used to map response probabilities and response speed onto constituent psychological process, and processing capacity is also assessed using response time distribution hazard functions. The findings include characteristic order effects that change systematically in magnitude and direction with changes in the magnitude and separation of the stimuli. After Hellstr?m (1979, 2000), sensation weighting (SW) model analyses show that such order effects are reflected in the weighted accumulation of noisy information about the difference between stimulus values over time, and interindividual differences in weightings asymmetries are related to the relative processing capacity of participants. An account of SW based on the use of reference level information and maximization of signal-to-noise ratios is posited, which finds support from theoretically driven analyses of behavioral data.     

Measurement tool for preoperative anxiety in young children: The yale preoperative anxiety scale

To develop a preoperative anxiety scale (YPAS) for children undergoing surgery, 21 specific behaviors indicating anxiety were defined within five domains (activity, emotional expressivity, state of arousal, vocalization, and use of adults). A reliability Kappa analysis revealed that inter-observer agreement ranged from .66 to .94, while intra-observer Kappa ranged from .66 to .91. Validity analysis between a Visual Analog Scale and the YPAS revealed an r of .59 for entering the operating room. Multiserial analysis comparing the YPAS to the Vernon Anxiety Scale ranged from .61 to .64. Showing good to excellent observer reliability and validity, the YPAS proves to be an appropriate tool for studying children's responses in preoperative settings. As such, the new assessment instrument should be of interest to clinical and research neuropsychologists who need to assess a child's anxiety level prior to the undertaking of a given surgical procedure.     

The Effects On and Of Depression - An Exploratory Study of Rehabilitation and Secondary Prevention in Coronary Artery Disease

Forty consecutive participants in a comprehensive, behaviourally oriented coronary rehabilitation and secondary prevention program were followed for three years. Changes in depression (as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory) as well as the influence of baseline levels of depression on achieved changes in lifestyle behaviour and on rehabilitation and secondary prevention effects were analyzed. Subjects with moderate levels of baseline depression experienced short-term reductions of depression, which was maintained at the 12-month follow-up. Clinically depressed subjects experienced less positive results, with smaller immediate reductions as well as relapse to baseline levels after 12 months, specifically in non-physical, cognitive-affective depression symptoms. There were, however, no differences in lifestyle changes or in hospital treatment between groups with different pre-treatment depression levels. These results are discussed in relation to earlier research on the detrimental effects of depression on the prognosis of coronary artery disease.     

Examination of the processing speed account in a population-based longitudinal study with narrow age cohort design

The processing speed account suggests that general slowing of mental processing speed results in an overall decline, especially age-related decline, in other cognitive domains. Support for the speed account comes mainly from cross-sectional studies with participants that vary in age (age-heterogeneous samples). This study investigated how well variations in processing speed predict change of episodic recall in a longitudinal framework and examined with the Narrow Age Cohort (NAC) design. Data were obtained from Betula, a population-based longitudinal study. Both 5-year (n= 490; Time 3 - Time 4) and 10-year follow-up results (n= 608; Time 1 - Time 3) were used. In both samples, which were subjected to prospective dementia screening, we found considerably weaker associations in longitudinal data compared to cross-sectional, and also weaker associations in age-homogeneous than in age-heterogeneous samples. The results provide little support for the speed account.     

Influences of item organizability and semantic retrieval cues on word recall in very old age

Abstract

This research investigated the influence of organizational structure in the materials and category cues at retrieval on episodic memory performance in very old age. A community-based sample of healthy, very old adults (N = 224) between 75 and 96 years was presented with two lists of words: a list of semantically unrelated words and a list of words from four taxonomic categories randomly intermixed. Free recall was assessed for both tasks and, for the organizable list, subjects received a cued recall test as well. Results showed an overall age-related deterioration of memory performance, although the ability to utilize item organizability and retrieval cues remained intact across age. Evidence from data on memory performance, as well as analyses of the nature of organizable free recall, suggests that problems at both encoding and retrieval may underlie the age-related performance deficit. In addition, there were age-related increases in (a) forgetting between free and cued recall, and (b) intrusion errors. Finally, regression analyses indicated that, in addition to age, level of schooling as well as markers of general cognitive status (the Mini-Mental State Examination) and fluid intelligence (Block Design) accounted for performance variation across all memory tasks.     

Factors associated with physical spousal abuse of women during pregnancy in Bangladesh

CONTEXT: Violence toward pregnant women is a gross violation of human rights with adverse health consequences for the woman and potentially for her fetus; however, few studies have examined factors associated with such abuse in developing countries or with population-based data. METHODS: A sample of 2,553 ever-pregnant women aged 15-49 from one urban and one rural site in Bangladesh were surveyed in 2001 as part of a World Health Organization multicountry study. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was used to examine factors associated with physical spousal abuse of women during pregnancy. RESULTS: Urban and rural women whose mother or mother-in-law had experienced physical spousal abuse had increased odds of experiencing abuse during pregnancy (odds ratios, 2.1-3.4); increased spousal communication was negatively associated with the outcome in both settings (0.6 and 0.7). Among urban women, being older than 19, having a husband with more than 10 years of education and being from certain higher income quartiles were negatively associated with abuse (0.2-0.5); living in a community highly concerned about crime was positively associated with abuse (1.1). Among rural women, being able to depend on natal family support in a crisis was negatively associated with abuse (0.5); being in a marriage that involved dowry demands and being Muslim were positively associated with abuse (1.8 and 3.6, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The message that a family history of spousal violence increases a daughter's risk of such abuse should be widely communicated. Further research is needed to determine whether increased couple communication reduces the likelihood of violence or whether absence of violence leads to increased couple communication.     

An “open-transformed scale” for correcting ceiling effects and enhancing retest reliability: The example of pain

The use of closed scales (with anchors at each end) to measure pain was found to produce ceiling effects characterized by a deceleration of ratings toward the upper end of the scale. This was consistent with previous research. Apart from producing nonlinear functions, the closed scale also limited test-retest reliability because of subjects’ tendencies to correct their distorted ratings in subsequent trials. However, an open-ended scale coupled with transformation of reported ratings into a decile scale virtually eliminated the ceiling effect, thus producing consistently linear functions and maximizing test-retest reliability. This finding may have implications for the measurement of other sensory and psychological phenomena, especially those in which the property evaluated varies in a continuous fashion.