A Comparison of Homeless Male Veterans in Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas in Nebraska: A Methodological Caveat

This study explored differences between homeless male veterans in metropolitan and micropolitan cities in Nebraska on sociodemographic, housing, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics as well as health service use. A convenience sample of 151 homeless male veterans (112 metropolitan, 39 micropolitan) were recruited from Veterans Affairs facilities and area shelters in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, and Hastings in Nebraska. Research staff conducted structured interviews with homeless veterans. Results showed that compared to homeless veterans in metropolitans, those in micropolitans were more likely to be White, unmarried, living in transitional settings, and were far more transient but reported greater social support and housing satisfaction. Veterans in micropolitans also reported more medical problems, diagnoses of anxiety and personality disorders, and unexpectedly, were more likely to report using various health services and less travel time for services. Together, these findings suggest access to homeless and health services for veterans in micropolitan areas may be facilitated through Veterans Affairs facilities and community providers that work in close proximity to one another. Many homeless veterans in these areas are transient, making them a difficult population to study and serve. Innovative ways to provide outreach to homeless veterans in micropolitan and more rural areas are needed.     

Positional Goods and the Social Rank Hypothesis: Income Inequality Affects Online Chatter about High‐ and Low‐Status Brands on Twitter

According to a social rank hypothesis, consumers who live in regions with higher income inequality will show greater interest in, and attention toward, positional goods and high‐status brands that serve a social signaling role. We analyze millions of posts on the microblogging platform Twitter for mentions of high‐ and low‐status brands. We find that luxury brands such as “Louis Vuitton” and “Rolex” are more frequently mentioned in tweets originating from US states, counties, and major metropolitan areas with higher levels of income inequality. In contrast, mentions of everyday brands such as “Walmart” or “Kmart” are more frequent in regions with a more equal distribution of income. Using sentiment analysis, we find higher valence (positivity) and arousal (excitement) for tweets that both mention high‐status brands and originate from regions with high levels of income inequality. These results corroborate the social rank hypothesis, showing that more psychological resources are allocated to positional consumption when the income gap between the rich and the poor is larger.     

Prescribing conventional antipsychotics at two Veterans Administration hospitals: are there geographical differences?

The medical records of 110 patients receiving conventional antipsychotics at two geographically distinct Veterans Administration hospitals (Syracuse, New York, and Omaha, Nebraska) were reviewed. The most common reasons for continuation of conventional antipsychotics were good response and patient or physician choice. Frequently, physicians did not discuss the reasons for continuing conventional antipsychotics or the availability of alternative therapies with their patients. Geographic differences in physicians' prescribing practices of conventional antipsychotics were apparent.     

Effects of g‐Loading and Time Lag on Retesting in Job Selection

Understanding influence on and effects of retesting is important to the selection practitioner. This article examines retesting effects on a series of selection measures for mechanically related positions to extend research that has been conducted in more controlled environments. While validity was not significantly different on retesting, time between test attempts and score increase on Spatial Reasoning were positively related, indicating the possibility of learning effects. Lower score increases were found for highly g‐loaded measures, and individuals who showed an increase scored more highly on average on their first attempt. Men tended to increase their scores more than women. We close with a discussion of the practical implications of our findings and how to build on them with future research.     

The dynamics of bidirectional thought

High-level judgement and decision-making tasks display dynamic bidirectional relationships in which salient cues determine how responses are evaluated by decision-makers, and these responses in turn determine the cues that are considered. In this paper, we propose Kosko's bidirectional associative memory (BAM) network, a minimal two-layer recurrent neural network, as a mathematically tractable toy model with which the properties of existing bidirectional models, and the behavioural implications of these properties, can be studied. We first derive results regarding the dynamics of the BAM network, and then show how these results can be used to provide an analytically sound explanation for a number of important findings, including coherence shifts in judgement and choice, anchoring effects, and reference point effects.     

Psychopathology in Children with Thalassemia Major

The present work investigated the prevalence and spectrum of psychopathology in children with thalassemia. Childhood psychopathology measurement schedule (CPMS), adapted from Child Behavior Checklist was administered on children with thalassemia major receiving regular blood transfusion. Age and sex matched children with other chronic illness (bronchial asthma) served as controls. 46.7% of children with thalassemia had a CPMS score of > 10 as against 17.1% in the control group. Children with thalassemia had higher scores in factors of conduct problems, special symptoms and somatization. This study highlights the significantly higher psychopathology in children with thalassemia major and emphasizes the need for psychosocial support during treatment.     

Exploring Perspectives on the Hiring of School Counsellors: from Directive to Direction

Currently, there is no national framework or standardized procedure for the selection and recruitment of counsellors for schools in India. Hiring as a practice aids the selection of a professional counsellor in alignment with the needs of the school. In order to bring this area into research focus, the present study employs a qualitative design to explore perspectives of five school principals and five school counsellors on the hiring of prospective school counsellors. In-depth interviews were conducted with the participants, and data collected were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings describe reasons underlying the hiring of school counsellors, the criteria that are used to guide selection, the process of hiring itself and issues currently encountered during selection. They indicate a need for structured formal guidelines for selection and recruitment of school counsellors at the school and policy level. On the basis of findings, a checklist is presented to serve as an initial guide in the hiring process in the absence of a defined system of selection and recruitment.     

Emotion,romantic involvement,and loneliness: Gender differences among inner states and choice of entertainment

Four hundred and four undergraduates (85% upper middle class Caucasian, 4% Black, remainder Asian and Hispanic) at a private northeastern university were surveyed regarding their personal relationship status, loneliness, and affect states during the two-week period preceding the survey, and choice of entertainment during that period. Results indicated that for females, the state of a love relationship and feelings of loneliness are related to choice of media entertainment, but affect is not. For males, negative affect was a predictor of several categories of media use.     

Confirmatory Search and Asymmetric Dominance

Decision makers use confirmatory search strategies in judgment tasks. As a result of this, their attention towards task‐relevant cues is biased in favor of cues supporting available responses. Changing these responses can alter the cues used in the judgment task and, subsequently, alter beliefs. We use this mechanism to predict and explain the emergence of the asymmetric dominance effect in judgment. In four sets of experiments, we document systematic changes in belief, as dominated options are added to the response set. These effects emerge for a number of naturalistic judgment tasks and are mediated by the increased accessibility of decoy‐supporting cues. Finally, these effects can be eliminated when the decision maker's attention is drawn towards the cues supporting the non‐dominant response. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.