Internet use in the contemporary media environment

Although a significant amount of research has focused on traditional media choice and use, and even on some ‘new’ media, these studies have either neglected the Internet and World Wide Web or were conducted prior to their recent popularity. This study offers a novel exploration of individuals' use of three Internet functions (information retrieval, information giving, and conversation capabilities) in the context of the use of other communication media. Data from 684 individuals demonstrate that the Internet is a multidimensional technology used in a manner similar to other, more traditional media. Specifically, conversation features of the Internet align with mediated interpersonal technologies (the telephone and electronic mail), whereas the Internet's information‐retrieval and information‐giving features are used in ways similar to mass media channels (newspapers, television, and books and magazines). In addition, needs fulfilled by these channels cluster in ways consistent with past research, regardless of the technologies employed to meet them.     

In Vivo Hippocampal Acetylcholine Release During Exposure to Acute Stress

Hippocampal extracellular acetylcholine (ACh) and choline levels were evaluated using in vivo microdialysis in male Fischer 344 rats before, during, and following an 80-min exposure to two different stress conditions. Measurements were taken in rats restrained and immersed in a water bath containing either 37 degreesC (normothermic-restraint) or 20 degreesC (cold-restraint) water. Results were compared to normothermic-freely-moving rats. Cold-restrained rats displayed decreased ACh levels during cold exposure relative to both normothermic-restrained and normothermic-freely-moving rats. By the end of the cold exposure period and following removal from cold, ACh levels had returned to near-baseline values. Normothermic-restrained rats had levels similar to those of normothermic-freely-moving rats, except for a marked increase in ACh following removal from restraint. Cold-restrained rats displayed a gradual elevation in choline levels during cold stress, followed by a gradual decline after stress termination, whereas both normothermic-restrained and normothermic-freely-moving rats displayed gradual decreases during the microdialysis session. These findings demonstrate that central cholinergic neurotransmission can be altered by the application of, and removal from, acute stressors. In addition, the results suggest a possible relationship between the magnitudes of both the stressor and its cholinergic consequences.     

Impulsivity, anger, and psychopathy: the moderating effect of ethnicity

The present research tested the four-factor Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) latent variable model for structural invariance across ethnicity in a large sample of civil psychiatric patients. In addition, it also examined how Barratt (1994) impulsivity and Novaco (1994) anger latent variables were related to the psychopathy dimensions within and across ethnicity. The data were analyzed with Mplus (Muthen & Muthen, 2001), and results indicated that the four-factor model was invariant across Caucasian and African American males in terms of both item factor loadings and thresholds. However, differential relations between the external correlates and the psychopathy dimensions were found across groups, suggesting that the association between impulsivity and psychopathy may be moderated by ethnicity.     

Clamped Corticosterone (B) Reveals the Effect of Endogenous B on Both Facilitated Responsivity to Acute Restraint and Metabolic Responses to Chronic Stress

To determine the effects of both corticosterone (B) and chronic stressors on acute ACTH responses to restraint, young male rats were exposed to streptozotocin-induced diabetes, cold (5-7 degreesC) or intracerebroventricular (icv) neuropeptide Y (NPY) for 5 d and then exposed to restraint within 2 h after lights on. Two groups of rats were studied: intact and adrenalectomized replaced with B pellets that maintained plasma B in the normal mean 24-h range of intact rats. In addition to ACTH and B responses to restraint on d 5, body weight, food intake, fat depots, glucose and other hormones were measured to determine the role of stress-induced elevations in B on energy balance. ACTH responses to restraint were normal in intact rats subjected to diabetes or cold. By contrast, there was no ACTH or B response to restraint in NPY-infused intact rats. All 3 groups of chronically stimulated adrenalectomized rats with clamped B had facilitated ACTH responses to restraint compared to their treatment controls. Overall food intake increased in all groups of stressed rats; however, augmented intake occurred only during the light in intact rats and equally in the light and dark in B-clamped rats. White adipose depot weights were decreased by both diabetes and cold and increased by NPY in intact rats; the decreases with cold and increases with NPY were both blunted and changes in fat stores were not significant in adrenalectomized, B-clamped rats. We conclude that: 1. diabetes- and cold-induced facilitation of restraint-induced afferent input to hypothalamic control of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is opposed in intact rats by the elevated feedback signal of B secretion; 2. NPY does not induce facilitation of afferent stress pathways; 3. chronic stimulation of the HPA axis induces acute hyperresponsiveness of hypothalamic neurons to restraint provided that the afferent input of this acute stimulus is not prevented by B feedback; 4. stimulus-induced elevations in B secretion result in day-time feeding; 5. insensitivity of both caloric efficiency and white fat stores to chronic stress in adrenalectomized, B-clamped rats results from loss of normally variable B levels.     

The Internet is a scary place: How does evidence source and examinee race or ethnicity influence determinations of threat?

Violent rhetoric online is becoming increasingly relevant to the practice of forensic mental health assessment as examinee's virtual lives may transform into real-world acts of violence. With the rise of a diverse subculture of violent online communities, the aim of the present study was to inform how concerns with online sources of collateral data and racial/ethnic biases may influence determinations of violence potential. Using an experimental design, jury-eligible participants (N = 278) and forensic mental health experts (N = 78) were presented with mock Twitter (now referred to as X) posts that varied by data source (i.e., how information was accessed) and the examinee's race/ethnicity. Results showed no differences in participants' ratings of data credibility, how much weight they would place on the posts in a threat assessment, or how likely the examinee was to act violently against his intended target. Implications regarding the interpretation of social media evidence, relevant limitations, and future research are discussed.     

Screening for adolescent psychopathy among at-risk youth: initial validation of the Survey of Attitudes and Life Experiences

Psychopathic youth pose special challenges to clinicians in providing effective treatment and safe management. Because comprehensive assessments of psychopathy are time intensive and require specialized training, programmatic research is needed to develop time-efficient and useful screens that eliminate from further consideration acting-out adolescents who are unlikely to be psychopathic. The clinical utility of the Survey of Attitudes and Life Erperiences as a psychopathy screen was investigated by combining three samples of adolescent offenders (total N = 223). Its primary purpose was the identification of nonpsychopaths who were distinguished from adolescents in either the mixed or psychopathic ranges. A Psychopathy Screen (PS) Scale was developed with 24-item (PS-24) and 11-item (PS-11) versions. Both appeared moderately effective in excluding nonpsychopaths from further evaluation. Preliminary data on response styles suggest that these scales are not susceptible to social desirability.     

Psychopathy and behavioral correlates of victim injury in serious juvenile offenders

The study examines delinquent behavior and psychopathy and assesses their relationship to victim injury in a population of 168 incarcerated juvenile delinquent males with lengthy histories of criminal and violent behavior. A series of multiple regressions found that 17% of the variance associated with level of victim injury was accounted for by a model that included the three-factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version [Forth, Kosson, and Hare, 2003], criminal versatility, and age of onset of criminal offending. Notably, anger and DSM-IV symptoms of conduct disorder were not related to level of victim injury. The results of this study support an escalation hypothesis where individuals with earlier onset to criminal behavior and greater criminal versatility escalate to more severe violence. The current results demonstrate the importance of integrating established theories of juvenile delinquency when explaining severe violence in youth.     

Intercultural Study of Personal Space: A Case Study

The study of intercultural differences in personal space attempts to identify factors that could be helpful in guiding people from different cultures to live and work together in international ventures. The objective of this research was to measure interpersonal distance in a cross-cultural environment. Twenty-three participants classified in 4 cultural groups answered an 11-questions interview where the personal distance and orientation between seated interactants were measured. Results showed that Anglo Saxons used the largest zone of personal space, followed by Asians, then Caucasians, and, as expected, Mediterraneans and Latinos used the shortest distance. Where Latinos adopt a face-to-face position, Caucasians tend to orient themselves to the side of the interviewer, which has an impact on interpersonal communication.     

Testing factor models of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version and their association with instrumental aggression

Although there is a documented link between psychopathy and instrumental violence in adult offenders, the association between these constructs has not garnered significant attention in adolescent offenders. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between psychopathy and instrumental aggression in a sample of 122 male adolescents incarcerated in a state facility for serious and chronic offenders. We evaluated the primary (2-, 3-, and 4-factor) models of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003) and assessed their relationship to a separate 5-item measure of instrumental violence. CFA revealed good model fit for the 3- and 4-factor latent variable models of adolescent psychopathy and a single-factor model reflecting a 5-item measure of instrumental violence. Structural equation modeling results indicate that the 4-factor model accounted for 20% of the variance for instrumental violence. In contrast, the 3-factor model of the PCL:YV accounted for 8%, and the 2-factor model accounted for 5% of the variance associated with instrumental violence.     

Faking psychopathy? An examination of response styles with antisocial youth

Psychopaths frequently con and manipulate others in an attempt to achieve their own objectives. In the current literature, correlational research has generally found that psychopathy has (a) an inverse relation with social desirability and (b) a positive relation with malingering. Although instructive, these correlational data do not address whether the assessment of psychopathy is vulnerable to specific response styles. This study examined 2 response styles among adolescent offenders in the context of pending adjudication: social desirability and social nonconformity. On 3 measures of psychopathy (i.e., Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version, Psychopathy Screening Device, and Self-Report of Psychopathy-Second Edition), a simulation design was employed with a realistic scenario, incentives for successful deception, and appropriate manipulation checks. Results indicated moderate to large effect sizes for social desirability and large effect sizes for social nonconformity. The implications of these results for the clinical assessment of psychopathy are discussed.