Observing behavior and atypically restricted stimulus control

Restricted stimulus control refers to discrimination learning with atypical limitations in the range of controlling stimuli or stimulus features. In the study reported here, 4 normally capable individuals and 10 individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) performed two-sample delayed matching to sample. Sample-stimulus observing was recorded with an eye-tracking apparatus. High accuracy scores indicated stimulus control by both sample stimuli for the 4 nondisabled participants and 4 participants with ID, and eye tracking data showed reliable observing of all stimuli. Intermediate accuracy scores indicated restricted stimulus control for the remaining 6 participants. Their eye-tracking data showed that errors were related to failures to observe sample stimuli and relatively brief observing durations. Five of these participants were then given interventions designed to improve observing behavior. For 4 participants, the interventions resulted initially in elimination of observing failures, increased observing durations, and increased accuracy. For 2 of these participants, contingencies sufficient to maintain adequate observing were not always sufficient to maintain high accuracy; subsequent procedure modifications restored it, however. For the 5th participant, initial improvements in observing were not accompanied by improved accuracy, an apparent instance of observing without attending; accuracy improved only after an additional intervention that imposed contingencies on observing behavior. Thus, interventions that control observing behavior seem necessary but may not always be sufficient for the remediation of restricted stimulus control.     

Psychometric characteristics of the Italian Clinical Depression Questionnaire using a 5-point rating scale with undergraduates

The aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of a proposed experimental version of the 1979 Italian adaptation of the Clinical Depression Questionnaire (Krug & Laughlin, 1976). This version is composed of an increased number of choice alternatives (5 instead of 3), tested with 240 Italian undergraduates. An exploratory item-factor analysis yielded one factor, which accounted for 28.2% of the variance. Analysis of the relationship between this version and an experimental one in 2002 of the 1979 Italian edition of the Anxiety Scale Questionnaire showed the corrective factor was not effective in increasing the discriminative power of the questionnaire for anxiety.     

Observing Behavior Topography in Delayed Matching to Multiple Samples

The Psychological Record - This study examined relations between eye movements and accuracy scores in a delayed matching-to-sample procedure with multiple sample stimuli. Four adult humans...     

Emotion recognition and expression in young obese participants: preliminary study

This study of the presence of alexithymic characteristics in obese adolescents and preadolescents tested the hypothesis of whether they showed impaired recognition and expression of emotion. The sample included 30 obese young participants and a control group of 30 participants of normal weight for their ages. Stimuli, 42 faces representing seven emotional expressions, were shown to participants who identified the emotion expressed in the face. The Level of Emotional Awareness Scale was adapted for children to evaluate their ability to describe their emotions. Young obese participants had significantly lower scores than control participants, but no differences were found in recognition of emotion. The lack of words to describe emotions might suggest a greater prevalence of alexithymic characteristics in the obese participants, but the hypothesis of a general deficit in the processing of emotional experiences was not supported.     

Food Cravings Questionnaire–Trait (FCQ–T) Discriminates Between Obese and Overweight Patients With and Without Binge Eating Tendencies: The Italian Version of the FCQ–T

Food craving (FC) might play an important role in the course of eating disorders and obesity. The question of its measurement has particular importance in relation to the dramatic growth in obesity rates and its relevance for public health. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Food Cravings Questionnaire–Trait (FCQ–T) in overweight and obese patients who were attending weight loss programs, and its efficiency in discriminating patients with binge eating. Participants were 497 (411 women, 86 men) overweight and obese patients in treatment with low-energy diet therapy. We used structural equation modeling to compare 3 factor models tested in previous studies (a 6-factor model, an 8-factor model, and a 9-factor model), which indicated that the 9-factor model has a better fit over the competing models. The FCQ–T had good internal consistency (Cronbach's α of.96 for the total score, and between.76 and.92 for subfactors), and was able to discriminate patients with clinical-level binge eating from those with probable and without binge eating with an efficiency of.74 (sensitivity =.64, specificity =.78). FCQ–T scores were sensitive to changes associated with treatment only for patients who started dietary restriction between the baseline and the follow-up assessment, but not for patients who were already observing dietary restrictions at the time of the baseline assessment. These results suggest that the FCQ–T could be a potentially useful measure for the screening of binge eating problems in overweight and obese patients while in treatment.     

Factor Validity of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in Italian Medical Patients

The aim of the present study was to assess the factor structure of the Italian version of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) in a large sample of patients with medical conditions, comparing four different models proposed previously in the literature. Participants were 514 Italian adult patients with diagnoses of chronic daily headache, type 1 (insulin-dependent) or type 2 diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, open-angle glaucoma, human immunodeficiency virus infection, and women admitted for childbirth to a Department of Fetal–Maternal Medicine. All the patients were administered the BHS during routine visits. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to compare four models using several fit indices. The one-construct two-method model (i.e., the BHS measures one substantive hopelessness construct plus artifacts due to negative–positive item polarity) had the best fit indices and was more parsimonious than other models. The BHS seems to be a unidimensional measure of hopelessness, although there may be artifacts due to item polarity (i.e., positively and negatively worded items). Hopelessness scores differed in patients with particular medical diseases, with higher scores in conditions such as chronic daily headache and diabetes, and lower scores in patients positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and with open-angle glaucoma or epilepsy.     

Measurement of External Shame: An Inside View

The aims of this study were to investigate the construct validity of the Other as Shamer scale (OAS) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and to examine the psychometric properties of its Italian version in a sample of 687 nonclinical individuals. The CFA results indicated that the hypothesized hierarchical model (with 1 higher order factor and 3 first-order factors) was the best fitting solution. Cronbach's alpha indexes, as well as test–retest stability, provided satisfactory results. Correlations of the OAS total score and its subscales with the Beck Depression Inventory–II (rs = .30–.48) and the Teate Depression Inventory (rs = .32–.45) were both substantial and significant (p < .01). Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to indicate sensitivity and specificity of the OAS and its subscales when determining those nonclinical subjects who met clinical thresholds for depression symptoms. A series of cutoff scores for the OAS scale and its subscales was developed, with sensitivity values between .70 and .62, and specificity values between .71 and .62, indicating good to fair discrimination between the 2 groups (depressed vs. nondepressed). The theoretical and practical implications of these results were discussed.