Cardiac change as an index of attention.

Conducted a study with undergraduates in which 7 experimental Ss clinically evaluated segments of a therapy protocol on the basis of specific verbal cues, and 9 controls made the same evaluation with no awareness of the clues. All Ss were monitored for heart rate while listening to the protocol and while making their judgments. All Ss showed lower and less variable heart rate during periods when they were listening to the clinical segments than during periods when they were making a clinical decision. The experimental group showed greater awareness of the verbal clues, but presence of clue was not associated with change in either mean or variability of heart rate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-ideal congruence as an index of adjustment.

"A test of the theoretical assumptions and the methods upon which the conventional Q sort tests was made using several criteria of adjustment. The results tended to support the theoretical assumptions underlying the Q sort as currently utilized. Although certain criticisms of the procedures involved are not thereby completely invalidated, it would appear that they are not sufficiently serious to justify abandoning either the method or the assumptions supporting the method." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The orienting response as an index of stimulus associability in rats.

The strength of the orienting response (OR) to a light and its associability was studied in three experiments. In Experiment 1, three groups of rats received serial conditioning in which the light served as the first element of a serial compound. For Group Diff the light was followed by a conditioned stimulus (CS) of 10-s duration on some trials and by a different CS of 30-s duration on others. For the other groups, the light was also followed by a different stimuli, but these had equivalent durations. This procedure resulted in stronger OR toward the light in Group Diff than in either of the other groups. In Experiments 2 and 3 the OR was stronger to a light that was followed by a 10-s CS on some trials and on a 30-s CS on others than to one that was followed by different CSs that were both randomly either 10 s or 30 s. Following this training, both excitatory and inhibitory conditioning with the light was faster in those groups for which the light elicited a strong rather than a weak OR. These results are most readily explained by the proposal that the strength of the OR toward a CS is determined by the accuracy with which the value of its immediate consequences can be predicted and that this OR can be used as an index of the associability of the CS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Random monotone data fit simple algebraic models: Correlation is not confirmation.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 105(2) of Psychological Bulletin (see record 2008-10620-001). Information was inadvertently left out of the author note on page 417. The information that should have been included in the author note is provided in the erratum.] Evaluation of the fit of a data set to an algebraic model often relies on the squared correlation coefficient (r–2). Algebraic models commonly prescribe functions between two variables that are monotonic. We created data sets that are monotonic but otherwise random and computed their r–2 values. These values are shown to far exceed those for data sets not constrained to be monotonic. We tabulated selected cumulants of the distribution of r–2 for monotone data fit to two common models, linear and power functions, for several conditions of randomness for data sets comprising 3, 9, and 15 points. Random monotone data fit all these functions well. The common experimental practices of averaging several sets of data and using regular spacing in the values of the independent variable both tend to produce slight additional improvements in fit. Consideration of these results reveals that correlation alone is inadequate to test the fit of monotone data to algebraic models. Some helpful auxiliary techniques are recommended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Food preferences as an index or orality.

A self-report questionnaire dealing with food preferences (Food Preference Inventory—FPI) was proposed as a measure of Ss' contemporaneous position in respect to oral-passive vs. oral-sadistic involvement. The measure was pretested and through an item analysis found to be internally consistent enough to be utilized. The questionnaire was expanded and retested on new Ss to guarantee its stability and to increase its discriminatory potential. Finally it was subjected to validation by contrasting the scores of a group of Ss thought to be high on oral passivity (alcoholics) vs. a normal control group and by correlating it with their orality trait scores. The FPI was found to be fairly reliable and yielded data in agreement with the 2 validation predictions. It was concluded that food preferences as measured by the inventory offer a valid means of assessing an individual's position in regard to orality. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication length as an index of communicator attitude: A replication.

Attempted a replication of a study by A. Mehrabian (see 40:2) who extended studies of speech behavior to apply to letters of recommendation. 69 undergraduates were asked to write 2 letters, both positive. For the 1st letter they were asked to assume strong liking for the person they were describing; for the 2nd letter they were to assume strong dislike for the person being described. Mehrabian's Ss wrote significantly more words in the 1st letters. The replication fully confirms his results. These findings suggest that the written channel of communication may be as sensitive a mirror of S's underlying attitudinal state as earlier research had revealed was the case with the spoken channel of communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal imprecision as an index of knowledge in transition.

Children can be verbally imprecise when they are learning, but this phenomenon is not well documented. Verbal imprecision, anecdotally referred to as "hemming and hawing," may be indexed by restatements, comments on one's lack of knowledge, deletions of sentence constituents, and pauses. The authors examined whether they could quantify indexes of verbal imprecision and use them to predict changes in problem-solving performance. Four types of verbal imprecision were found to predict improved performance. Results were used to make inferences about processes of knowledge change. In particular, evidence suggests that adopting a new approach and rejecting an old one may be independent, and ordered, processes. Although others have drawn similar conclusions, using verbal imprecision as the data source is a relatively unique and readily accessible method for lending support to this model of knowledge change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Random number generation as an index of controlled processing.

Random number generation (RNG) is a functionally complex process that is highly controlled and therefore dependent on Baddeley's central executive. This study addresses this issue by investigating whether key predictions from this framework are compatible with empirical data. In Experiment 1, the effect of increasing task demands by increasing the rate of the paced generation was comprehensively examined. As expected, faster rates affected performance negatively because central resources were increasingly depleted. Next, the effects of participants' exposure were manipulated in Experiment 2 by providing increasing amounts of practice on the task. There was no improvement over 10 practice trials, suggesting that the high level of strategic control required by the task was constant and not amenable to any automatization gain with repeated exposure. Together, the results demonstrate that RNG performance is a highly controlled and demanding process sensitive to additional demands on central resources (Experiment 1) and is unaffected by repeated performance or practice (Experiment 2). These features render the easily administered RNG task an ideal and robust index of executive function that is highly suitable for repeated clinical use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrodermal activity as an index of arousal in schizophrenics.

Notes that previous reviews of research utilizing electrodermal activity as an index of arousal in schizophrenia have found no consistent differences between schizophrenics and normals, although other psychophysiological measures have shown chronic schizophrenics to be more aroused. A more detailed look at the electrodermal research, however, reveals that consistent results have been reported for 2 aspects of electrodermal activity: (a) habituation of responses or levels during periods of minimal stimulation (e.g., tones and lights of low intensity), and (b) frequency of spontaneous electrodermal responses regardless of stimulus conditions. Both of these measures appear to reflect arousal and yield results indicating that chronic schizophrenics are overaroused. (36 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The WISC-III: Everything old is new again.

Studied the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-3rd Edition (WISC-III), the most recent of the tests in the Wechsler series. Like its predecessor, the WISC—Revised (WISC—R), the WISC-III is structured into verbal and performance sections, but unlike other Wechsler tests, a procedure is provided for calculating factor scores. The materials are an improvement over the WISC—R. They are colorful, contemporary, easy to administer, and appear enjoyable to children. The standardization is excellent, as is reliability. However, weaknesses exist in the factor structure, especially the inclusion of a freedom from distractibility factor, and calls for caution in interpretation. Treatment validity remains a problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regulatory fit as input for stop rules.

Three experiments show that the motivational effects of regulatory fit (consistency between regulatory state and strategic means) are context dependent. With no explicit decision rule about when to stop (Experiment 1) or an explicit enjoyment stop rule (Experiments 2 and 3), participants exerted more effort on tasks when experiencing regulatory fit than when experiencing regulatory nonfit. With an explicit sufficiency stop rule (Experiments 2 and 3), participants exerted less effort when experiencing regulatory fit than when experiencing regulatory nonfit. The interactive effect of regulatory fit and stop rules can be explained by misattribution of rightness feelings from regulatory fit; the effect was eliminated by drawing participants' attention to an earlier event as a source of rightness feelings (Experiments 1 and 3). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The scientist-practitioner model: Gandhi was right again.

Examines the adoption of and the ideas behind the scientist-practitioner model from the Boulder Conference. The author discusses the implementation of scientist-practitioner training programs and graduate student reaction to it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heart rate variability as an index of regulated emotional responding.

The study of individual differences in emotional responding can provide considerable insight into interpersonal dynamics and the etiology of psychopathology. Heart rate variability (HRV) analysis is emerging as an objective measure of regulated emotional responding (generating emotional responses of appropriate timing and magnitude). This review provides a theoretical and empirical rationale for the use of HRV as an index of individual differences in regulated emotional responding. Two major theoretical frameworks that articulate the role of HRV in emotional responding are presented, and relevant empirical literature is reviewed. The case is made that HRV is an accessible research tool that can increase the understanding of emotion in social and psychopathological processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facial EMG as an index of affective response to nicotine.

Negative affect reduction has been postulated to be a key feature of cigarette smoking. In the present study, facial electromyography (EMG), heart rate (HR), and skin conductance response (SCR) were used to evaluate the affective significance of acute nicotine administration and overnight withdrawal. Smokers (N = 115) attended four 90-min laboratory assessment sessions scheduled approximately 3 days apart. The sessions provided a complete crossing of 2 prelaboratory deprivation conditions (12-hr deprived vs. nondeprived) with 2 drug conditions (nicotine vs. placebo nasal spray). During each session, smokers viewed affective slides while facial EMG, HR, and SCR were recorded. Results indicated that for women, nicotine nasal spray resulted in lower corrugator EMG activity during both smoking-deprived and nondeprived sessions, compared with placebo. However, nondeprived women also showed an increase in zygomaticus EMG when given nicotine compared with placebo spray, whereas smoking-deprived women demonstrated a decrease in the zygomaticus response to nicotine compared with placebo. With men, nicotine also appeared to lower corrugator during deprivation, but not nondeprivation, compared with placebo spray, though the contrast only approached significance. With zygomaticus EMG, nicotine spray decreased men's zygomaticus responding during nondeprivation but not during deprivation, compared with placebo spray. The HR results reflected the stimulatory properties of the drug rather than nicotine's affective properties, whereas SCR was unresponsive to our experimental manipulations. The corrugator EMG results support negative reinforcement models of smoking that postulate that acute nicotine use reduces withdrawal-driven negative affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The phenomenology of fit: Linking the person and environment to the subjective experience of person-environment fit.

The authors distinguished 3 approaches to the study of perceived person-environment fit (P-E fit): (a) atomistic, which examines perceptions of the person and environment as separate entities; (b) molecular, which concerns the perceived comparison between the person and environment; and (c) molar, which focuses on the perceived similarity, match, or fit between the person and environment. Distinctions among these approaches have fundamental implications for theory, measurement, and the subjective experience of P-E fit, yet research has treated these approaches as interchangeable. This study investigated the meaning and relationships among the atomistic, molecular, and molar approaches to fit and examined factors that influence the strength of these relationships. Results showed that the relationships among the approaches deviate markedly from the theoretical logic that links them together. Supplemental analyses indicated that molar fit overlaps with affect and molecular fit gives different weight to atomistic person and environment information depending on how the comparison is framed. These findings challenge fundamental assumptions underlying P-E fit theories and have important implications for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer play scale as an index of complexity of peer interaction.

A rating scale for interactive peer play was developed and validated on 2 independent samples of 24 and 28 young children varying in age (18–43 mo) and peer experience. Frequency scores from each sample met criteria for unidimensionality and cumulativeness. Ss with more experience with peers had higher frequencies of higher level play. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Popularity of self-help counseling tapes as an index of community needs.

Investigated whether patterns of requests for such tapes are a useful index of systematic changes in clientele needs. It is suggested, however, that requests for tapes may be a function not only of preexisting community needs but also of varying patterns of advertising. Post hoc analysis of tape requests and advertising patterns in 1 telephone counseling service operating over 2 college semesters suggested the need for extreme caution in interpreting tape-request patterns. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taxometrics, polytomous constructs, and the comparison curve fit index: A Monte Carlo analysis.

The taxometric method effectively distinguishes between dimensional (1-class) and taxonic (2-class) latent structure, but there is virtually no information on how it responds to polytomous (3-class) latent structure. A Monte Carlo analysis showed that the mean comparison curve fit index (CCFI; Ruscio, Haslam, & Ruscio, 2006) obtained with 3 taxometric procedures—mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC), maximum covariance (MAXCOV), and latent mode factor analysis (L-Mode)—accurately identified 1-class (dimensional) and 2-class (taxonic) samples and produced taxonic results when applied to 3-class (polytomous) samples. From these results it is concluded that using the simulated data curve approach and averaging across procedures is an effective way of distinguishing between dimensional (1-class) and categorical (2 or more classes) latent structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ultrasonic vocalizations as an index of social memory in female mice.

Ultrasonic vocalization (UV) as a measure of social memory was investigated in female mice. UVs emitted by a resident female in the presence of a same-sex partner were measured during a 3-min, pretest social interaction. In a second 3-min test session, mice were reexposed to the familiar partner or presented with a novel partner. In the first case, there was a decline in UVs emitted by resident mice when the intervals between the 2 sessions were 15, 30, or 60 min. After 24 hr, this effect disappeared. In contrast, with a novel female partner, the number of UVs remained unchanged. Scopolamine (0.05 mg/kg ip) disrupted this memory process: Drug-treated females did not show the expected decrease in UVs when reexposed to the familiar female after 30 min. This study provides behavioral and pharmacological evidence that ultrasonic calls can be used as a measure of social memory in female mice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)