Sources of covariation among attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder: The importance of shared environment.

Research has documented high levels of covariation among childhood externalizing disorders, but the etiology of this covariation is unclear. To unravel the sources of covariation among attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD), the authors studied 11-year-old twins (N/&=/&1,506) from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Symptom counts for each of these disorders were obtained from interviews administered to the twins and their mothers. A model was fit that allowed the parsing of genetic, shared environmental (factors that make family members similar to each other), and nonshared environmental (factors that make family members different from each other) contributions to covariation. The results revealed that although each disorder was influenced by genetic and environmental factors, a single shared environmental factor made the largest contribution to the covariation among ADHD, ODD, and CD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Culture, control, and perception of relationships in the environment.

East Asian cognition has been held to be relatively holistic; that is, attention is paid to the field as a whole. Western cognition, in contrast, has been held to be object focused and control oriented. In this study East Asians (mostly Chinese) and Americans were compared on detection of covariation and field dependence. The results showed the following: (a) Chinese participants reported stronger association between events, were more responsive to differences in covariation, and were more confident about their covariation judgments; (b) these cultural differences disappeared when participants believed they had some control over the covariation judgment task; (c) American participants made fewer mistakes on the Rod-and-Frame Test, indicating that they were less field dependent; (d) American performance and confidence, but not that of Asians, increased when participants were given manual control of the test. Possible origins of the perceptual differences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Baseline conditions in structural induction: Comment on Pitt, Smith, and Klein (1998).

M. A. Pitt, K. L. Smith, and J. M. Klein (see record 1998-11401-003) claimed that a baseline condition is necessary in experiments using the structural induction paradigm (S. A. Finney, A. Protopapas, & P. D. Eimas, [see record 1996-07006-008]; C. Pallier, N. Sebastián-Gallés, T. Felguera, A. Christophe, & J. Mehler, [see record 1993-40045-001]) to correctly interpret interaction effects. In this article it is shown that this constitutes a misunderstanding of the interpretation of statistical interaction and that a baseline condition offers little unless comparisons between cells of different target types within induction conditions are necessary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensional comparisons: An experimental approach to the internal/external frame of reference model.

According to the internal/external frame of reference model (H. W. Marsh, 1986, 1990a), students not only use social comparisons to evaluate their performance (external frame of reference) but they also use dimensional comparisons (internal frame of reference), comparing their own achievement in one subject with that in other subjects. Three experimental studies were conducted to investigate the psychological processes underlying the effects of achievement in one domain on self-perceived competence in another. In Study 1 (N?=?36), high achievement in one domain led to lower self-perceived competence in the other domain. Study 2 (N?=?45) showed inverse effects on self-perceived competence when achievement feedback included explicit dimensional comparison information about students' achievement in both tasks. In Study 3 (N?=?90), dimensional comparison effects were shown even when additional social comparison information was presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High school yearbooks: A reply to Schwarz.

Examines the criticism of J. C. Schwarz (see record 1970-14955-001) of the study by C. N. Barthell and D. S. Holmes (see PA, Vol. 42:17448) on preschizophrenics using archival data. The traditional assumption that nuisance variables like social class should routinely be "controlled" by case-matching or statistical suppression is challenged. Whether and how much, shared variance should be removed in archival studies is shown to hinge upon a prior causal framework. It is argued that in most archival studies the assumption is highly problematic, and no safer than the substantive theory of interest itself. It is further argued that statistical control of nuisance variables is not "playing it safe," since under several plausible assumptions such control will generate misleading results (e.g., will pseudofalsify a good causal theory). (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification and leadership in small groups: Salience, frame of reference, and leader stereotypicality effects on leader evaluations.

Two studies tested the prediction that people who identify strongly with a group base leadership perceptions on the group prototypicality of the leader whereas leadership schemas diminish in importance. Leadership and prototypicality were operationalized as relational constructs grounded in people's salient social comparative frame of reference. Study 1 (N?=?82) had participants nominate a group leader and measured perceptions of the leader relative to nonleaders on leadership effectiveness, group prototypicality, and leadership stereotypicality. In Study 2 (N?=?164) prototypicality, stereotypicality, and group salience were experimentally manipulated. As predicted, leadership stereotypicality became a weaker basis for leadership among high identifiers. The role of prototypicality in leadership was complexly affected by identification, which (a) accentuated leader-follower similarity on perceived prototypicality and leadership effectiveness, (b) changed the salient frame of reference, and (c) thus changed relative prototypicality of group members and leadership perceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context framing to enhance HIV-antibody-testing messages targeted to African American women.

African American women (N?=?100) recruited from an urban clinic were randomly assigned to view 1 of 3 experimental videotapes promoting HIV testing: (a) an ethnicity-matched information control videotape; (b) the same ethnicity-matched videotape presented by an African American woman (gender-ethnicity-matched control condition), or (c) an experimental videotape with a culturally relevant context that embedded HIV-testing information within a frame of reference emphasizing personal loss. Consistent with D. Kahneman and A. Tversky's (1979) prospect theory, women who viewed the context-framing videotape were most likely to have been tested during a 2-wk follow-up interval. Among women who expressed intentions to get tested after viewing the videotapes, 63% of those in the message-framing condition were tested for HIV during a 2-wk period compared with 23% in the gender-ethnicity-matched condition, and none in the ethnicity matched condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paper or plastic revisited: Let's keep them both--Reply to Broderick and Stone (2006); Tennen, Affleck, Coyne, Larsen, and DeLongis (2006); and Takarangi, Garry, and Loftus (2006).

The authors review commentaries by J. E. Broderick and A. A. Stone (2006)(see record 2006-03820-007); H. Tennen, G. Affleck, J. C. Coyne, R. J. Larsen, and A. DeLongis (2006)(see record 2006-03820-008); and M. K. T. Takarangi, M. Garry, and E. F. Loftus (2006)(see record 2006-03820-009) on their original article (A. S. Green, E. Rafaeli, N. Bolger, P. Shrout, & H. T. Reis, 2006)(see record 2006-03820-006). The authors were pleased to find more agreement than disagreement regarding the choice of methods for conducting diary studies. It is clear that continued critical evaluation of all diary methods, both paper and plastic, is warranted. However, on the basis of their initial findings, the authors conclude that paper diaries are still likely to have a valuable place in researchers' toolboxes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The frame of reference approach as a solution to an assessment center dilemma.

This article describes how the frame of reference (FOR) approach to rater training for performance appraisal purposes (H. J. Bernardin, 1979; H. J. Bernardin & M. R. Buckley, 1981) was applied to traditional assessment center ratings and rater training. The method by which an FOR was established for the assessment center ratings is presented, including (a) definitions of dimensions of performance, (b) definitions of qualitative levels of performance within each dimension, and (c) specific behavioral examples of levels of performance on an item-by-item basis within dimensions. The resulting FOR was used to structure the training and certification of raters with the expectation of minimizing sources of rater unreliability. Implications for assessment center reliability, validity, and employee perceptions are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective and continuance commitment to the organization: Evaluation of measures and analysis of concurrent and time-lagged relations.

The factor structure of the Affective and Continuance Commitment Scales (ACS and CCS; J. P. Meyer and N. J. Allen; see record 1984-32952-001), as well as the causal links between affective and continuance commitment, were examined. Data were obtained from 2 employee samples on a single occasion and from a sample of new employees on 3 occasions during their 1st yr of employment. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that (a) the ACS and CCS measure different constructs and (b) the CCS can be divided into 2 highly related subscales reflecting costs associated with leaving the organization (lack of alternatives and personal sacrifice). Tests of nonrecursive causal models with cross-sectional data revealed that (a) affective commitment had a negative effect on the alternatives component of continuance commitment in all samples and (b) both components of continuance commitment had a positive effect on affective commitment for established employees. Analyses of the longitudinal data revealed only a weak, negative, time-lagged effect of the alternatives component on affective commitment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Necessary (but not sufficient) innovation: Comment on Fox and Jones (1998), Koehly and Shivy (1998), and Russell, Kahn, Spoth, and Altmaier (1998).

In the Special Section on Innovative Quantitative Research Methods, C. M. Fox and J. A. Jones (1998), L. M. Koehly and V. A. Shivy (1998), and D. W. Russell, J. H. Kahn, R. Spoth, and E. M. Altmaier (1998) have presented statistical methods related to Rasch modeling, social network analysis, and latent variable structural equation modeling for experimental designs, respectively. These methods address 3 critically important issues in counseling psychology research: (a) measuring constructs, (b) modeling processes of change, and (c) operationalizing social relations. It is argued that innovation in methods is necessary to study complex phenomena, but sophisticated methods should not be used to disguise insufficient conceptualizations of the research problem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional relations are not models: A note on covariation detection.

Reviews the main points made by the authors (1985) in their article on covariation judgment and argues that, while C. F. Surber's (see record 1986-16237-001) arguments about covariation detection models and about assessment of variable importance are essentially correct, they are inappropriately applied to the authors' analyses of functional relations. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is the donut in front of the car? An electrophysiological study examining spatial reference frame processing.

Notes that the process of describing an object's location relative to another object results in ambiguity. How do people handle this ambiguity? The present 3 studies, using a total of 88 undergraduates, examined spatial language processing when use of different reference frames results in ambiguity. This study investigated whether electrophysiological measures of cognitive processing may elucidate underlying reference frame processing; in particular, the authors were interested in semantic integration. Electrophysiological results show a larger N400, peaking between 300 and 375 ms, when the intrinsic frame was not used. Behavioral results mirrored this finding, indicating a reduced cognitive processing requirement for the intrinsic reference frame. Previous work has not definitively tied spatial reference frame processing to specific electrophysiological components and their associated cognitive processes. Although the N400 peak seen in this data is early, additional work supports the N400 interpretation, thereby linking spatial frame processing to semantic integration. Results are discussed within the larger context of spatial reference frame processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How to hit scylla without avoiding charybdis: Comment on Perruchet, Tyler, Galland, and Peereman (2004).

M. Pe?a, L. L. Bonatti, M. Nespor, and J. Mehler (see record 2002-06215-001) argued that humans compute nonadjacent statistical relations among syllables in a continuous artificial speech stream to extract words, but they use other computations to determine the structural properties of words. Instead, when participants are familiarized with a segmented stream, structural generalizations about words are quickly established. P. Perruchet, M. D. Tyler, N. Galland, and R. Peereman (see record 2004-21166-008) criticized M. Pe?a et al.'s work and dismissed their results. In this article, the authors show that P. Perruchet et al.'s criticisms are groundless. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comments on Rawlings' nonorthogonal analysis of variance.

In J. Overall and D. Spiegel's reply to R. Rawlings's (see record 1972-26084-001) criticism of their previous article, the authors state that Rawlings's alternative nonorthogonal analysis of variance is equivalent to their method, which Rawlings criticized as incorrect. In 2 separate articles (a) Rawlings replies to Overall and Spiegel's present article, and (b) I. Smith contends that there is a statistical error in G. Joe's (see record 1971-25969-001) attempt to clarify the original Overall and Speigel article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Algina and Swaminathan.

Suggests that J. Algina and H. Swaminathan (see record 1979-32689-001) have proposed more sophisticated analyses for the cross-sectional time-series experiment than did the present author (see record 1978-00178-001). Their suggested procedure for testing the empirical adequacy of the hypothesized intervention model is seen as especially valuable. Nonetheless, the greater complexity of their approach may not always be justified in many research applications. In particular, their exact-test method will normally yield statistical inferences similar to those of the present author's approximate-test procedure. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsiveness of Phormia regina to saline.

Previous studies by M. C. Nelson (see record 1972-08513-001), J. Hirsch and L. A. McCauley (1977), and T. R. McGuire and J. Hirsch (1977) with the blow fly have reported evidence for conditioning. The present authors contend that with respect to relative responsiveness to water or saline in the 1st position of the serial compound stimulus arrangement used, the evidence was inconsistent. These experiments show the effect on such responsiveness of the (a) method of mounting and (b) deprivation and satiation procedures. It is also possible that the blow fly actively controls internal ion concentration by saline intake. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stimulus configuration, occasion setting and the hippocampus.

N. A. Schmajuk, J. Lamoureux, and P. C. Holland (in press) showed that an extension of a neural network model introduced by N. A. Schmajuk and J. J. DiCarlo (1992) characterizes many of the differences between simple conditioning and occasion setting. In the framework of this model, it is proposed that the hippocampus modulates (a) the competition among simple and complex stimuli to establish associations with the unconditioned stimulus, and (b) the configuration of simple stimuli into complex stimuli. Under the assumptions that (a) nonselective lesions of the hippocampal formation impair both configuration and competition, and (b) selective lesions of the hippocampus proper impair only stimulus configuration, the model correctly describes the effects of these lesions on paradigms in which stimuli act as occasion setters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decomposition of Variability in the Execution of Goal-Oriented Tasks: Three Components of Skill Improvement.

A central ability of the motor system is to achieve goals with great reliability, although never with zero variability. It is argued that variability is reduced with practice by 3 separate means: reduction of stochastic noise (N), exploitation of task tolerance (T), and covariation (C) between central variables. A method is presented that decomposes variability into these components in relation to task space that is defined by the execution variables. Successful variable combinations form the solution manifold. In a virtual skittles task, it is demonstrated that participants' improvement over repetitions, indicated by increasing accuracy, is accounted for by N, T, and, to a lesser degree, C. The relative contribution of these components changes over the course of practice and task variations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergent validity of measures of cognitive distortions, impulsivity, and time perspective with pathological gambling.

The present study investigated the convergent validity of the Gamblers' Beliefs Questionnaire (GBQ; T. A. Steenbergh, A. W. Meyers, R. K. May, & J. P. Whelan, 2002), Gambling Passion Scale (GPS; F. Rousseau, R. J. Vallerand, C. F. Ratelle, G. Mageau, & P. J. Provencher, 2002), Eysenck Impulsivity Questionnaire (EIQ; S. B. G. Eysenck & H. J. Eysenck, 1978), and Stanford Time Perception Inventory (STPI; P. C. Zimbardo & J. N. Boyd, 1999) in reference to pathological gambling. The authors recruited 105 undergraduates representing categories of pathological gamblers, potential pathological gamblers, and nonpathological gamblers and administered the measures under neutral conditions. Both subscales of the GBQ and GPS and the Impulsivity subscale of the EIQ exhibited strong convergent validity, whereas the STPI showed weaker correspondence with symptoms of pathological gambling. Applications and limitations of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)