Violence is a curvilinear function of temperature in Dallas: A replication.

Data on weather and aggravated assaults were obtained to determine whether the curvilinear relationship between temperature and violence previously observed in Minneapolis, Minnesota (E. G. Cohn & J. Rotton, 1997), could be replicated. The data consisted of calls for services received by police in Dallas between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1995. Controlling for holidays, school closings, time of day, day of the week, season of the year, and their interactions, moderator-variable autoregression analyses indicated that assaults were an inverted U-shaped function of temperature. Replicating past research, the curvilinear relationship was dominant during daylight hours and spring months, whereas linear relationships were observed during nighttime hours and other seasons. The results are interpreted in terms of routine activity theory and the negative affect escape model of aggression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Degradation of validity over time: A test and extension of Ackerman's model.

The dynamic nature of the predictor–criterion relationship has long been a concern in psychology, especially with regard to the deterioration of validity over time. The authors examine P. L. Ackerman's (1987, 1988) hypothesized relationships between different types of predictors and criteria over time using data from previous longitudinal studies. Expert ratings categorized predictors and criteria according to P. L. Ackerman's model. Regression results support the predicted negative curvilinear relationship between cognitive ability and consistent and inconsistent task performance but do not support the predicted relationships between perceptual speed ability and psychomotor ability and consistent and inconsistent task performance. Deterioration of validity was more ubiquitous than has been suggested previously, and the pervasive form of deterioration was cubic with a negative trend. Findings are discussed in the context of catastrophe–chaos models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ambient temperature and violent crime: Tests of the linear and curvilinear hypotheses.

Laboratory research on the effects of temperature has led P. A. Bell and R. A. Baron (see record 1976-27853-001) to propose a curvilinear model relating negative affect and aggression. Two alternative explanations, one artifactual and the other based on attributions for arousal, are presented that predict a linear relationship between temperature and aggression in real-world settings. Two studies examining the relation of violent crime to ambient temperature over 90 summer days in Chicago and over a 2-yr period in Houston both yielded linear relationships and revealed significant day-of-the-week effects. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Voluntary turnover and job performance: Curvilinearity and the moderating influences of salary growth and promotions.

The relationship between job performance and voluntary employee turnover was investigated for 5,143 exempt employees in a single firm. As hypothesized, support was found for E. F. Jackofsky's (see record 1987-09010-001) curvilinear hypothesis, as turnover was higher for low and high performers than it was for average performers. Two potential moderators of the curvilinearity were examined in an attempt to explain conflicting results in the performance-turnover literature. As predicted, low salary growth and high promotions each produced a more pronounced curvilinear performance-turnover relationship. Most notably, salary growth effects on turnover were greatest for high performers, with high salary growth predicting rather low turnover for these employees, whereas low salary growth predicted extremely high turnover. Additionally, once salary growth was controlled, promotions positively predicted turnover, with poor performer turnover most strongly affected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between stressors and creativity: A meta-analysis examining competing theoretical models.

Competing theoretical models and equivocal evidence leave unanswered questions regarding stressors’ effect on creativity. The present meta-analysis of 76 experimental studies (including 82 independent samples) aims to clarify this association and identify factors that may explain differences between studies. Our results suggest that the effect of stressors on creative performance depends on how stress-inducing the stressor is and what type of stress is induced. We found a curvilinear relationship between evaluative stress and creativity such that low evaluative contexts increased creative performance over control conditions, whereas highly evaluative contexts decreased creative performance. We found a linearly negative relationship between uncontrollability and creativity such that more uncontrollability decreased creative performance. The results suggest that stressors’ effect on creativity is more complex than previously assumed and points to the need for understanding boundary conditions that shed light on inconsistent findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and negative affect: The rise and fall and rise of anxiety and depression symptoms.

The relationship between aging and negative affect is dynamic and complex. Although prior studies have often cited lower prevalence rates of anxiety and mood disorders among older individuals, these studies may miss the dynamic relationship between symptoms and aging. To evaluate a nonlinear model of the relationship between aging and negative affect, the author examined measures of neuroticism, anxiety, and depression symptoms in a cross-sectional, community sample (N = 335), ages 18 to 93. Results indicated a curvilinear relationship, with mean symptom levels increasing during early adulthood (until the mid-30s) and then showing a small decline until older adulthood (the mid-70s), when symptoms again increase with age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The curve is still out there: A reply to Bushman, Wang, and Anderson's (2005) "Is the curve relating temperature to aggression linear or curvilinear?"

This article replies to research conducted by B. J. Bushman, M. C. Wang, and C. A. Anderson (2005) and demonstrates that the results of prior research by E. G. Cohn and J. Rotton (1997) do support the existence of a curvilinear relationship between temperature and aggression when time of day is taken into consideration. The shape of the relationship between temperature and aggression also depends on a number of other factors, including season, amount of social interaction, type of violence, and type of setting. It appears that linear relationships between temperature and aggression identified by B. J. Bushman et al. (2005) are less ubiquitous than might be believed and that the curve is still out there. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperature and aggression: Ubiquitous effects of heat on occurrence of human violence.

Outlines 5 models of the temperature–aggression hypothesis: negative affect escape, simple negative affect, excitation transfer/misattribution, cognitive neoassociation, and physiological–thermoregulatory. Reviews relevant studies. Aggression measures include violent crime, spouse abuse, horn-honking, and delivery of electric shock. Analysis levels include geographic regional, seasonal, monthly, and daily variations in aggression, and concomitant temperature–aggression effects in field and laboratory settings. Field studies clearly show that heat increases aggression. Laboratory studies show inconsistencies, possibly because of several artifacts. Specific models have not been adequately tested, but the excitation transfer/misattribution and cognitive neoassociation approaches appear most promising, whereas the negative affect escape appears the least viable. Suggestions for future work are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal validation of the acquired preparedness model of drinking risk.

This paper reports on the first longitudinal test of the Acquired Preparedness (AP) model of alcoholism risk, which holds that individual differences in key personality traits influence drinking behavior by influencing alcohol-related learning (Smith and Anderson, 2001). We studied 418 individuals making the transition to the independence of college across 3 longitudinal waves. Each of 2 longitudinal models predicting typical drinking quantity provided support for the AP process. In the first, drinking quantity at the end of the first year of college was predicted by positive urgency (the tendency to act rashly when experiencing extremely positive affect) at the start of college, and that predictive relationship appeared to have been mediated by expectancies that alcohol provides positive, arousing effects. In the second, drinking quantity was predicted by negative urgency (the tendency to act rashly when experiencing extremely negative affect) at the start of college, and that relationship appeared to have been mediated by the motive to drink alcohol to cope with subjective distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Addiction Motivation Reformulated: An Affective Processing Model of Negative Reinforcement.

This article offers a reformulation of the negative reinforcement model of drug addiction and proposes that the escape and avoidance of negative affect is the prepotent motive for addictive drug use. The authors posit that negative affect is the motivational core of the withdrawal syndrome and argue that, through repeated cycles of drug use and withdrawal, addicted organisms learn to detect interoceptive cues of negative affect preconsciously. Thus, the motivational basis of much drug use is opaque and tends not to reflect cognitive control. When either stressors or abstinence causes negative affect to grow and enter consciousness, increasing negative affect biases information processing in ways that promote renewed drug administration. After explicating their model, the authors address previous critiques of negative reinforcement models in light of their reformulation and review predictions generated by their model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reanalysis and Perspective in the Heat-Aggression Debate.

B. J. Bushman, M. C. Wang, and C. A. Anderson (2005) argued that a reanalysis of E. G. Cohn and J. Rotton's (1997) Minneapolis data shows no inverted-U curvilinear relationship between temperature and aggression. Although B. J. Bushman et al.'s (2005) claim of no general inverted-U trend in the data might well be supported statistically, more careful examination of the subset of the data most likely to include the hottest temperatures in the study may offer at least some support for the inverted-U relationship. Aggregating data to describe a general trend minimizes the influence of outliers that may reflect alternative relationships, and such alternatives may be important practically and theoretically. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperature, aggression, and the negative affect escape model.

Addresses P. A. Bell's (see record 1992-20144-001) comments on C. A. Anderson's (see record 1989-36724-001) review of the temperature–aggression literature. At a global level, all agree that geographic region studies and most time period studies do not cleanly address the question of the functional shape relating temperature to aggression. In addition, all agree that the negative affect escape model warrants additional empirical investigation. At a more specific level, however, numerous inaccuracies and misinterpretations are noted and corrected. The conclusions of the original review are confirmed. Suggestions for new research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life stress, physiological and subjective indexes of negative emotionality, and coping reasons for drinking: Is there evidence for a self-medication model of alcohol use?

Alcohol use is often viewed as means of coping with distress, but support for this model has been inconsistent. The author examined stress and negative emotionality and their interaction as predictors of drinking motives in a sample of college drinkers. Both physiological and self-reported reactivity to a mood induction, and self-reported trait negative affect, were assessed. High stress was associated with coping motives, particularly among individuals who exhibited electrodermal reactivity to the mood induction. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) reactivity was associated with coping motives. Electrodermal and RSA reactivity and stress were unrelated to enhancement and social motives. Self-reported mood reactivity and trait negative affect were not associated with any of the drinking motives. These findings offer some support for the self-medication model of alcohol use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluations and expectancies of alcohol and marijuana problems among college students.

Two studies examined the associations between evaluations (good-bad) and expected likelihood (likely-unlikely) of alcohol- and marijuana-related problems and hazardous consumption and problems among college students. Participants provided data on alcohol use, alcohol-related problems, and expectancies and evaluations of alcohol problems; marijuana use indices, marijuana-related problems, marijuana effect expectancies, and likelihood and evaluations of marijuana problems. Evaluations of alcohol problems were positively related to the number of binge drinking occasions and alcohol-related problems. The interaction between evaluations and expectancies was significant in predicting the number of binge drinking occasions. Expectancies demonstrated a curvilinear relationship with binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. Marijuana users evaluated marijuana-related problems as less negative and less likely to occur than did nonusers. Expectancies, but not evaluations, of negative consequences were significantly associated with marijuana use intensity. Expectancies of problems demonstrated a curvilinear relationship with marijuana-use intensity and marijuana problems. Men evaluated alcohol and marijuana problems less negatively than did women. In summary, the expected likelihood of alcohol-marijuana problems and the evaluation of such problems represent a vulnerability factor associated with increased liability for hazardous alcohol and marijuana use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Focus of attention in the treatment of depression.

Current outcome studies indicate that cognitive-behavioral approaches are significantly more effective than nondirective strategies in treating depression. By reconceptualizing depression as an attentional deficit in self-focused attention, the present author provides an explanation for the nonspecific superiority of cognitive-behavioral strategies over nondirective techniques. It is suggested that reflection of affect may heighten self-awareness to detrimental levels in depressed patients already predisposed toward an internal (self) focus of attention. The state of self-focused attention is discussed in terms of its relationship to depression. Relevant research and clinical evidence support the hypothesis that an effective ingredient in treating depression lies in the negative reinforcement inherent in realigning client attention away from negative affect. Client–therapist interactions are discussed in relation to focus of attention. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examinations of chronic pain and affect relationships: Applications of a dynamic model of affect.

Two studies of the relationship between pain and negative affect are presented in this article: a study of weekly fluctuations in pain and negative affect among those with arthritis and a study of daily fluctuations in pain and negative affect for participants with fibromyalgia. The roles of positive affect and mood clarity (or the ability to distinguish between different emotions) in modifying the size of the relationship between pain and negative affect were examined in both studies as a means of testing the predictions of a dynamic model of affect regulation. In both studies, the presence of positive affect reduced the size of the relationship between pain and negative affect. Also, for arthritis participants with greater mood clarity, there was less overlap in ratings of negative and positive affective states. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Negative emotions, pain, and functioning.

We used linear structural equations (path model analysis) to examine associations among negative emotions, pain, and functioning in a large sample (N = 511) of veterans with chronic pain. We postulated and tested a model where pain and functioning affect negative emotions and where negative emotions affect pain and functioning. The findings confirm a strong relationship between negative emotions, pain, and functioning in our sample, particularly as the variable Pain Interference affects Depression. In a significant but weaker relationship, we also found that Anxiety has a direct effect on patients' perception of their Disability. Specifically, the data support a model where increased Pain Interference, Pain Severity, Depression and Anxiety all lead to increased Disability. Findings that Pain Interference and Depression appear to play a major role in the relationships between pain and negative emotions support the need for experimental studies to understand the causal impact of these variables on patient functioning. In the meantime, the findings suggest that Pain Interference, Depression, and Anxiety, in addition to Pain Severity, should all be targets of chronic pain treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Source ROCs are (typically) curvilinear: Comment on Yonelinas (1999).

On the basis of his assumption that recollection is a threshold process, A. P. Yonelinas (see record 1999-00904-014; 1999) predicted linear source-identification receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) and recently reported data that were consistent with this prediction. In this article, the authors present data showing curvilinear source-idcntification ROCs across various encoding and test conditions. On the basis of the source-monitoring framework (e.g., M. K. Johnson, S. Hashtroudi, & D. S. Lindsay, 1993), the authors argue that curvilinearity of source-identification ROCs is a result of differences in the qualitative characteristics of memories rather than simply the influence of undifferentiated familiarity as the dual-process model might suggest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of attention during impression formation.

Subjects in an impression formation task were timed as they read a list of behaviors attributed to a fictional target person. Reading times were longer for early behaviors than for behaviors later in the list (Experiment 1), and longer for behaviors inconsistent with the target's personality (Experiment 2). Moreover, inconsistent behaviors were studied longer when they occurred late in the list during on-line impression formation. These results provide direct support for an attentional account of the primacy effect in impression formation and for the recall advantage for inconsistent behaviors in person memory (Anderson & Hubert, 1963). An impression-sensitivity hypothesis is proposed that predicts that the salience of inconsistent information depends upon the state of an evolving impression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lipoprotein(a) as a risk factor for ischemic heart disease: metaanalysis of prospective studies

Although in vitro studies support a pathophysiologic role for lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] in the development of atherosclerosis, and retrospective studies consistently report that there is a relationship between Lp(a) and ischemic heart disease (IHD), the conclusions drawn from prospective studies about this relationship have been inconsistent. To address this issue, we have performed a metaanalysis of data available from prospective studies. Lp(a) concentrations expressed as mass units vary markedly between studies, reflecting the need for assay standardization. In 12 of 14 prospective studies, Lp(a) concentrations are higher in subjects who later develop IHD (cases) than in those who do not (controls), although there is variation in the size of the effect. Sample storage temperature may contribute to this variability. When the studies are analyzed collectively, Lp(a) concentrations are significantly higher in cases than in controls, and the extent of the effect is similar in men and women. These findings provide evidence in support of a causal role for Lp(a) in the development of atherosclerosis. Measurement of Lp(a) may be useful to guide management of individuals with a family history of IHD or with existing disease. The separation in values between cases and controls is not, however, sufficient to allow the use of Lp(a) as a screening test in the general population.