Introducing the GASP scale: A new measure of guilt and shame proneness.

Although scholars agree that moral emotions are critical for deterring unethical and antisocial behavior, there is disagreement about how 2 prototypical moral emotions—guilt and shame—should be defined, differentiated, and measured. We addressed these issues by developing a new assessment—the Guilt and Shame Proneness scale (GASP)—that measures individual differences in the propensity to experience guilt and shame across a range of personal transgressions. The GASP contains 2 guilt subscales that assess negative behavior-evaluations and repair action tendencies following private transgressions and 2 shame subscales that assess negative self-evaluations (NSEs) and withdrawal action tendencies following publically exposed transgressions. Both guilt subscales were highly correlated with one another and negatively correlated with unethical decision making. Although both shame subscales were associated with relatively poor psychological functioning (e.g., neuroticism, personal distress, low self-esteem), they were only weakly correlated with one another, and their relationships with unethical decision making diverged. Whereas shame–NSE constrained unethical decision making, shame–withdraw did not. Our findings suggest that differentiating the tendency to make NSEs following publically exposed transgressions from the tendency to hide or withdraw from public view is critically important for understanding and measuring dispositional shame proneness. The GASP's ability to distinguish these 2 classes of responses represents an important advantage of the scale over existing assessments. Although further validation research is required, the present studies are promising in that they suggest the GASP has the potential to be an important measurement tool for detecting individuals susceptible to corruption and unethical behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence for instrument and family-specific variation of subclinical psychosis dimensions in the general population.

It is unknown to what degree dimensions of schizotypy (subclinical psychosis) show independent, family-specific variation in the general population. Psychologists administered the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences, the Structured Interview for Schizotypy-Revised (SIS-R), and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale to 257 subjects pertaining to 82 general population families. All 3 instruments showed family-specific variation for positive and negative subclinical psychosis dimensions with between-families proportions of total variance between 10% and 40%. However, only the SIS-R showed family-specific variation of the negative dimension independent of its correlation with the positive dimension. The positive dimension of subclinical psychosis shows familial-specific variation in samples unselected for psychiatric disorder, suggesting dimensional liability in the population. The SIS-R additionally captures family-specific variation in the negative domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low-level temporal coding impairments in psychosis: Preliminary findings and recommendations for further studies.

The authors investigated whether difficulties with temporal event coding, previously reported in patients with schizophrenia, are already present during first-episode psychosis (FEP). In this experiment, the subjective judgments of the simultaneity of visually presented stimuli were compared between 11 healthy controls, 9 patients with chronic schizophrenia (CSZ), and a sample of 11 FEP patients. Participants were asked to indicate whether 2 vertical bars appeared at the same time or at different times on a computer monitor. CSZ patients' thresholds were elevated, and the FEP sample showed higher thresholds relative to controls. Although preliminary, these findings indicate a generalized disturbance in event-structure coding at early stages of psychosis and question the specificity of its disturbance. Considering the proposed relationship between event-structure coding and the experience of time in general, this study recommends that future studies refocus on psychosis in general, rather than on schizophrenia as a particular case of abnormal temporal processing. In addition, it is suggested that the relevant psychopathology will be best determined by means of a comprehensive analysis of low-level temporal coding performance in different types of psychosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Personal Functioning Inventory: A reliable and valid measure of adaptiveness in coping.

This article reports the development and validation of the Personal Functioning Inventory (PFI), a new measure of adaptiveness in coping. In Study 1, two adult samples (Ns of 105 and 101) showed the PFI to be highly reliable and to correlate substantially with a summed rating scale for adaptiveness. Study 2 with 140 undergraduates again showed the PH to be highly reliable and to relate positively to problem-solving confidence and negatively to perceived stress. Study 3, a two-wave longitudinal study with a three-week intersession interval, involved 149 undergraduates at Time 1 and retained 107 at Time 2. It demonstrated strong reliability and stability for the PFI, concurrent and predictive positive relations with selfrated adaptiveness and prolonged state anxiety, and discriminant validity against abstract curiosity. Factor analyses consistently supported a one-factor structure for the PFI. Possible applications for the scale are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diagnostic validity of the Eppendorf Schizophrenia Inventory (ESI): A self-report screen for ultrahigh risk and acute psychosis.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 23(1) of Psychological Assessment (see record 2011-04411-006). Presents changes that are very small and do not in any way affect the findings of the research. These changes are explained in the correction.] Providers of mental health services need tools to screen for acute psychosis and ultrahigh risk (UHR) for transition to psychosis in help-seeking individuals. In this study, the Eppendorf Schizophrenia Inventory (ESI) was examined as a screening tool and for its ability to correctly predict diagnostic group membership (e.g., help seeking, mild psychiatric complaints, highly symptomatic mood or anxiety disorder, UHR, acute psychosis). Diagnostic evaluation with established instruments was used for diagnosis in 3 research samples. UHR status was assessed with the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms/Scale of Prodromal Symptoms (Miller et al., 1999) and the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms Prediction list (Gross, Huber, Klosterk?tter, & Linz, 1987; Klosterk?tter, Hellmich, Steinmeyer, & Schulze-Lutter, 2001). This study showed that members of different diagnostic groups rate themselves significantly differently on the ESI and its subscales. A new subscale was constructed, the UHR–Psychosis scale, that showed good utility in detecting individuals with interview-diagnosed UHR status and acute psychosis. The scale is also sensitive to the threshold between UHR and acute psychosis. Practical applications of the ESI include use as a diagnostic tool within various settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Salience in the Extraction of Algebraic Rules.

Recent research suggests that humans and other animals have sophisticated abilities to extract both statistical dependencies and rule-based regularities from sequences. Most of this research stresses the flexibility and generality of such processes. Here the authors take up an equally important project, namely, to explore the limits of such processes. As a case study for rule-based generalizations, the authors demonstrate that only repetition-based structures with repetitions at the edges of sequences (e.g., ABCDEFF but not ABCDDEF) can be reliably generalized, although token repetitions can easily be discriminated at both sequence edges and middles. This finding suggests limits on rule-based sequence learning and new interpretations of earlier work alleging rule learning in infants. Rather than implementing a computerlike, formal process that operates over all patterns equally well, rule-based learning may be a highly constrained and piecemeal process driven by perceptual primitives--specialized type operations that are highly sensitive to perceptual factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new theory of schizophrenia.

Atheory of schizophrenia is presented by a patient on a closed ward of a VA hospital with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. "My view is that the schizophrenic has adopted semi-instinctive, insincere strategems in order to escape punishment, one of them being withdrawal from intimacy—which isolation causes a libidinal starvation resulting in an involuntary, neurotic-type outbreak of symptoms based on unconscious, pregenital (perverted libidinal) drives… . He is a terrified, conscience-stricken crook, who has repressed his interest in people, unavowedly insincere and uncooperative, struggling against unconscious sexual perversion." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Similes Preference Inventory: Development of a structured measure of the tendency toward variety.

The aim was to develop a structured measure of the active, interoceptive form of tendency toward variety that would be more reliable and simpler than novelty of productions, which is the thematic apperception measure currently in use. A highly reliable set of 54 items was devised and called the Similes Preference Inventory (SPI). Each of the items presented the beginning of a common simile, with 5 alternative endings, 1 of which was to be endorsed on the basis of preference. The 5 endings differed in degree of novelty. As expected, the relationship between SPI and novelty of productions is substantial, and both measures show very similar patterns of external correlates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurocognition in first-episode schizophrenia: A meta-analytic review.

Compromised neurocognition is a core feature of schizophrenia. Following Heinrichs and Zakzanis’s (1998) seminal meta-analysis of middle-aged and predominantly chronic schizophrenia samples, the aim of this study is to provide a meta-analysis of neurocognitive findings from 47 studies of first-episode (FE) schizophrenia published through October 2007. The meta-analysis uses 43 separate samples of 2,204 FE patients with a mean age of 25.5 and 2,775 largely age- and gender-matched control participants. FE samples demonstrated medium-to-large impairments across 10 neurocognitive domains (mean effect sizes from ?0.64 to ?1.20). Findings indicate that impairments are reliably and broadly present by the FE, approach or match the degree of deficit shown in well-established illness, and are maximal in immediate verbal memory and processing speed. Larger IQ impairments in the FE compared to the premorbid period, but comparable to later phases of illness suggests deterioration between premorbid and FE phases followed by deficit stability at the group level. Considerable heterogeneity of effect sizes across studies, however, underscores variability in manifestations of the illness and a need for improved reporting of sample characteristics to support moderator variable analyses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A verification scale for the Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory.

A verification scale, designed to detect individuals answering carelessly or incorrectly, was developed for the Minnesota Vocational Interest Inventory. The scale is composed of items answered very infrequently by Clark's group of Tradesmen-in-General. Data on a validation and cross-validation group are presented. The scale was shown to correctly identify 97% of arbitrarily responding individuals while misclassifying only 9% of individuals answering in a normal manner. To demonstate other attributes of the scale, data are presented for a test-retest group (rxx = .81), a hospitalized psychotic group, and a group of answer sheets completed using random numbers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Quantifying self-reports of auditory verbal hallucinations in persons with psychosis.

The Hamilton Program for Schizophrenia Voices Questionnaire (HPSVQ) was developed to address the need for a brief, self-report measure that quantifies a range of the characteristics of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Each of the questionnaire's nine scored items utilizes a 5-point rating scale to yield a quantitative assessment of AVHs. The scale was well tolerated by a sample of 20 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder at baseline and at one and eleven weeks postbaseline. It demonstrated good test-retest reliability over these intervals and good internal consistency. In addition, it demonstrated adequate concurrent validity when compared with the interviewer-rated Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scales Auditory Hallucinations subscale. The results of this pilot study suggest that the HPSVQ is potentially a reliable and useful measure for quantifying AVHs in persons suffering from psychosis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale (ISLES): Development and initial validation of a new measure.

Making meaning out of life stressors has been proposed as a crucial mechanism by which individuals adjust to these experiences. However, an easy-to-use, multidimensional, and well-validated measure of the meaning made after a stressful life event has not been developed and tested. Thus, the present study tested the reliability and validity of scores for a newly developed measure called the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale (ISLES). In 2 samples of young adults—1 that experienced a variety of stressors (n = 178) and another that experienced a recent bereavement (n = 150)—ISLES scores were shown to have strong internal consistency and, among a subsample of participants, also exhibited moderate test–retest reliability. In both samples, support was also found for a 2-factor structure, with 1 factor assessing one's sense of having some footing in the world following the stressful life event and the other gauging the comprehensibility of the stressor. Convergent validity analyses revealed that ISLES scores are strongly associated with other theoretically related measures and with mental and physical health outcomes, offering support for the potential utility of this measure in research and clinical settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosis as a risk factor for violence to others: A meta-analysis.

The potential association between psychosis and violence to others has long been debated. Past research findings are mixed and appear to depend on numerous potential moderators. As such, the authors conducted a quantitative review (meta-analysis) of research on the association between psychosis and violence. A total of 885 effect sizes (odds ratios) were calculated or estimated from 204 studies on the basis of 166 independent data sets. The central tendency (median) of the effect sizes indicated that psychosis was significantly associated with a 49%–68% increase in the odds of violence. However, there was substantial dispersion among effect sizes. Moderation analyses indicated that the dispersion was attributable in part to methodological factors, such as study design (e.g., community vs. institutional samples), definition and measurement of psychosis (e.g., diagnostic vs. symptom-level measurement, type of symptom), and comparison group (e.g., psychosis compared with externalizing vs. internalizing vs. no mental disorder). The authors discuss these findings in light of potential causal models of the association between psychosis and violence, the role of psychosis in violence risk assessment and management, and recommendations for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a measure of interpersonal strengths: The Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths.

An Inventory of Interpersonal Strengths (IIS) was developed and validated in a series of large college student samples. Based on interpersonal theory and associated methods, the IIS was designed to assess positive characteristics representing the full range of interpersonal domains, including those generally thought to have negative qualities (e.g., introversion, coldness, submissiveness). The 8 subscales (octants) of the 64-item IIS demonstrated good circumplex features and reliability. Tests comparing Big 5 interpersonal factors, Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), Battery of Interpersonal Capabilities (BIC), and other interpersonal measures demonstrated convergent and discriminant validity and shared interpersonal structure. The IIS accounted for significant additional variance in life satisfaction and quality of personal relationships beyond the IIP and the BIC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in reaction to failure: Mode of coping with anxiety and interference proneness.

The study begins with the proposition that the individual's mode of coping with anxiety and his ability to resist and overcome the interference of anxiety in cognitive functioning are important determinants of performance under stress. It was decided to employ output or speed of performance as a measure of changes in motivation, and errors as a measure of interference. A suitable instrument that combined both measures was at hand in the Minnesota Clerical Test (MCT; Andrew & Paterson, 1946). This is a test of speed and accuracy which involves the scanning of pairs of numbers and of names and the detection of minor differences between the members of a pair. Subjects (65 student nurses) were divided into goal oriented and ego oriented groups and subdivided into high and low interference prone groups. Various aspects of performance on a cognitive task preceding and following failure in a situation in which they were motivated to succeed were compared. The results supported the hypotheses (a) that the goal oriented subjects increase output significantly following failure, whereas the ego oriented subjects do not, and (b) that the high interference prone subjects make more errors after failure than before, whereas the low interference prone subjects do not. Some of the implications of these results for the general problem of individual differences in performance under stress were discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Dark nights of the soul": Phenomenology and neurocognition of spiritual suffering in mysticism and psychosis.

Phenomenological, clinical, and neurocognitive levels of analysis are combined to understand the cognitive bases of spirituality and spiritual suffering. In particular, the "dark night of the soul" in classical mysticism, with its painful "metapathological" loss of felt meaning is compared with the anhedonias central to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and schizotypicality. Paul Schilder's early understanding of instabilities in the body image, as our core sense of self, offers a key to both the disorganized hallucinatory syndromes of psychosis and to the relative enhancements of body image/ecological self in spirituality. Expanded versus deleted felt presence/ embodiment, as outwardly indexed in measures of physical balance and spatial abilities, becomes the general dimension underlying integrative versus disintegrative transformations of consciousness. "Dark night" suffering can be seen as a semantic satiation leading to a relative deletion of experienced presence in the context of its previous enhancement, a focalized version of the more general anhedonic despair shared by clinical schizotypy and aspects of a larger secularized culture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new measure of time perspective: Initial psychometric findings for the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS).

The development and initial validation of a new scale of balanced time perspective is reported. A balanced time perspective is defined here as a frequent and equal tendency to think about both one's past and future in positive ways. Sixty-seven men and 79 women ranging in age from 18–46 years (M = 21.3, SD = 4.42) completed the Balanced Time Perspective Scale (BTPS) and measures of happiness, well-being, self-esteem, and two subscales of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. Principal components analysis (PCA) of the BTPS resulted in a Past orientation (14 items, α = .88) and a Future orientation (14 items, α = .92). Persons scoring below the median on both the Past and Future formed the time restrictive category; persons below the median on the Past but above the median on the Future formed the futurist category; persons below the median on the Future but above the median on the Past formed the reminiscers category; persons above the median on both the Past and Future formed the time expansive (i.e., balanced) category. As predicted, persons in the time expansive category scored higher on happiness, well-being, and self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multidimensional measure of trait anxiety: The S-R Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness.

Administered the S-R (Stimulus-Response) Inventory of General Trait Anxiousness to 182 male and 204 female normal high school students, 150 male and 197 female normal adults, 34 male and 91 female neurotic patients, and 35 male and 10 female psychotics. Ss responded differentially to the 4 general types of situations (interpersonal, physical danger, ambiguous, and innocuous) and reported the most anxiety for the physical danger situation and the least for the innocuous situation. Neurotic Ss reported more anxiety than either normal or psychotic Ss. Factor analyses indicated the existence of 2 situational factors (Interpersonal and Physical Danger) and 2 modes of response factors (Physiological-Distress and Approach). Individual differences accounted for very little variance, and for normal females, situations accounted for more variance than Person * Situation interactions. Reliabilities for the situations were relatively high, and evidence is presented for the validity of the inventory as a multidimensional measure of trait anxiety. Practical and theoretical uses of the inventory are discussed. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Recovery Experience Questionnaire: Development and validation of a measure for assessing recuperation and unwinding from work.

Drawing on the mood regulation and job-stress recovery literature, four self-report measures for assessing how individuals unwind and recuperate from work during leisure time were developed (Study 1). Confirmatory factor analyses with a calibration and a cross-validation sample (total N=930) showed that four recovery experiences can be differentiated: psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery, and control (Study 2). Examination of the nomological net in a subsample of Study 2 (N=271) revealed moderate relations of the recovery experiences with measures of job stressors and psychological well-being; relations with coping and personality variables were generally low (Study 3). Potential applications for the future use of these short 4-item measures in longitudinal and diary research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)