Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Serotonin Transporter And Gaba(A) Alpha 6 Receptor Variants Are Associated With Neuroticism, Srijan Sen, Sandra Villafuerte, Randolph Nesse, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Jeffrey Hopcian, Lillian Gleiberman, Alan Weder, Margit Burmeister, University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: A tendency to experience negative affect, as measured by the neuroticism component of the Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness Personality Inventory (NEO-PI), is a trait marker for major depression. Epidemiologic studies indicate a strong genetic component, but to date few specific genetic variants have been definitively implicated. A serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) has been extensively studied in neuroticism and several psychiatric disorders, with inconclusive results. A GABA(A) receptor α6 subunit variant (Pro385Ser) has been associated with alcohol-related traits but has not been studied in neuroticism or depression.
Methods: A total of 384 subjects who completed the NEO-PI were genotyped …

Understanding Mental Health Needs Of Southeast Asian Refugees: Historical, Cultural, And Contextual Challenges, Eugenia Hsu, Corrie A. Davies, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Research and clinical information pertaining to mental health needs of Asians residing in the United States is limited but growing. There is a tendency to group all persons of Asian descent together and, therefore, the empirical literature does not sufficiently address the mental health needs in specific subgroups. The focus of this article is to understand the mental health needs of one subgroup of Asians-Southeast Asian refugees (SEAR). The main purpose is to review the relevant literature pertaining to Southeast Asian refugees’ experiences and to understand the manifestation of psychiatric disorders by examining historical, cultural, and contextual challenges. Despite the …

Paying For The Crimes Of Their Children: Public Support Of Parental Responsibility, Eve M. Brank, Victoria Weisz

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Parental responsibility laws, varying greatly within and among the states, appeared as one answer to the questions surrounding juvenile crime. Although these laws would seem to garner great public support under the new punitive attitude toward juveniles, no recent empirical studies were conducted on this topic. The current research examined public support of parental responsibility for crimes children commit. Contrary to expectations, public support was found to be relatively low. The public did place some responsibility on the parents when a juvenile crime occurred; however, agreement with blaming and punishing the parents was low. Political ideology and educational status served …

The Mind In The Mind Of The Beholder: Elucidating Relational Influences On Early Social Understanding, Ross Thompson, H. Abigail Raikes

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Relational experiences shape emergent social understanding and two influences deserve particular attention. First, parent-child conversation about shared experiences incorporates both implicit and explicit information about mental states that catalyzes the social construction of understanding, especially in juxtaposition with the child’s direct experience. Second, emotion infuses the contexts and cognitions about social experiences that provoke the child’s constructivist efforts.

Motivation, Drug Abuse, And 50 Years Of Theoretical And Empirical Inquiry, Rick A. Bevins, Michael Bardo

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In reviewing the 25-year history of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Benjamin and Jones (1979) noted that the Symposium was "the longest-lived topical series in American psychology, with 'I national and international reputation" (p. ix). On March 28 and 29 of 2002, with a packed auditorium on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, this record was doubled in life. As the reader will quickly see from the list of contributors, the reputation of the Symposium was also maintained on its 50th Anniversary. Before continuing, we would like to reiterate the thanks in the Preface for all those who supported …

Drive, Incentive, And Reinforcement: The Antecedents And Consequences Of Motivation, Roy Wise

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The aim of scientific explanation is to characterize the important antecedents of observable (or at least objectively confirmable) events. Explanations of behavior in terms of motivational states are appeals to unobservable, internal events for interpretations of behavior that is variable under apparently constant external stimulus conditions (see, e.g., Brown, 1953; Hinde, 1960). To be identified as the cause of a behavior, the unobservable event or condition must preexist the behavioral event to be explained. A behavior cannot be explained by its consequences, though it may be explained as a consequence of similar events in the animal's history. Scientific explanation involves …

Utilities Of Dentin Regeneration Among Insured And Uninsured Adults, Amid I. Ismail, Stephen Birch, Woosung Sohn, James M. Lepkowski, Robert Belli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: This population-based study measured utilities (preferences measured under conditions of uncertainty) of dentin regeneration (DR), a potential new therapy, root canal therapy (RCT), and extraction (EXT).
Methods: A representative sample of dentate adults (aged 18–69 years) was randomly selected from the Detroit area. A computer program was used to administer the standard gamble (SG) method and record utility score (US) for treatment options of a tooth with reversible pulpitis using the SG method. For the SG method, two anchor states were used: filled tooth with full oral health and filled tooth with severe and continuous pain leading to EXT. …

Parenting, Julia C. Torquati

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

How can parents successfully care for their children in the context of homelessness? This is a significant question because families with children represent approximately 40 percent of the homeless population in the United States, and the number of homeless children has been growing since the early 1980s. Negative consequences of homelessness to children’s health, education, and emotional and social development have been well documented. Homeless families in the United States can be considered a subset of limited-resource families, and as such they share some of the same challenges to effective parenting. However, homeless parents face additional challenges, and these challenges …

Why Is She So Mean? Review Of Marion K. Underwood, Social Aggression Among Girls. New York: Guilford Press, 2003, Susan M. Swearer Napolitano

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Review of Marion K. Underwood, Social Aggression among Girls. New York: Guilford Press, 2003, 300 pp. $44.00, ISBN: 1572308664 (cloth). $24.00, ISBN: 1-57230-865-6 (paper).

Willingness To Pay For Dentin Regeneration In A Sample Of Dentate Adults, Stephen Birch, Woosung Sohn, Amid I. Ismail, James M. Lepkowski, Robert Belli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Measurement of individuals’ valuation of dental treatments is important in the evaluation of new technologies. In this paper the value of dentin regeneration, a new treatment for teeth with reversible pulpitis, is measured based on what individuals say they would be willing to pay to receive the treatment.
Methods: A total of 611 randomly selected dentate adults answered willingness to pay (WTP) and dental insurance questions. Detailed descriptions of the process and expected outcomes for dentin regeneration were presented to subjects as part of a larger study measuring preferences for different treatments. WTP was determined for two different levels …

The Economic Basis Of Cooperation: Tradeoffs Between Selfishness And Generosity, Jeffrey R. Stevens, David W. Stephens

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current study examined the economics of cooperation in controlled-payoff games by using captive blue jays, Cyanocitta cristata. This investigation used a special feeding apparatus to test for the stability of cooperative choice in a series of iterated games. The jays experienced experimentally determined game theoretical payoff matrices, which determined the distribution of food to themselves and their opponent, depending on their decision to cooperate or defect. The experiment tested four game matrices, called the cooperate only, defect only, prisoner’s dilemma, and opponent control treatments. This study found little cooperation in the defect only and prisoner’s dilemma treatments. Cooperation …

Cognitive Constraints On Reciprocity And Tolerated Scrounging, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Fiery A. Cushman

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Commentary on Gurven: "To give and to give not: The behavioral ecology of human food transfers"

Each of the food-sharing models that Gurven considers demands unique cognitive capacities. Reciprocal altruism, in particular, requires a suite of complex abilities not required by alternatives such as tolerated scrounging. Integrating cognitive constraints with comparative data from other species can illuminate the adaptive benefits of food sharing in humans.

Why Be Nice? Psychological Constraints On The Evolution Of Cooperation, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Marc D. Hauser

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Animals often aid others without gaining any immediate benefits. Although these acts seem to reduce the donor’s fitness, they are only apparently altruistic. Donors typically help because they or their kin receive future benefits or avoid costly punishment. Reciprocal altruism— alternating the roles of donor and recipient—has been a well-studied form of cooperation among non-kin because of its intuitive appeal in explaining human cooperation. Despite immense theoretical interest, little empirical evidence substantiates the biological importance of reciprocal altruism in non-human animals. We propose that this is because psychological mechanisms constrain its application in cooperative contexts. In particular, we contend that …