Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

The Influence Of Personality And Affect On Nicotine Dependence Among Male College Students, Dennis E. Mcchargue, Lee M. Cohen, Jessica Warth Cook

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Many clinicians and researchers hypothesize that tobacco use disorders, regardless of the route of administration, are maintained by the ability of nicotine to regulate positive and negative mood states. The present study (N = 137) examined whether certain mood states predicted dependence on either cigarettes or smokeless tobacco and whether specific personality characteristics (e.g., extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism) mediated these relationships among young male college students. Results indicated that positive and negative moods predicted cigarette dependence (p values = .01) and that neuroticism partially mediated the relationship between positive affect and cigarette dependence. Exploratory analyses revealed that positive …

The Process Of Recommending Homework In Psychotherapy: A Review Of Therapist Delivery Methods, Client Acceptability, And Factors That Affect Compliance, Michael J. Scheel, William E. Hanson, Tanya I. Razzhavaikina

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Although the link between homework use and positive psychotherapy outcomes has been established, relatively little is known about the therapeutic processes, or factors, that promote homework compliance. Homework compliance may be viewed as an indicator of client commitment and involvement in psychotherapy. This article presents the results of a systematic review of research, including 16 empirical studies, related to the homework recommendation process. Findings relate to the frequency and type of homework that therapists deliver, factors that promote client acceptability of homework recommendations, and factors that affect compliance. On the basis of these findings, the authors propose a theoretically and …

Gender Socialization In Latino/A Families: Results From Two Retrospective Studies, Marcela Raffaelli, Lenna L. Ontai

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In this article, we present findings from 2 studies designed to explore gender-related socialization in Latino/a families. In Study 1, 22 adult Latinas (ages 20–45) completed in-depth interviews. In Study 2, 166 Latino/a college students (58% women; M age 21.4 years) completed self-report surveys. Study 1 findings suggest that many Latino/a parents socialize their daughters in ways that are marked by “traditional” gender-related expectations and messages. Results of Study 2, which included descriptive analyses and the creation of scales to explore family correlates of gender-related socialization, support and expand these findings. Male and female respondents described different experiences of household …

Unifying Representations And Responses: Perseverative Biases Arise From A Single Behavioral System, John P. Spencer, Anne R. Schutte

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

A dominant account of perseverative errors in early development contends that such errors reflect a failure to inhibit a prepotent response. This study investigated whether perseveration might also arise from a failure to inhibit a prepotent representation. Children watched as a toy was hidden at an A location, waited during a delay, and then watched the experimenter find the toy. After six observation-only A trials, the toy was hidden at a B location, and children were allowed to search for the toy. Two- and 4-year-olds’ responses on the B trials were significantly biased toward A even though they had never …

Nicotine As A Signal For The Presence Or Absence Of Sucrose Reward: Pavlovian Drug Appetitive Conditioning Preparation In Rats, Joyce Besheer, Matthew I. Palmatier, Dawn M. Metschke, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale: In Pavlovian conditioning research, nicotine is typically conceptualized as the unconditioned stimulus (US) that becomes associated with an exteroceptive conditioned stimulus (CS). This research has not explored the possibility that nicotine can also function as a CS. Objectives: The present research examined whether nicotine served as a CS for the presence (CS+) or absence (CS–) of sucrose and started defining its specificity. Methods and results: Rats trained in the CS+ condition had nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, base) paired intermittently with brief access to sucrose. Intermixed were saline sessions without sucrose. Nicotine acquired the ability to evoke goal tracking. This conditioned …

Hedonic Capacity, Cigarette Craving, And Diminished Positive Mood, Jessica Werth Cook, Bonnie Spring, Dennis E. Mcchargue, Donald Hedecker

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Cigarette craving has been linked to elevated negative and positive moods, but a connection to deficient positive affect has not been studied. We tested whether a low hedonic capacity predicts a heightened urge to smoke after acute nicotine deprivation, and whether such an effect is mediated by decreased positive mood or increased negative mood. A total of 35 smokers characterized for individual differences in hedonic capacity were deprived of nicotine for 48 hr. Using mixed-effects regression modeling, we found that lower hedonic capacity predicted greater increases in craving 24 hr after nicotine withdrawal, t(29)=-22.33, p=-.03. The effect of hedonic capacity …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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. …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Barriers To Community Mental Health Services For Latinos: Treatment Considerations, Haig Kouyoumdjian, Byron L. Zamboanga, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The underutilization of mental health services by Latinos has been a growing concern in research and clinical practice. This has become increasingly important as the population of Latinos in the United States rapidly rises and the evidence that many are not receiving needed mental health services accumulates. To provide an understanding of the issues, this article provides an overview of risk factors that may influence the mental health of Latinos and examines prevalence rates of psychopathology and service utilization trends. This article then presents a comprehensive review of the socioeconomic, cultural, and psychotherapeutic barriers that prevent Latinos from receiving community …

Sexual Risk Taking In Adolescence: The Role Of Self-Regulation And Attraction To Risk, Marcela Raffaelli, Lisa J. Crockett

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Precursors of adolescent sexual risk taking were examined in a multiethnic sample consisting of 443 children (51% girls) of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth participants. Respondents were 12–13 years old in 1994 and 16–17 in 1998. Controlling for demographic and contextual factors, self-regulation—but not risk proneness—was significantly (modestly) associated with overall sexual risk taking 4 years later, Analyses of individual sexual behaviors indicated that self-regulation may affect choices made after becoming sexually active (e.g. number of partners) rather than the initiation of sexual activity. Measures of parent and peer influence had independent effects on sexual risk taking but did not …

Serotonergic Agents And Alcoholism Treatment: A Simulation, Scott F. Stoltenberg

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Those with early-onset alcoholism may better respond to ondansetron (a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist) than to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, whereas those with late-onset alcoholism may present the reverse response pattern. Johnson and colleagues proposed a model that attempts to explain the observed treatment response patterns of those with early and late alcoholism onset by focusing on the influence of a common genetic variant in the serotonin transporter regulatory region (5-HTTLPR) on serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) system function.
Methods: The present study formalizes and extends Johnson’s descriptive model into a computer simulation consisting of differential equations. For …

Parenting Characteristics Of Women Reporting A History Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, David Dilillo, Amy Damashek

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This article reviews research on the parenting characteristics of female survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Various aspects of parenting are considered, including (a) childbearing patterns, (b) the intergenerational transmission of CSA, (c) maternal reactions to child CSA disclosure, (d) parenting skills and behaviors, (e) parental violence toward children, (f) attitudes toward parenting, and (g) adjustment of survivors’ children. Overall patterns suggest CSA survivors may experience difficulties with some aspects of parenting. Among the more consistent trends are findings that survivors may have difficulties establishing clear generational boundaries with their children, may be more permissive as parents, and may be …

The “Sexually Abused Child”: Potential Mechanisms Of Adverse Influences Of Such A Label, Gabriel Holguin, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Labeling and the effects of labeling have been extensively researched in the psychological literature in a variety of different contexts. For example, labeling has been empirically shown to lead to lowered expectancies of behavior and achievement, which can then contribute to the potential for the occurrence of a self-fulfilling prophecy with adverse consequences. Another area that has been extensively researched, with a dramatic increase in the literature base in recent history, is that of child sexual abuse (CSA). Despite various shortcomings of the research literature, the consistent findings have been identification of a variety of negative correlates and symptomatologies associated …

Juror Sensitivity To The Cross-Race Effect, Jordan Abshire, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Black and White mock jurors’ sensitivity to the cross-race effect was investigated by varying the race of the eyewitness in a simulated murder trial of a Black defendant. Participants heard an audiotape of a trial after which they rendered a verdict and rated the credibility of the witnesses. White participants found the prosecution witnesses (including the eyewitness) more credible, and the defense witness less credible, than did Black participants; they were also more likely to find the defendant guilty. The Black eyewitness was perceived as more credible than was the White eyewitness, but eyewitness race had no effect on verdict. …

Adolescent Religiosity And Sexuality: An Investigation Of Reciprocal Influences, Sam A. Hardy, Marcela Raffaelli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study examined potential bi-directional associations between religiosity and first sexual intercourse. The sample, drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, included 303 teens (22% Hispanic, 35% Black, 43% White; 53% male) aged 15–16 in 1996 and 17–18 in 1998. All teens included in the sample were virgins at Time 1. In the longitudinal analyses, higher Time 1 religiosity (a composite of importance of religion and frequency of church attendance) was associated with a lower likelihood of first sexual intercourse between Time 1 and Time 2. However, transition to sexual activity between Time 1 and Time 2 was …

Effects Of Chronic Caffeine Pre-Exposure On Conditioned And Unconditioned Psychomotor Activity Induced By Nicotine And Amphetamine In Rats, M. I. Palmatier, E. Y. K. Fung, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Three experiments examined the effects of chronic preexposure to caffeine on the subsequent conditioned and unconditioned locomotor activating effects of nicotine or amphetamine in rats. Rats were given daily intraperitoneal injections of caffeine anhydrous (0, 10 or 30 mg/kg base) for 30 days. Conditioning (environment-drug pairings) began after the last day of caffeine pre-exposure. Preexposure to 30 mg/kg of caffeine enhanced the acute and chronic locomotor effects of amphetamine (0.5 mg/kg). A similar enhancement of activity was not seen with the high (0.421 mg/kg base) or low dose (0.175 mg/kg) of nicotine. In a drug-free test, the distinct environment paired …

Testing The Dynamic Field Theory: Working Memory For Locations Becomes More Spatially Precise Over Development, Anne R. Schutte, John P. Spencer, Gregor Schöner

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The dynamic field theory predicts that biases toward remembered locations depend on the separation between targets, and the spatial precision of interactions in working memory that become enhanced over development. This was tested by varying the separation between A and B locations in a sandbox. Children searched for an object 6 times at an A location, followed by 3 trials at a B location. Two- and 4-year-olds’, but not 6-year-olds’, responses were biased toward A when A and B were 9-in. and 6-in. apart. When A and B were separated by 2 in., however, 4- and 6-year-olds’ responses were biased …

Barriers To Physicians’ Decisions To Discuss Hospice: Insights Gained From The United States Hospice Model, E. Kiernan Mcgorty, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Due to its comprehensive and cost-saving design, hospice has become a critical component of health care. Physicians have become the primary gatekeepers to information on hospice and sources of referral to hospice. However, many physicians do not discuss hospice options until late in the disease course, when patients and their families are no longer able to benefit from hospice services. Although physicians, as well as patients and hospice personnel, cite patient and hospice structure factors as barriers, the present article will focus on barriers physicians have more control over, such as their discomfort discussing terminality and fear of losing contact …

Adult Survivors Of Childhood Abuse: An Analysis Of Coping Mechanisms Used For Stressful Childhood Memories And Current Stressors, Kristine T. Futa, Cindy L. Nash, David J. Hansen, Calvin P. Garbin

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Coping mechanisms used to deal with stressful childhood memories and current stressors were assessed for 196 women in each of 4 groups: no abuse history, sexual abuse history, physical abuse history, and both sexual and physical abuse history. Current psychological adjustment was also examined. Discriminant function analyses revealed a variety of significant differences between the groups in use of strategies for coping with memories of abuse or another childhood stressor. There was no relationship between childhood history of abuse and the manner in which women coped with a current stressor. Women with an abuse history reported significantly poorer adult adjustment …