Perception of Parental Conflict as a Predictor of Attachment and Caregiving Styles in the Romantic Relationships of Young Adults

Attachment styles and caregiving styles have provided a useful framework for conceptualizing romantic relationships. The present study seeks to examine whether perceptions of high parental conflict will predict less secure attachment and caregiving styles in the romantic relationships of young adults. It is hypothesized that higher perceptions of parental conflict, as measured by the Family Structure Survey and the Conflict Tactics Scale, will correlate positively with more insecure ratings on a dimensional attachment measure, and will correlate positively with maladaptive extremes of caregiving styles, measured using the Caregiving Questionnaire. Low correlations between dimensional attachment and parental conflict were found. Results are discussed in the context of a social-learning hypothesis for attachment and caregiving styles in the romantic relationships of young adults, with the parents\u27 marriage being the primary model of romantic relationships

Personality and Longevity: Knowns, Unknowns, and Implications for Public Health and Personalized Medicine

We review evidence for links between personality traits and longevity. We provide an overview of personality for health scientists, using the primary organizing framework used in the study of personality and longevity. We then review data on various aspects of personality linked to longevity. In general, there is good evidence that higher level of conscientiousness and lower levels of hostility and Type D or “distressed” personality are associated with greater longevity. Limited evidence suggests that extraversion, openness, perceived control, and low levels of emotional suppression may be associated with longer lifespan. Findings regarding neuroticism are mixed, supporting the notion that many component(s) of neuroticism detract from life expectancy, but some components at some levels may be healthy or protective. Overall, evidence suggests various personality traits are significant predictors of longevity and points to several promising directions for further study. We conclude by discussing the implications of these links for epidemiologic research and personalized medicine and lay out a translational research agenda for integrating the psychology of individual differences into public health and medicine

Emotional Intelligence at Mid Life: A Cross Sectional Investigation of Structural Variance, Social Correlates, and Relationship to Established Personality and Ability Taxonomies

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has been relatively unstudied after young adulthood. Yet there are a variety of reasons to expect that EI may be different at mid life than in young adulthood. Normative life experiences may lead to increases in EI, and as the array of different environments and experiences increases with age, one might expect greater individual differences in EI. Similarly, if EI is located somewhere at the intersection of personality and intelligence, as some have speculated, it may follow a course of structural differentiation similar to cognitive abilities. EI may be more closely linked to social variables such as loneliness and friendships at mid life, and its relation to established personality and ability factors such as the Big Five (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) and fluid and crystallized abilities may also vary with age. These hypotheses were investigated in samples of 292 young adults and 246 mid life adults, using the Schutte Self Report Emotional Intelligence Inventory, the NEO-Five Factor Personality Inventory, markers of crystallized and fluid ability from Horn's Crystallized/Fluid Sampler, and a variety of other measures. Mid life adults scored higher on overall EI scores, but evidenced no greater range of individual differences than did young adults. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed no greater differentiation in the mid life sample either among dimensions of EI or between EI and personality and intelligence variables. Finally, EI appeared equally predictive of social variables in each sample. Results are discussed from the perspective of lifespan and aging literature on emotion, personality, and social functioning. Qualifications for the inference of age-related change in cross sectional designs are considered, along with advantages and disadvantages of factor-analytic and covariance structure modeling methodology. Implications, particularly for psychotherapy with each age group, are discussed

Towards an archaeology of pain? Assessing the evidence from later prehistoric bog bodies

This paper highlights the potential for what could be termed an ‘archaeology of pain’, reflecting on the potential significance and role of the infliction, suffering, endurance and observation of pain by individuals in the past. It presents a case study of ‘bog bodies’, human remains recovered from wetland which, due to the anoxic, waterlogged conditions, preserves human flesh and associated evidence, including injuries and cause of death. The central argument is that evidence from pathological investigations of certain later prehistoric bodies provides hitherto neglected information concerning the embodied experience of pain, in particular its duration and intensity, which may be central to the interpretation of these events. This understanding can be framed not only in terms of the experience of pain by the victims, but also in the potential perception of pain and suffering by those inflicting these and potentially by any observers of the final moments of these individuals

Biomedical Ph.D. Students Enrolled in Two Elite Universities in the United Kingdom and the United States Report Adopting Multiple Learning Relationships

Objective: The ability to form multiple learning relationships is a key element of the doctoral learning environment in the biomedical sciences. Of these relationships, that between student and supervisor has long been viewed as key. There are, however, limited data to describe the student perspective on what makes this relationship valuable. In the present study, we discuss the findings of semi-structured interviews with biomedical Ph.D. students from the United Kingdom and the United States to: i) determine if the learning relationships identified in an Australian biomedical Ph.D. cohort are also important in a larger international student cohort; and ii) improve our understanding of student perceptions of value in their supervisory relationships. Study Design 32 students from two research intensive universities, one in the United Kingdom (n = 17), and one in the United States (n = 15) were recruited to participate in a semi-structured interview. Verbatim transcripts were transcribed, validated and analysed using a Miles and Huberman method for thematic analysis. Results: Students reported that relationships with other Ph.D. students, post-doctoral scientists and supervisors were all essential to their learning. Effective supervisory relationships were perceived as the primary source of high-level project guidance, intellectual support and confidence. Relationships with fellow students were viewed as essential for the provision of empathetic emotional support. Technical learning was facilitated, almost exclusively, by relationships with postdoctoral staff. Conclusions: These data make two important contributions to the scholarship of doctoral education in the biomedical sciences. Firstly, they provide further evidence for the importance of multiple learning relationships in the biomedical doctorate. Secondly, they clarify the form of a ‘valued’ supervisory relationship from a student perspective. We conclude that biomedical doctoral programs should be designed to contain a minimum level of formalised structure to promote the development of multiple learning relationships that are perceived as key to student learning

Crystal structure of LIR-2 (ILT4) at 1.8 Å: differences from LIR-1 (ILT2) in regions implicated in the binding of the Human Cytomegalovirus class I MHC homolog UL18

BACKGROUND: Leukocyte Immunoglobulin-like Receptor-1 (LIR-1) and LIR-2 (also known as ILT2 and ILT4 respectively) are highly related cell surface receptors that bind a broad range of class I MHC molecules with low (μM) affinities. Expressed on monocytic cells and macrophages, both molecules transmit inhibitory signals after binding ligands. In addition to binding host class I MHC, the LIR-1 molecule, which is also expressed on lymphoid tissues, binds with a high (nM) affinity to UL18, a class I MHC homolog encoded by Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV). In comparison, LIR-2 binds UL18 only weakly (μM K(D)). To understand how HCMV preferentially targets the more broadly expressed LIR-1 molecule, we determined the crystal structure of a ligand-binding fragment of LIR-2, and compared this to the existing high-resolution crystal structure of LIR-1. RESULTS: Recombinant LIR-2 (domains 1 and 2) was produced in E. coli and crystallized using streak seeding to optimize the crystal morphology. A data set complete to 1.8 Å was collected at 100 K from a single crystal in the P4(1)2(1)2 spacegroup. The structure was solved by molecular replacement, using a search model based on the LIR-1 structure. CONCLUSIONS: The overall structure of LIR-2 D1D2 resembles both LIR-1, and Killer Inhibitory Receptors, in that the A strand in each domain forms hydrogen bonds to both β sheets, and there is a sharp angle between the two immunoglobulin-like domains. However, differences from LIR-1 are observed in each domain, with two key changes apparent in the ligand-binding domain, D1. The region corresponding to the residue 44–57 helix of LIR-1 adopts a topology distinct from that of both LIR-1 and the KIR structures, involving a shortened 3(10) helix. Secondly, the predicted UL18 binding region of LIR-1 is altered substantially in LIR-2: the 76–84 loop mainchain is displaced 11 Å with respect to LIR-1, and Tyrosine 38 adopts an alternative rotamer conformation. In summary, the structure of LIR-2 has revealed significant differences to LIR-1, including ones that may help to explain the >1000-fold lower affinity of LIR-2 for UL18

Statistical learning theory for high dimensional prediction:Application to criterion-keyed scale development

Statistical learning theory (SLT) is the statistical formulation of machine learning theory, a body of analytic methods common in “big data” problems. Regression-based SLT algorithms seek to maximize predictive accuracy for some outcome, given a large pool of potential predictors, without overfitting the sample. Research goals in psychology may sometimes call for high dimensional regression. One example is criterion-keyed scale construction, where a scale with maximal predictive validity must be built from a large item pool. Using this as a working example, we first introduce a core principle of SLT methods: minimization of expected prediction error (EPE). Minimizing EPE is fundamentally different than maximizing the within-sample likelihood, and hinges on building a predictive model of sufficient complexity to predict the outcome well, without undue complexity leading to overfitting. We describe how such models are built and refined via cross-validation. We then illustrate how three common SLT algorithms–Supervised Principal Components, Regularization, and Boosting—can be used to construct a criterion-keyed scale predicting all-cause mortality, using a large personality item pool within a population cohort. Each algorithm illustrates a different approach to minimizing EPE. Finally, we consider broader applications of SLT predictive algorithms, both as supportive analytic tools for conventional methods, and as primary analytic tools in discovery phase research. We conclude that despite their differences from the classic null-hypothesis testing approach—or perhaps because of them–SLT methods may hold value as a statistically rigorous approach to exploratory regression

Honeybee, Apis mellifera, guards use adaptive acceptance thresholds to limit worker reproductive parasitism

Keywords: acceptance threshold Apis mellifera guard honeybee queenless recognition robbing worker reproductive parasitism To protect their colonies from robbing by conspecifics, honeybees have evolved nest-guarding behaviour. Guards adjust their acceptance threshold so that, as the likelihood of robbing increases, fewer nonnestmates are admitted. In addition to the possibility of robbing, queenless colonies may be infiltrated by reproductively parasitic non-nestmates. We tested the hypothesis that queenless colonies would be more discriminatory of non-nestmates than queenright colonies. As predicted, queenless colonies accepted significantly fewer non-nestmates (from queenright colonies) than they did nestmates, whereas queenright colonies did not differentiate significantly between the two sources. This trend continued once laying workers became active in queenless colonies. Thus there is evidence that queenless colonies are more discerning against potential reproductive parasites than queenright colonies. We also tested the hypothesis that as the likelihood of an intruder being a reproductive parasite increased, guards would become less permissive of allowing it entrance to the colony. Queenright colonies accepted significantly more non-nestmates from queenright colonies (no active ovaries) than they did non-nestmates from queenless colonies (many with active ovaries). However, queenless colonies did not make this distinction. We suggest that to queenless colonies all non-nestmates are potential parasites.