A comparison of signal contingencies and response formats in ambulatory assessment

Ambulatory assessment is a form of intensive repeated measurement that allows researchers to examine how constructs unfold over time within an individual’s natural environment. While its advantages over retrospective reports are well documented, it is less understood how methodological choices between signal contingencies and response formats influence the data that is collected. The present study aims to use big-five and interpersonal traits as well as social behavior and affect measured in the moment to determine whether signal and event contingent recording procedures or Visual Interpersonal Adjectives Scale (adjective slider) and behavioral checklist response formats provide equivalent data. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 197) completed baseline questionnaires, received training on smartphone use, and completed one week of ambulatory assessment. Signal and event contingencies were evaluated by comparing means and variances across groups, by comparing correlations between interpersonal behavior and affect within-person across groups, and by fitting multiple linear regressions with an interaction term between sampling condition and big-five trait, interpersonal trait, or positive or negative affect. Results indicate that signal and event contingent recording techniques provide equivalent results. Adjective slider and behavioral checklist response formats were evaluated by comparing the correlations between an interpersonal trait, big-five trait, or positive or negative affect and a dimension of interpersonal behavior measured using either the slider or the checklist format. In addition, correlations between positive or negative affect and dimensions of interpersonal behavior were compared within person across slider and checklist formats. Results suggest that when measuring interpersonal agency, slider and checklist response formats provide equivalent results. Results suggest that when measuring interpersonal affiliation, the slider may be a slightly superior method of measurement

A Comparison of Signal- and Event-Contingent Ambulatory Assessment of Interpersonal Behavior and Affect in Social Situations

Ambulatory assessment (e.g., ecological momentary assessment) is now widely used in psychological research, yet key design decisions remain largely informed by methodological lore as opposed to systematic inquiry. The present study experimentally tested whether signal- (e.g., random prompt) and event-contingent (e.g., complete a survey every time a target event occurs) recording procedures of interpersonal behavior and affect in social situations yield equivalent quality and quantity of data. Participants (N = 286) completed baseline questionnaires, underwent cluster randomization to either a signal- or event-contingent condition, then completed one week of ambulatory assessment during which participants answered questions about their social behavior and affect tied to their social interactions. Conditions were compared on response frequency, means and variances of interpersonal behavior and affect, correlations between interpersonal behavior and affect within-person, and associations between momentary behavior and affect and baseline variables (e.g., big-five traits). Results indicated that signal- and event-contingent recording techniques provided equivalent data quality, suggesting that researchers can use the two methodologies interchangeably to draw conclusions about means, variances, and associations when examining social interactions. However, results also showed that event-contingent recording returned, on average, a higher number of reported social interactions per individual and this was true for most time-periods of the day. Thus, event-contingent recording may hold advantages for studying frequency and timing of social interactions

Linguistic analysis of the autobiographical memories of individuals with major depressive disorder.

BACKGROUND:Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by biases in memory, attention, and cognition. The present study utilized the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) to examine the content of specific autobiographical memories (AMs) recalled by individuals with MDD during an autobiographical memory task. METHODS:We examined various features of the text (including use of affective, cognitive, and self-referential terms), as well as their associations with clinical and cognitive features of MDD (depression severity, autobiographical memory specificity, amygdala activity), in 45 unmedicated adults with MDD compared to 61 healthy controls. RESULTS:When recalling positive memories MDD individuals used the word "I" less, fewer positive words, more words indicating present focus (present tense verbs), and fewer words overall to describe memories compared to controls. When recalling negative memories, MDD individuals used "I" more, more words indicating present focus, and more words overall to describe memories relative to controls. Depression severity was correlated with word count, the use of "I", and words indicating present focus in negative memories and inversely correlated with word count and the use of "I" in positive memories. Autobiographical memory specificity was correlated with word count, the use of "I", and words indicating present focus for positive memories and inversely correlated with the use of "I" and words indicating present focus for negative memories. LIMITATIONS:Due to the nature of AM recall, we could not control for the number of memories which participants recalled in each mnemonic category. CONCLUSIONS:Results align with literature implicating rumination and intensive self-focus in depression and suggest that interventions targeting specific word use may be therapeutically beneficial in the treatment of MDD

Causes and Consequences of Public Attitudes Toward Abortion: A Review and Research Agenda

This article provides a critical review of empirical research on attitudes toward abortion among mass publics in the United States, with a view toward suggesting promising avenues for future research. We identify three such themes: Accounting for pro-life movement among mass attitudes in recent years, when the composition of the U.S. population would seem to trend in a pro-choice direction; explaining the sources of party polarization of the abortion issue; and anticipating changes in abortion attitudes which might result from public debate over human cloning