Background: There is evidence that individuals perform better on some memory tasks when tested at their preferred time of day, a phenomenon named the synchrony effect. There is also evidence of a predictable change from evening to morning preference during the adult life span. Together, these findings suggest that age effects on memory measures may be overestimated when time of testing is ignored. The aim of this study was to investigate whether synchrony effects could partially explain the well-documented age-related decline in performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Methods: Groups of 42 younger adults (aged 18-33 years) and 42 older adults (aged 55-71 years) were administered the RAVLT at either their optimal (n = 21) or non-optimal (n = 21) time of day. Results: Although both age groups benefited moderately from being tested at their optimal time, this effect was greater for older participants and extended to all facets of RAVLT performance except proactive interference. However, younger adults outperformed older adults on three of the five RAVLTs. Conclusions: These findings add to existing evidence of synchrony effects, particularly in memory functioning of older adults, and highlight the need for clinicians to consider optimal time of testing when administering and interpreting the RAVLT.

Human decision-making is thought to involve the interplay of two distinct information processing systems: a rational (logical) system and an experiential (intuitive) system (Epstein, 1994). Moreover, the ability to engage in rational processing is believed to be constrained by working memory capacity (WMC) (Feldman Barrett, Tugade, & Engle, 2004). Accordingly, preference for rationality, but not preference for experientiality, was expected to mediate the relationship between WMC and performance on cognitive tasks that require logical reasoning. Path analysis using AMOS 18, with data from 269 non-paired twins, confirmed this mediation hypothesis. Higher WMC was predictive of stronger preference for rationality, which, in turn, was predictive of better syllogistic reasoning, lower susceptibility to gambling biases, and lower superstitiousness and categorical thinking. As expected, WMC was unrelated to preference for experiential processing, and higher experientiality predicted poorer performance on the syllogistic reasoning task, higher susceptibility to gambling biases and greater superstitiousness.

This study assessed the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of a revised instrument, the Composite Codependency Scale (CCS), a 19-item measure designed to assess codependent traits. Exploratory factor analysis of the CCS, using data from 301 adults from the general population and 49 attending members of Codependents Anonymous (CoDA), yielded three factors: self-sacrifice, interpersonal control, and emotional suppression. The scale and its subscales exhibited good internal consistency. Consistent with the tenets of the codependency model, higher codependency scores were significantly associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, stress, and familial dysfunction and lower levels of narcissistic tendencies, self-esteem, and emotional expressivity. Furthermore, the revised measure effectively discriminated members of CoDA from those in the general population.

This study of adults (n = 269) and adolescents (n = 308) applied latent profile analysis to preference for rational and/or experiential cognition, coupled with working memory capacity (WMC). A 4-profile solution comprising rationally dominant, experientially dominant, dual preference, and disengaged groups was retained for both adult and adolescent samples. Our solution indicated that high WMC was associated with both preference and ability to engage in rational processing. Profile membership significantly discriminated both adults and adolescents on several reasoning tasks and measures of cognitive biases. Overall our results indicate that cognitive processing styles and WMC can be combined to create a typology that distinguishes between four types of thinkers who significantly differ in their performance on reasoning tasks.

This study investigated the roles of the affect heuristic and outcome beliefs in explaining the relationship between negative urgency and adolescent binge drinking behaviour. The sample consisted of 391 Australian high school students, who were selected to be low or high on urgency. We hypothesised that highly urgent adolescents would be more likely than adolescents low in urgency to utilise the affect heuristic (i.e., to rely upon affective input) when making alcohol-related decisions. Multiple-group path analysis supported this prediction. Adolescents high in urgency exhibited greater use of the affect heuristic by displaying a direct path from affective associations to binge drinking; whereas adolescents low in urgency exhibited greater reliance upon rational processing by displaying an indirect path via outcome beliefs

This study investigated the mediating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between adult insecure attachment and subjective ill health. A sample of 343 Australian adults, aged between 18 and 77 years, completed measures of attachment, emotional intelligence and four facets of subjective health: somatic, anxiety/insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression. Structural equation modelling showed that both anxious insecure attachment and avoidant insecure attachment were associated with lower emotional intelligence, which in turn was related to poorer subjective health outcomes. Emotional intelligence partially mediated the relationship between anxious insecurity and health outcomes. However, emotional intelligence fully mediated the relationship between avoidant insecurity and health outcomes. Results support a model in which insecure attachment is associated with deficits in emotional intelligence, which in turn is related to poorer health outcomes. We explore different mechanisms through which the two types of insecure attachment may impact on health.

This paper reports the psychometric development of new measure of paranormal and related beliefs. Based on a constructive review of the limitations of current self-report questionnaires several criteria were formulated for development of the new measure. One of the key criteria was that items had to meet an explicit definition of scientifically unaccepted beliefs, thereby allowing inclusion in the new measure of a broad range of paranormal beliefs, traditional religious beliefs, urban myths, and similar beliefs currently not accepted by the scientific mainstream. An initial pool of 92 items was administered to 1,180 Australian adults to rate in terms of the level of endorsement. The data of 600 of these participants were analysed under Item Response Theory using the Rasch model and WINSTEPS software, yielding a 20-item questionnaire with two dimensions, New Age Beliefs and Traditional Religious Beliefs, that were free from differential item functioning for age and gender and which featured interval-level measurement. Data from the remaining 580 participants were used for the purpose of confirmatory factor analysis; this analysis confirmed the previously identified psychometric structure. A second study using 236 Australian adults demonstrated the new measure possessed generally satisfactory psychometric characteristics, although further investigation of the scale's discriminant validity and of the convergent validity of the Traditional Religious Beliefs subscale is warranted. The new 'Survey of Scientifically Unaccepted Beliefs' is commended to researchers for its distinctive conceptual perspective, its elegant psychometric structure, and its sophisticated psychometric properties.