Learning and Consolidation of Verbal Declarative Memory in Patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Impairments in declarative memory have been reported in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Fragmentation of explicit trauma-related memory has been assumed to impede the formation of a coherent memorization of the traumatic event and the integration into autobiographic memory. Together with a strong non-declarative memory that connects trauma reminders with a fear response the impairment in declarative memory is thought to be involved in the maintenance of PTSD symptoms. Fourteen PTSD patients, 14 traumatized subjects without PTSD, and 13 non-traumatized healthy controls (HC) were tested with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) to assess verbal declarative memory. PTSD symptoms were assessed with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale and depression with the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Several indices of the CVLT pointed to an impairment in declarative memory performance in PTSD, but not in traumatized persons without PTSD or HC. No group differences were observed if recall of memory after a time delay was set in relation to initial learning performance. In the PTSD group verbal memory performance correlated significantly with hyperarousal symptoms, after concentration difficulties were accounted for. The present study confirmed previous reports of declarative verbal memory deficits in PTSD. Extending previous results, we propose that learning rather than memory consolidation is impaired in PTSD patients. Furthermore, arousal symptoms may interfere with successful memory formation in PTSD.

Do Business Ethics Pay Off?

The ability to attract highly qualified employees constitutes a significant competitive advantage, and is ultimately linked to an organization’s economic success. Creating and maintaining organizational attractiveness is therefore crucial to organizations. While previous research has demonstrated that an organization’s ethical conduct (e.g., corporate social responsibility) enhances its attractiveness for potential employees, there is no empirical evidence on whether the ethical behavior of an organization’s leaders can also affect organizational attractiveness. Using both experimental and correlational data we investigate the influence of leader ethical behavior on organizational attractiveness and examine the underlying mechanisms behind this relationship. In line with our hypotheses, ethical leader behavior leads to significantly higher ethical leadership ratings and to significantly higher ratings of organizational attractiveness. Furthermore, higher ethical leadership ratings were associated with stronger intentions to pursue employment with the respective organization. This effect was simultaneously mediated by organizational prestige and the general attractiveness of the organization.

Intrusive Memories and Modality-Specific Mental Imagery in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by vivid intrusive memories of the trauma. Among these, visual sensations of the trauma are most commonly reported. However, intrusions may involve other senses as well (e.g., acoustic, olfactory, or bodily sensations). It has been proposed that enhanced mental imagery may predispose individuals with traumatic experiences to intrusions and ultimately to PTSD. A total of 58 victims of interpersonal violence with current (n = 20), past (n = 19), and no lifetime PTSD (n = 19) as well as non-traumatized controls (n = 23) were assessed with the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ) and a modality-specific imagery questionnaire. Moreover, the sensory quality of the traumatic intrusions was assessed in traumatized participants. Participants with recovered PTSD displayed less overall mental imagery than the other three groups who were indistinguishable. No relation was found between the modality-specific mental imagery and the sensory quality of the intrusions. The impact of mental imagery on intrusive memories in PTSD is complex. Less mental imagery appears beneficial in the recovery process, but does not prevent the development of intrusive symptoms in the first place. Further investigation of perceptual and memory vividness as well imagery control (i.e., to sustain, modify, or terminate an image) also including trauma-related material may be important for trauma-specific interventions.

Value Performance

In spite of a considerable body of literature, the relations between aspects of corporate culture and corporate success are not clear. This is due to the complexity and inconsistency concerning corporate culture and success. Most studies tend to focus on codified norms but less on implicit assumptions and values according to Schein (1990 , 2009 ), and on positive but not negative cultural impacts. The research situation implies that managers do not pay enough attention to cultural issues. The success relation was investigated in an explorative study using a weighted sample of 2,873 persons from 46 German companies who participated in an online questionnaire designed to cover all levels of corporate culture. The impact of explorative analyzed corporate culture’s construct to success was assessed by correlations and regressions. Results indicate that corporate responsibility with respect to external stakeholders as well as to employees, accompanied by participative leadership, are crucial cultural conditions for corporate success.

What is the Value?

In recent years a number of leadership constructs have been introduced to the literature that comprise explicit reference to the leader’s ethical behavior including transformational, ethical, authentic, and spiritual leadership. These types of leadership have been posited to have a positive impact on employees and the organizations they are part of, and research has pointed to positive relations with work-related attitudes. So far, however, the question whether or not these leadership styles are also related to objectively determined organizational performance has remained unanswered. Thus, the purpose of this article is to review the empirical literature on the relation between ethically-oriented leadership and economic performance. Findings indicate that ethically-oriented leadership is in fact economically effective.

How to Perform Idiographic and a Combination of Idiographic and Nomothetic Approaches

The aim of the study is to combine and compare person-oriented and nomothetic approaches to analyze longitudinal data with time series analyses and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Based on the evaluation of an intervention study both approaches were used to compare individual and group data. In this study, a training was implemented to foster students’ self-regulation and selected results were presented at the individual and group level for the variables planning and motivation. To analyze data with time series analysis, cross-correlations and trend analyses were conducted. Cross-correlations revealed similar results on the aggregated and individual level whereas trend analysis indicated different results of these two levels. Results of HLM analyses for longitudinal data suggested that students’ motivation has more influence than the type of training group on students’ planning. The findings demonstrate that individual and group-level results differ and that both methods have different focuses. This means that it is useful to combine time series analyses and HLM approaches when analyzing longitudinal data.

The Person and the Variable in Developmental Psychology

A brief theoretical and methodological overview is given of the person-oriented and the variable-oriented approach, how these are commonly used in longitudinal research, and what one should take into consideration before choosing either approach. An empirical research example is also given where the association was studied between, on the one hand, attention control – activity level in early adolescence and, on the other hand, persistent versus adolescence-limited criminality. Key topics discussed include properties that variables must have to be suitable for the study of individual pattern development, the problem-method match, and prediction versus understanding.