Deciding to exercise requires trade-offs between immediate and delayed benefits. These momentary decisions may be moderated by personality such that patterns of individual behavior emerge. The aim of the current study was to determine if higher levels of optimism and lower levels of delay discounting were related to exercise frequency. A sample of 360 undergraduate students completed a survey study related to understanding the choices made by undergraduates and how other factors relate to their decision-making. The survey included measures of optimism, delayed discounting, and self-reported exercise frequency in four domains: cardiovascular, resistance, sports, active lifestyle. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine optimism and delay discounting as predictors of exercise frequency. Optimism and delay discounting were negatively correlated, but neither was related to exercise frequency. Furthermore, optimism and delay discounting were not significantly related to frequency spent in cardiovascular, resistance, or active lifestyle exercise. However, women scoring higher in delay discounting were more likely to participate in physical sports. The present study helps inform future research by showing potentially important psychosocial variables related to optimism, delay discounting, and exercise.

Performance on the Spatial Span subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale has been viewed as an indicator of working memory and visuospatial processing. A number of factors including age and gender have been posited to effect performance on Spatial Span by older adults. The current study examined the impact of various forms of cognitive impairment and severity of impairment on Spatial Span performance. Five hundred thirty-eight individuals between the ages of 65 and 89 were evaluated in a university memory disorders clinic using a battery of neuropsychological tests that included Spatial Span. Participants were grouped by consensus diagnosis into type of cognitive impairment (Alzheimer's disease, vascular disease, amnestic mild cognitive impairment or non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment) or cognitively normal. As expected, an increase in severity of impairment results in a decrease in Spatial Span Total Score. Other findings included a weak relationship between age and Spatial Span Total Score. Gender, as well as age, did not fully account for the decline in Spatial Span Total Score. Spatial Span Forward score was not as good a predictor of severity in that reduction in score for Spatial Span Forward remains relatively stable regardless of level of impairment. Spatial Span Backward performance was …

Malingering is the deliberate production of feigned symptoms by a person seeking external gain such as: financial compensation, exemption from duty, or leniency from the criminal justice system. The Test Translation and Adaptation Guidelines developed by the International Test Commission (ITC) specify that only tests which have been formally translated into another language and validated should be available for use in clinical practice. Thus, the current study evaluated the psychometric properties of a Spanish translation of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS). Using a simulation design with 80 Spanish-speaking Hispanic American outpatients, the Spanish SIRS was produced reliable results with small standard errors of measurement (SEM). Regarding discriminant validity, very large effect sizes (mean Cohen's d = 2.00) were observed between feigners and honest responders for the SIRS primary scales. Research limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

The study explored whether certain factors might be used to distinguish between people with cancer who do or do not want detailed information about their disease progress, do or do not want to be informed if their disease is no longer considered curable, and who do or do not want an estimation of life expectancy if their disease is no longer considered curable. The factors included whether an individual has an internal versus external locus of control, uses an active coping strategy or a planning coping strategy, the level of spirituality, and age. Participants consisted of 51 people with cancer from a cancer center in the state of Washington. Results indicated that 98% wanted detailed information about their disease progress, 94% wanted to be informed if their disease was no longer considered curable, and 78% wanted an estimation of life expectancy if their disease was no longer considered curable. Due to the majority of the participants endorsing the need for prognostic information none of the factors (e.g. coping strategies, locus of control, spirituality) were able to predict the information needs of the patients with cancer. Clinical implications of this study suggest that physicians have an ongoing, open dialogue with their …