Welcome To Iconocast

How to add a URL link from your web site to the Iconocast web sites

Virtual tour of Southern California

Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: test + prediction + improves  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll: Team By Team Breakdown (Part I) Bleacher Report, CA - Aug 2, 2008 Muschamp seeks to improve the pass coverage in a conference that probably has the biggest collection of quarterback talent. Prediction: A tough Big 12 ... High schools hit the gridiron Terre Haute Tribune Star, IN - ?We?ve been pretty lucky, weather-wise,? Cobb said Monday as the Vikings hit the weight room prior to their evening meal (prediction: the watermelon didn?t ... Moneycontrol.com Golden chance in stock market Moneycontrol.com, India - Aug 3, 2008 Our advance predictions made through same media previous week Test your skill in stock market in Indian stock market proved 100% correct there was lot of ... Ankle-Arm Blood Pressure Test Predicts Heart Disease Risk U.S. News & World Report, DC - Jul 8, 2008 "That is why we and others have been looking for other factors to improve prediction." The meta-analysis used data from 16 studies around the world, ... Scientists Test System To Forecast Flash Floods Along Colorado's ... Science Daily (press release) - Jul 28, 2008 Known as the NCAR Front Range Flash Flood Prediction System, it combines detailed atmospheric conditions with information about stream flows to predict ... Telegraph.co.uk Britain's Olympic Hockey team test red contact lenses to combat ... Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Jul 29, 2008 Great Britain's women's hockey team are wearing red contact lenses in their preparations for the Olympic Games in a bid to improve their vision in the smog ... ESCO Acquires Diagnostic Solutions Company Serving the ... MarketWatch - Use of LDIC's test equipment can aid in preventing costly and catastrophic failures and improve the in-service life of high voltage power equipment. ...ESE Ankle-Brachial Index Improves CV Risk Prediction Medscape (subscription) - Jul 9, 2008 July 9, 2008 ? Measurement of the ankle-brachial index may improve the accuracy of cardiovascular risk prediction beyond the Framingham risk score, ... Urine Test May Improve Biopsy Predictions Renal and Urology News, NY - Jul 15, 2008 THE PROSTATE cancer gene 3 (PCA3) urine test is superior to percent-free PSA in predicting prostate biopsy outcome, according to researchers. ... Embryo 'fitness test' could boost IVF success rates Times Online, UK - Jul 8, 2008 The research also showed that using the viability index along with morphological data improved prediction success. His team is now beginning a prospective ...

Test improves prediction of self-injurious behavior

Self-injuring individuals display implicit associations between cutting and the self

Researchers have found a better way to predict self-injurious behavior by using a test that does not rely on the individual to articulate their thoughts, but instead assesses their implicit attitudes towards self-injury. This procedure addresses a major challenge in the identification of people who engage in self-injurious behavior, because such individuals are often intentionally uncommunicative in order to avoid unwanted treatment as well as unable to articulate their feelings.

Conducted by two Harvard professors, the study was led by Matthew Nock, an assistant professor of psychology, with Mahzarin Banaji, the Cabot professor of social ethics in the department of psychology and Pforzheimer professor at the Radcliffe Institute. The paper is published in the May issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Article continues below and (thank you)

"This research represents a significant advance in risk assessment for self-injury. This test measures the associations people hold about self-injury using their own behavioral responses rather than their verbal report, and therefore it has the potential to significantly improve our ability to detect and predict self-injurious thoughts in a way not previously possible" says Nock.

The study included 89 adolescents between the ages of twelve and nineteen, of which 53 had a history of non-suicidal self injurious behavior, and 36 were non-injurers that comprised a comparison group. The group was given a version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), adapted to measure mental associations to cutting of the body in particular because prior studies have shown that cutting is the most common form of self-injury.

The IAT was computer administered with participants using key board controls to quickly associate self with cutting or not. Based on the participant's reaction time when grouping self with cutting versus not, the test identified the strength of association between self and injury via cutting that the individual might not otherwise share with others or even be aware of herself.

In the identity test, participants grouped together words and phrases such as "Cutting" or "No Cutting" with words such as "Me" or "They." Those who engaged in self-injurious behavior were more likely to quickly and without error group the words that that are relevant to cutting with the words related to the self such as I, me, mine, myself.

In a second attitude test, participants were asked to group together words such as "Cutting" or "Not Cutting" with words that captured the categories "Good" and "Bad." While both groups showed an association between "Cutting" and "Bad," the association was significantly weaker for self-injurers.

In addition to the IAT, participants were also assessed using more conventional measures of self-injury, as well as obtaining measures of demographic factors, differences in IQ, and presence of psychiatric disorders. When considered in conjunction with the more traditional indicators of self-injurious behavior, the IAT significantly improved the prediction of who was a self-injurer above and beyond what was possible using the conventional self-report measures.

"Among the most important applications of the IAT is its ability to reveal the mind's state when it is psychologically compromised -- as it is in a full range of psychological disorders," says Banaji. "Clinical psychologists have been at the forefront of applying the IAT to improve the ability to predict and treat mental illness. Such applications show the importance of basic research in understanding mental illness."

The IAT was developed in 1998 by Banaji, along with Anthony Greenwald of the University of Washington. Since then, more than 4.5 million tests have been completed, through the website at http://implicit.harvard.edu.

Nock and Banaji's work was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Milton Fund and the Talley Fund of Harvard University.