Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to David Lester.
In a sample of 51 nations, the suicide rates were negatively associated with the proportion of people with Type O blood, while homicide rates were positively associated with this proportion.
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Credit card use often involves a disadvantageous allocation of finances because they allow for spending beyond means and buying on impulse. Accordingly they are associated with increased bankruptcy, anxiety, stress, and health problems. Mounting evidence from functional neuroimaging and clinical studies implicates prefrontal-subcortical systems in processing financial information. This study examined the relationship of credit card debt and executive functions using the Frontal System Behavior Scale (FRSBE). After removing the influences of demographic variables (age, sex, education, and income), credit card debt was associated with the Executive Dysfunction scale, but not the Apathy or Disinhibition scales. This suggests that processes of conceptualizing and organizing finances are most relevant to credit card debt, and implicates dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction.
A sample of 209 volunteer Kuwaiti undergraduates responded to an Arabic version of the Revised Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale with 4 subscales: Death of Self, Dying of Self, Death of Others, and Dying of Others. Reliabilities of the 4 subscales and of the grand total score ranged from 0.75 to 0.92, which is considered adequate. A 4-factor solution was congruent with the allocation of items to 2 subscales (i.e. Dying of Self and Death of Others), whereas the theorized factor structure of the other 2 subscales were only partially supported by empirical analyses. The intercorrelations between the 4 total subscale scores yielded a general factor of death and dying, denoting good factorial validity of the scale.
In a study of 144 college students, the factorial structure of the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale matched the face content of the subscales quite closely, ameliorating the criticism of the scale by R. A. Neimeyer et al. (2003).
Examples of recent cases of martyrs are examined in order to identify the basic issues of whether martyrdom can be viewed as altruistic suicide. Several issues are identified: whom does the act have to benefit, does the act have to have its intended consequences or is the intent sufficient, does the martyr have to be thinking rationally, and whether execution by the state can be viewed as altruistic suicide.
A case of an adolescent suicide is presented through an interview with his mother. Two Commentaries follow discussing the psychodynamic and diagnostic aspects of the suicidal development from a suicidological perspective.
Previous reports, based on limited reports from inmates who survived the Nazi concentration camps, have claimed that suicide was rare in the concentration camps. Using slightly more detailed, but nonetheless still limited, data from survivors of the camps, it is estimated that the suicide rates in the camp were most likely 25,000 per 100,000 per year or higher and, therefore, enormous!
A survey of 11 positive features and 10 discouraging features of online shopping was carried out on 180 students and identified certain behavioral patterns for online shoppers versus non-shoppers. It was found that online shoppers have consistently stronger positive feelings about online shopping than do non-shoppers. On the other hand, non-shoppers have more negative feelings about online shopping than do shoppers, but not consistently so. Online shoppers are aware of some of the discouraging features of online shopping, but these features do not deter them from shopping online. The implication for marketers is that they should focus on making the experience of online shopping more accommodating and more user-friendly since the positive features of online shopping ("convenience" and "efficiency") appear to be more important than the negative features ("effort/impersonality").
In a sample of 20 European nations, the distribution of blood types provided a better explanation for the association of longitude with suicide rates than did the percentage of Finno-Ugrian ethnic group.
For a sample of 182 undergraduates analysis of responses to a 10-item scale to measure the plurality of the self yielded three orthogonal factors and only moderate reliability.
Scores for a 13-item scale, derived from Domino's Suicide Opinion Questionnaire correlated with scores from Reynolds' Suicide Ideation Questionnaire for 81 undergraduates and may be useful as a proxy measure of suicidal ideation.
In a sample of 235 community residents, the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale which measures frontal system dysfunction was negatively associated with income and positively associated with accepting smaller immediate rewards rather than larger delayed rewards.
In their responses to a questionnaire, undergraduates, 60 Mormons, viewed the afterlife as less pleasant than did the 37 Jews, while the Jews were more concerned with sin and judgment and more often believed in reincarnation.
A subself model of the mind is used to account for multiple personality, possession, the spirit controls of mediums, reincarnation, and the auditory hallucinations of schizophrenics, with suggestions for empirical research.
In a study of 100 students, no associations were found between a measure of the prefrontal system dysfunction personality with credit card use and attitudes.
A brief 6-item scale to measure anxiety about computers, developed using American students, showed good internal consistency, reliability and construct validity for British students (77 men, 65 women).
In a sample of 139 community residents, the three subscales from the brief Hayhoe, et al. credit card attitude scale were replicated in a factor analysis.