Timothy J. Gallagher

Spectral Analysis of Candidates' Nonverbal Vocal Communication: Predicting U.S. Presidential Election Outcomes*

Fast Fourier Transform acoustic analysis of the fundamental frequency of candidates’ voices in 19 nationally televised U.S. presidential debates from the eight elections including debates held since 1960, in conjunction with subsequent factor analysis, shows that this nonverbal frequency, below .5 kHz, can reveal the debating candidates’ relative social dominance. Further analysis presents evidence that the candidates’ nonverbal vocalizations offer a precise metric of their relative dominance or commanding presence in the presidential campaign: when this metric is compared statistically with the candidates’ popular vote percentages for the U.S. presidency, it accurately predicts the popular vote outcomes in all of those eight elections.

Cocaine users with antisocial personality improve HIV risk behaviors as much as those without antisocial personality.

Previous work has documented that antisocial personality disorder (APD) is associated with increased rates of HIV risk behaviors and with worse substance abuse treatment outcomes. The question addressed by this paper is whether cocaine users with APD respond to an HIV risk-reduction intervention as well as cocaine users without the disorder. The study subjects were 333 cocaine users followed up at 18 months as part of a NIDA-funded treatment demonstration project. The total sample improved across a wide range of HIV risk behaviors. Improving significantly (P < 0.05) from baseline to the 18-month follow-up were several drug-related behaviors: cocaine use; current cocaine dependence; use of drugs other than cocaine drug injection; injection equipment sharing; and use of syringes that were not cleaned. Several sex-related HIV risk behaviors also improved significantly: having multiple sex partners; being intoxicated during sex; giving drugs for sex; receiving money for sex; and receiving drugs for sex. When the sample was stratified by APD status, very similar improvement was seen in respondents with and without APD. To examine further the relationship of APD to change in HIV risk behaviors, separate logistic regression models of improving and worsening HIV risk behaviors were tested. What the authors found was no association of APD with improvement in HIV risk behaviors but a significant association of APD with worsening HIV risk behaviors. It appears that cocaine users with APD improve their HIV risk behaviors just as much as those without APD but may be at higher HIV risk for the development of such behaviors.

Examining Medical Interview Asymmetry Using the Expectation States Approach

In this study we examine medical interview asymmetry using the expectation states approach. Physicians lead clinical interviews because of a feature inherent in those interviews, namely the status difference between doctor and patient. This power differential varies: it is greatest when the biomedical aspects of the interview are emphasized. These observations are consistent with status characteristics theory (SCT), which is based on the expectation states approach to understanding the emergence of power-prestige orders in groups facing shared tasks. From an SCT perspective, when the required scope conditions are met the status characteristics of doctor and patient trigger expectation states that result in inequalities relevant to the biomedical tasks of the interview. We examine interactions between medical students and standardized patients from the perspective of SCT. We observe the emergence of vocal spectrum inequalities when the interview task is biomedical. Other nonverbal behavioral outcomes emerge as well, which are consistent with the asymmetry literature.

The Influence of the End of Life on the Extent of Informal Help Received by Older Adults

This study examines the extent of informal help received in the home among the respondents to the Longitudinal Study on Aging. The focus is on the direct effects of health status on receiving informal help for activities of daily living (ADLs) and how receiving that informal help is influenced by proximity to death. The findings show that proximity to death is consistently related to receiving help from friends and relatives for those receiving help with basic and household ADLs. The findings also show how different dimensions of health status affect getting help. In addition to the effects of various dimensions of health status, some sociodemographic factors are important. The extent of informal help with basic and advanced ADLs increases with age, but socially isolated individuals (e.g., those living alone) receive substantially less help for all ADLs. Socioeconomic factors and race are for the most part unrelated to getting informal help.

Changes in HIV/AIDS Risk Behaviors in Drug Users in St. Louis: Applications of Random Regression Models

A National Institute on Drug Abuse demonstration project in AIDS prevention among drug users was conducted in St. Louis during the years 1990 through 1994. The main objective was to reduce the spread of HIV by counseling drug users and by improving drug-treatment programs in the area. A second objective was to examine the correlates of risk behavior. A structured interview was administered six times over an 18-month period. Of those persons assessed at baseline (n = 475), 95.0% (n = 451) were also reinterviewed in the last interview at 18 months. Both group and individual level changes in risk behavior were assessed using random regression models. We report on three potential risk behaviors for HIV/AIDS: (1) number of sexual partners, (2) frequency of condom use, and (3) injection drug use. For each risk behavior a separate statistical model was estimated. The results of the random regression models showed significant reductions in number of sexual partners and injection drug use. Additionally, a number of variables, such as perceived risk for AIDS and knowledge of HIV/AIDS, were statistically significant covariates of risk behavior.

Human-Animal Studies, G.H. Mead, and the Question of Animal Minds

In the field of human-animal studies ( HAS ), also known as anthrozoology, the question of nonhuman animal minds is central. During the first three decades of the 20th century, the social psychological G.H. Mead was among the first to take an explicitly contemporary approach to the question of mind in nature. Mead’s approach to the question of the nature of mind is consistent with contemporary science. His approach was characterized by empiricism, interdisciplinarity, comparative behavior and anatomy, and evolutionary theory. For Mead, symbolic language was required for mind as he defined it. This stipulation has been called into question by scholars today. The evidence for the nature of animal minds today suggests that a symbolic language is not required for conscious awareness, deliberation, and decision making. Nonetheless, Mead has an historical relevance to the field of HAS for both the breadth of his work on the nature of consciousness, his contemporary approach, and the fact that some of his insights could be useful to contemporary scholars who are exploring the nature of mind, both human and nonhuman.