A comparative study of psychotic and nonpsychotic stalking.

A comparative analysis of psychotic versus nonpsychotic stalking is presented. Archival files of 25 forensic subjects whose alleged criminal offenses met a legal definition of stalking behavior were studied for demographic characteristics, stalking dynamics, psychosocial history, and current psychological variables. Although nearly one-third of all subjects had an Axis I psychotic disorder and were delusional, only one of these subjects had erotomanic delusions. The psychotic subjects' pursuit of victims was associated with other delusions and symptoms of psychosis. Nonpsychotic subjects tended to exhibit an Axis I disorder (usually major depression, adjustment disorder, or substance dependence) as well as a variety of Axis II personality disorders. The nonpsychotic subjects' pursuit of victims was influenced by various psychological factors, including anger and hostility, projection of blame, obsession, dependency, minimization and denial, and jealousy. Psychotic subjects visited the victims' homes significantly more often than nonpsychotic subjects. Nonpsychotic subjects made more verbal threats and "acted out" violently more often than psychotic subjects. While all subjects exhibited some similarities in stalking behaviors and demographic variables, including childhood attachment disruptions, no single profile of a "stalker" emerged. These findings provide information about factors contributing to stalking violence, as well as diagnostic issues that should be considered in the assessment and treatment of this criminal population.

The role of noun imagery in the speed of processing the grammaticality of adjective-noun phrases.

This experiment investigated speed of processing the grammaticality of phrases consisting of the adjective "one" or "two" followed by a singular or plural noun. The subject's task was to press one of two keys, depending upon whether the phrase was grammatically correct or incorrect. There were eight types of phrases, formed by the factorial combinations of singular or plural adjectives, singular or plural nouns, and high or low noun imageD'. These served as within-subjects variables. Between-subjects variables were the factorial combinations of sex of subject, duration of stimulus phrase (.2 or 2.5 sec), and hand assigned to the correct-grammar key. A fourth between-subjects variable was whether or not the subject reported using an artificial phrase-scanning strategy to determine grammaticality. Correct grammar, singular noun form, high noun imagery, and reported use of the strategy all produced highly significant reductions in reaction times. Only 1% of the interactions were significant. A multistage serial processing model that could be based upon Sternberg's additive factor paradigm or even Donders' subtraction method was found to be highly successful in describing the results.