The Additive Factor Method: A differential diagnostic tool in hyperactivity and learning disability

The Additive Factor Method assumes that task performance is the sum of sequential and independent processes. We studied the duration of the central processes (memory search and decision) and the motor decision process in hyperactive and learning-disabled children under socalled divided attention and S-R compatibility conditions. It was found that the learning-disabled were impaired in memory search and decision processes whereas hyperactives were impaired in the motor decision process.The authors wish to thank L. Leertouwer for making the drawings.     

The Effects of Street Noise and Field Independency on Police Officers' Shooting Behavior

Two studies examining the effects of street noise on police officers' emotion, perception, and performance in simulated shooting events are discussed. Compared to previous research, our studies had a higher ecological validity. In our studies, "relevant" noise was introduced, the subjects were police officers instead of students, and the behavior we examined was police behavior in simulated firearms incidents. Results revealed that noise resulted in increased emotion, a narrowed perception, and an impairment in performance on secondary tasks. In Study 2, the effects of field independency on emotion, perception, and performance were examined. The outcomes showed that high field-independent subjects compared to low field independent subjects obtained better results regarding perception and performance. Finally, some implications are discussed.     

Inhibition in ADHD,aggressive, and anxious children: A biologically based model of child psychopathology

In this study the stop signal task was employed to investigate inhibitory control in 15 children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 18 aggressive and 20 anxious children, and a group of 17 normal controls. The psychopathological groups were recruited from special educational services. Parent, teacher, and child questionnaires were used to select children with pervasive disorders. Controls attended regular classes and scored low on all questionnaires. Based on Quay's model of child psychopathology (Quay, 1988, 1993), we hypothesized a deficit in inhibitory control in children with externalizing disorders, whereas anxious children were predicted to be overinhibited. The ADHD group and the aggressive group showed poor inhibitory control and a slower inhibitory process. No evidence of overinhibition was found in anxious children.     

Towards understanding pleasure at the misfortunes of others: the impact of self-evaluation threat on schadenfreude

In two experiments we demonstrated that a self-evaluation threat intensifies schadenfreude. Moreover, we showed that a self-evaluation threat predicts schadenfreude in both threat-related and threat-unrelated domains and when controlling for feelings of envy and dislike towards the target and evaluations of the misfortune in terms of deservingness. These findings indicate that another's misfortune may be pleasing because it satisfies people's concern for a positive self-view and a sense of self-worth.     

S-shaped learning curves

In this article, learning curves for foreign vocabulary words are investigated, distinguishing between a subject-specific learning rate and a material-specific parameter that is related to the complexity of the items, such as the number of syllables. Two experiments are described, one with Turkish words and one with Italian words. In both, S-shaped learning curves were observed, which were most obvious if the subjects were not very familiar with the materials and if they were slow learners. With prolonged learning, the S shapes disappeared. Three different mathematical functions are proposed to explain these S-shaped curves. A further analysis clarifies why S-shaped learning curves may go unnoticed in many experiments.     

Effectiveness of Specific Techniques in Behavioral Teacher Training for Childhood ADHD Behaviors: Secondary Analyses of a Randomized Controlled Microtrial

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Behavioral teacher training is an effective intervention for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Intervention...     

Set similarity modulates object tracking in dynamic environments

Based on the observation that sports teams rely on colored jerseys to define group membership, we examined how grouping by similarity affected observers’ abilities to track a “ball” target passed between 20 colored circle “players” divided into two color “teams” of 10 players each, or five color teams of four players each. Observers were more accurate and exerted less effort (indexed by pupil diameter) when their task was to count the number of times any player gained possession of the ball versus when they had to count only the possessions by a given color team, especially when counting the possessions of one team when players were grouped into fewer teams of more individual members each. Overall, results confirm previous reports of costs for segregating a larger set into smaller subsets and suggest that grouping by similarity facilitates processing at the set level.     

When people fall from grace: reconsidering the role of envy in Schadenfreude

Previous research yielded conflicting results concerning the role of envy in predicting Schadenfreude (pleasure at another's misfortune). Some studies showed that envy predicts Schadenfreude, whereas others did not. Results of the present research reconcile these opposing findings, by showing that envy is a predictor of Schadenfreude when the target is similar to the observer in terms of gender. These results suggest that envy predicts Schadenfreude when people are confronted with the misfortune of a relevant social comparison other.     

Memory for time: How people date events

The effect of different formats on the accuracy of dating news and the distribution of personal events was examined in four conditions. In the first, participants had to date events in the absolute time format (e.g., "July 2004"), and in the second, they had to date events in the relative time format (e.g., "3 weeks ago"). In the other conditions, they were asked to choose between the two formats. We found a small backward telescoping effect for recent news events and a large forward telescoping effect for remote events. Events dated in the absolute time format were more accurate than those dated in the relative time format. Furthermore, participants preferred to date news events with the relative time format and personal events with the absolute time format, as well as preferring to date remote events in the relative time format and recent events in the absolute time format.