What is the relationship between synaesthesia and visuo-spatial number forms?

This study compares the tendency for numerals to elicit spontaneous perceptions of colour or taste (synaesthesia) with the tendency to visualise numbers as occupying particular visuo-spatial configurations (number forms). The prevalence of number forms was found to be significantly higher in synaesthetes experiencing colour compared both to synaesthetes experiencing taste and to control participants lacking any synaesthetic experience. This suggests that the presence of synaesthetic colour sensations enhances the tendency to explicitly represent numbers in a visuo-spatial format although the two symptoms may nevertheless be logically independent (i.e. it is possible to have number forms without colour, and coloured numbers without forms). Number forms are equally common in men and women, unlike previous reports of synaesthesia that have suggested a strong female bias. Individuals who possess a number form are also likely to possess visuo-spatial forms for other ordinal sequences (e.g. days, months, letters) which suggests that it is the ordinal nature of numbers rather than numerical quantity that gives rise to this particular mode of representation. Finally, we also describe some consequences of number forms for performance in a number comparison task.     

Does the eye know calculus? The threshold of representation in classical and connectionist models

The notion of representation lies at the crossroads of questions about the nature of belief and knowledge, meaning, and intentionality. But there is some hope that it might be simpler than all those. If we could understand it clearly, it might then help to explicate those more difficult notions. In this paper, my central aim is to find a principled criterion, along lines that make biological sense, for deciding just when it becomes theoretically plausible to ascribe to some process or state a representational role. I shall be especially concerned with some differences, in this regard, between classical and connectionist models. The relation between ‘standard’ artificial intelligence and connectionism turns out to illustrate a ‘first in, last out’ principle: What we most easily understand (and so can program) is what we have most recently invented; tasks we ourselves perform best, by contrast, are a lot harder to understand. Classical AI has modelled the former; connectionism tries to tackle the latter. I end with some speculations about the possible implications of these considerations for our understanding of understanding.     

Happiness begets children? Evidence for a bi-directional link between well-being and number of children

The purpose of the current research was to examine the association between different facets of well-being and parenthood status. Specifically, using two longitudinal data sets, the present research explored whether individuals who possess high cognitive (Studies 1 & 2), emotional, and psychological well-being (Study 2) are more likely to subsequently become parents compared to their less happy counterparts. The results of both studies demonstrated that well-being at Time 1 positively predicted number of children at Time 2, controlling for a number of relevant variables (e.g. income, age). Additional analyses revealed that the relationship between cognitive well-being and subsequently having children was particularly strong for people who did not have any children previously. Potential mechanisms explaining how and why well-being may influence parenthood are discussed.     

What is the link between regret and weakness of will?

This paper argues (a) that most contemporary accounts of weakness of will either implicitly or explicitly assume that regret is a typical or even necessary element of standard cases of weakness of will and (b) that this assumption is mistaken. I draw on empirical and philosophical work on self-assessment to show that regret need not accompany typical weak-willed behavior, and that we should therefore revise the dominant account of the difference between weakness of will and (mere) changes of mind.     

Does the neighborhood context alter the link between youth's after-school time activities and developmental outcomes? A multilevel analysis

This article examines links between different measures of after-school time activity participation (5 specific activities and breadth) on youth's developmental outcomes (anxiety/depression, delinquency, and substance use) over 6 years and whether these links are moderated by neighborhood-level variables. The sample (N=1,315) of 9- and 12-year-old youth was drawn from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), a multilevel, longitudinal study of youth from 80 Chicago neighborhoods. Findings revealed that different types of activities and patterns of participation over time were associated with outcomes for youth and that, to some extent, these outcomes varied with neighborhood characteristics. In brief, sports participation was associated with fewer anxious/depressed symptoms, higher average delinquency scores, and increased substance use-both average scores and growth over time. Participation in the arts and student government were negatively associated with average substance use and attenuated increases in usage over time. Participation in community-based clubs was positively associated with youth's anxiety/depression in violent neighborhoods only, whereas church groups were protective against substance use in nonviolent neighborhoods. The direction of the influence of breadth of participation was nonlinear for delinquency such that delinquency scores were highest among youth who engaged in an average number of activities.     

Does morphology make the difference? Agrammatic sentence comprehension in German

This study examines the syntactic comprehension of seven German agrammatic speakers. The German language allows the study of the interaction of syntactic principles and morphological devices in the comprehension process. In addition, due to its relatively free word order, German allows the study of strictly minimal pairs of canonical and non-canonical sentences in addition to the rather controversial active-passive contrast. A central research question was whether the pattern of agrammatic comprehension predicted by the trace deletion hypothesis (TDH, Grodzinsky, 1990, 1995), relatively normal comprehension performance of canonical sentences and chance performance on non-canonical sentences, can be found in a language with richer morphology than English. The generalisability of the TDH-pattern to morphologically rich languages is not obvious, given that case morphology in particular can provide explicit cues to the detection of the agent and patient roles in a sentence. The results of this study indicate that morphology does not make a difference. Furthermore, the group results are in line with the TDH-predictions only for number marked sentences but not for case marked sentences. However, single case analysis reveals different patterns of syntactic comprehension in agrammatic patients, a spectrum that encompasses near-normal comprehension of canonical and non-canonical sentences, overall chance performance, and TDH-like profiles.     

What is the link between language and spatial images? Behavioral and neural findings in blind and sighted individuals

In order to find objects or places in the world, multiple sources of information, such as visual input, auditory input and asking for directions, can help you. These different sources of information can be converged into a spatial image, which represents configurational characteristics of the world. This paper discusses the findings on the nature of spatial images and the role of spatial language in generating these spatial images in both blind and sighted individuals. Congenitally blind individuals have never experienced visual input, yet they are able to perform several tasks traditionally associated with spatial imagery, such as mental scanning, mental pathway completions and mental clock time comparison, though perhaps not always in a similar manner as sighted. Therefore, they offer invaluable insights into the exact nature of spatial images. We will argue that spatial imagery exceeds the input from different input modalities to form an abstract mental representation while maintaining connections with the input modalities. This suggests that the nature of spatial images is supramodal, which can explain functional equivalent results from verbal and perceptual inputs for spatial situations and subtle to moderate behavioral differences between the blind and sighted.     

Does self-consciousness mediate the relation between self-talk and self-knowledge?

Building on Morin's understanding of the relations among self-talk, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge, this study examined the hypothesis that functional and dysfunctional self-consciousness mediate between self-talk and self-knowledge. A self-report questionnaire including 10 scales assessing different aspects of Self-talk, Self-consciousness, and Self-knowledge was administered to 200 German undergraduate university students (95 women, 105 men). Mediation analysis showed that the observed negative relationship between Self-talk and Self-knowledge was mediated by Dysfunctional Self-consciousness, while Functional Self-consciousness acted like a supressor variable. The discussion focuses on limitations of the present measures of Self-talk.     

Does sex moderate the relationship between anxiety and pain?

Objectives : Sex differences exist in the relationship between anxiety and pain, although findings are mixed. One reason could be because a number of anxiety measures have been used. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the core components within commonly used pain anxiety measures, and see whether these components are differentially related to sensation and pain thresholds in men and women.

Design, main outcome measures : One hundred and eighty-nine healthy adults (119 female) completed the Fear of Pain Questionnaire, Pain Catastrophising Scale, Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale, Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Thermal sensation and pain thresholds, mechanical sensation and pressure pain thresholds were also collected.

Results : A Principal Components Analysis of anxiety measures revealed three constructs: general distress, cognitive intrusion and fear of pain from injury/insult. Sex did not moderate the relationship between these anxiety constructs and sensation/pain thresholds. However, a significant main effect of sex was found to predict thermal pain thresholds.

Conclusion : Preliminary indications suggest that pain anxiety dimensions can be reduced to three core constructs, and used to examine pain sensation. However, sex did not moderate this relationship. Further research is required to establish the extent and strength of sex differences in the relationship between anxiety and pain.     

Just do it? Investigating the gap between prediction and action in toddlers’ causal inferences

Adults’ causal representations integrate information about predictive relations and the possibility of effective intervention; if one event reliably predicts another, adults can represent the possibility that acting to bring about the first event might generate the second. Here we show that although toddlers (mean age: 24 months) readily learn predictive relationships between physically connected events, they do not spontaneously initiate one event to try to generate the second (although older children, mean age: 47 months, do; Experiments 1 and 2). Toddlers succeed only when the events are initiated by a dispositional agent (Experiment 3), when the events involve direct contact between objects (Experiment 4), or when the events are described using causal language (Experiment 5). This suggests that causal language may help children extend their initial causal representations beyond agent-initiated and direct contact events.     

Does personality moderate the link between women’s testosterone and relationship status? The role of extraversion and sensation seeking

Research shows that testosterone (T) is lower among partnered women, but not for women with a more unrestricted sociosexuality. There are fundamental personality traits, which are indices of mating effort and might moderate the association between T and relationship status. Two such traits are extraversion (E) and sensation seeking (SS). The present study tests if E and SS moderate the association of women’s T with relationship status and parental care. Seventy-three Portuguese women completed a short form of the NEO-FFI and the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS-V). Salivary T was assayed using luminescence immunoassays. Being involved in a committed relationship was related to lower T for the total sample, and for the subgroups low in E and SS, but not for the subgroups high in E and SS. Parental care was related to lower T in the subgroup low in E, and marginally in the subgroup low in SS. In multivariate analyses, only relationship status predicted T in the total sample and in the subgroups low in E and SS. The results were not confounded by age and oral contraception. These results provide support for lower T being important for monogamous pair bonding rather than for being partnered per se.     

Does Work-Home Interference mediate the relationship between workload and well-being?

Drawing on the Effort-Recovery (E-R) model, the current study investigated to what extent Work-Home Interference (WHI) mediated the relationship between workload and two indicators of well-being, that is, (a) affective well-being (i.e., work-related negative affect and depressive mood) and (b) subjective health (i.e., health complaints). In Part I of this study, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test several competing models of mediation—full, partial, or no mediation—in three homogeneous samples (166 medical residents, 194 child care workers, and 224 bus drivers). In Part II of this study, we cross-validated the best fitting model in an independent heterogeneous sample (1421 Dutch workers). The results provided support for the E-R model in that WHI played a significant role in mediating the impact of workload on workers’ well-being. WHI fully mediated the relationship of workload with depressive mood and health complaints, and partially mediated the relationship with work-related negative affect. This differential role of WHI indicates that WHI might play a more crucial mediating role with respect to general (context-free) indicators of well-being than with respect to work-related indicators of well-being. In general, the findings of the current study suggest that workload exerts its negative effects on well-being (at least partly) through a process of spillover of negative load-effects that impede recovery during the non-working hours.     

Does fun promote learning? The relationship between fun in the workplace and informal learning

Although research has demonstrated that workplace fun has important benefits, we have an incomplete understanding of the role of fun in the learning domain, especially informal learning. To address this need, the present study examined the influence of fun activities and manager support for fun on informal learning among 206 managers. Fun activities were significantly related to overall informal learning, but manager support for fun was not. Examination of the dimensions of informal learning found that manager support for fun was significantly related to learning from oneself, while fun activities were significantly related to learning from others and learning from non-interpersonal sources. Furthermore, a negative interaction between core-self evaluations and fun activities in predicting learning from oneself was found, suggesting that fun may not be beneficial for all individuals. The key practical implication is that organizations should consider fun as a viable strategy to promote informal learning beyond traditional learning supports. At the same time, organizations should consider the personality of their learners to ensure fun has its intended impact.     

Can conceptual congruency effects between number,time, and space be accounted for by polarity correspondence?

Conceptual congruency effects have been interpreted as evidence for the idea that the representations of abstract conceptual dimensions (e.g., power, affective valence, time, number, importance) rest on more concrete dimensions (e.g., space, brightness, weight). However, an alternative theoretical explanation based on the notion of polarity correspondence has recently received empirical support in the domains of valence and morality, which are related to vertical space (e.g., good things are up). In the present study we provide empirical arguments against the applicability of the polarity correspondence account to congruency effects in two conceptual domains related to lateral space: number and time. Following earlier research, we varied the polarity of the response dimension (left-right) by manipulating keyboard eccentricity. In a first experiment we successfully replicated the congruency effect between vertical and lateral space and its interaction with response eccentricity. We then examined whether this modulation of a concrete-concrete congruency effect can be extended to two types of concrete-abstract effects, those between left-right space and number (in both parity and magnitude judgment tasks), and temporal reference. In all three tasks response eccentricity failed to modulate the congruency effects. We conclude that polarity correspondence does not provide an adequate explanation of conceptual congruency effects in the domains of number and time.     

Is ideology the enemy of inquiry? Examining the link between political orientation and lack of interest in novel data

Four studies examined the relationship between political orientation and data selection. In each study participants were given the opportunity to select data from a large data set addressing a specific issue: the justness of the world (Pilot Study), the efficacy of social safety nets (Studies 1–3), and the benefits of social media (Study 3). Participants were given no knowledge of what the data would tell them in advance. More conservative participants selected less data, and in Study 3 this relationship was partly accounted for by an increased tendency to question the value of science as a way of learning about the world. These findings may reveal one factor contributing to political polarization: an asymmetrical interest in scientific data.     

Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour

Mindfulness‐based meditation practices have received substantial scientific attention in recent years. Mindfulness has been shown to bring many psychological benefits to the individual, but much less is known about whether these benefits extend to others. This meta‐analysis reviewed the link between mindfulness – as both a personality variable and an intervention – and prosocial behaviour. A literature search produced 31 eligible studies (N = 17,241) and 73 effect sizes. Meta‐analyses were conducted using mixed‐effects structural equation models to examine pooled effects and potential moderators of these effects. We found a positive pooled effect between mindfulness and prosocial behaviour for both correlational (d = .73 CI 95% [0.51 to 0.96]) and intervention studies (d = .51 CI 95% [0.37 to 0.66]). For the latter, medium‐sized effects were obtained across varying meditation types and intensities, and across gender and age categories. Preliminary evidence is presented regarding potential mediators of these effects. Although we found that mindfulness is positively related to prosociality, further research is needed to examine the mediators of this link and the contexts in which it is most pronounced.     

Do children's attention processes mediate the link between family predictors and school readiness?

The role of attention processes as possible mediators between family environment and school readiness was analyzed with data from 1,002 children and their families. Data on children's sustained attention, impulsivity, and school readiness (i.e., cognitive, achievement, language, and social development) were obtained at 54 months of age, and quality of the family environment was assessed throughout the first 54 months. Mediation tests showed that children's sustained attention partially accounted for the link between family environment and achievement and language outcomes. Impulsivity partially accounted for the link between family environment and achievement, social competence, and externalizing behaviors. The roles of sustained attention and of inhibition of impulsive responding in the relation between family characteristics and school readiness are discussed.     

Does action make you faster? A retrieval‐based approach to investigating the origins of the enactment effect

The enactment effect, the stable finding that memory for action phrases is enhanced in a subject-performed compared to a verbal task (SPT; VT), has repeatedly been demonstrated. The question remains whether the enactment effect has to do with specific characteristics of the SPT-retrieval process. Experiment 1 tested younger and older adults in a within-subjects design with two direct free recall tests. Thorough analyses of the recall process showed that the benefit from self-performing the items becomes apparent early into the retrieval phase for both age groups. Experiment 2 tested the same age groups with a retention phase of 30 minutes. The same general results pattern emerged. The acceleration of the recall process in SPTs is indicative of a heightened accessibility of the actively encoded material, making it less susceptible to forgetting. This property of SPTs must be taken into account when trying to determine the origins of the enactment effect.     

Is the link between autistic traits and ability to succeed in science independent of other psychopathological dimensions?

IntroductionBesides the well-established link between autistic traits and scientific skills, the role of personality in students involved in science has not been thoroughly examined.ObjectiveThis study aimed at reexamining the link between scientific aptitudes and personality, by considering autistic features and other psychopathological dimensions.MethodTwo hundred and ninety-four individuals from French scientific universities answered questionnaires assessing autistic, schizotypal and bipolar dimensions, as well as depressive symptomatology and other variables.ResultsA cluster analysis led to the identification of 4 different groups, among which a cluster was characterized by high scores in autistic, schizotypal and bipolar dimensions. This group, representing nearly 30% of the sample, displayed higher level of depression symptoms (M = 28.5, SD = 12.0) in comparison with other groups (M = 11.7 to 19.1, SD = 5.4 to 9.2). Moreover, the suicidal ideation score was much more important in this cluster (M = 1.6, SD = 2.3) than in the three other groups (M = 0.1 to 0.5, SD = 0.3 to 1.3). This suggested that autistic features, when associated with other personality traits, interfere negatively with the ability of individuals to succeed in science studies, which was partly confirmed by comparing the academic level and results of the different clusters.ConclusionOne may reconsider the link between elevated autistic traits and the ability to accomplish science studies, considering that autistic features are thus frequently associated with other psychopathological traits which may, altogether, lead to depression or other comorbidities negatively interfering with the accomplishment of an academic cursus.     

Do shame and perfectionistic self-presentation explain the link between early affiliative memories and eating psychopathology?

This study tested a model examining the impact that early affiliative memories (both with family and peers) on eating psychopathology, and whether these links are carried by the mechanisms of external shame and body image-related perfectionistic self-presentation, in a sample of 480 female college students. Path analyses’ results revealed that this model accounted for 48% of disordered eating’s variance and suggests that the lack of early positive emotional memories is associated with higher levels of shame (feelings of inferiority and unattractiveness), and with higher tendency to adopt body image-related perfectionistic strategies, that seem to explain excessive eating concern and rigid control of one’s eating behaviors. This study offers important insights for future research and for the development of intervention programs, by revealing the importance of assessing and targeting shame and perfectionistic strategies and suggesting the importance of promoting adaptive emotion regulation strategies.