The sense of agency in human-human vs human-robot joint action

Kinesthesis pertains to the perception of moving body parts, while the sense of agency refers to the experience of controlling one’s action-effects. Based on previous work, we hypothesized that the sense of agency would decrease in joint action with a robot compared to a human partner. Pairs of participants were jointly manipulating two interconnected haptic devices enabling them to feel each other’s forces. Unbeknown to participants, their partner was sometimes replaced by a robot. The sense of agency was assessed using intentional binding, which refers to a contraction of perceived time between an action and its effect for intentional actions, and participants’ judgment of their contribution to joint action. Participants judged their contribution as higher when they were initiating action and when they were paired with the robot. By contrast, intentional binding occurred only with a human partner. This outcome supports the hypothesis that human-robot joint action hinders intentional binding.     

Achievement goals and improvement following failure: moderating roles of self-compassion and contingency of self-worth

We examined whether mastery goals promote greater score improvement on a cognitive test than performance goals and whether self-compassion and contingency of self-worth moderated the effect. Participants received either mastery or performance goals manipulation, failed on a difficult test, and took the test again after receiving the correct answers. Those with mastery goals showed a greater score improvement than those with performance goals, although post-failure state self-esteem did not differ between the two conditions. Moreover, the goals had a greater effect among (a) those with low rather than high self-compassion and (b) those with high rather than low competition contingency of self-worth. The findings suggest that by framing the task as a challenge rather than a threat, mastery goals encourage people to learn from failure more so than performance goals, especially when under high ego-threat.     

With or without you: The paradoxical role of identification in predicting joint and ingroup collective action in intergroup conflict

While we have a rich understanding of the motivations of disadvantaged group members to act collectively with their group, especially the important role played by identification, we know less about the disadvantaged's motivations to engage in joint action with the advantaged. This research examines the role of identification in predicting joint and ingroup collective action in intergroup conflicts. Since joint action inherently diffuses the perception of “us versus them”, we propose that identification predicts ingroup action, but not joint action. We also examine conflict intensity as a moderator, and examine how changing identification is linked to change in support for joint action. We test these hypotheses in a three-wave longitudinal study in the Palestinian–Israeli conflict. Results support our hypotheses, demonstrating that identification positively predicts ingroup action but not necessarily joint action, and that when conflict intensifies, changes in identification are negatively related to joint action with outgroup members.     

Perceptuomotor rules as prediction tools in (joint) action: The case of orientation perception

The human action system has a layered structure supporting a cascade of partially overlapping information processes in multiple, interlinked representational spaces. Apart from the mirror neuron system which through motor resonance mediates one's understanding of the action goals of one's partner, perceptuomotor rules like Fitts' law, the Isogony Principle, and sequencing heuristics provide further sources of prediction in (joint) action. The present study focuses on a perceptuomotor rule that describes how the orientation of framed, tilted objects is perceived and acted upon by individuals. In two experiments involving the Rod-and-Frame Illusion (RFI) participants were asked to perform delayed responses that consisted either of (1) making a perceptual judgment in a forced-choice paradigm, or (2) rotating and propelling a hand-held cylinder. Irrespective of response type, the effects of the RFI proved robust and constant. The relevance of the findings for prediction in joint-action tasks is discussed.     

The effect of achievement goals on enjoyment, effort, satisfaction and performance

This study examined the effect of achievement goals and achievement emotions on sport satisfaction, performance and effort among competitive athletes. Participants were 200 athletes. Structural equation modeling was used to test the indirect effect of mastery-approach goals on satisfaction with sport experience and performance, the direct effect of mastery-approach goals on enjoyment and effort, the direct effect of performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals on performance, and the direct effect of mastery-avoidance goals on effort. Results showed a positive direct effect of mastery-approach goals on enjoyment and an indirect effect, through enjoyment, on satisfaction, performance, and effort. We did not find support for the hypothesized effect of performance-approach or performance-avoidance goals on performance. The applied implications of endorsing mastery-approach goals are discussed.     

Separating the confident from the correct: Leveraging member knowledge in groups to improve decision making and performance

Groups often struggle to distinguish expert members from others who stand out for various reasons but may not be particularly knowledgeable (Littlepage & Mueller, 1997). We examined an intervention designed to improve group decision making and performance through instructing group members to search for information they already possessed that was relevant to a problem. Participants estimated values and expressed their confidence in their estimates individually and then a second time either individually or in a group. This was done with or without the intervention. Results indicated that: (1) groups were more confident than, and out-performed, individuals, (2) group decision making was best captured by models predicting more influence for more accurate members when the intervention was used and more influence for more confident members in its absence, and (3) groups that received the intervention out-performed groups that did not.     

Extending hierarchical achievement motivation models: The role of motivational needs for achievement goals and academic performance

In the current study, we investigated the role of three basic motivational needs (need for power, affiliation, achievement) as antecedents of goals within the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework, and examined their combined predictive validity with regard to academic performance in a sample of 120 university students. Structural equation modeling analysis largely supported our postulated model, linking motivational needs indirectly to course grades through goals. Achievement goals were formed by a combination of different motives: need for achievement was a positive predictor of all four achievement goals, and need for affiliation was negatively related to performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals. Additionally, need for power was a positive predictor of performance-avoidance goals. Performance-approach goals had a direct (positive) effect on performance outcomes. In sum, our results integrate basic motivational needs with the achievement goals literature and extend therefore hierarchical achievement motivation models, by showing how basic human motives of achievement, affiliation, and power are related to goal striving motivation and performance outcomes in an academic setting.     

Academic achievement in the Chinese context: the role of goals, strategies, and effort

Previous studies have suggested that Western constructs of academic motivation may operate in different ways in Asian contexts due to differences in the cultural environment. In the present study, the integrative effects of achievement goals, strategy orientations, and effort expenditure on achievement outcomes were examined among 1950 seventh-grade Chinese students in Hong Kong. Participants completed separate questionnaires for mathematics and English. Results for the two subjects were largely similar. There were significant positive relationships between mastery and performance goals, between cooperative and competitive orientations, as well as between understanding and memorizing strategies. Regression analyses further revealed that goals and strategies were highly predictive of effort expenditure, but only goals and effort significantly predicted achievement outcome, with strategies being barely significant. The need to further investigate how Chinese students reconcile the apparently antithetical orientations in learning as well as the effective strategies contributing to their learning is indicated.     

The beneficial effect of synchronized action on motor and perceptual timing in children

We examined the role of action in motor and perceptual timing across development. Adults and children aged 5 or 8 years old learned the duration of a rhythmic interval with or without concurrent action. We compared the effects of sensorimotor versus visual learning on subsequent timing behaviour in three different tasks: rhythm reproduction (Experiment 1), rhythm discrimination (Experiment 2) and interval discrimination (Experiment 3). Sensorimotor learning consisted of sensorimotor synchronization (tapping) to an isochronous visual rhythmic stimulus (ISI = 800 ms), whereas visual learning consisted of simply observing this rhythmic stimulus. Results confirmed our hypothesis that synchronized action during learning systematically benefitted subsequent timing performance, particularly for younger children. Action‐related improvements in accuracy were observed for both motor and perceptual timing in 5 years olds and for perceptual timing in the two older age groups. Benefits on perceptual timing tasks indicate that action shapes the cognitive representation of interval duration. Moreover, correlations with neuropsychological scores indicated that while timing performance in the visual learning condition depended on motor and memory capacity, sensorimotor learning facilitated an accurate representation of time independently of individual differences in motor and memory skill. Overall, our findings support the idea that action helps children to construct an independent and flexible representation of time, which leads to coupled sensorimotor coding for action and time.     

The Relation of Personal Epistemology to Parenting Style and Goal Orientation in College Mothers

This study sought to establish the relevance of mothers’ epistemic beliefs to their parenting style and preferred academic goals for their child. College mothers (N = 163) from primarily working class families completed a variety of self-report measures including a modified version of Schommer’s [(1990). Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 498–504] Epistemological Beliefs Questionnaire, the Parental Attitudes Questionnaire-Revised [Reitman, Rhode, Hupp, & Altobello (2002). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 24(2), 119–127], and several goal orientation scales. Results indicated that a view of learning as effortful and under the learner’s control and a view of knowledge as actively constructed were associated with an authoritative parenting style and with a preference for their child to focus on learning, improvement, and effort in approaching academic tasks. By contrast, a view of learning as quick, straightforward, relatively passive and as based in innate constraints and a view of knowledge as consisting of discreet, unambiguous facts were associated with authoritarian and permissive styles and the adoption of performance goals for one’s child. Portions of this study were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in Atlanta, April, 2005.     

The sandwich model: The ‘music and dance’ of therapeutic action

My premise is that a ‘layered’ approach is necessary to understand the process of exchanges that result in therapeutic change. I imagine these processes occurring in three layers – although the number of domains in which change is taking place is actually infinite – such as in a sandwich. The top layer, or top slice of bread of the sandwich, represents a broad view of the change process; it is non‐linear and includes the feature of uncertainty, a general principle of dynamic systems theory. The middle layer, or the meat of the sandwich, is explained by theories that are immediately and clinically useful to a therapist, such as psychoanalytic theories. These are primarily linear theories and use language and symbols to ‘tell a story of what happened’. The bottom layer, or bottom slice of bread of the sandwich, is the micro‐process; this layer includes the moment‐to‐moment patterns of coordinated rhythms that both communicate meaning and provide the essential scaffold for all higher‐level change processes. The micro‐process also requires a non‐linear theory to make sense of its variability and emergent properties. Taking a bite out of the sandwich will include a ‘polysemic bundle of communicative behaviors’ (Harrison and Tronick, 2011). I will illustrate the ‘sandwich model’ with the clinical case of the analytic treatment of a 5 year‐old boy.     

Innovation in multidisciplinary teams: The moderating role of transformational leadership in the relationship between professional heterogeneity and shared mental models

Research on the effectiveness of multidisciplinary teams has been equivocal. In an attempt to understand when a team’s professional heterogeneity (PH) is positively related to innovation (INN), we proposed an integrative model in which shared mental models (SMMs) are theorized as a mechanism to leverage INN in highly multidisciplinary teams. In addition, we claim that transformational leadership (TL), which is usually regarded as a factor contributing to team effectiveness, will attenuate the effect of teams’ PH on team SMM. In a field study of 55 R&D teams in Israel, we found that SMMs mediated the relationship between PH and INN, and that TL moderated the relationship between PH and Team SMM. We discuss the theoretical and practical implication of these findings.     

The relationship between joint attention and theory of mind in neurotypical adults

Joint attention (JA) is hypothesized to have a close relationship with developing theory of mind (ToM) capabilities. We tested the co-occurrence of ToM and JA in social interactions between adults with no reported history of psychiatric illness or neurodevelopmental disorders. Participants engaged in an experimental task that encouraged nonverbal communication, including JA, and also ToM activity. We adapted an in-lab variant of experience sampling methods (Bryant et al., 2013) to measure ToM during JA based on participants’ subjective reports of their thoughts while performing the task. This experiment successfully elicited instances of JA in 17/20 dyads. We compared participants’ thought contents during episodes of JA and non-JA. Our results suggest that, in adults, JA and ToM may occur independently.     

动作的主动控制感与因果关系的主动控制感：主动动作时间压缩效应的产生机制

主动动作的时间压缩效应指主动动作到动作结果之间存在时间上的主观压缩。基于动作的主动控制感和因果关系的主动控制感是该效应的两种理论解释。本文首先分别介绍动作的主动控制感和因果关系的主动控制感, 并从行为和脑机制角度提供相应的证据解释时间压缩效应的机制。同时, 本文提出了在主动动作时间压缩效应中动作的主动控制感与因果关系的主动控制感之间可能存在的序列加工和平行加工的关系。