Extensive occupational finger use delays age effects in tactileperception—an ERP study

Tactile expertise, resulting from extensive use of hands, has previously been shown to improve tactile perception in blind people and musicians and to be associated with changes in the central processing of tactile information. This study investigated whether expertise, due to precise and deliberate use of the fingers at work, relates to improved tactile perception and whether this expertise interacts with age. A tactile pattern and a frequency discrimination task were conducted while ERPs were measured in experts and nonexperts of two age groups within middle adulthood. Independently of age, accuracy was better in experts than in nonexperts in both tasks. Somatosensory N70 amplitudes were larger with increasing age and for experts than for nonexperts. P100 amplitudes were smaller in experts than in nonexperts in the frequency discrimination task. In the pattern discrimination task, P300 difference wave amplitude was reduced in experts and late middle-aged adults. In the frequency discrimination task, P300 was more equally distributed in late middle-aged adults. We conclude that extensive, dexterous manual work leads to acquisition of tactile expertise and that this expertise might delay, but not counteract, age effects on tactile perception. Comparable neurophysiological changes induced by age and expertise presumably have different underlying mechanisms. Enlarged somatosensory N70 amplitudes might result from reduced inhibition in older adults but from enhanced, specific excitability of the somatosensory cortex in experts. Regarding P300, smaller amplitudes might indicate fewer available resources in older adults and, by contrast, a reduced need to engage as much cognitive effort to the task in experts.     

PERSONALITY TESTS AT THE CROSSROADS: A RESPONSE TO MORGESON, CAMPION, DIPBOYE, HOLLENBECK, MURPHY, AND SCHMITT (2007)

Despite widespread and growing acceptance that published personality tests are valid predictors of job performance, Morgeson et al. (2007) propose they be abandoned in personnel selection because average validity estimates are low. Our review of the literature shows that Morgeson et al.'s skepticism is unfounded. Meta-analyses have demonstrated that published personality tests, in fact, yield useful validity estimates when validation is based on confirmatory research using job analysis and taking into account the bidirectionality of trait–performance linkages. Further gains are likely by use of narrow over broad measures, multivariate prediction, and theory attuned to the complexities of trait expression and evaluation at work. Morgeson et al. also suggest that faking has little, if any, impact on personality test validity and that it may even contribute positively to job performance. Job applicant research suggests that faking under true hiring conditions attenuates personality test validity but that validity is still sufficiently strong to warrant personality test use in hiring. Contrary to Morgeson et al., we argue that the full value of published personality tests in organizations has yet to be realized, calling for programmatic theory-driven research.     

A demonstration of the costs and benefits of expertise in recognition memory

In their area of expertise experts know more potentially interfering facts than nonexperts do, yet their memory IS superior to that of nonexperts. This has been termed the “paradox of interference.” We proposed that the ability of experts to go beyond the information given allows them to infer the presence of items that might not otherwise be remembered. However, such inferences can also be detrimental to accurate recognition memory in that such inferences might become confused with actual targets. We examined the benefits and costs of expertise in two recognition memory experiments In which experts and nonexperts participated. Experts in Ex-penment 1 were knowledgeable about baseball; those in Experiment 2 were knowledgeable about Ohio geography. Distractors in both studies bore a synonymous, an inferential, or no special relation to the targets. In the last instance, experts had recognition memory superior to that of the nonexperts. When the distractors were related to the targets, however, the non-experts were superior. We proposed that experts' inferential behavior is a contributor to their generally superior memory, but that task demands can convert this asset into a liability.     

Book review

Review of Buchanan, Allen, et al. From Chance to Choice: Genetics and Justice (New York: Cambridge University Press; 2000).     

Electroencephalographic biofeedback methodology and the management of epilepsy

Currently considerable research is being directed toward developing methodologies for controlling internal processes. An applied branch of the basic field of psychophysiology, known as biofeedback, has developed to fulfill clinical needs related to such control. Current scientific and popular literature abounds with numerous examples of how biofeedback is being used. For example, germinal studies by Kamiya (1962), and later work by Lynch and Paskewitz (1971), Beatty (1973), as well as many others have shown that the EEG alpha rhythm (8 to 13 Hz) recorded from occipital regions of the human brain can be behaviorally manipulated when feedback or reward is provided for changing the density of this activity. Other researchers have provided evidence that theta activity (4 to 7 Hz) and the beta activity (greater than 14 Hz) can also be controlled by humans and analogs of this activity have been conditioned in animals as well (Green, Green and Walters, 1971). In addition to the work that has been carried out with the EEG, researchers such as Engle and Bleecker (1973) have indicated that it might be possible to control cardiac arrhythmias through biofeedback. Studies by Elder et al. (1973) have provided some hope that blood pressure in humans might also be conditioned. Also, considerable effort has been directed to the control of responses from single muscles with particular applied emphasis in neuromuscular rehabilitation, control of muscle tension for tension headaches and the management of migraine headaches through vasomotor conditioning (Brudny et al., 1974; Basmajian, 1963, 1971; Sargent et al., 1973).     

Interrelating Behavioral Measures of Distress Tolerance with Self-Reported Experiential Avoidance

Experiential avoidance and distress intolerance play a central role in novel behavior therapies, yet they appear to overlap considerably the REBT concept of low frustration tolerance. Using baseline data from 100 adult cigarette smokers enrolled in a clinical trial of smoking cessation therapies, the present study evaluated the convergent validity of common questionnaire measures of experiential avoidance (Acceptance and Action Questionnaire; AAQ; Hayes et al. 2004, and Avoidance and Inflexibility Scale: AIS; Gifford et al. 2004) and behavioral measures of distress tolerance (computerized Mirror Tracing Persistence Task: MTPT-C: Strong et al. 2003; computerized Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task; PASAT-C; Lejuez et al. 2003). The distress tolerance measures correlated significantly (r = .29) with one another. However, the questionnaire measures of experiential avoidance did not correlate with each other, nor with the behavioral measures. Further research is needed on the validity of measuring experiential avoidance by self-report and of the overlap versus distinctiveness of seemingly similar constructs such as experiential avoidance, distress tolerance, and frustration tolerance.     

Emotion Feelings Stem from Evolution and Neurobiological Development, Not From Conceptual Acts: Corrections for Barrett et al. (2007)

ABSTRACT— Contrary to the arguments of Barrett et al. (2007) in critiquing Izard (2007) , emotion feelings (the key component of human emotions) stem from evolution and neurobiological development, not from conceptual acts. Barrett et al. made several other erroneous and seriously misleading criticisms of Izard (2007) , and they had little to say about the final two thirds of that article—an explication of emotion schemas and a new paradigm.     

Cognitive Conceptualism—Where Have All the Affects Gone? Additional Corrections for Barrett et al. (2007)

ABSTRACT— Barrett et al. (2007) claim that their approach to emotions covers more of the available evidence than does my affective neuroscience approach ( Panksepp, 2007b ). In fact, the weight of neurological evidence indicates that raw affect, as monitored by many behavioral tasks, is an aspect of the arousal of instinctual-emotional networks. This provides an empirical approach to understanding how primary-process emotional feelings are constituted by neural activities ( Panksepp, 2008 ). There is abundant evidence for the existence of a variety of primal emotions shared across mammalian species that are biologically ingrained tools for living and learning and that may allow higher brain regions to conceptualize what is really important in the world. Barrett et al., misrepresent my views; an accurate depiction of them can be found in this article and in Gallagher (2008) . Abundant cross-species evidence of basic affective systems exists to enrich cognitive-conceptual and attributional theories of human emotions.     

Do meditators and non-meditators have different HRV dynamics?

PurposeThe heart is a complex system and many researchers have been recently studying cardiac behavior using the theory of nonlinear dynamical systems. One of the most appealing tools for analyzing heart function is the heart rate variability (HRV) signal. This study aimed to elucidate the HRV dynamics of six distinct states: spontaneous normal breathing (SNB) and metronomic breathing (MB), as non-meditator groups, before Chinese Chi meditation (CCM), during CCM, before Kundalini yoga meditation (KYM), and during KYM, as meditator groups.MethodsThe HRV data were obtained from the Physionet database. Lagged Poincare indices, Lyapunov exponent (LE), Lempel-Ziv complexity (LZ), and 4 types of entropy were calculated.ResultsThe results showed the greatest discrepancies in the lagged Poincare indices for KYM and CCM. In contrast, the least variations were achieved for MB. Compared to SNB, an enhancement in the log energy entropy and a reduction in the LZ and other entropies were concluded during KYM and CCM practices. In contrast, a reverse pattern was observed for MB. Using support vector machine, HRV dynamics were classified with average accuracies of 99.14 and 98.2% and average sensitivities of 99.87 and 99.57% for pre-KYM and during KYM, respectively.ConclusionIt was shown that the HRV dynamics were significantly different in meditators and non-meditators.     

Electroencephalographic biofeedback methodology and the management of epilepsy

Currently considerable research is being directed toward developing methodologies for controlling internal processes. An applied branch of the basic field of psychophysiology, known as biofeedback, has developed to fulfill clinical needs related to such control. Current scientific and popular literature abounds with numerous examples of how biofeedback is being used. For example, germinal studies by Kamiya (1962), and later work by Lynch and Paskewitz (1971), and Beatty (1973), as well as many others have shown that the EEG alpha rhythm (8–13 Hz) recorded from occipital regions of the human brain can be behaviorally manipulated when feedback or reward is provided for changing the density of this activity. Other researchers have provided evidence that theta activity (4–7 Hz) and the beta activity (greater than 14 Hz) can also be controlled by humans and analogs of this activity have been conditioned in animals as well, (Green, Green and Walters, 1971). In addition to the work that has been carried out with the EEG, researchers such as Engle and Bleecker (1973) have indicated that it might be possible to control cardiac arrhythmias through biofeedback. Studies by Elder,et al. (1973), have provided some hope that blood pressure in humans might also be conditioned. Also, considerable effort has been directed to the control of responses from single muscles with particular applied emphasis in neuromuscular rehabilitation, control of muscle tension for tension headaches and the management of migraine headaches through vasomotor conditioning (Brudny,et al., 1974; Basmajian, 1963, 1971; Sargent, et al., 1973).     

Studying cognitive adaptations in the field of sport: broad or narrow transfer? A comment on Allen, Fioratou, and McGeorge (2011)

This commentary addresses Allen, Fioratou, and McGeorge (2011), drawing attention to the important topic of how humans cognitively adapt to activities they engage in on a daily basis. We elaborate on the critique and suggestions made by Allen, et al. by reviewing research on the relationship of sport and cognition and argue that publication bias may be an issue when studying cognitive adaptations as a function of sport engagement. Implications for future research on the sport-cognition relationship are discussed.     

ARE WE GETTING FOOLED AGAIN? COMING TO TERMS WITH LIMITATIONS IN THE USE OF PERSONALITY TESTS FOR PERSONNEL SELECTION

We recently published an article in which we highlighted a number of issues associated with the use of self-report personality tests in personnel selection contexts ( Morgeson et al., 2007 ). Both Ones, Dilchert, Viswesvaran, and Judge (2007) and Tett and Christiansen (2007) have written responses to this article. In our response to these articles we address many of the issues raised by Ones et al. and Tett and Christiansen. In addition to a detailed response, we make the following 4 key points: (1) Our criticisms of personality testing apply only to the selection context, not to all research on personality; (2) the observed validities of personality tests predicting job performance criteria are low and have not changed much over time; (3) when evaluating the usefulness of using personality tests to select applicants, one must not ignore the observed, uncorrected validity; and (4) when discussing the value of personality tests for selection contexts, the most important criteria are those that reflect job performance. Implications for personality testing research and practice are discussed.     

Reliability and validity of portable blood pressure/pulse units during a competitive challenge

The aim of the present study was to determine the reliability and validity of recordings from three portable blood pressure/pulse units compared with simultaneous recordings from a polygraph used as the standard for these comparisons. The units tested included the Sears Digital Z153, Industrial Biomedical Sensor (IBS) Digital SD-700, and the Sphygmostat B-350/PU-102 (analog scale). Thirty healthy subjects were exposed to Pac-Man video game and mental arithmetic stressors. Each stressor was preceded by relaxation and followed by recovery periods. During each period, systolic/diastolic blood pressure and pulse were taken from one of the three portable units and the polygraph. The three units were reliable in recording systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate across baseline, stressor, and recovery periods. The blood pressure/pulse readings from the digital units by Sears and IBS corresponded more closely to simultaneous polygraph recordings than did the analog scale device by Sphygmostat. These results suggest that the digital blood pressure/pulse units employed in this investigation are reliable and valid measurement devices suitable for field research with clinical populations.     

Source expertise and persuasion: the effects of perceived opposition or support on message scrutiny

Compared to nonexperts, expert sources have been considered to elicit more processing of persuasive messages because of expectations that the information is likely to be valid or accurate. However, depending on the position of an advocacy, source expertise could activate other motives that may produce a very different relation from that found in past research. When messages are counterattitudinal (disagreeable), experts should motivate greater processing than nonexpert sources because of expectations that they will likely provide robust opposition to one's existing views. In contrast, when advocacies are proattitudinal (agreeable), nonexpert rather than expert sources should elicit more scrutiny because of perceptions that they will likely provide inadequate support to recipients' current views. Two studies offer evidence consistent with these predictions. Manipulations of source expertise created different expectations regarding the strength of opposition or support, and these perceptions accounted for effects of source expertise on the amount of message scrutiny.     

On the science of Rorschach research

Wood et al.'s (1999b) article contained several general points that are quite sound. Conducting research with an extreme groups design does produce effect sizes that are larger than those observed in an unselected population. Appropriate control groups are important for any study that wishes to shed light on the characteristics of a targeted experimental group and experimental validity is enhanced when researchers collect data from both groups simultaneously. Diagnostic efficiency statistics--or any summary measures of test validity--should be trusted more when they are drawn from multiple studies conducted by different investigators across numerous settings rather than from a single investigator's work. There should be no question that these points are correct. However, I have pointed out numerous problems with specific aspects of Wood et al.'s (1999b) article. Wood et al. gave improper citations that claimed researchers found or said things that they did not. Wood et al. indicated my data set did not support the incremental validity of the Rorschach over the MMPI-2 when, in fact, my study never reported such an analysis and my data actually reveal that the opposite conclusion is warranted. Wood et al. asserted there was only one proper way to conduct incremental validity analyses even though experts have described how their recommended procedure can lead to significant complications. Wood et al. cited a section of Cohen and Cohen (1983) to bolster their claim that hierarchical and step-wise regression procedures were incompatible and to criticize Burns and Viglione's (1996) regression analysis. However, that section of Cohen and Cohen's text actually contradicted Wood et al.'s argument. Wood et al. tried to convince readers that Burns and Viglione used improper alpha levels and drew improper conclusions from their regression data although Burns and Viglione had followed the research evidence on this topic and the expert recommendations provided in Hosmer and Lemeshow's (1989) classic text. Wood et al. oversimplified issues associated with extreme group research designs and erroneously suggested that diagnostic studies were immune from interpretive confounds that can be associated with this type of design. Wood et al. ignored or dismissed the valid reasons why Burns and Viglione used an extreme groups design, and they never mentioned how Burns and Viglione used a homogeneous sample that actually was likely to find smaller than normal effect sizes. Wood et al. also overlooked the fact that Burns and Viglione identified their results as applying to female nonpatients; they never suggested their findings would characterize those obtained from a clinical sample. Wood et al. criticized composite measures although some of the most important and classic findings in the history of research on personality recommend composite measures as a way to minimize error and maximize validity. Wood et al. also were mistaken about the elements that constitute an optimal composite measure. Wood et al. apparently ignored the factor-analytic evidence that demonstrated how Burns and Viglione created a reasonable composite scale, and Wood et al. similarly ignored the clear evidence that supported the content and criterion related validity of the EMRF. With respect to the HEV, Wood et al. created a z-score formula that used the wrong means and standard deviations. They continued to use this formula despite being informed that it was incorrect. Subsequently, Wood et al. told readers that their faulty z-score formula was "incompatible" with the proper weighted formula and asserted that the two formulas "do not yield identical results" and "do not yield HEV scores that are identical or even very close." These published claims were made even though Wood et al. had seen the results from eight large samples, all of which demonstrated that their wrong formula had correlations greater than .998 with the correct formula. At worst, it seems that Wood et al. (199     

Perceptual Expertise as a Shift from Strategic Interference to Automatic Holistic Processing

Holistic processing was initially characterized a unique hallmark of face perception (e.g., Young et al., 1987) and later argued a domain-general marker of perceptual expertise (e.g., Gauthier et al., 1998). More recently, evidence for holistic processing - measured by interference from task-irrelevant parts - was obtained in novices, raising questions for its usefulness as a test of expertise. Indeed, recent studies use the same task to make opposite claims: Hsiao & Cottrell (2009) found more interference in novices than experts for Chinese characters, while Wong, Palmeri & Gauthier (2009) found more interference in experts than novices with objects. Offering a resolution to this paradox, our work on the perception of musical notation (Wong & Gauthier, in press) suggests that expert and novice interference effects represent two ends of a continuum: interference is initially strategic and contextual, but becomes more automatic as holistic processing develops with the acquisition of perceptual expertise.     

Psychological stress of bicycling with traffic: examining heart rate variability of bicyclists in natural urban environments

Understanding how road environments stress bicyclists (and prospective bicyclists) has important implications for road design and network planning. With the rise of wearable bio-sensing technology, the potential for measuring real-time environmental acute stress is emerging. In this naturalistic cross-over field experiment, we investigate bicyclist stress through heart rate variability (HRV). We examine the relationship between HRV and the road environment through a series of multilevel statistical models. Results suggest that participants’ HRV are only certain to differ on one (the local road) of five road environments tested. The differences in participants’ HRV between two collectors and two arterials are far more tenuous. We discuss the validity of HRV and other biometrics for assessing stress and discuss how HRV and other biometrics might help improve our understanding of bicyclists’ perceptions of road environments.     

A META-ANALYSIS OF CONDITIONAL REASONING TESTS OF AGGRESSION

James et al. (2005) reported an estimate of criterion-related validity (corrected only for dichotomization of criteria) of r = .44 across 11 conditional reasoning test of aggression (CRT-Aggression) validity studies. This meta-analysis incorporated a total sample size more than twice that of James et al. Our comparable validity estimate for CRT-Aggression scales predicting counterproductive work behaviors was r = .16. Validity for the current, commercially marketed test version (CRT-A) was lower (r = .10). These validity estimates increased somewhat (into the .24–.26 range) if studies using dichotomous criteria with low base rates were excluded from the meta-analysis. CRT-Aggression scales were correlated r = .14 with measures of job performance. As we differed with James et al. in some of our coding decisions, we reran all analyses using James et al.'s coding decisions and arrived at extremely similar results.     

A Revision of the Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale

This article reports the results of 2 studies designed to test and revise the Multicultural Counseling Awareness Scale (J. G. Ponterotto et al., 1996). Collective results support the 2‐factor extraction (Knowledge and Awareness) as the best fit model and provide initial indices of validity and internal consistency reliability for the newly titled Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale. Este artículo informa los resultados de 2 estudios diseñados para probar y revisar la Escala de Conciencia de Consejería Multicultural (J. G. Ponterotto et al., 1996). Los resultados colectivos sostienen la extracción de 2 factures (el Conocimiento y la Conciencia) como el mejor modelo y proporcionan los índices iniciales de validez y fiabilidad de la consistencia interna para la nuevamente titulada Escala de Conocimiento y Conciencia de Consejería Multicultural.