The effect of layout and pacing on learning from diagrams with unnecessary text

Although the presentation of extraneous (i.e., irrelevant or unnecessary) information hinders learning, it is unclear whether and how layout and pacing influence this effect. In two experiments, participants learned how the heart functions using four different layouts: a diagram presented without unnecessary text (diagram only), with unnecessary text separated from the diagram (separated) or integrated into the diagram (integrated), or with separated unnecessary text and the instruction to integrate (integration instruction). In Experiment 1, study time was self‐paced for half of the participants and system paced for the other half. There were no effects of layout and of pacing on learning, although system pacing was more effortful than self‐pacing. In Experiment 2, which was system paced and employed eye tracking, the integrated condition showed worse learning outcomes than the separated condition. Moreover, in the integrated condition, participants made more integration attempts between the unnecessary text and the diagram than in the separated condition.     

Computer Monitoring of Work Performance: Extending the Social Facilitation Framework to Electronic Presence1

This study demonstrated the utility of employing a social facilitation framework to the study of computer monitoring of work performance. The physical presence of an observer watching a subject work on a complex task (as a supervisor might “look over an employee's shoulder“) was contrasted with four conditions involving the electronic presence of computer-based work monitoring (as a supervisor might monitor an employee's work remotely via computer) and a control condition of subjects working alone without any monitoring of their work. Task performance was severely impaired for participants who were monitored electronically as well as for those who were monitored “in person.” Two interventions, providing participants with a sense of control over their work conditions and monitoring participants as a group rather than as individuals, each reduced the negative impact of monitoring on task performance by almost 40%. Results also indicated that individuals with an external locus of control (who believe reinforcements received are primarily determined by factors outside of themselves, e. g., other people) experience greater anxiety than those with an internal locus of control under monitoring conditions. Implications of these findings for social facilitation and the rapidly expanding use of computer-based work monitoring are discussed.     

高低自我监控者在不同互动情境中的被洞悉错觉

用Snyder的自我监控量表,从大学生中筛选出典型高低自我监控者。要求他们不动声色地喝下1杯醋和4杯水,而后,让观众根据他们的表现去辨别饮料的味道,并让被试预测可能猜中的人数。在实验1中,被试和观众以录像为媒介间接的互相推测;在实验2中,被试和观众现场直接的互相推测。两个实验都包括高低自我监控者各21名。实验结果表明,自我监控水平对被洞悉错觉有明显的影响,在直接和间接两种互动情境中,低自我监控者的被洞悉错觉都比高自我监控者强烈。互动情境对高自我监控者有明显的影响,在间接的互动中,高自我监控者出现了明显的被洞悉错觉;而在直接的互动情境中,低自我监控者的被洞悉错觉依然非常明显,高自我监控者则趋于消失     

Auditory feedback control in adults who stutter during metronome-paced speech I. Timing Perturbation

PurposeThis study determined whether adults who stutter (AWS) exhibit deficits in responding to an auditory feedback timing perturbation, and whether external timing cues, which increase fluency, attenuate any disruptions due to altered temporal auditory feedback.MethodsFifteen AWS and sixteen adults who do not stutter (ANS) read aloud a multisyllabic sentence either with normal pacing or with each syllable paced at the rate of a metronome. On random trials, an auditory feedback timing perturbation was applied, and timing responses were compared between groups and pacing conditions.ResultsBoth groups responded to the timing perturbation by delaying subsequent syllable boundaries, and there were no significant differences between groups in either pacing condition. Furthermore, no response differences were found between normally paced and metronome-paced conditions.ConclusionThese findings are interpreted as showing that 1) AWS respond normally to pure timing perturbations, and 2) metronome-paced speech has no effect on online speech timing control as assessed in the present experiment.     

Temporal aspects of female musk shrew (Suncus murinus) sexual behavior

The effects of testing condition on sexual behavior were examined in female musk shrews (Suncus murinus). Females were tested in 2 conditions, a pair test and a paced test. The pair test was similar to traditional sex test conditions in which the female and male are placed into the same chamber together until mating occurs. The paced condition allowed the female to leave the male's chamber and revisit him at will, thus "pacing" the interaction. Females displayed receptivity continuously for 14 days in both conditions. In the paced condition, females were less likely to become receptive within 30 min and mate to ejaculation. However, few additional differences were found between test conditions. Because this is the 1st experiment to use a pacing test paradigm in a species with induced ovulation, the authors speculate that the absence of pacing behavior during mating may be shown by other species that have induced ovulation.     

Effects of Social Demand on Reports of Self-Monitored Blood Glucose in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that social demand could substantially affect reports of self-monitored blood glucose (BG) in adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Of 34 patients initially enrolled in the study, 10 were excluded because they did not bring any BG records with them to an outpatient clinic appointment. The remaining 24 patients were randomly assigned to either a low or high social demand condition that provided instructions for monitoring of BG for the week following the appointment. The subjects' BG records were quantified to provide frequency of measurement and mean reported BG for the week prior to and after the clinic visit. Five subjects did not return their BG records for the week following the intervention. The analyses were therefore based on the 19 subjects from whom complete records were obtained. The 12 subjects in the low social demand group and 7 subjects in the high social demand group were equivalent with regard to age, duration of diabetes, socioeconomic status, and glycosylated hemoglobin. Frequency of BG measurement was similar in both groups during both weeks. The mean BG value reported in the week prior to intervention was similar for the groups. However, analyses of the post-intervention BGs revealed that subjects in the low-demand group reported significantly higher BGs compared to pre-intervention and to subjects in the high-demand group. These findings suggest that self-monitoring and reporting of BG is a social behavior that is affected by the demand characteristics of the interpersonal patient-health provider relationship. Because optimal treatment planning for individuals with diabetes requires accurate BG records, care must be taken to interpret them in light of the social demand characteristics associated with clinical assessment.     

Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Insomnia Treatment in a Community Sample of Older Individuals: More Questions than Conclusions

Effectiveness of two modified stimulus control insomnia interventions plus daily sleep self-monitoring for managing insomnia was investigated in a community sample of older adults. Significant post intervention improvement was observed in both interventions as well as in a self-monitoring only control condition. This unexpected finding led us to question the role of self-monitoring as a potential mediator of therapeutic change. Therefore, we compared long-term follow-up data from treated participants to data from similarly poor sleepers who only completed the questionnaire battery at Pre-test and long term follow-up, with no intervening treatment or self-monitoring. Both groups of poor sleepers reduced their reported amount of nocturnal wakefulness. However, only treated participants improved on their perceived frequency of insomnia episodes and insomnia-related distress. Our findings have implications both for the definition and the treatment of insomnia.     

Computer-mediated communication and time pressure induce higher cardiovascular responses in the preparatory and execution phases of cooperative tasks

The cardiovascular (CV) response to social challenge and stress is associated with the etiology of cardiovascular diseases. New ways of communication, time pressure and different types of information are common in our society. In this study, the cardiovascular response to two different tasks (open vs. closed information) was examined employing different communication channels (computer-mediated vs. face-to-face) and with different pace control (self vs. external). Our results indicate that there was a higher CV response in the computer-mediated condition, on the closed information task and in the externally paced condition. These role of these factors should be considered when studying the consequences of social stress and their underlying mechanisms.     

Theory of Mind Impairments in Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a common psychiatric disorder characterized by a persistent, excessive fear and avoidance of social and performance situations. Research on cognitive biases indicates individuals with SAD may lack an accurate view of how they are perceived by others, especially in social situations when they allocate important attentional resources to monitoring their own actions as well as external threat. In the present study, we explored whether socially anxious individuals also have impairments in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to comprehend others’ mental states, including emotions, beliefs, and intentions. Forty socially anxious and 40 non-socially-anxious comparison participants completed two ToM tasks: the Reading the Mind in the Eyes and the Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition. Participants with SAD performed worse on ToM tasks than did non-socially-anxious participants. Relative to comparison participants, those with SAD were more likely to attribute more intense emotions and greater meaning to what others were thinking and feeling. These group differences were not due to interpretation bias. The ToM impairments in people with SAD are in the opposite direction of those in people with autism spectrum conditions whose inferences about the mental states of other people are absent or very limited. This association between SAD and ToM may have important implications for our understanding of both the maintenance and treatment of social anxiety disorder.     

Cultural influences on willingness to seek treatment for social anxiety in Chinese- and European-heritage students

We examined culture-related influences on willingness to seek treatment for social anxiety in first- and second-generation students of Chinese heritage (Ns=65, 47, respectively), and their European-heritage counterparts (N=60). Participants completed measures that assessed their willingness to seek treatment for various levels of social anxiety. Results showed that participants were similar on willingness to seek treatment at low- and high-severity levels of social anxiety; however, at moderate levels, first-generation Chinese participants were significantly less willing to seek treatment compared to their European-heritage counterparts. The reluctance of first-generation Chinese participants to seek treatment was associated with greater Chinese-heritage acculturation, and was not related to perceiving symptoms of social anxiety as less impairing. The findings support the general contention that Asians in North America tend to delay treatment for mental health problems.     

Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations

In 7 studies, the authors examined the link between emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. In Studies 1 and 2, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for empathic perspective taking and self-monitoring in social situations. In Study 3, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for social skills. In Study 4, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence displayed more cooperative responses toward partners. In Study 5, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for close and affectionate relationships. In Study 6, the participants' scores for marital satisfaction were higher when they rated their marital partners higher for emotional intelligence. In Study 7, the participants anticipated greater satisfaction in relationships with partners described as having emotional intelligence.     

We can work it out: Group decision‐making builds social identity and enhances the cognitive performance of care residents

Group‐based interventions have been argued to slow the cognitive decline of older people residing in care by building social identification and thereby increasing motivation and engagement. The present study explored the identity–cognition association further by investigating the impact of a group decision‐making intervention on cognition. Thirty‐six care home residents were assigned to one of three conditions: an Intervention in which they made decisions about lounge refurbishment as a group, a Comparison condition in which staff made these decisions, or a no‐treatment Control. Cognitive function, social identification, home satisfaction, and lounge use were measured before and after the intervention. Participants in the Intervention condition showed significant increases on all measures, and greater improvement than participants in both Comparison and Control conditions. Consistent with social identity theorizing, these findings point to the role of group activity and social identification in promoting cognitive integrity and well‐being among care residents.     

Paced and self-paced continuous reaction time

Studies of the effect of pacing in continuous RT tasks are inconclusive. They have failed to (1) compare paced and self-paced RT at matched error rates and (2) examine RT distributions as well as mean or median RT. In the present experiment RTs were corrected for error rate by relating them to the speed-accuracy tradeoff function, which was measured in each experimental session. In this way deciles of the RT distributions of paced and self-paced conditions were compared, for eight subjects and four successive sessions. The task was a four-choice continuous RT task, employing visual stimuli. The results show that RT distributions are wider in the paced conditions. RTs of the first deciles are faster for pacing whereas medians in paced and self-paced conditions are about equal. The results can be explained when it is assumed that the variable R-S intervals in paced conditions lead to a larger variability of RT.     

THE USE OF PEER MONITORS TO REDUCE NEGATIVE INTERACTION DURING RECESS

The negative interactions of a mildly retarded child, Dennis, were reduced in three daily recess periods, withthe use of a point system. Adult monitors initiatedthe intervention inthe morning recess; reductions achieved during adult monitoring were maintained in that recess during two subsequent conditions: peer monitoring and self-monitoring. Dennis' negative interactions were reduced next inthe afternoon recess by peer monitors. Again, reductions were maintained during a subsequent self-monitoring condition. Finally, duringthe noon recess, Dennis was trained to serve as a peer monitor for Ed, a moderately retarded classmate. Dennis' rate of negative interactions quickly decreased following his appointment as a peer monitor. The results show that a point system, originally designed for adult monitoring, can be adapted without loss of program effectiveness for peer monitoring or self-monitoring. The results also suggest that classmates who serve as peer monitors may benefit significantly from their role. The conditions under which these therapeutic effects occur andthe role that treatment order effects may play in this process require further investigation.     

Emotional Intelligence and Interpersonal Relations

Abstract

In 7 studies, the authors examined the link between emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. In Studies 1 and 2, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for empathic perspective taking and self-monitoring in social situations. In Study 3, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for social skills. In Study 4, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence displayed more cooperative responses toward partners. In Study 5, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for close and affectionate relationships. In Study 6, the participants' scores for marital satisfaction were higher when they rated their marital partners higher for emotional intelligence. In Study 7, the participants anticipated greater satisfaction in relationships with partners described as having emotional intelligence.     

The Role of Self-Awareness and Self-Monitoring in Charismatic Relationships

In this paper, a hypothesis from a theory of charismatic relationships is examined that incorporates follower's level of self-monitoring and state of self-awareness. It is argued that changes in the state of self-awareness affect the characteristics of the short-term charismatic relationship between leader and follower, but only for high self-monitoring followers. Providing support for the hypothesis was a repeated-measures study. Participants ( N = 78) viewed video vignettes of charismatic leaders presenting different messages, in either a high or low self-awareness condition. When high in self-awareness, participants with a high self-monitoring orientation were more likely than when in a state of low self-awareness to internalize only those messages congruent with their values and beliefs.     

Self-monitoring and mimicry of positive and negative social behaviors

This study examined the role that self-monitoring plays in behavioral mimicry. Participants were exposed to videotaped targets who were laughing, yawning, frowning, or neutral in their expression. Participants’ behavioral mimicry while viewing the targets was recorded. It was hypothesized that higher self-monitors would show greater mimicry than lower self-monitors. It was also hypothesized that participants would respond differently to positive and negative target expressions. Participants who scored higher in self-monitoring did mimic the targets’ behaviors more often, and participants showed less mimicry of frowns than of laughs or yawns.     

Role of the feedback signal in electromyograph biofeedback: the relevance of attention

This article describes two experiments designed to examine the hypothesis that the critical role of the feedback signal in frontalis electromyograph (EMG) biofeedback is an attentional one. In both experiments, high- and low-absorption subjects were assigned to either a biofeedback condition, a no-feedback condition, or an attentional demand condition in which external stimuli, related to relaxation, were presented as an attentional focus. The two experiments differed essentially in the type of attentional demand condition that was employed and varied the compelling nature of the demand on subjects for an external attentional focus. The pattern of results was consistent with the attentional hypothesis. For low-absorption subjects, performance in the biofeedback and attentional demand conditions was equivalent and appreciably greater than in the no-feedback condition. For high-absorption subjects, an interference effect of biofeedback was observed, but data indicated a similar interference effect on the performance of subjects when the attentional demand condition was most compelling. The pattern of results obtained point to the special relevance of attentional processes and highlight their lack of emphasis in contemporary theoretical models of EMG biofeedback.     

All at once or one at a time? A randomized controlled trial comparing two ways to deliver bibliotherapy for panic disorder

Bibliotherapy is potentially effective in the treatment of panic disorder (PD). A still unanswered question is whether pacing is important. This study was designed to test whether there is a difference between being assigned a full book as therapy and receiving one individual chapter every week (i.e. pacing). A total of 28 participants were randomized to either 10 paced chapters or one book with 10 chapters. To maximize compliance, short weekly telephone calls were added in both conditions (M = 17.8 min, SD = 4.2). Both treatments showed promising results, with effects maintained up to 2 years and with within-group effect sizes (Cohen's d) between 0.95 and 1.11. Pretreatment ratings of credibility were positively correlated with the change scores at both posttest and 2-year follow-up for three panic measures. Pacing of text material in bibliotherapy for PD is not needed, and all material can be provided at once when the treatment is guided by a therapist.     

Social anxiety and interpretation biases for facial displays of emotion: emotion detection and ratings of social cost

The current study assessed the processing of facial displays of emotion (Happy, Disgust, and Neutral) of varying emotional intensities in participants with high vs. low social anxiety. Use of facial expressions of varying intensities allowed for strong external validity and a fine-grained analysis of interpretation biases. Sensitivity to perceiving negative evaluation in faces (i.e., emotion detection) was assessed at both long (unlimited) and brief (60 ms) stimulus durations. In addition, ratings of perceived social cost were made indicating what participants judged it would be like to have a social interaction with a person exhibiting the stimulus emotion. Results suggest that high social anxiety participants did not demonstrate biases in their sensitivity to perceiving negative evaluation (i.e. disgust) in facial expressions. However, high social anxiety participants did estimate the perceived cost of interacting with someone showing disgust to be significantly greater than low social anxiety participants, regardless of the intensity of the disgust expression. These results are consistent with a specific type of interpretation bias in which participants with social anxiety have elevated ratings of the social cost of interacting with individuals displaying negative evaluation.