Changes in Multidigit Synergies and Their Feed-Forward Adjustments in Multiple Sclerosis

The authors explored the changes in multidigit synergies in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) within the framework of the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis. The specific hypotheses were that both synergy indices and anticipatory synergy adjustments prior to the initiation of a self-paced quick action would be diminished in the patients compared to age-matched controls. The MS patients and age-matched controls (n = 13 in both groups) performed one-finger and multifinger force production tasks involving both accurate steady-state force production and quick force pulses. The patients showed significantly lower maximal finger forces and a tendency toward slower force pulses. Enslaving was increased in MS, but only in the lateral fingers (index and little). Indices of multifinger synergies during steady-state force production were lower in MS, mainly due to the lower amount of intertrial variance that did not affect total force. Anticipatory synergy adjustments were significantly delayed in MS. The results show that MS leads to significant changes in multidigit synergies and feed-forward adjustments of the synergies prior to a quick action. The authors discuss possible contributions of subcortical structures to the impaired synergic control.     

Interpretation of symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an illness characterised by fatigue and other symptoms. Both psychological and biological aetiological factors have been proposed, but the disorder is of uncertain origin. The aetiology of the symptoms is therefore ambiguous. It has been suggested (a) that patients with CFS tend to interpret their symptoms as indicating physical illness and (b) they tend not to interpret these symptoms in terms of negative emotion. In order to test these hypotheses we developed a self-report questionnaire to assess the interpretation of symptoms in patients with CFS. It was administered to patients with CFS, patients with depression, patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and normal controls. Preliminary results suggest that the measure has acceptable psychometric properties. Patients with CFS were more likely than either depressed patients or normal controls to interpret symptoms (characteristic of CFS) in terms of physical illness, but did not differ in this from the MS patients. When compared with all three other groups (including the MS patients), the patients with CFS were least likely to interpret symptoms in terms of negative emotional states. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Graphical representation fosters discovery in the 2-4-6 task

In the 2-4-6 rule discovery task, reasoners seek to discover a rule that governs the arrangement of three numbers (or triple). The to-be-discovered rule is “ascending numbers”. Upon being given the triple 2-4-6 as an initial example, however, reasoners tend to formulate algebraically specific hypotheses. Traditionally, this task is conducted primarily from an internal representation of the triples and candidate hypotheses. More recently, substantial representational effects have been demonstrated wherein an external representation of the dimensions of the problem space facilitated successful rule discovery. In the two experiments reported here, an interactive graphical representation was created by concurrently plotting each triple produced by the participants. In Experiment 1, participants who performed the task with this external representation were more likely to discover the rule than were a group of control participants. Experiment 2 replicated the effect but also assessed participants' hypotheses for each triple generated. Results indicated that a graphical representation of the triples fostered the development of hypotheses that were less constrained by the implied algebraic specificity of the initial triple.     

Perceived behavioral changes in early multiple sclerosis

Acquired behavioral changes have essentially been described in advanced multiple sclerosis (MS). The present study was designed to determine whether behavioral modifications specifically related to the MS pathological process could be identified in the initial phase of the disease, as compared to control patients with chronic, relapsing and progressive inflammatory disorders not involving the central nervous system (CNS). Eighty-eight early MS patients (Expanded Disability Status Scale score 相似文献   

Marital interaction of agoraphobic women: a controlled,behavioral observation study

Married couples with a female agoraphobic spouse (n = 22) were compared with demographically similar community control couples (n = 21) on self-report and observational measures of marital interaction. Consistent with hypotheses, husbands of agoraphobic women were more critical of their wives than were control husbands, and clinical couples were less likely to engage in positive problem solution than control couples. Contrary to hypothesis, clinical husbands were not less supportive than control husbands. Where general measures of marital distress were concerned, clinical couples, relative to control couples, evinced more distress by self-report, by their higher rate of negative nonverbal behavior, and by their longer sequences of negative exchanges.     

Psychological Well-Being and the Metabolic Syndrome in African and Caucasian Women in South Africa

This study explored the association between comprehensive psychological well-being and the metabolic syndrome (MS), as well as whether women without MS markers differ significantly from women with MS (three or more markers) on specific facets of psychological well-being. African (N=102) and Caucasian (N=115) women completed self-report questionnaires on psychological well-being, and biological markers for MS were determined. Results indicated a significant association between comprehensive psychological well-being and the MS in Caucasian women, but not in the case of African women. Caucasian women without MS had higher levels of perceived support from friends and family, environmental mastery, purpose in life, sense of coherence, affect balance and positive relationships than those with MS. African women without MS had higher levels of positive relationships and an optimistic explanatory style, but lower levels of perceived support from family. Further research is indicated.     

The effect of mortality salience on the attitudes toward state control: The case of Russia

Our study examined the effects of mortality salience (MS) on attitudes toward state control in different domains in Russia. Using the theory of Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition (CMSC) and the Terror Management Theory (TMT), we put forward two alternative hypotheses. Based on the CMSC, MS would enhance the approval of state control in different spheres, while, in line with TMT, the MS effect would be dependent on pre-existing views. The participants in the study were 450 Russian students who completed a questionnaire to measure attitudes toward state control in six spheres of life (the economy, the mass media, political parties, social organisations, science and education). After a week, they were randomly assigned one of three conditions—MS, frightening, and a neutral condition—and again completed the questionnaire on political attitudes. Our results showed that MS mostly provokes “control shifting,” confirming the CMSC's hypothesis. However, a separate analysis conducted among people with different pre-existing political attitudes has revealed that “control shifting” is more pronounced for freedom-oriented participants. We discuss these findings in line with alternative views on the nature of the MS effect and specifics of socio-political context.     

Personality profiles of homosexual men and women

There has been surprisingly little research on possible differences between homosexual and heterosexual personalities, although the few studies that have been conducted suggest some interesting differences. We devised two hypothesis that may account for these differences. First, differences appear to reflect generalized social nonconformity and alienation due to the social stigmatization of the homosexual. Second, these differences seem to express a more specific tendency to deviation from socially normative sex roles. The two hypotheses imply a number of predictions concerning specific personality traits, which were tested by comparing the 16PF (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970) personality profiles of a group of male (N = 34) and female (N = 31) homosexuals with those obtained from the two large student samples (male, N = 899 and female, N = 912) whose scores are commonly used as norms for the South African version of the 16PF. The findings suggested reasonably good support for the two hypotheses, particularly considering the limitations of the study with respect to the adequacy of the comparison groups used and the relative heterogeneity of the 16PF scale content.     

Assessing the Relationships among Religion,Humility, Forgiveness,and Self-Rated Health

The purpose of this study is estimate a model that contains five hypotheses: (1) people who attend worship services more often will receive more spiritual support; (2) individuals who receive more spiritual support will be more humble; (3) people who are more humble will be more likely to forgive; (4) people who are more forgiving will find a greater sense of meaning in life; and (5) a greater sense of meaning in life will be associated with better self-rated health. Data from a nationwide survey of adults age 18 and older (N = 1,744) provide support for each hypothesis.     

Alcoholism and the Rorschach

This study attempts to cross validate 20 hypotheses reported over the past three decades professing to differentiate alcoholics from non-alcoholics using the Rorschach. Comparison groups (N = 25 each) were matched for age, sex, race, income and education, and diagnosis. Each S received the Rorschach and a test to rule out “organicity”. Rorschach scoring was consensually validated and Chi squares were performed for all twenty hypotheses. Through the careful selection and matching of control and experimental groups, only two significant differences were found, both in the direction opposite to that predicted. Non-alcoholics gave 4 or more water responses significantly more often than alcoholics (p < .05) and significantly more “high CF with C” scores (p < .05).     

Locus of control and behavior in treatment groups.

Studied the Rotter Locus of Control scale for effective prediction of behavior in small groups. Subjects were 205 male VA Hospital patients participating in self-directed groups who completed the AGCT, Psychological and Somatic Symptom Scales, and Rotter's I-E measure of locus of control. Group behavior was measured through sociometry and a Group Member Evaluation form. Three hypotheses were not supported: (a) Persons scoring high in the direction of internal control (internals) will be more likely to act to influence their social environment; (b) internals will be more active than externals in gathering and processing information in group discussions, and (c) internals will be more self-directed and less susceptible to being influenced by others. Two hypotheses were supported: (a) externals will express more somatic and psychological complaints than internals, and (b) externals will be perceived as behaving more defensively than internals. In contrast, intelligence was correlated with a large number of group process measures. Locus of control and intelligence measures predict different kinds of behavior in groups.     

Attributions and emotional reactions to the identity disclosure ("coming out") of a homosexual child.

This study examined factors that contribute to parental rejection of gay and lesbian youth. College students (N = 356) were asked to imagine being the parent of an adolescent son who recently disclosed that he was gay. Consistent with study hypotheses and based on attribution and moral affect theory, results of regression analyses indicated that greater perceptions of control over homosexuality, higher proneness to experience shame, and lower proneness to experience guilt were associated with increasing negative reactions toward an imagined homosexual child. Also in line with study hypotheses, greater willingness to offer help to the hypothetical child was predicted by lower perceptions of control over homosexuality, less intensely unfavorable emotional reactions, less proneness to experience guilt, and greater reported likelihood of experiencing affection toward him. Theoretical and clinical implications of this research are discussed.     

Mother Teresa versus Ebenezer Scrooge: mortality salience leads proselfs to endorse self-transcendent values (unless proselfs are reassured)

Recently, Jonas, Schimel, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski demonstrated that mortality salience (MS) increased contributions to (an ingroup) charity (i.e., the Scrooge effect). The authors examined whether individual differences in social value orientations would moderate the Scrooge effect. In line with an Ebenezer shift hypothesis, proselfs were less likely than prosocials to endorse self-transcendent values in a dental pain control condition but were indistinguishable from prosocials in an MS condition as proselfs increased endorsement of self-transcendent values under MS (Experiments 1 and 2a). However, when participants gave their impressions of an unfavorable prosocial or a favorable proself prior to the MS manipulation, proselfs were again less likely than prosocials to endorse self-transcendent values (Experiments 2a and 2b), suggesting that proselfs are unlikely to transform into prosocials under conditions of MS when given reasons to disidentify with prosocial values or identify with proself values.     

Human mate poaching: tactics and tempations for infiltrating existing mateships.

The authors explored the psychology of romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--what can be called the process of human mate poaching. In Study 1 (N = 236), they found that attempts at poaching were relatively common and were linked with distinctive personality dispositions. Study 2 (N = 220) documented that the perceived costs and benefits of poaching differed somewhat for men and women and depended on whether short-term or long-term poaching outcomes were targeted. Study 3 (N = 453) found support for 5 evolution-based hypotheses about the perceived effectiveness of poaching tactics. Study 4 (N = 333) found that poaching effectiveness was influenced by the type of relationship being encroached on-marital, dating, long distance, highly committed, just beginning, or about to end. Discussion focuses on the importance of placing mate poaching within the broader context of human sexual strategies.     

Measuring individual and cultural differences in implicit trait theories

A new measure of implicit theories or beliefs regarding the traitedness versus contextuality of behavior was developed and tested across cultures. In Studies 1 (N = 266) and 2 (N = 266), these implicit beliefs dimensions were reliably measured and replicated across U.S. college student samples and validity evidence was provided. In Study 3, their structure replicated well across an individualistic culture (the United States; N = 249) and a collectivistic culture (Mexico; N = 268). Implicit trait and contextual beliefs overlapped only modestly with implicit entity theory beliefs and were predicted by self-construals in ways that generally supported cultural psychology hypotheses. Implicit trait beliefs were fairly strongly endorsed in both cultures, suggesting that such beliefs may be universally held.     

Jealousy and the nature of beliefs about infidelity: Tests of competing hypotheses about sex differences in the United States,Korea, and Japan

The different adaptive problems faced by men and women over evolutionary history led evolutionary psychologists to hypothesize and discover sex differences in jealousy as a function of infidelity type. An alternative hypothesis proposes that beliefs about the conditional probabilities of sexual and emotional infidelity account for these sex differences. Four studies tested these hypotheses. Study 1 tested the hypotheses in an American sample (N = 1,122) by rendering the types of infidelity mutually exclusive. Study 2 tested the hypotheses in an American sample (N = 234) by asking participants to identify which aspect of infidelity was more upsetting when both forms occurred, and by using regression to identify the unique contributions of sex and beliefs. Study 3 replicated Study 2 in a Korean sample (N = 190). Study 4 replicated Study 2 in a Japanese sample (N = 316). Across the studies, the evolutionary hypothesis, but not the belief hypothesis, accounted for sex differences in jealousy when the types of infidelity are rendered mutually exclusive; sex differences in which aspect of infidelity is more upsetting when both occur; significant variance attributable to sex, after controlling for beliefs; sex-differentiated patterns of beliefs; and the cross-cultural prevalence of all these sex differences.     

社会拥挤对消费者感官刺激偏好的影响及机制研究

本研究通过1个田野实验和2个实验室实验探讨了社会拥挤对消费者感官刺激偏好的影响及内在机制。相比于不拥挤,社会拥挤会增加消费者对强(vs.弱)感官刺激的偏好(实验1),这一效应受感知控制缺失驱动(实验2)。权力感对社会拥挤与消费者感官刺激偏好的关系起到调节作用(实验3),即当个体的权力感较高时,社会拥挤对强感官刺激偏好的促进作用才成立;反之,这种效应便会消失。     

Type A Behavior and Diabetic Control: Implications of Psychological Reactance for Health Outcomes1

According to laboratory research, Type A coronary-prone individuals are sensitive to threats to their personal control and react to such threats with active and often stressful coping responses. The present investigation tested the prediction that these features of Type A behavior would interfere with blood glucose regulation in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients. Two independent hypotheses were investigated. Because elevated sympathetic arousal, a concomitant of stressful coping, is associated with elevated glucose levels, it was predicted that Type A diabetics experiencing high levels of life stress would display poorest blood glucose control (indexed by Hemoglobin A₁c). The second hypothesis was derived from the observation that Type As are more likely than Type Bs to respond to control threats with reactance in order to restore the perception of control. Given that illness or treatment can reduce personal control, it was predicted that Type A diabetics would be most reactant and, thus, most medically noncompliant. To test these hypotheses, 37 Type 1 diabetics were assessed for Type A behavior, life change, attributional style, desire for control (both within treatment and in general), and specific perceptions of and actions to their diabetes. Type As were more likely than Type Bs to show poor blood glucose control. However, for patients in general, and Type As in particular, blood glucose regulation was not related to life stress. Rather, those Type As who displayed poor glucose control made more extreme self-attributions about the cause of their diabetes, were angrier about it, and felt they should fight it. The implications of these findings for a reactance-Type A model of medical compliance are discussed.     

Psychological adjustment among African American breast cancer patients: one-year follow-up results of a randomized psychoeducational group intervention.

The effectiveness of support group interventions for cancer patients has been established among White patients but has been virtually unstudied among minority patients. The current study represents the 1st randomized support group intervention targeted to African American women with breast cancer. Participants (N = 73) with nonmetastatic breast cancer were randomly assigned to an 8-week group intervention or an assessment-only control condition At 12 months, the intervention resulted in improved mood as well as improved general and cancer-specific psychological functioning among women with greater baseline distress or lower income. Subsequent research is needed to address effective methods of enrolling and following women with fewer psychosocial and financial resources, as they were the most likely to benefit from this particular intervention.     

Mediating mechanisms in a school-based drug prevention program: first-year effects of the Midwestern Prevention Project

Describes (a) the effects of a social-influences-based drug prevention program (the Midwestern Prevention Project) on the mediating variables it was designed to change and (b) the process by which the effects on mediating variables changed use of drugs (tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana). Students in 42 middle schools and junior high schools in Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas, were measured in the fall of 1984 (N = 5,065) and again 1 year later (N = 5,008) after 24 of the schools had been through the program. Compared to students in control schools, students in program schools became less likely to express belief in the positive consequences of drug use, less likely to indicate that they would use such drugs in the future, more likely to report that their friends were less tolerant of drug use, and more likely to believe that they were better able to communicate with their friends about drug or school problems. Change in perceptions of friends' tolerance of drug use was the most substantial mediator of program effects on drug use. There was evidence that intentions to use and beliefs about the positive consequences of use may also mediate program effects on drug use.