The impact of object size and rigidity on infant reaching

Although the changes in kinematics of infant reaching have been studied, few researchers have investigated the improvement of reaching regarding objects of distinct physical properties. The aim of this longitudinal study was to verify the impact of object size and rigidity on the development of reaching in 4-6-month-old infants. Four infants were observed with a motion capture system during trials with four objects of distinct sizes and rigidity. A total of 188 reaches were analyzed by using the 3D movement reconstruction. Our results showed that reaching frequency, mean velocity, and straightness index increased with age. The number of movement units decreased with age and increased for small objects. Rigidity was not shown to affect reaching trajectories. These findings suggest that infants are capable of perceiving the more relevant object properties, thus using their available motor capabilities to modify the essential variables so that they can reach the target more accurately.     

Attitude to primary prevention advice of the European Code against cancer in relatives of cancer patients: implications for the development of preventive programmes

Achieving a preventive attitude is the first step in eliminating cancer risk behaviours. This cross-sectional study evaluated the attitude towards the European Code against Cancer, in 3,031 relatives of cancer patients. The study looked for keys to improve attitude by means of educational interventions. Attitude was evaluated using a questionnaire with 63 items and a Likert's scale. Measured from -2 to +2 , the mean score was 0.905 [0.894 - 0.971]. Five per cent had a mean score under 0.38 and another 5% over 1.46. A multivariate analysis found that age, sex and level of education were significantly associated with attitude: young men with a low cultural level were those with the lowest preventive attitude. The family history of cancer was not associated with attitude. Educational interventions should modify the perceived advantages of smoking and drinking, and the disadvantages related to preventive diet and sun and workplace protection.     

A shift from diffuse to focal cortical activity with development

Recent imaging studies have suggested that developmental changes may parallel aspects of adult learning in cortical activation becoming less diffuse and more focal over time. However, while adult learning studies examine changes within subjects, developmental findings have been based on cross-sectional samples and even comparisons across studies. Here, we used functional MRI in children to test directly for shifts in cortical activity during performance of a cognitive control task, in a combined longitudinal and cross-sectional study. Our longitudinal findings, relative to our cross-sectional ones, show attenuated activation in dorsolateral prefrontal cortical areas, paralleled by increased focal activation in ventral prefrontal regions related to task performance.     

Does the mastery of center-embedded linguistic structures distinguish humans from nonhuman primates?

In a recentScience article, Fitch and Hauser (2004; hereafter, F&H) claimed to have demonstrated that cotton-top tamarins fail to learn an artificial language produced by a phrase structure grammar (Chomsky, 1957) generating center-embedded sentences, whereas adult humans easily learn such a language. We report an experiment replicating the results of F&H in humans but also showing that subjects learned the language without exploiting in any way the center-embedded structure. When the procedure was modified to make the processing of this structure mandatory, the subjects no longer showed evidence of learning. We propose a simple interpretation for the difference in performance observed in F&H’s task between humans and tamarins and argue that, beyond the specific drawbacks inherent in F&H’s study, researching the source of the inability of nonhuman primates to master language within a framework built around Chomsky’s hierarchy of grammars is a conceptual dead end.     

Temporal processing and phonological impairment in dyslexia: effect of phoneme lengthening on order judgment of two consonants

The evidence of supporting phonological deficit as a cause of developmental dyslexia has been accumulating rapidly over the past 2 decades, yet the exact mechanisms underlying this deficit remain controversial. Some authors assume that a temporal processing deficit is the source of the phonological disorder observed in dyslexic children. Others maintain that the phonological deficit in dyslexia is basically linguistic, not acoustic, in nature. Three experiments were conducted and tested the impact of the temporal alteration and the impact of complex syllabic structure on consonant order judgments. Thirteen phonological dyslexics (age 10-13) and 10 controls matched for chronologial age were compared on a Temporal Order Judgment (TOJ) task using the succession of two consonants (/p/ /s/) within a cluster. In order to test the possible relevance of the temporal deficit hypothesis, the task also included two additional conditions where either the two stimuli were artificially slowed or two phonological structures were opposed (CCV and CVCV). As expected, the TOJ performance was significantly poorer in dyslexics than in controls. Moreover, in the "slowed speech" condition dyslexics' performance improved to reach the normal controls' level, whereas manipulating the phonological structure complexity provided no significant improvement. Finally dyslexics' performances, especially on the slowed condition, were found correlated with several tests of phonological processing. These results lend support to the general temporal deficit theory of dyslexia.     

A Journey into Grief

The experience of the death of her Grandmother immerses the author in an intimate experience of grief. She reflects on her journey into grief and presents insights into grief's impact on her personal story as well as her professional life, i.e., her clinical work as a young psychoanalyst-in-training. Other metaphors and dream images, such as life, death, home, homelessness, silence, speech, story, voicelessness, aloneness and loneliness echo throughout the reflection as the author attempts to articulate an understanding of the profound Self-change birthed by death, grief and loss.     

The effects of response effort on safe performance by therapists at an autism treatment facility

The effects of response effort on safe behaviors (i.e., glove wearing, hand sanitizing, and electrical outlet replacement) exhibited by therapists at an autism treatment center were examined. Participants were exposed to 2 or 3 levels of effort (i.e., high, medium, low) for each dependent variable. Results showed increased safe performance during the low-effort conditions relative to other conditions across all dependent variables for all participants.     

Age-related Changes in Postural Sway During Sit-to-stand in Typical Children and Children with Cerebral Palsy

Objective: To assess age-related changes in postural sway during sit-to-stand (STS) in typical children (TC) and children with mild cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Thirty-five TC and 23 children with mild CP were allocated in four different age groups: 5–6, 7–9, 10–12, and 13–15 years; they all performed STS movements over a force plate. Anterior-posterior and medial-lateral amplitude of center of pressure (CoP) displacement, area and velocity of CoP sway were analyzed and compared between the age groups for TC and children with CP. Results: TC at 5 to 6 years of age showed higher values of anterior-posterior CoP displacement and Area of CoP sway than at 10–12 years, during the stabilization phase. There were no age-related changes for CP. Conclusion: TC change their postural sway during the last STS phase over the years, reducing their body sway. Children with CP did not show age-related changes in sway during STS, reflecting a distinct rhythm of postural control development in this population.     

Images of Thin and Plus-Size Models Produce Opposite Effects on Women’s Body Image,Body Dissatisfaction,and Anxiety

Mainstream media’s promotion of dangerously thin female images likely lowers self-image satisfaction and contributes to pathological body concerns and disordered eating among women. We tested upward and downward social-comparison effects on self-evaluations by exposing 145 Spanish women to images of thin (upward) or overweight (downward) models. We also tested whether explicitly asking or not asking participants to compare themselves with the models would moderate social comparison effects. Exposure to thin models deteriorated body image while increasing body dissatisfaction and anxiety. Conversely, exposure to overweight models improved body image and decreased body dissatisfaction but it did not affect anxiety. Whether participants were asked to compare themselves to the models explicitly or implicitly had no effect on the participants’ responses. Furthermore, pre-existing body image concerns were not associated with the pre-to-post exposure effects. We propose that increasing the representation of normal weight and overweight women in media advertisements could help to neutralize or at least reduce the negative impact of media’s practice to idealize thin and overly thin women as symbols of female beauty.