I: Effect of delayed auditory feedback on speech and keytapping

The effects of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) on the performance of simple speech and keytapping tasks were compared. In the first experiment, each of the fourteen young adult subjects was asked to repeat the speech sound “b” in groups of three sounds. The subject heard his undelayed speech sounds through earphones. Under the delay condition, the speech sounds were delayed 244 millisec. before being returned to the subject's earphones. In the second experiment, each of the same subjects was asked to tap on a key in groups of three taps. The subjects heard an undelayed click through earphones each time they tapped on the key. Under the delay condition, the clicks were delayed 244 millisec. before being returned to the earphones. Graphic recordings were made of the time and intensity characteristics of tapping under both conditions.

The changes which occurred in speech and keytapping under DAF were qualitatively the same and consisted of increases in intensity and unit-to-unit time of both taps and speech sounds. When performing under DAF, the subjects also exhibited a tendency to repeat more sounds or to tap more times than had been requested. The percentage of change in intensity and time characteristics for speech and keytapping performances which occurred under DAF were not significantly different for the two motor systems. The amount of change in speech performance under DAF did not correlate significantly with the amount of change in keytapping performance.     

Reactions to internal and external criticism of outgroups: social convention in the intergroup sensitivity effect

Recent research has documented the intergroup sensitivity effect (ISE) whereby people respond more favorably to internal versus external criticism of their group. The present studies examine the reactions of bystanders who do not belong to the criticized group and whose reactions are therefore more likely to be informed by social conventions than by defensiveness. Studies 1 and 2 presented British participants with criticisms of Australians, manipulating their ostensible source. These British bystanders exhibited the ISE, responding more favorably to the speaker and comments when the critic was Australian rather than non-Australian. These responses were driven by the perceived motives of speakers rather than their level of experience with the group (Study 2). Study 3 provides direct evidence that internal criticism is more conventionally acceptable than is external criticism.     

Outcome of psychodynamic child psychotherapy in routine practice

The aim of the present naturalistic study was to explore the effectiveness of psychodynamic child psychotherapy in routine practice. The sample comprised 207 psychotherapies with children 4–12?years of age with a broad range of mental health problems. Data on two measures, children’s global assessment scale (CGAS) and strength and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), were collected pre-post therapy. Within-group changes were analysed using repeated measures mixed-models ANOVA. Individual changes were examined by means of clinical significance. The analyses revealed improvement in general functioning, decrease in problem severity and problem impact on the child’s everyday life, as well as an increase in prosocial behaviour. For CGAS, an interaction effect was discovered suggesting a larger improvement for younger children (4–6?years) than for older children (10–12?years). After therapy, 38% (n 76) achieved clinically significant improvement. Time-limited psychotherapy proved favourable for children assigned to that particular treatment modality. The study generated similar results as previous well-controlled trials, revealing statistically significant results in a large sample and in spite the use of non-specific outcome measures. The study provides everyday evidence to the effectiveness of child psychodynamic treatment with parallel parental work for a broad range of child mental health problems.     

Face the noise: embodied responses to nonverbal vocalizations of discrete emotions

Extensive prior research has shown that the perception of an emotional facial expression automatically elicits a corresponding facial expression in the observer. Theories of embodied emotion, however, suggest that such reactions might also occur across expressive channels, because simulation is based on integrated motoric and affective representations of that emotion. In the present studies, we examined this idea by focusing on facial and experiential reactions to nonverbal emotion vocalizations. In Studies 1 and 2, we showed that both hearing and reproducing vocalizations of anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness resulted in specific facial behaviors, as well as congruent self-reported emotions (Study 2). In Studies 3 and 4, we showed that the inhibition of congruent facial actions impaired listeners' processing of emotion vocalizations (Study 3), as well as their experiences of a concordant subjective state (Study 4). Results support the idea that cross-channel simulations of others' states serve facilitative functions similar to more strict imitations of observed expressive behavior, suggesting flexibility in the motoric and affective systems involved in emotion processing and interpersonal emotion transfer. We discuss implications for embodiment research and the social consequences of expressing and matching emotions across nonverbal channels.     

How do people with cognitive functional limitations post-stroke manage the use of buses in local public transport?

People with cognitive functional limitations (CFLs) have rarely been the focus of research dealing with road users and their needs. The aim of the present study was to describe how people with CFL post-stroke manage in their use of buses in the framework of their outdoor mobility, and to find out what difficulties, but also what opportunities, they experienced when moving from origin to destination using buses in public transport. Semi-structured interviews combined with participant observations during bus trips with eight persons were performed. Several barriers that have the potential to restrict autonomous outdoor mobility were identified. These barriers were not only represented by well-known infrastructure problems (high pavement curbs, etc.) or ergonomic shortcomings in the buses but, even more so, by specific issues relevant for persons with CFL, e.g. having to cross a road on their way to the bus stop, which poses problems of interaction with fast-moving car traffic. Obtaining all the necessary information prior to and during the trip is difficult and produces insecurity. Often, communication with the bus drivers, not least in connection with the search for information, causes extra stress. Lack of self-confidence and feelings of inferiority add to these problems. Measures to control vehicle speeds, to optimise the communication style of bus drivers with their customers, and to improve customers’ access to information are recommended. Training measures to reassure persons with CFL in connection with their use of the public space are suggested.     

Emotional Mimicry: Why and When We Mimic Emotions

The goal of this review was to provide a brief overview of recent developments in the domain of emotional mimicry research. We argue that emotional signals are intrinsically meaningful within a social relationship, which is crucial for understanding the functionality and boundary conditions of emotional mimicry. On the basis of a review of the literature on facial mimicry of emotion displays, we conclude that the classic matched motor hypothesis does not hold for emotional mimicry. We alternatively propose a contextual view of emotional mimicry, which states that emotional mimicry depends on the social context: we only mimic emotional signals that are interpreted to promote affiliation goals and not necessarily what we see. As a further consequence, we are less likely to mimic strangers and we do not mimic people we do not like nor emotions that signal antagonism.     

Co-occurring anxiety influences patterns of brain activity in depression

Brain activation associated with anhedonic depression and co-occurring anxious arousal and anxious apprehension was measured by fMRI during performance of an emotion word Stroop task. Consistent with EEG findings, depression was associated with rightward frontal lateralization in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), but only when anxious arousal was elevated and anxious apprehension was low. Activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was also reduced for depression under the same conditions. In contrast, depression was associated with more activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (dorsal ACC and rostral ACC) and the bilateral amygdala. Results imply that depression, particularly when accompanied by anxious arousal, may result in a failure to implement top-down processing by appropriate brain regions (left DLPFC, right IFG) due to increased activation in regions associated with responding to emotionally salient information (right DLPFC, amygdala).     

The relativity of time perception produced by facial emotion stimuli

Insults elicit intense emotion. This study tests the hypothesis that one's social image, which is especially salient in honour cultures, influences the way in which one reacts to an insult. Seventy-seven honour-oriented and 72 non-honour oriented participants answered questions about a recent insult episode. Participants experienced both anger and shame in reaction to the insult. However, these emotions resulted in different behaviours. Anger led to verbal attack (i.e., criticising, insulting in return) among all participants. This relationship was explained by participants’ motivation to punish the wrongdoer. Shame, on the other hand, was moderated by honour. Shame led to verbal disapproval of the wrongdoers behaviour, but only among the honour-oriented participants. This relationship was explained by these participants’ motivation to protect their social image. By contrast, shame led to withdrawal among non-honour-oriented participants.     

Statistical representation and analysis of orientational data

This letter presents a generalization of the Fisher distribution for directions in three-dimensional space to a distribution of orientation relations comprising rotation axes and angles. The distribution is based on the unit quaternion representation of a rotation. A general form of the distribution is derived using maximum entropy arguments. The simplest form of the orientation distribution is equivalent to a normal distribution in the quaternion space. A formula is derived to measure the overlap between two normal distributions. The influence of crystal point group symmetry on the distribution is also discussed. These results are expected to find applications in the representation and comparison of sets of experimental data on grain orientations in polycrystals.