Duration discrimination in a series of rhythmic events

Duration discrimination of the last of a series of four clicks was investigated. Examination of psychophysical functions from eight subjects revealed evidence for a Weber’s law model relating discrimination to base interclick interval. Also, the point of subjective equality was seen to change reliably as a function of base rate.     

Consciousness and cognitive control

The implementation or change of information processing routines, known as cognitive control, is traditionally believed to be closely linked to consciousness. It seems that we exert control over our behavior if we know the reasons for, and consequences of, doing so. Recent research suggests, however, that several behavioral phenomena that have been construed as instances of cognitive control can be prompted by events of which actors are not aware. Here we give a brief review of this research, discuss possible reasons for inconsistencies in the empirical evidence, and suggest some lines of future research. Specifically, we suggest to differentiate cognitive control evoked either because of explicit or because of implicit control cues. While the former type of control seems to work outside of awareness, the latter type of control seems to be restricted to consciously registered events that call for control.     

Factor structure and item analysis of the yale food addiction scale in obese candidates for bariatric surgery

Converging research suggests phenomenological and neurobiological similarities between excessive food consumption and addictive behaviour in substance dependence. Recently, the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) has been proposed for the assessment of addictive eating behaviour. The German version of the YFAS was administered to obese individuals seeking bariatric surgery (N?=?96). Factor structure, internal consistency, and item statistics were analysed. Forty participants (41.70%) received a food addiction diagnosis. The one-factorial structure of the YFAS, which has been found in non-clinical samples, could be confirmed. All but three items had factor loadings >.50. Internal consistency was α?=?.82. Item analysis revealed that items related to unsuccessful attempts to cut down and consumption despite physical and emotional problems were endorsed by the majority of participants. Findings support the use of the YFAS in clinical populations, while applicability of some items differs between clinical and non-clinical samples. Copyright ? 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.     

Active music classes in infancy enhance musical, communicative and social development

Previous studies suggest that musical training in children can positively affect various aspects of development. However, it remains unknown as to how early in development musical experience can have an effect, the nature of any such effects, and whether different types of music experience affect development differently. We found that random assignment to 6 months of active participatory musical experience beginning at 6 months of age accelerates acquisition of culture-specific knowledge of Western tonality in comparison to a similar amount of passive exposure to music. Furthermore, infants assigned to the active musical experience showed superior development of prelinguistic communicative gestures and social behaviour compared to infants assigned to the passive musical experience. These results indicate that (1) infants can engage in meaningful musical training when appropriate pedagogical approaches are used, (2) active musical participation in infancy enhances culture-specific musical acquisition, and (3) active musical participation in infancy impacts social and communication development.     

Enhancing masculinity by slandering homosexuals: the role of homophobic epithets in heterosexual gender identity

The current studies investigate the effects of homophobic labels on the self-perception of heterosexual males, hypothesizing that when exposed to homophobic epithets, they are motivated to underline their masculinity and claim a distinctly heterosexual identity by taking distance from homosexuals and, to a lesser degree, from women. Heterosexual male participants were subliminally (Study 1) and supraliminally (Study 2) primed either by a homophobic epithet or by a category label, and completed the Traditional Beliefs About Gender and Gender Identity scale. Participants stressed their heterosexual identity, but not their gender distinctiveness, when exposed to homophobic epithets, compared to category labels. Study 2 demonstrated that the relation between the homophobic label and the participants' heterosexual identity was mediated by how negatively they reacted to the antigay label. Heterosexual identity was enhanced in reaction to homophobic labels but not to an equally derogatory label referring to regional identity. Results are discussed within an intergroup framework.     

The dynamics of masculine-agentic and feminine-communal traits: findings from a prospective study

A reciprocal impact hypothesis posits an influence of gender-related traits (agency and communion) on role enactment and a reciprocal impact of role enactment on gender-related traits, for both men and women. Specifically, in this study it was predicted that agency influences career success and career success influences agency. In addition, the reciprocal influence of communion and family roles was examined. A prospective study with almost 2000 university graduates, who were tested after graduation and 1.5 years later, clearly supported the reciprocal impact hypothesis for agency and career success. Communion influenced family roles, but there was no reciprocal influence. Implications for theories of career success and of sex and gender are discussed.     

Reading and spelling skills of prematurely born children in light of the underlying cognitive factors

Cognitive Processing - Prematurity is a serious risk factor for learning difficulties. Within the academic skills reading has the greatest impact on the prospects of the students; therefore,...     

Concept of Evidence and the Quality of Evidence-Based Reasoning in Elementary Students

The present study has two goals: to explore elementary students’ understanding of evidence and the ways they deploy it to construct arguments, and to examine whether eliciting their concept of evidence during argumentation improves students’ evidence-based reasoning. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 4th and 6th graders (N?=?66) in a public school in Mexico. We found significant differences between groups regarding the concept of evidence, with better performance in the older group. A positive correlation between the concept of evidence and the quality of evidence-based reasoning was found. Also, three performance profiles were observed after eliciting the concept of evidence when grade was excluded as a factor. Results suggest that the concept of evidence plays an essential role in developing argumentative competence in pre-adolescence.

     

Auditory temporal processing deficits in children with periventricular brain injury

The present study investigated whether auditory temporal processing deficits are related to the presence and/or the severity of periventricular brain injury and the reading difficulties experienced by extremely low birthweight (ELBW: birthweight <1000 g) children. Results indicate that ELBW children with mild or severe brain lesions obtained significantly lower scores on a test requiring auditory temporal order judgments than ELBW children without periventricular brain injury or children who were full-term. Structural equation modeling indicated that a model in which auditory temporal processing deficits predicted speech sound discrimination and phonological processing ability provided a better fit for the data than did a second model, which hypothesized that auditory temporal processing deficits are associated with poor reading abilities through a working memory deficit. These findings suggest that an impairment in auditory temporal processing may contribute to the reading difficulties experienced by ELBW children.     

Police officer job satisfaction in relation to mood,well-being,and alcohol consumption

The authors examined job satisfaction, job stress, and thoughts of quitting in relation to positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and alcohol consumption among police officers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that 2 dimensions, positive affect and negative affect, provided a clear family-tree organizational framework for representing the otherwise confusing pattern of associations between job and well-being variables. Job satisfaction was primarily associated with positive affect, life satisfaction, and self-esteem; job stress was primarily associated with negative affect and alcohol consumption; thoughts of quitting had moderate loadings on both factors. The 2-dimensional framework may prove useful as a guide in reviewing research in this field and in selecting constructs and measures for inclusion in future research.