The effects of workload history on dual task performance

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of workload history (specifically sudden workload shifts) on performance. A sample of 204 undergraduates was randomly assigned to either a sudden decrease or increase in workload condition. Participants simultaneously performed a memory search task (i.e., primary task) and an auditory vigilance task (i.e., distracter task), while percent correct was recorded. Separate Repeated Measures ANOVA’s revealed a significant treatment effect for the Medium to Low (F(l, 110) = 274.6, p < .01) and Low to Medium (F(l,92) = 148.3, p < .01) conditions. Results supported previous research suggesting that either a sudden decrease (Medium to Low) or increase (Low to Medium) in workload could be detrimental to performance (Cox-Fuenzalida, 2000). More importantly, this study extends the detrimental effects of workload history to a dual task environment. The authors express their gratitude to the research team from the Personality and Human Performance Lab at the University of Oklahoma for their invaluable assistance in data planning and collection.     

The Effects of a Daily Behavior Report Card Intervention: Inclusion of a Peer Mediator

Daily Behavior Report Cards (DBRCs) have been found to decrease disruptive behaviors of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, intellectual and developmental disorders, and typically developing students. However, although previous studies indicate that peers can assist with the implementation of a variety of interventions (e.g., Check in check out), teachers are often the implementer of DBRCs. In addition, it appears that no studies evaluating DBRCs have included a functional assessment. Thus, the purposes of this study were to assess the effects of a peer-mediated DBRC on disruptive classroom behaviors, determine whether peers could implement their portion of the intervention procedures with high integrity, and assess whether DBRC was effective independent of the functional reinforcer for disruptive behavior. In this study, peer-mediated DBRC led to a decrease in disruptive behavior and an increase in on-task behavior for all three target students who were at risk for EBD. The peer mediators also implemented the DBRC procedures with high integrity. Furthermore, DBRC was effective at suppressing disruptive behavior independent of their presumed functional reinforcer. However, it does appear that different portions of the intervention likely addressed the hypothesized functions of problem behaviors of all three participants.

     

Revisiting the effects of Parkinson's disease and frontal lobe lesions on task switching: The role of rule reconfiguration

This study investigated the hypothesis that rule reconfiguration in task switching can isolate aspects of intact and impaired control at different stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) by comparing switches between concrete naming rules pertaining to stimulus selection, to switches between abstract rules which allocate categorization responses to these stimuli. Based on previous findings, it was hypothesized that attentional switches, where task set competition emerges at the stimulus but not response set level, highlights striatal dopaminergic function. Conversely, increasing the degree of task set competition to encompass reconfiguration of response set when switching between abstract rules, represents a condition which engages the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and renders this manipulation sensitive to frontal damage. To this end, we investigated task switching with concrete and abstract rules in unilaterally (Hoehn & Yahr stage I) and bilaterally (Hoehn & Yahr stage II) affected PD patients, as well as striatally intact frontal lesion patients. As predicted, frontal lesion patients demonstrated switching deficits only with abstract categorization rules, where switching engendered complete task set reconfiguration and a new response, as did stage II PD patients with presumed frontal cortical pathology. Replicating previous findings, stage I PD patients with relatively circumscribed striatal pathology demonstrated no such impairment. Disease severity also impacted on attentional switching indexed by naming rules, since medicated stage II but not stage I patients demonstrated switching deficits emerging from stimulus set reconfiguration, suggesting that the ameliorative efficacy of dopaminergic medication is inversely related to the severity of the striatal deficit. These findings illustrate that the nature of the rules that are switched, and its implication in terms of reconfiguring different task set elements, highlights different neural characters of cognitive flexibility. These manipulations may help decipher the differential effects of progressive neurodegeneration on parkinsonian cognition, and provide a framework in which to conceptualize the contributions of cortical and subcortical regions to cognitive control.     

The influence of discrete emotions on judgement and decision-making: A meta-analytic review

During the past three decades, researchers interested in emotions and cognition have attempted to understand the relationship that affect and emotions have with cognitive outcomes such as judgement and decision-making. Recent research has revealed the importance of examining more discrete emotions, showing that same-valence emotions (e.g., anger and fear) differentially impact judgement and decision-making outcomes. Narrative reviews of the literature (Lerner & Tiedens, 2006 Lerner, J. S. and Tiedens, L. Z. 2006. Portrait of the angry decision maker: How appraisal tendencies shape anger's influence on cognition. Journal of Behavioral Decision-Making, 19: 115–137. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Pham, 2007 Pham, M. T. 2007. Emotion and rationality: A critical review and interpretation of empirical evidence. Review of General Psychology, 11(2): 155–178. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) have identified some under-researched topics, but provide a limited synthesis of findings. The purpose of this study was to review the research examining the influence of discrete emotions on judgement and decision-making outcomes and provide an assessment of the observed effects using a meta-analytic approach. Results, overall, show that discrete emotions have moderate to large effects on judgement and decision-making outcomes. However, moderator analyses revealed differential effects for study-design characteristics and emotion-manipulation characteristics by emotion type. Implications are discussed.     

Pet dogs (Canis familiaris) re-engage humans after joint activity

Animal Cognition - Joint intentionality, the mutual understanding of shared goals or actions to partake in a common task, is considered an essential building block of theory of mind in humans....     

Strangers at the benchside: research ethics consultation

Institutional ethics consultation services for biomedical scientists have begun to proliferate, especially for clinical researchers. We discuss several models of ethics consultation and describe a team-based approach used at Stanford University in the context of these models. As research ethics consultation services expand, there are many unresolved questions that need to be addressed, including what the scope, composition, and purpose of such services should be, whether core competencies for consultants can and should be defined, and how conflicts of interest should be mitigated. We make preliminary recommendations for the structure and process of research ethics consultation, based on our initial experiences in a pilot program.     

Social distance and trait attribution among four Southeast Asian ethnic groups in the United States

This study explored social distance and trait attribution and the relationship between the two variables in persons of four Southeast Asian ethnic groups. 100 Cambodians, 102 Hmong, 102 Laotians, and 101 Vietnamese in the United States were administered a modified Bogardus Social Distance Scale with respect to seven different ethnic groups (the other three Southeast Asian groups, African American, Hispanic, and White), and rated these other groups on 10 traits: friendly and likable, in good health, unattractive, law abiding, hardworking, loyal, peaceful, unfair and dishonest, unintelligent, and have good morals. Cambodians expressed willingness to have the closest social distance with Whites and Laotians and their trait attributions were more favorable for these two groups. Theoretical and practical implications were suggested.     

What’s the point? Domestic dogs’ sensitivity to the accuracy of human informants

Animal Cognition - Dogs excel at understanding human social-communicative gestures like points and can distinguish between human informants who vary in characteristics such as knowledge or...