Performance monitoring in obsessive–compulsive disorder: A temporo-spatial principal component analysis

Hyperactive performance monitoring is a robust finding in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Patients show increased amplitudes of the error-related negativity (ERN) and correct-related negativity (CRN). Recently, two temporo-spatial factors were shown to contribute to both ERPs in healthy individuals. In the present study, it was investigated whether the factor structure underlying ERN and CRN is similar in OCD and which factors differ between groups. A principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to investigate the temporo-spatial factor structure of ERN and CRN. Twenty-six OCD patients and 26 healthy controls conducted a flanker task. EEG data were analyzed as conventional ERP components and as factor scores derived from temporo-spatial PCA. ERP results showed expected increases in ERN and CRN amplitudes in OCD patients. For both groups, the PCA confirmed the assumed factor structure of a central and a fronto-parietal factor contributing to ERN and CRN. Factor scores of both factors were differently affected by response correctness in OCD. Alterations in factor scores indicate increased activity in both an outcome-independent monitoring process and an error-sensitive process, contributing to overactive performance monitoring in OCD.     

Can organizational justice mitigate the negative effects of shift work and fixed-term employment?

The present study examined whether organizational justice moderates the association of shift work and employment type with patient-related stress, stress symptoms, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Cross-sectional survey data from 1270 Finnish female elderly care staff aged 18–69 years was used. Analyses of covariance were used to examine the associations adjusted for age,marital status, education, and tenure. Organizational justice was associated with lower levels of patient-related stress, stress symptoms, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Organizational justice mitigated stress symptoms related to working night shift and three shifts. In addition, organizational justice mitigated the patient-related stress associated with working on fixed-term contracts. Organizational justice was also able to alleviate musculoskeletal symptoms associated with working on permanent contracts. Thus, we found evidence for organizational justice being able to mitigate the negative effects of shift work and employment type. Promoting organizational justice in organizations with shift work and lots of fixed-term contracts is of importance.     

When preview information starts to matter: Development of the perceptual span in German beginning readers

How is reading development reflected in eye-movement measures? How does the perceptual span change during the initial years of reading instruction? Does parafoveal processing require competence in basic word-decoding processes? We report data from the first cross-sectional measurement of the perceptual span of German beginning readers (n = 139), collected in the context of the large longitudinal PIER (Potsdamer Intrapersonale Entwicklungsrisiken/Potsdam study of intra-personal developmental risk factors) study of intrapersonal developmental risk factors. Using the moving-window paradigm, eye movements of three groups of students (Grades 1–3) were measured with gaze-contingent presentation of a variable amount of text around fixation. Reading rate increased from Grades 1–3, with smaller increases for higher grades. Perceptual-span results showed the expected main effects of grade and window size: fixation durations and refixation probability decreased with grade and window size, whereas reading rate and saccade length increased. Critically, for reading rate, first-fixation duration, saccade length and refixation probability, there were significant interactions of grade and window size that were mainly based on the contrast between Grades 3 and 2 rather than Grades 2 and 1. Taken together, development of the perceptual span only really takes off between Grades 2 and 3, suggesting that efficient parafoveal processing presupposes that basic processes of reading have been mastered.     

How job characteristics relate to need satisfaction and autonomous motivation: implications for work effort

To explore the motivational potential of job design, we linked job demands and job resources, as defined in the job demands–resources model, to the motivational process defined in self‐determination theory. Specifically, we introduced basic need satisfaction and autonomous motivation as consecutive process variables mediating the relationship between job design and work effort. We tested this model by means of structural equation modeling in a sample of 689 employees. The comparison of several competing models provided support for the hypothesized model. We conclude that job demands thwart and job resources promote the fulfillment of 3 psychological needs. High levels of need satisfaction, in turn, are associated with autonomous motivation and, therefore, with high levels of effort.     

Logical Cornestones of Judaic Argumentation Theory

In this paper, the four Judaic inference rules: qal wa- ? omer, gezerah ? awah, heqe ?, binyan ’av are considered from the logical point of view and the pragmatic limits of applying these rules are symbolic-logically explicated. According to the Talmudic sages, on the one hand, after applying some inference rules we cannot apply other inference rules. These rules are weak. On the other hand, there are rules after which we can apply any other. These rules are strong. This means that Judaic inference rules have different pragmatic meanings and this fact differs Judaic logic from other ones. The Judaic argumentation theory built up on Judaic logic also contains pragmatic limits for proofs as competitive communication when different Rabbis claim different opinions in respect to the same subject. In order to define these limits we build up a special kind of syllogistics, the so-called Judaic pragmatic-syllogistics, where it is defined whose opinion should be choosen in a dispute.     

A Systematic Review of the Literature Exploring Illness Perceptions in Mental Health Utilising the Self-Regulation Model

Psychologists have utilised a range of social cognition models to understand variation in physical health and illness-related behaviours. The most widely studied model of illness perceptions has been the Self-Regulation Model (SRM, Leventhal, Nerenz, & Steele, 1984). The illness perceptions questionnaire (IPQ) and its revised version (IPQ-R) have been utilised to explore illness beliefs in physical health. This review examined 13 quantitative studies, which used the IPQ and IPQ-R in mental health in their exploration of illness perceptions in psychosis, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, depression and adolescents experiencing mood disorders. Across these studies the SRM illness dimensions were largely supported. Mental illnesses were commonly viewed as cyclical and chronic, with serious negative consequences. Perceptions regarding chronicity, controllability and negative consequences were associated with coping and help seeking, while engagement with services and help seeking were also related to illness coherence beliefs. Treatment adherence was linked to beliefs that treatment could control one’s illness. Whilst a major limitation of the reviewed studies was the use of cross-sectional designs, overall the applicability of the SRM to mental health was supported. The IPQ and IPQ-R were shown to be valuable measures of illness perceptions in mental health, offering implications for clinical practice.     

Multisensory self‐motion encoding in parietal cortex

Navigation through the environment requires the brain to process a number of incoming sensory signals, such as visual optical flow on the retina and motion information originating from the vestibular organs. In addition, tactile as well as auditory signals can help to disambiguate the continuous stream of incoming information and determining the signals resulting from one's own set of motion. In this review I will focus on the cortical processing of motion information in one subregion of the posterior parietal cortex, i.e., the ventral intraparietal area (VIP). I will review (1) electrophysiological data from single cell recordings in the awake macaque showing how self‐motion signals across different sensory modalities are represented within this area and (2) data from fMRI recordings in normal human subjects providing evidence for the existence of a functionally equivalent area of macaque area VIP in the human cortex.     

Not all job demands are equal: Differentiating job hindrances and job challenges in the Job Demands–Resources model

This study aimed to integrate the differentiation between two types of job demands, as made in previous studies, in the Job–Demands Resources (JD-R) model. Specifically, this study aimed to examine empirically whether the differentiation between job hindrances and job challenges, next to the category of job resources, accounts for the unexpected positive relationships between particular types of job demands (e.g., workload) and employees' work engagement. Results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the differentiation between the three categories of job characteristics in two samples (N ₁ = 261 and N ₂ = 441). Further, structural equation modelling confirmed the hypotheses that job hindrances associate positively with exhaustion (i.e., the main component of burnout) and negatively with vigour (i.e., the main component of work engagement). Job resources displayed the reversed pattern of relations. Job challenges were positively related to vigour. Rather unexpectedly, they were unrelated to exhaustion. Based on these findings, we discuss the importance of the differentiation between different types of job demands in the JD-R model for both theory and practice.     

Unemployed Individuals' Work Values and Job Flexibility: An Explanation from Expectancy‐Value Theory and Self‐Determination Theory

Changes in the contemporary labour market have resulted in an increasing demand for flexibility in the work context. The present research examines the associations between unemployed individuals' work values and their attitudes towards job flexibility. Consistent with Expectancy‐Value Theory, results showed that the general concept of employment value was positively related to all measured types of flexibility, that is, training flexibility, pay flexibility, the flexibility to accept an undemanding job, and the flexibility to accept a job for which one is over‐qualified. In line with Self‐Determination Theory, holding an intrinsic work value orientation related positively to training and pay flexibility, whereas extrinsic work value orientation was negatively related to these two types of flexibility. Overall, these results indicate that not only the degree of employment value but also the content of unemployed individuals' work value orientations matter in understanding their job flexibility. L'évolution actuelle du marché de l'emploi a provoqué une demande croissante de flexibilité dans le domaine du travail. On étudie dans cette recherche les liens qui existent entre les valeurs professionnelles de chômeurs et leurs attitudes envers la flexibilité. Dans la ligne de la théorie expectation‐valence, les résultats montrent que le concept général de valence de l'emploi est relié positivement à toutes les mesures de la flexibilité, c'est‐à‐dire la flexibilité de la formation, du salaire et de l'acceptation d'un poste sans intérêt ou sous‐qualifié. En accord avec la théorie de l'autodétermination, le fait d'accorder une valeur intrinsèque au travail entretient une corrélation positive avec la flexibilité de la formation et du salaire, tandis que la valeur extrinsèque est en relation négative avec ces deux aspects de la flexibilité. En somme, ces résultats indiquent que chez les chômeurs non seulement le niveau de la valence de l'emploi, mais aussi le contenu des valeurs relatives au travail permettent de comprendre leur flexibilité.