Can simultaneous speech stimuli be classified in parallel?

Reaction times to detect a known or unknown digit in paired or single auditory test stimuli were measured. The results suggest that in classification or matching tasks with stimuli belonging to separate verbal classes, parallel or selective processing may be possible. There was no interaction of type of task (classify vs match) with either dichotic vs mixed monaural presentation, or pairs vs single stimuli, or negative vs positive responses. An attempt was made to suggest the separate processing stages underlying performance in this task.     

Shared Communities: A Multinational Qualitative Study of Immigrant and Receiving Community Members

Community psychology is central to understanding how immigrants and more established residents of their new settings join together to develop a shared sense of community and membership. In our present study, we explored how newer (i.e., first‐ and second‐generation immigrants) and more established community members form multiple positive psychological sense of community (PSOC) with one another. We conducted a multinational, qualitative study of PSOC through interviews with 201 first‐ and second‐generation immigrants and third generation or more “receiving community members” in three contexts (Baltimore‐Washington corridor of the U.S.; Torino, Italy; Lecce, Italy). Results indicated numerous similarities among the ways in which participants constructed PSOC in shared and nonshared communities, regardless of immigration/citizenship status, length of community residence, city, country, age, or gender. Small, proximal, and salient communities were often particularly important to building positive PSOC, which was formed around diverse membership boundaries. As intersectional beings, members converged and diverged on many characteristics, providing multiple opportunities for members to bring diversity to their communities while sharing other characteristics deemed essential to membership. Nonetheless, findings point to significant, structural challenges rooted in power and privilege that must be confronted to bridge the community‐diversity dialectic and build strong, shared sense of community.     

Development of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention Program to Treat Anxiety and Social Deficits in Teens with High-Functioning Autism

Anxiety is a common co-occurring problem among young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication problems, and stereotyped behavior and restricted interests, this group of disorders is more prevalent than previously realized. When present, anxiety may compound the social deficits of young people with ASD. Given the additional disability and common co-occurrence of anxiety in ASD, we developed a manual-based cognitive-behavioral treatment program to target anxiety symptoms as well as social skill deficits in adolescents with ASD [Multimodal Anxiety and Social Skills Intervention: MASSI]. In this paper, we describe the foundation, content, and development of MASSI. We also summarize data on treatment feasibility based on a pilot study that implemented the intervention.     

Anxiety-related bias in the classification of emotionally ambiguous facial expressions

High- and low-trait socially anxious individuals classified the emotional expressions of photographic quality continua of interpolated ("morphed") facial images that were derived from combining 6 basic prototype emotional expressions to various degrees, with the 2 adjacent emotions arranged in an emotion hexagon. When fear was 1 of the 2 component emotions, the high-trait group displayed enhanced sensitivity for fear. In a 2nd experiment where a mood manipulation was incorporated, again, the high-trait group exhibited enhanced sensitivity for fear. The low-trait group was sensitive for happiness in the control condition. The mood-manipulated group had increased sensitivity for anger expressions, and trait anxiety did not moderate these effects. Interpretations of the results related to the classification of fearful expressions are discussed.     

Testing the Structured Free Recall Intervention for Reducing the Impact of Bodyweight-Based Stereotypes on Performance Ratings in Immediate and Delayed Contexts

Purpose

This article investigates the efficacy of the Structured Free Recall Intervention (SFRI; J Bus Psychol 15:229?C246, 2000a; Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 82:237?C267, 2000b ) for reducing the impact of bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement on performance ratings, both immediately and when a time delay occurs between the observation and rating of performance.

Design/Methodology/Approach

512 undergraduates participated in a 2?×?2?×?2 between-subjects factorial experiment. A measure of bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement was pre-screened, and participants were randomly assigned to (a) either a no-delay or two-day time delay condition, (b) view either an average bodyweight or overweight ratee, and (c) undergo the SFRI or not.

Findings

Results suggest that (a) bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement predicts performance ratings for overweight ratees, (b) the SFRI is effective at reducing the impact of such stereotypes on performance ratings when conducted immediately after the observation of performance, and (c) the SFRI maintains this efficacy after a two-day delay between the observation and rating of performance.

Implications

These findings suggest that the best real-world application of the SFRI paradigm may be to situations with minimal delays between the observation and rating of performance, such as selection assessment centers or pre-employment interviews.

Originality/Value

Drawing on theories from the cognitive information processing literature, this paper extends previous research regarding the efficacy of the SFRI by demonstrating that short time delays between performance observation and rating??a common organizational phenomena??have minimal observed effects on the efficacy of the SFRI as a performance rating intervention.     

“?rgerlich!?“ Neuronale Korrelate der Verhaltenshemmung auf emotionale Signale

Psychotherapeutic interventions for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) primarily aim at the three core symptom clusters of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which are characteristic for this mental disorder. However, social and emotional difficulties are also very obvious. The ADHD patients experience conflicts with parents and partners, rejection by peers and less friendships, which negatively affects everyday life. Neuroscientific research points to a deficit in ADHD to recognize specific emotions displayed by another person. This dysfunction can be found in children as well as in adults afflicted with this disorder and is especially pronounced for anger. Additionally, the patients have problems to utilize facial anger expressions of others to regulate or inhibit their own behavior. New therapy components are needed in order to reduce this deficit. The possibilities for improving psychotherapy for ADHD by means of neuroscientific methods are discussed.     

Brain activation patterns in major depressive disorder and work stress-related long-term sick leave among Swedish females

Deficits in executive functioning and working memory associated with frontal lobe dysfunction are prominent in depression and work-related long-term sick leave (LTSL). This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate potential differences in brain activation patterns in these conditions. In addition, the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis was examined and compared between groups. Since there is a clear overrepresentation of women in these diagnostic groups, and to ensure a more homogenous sample population, only women were included. To examine the neural correlates of relevant cognitive processes in patients on sick leave >90 days due to work-related LTSL, recently diagnosed patients with major depression Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV criteria, untreated), and healthy controls (n?=?10, each group), a 2-back working memory task and a visual long-term memory task were administered during fMRI scanning. HPA axis functioning was investigated using a diurnal curve of saliva cortisol and a dexamethasone suppression test. Task performance was comparable among the three groups. Multivariate image analysis revealed that both memory tasks engaged a similar brain network in all three groups, including the prefrontal and parietal cortex. During the 2-back task, LTSL patients had significant frontal hypoactivation compared to controls and patients with depression. Saliva cortisol measurements showed a flattening of the diurnal rythmicity in LTSL patients compared to patients with depression and healthy contols. Taken together, these findings indicate that work stress-related LTSL and major depression are dissociable in terms of frontal activation and diurnal cortisol rhythmicity.