Perception of Genuine and Masking Smiles in Children and Adults: Sensitivity to Traces of Anger

The authors examined children's and adults' sensitivity to traces of anger in masking smiles by presenting participants with short video excerpts of smiles that differed by the intensity of an anger component. Fifty-two children, aged 6 to 12 years, and 26 adults were asked to judge whether a stimulus person was really happy or pretending to be happy. Six- and 7-year-old children were found to be sensitive to traces of anger, but less so than older children and adults. Researchers found evidence of explicit knowledge of the emotion hidden in masking smiles only in adult participants.     

Human preferences are biased towards associative information

There is ample evidence that the brain generates predictions that help interpret sensory input. To build such predictions the brain capitalizes upon learned statistical regularities and associations (e.g., “A” is followed by “B”; “C” appears together with “D”). The centrality of predictions to mental activities gave rise to the hypothesis that associative information with predictive value is perceived as intrinsically valuable. Such value would ensure that this information is proactively searched for, thereby promoting certainty and stability in our environment. We therefore tested here whether, all else being equal, participants would prefer stimuli that contained more rather than less associative information. In Experiments 1 and 2 we used novel, meaningless visual shapes and showed that participants preferred associative shapes over shapes that had not been associated with other shapes during training. In Experiment 3 we used pictures of real-world objects and again demonstrated a preference for stimuli that elicit stronger associations. These results support our proposal that predictive information is affectively tagged, and enhance our understanding of the formation of everyday preferences.     

Preliminary Evaluation of Sleepwise Program for Children With Sleep Disturbance and Developmental Delay

Sleep disturbances are very prevalent in children with developmental delay. Parental-assisted behavioral strategies have been used effectively in school-aged children; however, multimodal treatment for preschool-aged children is lacking. The current study is a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of a parent group program called Sleepwise designed for young children with developmental delay and incorporating behavioral, communicative, and sensory strategies. Six parents attended three workshop sessions and implemented individualized treatment plans. Initial results revealed significant posttreatment reductions in child sleep disturbances and behavioral problems, with high treatment acceptability ratings by parents. Outcomes were generally maintained at 1-month follow-up.     

High magnetic field induction of the formation of twinned dendrites during directional solidification of Al–4.5wt%Cu alloy

It is reported that the application of a high magnetic field is capable of inducing the formation of twinned dendrites during directional solidification of Al–4.5wt%Cu alloy. Numerical results reveal that a unidirectional thermoelectric magnetic force acts on tilted dendrites during directional solidification under a magnetic field. This force should be responsible for the formation of twinned dendrites. The work may initiate a new method for inducing twinned dendrites in Al-based alloys via an applied high magnetic field during directional solidification.     

Activating and Enlivening Ourselves and Our Patients: Commentary on Paper by Susan H. Sands

In my response to Sands's paper I offer comments on four aspects of clinical work with dissociation: the sensory power of language, the evocation of the analyst's own dissociated experience and internal growth, the question of the relationship between dissociation and unconscious experience, and the different responses evoked by patients who are at different points on the path toward association.     

The Particularities of Form: Reply to Commentary

In this brief reply to Bollas's commentary on our paper about his work, the cycles of intersubjective dialogue endlessly sustaining should be apparent. We begin with an example of the form—content distinction and attempt to use it as a springboard for further disentangling some of the nuances of Bollas's intersubjective theorizing. Bollas's emphasis on form over content as a means of conceptualizing the analyst's contribution to the analytic process is indeed compelling. We all know from both sides of the couch the profoundly different meanings and messages that an analyst's mien invites: whether she's abrupt, verbose, meditative, tranquil. Yes, the medium is the message, and, thus, whether the analyst conveys a message through the effects of form that Bollas points out, such as “We have all the time you need for the nuances of unconscious figuring” versus “This is hot—we hafta figure it out now” surely does have an effect on the psychic material produced in the analytic process. We go on to add to Bollas's discussion of form by considering the particularities of form and how these too affect the analytic process.     

An experience of supervision with nurses

Abstract

Clinical supervision is a concept that the nursing profession in the last two years has had to embrace. Clinical supervision, as denned by the Chief Nurse, is ‘a formal arrangement that enables nurses, midwives and health visitors to discuss their work regularly with another experienced professional, and involves reflecting on practice in order to learn from experience and improve competence’ (Moores 1996).     

Measuring Television Message Complexity as Available Processing Resources: Dimensions of Information and Cognitive Load

This article further tests the theoretical hypotheses supporting the use of number of camera changes (cc) and information introduced (ii) as indicators of resources allocated and resources required to process television messages. These two measures, combined, yield an indicator of available resources and can, therefore, be used as an indicator of television message complexity. Previous research has validated their use, averaged over time, as a global measure of message complexity. The two studies reported here test the underlying local complexity predictions and present support from two studies for the ii, cc combination as a valid indicator of local message complexity. Study 1 demonstrates that when a camera change has an increasing number of ii dimensions available resources become scarcer, eventually reaching cognitive overload. Study 2 examines the relative level of resources required for each of the seven dimensions, and demonstrates that specific theoretical groupings of dimensions (novelty, motivational, and cognitive) show differential impact on available resources. Results show that the individual dimensions increase required resources as predicted and that emotion change is the most cognitively taxing dimension. Together, the two studies increase our understanding of how the number of dimensions each individual dimension of ii increases cognitive load and provide strong support for the measure as an indicator of local message complexity.     

The development of numerical estimation: evidence against a representational shift

How do our mental representations of number change over development? The dominant view holds that children (and adults) possess multiple representations of number, and that age and experience lead to a shift from greater reliance upon logarithmically organized number representations to greater reliance upon more accurate, linear representations. Here we present a new theoretically motivated and empirically supported account of the development of numerical estimation, based on the idea that number‐line estimation tasks entail judgments of proportion. We extend existing models of perceptual proportion judgment to the case of abstract numerical magnitude. Two experiments provide support for these models; three likely sources of developmental change in children’s estimation performance are identified and discussed. This work demonstrates that proportion‐judgment models provide a unified account of estimation patterns that have previously been explained in terms of a developmental shift from logarithmic to linear representations of number.