Viral videos and virtue: Moral elevation inductions shift affect and interpersonal goals in daily life

Laboratory studies suggest that witnessing virtuous acts triggers moral elevation, an emotion characterized by feeling uplifted and increased prosocial motives. However, it remains unknown whether regular inductions can increase elevation and prosocial motives in daily life without being vulnerable to habituation or adaptation effects. Participants (total N = 181) were randomly assigned to elevating vs. neutral or amusing inductions (video or recall tasks) for seven days (Study 1), ten days (Study 2), or 12 days over one month (Study 3). Multilevel growth models showed that relative to comparison conditions, elevation inductions increased daily elevation, positive affect, and prosocial outcomes (compassionate goals and affiliation), and decreased self-protective motives (self-image goals). Adaptation effects occurred for immediate responses when exercises occurred daily, but not when spaced out over time, and not for outcomes measured later each day. Results suggest benefits of brief, regular elevation experiences and have implications for interventions targeting specific emotions.     

Perceptual sensitivity to spectral properties of earlier sounds during speech categorization

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Speech perception is heavily influenced by surrounding sounds. When spectral properties differ between earlier (context) and later (target) sounds, this...     

Regulation of low-threshold afferent activity may contribute to short-term habituation in Aplysia californica

The goal of this study was to characterize the contribution of a population of low-threshold mechanoreceptors to short-term habituation of siphon-elicited reflex responses in Aplysia californica. Since the location of their somata is unknown, we refer to them as the Unidentified Low-Threshold mechanoreceptors (ULTs). The ULTs operate in parallel to the higher-threshold and well-characterized LE sensory neurons, yet little is known regarding their contribution to behavioral plasticity. Using extracellular recordings from the siphon nerve, we found that habituation training that favors ULT activation resulted in a significant decrease in afferent activity at training intervals up to 1 min per stimulus (1 min ISI). To determine how this reduction impacts responses at other sites of the reflex network, we used intracellular recordings to measure training-induced changes in either L29 excitatory interneurons or LFS siphon motor neurons. With a 30s ISI, changes at both locations were training site-specific and matched the rate of change of afferent activity, implicating regulated sensory activity as a primary mechanism. With a shorter training interval (1s ISI), site-specificity of training was not observed in the L29s, but was still preserved in the motor neurons. For both, the rate of change during training was faster than the rate of change of afferent activity. Taken together, we conclude that regulation of low-threshold sensory neuron activity can play a significant role in short-term habituation, but other network processes may be recruited at more rapid training intervals.     

Feasibility of telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy targeting major depression among urban dwelling African-American people with co-occurring HIV

Given the burden of depression among those with HIV, and the impact of HIV on urban minority communities there is an urgent need to assess innovative treatment interventions that not only treat depression but do so in a way that allows for increased access to mental health care. This single site, uncontrolled, pilot study sought to determine the feasibility and depression outcomes of an 11-session telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention delivered over 14 weeks targeting low-income, urban-dwelling, HIV-infected African-American people with major depression. The diagnosis of major depression was made using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. The primary outcome was the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and the secondary outcome was the Quick Inventory of Depression Symptomatology-Self Report (QIDS-SR). Feasibility and satisfaction were also assessed. Assessments occurred at baseline, midpoint and at study conclusion (14 weeks). Fifteen people were screened for the study. Six HIV-infected, low-income, African-American people individuals (five females and one male) were eligible and participated in the study. All patients finished the study. On average, participants completed nine sessions. The sessions lasted for an average of 48 min (SD = 11.5). Compared to mean HAM-D score at baseline (HAM-D = 22.8 (SD = 3.1), the mean HAM-D score was significantly reduced at study conclusion (HAM-D = 9.8 (SD = 7.4); (t (5) = 4.6, p = 0.006); (Cohen d = 1.9)). Compared to the mean QIDS-SR score at baseline (QIDS-SR = 15.5 (SD = 4.2) the mean QIDS score was significantly reduced at study conclusion (QIDS = 7.0 (SD = 5.4);(t (5) = 3.2, p = 0.02); (Cohen d = 1.3)).The mean satisfaction scores across all participants at post-treatment was 5.7 (SD = 0.3) with of a maximum score of 6. Telephone-based CBT can be delivered to low-income, urban-dwelling ethnic minority HIV-infected people resulting in significant reductions in depression symptoms with high satisfaction. The efficacy of this intervention will be assessed in a planned randomized control trial.     

The logic of interpreting evidence of developmental ordering: strong inference and categorical measures

Developmental ordering is a fundamental prediction of developmental theories and a central issue in developmental research. However, logically sound evidence of developmental ordering is difficult to obtain. This article analyzes the logical basis of testing developmental order hypotheses with categorical measures. Depending on whether saltatory (i.e., discrete) or continuous developmental changes are being assessed, the observed relationship between categorical measures yields very different types of information about developmental ordering. When change is continuous, the relationship between the measures does not confirm any one ordering hypothesis, but rather, disconfirms one or more hypotheses. Whether an underlying variable undergoes saltatory or continuous development has long been recognized as an important theoretical issue, but its impact on the interpretation of developmental ordering has not previously been explicated.     

The use of reaction time measures to evaluate nonword reading in primary progressive aphasia

We reported on a subject with nonfluent primary progressive aphasia (PPA), NL, who demonstrated an impaired ability to make rhyme judgments (Dowhaniuk, Dixon, Roy, Black, & Square, in press). Our hypothesis was that these deficits represent a precursor to phonological alexia. However, no definitive evidence supported the existence of a phonological reading impairment as NL made relatively few errors reading nonwords. To further evaluate NL's nonword reading, nonword and real word reaction times were compared. NL's reaction times were significantly longer for only nonwords compared to the slowest control subject. We then assessed the first two stages of processing involved in nonword reading (Coltheart, 1996). NL did not demonstrate deficits with graphemic parsing or phoneme assignment. His continuing problems with auditory rhyme judgments support the presence of a phonological processing deficit not specific to reading. We conclude that reaction time measures allow for the detection of subtle nonword reading deficits.     

The ties that keep us bound: Top-down influences on the persistence of shape-from-motion

The phenomenon of perceptual persistence after the motion stops in shape-from-motion displays (SFM) was used to study the influence of prior knowledge on the maintenance of a percept in awareness. In SFM displays an object composed of discontinuous line segments are embedded in a background of randomly oriented lines. The object only becomes perceptible when the line segments that compose the object and the lines that compose the background move in counterphase. Critically, once the movement of the line segments stops, the percept of the object persists for a short period of time. In the present study, perceptual persistence for digits exceeded that reported for nonsense shapes composed of the same line segments. This result is taken as evidence that the processes involved in the persistence of SFM, and therefore sustained perception, are sensitive to top-down influences.     

Attitudes in the fiber of everyday life: the discourse of racial evaluation and the lived experience of desegregation

This article critically reviews the social-psychological literature on race attitudes, which has assumed that the prejudicial status of any expression is determined by the underlying psychological attitude that motivated it. Variation and inconsistency in individuals' attitudinal expressions and disagreement over how to measure prejudice have bedeviled attitude research. Contemporary theories of racial attitudes (symbolic racism, self-presentation, aversive racism) have responded to this problem by explaining how, when, and why attitudes vary and by proposing research paradigms for isolating prejudiced from nonprejudiced expressions. The authors argue that research in this area may be enhanced by the use of qualitative methods that place fewer constraints on the expression of racial attitudes and variability than quantitative methods do. Using empirical materials from a South African case study, the authors show that a focus on attitudinal discourse and the lived experience of desegregation allow researchers to investigate attitudes as social practices.     

Preference for progressive delays and concurrent physical therapy exercise in an adult with acquired brain injury

The purpose of this study was to increase self-control and engagement in a physical therapy task (head holding) for a man with acquired traumatic brain injury. Once impulsivity was observed (i.e., repeated impulsive choices), an experimental condition was introduced that consisted of choices between a small immediate reinforcer, a large fixed-delay reinforcer, and a large progressive-delay reinforcer. The participant showed a preference for the progressive-delay option, even when the duration of the delay exceeded that of the fixed delay. The results have implications for establishing optimal choice making and teaching life-enhancing skills.     

Likelihood ratios: A simple and flexible statistic for empirical psychologists

Empirical studies in psychology typically employ null hypothesis significance testing to draw statistical inferences. We propose that likelihood ratios are a more straightforward alternative to this approach. Likelihood ratios provide a measure of the fit of two competing models; the statistic represents a direct comparison of the relative likelihood of the data, given the best fit of the two models. Likelihood ratios offer an intuitive, easily interpretable statistic that allows the researcher great flexibility in framing empirical arguments. In support of this position, we report the results of a survey of empirical articles in psychology, in which the common uses of statistics by empirical psychologists is examined. From the results of this survey, we show that likelihood ratios are able to serve all the important statistical needs of researchers in empirical psychology in a format that is more straightforward and easier to interpret than traditional inferential statistics.