Auditory--visual cross-modal perception of communicative stimuli in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

Research on cross-modal performance in nonhuman primates is limited to a small number of sensory modalities and testing methods. To broaden the scope of this research, the authors tested capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) for a seldom-studied cross-modal capacity in nonhuman primates, auditory-visual recognition. Monkeys were simultaneously played 2 video recordings of a face producing different vocalizations and a sound recording of 1 of the vocalizations. Stimulus sets varied from naturally occurring conspecific vocalizations to experimentally controlled human speech stimuli. The authors found that monkeys preferred to view face recordings that matched presented vocal stimuli. Their preference did not differ significantly across stimulus species or other stimulus features. However, the reliability of the latter set of results may have been limited by sample size. From these results, the authors concluded that capuchin monkeys exhibit auditory-visual cross-modal perception of conspecific vocalizations.     

Emotional State,Physical Well-Being,and Performance in the Presence of Feigned Ambient Odor1

Measures of emotional state, physical well-being, performance, and room odor were obtained from subjects given the suggestion of a pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral ambient odor (n= 30 per condition). The hedonic quality of the feigned odor altered self-reports of pleasure, but not dominance or arousal. Subjects given the pleasant suggestion reported a more positive mood. The number of reported physical health symptoms differed as a function of the hedonic quality of the feigned odor. The category corresponding to the fewest number of physical symptoms was predominated by subjects in the pleasant condition, while subjects in the unpleasant condition predominated the category with the greatest number of symptoms. Subjects predicted higher task performance in the unpleasant condition, but no differences were found among conditions in actual performance. Room odor ratings differed in directions consistent with the hedonic quality of the feigned odor. The effects of olfactory suggestion may be relevant to the psychosomatic component of sick building syndrome and to the perception and marketing of fragrance.     

Does Teaming Obscure Low Performance? Exploring the Temporal Effects of Team Performance Diversity

Organizations are increasingly using team-based projects to achieve goals. As such, it is important to understand how team members (e.g., their differences) influence team outcomes such as effectiveness. In the present study, we examine performance diversity, differences in members’ past performance, as an antecedent to team effectiveness. In addition, we assessed the length of time the group performed together as a moderator and social loafing among members as a mediator of the performance diversity—team effectiveness relationship. Using multisource data for 673 individuals in 139 project teams, we found that performance diversity had an increasingly negative effect for groups that were together longer. Specifically, greater diversity resulted in more social loafing, thereby diminishing team satisfaction and supervisor-rated team performance.     

Predicting behavioral outcomes with two psychological assessment methods in an outpatient pain management program

Abstract

In research with pain patients, the determination of psychological variables that can predict physiological gains would be helpful for practitioners doing assessments on pain patients. The present study used the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to assess whether gains in time sitting, time standing, number of stairs climbed, time on a treadmill, treadmill speed, grip strength in both hands, and a composite score of these variables could be successfully predicted for patients at a 20-day outpatient multidisciplinary pain rehabilitation program. Discriminant analyses demonstrated that both the MBHI and the MMPI were successful in this prediction. Advantages for using the two instruments singly and together in assessment procedures and suggestions for future research are made.     

Toward a Better Understanding of Psychological Well‐Being in Dementia Caregivers: The Link Between Marital Communication and Depression

To read this article's abstract in both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, please visit the article's full‐text page on Wiley InterScience ( http://interscience.wiley.com/journal/famp ). Dementia research has frequently documented high rates of caregiver depression and distress in spouses providing care for a partner suffering from dementia. However, the role of marital communication in understanding caregiver distress has not been examined sufficiently. Studies with healthy couples demonstrated an association between marital communication and the partners' psychological well‐being, depressiveness, respectively (e.g., Heene, Buysee, & Van Oost, 2005 ). The current study investigates the relationship between caregiver depression and communication in 37 couples in which the wives care for their partners with dementia. Nonsequential and sequential analyses revealed significant correlations between caregiver depression and marital communication quality. Caregivers whose husbands used more positive communication reported less depression and distress. Additionally, caregiver depression was negatively correlated with rates of positive reciprocal communication indicating dependence between the couples' interaction patterns. This study is one of the first to illustrate the relevance of spousal communication in understanding caregiver distress and depression.