Multisensory integration in multiple reference frames in the posterior parietal cortex

Spatial information processing takes place in different brain regions that receive converging inputs from several sensory modalities. Because of our own movements—for example, changes in eye position, head rotations, and so forth—unimodal sensory representations move continuously relative to one another. It is generally assumed that for multisensory integration to be an orderly process, it should take place between stimuli at congruent spatial locations. In the monkey posterior parietal cortex, the ventral intraparietal (VIP) area is specialized for the analysis of movement information using visual, somatosensory, vestibular, and auditory signals. Focusing on the visual and tactile modalities, we found that in area VIP, like in the superior colliculus, multisensory signals interact at the single neuron level, suggesting that this area participates in multisensory integration. Curiously, VIP does not use a single, invariant coordinate system to encode locations within and across sensory modalities. Visual stimuli can be encoded with respect to the eye, the head, or halfway between the two reference frames, whereas tactile stimuli seem to be prevalently encoded relative to the body. Hence, while some multisensory neurons in VIP could encode spatially congruent tactile and visual stimuli independently of current posture, in other neurons this would not be the case. Future work will need to evaluate the implications of these observations for theories of optimal multisensory integration.Edited by: Marie-Hélène Giard and Mark Wallace     

The relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and emotional problems: comparison between a clinical and a non‐clinical sample

This study focuses on the relationship between the use of specific cognitive emotion regulation strategies and emotional problems. Two samples were included: 99 adults from a clinical population and 99 matched non‐clinical adults. Data was obtained in both groups on the use of nine cognitive emotion regulation strategies: self‐blame, other‐blame, rumination, catastrophizing, putting into perspective, positive refocusing, positive reappraisal, acceptance, and refocus on planning. Logistic regression analyses show that self‐blame, catastrophizing, and positive reappraisal were, relative to the other strategies, the most important variables for distinguishing between the two samples. While the first two strategies were reported significantly more often by the clinical than by the non‐clinical sample, positive reappraisal was reported significantly more often by the non‐clinical sample. The results suggest that cognitive emotion regulation strategies may be a useful target for prevention and intervention. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

分离遗传与环境对儿童发展的影响：介绍一个新颖的研究方法

本文介绍一个可以用于研究遗传与环境互动的新颖方法。此研究收集了上千个4~10岁儿童的数据。这些儿童的出生都借助于不同的辅助受孕技术（Assisted Reproductive Technologies）,包括试管婴儿、精子捐赠、卵子捐赠、胚胎捐赠及代孕技术。本项目通过妇科（助孕）医院收集被试的行为数据,包括家庭互动、养育方式、父母婚姻质量、家庭成员的心理健康及经济状况等。本文选择性地介绍一些分析的结果,以彰显这种设计在分离遗传和产前产后环境对儿童发展的贡献。首先,我们比较了“助孕”儿童与“自然孕”儿童在父母冲突、父母对子女敌意以及儿童抑郁症状之间关系的异同。其次,我们比较了这两组儿童在父母抑郁症状、家庭关系质量以及儿童抑郁症状之间关系的异同。再次,本文介绍了这一可分离遗传与环境因素的研究设计。最后,我们讨论了这一设计对发展心理病干预及预防的意义     

Meaning-Making in Delayed-Return Cultures: The Case of Personal Uncertainty

The large majority of humans nowadays live in cultures in which there is often a delay between the efforts they exert and the feedback they receive regarding the outcome of their efforts. As a result, individuals may experience uncertainty between their efforts and outcomes, leading them to pay special attention to uncertainty information. In particular, we propose that when people feel uncertain about themselves, this may be alarming to them as it may signal that their personal contract with their delayed-return culture may be in jeopardy. Therefore, under conditions of personal uncertainty, people are looking forward to events that bolster their cultural worldviews and detest events that violate these worldviews. We review research findings that show that personal uncertainty indeed has a special role in the social psychology of meaning-making and worldview defense, sometimes even yielding a better explanation of worldview defense reactions than terror management theory.     

Predicting compulsive Internet use: it's all about sex!

The objective of this research was to assess the predictive power of various Internet applications on the development of compulsive Internet use (CIU). The study has a two-wave longitudinal design with an interval of 1 year. The first measurement contained 447 adult heavy Internet users who used the Internet at least 16 h per week and had Internet access at home for at least 1 year. For the second measurement, all participants were invited again, of whom 229 responded. By means of an online questionnaire, the respondents were asked about the time spent on various Internet applications and CIU. On a cross-sectional basis, gaming and erotica seem the most important Internet applications related to CIU. On a longitudinal basis, spending a lot of time on erotica predicted an increase in CIU 1 year later. The addictive potential of the different applications varies; erotica appears to have the highest potential.     

Psychometric properties of the Highly Sensitive Child scale across developmental stage,gender, and country

Adolescents differ in their degree of Environmental Sensitivity, that is, the ability to perceive and process information about their environment. The present study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Highly Sensitive Child scale (HSC), a self-report measure of Environmental Sensitivity, in two Belgian and UK samples with a total of 3056 adolescents. First, the factor structure, internal consistency, dimensionality, and construct validity of the HSC scale were examined. Second, measurement invariance of the HSC scale across developmental stage, gender, and country was tested. Results supported a bifactor model with a general sensitivity factor and three group factors: Ease of Excitation (EOE), Low Sensory Threshold (LST), and Aesthetic Sensitivity (AES). Cronbach’s alpha and McDonalds’s (hierarchical) omega indicated that the HSC scale is a reliable measure of Environmental Sensitivity, except for AES. Furthermore, AES was associated with different personality traits than EOE and LST. Second, the HSC scale was partially measurement invariant across developmental stage, gender, and country. The results provide important insights in the psychometrics of a first measurement of Environmental Sensitivity in early to late adolescents. Implications for further research are discussed.

     

Financial hardship and well-being: a cross-national comparison among the European self-employed

Based on data from the 2004 and 2010 European Social Survey, this multidisciplinary and cross-national comparative study investigates the relationship between financial hardship and subjective well-being among 9,755 self-employed individuals from 31 European countries. It also aims to identify potential mitigating factors in this relationship on both the individual and the country level. Multilevel regression analyses reveal a strong relationship between financial hardship and impaired well-being, explaining about 36% of variance in well-being between conditions (countries and time periods) and 8% of variance between individuals. In other words, economic conditions matter significantly. Additionally, education and social trust act as important buffering factors for individuals, and the relationship between financial hardship and impaired well-being is somewhat weaker for self-employed persons living in countries with a more supportive social policy in the form of unemployment allowance. Entrepreneurs can hence mitigate the consequences of financial hardship by protecting social resources, and policymakers can be advised to invest in education and social security.     

The Big Five and identification–contrast processes in social comparison in adjustment to cancer treatment

The present study examined the relationship between social comparison processes and the Big Five personality factors. In a sample of 112 patients with various forms of cancer it was found that Neuroticism was associated with a tendency to focus on the negative interpretation of social comparison information that expressed itself in identification with fellow patients who were doing worse. This identification process also seemed to mediate the (negative) relationship between Neuroticism and post‐treatment feelings of mastery and uncertainty. No relationship was found between Neuroticism and the tendency to contrast one's situation against the situation of others who are doing better. Unexpectedly, Extraversion was most strongly related to a tendency to contrast one's situation against the situation of fellow patients who are doing better. Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Intellect/Autonomy were unrelated to social comparison. The therapeutical implications of the findings for cancer patients are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fractional designs: A simulation study of usefulness in the social sciences

Fractional designs can be extremely useful in social science research, especially when a large number of factors is involved. Reluctance for the use of fractional designs seems to be warranted for two reasons: (1) In the social sciences, the amount of measurement error is often large, which may decrease the power, and (2) higher order interactions are assumed to be nonsignificant, which is difficult to guarantee without sufficient research. This simulation study shows the effects of measurement error and assumption violations under various conditions. It is concluded that fractional designs handle measurement error gracefully and that they are as powerful as a full design when equal degrees of freedom are available. Significant interaction effects can cause serious problems, especially in situations with low or intermediate measurement error, and can lead to erroneous conclusions. Only when estimated confounded effects are clearly not significant, the chance of a wrong decision is reasonably small. Therefore, fractional designs are especially warranted for the exclusion of irrelevant factors. However, we note pitfalls in the use of Version 1.0 of the program Trail Run from SPSS, Inc., to implement the procedures.