When up-words meet down-sentences: evidence for word- or sentence-based compatibility effects?

Participants were presented with sentences mentioning an entity with a typical location in the upper or lower vertical space (e.g., roof vs. root). Sentences supported or reversed the typical location of the target entity. Sensibility judgments requiring upwards or downwards responses were faster when the response matched rather than mismatched the target entity's typical location. This compatibility effect was independent of whether the sentence context supported or reversed the target entity's typical location. The results, therefore, provide clear evidence for word-based but no evidence for sentence-based simulation processes.     

Do Historical Changes in Parent–Child Relationships Explain Increases in Youth Conduct Problems?

The coincidence of historical trends in youth antisocial behavior and change in family demographics has led to speculation of a causal link, possibly mediated by declining quality of parenting and parent–child relationships. No study to date has directly assessed whether and how parenting and parent–child relationships have changed. Two national samples of English adolescents aged 16–17 years in 1986 (N = 4,524 adolescents, 7,120 parents) and 2006 (N = 716 adolescents, 734 parents) were compared using identical questionnaire assessments. Youth-reported parental monitoring, expectations, and parent–child quality time increased between 1986 and 2006. Ratings of parental interest did not change. Parenting differences between affluent and disadvantaged families narrowed over time. There was thus little evidence of a decline in quality of parenting for the population as a whole or for disadvantaged subgroups. Parent-reported youth conduct problems showed a modest increase between 1986 and 2006. Findings suggested that the increase in youth conduct problems was largely unrelated to observed change in parent–child relationships.     

Lower extremity strength and hopping and jumping ground reaction forces in children with neurofibromatosis type 1

The purpose of this study was to (1) extend the research findings of decreased muscular force production in grip strength to the lower extremity strength of children with NF1 and (2) to determine if there was a relationship between isometric strength and functional activities in children with NF1. Force production was assessed using a hand held dynamometer (HHD) and a functional task (hopping and jumping) on a force plate. Data from twenty-six children with NF1 were compared to data from 48 typically developing children of similar sex, weight and height. Children with NF1 demonstrated statistically significant lower force production with HHD (p<0.01) during hip extension, but similar force production for knee extension and ankle plantar flexion compared to the control group. A relationship existed between the ground reaction forces at take-off from both hopping and jumping and the force generated from knee extensor strength in the NF1 group. The addition of a functional task to hand held dynamometry is useful for determining a relationship between common clinical measures and functional activities.     

The attentional processes underlying impaired inhibition of threat in anxiety: the remote distractor effect

The current study explored the proposition that anxiety is associated with impaired inhibition of threat. Using a modified version of the remote distractor paradigm, we considered whether this impairment is related to attentional capture by threat, difficulties disengaging from threat presented within foveal vision, or difficulties orienting to task-relevant stimuli when threat is present in central, parafoveal and peripheral locations in the visual field. Participants were asked to direct their eyes towards and identify a target in the presence and absence of a distractor (an angry, happy or neutral face). Trait anxiety was associated with a delay in initiating eye movements to the target in the presence of central, parafoveal and peripheral threatening distractors. These findings suggest that elevated anxiety is linked to difficulties inhibiting task-irrelevant threat presented across a broad region of the visual field.     

The brain's hemispheres and controlled search of the lexicon: evidence from fixated words and pseudowords

Difference between the brain's hemispheres in efficiency of intentional search of the mental lexicon with phonological, orthographic, and semantic strategies was investigated. Letter strings for lexical decision were presented at fixation, with a lateralized distractor to the LVF or RVF. Word results revealed that both hemispheres were capable of using each of the three strategies, but the right hemisphere had better baseline processing of orthography and was better at processing semantics. Pseudoword results supported the right hemisphere advantage for orthography and showed a left hemisphere advantage for phonology and assessment of possible semantic relationships. Taken together, the data support the idea that the right hemisphere uses orthography to make efficient decisions about novelty of an item, while the left engages in grapheme-to-phoneme conversion to test hypotheses about unfamiliar items. The convergence of data with previous research reveals that the procedure, as well as analyses of pseudowords, inform laterality research.     

The role of Jahoda's latent and financial benefits for work involvement: A longitudinal study

This study examined the role of the latent and financial benefits of work as defined by Marie Jahoda (1982) in explaining a person's work involvement. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks on work commitment and work motivation, the latent benefits were expected to have a positive, whereas the financial benefits were expected to have a negative impact on work involvement. The results of longitudinal cross-lagged structural equation modeling using 4 waves of data from a sample of 260 employees provided strong support for the positive impact of the latent benefits on a person's work involvement. The negative effect of the financial benefits was not significant. The findings suggest that social institutions can contribute to a person's work involvement by the amount of access to the latent benefits they provide.     

The effect of cognitive behavior therapy on decision making in adolescents who self-harm: a pilot study

Research shows poor decision making in adolescents who self-harm and a positive correlation between decision-making abilities and duration since last self-harm episode. This exploratory study investigated whether decision making in self-harming adolescents could be improved through treatment with a novel cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). It also investigated whether improvement in decision making following treatment was linked to self-harm cessation. Adolescent self-harmers receiving CBT (n = 24) or no treatment (n = 9) and healthy controls (n = 22) were longitudinally compared on the Iowa gambling task (IGT). Significant IGT improvements were only observed for adolescents who self-harm following CBT. CBT may benefit adolescent self-harmers and generate decision-making improvements.     

Reliability of upper extremity kinematics while performing different tasks in individuals with stroke

Assessments of upper extremity performance typically include qualitative rather than quantitative measures of functional ability. Kinematic analysis is an objective, discriminative measure that quantifies movement biomechanics; however, the use within the poststroke impaired upper extremity is not well established. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of upper extremity kinematics in 18 individuals with stroke and 9 healthy controls. Participants performed reaching and grasping tasks over 2 separate days and metrics included movement time, peak velocity, index of curvature, trunk displacement, maximum aperture, and percentage of the movement cycle where maximum aperture occurred. The results showed moderate to high intraclass correlation and low standard error of measurement values for most variables, demonstrating that kinematic analysis may be a feasible and useful tool to quantify upper extremity movement after stroke.     

The shape of action

How do people understand the everyday, yet intricate, behaviors that unfold around them? In the present research, we explored this by presenting viewers with self-paced slideshows of everyday activities and recording looking times, subjective segmentation (breakpoints) into action units, and slide-to-slide physical change. A detailed comparison of the joint time courses of these variables showed that looking time and physical change were locally maximal at breakpoints and greater for higher level action units than for lower level units. Even when slideshows were scrambled, breakpoints were regarded longer and were more physically different from ordinary moments, showing that breakpoints are distinct even out of context. Breakpoints are bridges: from one action to another, from one level to another, and from perception to conception.