Mimicking emotions: how 3–12-month-old infants use the facial expressions and eyes of a model

While there is an extensive literature on the tendency to mimic emotional expressions in adults, it is unclear how this skill emerges and develops over time. Specifically, it is unclear whether infants mimic discrete emotion-related facial actions, whether their facial displays are moderated by contextual cues and whether infants’ emotional mimicry is constrained by developmental changes in the ability to discriminate emotions. We therefore investigate these questions using Baby-FACS to code infants’ facial displays and eye-movement tracking to examine infants’ looking times at facial expressions. Three-, 7-, and 12-month-old participants were exposed to dynamic facial expressions (joy, anger, fear, disgust, sadness) of a virtual model which either looked at the infant or had an averted gaze. Infants did not match emotion-specific facial actions shown by the model, but they produced valence-congruent facial responses to the distinct expressions. Furthermore, only the 7- and 12-month-olds displayed negative responses to the model’s negative expressions and they looked more at areas of the face recruiting facial actions involved in specific expressions. Our results suggest that valence-congruent expressions emerge in infancy during a period where the decoding of facial expressions becomes increasingly sensitive to the social signal value of emotions.     

Ethics for Mental Health Influencers: MFTs as Public Social Media Personalities

The increase in social media usage contributes to a greater number of Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) using social media to grow their professional outreach and to increase awareness about mental health by engaging with online audiences. Although existing literature has discussed how MFTs can make ethical use of personal social media in and around their therapeutic role, no literature at this time has explored the potential ethical issues faced by MFTs seeking to build public presence on social media as a “mental health influencer.” The present paper intends to provide a definition of mental health influencers (MHIs) and reviews ethical concerns relevant to MFTs acting as MHIs. Particular consideration is given to ethical dilemmas and conflicts-of-interest which may emerge via parasocial relationships developed through social media influencing, as well as how the boundaries and the limitations of an MFT’s professional scope can be tested when presenting as a personable, public figure over digital platforms. A framework for conceptualizing ethical issues for MHI-MFTs is offered, with a selection of prescient issues being examined within the scope of existing ethical standards set forth by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy’s (AAMFT) Code of Ethics. Reflections are offered about what questions and guidelines should be observed by MFTs in order to avoid unethical use of social media as an MHI, followed by a brief discussion about future considerations which should be considered by MHIs.

     

How does information from low and high spatial frequencies interact during scene categorization?

Current models of visual perception suggest that, during scene categorization, low spatial frequencies (LSF) are rapidly processed and activate plausible interpretations of visual input. This coarse analysis would be used to guide subsequent processing of high spatial frequencies (HSF). The present study aimed to further examine how information from LSF and HSF interact and influence each other during scene categorization. In a first experimental session, participants had to categorize LSF and HSF filtered scenes belonging to two different semantic categories (artificial vs. natural). In a second experimental session, we used hybrid scenes as stimuli made by combining LSF and HSF from two different scenes which were semantically similar or dissimilar. Half of the participants categorized LSF scenes in hybrids, and the other half categorized HSF scenes in hybrids. Stimuli were presented for 30 or 100?ms. Session 1 results showed better performance for LSF than HSF scene categorization. Session 2 scene categorization was faster when participants attended and categorized LSF than HSF scene in hybrids. The semantic interference of a semantically dissimilar HSF scene on LSF scene categorization was greater than the semantic interference of a semantically dissimilar LSF scene on HSF scene categorization, irrespective of exposure duration. These results suggest a LSF advantage for scene categorization, and highlight the prominent role of HSF information when there is uncertainty about the visual stimulus, in order to disentangle between alternative interpretations.     

The nose tells it to the eyes: crossmodal associations between olfaction and vision

Crossmodal linkage between the olfactory and visual senses is still largely underexplored. In this study, we investigated crossmodal olfactory-visual associations by testing whether and how visual processing of objects is affected by the presence of olfactory cues. To this end, we explored the influence of prior learned associations between an odour (eg odour of orange) and a visual stimulus naturally associated with that odour (picture of orange) on the movements of the eyes over a complex scene. Participants were asked to freely explore a photograph containing an odour-related visual cue embedded among other objects while being exposed to the corresponding odour (subjects were unaware of the presence of the odour). Eye movements were recorded to analyse the order and distribution of fixations on each object of the scene. Our data show that the odour-related visual cue was explored faster and for a shorter time in the presence of the congruent odour. These findings suggest that odours can affect visual processing by attracting attention to the possible odour source and by facilitating its identification.     

How do other people influence your driving speed? Exploring the ‘who’ and the ‘how’ of social influences on speeding from a qualitative perspective

Using only legal sanctions to manage the speed at which people drive ignores the potential benefits of harnessing social factors such as the influence of others. Social influences on driving speeds were explored in this qualitative examination of 67 Australian drivers. Focus group interviews with 8 driver types (young, mid-age and older males and females, and self-identified Excessive and Rare speeders) were guided by Akers’ social learning theory (Akers, 1998). Findings revealed two types of influential others: people known to the driver (passengers and parents), and unknown other drivers. Passengers were generally described as having a slowing influence on drivers: responsibility for the safety of people in the car and consideration for passenger comfort were key themes. In contrast, all but the Rare speeders reported increasing their speed when driving alone. Parental role modelling was also described. In relation to other drivers, key themes included speeding to keep up with traffic flow and perceived pressure to drive faster. This ‘pressure’ from others to ‘speed up’ was expressed in all groups and reported strategies for managing this varied. Encouragingly, examples of actual or anticipated social rewards for speeding were less common than examples of social punishments. Three main themes relating to social punishments were embarrassment, breaching the trust of others, and presenting an image of a responsible driver. Impression management and self-presentation are discussed in light of these findings. Overall, our findings indicate scope to exploit the use of social sanctions for speeding and social praise for speed limit compliance to enhance speed management strategies.     

Marital satisfaction across the transition to parenthood.

The purpose of the present study was to discriminate between the 2 dominant perspectives governing research on the nature of marital change over the transition to parenthood. Progress can be made in understanding this transition by recognizing the role of uncontrolled sources of variability in research designs, defining and using control groups, and timing of data collection around the child's arrival, and the authors conducted a study incorporating these methodological refinements. Growth curve analyses were conducted on marital satisfaction data collected twice before and twice after the birth of the 1st child and at corresponding points for voluntarily childless couples (N = 156 couples). Spouses who were more satisfied prior to pregnancy had children relatively early in marriage, and parents experienced greater declines in marital satisfaction compared to nonparents. Couples with planned pregnancies had higher prepregnancy satisfaction scores, and planning slowed husbands' (but not wives') postpartum declines. In sum, parenthood hastens marital decline--even among relatively satisfied couples who select themselves into this transition--but planning status and prepregnancy marital satisfaction generally protect marriages from these declines.     

The manifestation of transference during early psychotherapy sessions

Despite the clinical use of therapeutic transference across various schools of psychotherapy, there have been relatively few empirical studies of this phenomenon, none of which has examined transference with a non‐pathological population. In this study, the core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) method was used to examine the manifestation of therapeutic transference in the first three sessions of 22 counselling contracts with high‐functioning individuals. Factor analyses of the wish (W) and response of other (RO) components of the CCRT indicate a complementary pattern of relating in which the therapist is idealised and others are devalued. Within the response of self (RS) component, clients exhibited a concordant relational transfer whereby they had a negative response to both the therapist and others. Additionally, control issues emerged in the W component for significant others and in the RS component for the therapist.