Stability in cognition across early childhood. A developmental cascade

Children confront the formidable task of assimilating information in the environment and accommodating their cognitive structures to that information. Developmental science is concerned equally with two distinctive features of these processes: children's group mean level of performance through time and the standing of individual children through time. Prevailing opinion since the inception of the mental-measurement movement has been that individual development is unstable-that individual children change unpredictably in their abilities. We report results of a large-scale controlled, multivariate, prospective, microgenetic, 4-year longitudinal study that reveals a statistically significant cascade of species-typical cognitive abilities from infancy to childhood. Infancy is a recognizable starting point of life; we find that to a small but significant degree, infancy also represents a setting point in the life of the individual.     

Enhanced old–new recognition and source memory for faces of cooperators and defectors in a social-dilemma game

A popular assumption in evolutionary psychology is that the human mind comprises specialized cognitive modules for social exchange, including a module that serves to enhance memory for faces of cheaters. In the present study, participants played a trust game with computerized opponents, who either defected or cooperated. In a control condition, no interaction took place. In a surprise memory test, old–new recognition for faces and source memory for the associated cooperative or non-cooperative behavior were assessed. A multinomial model was used to measure old–new discrimination, source memory, and guessing biases separately. Inconsistent with the assumption of a memory mechanism that focuses exclusively on cheating, the present study showed enhanced old–new discrimination and source memory for both cooperators and defectors. Rarity of the behavior strategies within the experiment modulated source memory, but only when the differences in base rates were extreme. The findings can be attributed to a mechanism that focuses on exchange-relevant information and flexibly adapts to take into account the relative significance of this information in the encoding context, which may be more beneficial than focusing exclusively on cheaters.     

An Ecological Approach to Reducing the Social Isolation of People With an Intellectual Disability

An ecological approach to understanding insecure attachments and social isolation among people with an intellectual disability is constructed using Gibson's (1979/1986) affordance-based theory. Although environmental affordances and individual limitations interact to limit the development of social competence, we believe that by focusing on the immediate environment, community-based approaches to helping people with an intellectual disability are often ignored, which increases the burden on individual caregivers. A more comprehensive strategy, which extends Gibson's theory of affordances, allows us to consider how higher level social systems influence the immediate environment and provides the context for understanding why successful change occurs when a multifaceted, holistic approach that works on several levels is adopted. Examining these systems within an ecological framework fundamentally redefines our thinking by shifting the focus from a person's disability to a more nuanced understanding of a person's abilities within the context of appropriate environmental supports in which the person's disability becomes less salient.     

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated With Suicides of Army Soldiers 2001–2009

Prevalence and risk factors associated with soldiers' suicides 2001–2009 (N = 874) were examined. Army suicide rates increased from 9 per 100,000 in 2001 to 22 per 100,000 in 2009. Soldier suicides were lower than civilians from 2001 to 2007, but higher than civilians after 2007. Army suicides were disproportionately higher for men, deployment experience, and a history of a mental health diagnosis/treatment; and lower for African Americans. Many involved planning (38%), communication (21%), alcohol (19%), or drugs (8%). Many had legal problems (31%), high stress loads (90%), a history of self-injury (10%), and other contributing factors prior to entry into the Army (31%). Implications for understanding suicide among military personnel are discussed.     

The lived experiences of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in relation to exercise

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Seven active exercisers with MS participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their exercise experiences since diagnosis. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith?&?Osborn, 2003 Smith, JA and Osborn, M. 2003. “Interpretive phenomenological analysis”. In Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods, Edited by: Smith, JA. 51–80. London: Sage.  [Google Scholar]). Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The results and interpretations of narratives revealed a number of functional limitations due to the severity of MS symptoms, which were found to have a major effect on the ability of the participants to exercise. Furthermore, psychological problems and the heightened behavioural adjustments to the progressive disability led to re-appraisal of ability to exercise. Previous, relevant exercise experience made participants more determined to continue to be able to exercise after diagnosis. The wider exercise experience narratives were related to concerns about safety, dependability on others to overcome the challenges, and potential environmental hazards. The loss of spontaneous opportunities to exercise because of these actual and perceived barriers was key to this population. This research highlighted the need to rethink the health and social service arrangements in relation to exercise provision for individuals with MS.     

Humean dispositionalism

Humean metaphysics is characterized by a rejection of necessary connections between distinct existences. Dispositionalists claim that there are basic causal powers. The existence of such properties is widely held to be incompatible with the Humean rejection of necessary connections. In this paper I present a novel theory of causal powers that vindicates the dispositionalist claim that causal powers are basic, without embracing brute necessary connections. The key assumptions of the theory are that there are natural types of causal processes, and that manifestations of powers are identified with certain kinds of causal processes. From these assumptions, the modal features of powers are explained in terms of internal relations between powers themselves and the process-types in which powers are manifested.     

Efficacy of a Brief Relaxation Training Intervention for Pediatric Recurrent Abdominal Pain

This study is a preliminary investigation of the efficacy of a brief intervention for recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) via a multiple baseline across subjects design. The intervention consisted of a single 1-hour session including psychoeducation and coaching of breathing retraining; the length, duration, and content of the intervention were designed with a goal of maximum portability to primary-care settings. Five children with recurrent abdominal pain participated in this study, 1 of whom served as a pilot participant. Children received the intervention at 1-week intervals. Parent and child reports of each child's abdominal pain, general somatic complaints, functional disability, and anxiety were collected throughout the study. All children participated in a 3-month follow-up session. Results indicated that this brief intervention was successful in lessening abdominal pain, as demonstrated by decreased Abdominal Pain Index (API) scores in two children and decreased abdominal pain following breathing retraining practice in all children. The intervention was also successful in decreasing some children's general somatic symptoms. Functional disability and anxiety symptoms remained consistent for all children throughout the study, which may be due to low levels of these symptoms pretreatment. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.     

Electroencephalographic registration of low concentrations of isoamyl acetate

Previous research has demonstrated electroencephalogram (EEG) changes in response to low-odor concentrations, resulting in near-chance detection. Such findings have been taken as evidence for olfaction without awareness. We replicated and extended previous work by examining EEG responses to water-water control, 0.0001, 0. 001, 0.01, and 1 ppm isoamyl acetate (IAA) in water paired with water only. Detection was above chance (>50%) for.001 and above, and alpha decreased only to those concentrations, suggesting that EEG changes corresponded to IAA awareness. However, when correct trial EEGs were compared to incorrect trial EEGs during.001 ppm, right posterior/central alpha decreased during incorrect trials and alpha decreased more globally (including frontal sites) during correct trials. These data may not reflect awareness or unawareness per se. Instead, results are discussed regarding activation of perceptual systems in the posterior region during incorrect trials and the activation of frontal action systems during a subset of correct trials.     

Probability weights in rank-dependent utility with binary even-chance independence

We examine the effects of a weak version of expected utility's independence axiom on the probability weighting function in rank-dependent utility. Our weak independence axiom says that a 50-50 lottery between a two-outcome gamble and its certainty equivalent is indifferent to the certainty equivalent. A variety of nonlinear probability weighting functions satisfy this axiom, but most weighting functions proposed by others do not. Nevertheless, the axiom accommodates weighting functions that are quite similar to the inverse S-shaped concave-convex functions of others that overvalue small probabilities and undervalue large probabilities.