Toward a social psychophysiology of vagally mediated heart rate variability: Concepts and methods in self‐regulation,emotion, and interpersonal processes

Theory and research on self‐regulation, emotional adjustment, and interpersonal processes focus increasingly on parasympathetic functioning, using measures of vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) or respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). This review describes models of vmHRV in these areas, and issues in measurement and analysis. We propose a framework organizing theory and research as examining (a) vmHRV as an individual difference or a situational response, and (b) resting, reactive, or recovery levels. Evidence supports interpretation of individual differences in resting vmHRV as a broad biomarker for adaptive functioning, but its specificity and underlying mechanisms require elaboration. Individual differences in vagal reactivity (i.e., trait‐like differences in vmHRV decreases during challenge or stress) are less commonly studied in adults and results are mixed. Many stressors and challenges evoke temporary decreases in vmHRV, and in some research self‐regulatory effort evokes increases. In a smaller literature, positive interpersonal experiences and some restorative processes increase resting vmHRV, whereas depletion of self‐regulatory capacity through related effort decreases it. Greater attention to conceptual distinctions regarding vmHRV constructs and several methodological issues will strengthen future research. Importantly, researchers should exercise caution in equating vmHRV with specific psychosocial constructs, especially in the absence of converging assessments and precise experimental manipulations.     

Psychological Flexibility at Work and Employees' Proactive Work Behaviour: Cross‐Level Moderating Role of Leader Need for Structure

How to promote employees to be proactive behaviourally is a significant issue in the literature because it would benefit organisations in several ways. Drawing on the acceptance and commitment model, we proposed a new antecedent, psychological flexibility that might contribute to employees' proactive work behaviour. Furthermore, we investigated how the contextual role of supervisor need for structure exhibits a cross‐level moderating effect on the relationship between employee psychological flexibility at work and proactive work behaviour based on interactionism. Data from 241 full‐time employees and their corresponding 45 managers indicated that employee psychological flexibility was positively associated with proactive work behaviour. More importantly, the supervisor need for structure played a moderating role, suggesting that employees would demonstrate greater proactive work behaviour especially when the supervisors have a high need for structure. Implications for psychological flexibility, proactivity, and person‐situation interactional research are discussed.     

Preference and resistance to change in concurrent variable-interval schedules

Pigeons were trained on a multiple schedule in which separate concurrent schedules were presented in the two components of the schedule. During one component, concurrent variable-interval 40-sec variable-interval 80-sec schedules operated. In the second component, concurrent variable-interval 40-sec variable-interval 20-sec schedules operated. After stable baseline performance was obtained in both components, extinction probe choice tests were presented to assess preference between the variable-interval 40-sec schedules from the two components. The variable-interval 40-sec schedule paired with the variable-interval 80-sec schedule was preferred over the variable-interval 40-sec schedule paired with the variable-interval 20-sec schedule. The subjects were also exposed to several resistance-to-change manipulations: (1) prefeeding prior to the experimental session, (2) a free-food schedule added to timeout periods separating components, and (3) extinction. The results indicated that preference and resistance to change do not necessarily covary.     

Inhibition and superconditioning

Superconditioning is said to occur when learning an association between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) is facilitated by pairing the CS with the US in the presence of a previously established conditioned inhibitor. Previous demonstrations of superconditioning have been criticized because their control conditions have allowed alternative interpretations. Using a within–subjects autoshaping procedure, the present study unambiguously demonstrated superconditioning. The results support the view that superconditioning is the symmetric opposite of blocking.     

The effects of pretraining and reminder treatments on retrograde amnesia in rats: comparison of lesions to the fornix or perirhinal and entorhinal cortices

The present experiment examined the effects of pretraining and reminder treatments on the retention of a nonrelational odor-guided digging task following lesions to the hippocampal formation (i.e., fornix) or parahippocampal region (i.e., perirhinal and entorhinal cortices). The results showed that fornix-lesioned rats and control rats had good retention of the task and did not differ from each other; however, perirhinal- and entorhinal-lesioned rats were severely impaired and differed from fornix and control rats. The present experiment found no attenuation of amnesia following pretraining, which may be due to the lesion technique employed and the size of the resulting lesions. However, the experiment found a significant difference in performance following a reminder treatment, even in the severely impaired perirhinal- and entorhinal-lesioned group.     

Something from nothing: exploring dimensions of children's knowing through the repeated reading of favourite books

Witte‐Townsend and DiGiulio explore some of the dimensions of knowing that children, teachers and parents may engage together during story‐time. They reflect on some of their own long‐term relationships with children and children's books, especially Phoebe Gilman's Gilman P 1992 Something from nothing (New York, NY, Scholastic Inc)  [Google Scholar] Something from nothing (published in 1992) and Simms Taback's Taback S 1999 Joseph had a little overcoat (New York, NY, Viking‐Penguin)  [Google Scholar] Joseph had a little overcoat, published in 1999. The authors probe issues such as why children ask to hear a favourite story over and over and why they suddenly abandon all interest and move on to a new book. They explore the meaning of the silences that sometimes arise during story‐time, pooling around the young listeners as the last words of the book are read. Witte‐Townsend and DiGiulio remind us of the value of literature in the lives of children and they affirm that the reading and re‐reading of favourite stories enables the understanding of complex human issues and contributes significantly to social, emotional and spiritual growth.