Questioning implicit motor learning as instantiated by the pursuit-tracking task

The effect of concurrent visual feedback on the implicit learning of repeated segments in a task of pursuit tracking has been tested. Although this feedback makes it possible to regulate the positional error during the movement, it could also induce negative guidance effects. To test this hypothesis, a first set of participants (N=42) were assigned to two groups, which performed either the standard pursuit-tracking task based on the experimental paradigm of Pew ( 1974 ; group F-ST), or a task called "movement reproduction" in which the feedback was suppressed (group noF-ST). A second set of participants (N=26) performed in the same feedback condition groups but in a dual-task situation (F-DT and noF-DT; Experiment 2). The results appear to confirm our predictions since the participants in groups without feedback, contrary to those in groups with feedback, succeeded with practice in differentiating their performances as a function of the nature of the segments (repeated or nonrepeated) both in simple (Experiment 1) and in dual-task (Experiment 2) situations. These experiments indicate that the feedback in the pursuit-tracking task induces a guidance function potentially resulting in an easiness tracking that prevents the participants from learning the repetition.     

L’observance et certains de ses déterminants dans les maladies inflammatoires chroniques de l’intestin (MICI)

Factors that favor compliance are not constant in researches about IBD patients. The objective of this study is to determine, in a 79 compliant subjects sample, the links between factors themselves which influence observance: depression, alexithymia, causal attributions, health subjective quality of life, the relation with the physician, the health state evaluation and the rapport between therapeutic benefit/side effects (CGI). Results show that patients comprehend independently factors that motivate them to have treatment and seriousness of their health state. If the relationship established with the physician is perceived as fundamental, personal controllability does not seem essential in compliance. So, it seems important to consider more specifically the link between patient's perceived control and physician's perceived control of the disease.     

Development of a fully automated system for delivering odors in an MRI environment

We describe the development and evaluation of a computer-controlled system for delivering odors in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) environment. The system allows a timely presentation of different odors in synchrony with MRI sequences and participant’s inspiration phase. The rise/fall time of odor deliverance has been optimized to generate prompt and strong stimulations. Equipped with a user-friendly programming interface, the system can be used reliably in a wide range of experimental paradigms. We have paid particular attention to developing a portable system that is relatively easy, rapid, and inexpensive to replicate. The equipment has been tested in a 3-Tesla MRI in a boxcar paradigm, in which stimulation conditions alternated with rest periods (no stimulation). The experiment demonstrated the good functioning of the device and its efficiency in producing the expected activation in the olfactory cortex; it also revealed some methodological and technical aspects to be improved.     

The Psychosocial Vulnerability Model of Hostility as a Predictor of Coronary Heart Disease in Low-income African Americans

The current study examined social support and stress as mediators of the hostility—coronary heart disease (CHD) relationship as suggested by the psychosocial vulnerability model in a sample of low-income African Americans. Among 95 CHD patients and 30 healthy controls, hostility was negatively correlated with social support, but was not related to minor stress. CHD patients endorsed higher levels of hostility; however, the relationship between hostility and CHD status was diminished once stress and social support were included in the model. This study lends partial support for the psychosocial vulnerability model of hostility in African Americans, but suggests that the relationship between hostility and stress may be impacted by socioeconomic status.     

The influence of intergroup comparisons on Africans' intelligence test performance in a job selection context

Sub-Saharan Africans living in Belgium (N = 69) completed a culture-free intelligence test in a simulated job selection environment. Prior to testing, the authors instructed participants that Africans' average performance on this test was generally better (positive comparison), worse (negative comparison), or equal to Belgians' performance. In a control condition, no such information was given. Results indicated that, compared with the equal and control conditions, performance was lower when intergroup comparisons were negative. In the former condition, participants were also more likely to endorse external factors that may account for lower performance. The authors interpreted the findings in line with stereotype threat theory (C. M. Steele & J. Aronson, 1995). In the context of job selection, the validity of intelligence tests conducted with members of stigmatized groups may be affected by the salience of social stereotypes and intergroup social comparisons.     

Mediators of the Gender Difference in Rumination

Rumination is engaging in a passive focus on one's symptoms of distress and on the possible causes and consequences of these symptoms. Women are more likely than men to engage in rumination. This study examined whether gender differences in the following beliefs would mediate the gender difference in rumination: the controllability of emotions, the appropriateness of rumination as a coping strategy, responsibility for the emotional tone of relationships, and mastery over negative events. The sample was 740 community-dwelling adults between 25 and 75 years of age, who completed a survey by mail. The combination of beliefs about control of emotions, responsibility for the emotional tone of relationships, and mastery over negative events fully mediated the gender difference in rumination. Alternative hypotheses that the gender difference in rumination was due to gender differences in distress, emotional expressivity, and the tendency to give socially desirable answers were not supported.     

TRAINING SUPERVISORS IN A COLLABORATIVE TEAM APPROACH TO PROMOTE PEER INTERACTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN INTEGRATED PRESCHOOLS

Three supervisors of integrated preschools were trained in a collaborative team approach to encourage resource and classroom teachers to develop strategies that promote peer interaction of all children, including children with disabilities. The focus of classroom teachers' behaviors and the interactive play of children with disabilities were measured daily in both a training (indoor play period) and a generalization (outdoor play period) setting. In a multiple baseline design, supervisors were individually trained in a collaborative team approach using a manual, modeling, and role playing; then they implemented the approach with classroom and resource teachers. We found that after supervisor training, classroom teachers increased their behaviors directed towards children with disabilities and decreased their behaviors directed towards nondisabled children. Moreover, we found a doubling of the interactive play of children with disabilities and, for two of the three classes, an increase in the interactive play of comparison children, randomly selected by the classroom teachers. Changes in both teachers' and children's behaviors were also found in the generalization setting. The implications of the results for interventions in community settings are discussed.     

Rhétorique et dialectique chez Aristote

Rhetoric and dialectic are two distinct circles, but in intersection. Rhetoric is an application (among others) of the dialectic to public debates. The dialectic is then the intellectual tool of rhetoric, distinct from its emotive means of persuading. But each of them can be antistrophos to the other one because both of them belong to the same sublunar world, our world. Such is Aristotle's answer, both to the sophists and to Plato.

     

CAN-4, an advanced author language for CAI,computer-based testing and psychological experimentation: PDP-9 implementation

The effective use of computers for tutorial (programmed instruction) teaching and on-line testing requires that curriculum authors have powerful special-purpose languages. One such language, CAN-4, has been designed and implemented to run on the PDP-9. The language includes advanced scoring, data recording, computation, timing, and file control facilities. The language and its implementation are described in relation to the instructional problems which the facilities are designed to meet.