Der Gruppenfragebogen (GQ-D)

An investigation of the psychometric properties of the German version of the Group Questionnaire (GQ; Krogel 2009) is described. The GQ is a self-report instrument economically enabling the assessment of helpful aspects of relationships within small groups. Due to the limited length of the questionnaire it provides a tool of monitoring bonding to the group, the quality of the working relationship as well as negative aspects during group treatment. One advantage of the GQ is that it measures relationships on three different relational levels (group members, group leader and the group as a whole). Following a test of the multidimensional structure of the GQ-D using data from a multisite study (N=438) with structural equation models, the GQ-D was validated using other process measures. The GQ-D proved to be an objective, valid and reliable measure to assess relevant therapeutic relationships within groups.     

Examining the effects of stereotype threat on test-taking behaviors

This study examines the relationship between stereotype threat and individual test-taking behaviors. Previous research has examined the impact of stereotype threat on test scores, but little research has examined the impact of stereotype threat on the test-taking behaviors impacting those scores. Using a pre-post experimental design, stereotype threat was manipulated and test-taking behaviors (e.g., time spent per item, response changes) were measured while completing verbal ability items before and after the manipulation. The results indicated that stereotype threat minimally impacted time-related test-taking behaviors, but did impact behaviors related to response changes. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

A computational model of perception and action for cognitive robotics

Robots are increasingly expected to perform tasks in complex environments. To this end, engineers provide them with processing architectures that are based on models of human information processing. In contrast to traditional models, where information processing is typically set up in stages (i.e., from perception to cognition to action), it is increasingly acknowledged by psychologists and robot engineers that perception and action are parts of an interactive and integrated process. In this paper, we present HiTEC, a novel computational (cognitive) model that allows for direct interaction between perception and action as well as for cognitive control, demonstrated by task-related attentional influences. Simulation results show that key behavioral studies can be readily replicated. Three processing aspects of HiTEC are stressed for their importance for cognitive robotics: (1) ideomotor learning of action control, (2) the influence of task context and attention on perception, action planning, and learning, and (3) the interaction between perception and action planning. Implications for the design of cognitive robotics are discussed.     

Begutachtung von Traumatisierungen

The assessment of trauma related-disorders belongs to the most controversial and medically as well as juridically most broadly discussed fields. Accordingly, the juridical basis and clinical implications are presented and discussed. In doing so, among other things the principles of the causality judgement, the damage-related factors and those damage-independent factors which have to be considered are described. They are discussed in the context of social-juridical and insurance-juridical contexts. Some specific features of the clinical investigation situation are shown.     

Supervision in der psychotherapeutischen Ausbildung in Deutschland

One of the functions of supervision in psychotherapy training is quality assurance. In order to fulfill this function the quality of supervision itself needs to be high and needs to be controlled. Thus in a large survey of psychotherapy training in Germany questions related to the quality of supervision were included in the survey. Answers to those questions from different samples (trainees, alumni, trainers, training institutes, expert organizations) were compiled. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Satisfaction and usefulness ratings with individual and group supervision were high to very high. Supervision amount, group size and frequency were rated as adequate. Criticism pertained to the lack of systematic evaluation, insufficient qualification of the supervisors and lacking integration of supervision into the whole training. As supervision is a very important part of psychotherapy training measures for quality assurance and improvement are necessary.     

In the mood for adaptation: how affect regulates conflict-driven control

Cognitive conflict plays an important role in tuning cognitive control to the situation at hand. On the basis of earlier findings demonstrating emotional modulations of conflict processing, we predicted that affective states may adaptively regulate goal-directed behavior that is driven by conflict. We tested this hypothesis by measuring conflict-driven control adaptations following experimental induction of four different mood states that could be differentiated along the dimensions of arousal and pleasure. After mood states were induced, 91 subjects performed a flanker task, which provided a measure of conflict adaptation. As predicted, pleasure level affected conflict adaptation: Less pleasure was associated with more conflict-driven control. Arousal level did not influence conflict adaptation. This study suggests that affect adaptively regulates cognitive control. Implications for future research and psychopathology are discussed.     

3-D localization of virtual sound sources: Effects of visual environment, pointing method, and training

The ability to localize sound sources in three-dimensional space was tested in humans. In Experiment 1, naive subjects listened to noises filtered with subject-specific head-related transfer functions. The tested conditions included the pointing method (head or manual pointing) and the visual environment (VE; darkness or virtual VE). The localization performance was not significantly different between the pointing methods. The virtual VE significantly improved the horizontal precision and reduced the number of front-back confusions. These results show the benefit of using a virtual VE in sound localization tasks. In Experiment 2, subjects were provided with sound localization training. Over the course of training, the performance improved for all subjects, with the largest improvements occurring during the first 400 trials. The improvements beyond the first 400 trials were smaller. After the training, there was still no significant effect of pointing method, showing that the choice of either head- or manual-pointing method plays a minor role in sound localization performance. The results of Experiment 2 reinforce the importance of perceptual training for at least 400 trials in sound localization studies.     

Temporal dynamics of unimodal and multimodal feature binding

In two experiments, we studied the temporal dynamics of feature integration with auditory (Experiment 1) and audiovisual (Experiment 2) stimuli and manual responses. Consistent with previous observations, performance was better when the second of two consecutive stimuli shared all or none of the features of the first, rather than when only one of the features overlapped. Comparable partial-overlap costs were obtained for combinations of stimulus features and responses. These effects decreased systematically with increasing time between the two stimulus-and-response events, and the decreased rate was comparable for unimodal and multimodal bindings. General effect size reflected the degree of task relevance of the dimension or modality of the respective feature, but the effects of relevance and of temporal delay did not interact. This suggests that the processing of stimuli on task-relevant sensory modalities and feature dimensions is facilitated by task-specific attentional sets, whereas the temporal dynamics might reflect that bindings “decay” or become more difficult to access over time.     

Effects of the premenstrual syndrome on facial expressions of sadness

This study examined the relationship between PMS and emotion-related electromyographic facial activity at different phases of the menstrual cycle. Twenty-four women of reproductive age (12 with PMS, 12 controls) participated in two EMG sessions (T1 and T2) in which they were shown photographic images that can elicit various emotions (IAPS stimuli). T1 took place in the follicular phase, T2 in the luteal phase. The activity of the musculus depressor anguli oris ("depressor", expression of sadness) was measured. Depressor activity was compared to activity of musculus orbicularis oculi ("orbicularis"; expression of joy). ANOVA yielded a significant increase of the activity of the depressor at T2 in the PMS group. The PMS group showed more frequent depressor activity during the luteal than the follicular phase. Orbicularis activity did not change from T1 to T2. Conclusions: The PMS group experienced various visual stimuli in a more depressed way during the luteal phase.     

Similarity, kernels, and the triangle inequality

Similarity is used as an explanatory construct throughout psychology and multidimensional scaling (MDS) is the most popular way to assess similarity. In MDS, similarity is intimately connected to the idea of a geometric representation of stimuli in a perceptual space. Whilst connecting similarity and closeness of stimuli in a geometric representation may be intuitively plausible, Tversky and Gati [Tversky, A., & Gati, I. (1982). Similarity, separability, and the triangle inequality. Psychological Review, 89(2), 123-154] have reported data which are inconsistent with the usual geometric representations that are based on segmental additivity. We show that similarity measures based on Shepard’s universal law of generalization [Shepard, R. N. (1987). Toward a universal law of generalization for psychologica science. Science, 237(4820), 1317-1323] lead to an inner product representation in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. In such a space stimuli are represented by their similarity to all other stimuli. This representation, based on Shepard’s law, has a natural metric that does not have additive segments whilst still retaining the intuitive notion of connecting similarity and distance between stimuli. Furthermore, this representation has the psychologically appealing property that the distance between stimuli is bounded.