Relative contributions of face and body configurations: perceiving emotional state and motion intention

This study addressed the relative reliance on face and body configurations for different types of emotion-related judgements: emotional state and motion intention. Participants viewed images of people with either emotionally congruent (both angry or fearful) or incongruent (angry/fearful; fearful/angry) faces and bodies. Congruent conditions provided baseline responses. Incongruent conditions revealed relative reliance on face and body information for different judgements. Body configurations influenced motion-intention judgements more than facial configurations: incongruent pairs with angry bodies were more frequently perceived as moving forward than those with fearful bodies; pairs with fearful bodies were more frequently perceived as moving away. In contrast, faces influenced emotional-state judgements more, but bodies moderated ratings of face emotion. Thus, both face and body configurations influence emotion perception, but the type of evaluation required influences their relative contributions. These findings highlight the importance of considering both the face and body as important sources of emotion information.     

Exploring the Construct of Perceived Burdensomeness Among Suicidal Adolescents: An Intervention Development Study

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The Interpersonal Psychological Theory of Suicide has a growing base of empirical support for use with adolescents. Of the two interpersonal constructs that...     

Relative contributions of face and body configurations: Perceiving emotional state and motion intention

This study addressed the relative reliance on face and body configurations for different types of emotion-related judgements: emotional state and motion intention. Participants viewed images of people with either emotionally congruent (both angry or fearful) or incongruent (angry/fearful; fearful/angry) faces and bodies. Congruent conditions provided baseline responses. Incongruent conditions revealed relative reliance on face and body information for different judgements. Body configurations influenced motion-intention judgements more than facial configurations: incongruent pairs with angry bodies were more frequently perceived as moving forward than those with fearful bodies; pairs with fearful bodies were more frequently perceived as moving away. In contrast, faces influenced emotional-state judgements more, but bodies moderated ratings of face emotion. Thus, both face and body configurations influence emotion perception, but the type of evaluation required influences their relative contributions. These findings highlight the importance of considering both the face and body as important sources of emotion information.     

Using Relative Motion Plots to Measure Changes in Intra-Limb and Inter-Limb Coordination

Methods for determining the degree of similarity between relative motion plots are examined and computational methods outlined. Hypothetical examples are provided to simply illustrate the function of selected indices of pattern shape, size, and orientation. Methods of using a composite of these measures to assess asymmetry, abnormality, or refinements in motor function are discussed. Statistical procedures for determining the reliability of assessments of change in relative motions are presented. A modification to Freeman’s (1961) pattern-recognition method is suggested as a more parsimonious application to angle-angle data derived in human movement research.     

Queerin’ the PGD Clinic

Disability activists influenced by queer theory and advocates of “human enhancement” have each disputed the idea that what is “normal” is normatively significant, which currently plays a key role in the regulation of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Previously, I have argued that the only way to avoid the implication that parents have strong reasons to select children of one sex (most plausibly, female) over the other is to affirm the moral significance of sexually dimorphic human biological norms. After outlining the logic that generates this conclusion, I investigate the extent to which it might also facilitate an alternative, progressive, opening up of the notion of the normal and of the criteria against which we should evaluate the relative merits of different forms of embodiment. This paper therefore investigates the implications of ideas derived from queer theory for the future of PGD and of PGD for the future of queerness.     

The Efficiency of Skilled Performance

The observed ease or effort of performance has traditionally been considered an integral part of any definition of skill (e.g., Guthrie, 1935). Empirical investigations of skill learning and performance have, however, largely ignored the effort or efficiency with which the movement is performed. This situation has arisen despite the fact that in many skills, particularly athletic endurance events or industrial work tasks, efficiency of performance may be essential to the goal of the task. This paper focuses on the energy demand of various skills and its relationship to issues of learning, performance, and individual differences in preferred rhythm. It is shown that across a variety of tasks the individual’s freely chosen work-rate is the most efficient. The significance of preferred rhythm to theoretical perspectives on rhythmic activity is discussed.     

Desert Dreaming: Tracking Psyche through the Landscape

Everything at a distance turns into poetry: distant mountains, distant people, distant events; all become romantic.

—Novalis

     

Influencing Health and Well-Being Internationally Using an Occupation-Based Perspective: Reflections From Cambodia

This article describes the experience of two occupational therapy educators who have spent time doing disability-related work in Cambodia, a country that is in the process of rebuilding its economic, education, and health infrastructure after years of war and turbulence. The authors describe their experiences, and reflect on important principles of working overseas including: setting aside assumptions and pre-laid plans; letting the reality on the ground guide decision-making and action; respecting local culture; creating strong programs through local participation and capacity-building; attending to systems issues; building bridges through attention to language and communication; and valuing the unique contributions that occupational therapy can make to international development efforts.