No anticipation–no action: the role of anticipation in action and perception

This paper reviews psychophysical evidence for the existence and the nature of two types of anticipation in goal-oriented action. The first one relates to attained changes of the perceptual world, thus to action goals. These anticipations determine appropriate motor output. We argue that goal codes do not only serve as a reference unit, against which currently produced behavioral effects are compared. Rather voluntary actions appear to be planned literally in terms of intended behavioral effects. The second type of anticipation relates to the environmental conditions that have to be met to bring an intended effect into being. These anticipations serve to trigger selected actions, when appropriate execution conditions are encountered. Altogether, the behavioral evidence portrays a remarkable automaticity of goal-oriented action. Once a goal exists (wherever it might come from), corresponding efferent output is generated and executed under appropriate conditions.     

Spider fear and covariation bias in children and adolescents

Covariation bias can be defined as phobic people's tendency to overestimate the association between fear-relevant stimuli and negative outcomes. The current article presents two studies that examined this type of cognitive bias in children and adolescents aged 8-16 years. Study 1 was concerned with a thought experiment during which youths (N=150) were asked to imagine that they participated in an experiment during which they had to view a series of pictures showing spiders, guns, and flowers, that were occasionally followed by a negative outcome (i.e., a mild electric shock). Participants were asked to estimate the relation between each type of picture and the negative outcome. The results indicated that youths with higher levels of spider fear displayed a specific tendency to relate spider pictures to a negative outcome. In Study 2, youths (N=220) actually participated in a computer game during which they were confronted with pictures of spiders, guns, and flowers, each of which was equally often followed by a negative (i.e., losing candy), positive (i.e., winning candy), or neutral outcome. After the game, participants had to estimate the relation between each type of picture and various outcomes. It was found that youths with higher levels of spider fear estimated more negative and less positive outcomes in relation to spider pictures. Taken together, these findings provide support for a fear-related covariation bias in youths. Further developmental analyses indicated that this type of cognitive bias seems to be more consistently present among adolescents than among children.     

Paternal involvement elevates trajectories of life satisfaction during transition to parenthood

This study explored the role of fathers' involvement for life satisfaction changes among 598 cohabitating couples before and after childbirth using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). We included longitudinal data and reports from both parents on their time spent on housework and childcare and their life satisfaction. Piecewise latent growth models showed that fathers' relative involvement trajectories for housework and childcare (amount of time men spent compared to their partners) were positively correlated. Fathers' relative involvement was perceived as supportive for mothers' childcare. In families where fathers were more involved, life satisfaction trajectories were much steeper; both parents had elevated levels around birth and returned to their baseline levels compared to families with less-involved fathers. Fathers who were less involved did not increase in life satisfaction at birth and decreased below their baseline levels within the third year post-birth.     

Explaining Social Disparities in Mathematical Achievement: The Role of Motivation

This study examined the role of motivation as a mediator of the relationship between parents' socio‐economic status (SES) and children's standardized test achievement in math. We employed a one‐year longitudinal approach using Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 and a follow‐up exam in 2004. The sample consisted of N = 6020 German students (mean age 15.5 years, SD = .55) who continued school after Grade 9 (PISA 2003) and were in Grade 10 at the time of PISA 2004. Children completed measures related to their parents' SES, math‐specific self‐concept, task‐specific and global self‐efficacy, and interest, intelligence and mathematical competence. We found a small to moderate correlation between parents' SES and children's achievement. All motivational constructs partially mediated the relationship between father's SES as well as a family index for SES (economic, social, and cultural status) and children's mathematical competence, but only math‐specific self‐concept and self‐efficacy were significant mediators for mother's SES. Even when simultaneously considering the mediating effect of children's intelligence and prior achievement, the mediation effects of motivation remained significant. These results are important for our understanding of educational equality. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Forced treadmill exercise prevents oxidative stress and memory deficits following chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in the rat

Physical activity impacts functional recovery following stroke in humans, however its effects in experimental animals submitted to chronic cerebral hypoperfusion have not been investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic potential of exercise, as assessed by cognitive activity in the Morris water maze and the brain oxidative status, through measurement of macromolecules damage, TBARS levels and total cellular thiols, as well as antioxidant enzymes in hippocampus, striatum and cerebral cortex. Adult male Wistar rats were submitted to the modified permanent bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries (2VO) method, with right common carotid artery being first occluded, and tested 3 months after the ischemic event. The effects of three different exercise protocols were examined: pre-ischemia, post-ischemia and pre+post-ischemia. Physical exercise consisted of sessions of 20-min, 3 times per week during 12 weeks (moderate intensity). Rats were submitted to cognitive assessment, in both reference and working spatial memory and after the last testing session were sacrificed to have oxidative stress parameters determined. Hypoperfusion caused a significant cognitive deficit in both spatial water maze tasks and this effect was reversed in rats receiving exercise protocol post and pre+post the ischemic event. Moreover, forced regular treadmill exercise regulated oxidative damage and antioxidant enzyme activity in the hippocampus. These results suggest that physical exercise protects against cognitive and biochemical impairments caused by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.     

Personality,Personal Values and Growth in Military Special Unit Patrol Teams Operating in a Polar Environment

This longitudinal study assessed personality traits, personal values and personal growth of six two-man Danish military Sirius Patrol teams. The NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R) findings indicated a psychologically adapted group, consistent with the elevation on the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) Boldness factor. Self-direction, Universalism, and Stimulation were the highest rated and stable values on the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ); the Power value showed a significant linear increase over time. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) findings indicated perceptions of considerable growth through participating in the Sirius Patrol. Assessment of the combination of personality traits and value hierarchies of other military groups in relation to types of operations engaged in is considered.     

Executive functioning deficits in preschool children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Executive function (EF) deficit is a hallmark of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), but the vast majority of available evidence comes from school-age children and adolescents. Very little is known about EF during the critical developmental period prior to 6 years of age in FASD. We evaluated EF in 39 children with FASD (3.0–5.5 years) and a comparison group of 50 age-matched, nonexposed controls. Measures included the EF Scale for Early Childhood and a Delay of Gratification task. Compared to age-matched controls, preschool children with FASD had impairments on the EF Scale and showed more impulsivity on the Delay of Gratification task. To confirm the EF Scale finding, FASD group performance was compared to a separate normative dataset (N = 1,400). Those with FASD performed below normal (M = –0.57, SD = 0.92). Within the FASD group, IQ was correlated with the EF Scale (partial r = .60, p = .001) and Delay of Gratification (partial r = .58, p = .005). EF Scale performance did not differ significantly across levels of FASD severity (fetal alcohol syndrome [FAS], partial FAS, or alcohol-related neurobehavioral disorder [ARND]). However, compared to normative data, those with FAS had the largest deficits (M = –0.91 SD from the mean, SE = 0.23), followed by partial FAS (M = –0.66 SD from the mean, SE = 0.26), then ARND (M = –0.36 SD from the mean, SE = 0.20). These novel data show that EF deficits manifest well before the age of 6 years in children with FASD, that they occur across the spectrum, and that EF may be most impaired in children with more severe forms of FASD and/or lower IQs.     

Roles of Visual Information for Control of Reaching Movements in Children

Poststroke hemiparetic individuals (n = 9) and a control group (n = 9) completed a frequency-scaled circle-drawing task in unimanual and bimanual conditions. Measures of intralimb spatial and temporal task accuracy and interlimb coordination parameters were analyzed. Significant reductions in task performance were seen in both limbs of the patients and controls with the introduction of bimanual movement. Spatial performance parameters suggested that the 2 groups focused on different hands during bimanual conditions. In the controls, interlimb coordination variables indicated predictable hand dominance effects, whereas in the patient group, dominance was influenced by the side of impairment and prior handedness of the individual. Therefore, in this particular bimanual task, performance improvements in the hemiplegic side could not be elicited. Intrinsic coupling asymmetries between the hands can be altered by unilateral motor deficits.     

Infants’ reasoning about ambiguous motion events: The role of spatiotemporal and dispositional status information

Two experiments investigate whether 7-month-olds reason about the origin of motion events by considering two sources of causally relevant information: spatiotemporal cues and dispositional status information derived from the identification of an object as either animate (with the enduring causal property of self-initiated motion) or inanimate (requiring an external cause of motion). Infants were shown a ball, a human hand, and an animal engaged in a motion event. While dispositional status information remained constant, spatiotemporal relations varied across conditions. Based on looking time data, we conclude that infants attend flexibly to both types of information. Without spatiotemporal cues, infants rely on dispositional status information. When two objects provide dispositional cues to motion origin, but only one also provides corresponding spatiotemporal information, infants attribute the motion to the object providing both types of information. Given an ambiguous motion event with two dispositional motion originators but no additional spatiotemporal cues, infants may prefer either of the two.