Two‐year‐olds’ understanding of self‐symbols

This study investigated 48 2.5‐year‐olds’ ability to map from their own body to a two‐dimensional self‐representation and also examined relations between parents’ talk about body representations and their children's understanding of self‐symbols. Children participated in two dual‐representation tasks in which they were asked to match body parts between a symbol and its referent. In one task, they used a self‐symbol and in the other they used a symbol for a doll. Participants were also read a book about body parts by a parent. As a group, children found the self‐symbol task more difficult than the doll‐task; however, those whose parents explicitly pointed out the relation between their children's bodies and the symbols in the book performed better on the self‐symbol task. The findings demonstrate that 2‐year‐old children have difficulty comprehending a self‐symbol, even when it is two‐dimensional and approximately the same size as them, and suggest that parents’ talk about self‐symbols may facilitate their understanding.     

THE OUTCOME OF SHORT‐TERM PSYCHODYNAMIC ART THERAPY COMPARED TO SHORT‐TERM PSYCHODYNAMIC VERBAL THERAPY FOR DEPRESSED WOMEN

The primary aim of this randomized controlled clinical trial was to compare the outcome from two types of short‐term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The participants were thirty‐nine women with depression. Half of the participants (n = 18) received art psychotherapy and the other half received verbal psychotherapy (n = 21). Data was collected before and after psychotherapy, and at a 3‐month follow‐up using self‐rating scales and interviewer‐based ratings. Results showed that art and verbal psychotherapies were comparable, and at follow‐up, the average participant in both groups had few depressive symptoms and stress‐related symptoms. The conclusion was that short‐term psychodynamic art therapy could be a valuable treatment for depressed women.     

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Shared attentional resources for processing visual and chemosensory information

For many years, researchers have argued that we have separate attentional resources for the processing of information impinging on each of our sensory receptor systems. However, a number of recent studies have demonstrated the existence of shared attentional resources for the processing of auditory, visual and tactile stimuli. In the present study, we examined whether there are also common attentional resources for the processing of chemosensory stimuli. Participants made speeded (left vs. right) footpedal discrimination responses to an unpredictable sequence of visual and chemosensory stimuli presented to either nostril. The participants' attention was directed to one or the other modality by means of a symbolic auditory cue (high or low tone) at the start of each trial, which predicted the likely modality for the upcoming target on the majority (80%) of trials. Participants responded more rapidly when the target occurred in the expected modality than when it occurred in the unexpected modality, implying the existence of shared attentional resources for the processing of chemosensory and visual stimuli.     

Emergent Goal-Anticipatory Gaze in Infants via Event-Predictive Learning and Inference

From about 7 months of age onward, infants start to reliably fixate the goal of an observed action, such as a grasp, before the action is complete. The available research has identified a variety of factors that influence such goal-anticipatory gaze shifts, including the experience with the shown action events and familiarity with the observed agents. However, the underlying cognitive processes are still heavily debated. We propose that our minds (i) tend to structure sensorimotor dynamics into probabilistic, generative event-predictive, and event boundary predictive models, and, meanwhile, (ii) choose actions with the objective to minimize predicted uncertainty. We implement this proposition by means of event-predictive learning and active inference. The implemented learning mechanism induces an inductive, event-predictive bias, thus developing schematic encodings of experienced events and event boundaries. The implemented active inference principle chooses actions by aiming at minimizing expected future uncertainty. We train our system on multiple object-manipulation events. As a result, the generation of goal-anticipatory gaze shifts emerges while learning about object manipulations: the model starts fixating the inferred goal already at the start of an observed event after having sampled some experience with possible events and when a familiar agent (i.e., a hand) is involved. Meanwhile, the model keeps reactively tracking an unfamiliar agent (i.e., a mechanical claw) that is performing the same movement. We qualitatively compare these modeling results to behavioral data of infants and conclude that event-predictive learning combined with active inference may be critical for eliciting goal-anticipatory gaze behavior in infants.     

Daily Work Contexts and Resistance to Organisational Change: The Role of Leader–Member Exchange, Development Climate, and Change Process Characteristics

In the last decade, researchers have started to investigate the psychological processes that are involved in employees’ experiences of organisational change. The present study examined how characteristics of the daily work context related to employees’ resistance to change through aspects of the change process. The results supported the research model, showing that the relationships of leader–member exchange and perceived development climate with employees’ resistance to a merger were fully mediated by three change process characteristics (i.e. information, participation, and trust in management). In addition, two individual‐level characteristics (i.e. openness to job changes, and organisational tenure) showed significant relationships with resistance to change. Employees’ role breadth self‐efficacy was not related to resistance. Together, the results suggest a number of ways in which organisations can increase the effectiveness of their change efforts. Au cours de la dernière décennie, les chercheurs ont commencéàétudier les processus psychologiques à l’?vre dans les expériences des employés lors d’un changement organisationnel. La présente étude examine la façon dont les caractéristiques d’un contexte de travail quotidien sont en lien avec la résistance au changement des salariés à travers certains aspects du processus de changement. Les résultats confirment le modèle de recherche en montrant que les relations de LMX (Leader–Member Exchange) et du climat de développement perçu avec la résistance des salariés à une fusion étaient totalement médiées par trois caractéristiques processuelles de changement (l’information, la participation et la confiance dans la direction). De plus, les caractéristiques individuelles (ouverture aux changements de travail et titularisation au sein de l’organisation) sont significativement liées à la résistance au changement. L’efficacité de l’ampleur du rôle des salariés n’est pas liée à la résistance. Ensemble, ces résultats ouvrent quelques voies que les organisations peuvent utiliser pour augmenter l’efficacité de leurs efforts de changement.