Validity for an Integrated Laboratory Analogue of Sexual Aggression and Bystander Intervention

This study sought to develop and validate an integrated laboratory paradigm of sexual aggression and bystander intervention. Participants were a diverse community sample (54% African American) of heterosexual males (N = 156) between 21 and 35 years of age who were recruited to complete the study with a male friend and an ostensibly single, heterosexual female who reported a strong dislike of sexual content in the media. Participants viewed a sexually explicit or nonsexually explicit film clip as part of contrived media rating task and made individual choices of which film clip to show the female confederate. Immediately thereafter, participants were required to reach consensus on a group decision of which film clip to show the female confederate. Subjecting a target to an unwanted experience with a sexual connotation was operationalized as selection of the sexually explicit video, whereas successful bystander intervention was operationalized as the event of one partner individually selecting the sexually explicit video but then selecting the nonsexually explicit video for the group choice. Results demonstrated that a 1‐year history of sexual aggression and endorsement of pertinent misogynistic attitudes significantly predicted selection of the sexually‐explicit video. In addition, bystander efficacy significantly predicted men's successful prevention of their male peer's intent to show the female confederate a sexually explicit video. Discussion focused on how these data inform future research and bystander intervention programming for sexual aggression. Aggr. Behav. 38:309–321, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The adaptability of self-action perception and movement control when the limb is passively versus actively moved

Research suggests that perceptual experience of our movements adapts together with movement control when we are the agents of our actions. Is this agency critical for perceptual and motor adaptation? We had participants view cursor feedback during elbow extension–flexion movements when they (1) actively moved their arm, or (2) had their arm passively moved. We probed adaptation of movement perception by having participants report the reversal point of their unseen movement. We probed adaptation of movement control by having them aim to a target. Perception and control of active movement were influenced by both types of exposure, although adaptation was stronger following active exposure. Furthermore, both types of exposure led to a change in the perception of passive movements. Our findings support the notion that perception and control adapt together, and they suggest that some adaptation is due to recalibrated proprioception that arises independently of active engagement with the environment.     

Extinction of goal tracking also eliminates the conditioned reinforcing effects of an appetitive conditioned stimulus

Previous studies have suggested that the effects of extinction are response-specific. The present study investigated whether an extinction treatment that eliminated goal tracking elicited by an appetitive conditioned stimulus (CS) would also eliminate the conditioned reinforcing effects of that CS. Rats were first trained on a goal-tracking procedure in which an auditory CS was paired with a food unconditioned stimulus. Animals learned to approach the location where the food was delivered. In a subsequent phase, rats in one group received extinction training that eliminated the goal-tracking elicited by the CS. Rats in the other group did not experience extinction of the food-paired CS. Then, both groups received a test for conditioned reinforcement in which leverpresses resulted in the brief presentation of the stimulus previously paired with food. This stimulus did not act as a conditioned reinforcer in the group that had been subjected to extinction training, but did serve as a conditioned reinforcer in the group that did not experience extinction. These results indicate that the effects of extinction generalize from the approach-eliciting to the conditioned reinforcing effects of an appetitive CS.     

Characterizing variation in the functional connectome: promise and pitfalls

The functional MRI (fMRI) community has zealously embraced resting state or intrinsic functional connectivity approaches to mapping brain organization. Having demonstrated their utility for charting the large-scale functional architecture of the brain, the field is now leveraging task-independent methods for the investigation of phenotypic variation and the identification of biomarkers for clinical conditions. Enthusiasm aside, questions regarding the significance and validity of intrinsic brain phenomena remain. Here, we discuss these challenges and outline current developments that, in moving the field toward discovery science, permit a shift from cartography toward a mechanistic understanding of the neural bases of variation in cognition, emotion and behavior.     

The loss of power: How illusions of alliance contribute to powerholders’ downfall

Though people in positions of power have many advantages that sustain their power, stories abound of individuals who fall from their lofty perch. How does this happen? The current research examined the role of illusions of alliance, which we define as overestimating the strength of one’s alliances with others. We tested whether powerholders lose power when they possess overly positive perceptions of their relationships with others, which in turn leads to the weakening of those relationships. Studies 1 and 2 found that powerful individuals were more likely to hold illusions of alliance. Using laboratory as well as field contexts, Studies 3, 4, and 5 found that individuals with power who held illusions of alliance obtained fewer resources, were excluded more frequently from alliances, and lost their power. These findings suggest that power sometimes leads to its own demise because powerful individuals erroneously assume that others feel allied to them.     

When overconfidence is revealed to others: Testing the status-enhancement theory of overconfidence

The status-enhancement theory of overconfidence proposes that overconfidence pervades self-judgment because it helps people attain higher social status. Prior work has found that highly confident individuals attained higher status regardless of whether their confidence was justified by actual ability ( Anderson, Brion, Moore, & Kennedy, 2012). However, those initial findings were observed in contexts where individuals’ actual abilities were unlikely to be discovered by others. What happens to overconfident individuals when others learn how good they truly are at the task? If those individuals are penalized with status demotions, then the status costs might outweigh the status benefits of overconfidence – thereby casting doubt on the benefits of overconfidence. In three studies, we found that group members did not react negatively to individuals revealed as overconfident, and in fact still viewed them positively. Therefore, the status benefits of overconfidence outweighed any possible status costs, lending further support to the status-enhancement theory.     

The impact of maternal postnatal depression on men and their ways of fathering: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Objectives: Postnatal depression affects approximately 15% of women in Western countries. There are conflicting findings about the effects on fathers as well as the extent to which fathers buffer against the negative effects of depression on children. This study sought to understand the ways in which maternal postnatal depression affects men and their ways of fathering.

Design: Narrative interviews were conducted with 14 British fathers (mean age?=?33.9?years) whose (ex)partners had experienced at least one episode of postnatal depression. Interviews explored how their partner’s depression affected them, the partner relationship, their children and their ways of fathering. Data were analysed with interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results and Conclusions: Men felt that their partner’s depression led to significant physical and/or psychological maternal absence as well as a fracturing of the family unit, which had been an important ideological foundation for men’s fathering. Unequal divisions of labour, unfulfilled expectations, a thwarting of preferred ways of fathering and preoccupation with their partner’s depression took some men away from fathering. Others reported adaptation by accepting the loss of shared parenting and investing in an exclusive father–child relationship. Fathering appears to be particularly affected by the loss of a close adult relationship.     

An examination of gender differences in the construct validity of the silencing the self scale

Jack’s (1991) theory of self-silencing was originally designed to explain higher rates of depression in women in comparison to men. However, research finding that men score equal or even higher than women on measures of self-silencing has lead theorists to speculate that self-silencing tendencies may be driven by different motivations and have different consequences for women versus men (Jack & Ali, 2010). Using a sample of 247 college students, we examined gender differences in the construct validity of the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack & Dill, 1992). We hypothesized that women would score higher on the Externalized Self-Perception subscale, but not the other three subscales. Gender differences in the relationship between the STSS subscales and theoretically-relevant constructs were also explored. The results indicated that women on average scored higher than men on the Externalized Self-Perception subscale, whereas men scored higher on the Care as Self-Sacrifice subscale. Further, there was a significant Gender × Care as Self-Sacrifice subscale interaction in the prediction of depression, such that this subscale was negatively correlated to depression in men, and uncorrelated in women. These results clarify how self-silencing might translate into different mental health outcomes for women and men.     

A kinematic comparison of successful and unsuccessful tennis serves across the elite development pathway

While velocity generation is an obvious prerequisite to proficient tennis serve performance, it is also the only stroke where players are obliged to negotiate a unique target constraint. Therefore, the dearth of research attending to the accuracy component of the serve is surprising. This study compared the body, racquet and ball kinematics characterising successful serves and service faults, missed into the net, in two groups of elite junior female players and one professional female tennis player. Three-dimensional body, racquet and ball kinematics were recorded using a 22-camera VICON motion analysis system. There were no differences in body kinematics between successful serves and service faults, suggesting that service faults cannot be attributed to a single source of biomechanical error. However, service faults missing into the net are characterized by projection angles significantly further below the horizontal, implying that consistency in this end-point parameter is critical to successful performance. Regulation of this parameter appears dependent on compensatory adjustments in the distal elbow and wrist joints immediately prior to impact and also perceptual feedback. Accordingly, coordination of the distal degrees of freedom and a refined perception-action coupling appear more important to success than any isolated mechanical component of the service action.