The time course of visual influences in letter recognition

This study builds on a specific characteristic of letters of the Roman alphabet—namely, that each letter name is associated with two visual formats, corresponding to their uppercase and lowercase versions. Participants had to read aloud the names of single letters, and event-related potentials (ERPs) for six pairs of visually dissimilar upper- and lowercase letters were recorded. Assuming that the end product of processing is the same for upper- and lowercase letters sharing the same vocal response, ERPs were compared backward, starting from the onset of articulatory responses, and the first significant divergence was observed 120 ms before response onset. Given that naming responses were produced at around 414 ms, on average, these results suggest that letter processing is influenced by visual information until 294 ms after stimulus onset. This therefore provides new empirical evidence regarding the time course and interactive nature of visual letter perception processes.     

Belief in a zero-sum game and subjective well-being across 35 countries

Current Psychology - This article presents a short research report on the relationship between perceived antagonism in social relations measured using the Belief in a Zero-Sum Game (BZSG) scale,...     

Christian Counselors and Affirmative Counseling of Lesbian and Gay Clients

In this phenomenological study, we interviewed 12 counselors who identified as both religious and able to provide ethical and competent counseling to lesbian and gay clients. Participants discussed their lived experiences providing counseling. Our analysis revealed three primary themes: seeking congruence, responding to lesbian and gay clients, and cultivating competency. We discuss these findings and identify implications for counselor training and practice.     

Examining the Reliability of Various Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory (IPARTheory) Measures in Vietnamese Adolescents

Abstract

Perceiving one’s self as accepted by important others, such as parents, is fundamental and crucial for the well-being of each individual. One major aspect of interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory (IPARTheory) is examining how parental acceptance-rejection affects people’s psychological adjustment. This theory has been validated in many countries and cultural groups around the world, but has not been utilized in the Vietnamese context. This research aims to assess the reliability of IPARTheory measures in Vietnam and applicability of the theory itself among a Vietnamese sample. Participants included 162 students from a high school in Hanoi (M_age = 15.58 years; 69.8% female). Materials consisted of Vietnamese versions of various IPARTheory measures: Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, Personality Assessment Questionnaire, Interpersonal Relationship Anxiety Questionnaire, and a demographics form designed specifically for this research. Analyses show that psychological maladjustment significantly correlated with perceived paternal rejection, maternal rejection, and their subscales. Cronbach’s alphas were strong, ranging from .73 to .97, except for the dependency subscale and hostility subscale of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire. Thus, the results provide evidence for the reliability of various IPARTheory measures in Vietnam. The relationships found in this study have implications for parents, teachers, and psychologists to employ in order to provide adolescents with appropriate guidance and intervention based on the importance of perceived parental acceptance-rejection.     

Variants of Psychopathic Traits Follow Distinct Trajectories of Clinical Features Among Children with Conduct Problems

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Original definitions of psychopathy suggest the existence of two variants that present with distinct clinical features among antisocial adults,...     

A Voxel-based lesion study on facial emotion recognition after circumscribed prefrontal cortex damage

Previous studies have shown inconsistent findings regarding the contribution of the different prefrontal regions in emotion recognition. Moreover, the hemispheric lateralization hypothesis posits that the right hemisphere is dominant for processing all emotions regardless of affective valence, whereas the valence specificity hypothesis posits that the left hemisphere is specialized for processing positive emotions while the right hemisphere is specialized for negative emotions. However, recent findings suggest that the evidence for such lateralization has been less consistent. In this study, we investigated emotion recognition of fear, surprise, happiness, sadness, disgust, and anger in 30 patients with focal prefrontal cortex lesions and 30 control subjects. We also examined the impact of lesion laterality on recognition of the six basic emotions. The results showed that compared to control subjects, the frontal subgroups were impaired in recognition of three negative basic emotions of fear, sadness, and anger – regardless of the lesion laterality. Therefore, our findings did not establish that each hemisphere is specialized for processing specific emotions. Moreover, the voxel-based lesion symptom mapping analysis showed that recognition of fear, sadness, and anger draws on a partially common bilaterally distributed prefrontal network.