The nature of hemispheric specialization for prosody perception

Recent evidence suggests a relative right-hemispheric specialization for emotional prosody perception, whereas linguistic prosody perception is under bilateral control. It is still unknown, however, how the hemispheric specialization for prosody perception might arise. Two main hypotheses have been put forward. Cue-dependent hypotheses, on the one hand, propose that hemispheric specialization is driven by specialization for the non-prosody-specific processing of acoustic cues. The functional lateralization hypothesis, on the other hand, proposes that hemispheric specialization is dependent on the communicative function of prosody, with emotional and linguistic prosody processing being lateralized to the right and left hemispheres, respectively. In the present study, the functional lateralization hypothesis of prosody perception was systematically tested by instructing one group of participants to evaluate the emotional prosody, and another group the linguistic prosody dimension of bidimensional prosodic stimuli in a dichotic-listening paradigm, while event-related potentials were recorded. The results showed that the right-ear advantage was associated with decreased latencies for an early negativity in the contralateral hemisphere. No evidence was found for functional lateralization. These findings suggest that functional lateralization effects for prosody perception are small and support the structural model of dichotic listening.     

Performing DISCO-SCA to search for distinctive and common information in linked data

Behavioral researchers often obtain information about the same set of entities from different sources. A main challenge in the analysis of such data is to reveal, on the one hand, the mechanisms underlying all of the data blocks under study and, on the other hand, the mechanisms underlying a single data block or a few such blocks only (i.e., common and distinctive mechanisms, respectively). A method called DISCO-SCA has been proposed by which such mechanisms can be found. The goal of this article is to make the DISCO-SCA method more accessible, in particular for applied researchers. To this end, first we will illustrate the different steps in a DISCO-SCA analysis, with data stemming from the domain of psychiatric diagnosis. Second, we will present in this article the DISCO-SCA graphical user interface (GUI). The main benefits of the DISCO-SCA GUI are that it is easy to use, strongly facilitates the choice of model selection parameters (such as the number of mechanisms and their status as being common or distinctive), and is freely available.     

Phonological similarity effects in simple and complex span tasks

Three experiments were conducted to examine the effect of phonological similarity in simple and complex memory span tasks. In Experiment 1, participants performed either a simple or a complex span task, and the memoranda within lists were either phonologically similar or distinct. Phonologically similar lists consisted of words that rhymed.The simple span task was word span. There were two complex span tasks; one was the original reading span task, and the other was a variant of reading span in which all the sentences within a list were contextually related. The classic phonological similarity decrement was observed in word span. In contrast, phonological similarity facilitation was observed in both versions of reading span. This facilitation effect was further investigated in Experiment 2 using two new versions of reading span. In Experiment 2, the sentences in reading span were either short or long, and the memoranda were presented separately from, and were unrelated to, the sentences. Again, words within phonologically similar lists rhymed, and again, facilitation was observed. In Experiment 3, phonological similarity was operationalized in terms of feature overlap, rather than rhyme. The classic phonological similarity decrement was still observed in word span, but facilitation was not observed in complex span. The results suggest that phonological similarity, when operationalized using words that rhyme, serves as a list retrieval cue and that complex span tasks are more dependent on cue-driven memory retrieval mechanisms than are simple span tasks.     

Boredom proneness,political orientation and adherence to social-distancing in the pandemic

Motivation and Emotion - Research recently showed that boredom proneness was associated with increased social distancing rule-breaking in a sample collected early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we...     

Maternal distress in the context of their child’s type 1 diabetes: exploring the role of adaptive maternal emotion regulation on child outcomes

Parents of children with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) experience high levels of distress, which may negatively impact child functioning. However, little is known about mechanisms that may buffer the adverse impact of parental distress. The current study explored the possible buffering role of maternal adaptive cognitive emotion regulation (CER) for the relationship between maternal distress and child psychological functioning. Forty-three children with T1D (8–15 years) completed measures assessing trait anxiety and depressive symptoms. Their mothers reported on general distress, illness-related parenting stress, and adaptive CER. Maternal illness-related parenting stress (but not general distress) was significantly associated with child psychological functioning. No buffering role for maternal adaptive CER was observed. As the current study is rather preliminary, future research using other methods to examine maternal adaptive CER, and examining other parental variables that may buffer against the negative impact of parental distress is warranted.     

Gut interpretations: how difficulties in emotion regulation may help explain the relation of visceral sensitivity with depression and anxiety among young adults with gastrointestinal symptoms

It is widely recognized that abdominal pain and discomfort are common problems in the United States and are often associated with negative quality of life. The prevalence of anxiety/depression elevations and disorders among persons with gastrointestinal disturbances (GI) is estimated to be at least two to three times the rate in the general population. Visceral sensitivity reflects anxiety about GI sensations and its accompanying contexts and often leads to worsening of sensations (e.g. bloating, upset stomach, diarrhea). Among individuals with GI symptoms, visceral sensitivity may be associated with interpreting common sensations as catastrophic which may be related to greater difficulties with emotion dysregulation (e.g. severe anxiety and depression). The current study evaluated the indirect association of visceral sensitivity via emotion dysregulation in relation to depression, anxious arousal, and social anxiety symptoms among 344 young adults with a current history of GI symptoms and problems. Results indicated an indirect effect of visceral sensitivity via emotion dysregulation. These findings provide novel empirical support for the association of visceral sensitivity with emotional distress symptoms among young adults with GI symptoms. Based on the results, targeting emotion dysregulation may be a promising health promotion tactic among young adults with GI symptoms and disorders.