Sweep-induced acceleration in loudness change and the “bias for rising intensities”

A pure tone changing continuously in intensity shows sweep-induced fading (SIF) of loudness as intensity sweeps down and may show a lesser degree of sweep-induced enhancement (SIE) as intensity sweeps up (Canévet & Scharf, 1990); the former effect has been calleddecruitment, the latterupcruitment. An opposite effect—upsweeps being judged to show more loudness change than downsweeps—has been reported by Neuhoff (1998). These disparate results might stem from several procedural differences. We found that differences in the sweep’s duration and intensity level did not account for the disparity, nor did the presence of a steady tone preceding the sweep. In a second experiment, direct judgments of sweep size, such as those Neuhoff’s (1998) listeners made, were affected not only by sweep size itself, but also by the intensity at the end of the sweep. The latter effect was especially marked for upsweeps. Neuhoff’s (1998) proposed “bias for rising intensities” was found only with a method for judging sweep size that is more sensitive to end level than to sweep size.     

Scale of expectations of control and responsibility: adaptation to the Spanish language and its relation to personal initiative

Personal initiative, understood as a proactive behaviour, self-initiated, persistent and pro-organization, is indispensable in contemporary organizations immersed in an environment of rapid and complex changes and innovations. In this work, one of the antecedents of personal initiative in the work setting is analyzed: the expectations or hopes of control and responsibility. We studied the adaptation to Spanish of the Scale of Expectations of Control and Responsibility of Frese and colleagues, using two cross-sectional samples (n=414 and 396, respectively). We performed exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses that positively replicate the factor structure of the original scale. The relation of the expectations of control with personal initiative is confirmed, as suggested in the general model of antecedents and consequences of personal initiative. Likewise, the study confirms that control can be considered an antecedent of expectations of control and responsibility.     

Validation and adaptation of the PACES scale of enjoyment of the practice of physical activity for Spanish adolescent girls

The goal of this study is to validate a Spanish version of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES, Kendzierski & DeCarlo, 1991), in the population of Spanish adolescent girls, and also to obtain a reduced version of the scale. For this purpose, reliability analysis was conducted, and construct validity was assessed in two steps: exploratory factor analysis and structural equation model with confirmatory factor analysis. The scale was administered to a sample of 2777 adolescent girls of Secondary Education, ages between 12-18 years. The results show the reliability of the instrument and the construct validity with a good fit of the model. The adapted scale was reduced to six items, a shorter and efficient scale that allows us to measure the enjoyment of physical activity.     

Sweetheart, you really make me happy: romantic relationship quality and personality as predictors of happiness among emerging adults

Two studies investigated the predictive ability of romantic relationship quality in happiness above and beyond the influence of personality (Big Five) among emerging adults. Study 1 (n = 221) showed that global romantic relationship quality accounted for 3% of the variance in happiness while controlling for personality. Study 2 (n = 187) replicated this finding by assessing happiness and relationship quality with different scales. Second study also extended the first study in two ways. First, emotional security and companionship emerged as the strongest features of romantic relationship quality that predicted happiness. Second, identity formation moderated the relationship between relationship quality and happiness such that emerging adults were happier when they experienced high quality relationships at high levels of identity formation. Findings across the two studies were discussed in the light of the literature and suggestions for future research were made.     

社会网络分析在心理研究中的应用

个体不是孤立存在的, 其心理与行为的变化常依赖于与他人存在的关系。社会网络分析正是考虑到了这种依赖性, 发展出相应的处理关系变量的方法。在介绍社会网络理论的中心思想、社会网络分析的基本概念、数据表示方法和研究方法以及在个体水平和关系水平上的静态统计模型后, 使用UCINET软件展现了处理关系数据的基本步骤, 并简述社会网络分析在人格心理学、发展与教育心理学和管理心理学中的应用。     

心理复原的机制：来自特质性复原力个体的证据

心理复原(力)是指个体在经历对生命具有威胁的事件或严重的创伤后仍然能回复到良好适应状况的心理发展现象。基于能力取向的文献表明, 积极情绪性、情绪调节是特质性复原力机制研究的重要内容; 脑岛和前额叶(特别是vmPFC和OFC)是其敏感的脑区; 作用于杏仁核脑区的5-羟色胺转运蛋白与特质性复原力密切相关。基于这些研究结果, 提出积极情绪与(自动、有意)情绪调节交互作用的双重加工理论和根据实际需要调节情绪的情绪灵活性理论。未来的研究应该就情绪记忆、人格特质等在心理复原中的作用进行探讨。     

Juries,Gender, and Assault Weapons1

Firearms appearance can have psychological import in legal proceedings by keying aggressive ideations, impacting sentencing and gender‐based attributions. We presented mock jurors with a homeowner's defensive gun use. Reasonable arguments were for shooting or not in the scenario by the defendant. The firearm varied in type. Assault rifle use led to harsher legal outcomes than did other firearms. A female defendant was at more risk than a male. In the last experiment, a police shooting scenario was tested. In that case, the male officer was at more risk than the female officer when wielding the assault rifle. Weapons and gender interactions were, for the most part, congruent with social cognitive theories of attribution and weapons priming of aggressive ideation.     

Detection of P300 waves in single trials by the wavelet transform (WT)

The P300 response is conventionally obtained by averaging the responses to the task-relevant (target) stimuli of the oddball paradigm. However, it is well known that cognitive ERP components show a high variability due to changes of cognitive state during an experimental session. With simple tasks such changes may not be demonstrable by the conventional method of averaging the sweeps chosen according to task-relevance. Therefore, the present work employed a response-based classification procedure to choose the trials containing the P300 component from the whole set of sweeps of an auditory oddball paradigm. For this purpose, the most significant response property reflecting the P300 wave was identified by using the wavelet transform (WT). The application of a 5 octave quadratic B-spline-WT on single sweeps yielded discrete coefficients in each octave with an appropriate time resolution for each frequency range. The main feature indicating a P300 response was the positivity of the 4th delta (0.5-4 Hz) coefficient (310-430 ms) after stimulus onset. The average of selected single sweeps from the whole set of data according to this criterion yielded more enhanced P300 waves compared with the average of the target responses, and the average of the remaining sweeps showed a significantly smaller positivity in the P300 latency range compared with the average of the non-target responses. The combination of sweeps classified according to the task-based and response-based criteria differed significantly. This suggests an influence of changes in cognitive state on the presence of the P300 wave which cannot be assessed by task performance alone.     

Schizotypy and verbal memory in the adolescent general population

The following study examines the relationship between verbal memory deficits and schizotypal traits measured psychometrically from a non- clinical adolescent population. In this transversal analytical study participated 139 subjects. They were secondary school students, with ages ranging from 13 to 16 years old (mean= 14, 35; Sta.Dev.= 0, 548). After administrating the scales O-LIFE (psychometrical schizotypy), CVLT (verbal memory), and Letters and Numbers subtest of WAIS-III (working memory), data was analyzed utilizing Pearson correlations and mean comparison test. Results showed lack of relations between schizotypy measures and working memory. Nonetheless, some of the O-LIFE dimensions correlated with verbal memory. These findings support partly the literature reviewed. Yet, more work focused on schizotypy and cognitive deficits as risk factors are suggested.     

Sweep-induced acceleration in loudness change and the "bias for rising intensities"

A pure tone changing continuously in intensity shows sweep-induced fading (SIF) of loudness as intensity sweeps down and may show a lesser degree of sweep-induced enhancement (SIE) as intensity sweeps up (Canévet & Scharf, 1990); the former effect has been called decruitment, the latter upcruitment. An opposite effect-upsweeps being judged to show more loudness change than downsweeps--has been reported by Neuhoff (1998). These disparate results might stem from several procedural differences. We found that differences in the sweep's duration and intensity level did not account for the disparity, nor did the presence of a steady tone preceding the sweep. In a second experiment, direct judgments of sweep size, such as those Neuhoff's (1998) listeners made, were affected not only by sweep size itself, but also by the intensity at the end of the sweep. The latter effect was especially marked for upsweeps. Neuhoffs (1998) proposed "bias for rising intensities" was found only with a method for judging sweep size that is more sensitive to end level than to sweep size.