Sit Still and Pay Attention?

Sitting still while trying to pay attention implicitly reinforces the idea that to pay attention one should focus on a single aspect of the stimulus. Movement encourages attending to different aspects of the stimulus and as such is hypothesized to increase attention. We tested this with students from a traditional and a nontraditional school. Students were asked to observe and recall landmarks on a map. Students from the traditional school who viewed the map from multiple perspectives remembered more landmarks and locations than students who viewed the map from a single perspective. Students from a nontraditional school who are accustomed to movement while learning, did not show this effect. The experiment is discussed in terms of mindfulness theory.     

Investigative psychology and law: towards collaboration by focusing on evidence and inferential reasoning

Introducing a special issue of this journal, Youngs discussed the desirability of, but problems in realising, greater collaboration between psychology and the criminal investigation and trial processes. This paper acknowledges the value of investigative psychology's potential contribution but argues that the alleged incompatibilities, between psychology and law, are based upon too narrow a conception of law and legal action. A direct approach, with considerable potential for productive, principled, and practical research, already exists. It involves focusing on the evidence, assessing it along each of its three credentials, and identifying the nature of the inferential reasoning involved. This paper identifies a number of ways in which practical, inter‐disciplinary and collaboration could and should be developed to ensure that the courts receive quality evidence. It also argues that more attention should be paid to abductive inferential reasoning, both by researchers and courts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do I want to know? How the motivation to acquire relationship-threatening information in groups contributes to paranoid thought,suspicion behavior,and social rejection

We investigated the psychological and social consequences associated with individuals’ motivation to search for information about whether they have been indirectly harmed by members of their group. Consistent with a motivated social cognition perspective, group members who were either chronically (Study 1a) or temporally (Study 1b) high in the motivation to acquire relationship-threatening information (MARTI) made more sinister attributions in ambiguous situations and entertained more paranoid cognitions about their coworkers. Moreover, paranoid cognitions about coworkers mediated the relationship between MARTI and suspicion behaviors toward coworkers (Study 2). Consistent with a social interactionist perspective, others chose to exclude prospective group members who were high in MARTI from joining the group and planned to reject them if they became group members (Study 3). Others’ social rejection of the focal group member was predicted by their anger toward group members who were high in MARTI (Study 4).     

Effector dynamics of rhythmic wrist activity and its implications for (modeling) bimanual coordination

To examine the role of the effector dynamics of the wrist in the production of rhythmic motor activity, we estimated the phase shifts between the EMG and the task-related output for a rhythmic isometric torque production task and an oscillatory movement, and found a substantial difference (45-52 degrees) between the two. For both tasks, the relation between EMG and task-related output (torque or displacement) was adequately reproduced with a physiologically motivated musculoskeletal model. The model simulations demonstrated the importance of the contribution of passive structures to the overall dynamics and provided an account for the observed phase shifts in the dynamic task. Additional simulations of the musculoskeletal model with added load suggested that particular changes in the phase relation between EMG and movement may follow largely from the intrinsic muscle dynamics, rather than being the result of adaptations in the neural control of joint stiffness. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to (models of) interlimb coordination in rhythmic tasks.     

Rapid picture presentation and affective engagement

Emotional reactions were assessed to pictorial stimuli presented in a continuous stream at rapid speeds that compromise conceptual memory and the processing of specific picture content. Blocks of unpleasant, neutral, or pleasant pictures were presented at the rate of either three pictures per second or seven pictures per second. Even with rapid presentation rates, startle reflexes, corrugator muscle activity, and skin conductance responses were heightened when viewing unpleasant pictures. These effects were stronger later in the aversive block, suggesting that cumulative exposure increasingly activates the defense system. The findings suggest that, despite conceptual masking inherent in rapid serial visual presentation, affective pictures prompt measurable emotional engagement.     

Coordination and movement pathology: models of structure and function

Here we consider the role of abstract models in advancing our understanding of movement pathology. Models of movement coordination and control provide the frameworks necessary for the design and interpretation of studies of acquired and developmental disorders. These models do not however provide the resolution necessary to reveal the nature of the functional impairments that characterise specific movement pathologies. In addition, they do not provide a mapping between the structural bases of various pathologies and the associated disorders of movement. Current and prospective approaches to the study and treatment of movement disorders are discussed. It is argued that the appreciation of structure–function relationships, to which these approaches give rise, represents a challenge to current models of interlimb coordination, and a stimulus for their continued development.