Ensemble coding of facial identity is not refined by experience: Evidence from other-race and inverted faces

The ability to recognize identity despite within-person variability in appearance is likely a face-specific skill and shaped by experience. Ensemble coding – the automatic extraction of the average of a stimulus array – has been proposed as a mechanism underlying face learning (allowing one to recognize novel instances of a newly learned face). We investigated whether ensemble encoding, like face learning and recognition, is refined by experience by testing participants with upright own-race faces and two categories of faces with which they lacked experience: other-race faces (Experiment 1) and inverted faces (Experiment 2). Participants viewed four images of an unfamiliar identity and then were asked whether a test image of that same identity had been in the study array. Each test image was a matching exemplar (from the array), matching average (the average of the images in the array), non-matching exemplar (a novel image of the same identity), or non-matching average (an average of four different images of the same identity). Adults showed comparable ensemble coding for all three categories (i.e., reported that matching averages had been present more than non-matching averages), providing evidence that this early stage of face learning is not shaped by face-specific experience.     

Commentary on Guild et al. (2020): The Importance of Well-Designed Intervention Studies for Advancing Attachment Theory and its Clinical Applications

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Guild and colleagues (this issue) report results of a long-term follow up after a randomized trial of the effectiveness of an...     

Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the French Version of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS) in Non-Clinical Adults

Behavioral activation (BA) is a well-established empirical treatment for depression that aims to improve depressive mood by increasing activation and reducing avoidance. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate activation and avoidance when a BA treatment is applied. The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS) was developed to measure the changes in activation and avoidance over the course of BA treatment of depression. This study aims to validate the French version of this scale. In a first study, 131 bilingual adults were recruited to explored internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity of the final French version. In a second study, 409 non-clinical adults completed an online survey assessing concurrent measures. Results of the first study suggested good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity. The second study revealed a confirmatory factor analysis supporting the original four-factor structure, with Activation, Avoidance/Rumination, Work/School Impairment, and Social Impairment subscales. Results also revealed that a 5-factor model distinguishing Behavioral Avoidance and Rumination had a better fit than the original four-factor structure. All subscales showed adequate internal consistency and good construct validity with evidence of convergent validity with depressive symptoms, brooding, psychological flexibility, negative automatic thought, behavioral inhibition and activation system. Furthermore, the French BADS total scale and subscales showed a good ability to predict depressive symptoms. The French version of the BADS appears to be a reliable tool for clinician and researchers to assess mechanisms of change in BA interventions.     

Nonsuicidal Self-injury,Suicide Planning,and Suicide Attempts Among High-risk Adolescents Prior to Psychiatric Hospitalization

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - The purpose of this study was to understand the trajectories of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide plans (SP) in the 90 days...     

Military Stressors,Parent-Adolescent Relationship Quality,and Adolescent Adjustment

Elements of military life can create challenges for all family members, including military-connected adolescents, and can have detrimental consequences for their adjustment. Although research with samples of military-connected adolescents has examined the influences of military stressors for adolescent adjustment (e.g., depressive symptoms, anxiety), less research has identified possible mechanisms responsible for these effects, particularly the role of specific familial factors. Drawing from social ecological theory and attachment theory, we examined the associations between military stressors (e.g., parental rank, combat deployments, permanent change of station moves) and self-reported adolescent adjustment (e.g., depressive symptoms, self-efficacy) along with examining adolescents’ perceptions of parent-adolescent relationship quality with both the active duty and civilian parent as a linking mechanism. Using a path analysis, data from 265 Army families were examined to identify the direct and indirect associations between military stressors and adolescent adjustment through parent-adolescent relationship quality. Most military stressors were not significantly related to relationship quality of either parent or indicators of adolescent adjustment. However, parent-adolescent relationship quality with each parent (active duty and civilian parent) was uniquely related to adolescents’ adjustment. Discussion is provided regarding how military stressors and familial factors are conceptualized within the context of military families and implications for future research, family therapy, and policies are suggested.

     

Effects of neonatal treatment with 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-lodophenyl)-2 aminopropane HCI (DOI) and ritanserin on agonistic behavior in adult male and female rats

The role played by the neonatal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) system in the organization and sexual differentiation of adult agonistic behavior was investigated in rats. Focus was on the 5HT2 receptor subtype, which has been demonstrated to be involved in agonism control in the adult. 5HT2 activity was experimentally manipulated by administration of a specific agonist [1-(2, 5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane HCl (DOI)] or antagonist (ritanserin) during the second week of life, when serotonin is known to concur to anatomical and behavioral sexual differentiation. Interactions between early 5HT2 activity, genetic sex, and neonatal circulating testosterone (T) were studied by administering the ligands to males, females, and androgenized females. At adulthood, the animals were tested for both aspects of agonism, i. e., aggression and defense, in a 20-min confrontation with an unfamiliar conspecific of the same sex, age, body weight, and social experience. Neonatal administration of the 5HT2 antagonist ritanserin increased aggression independently of sex; it also increased defense, but this effect was confined to males. The agonist DOI had no effect on aggression, but enhanced defense in males and androgenized females, with an effect which depended therefore more on neonatal T than genetic sex. Females appeared in general less sensitive to neonatal 5HT2 manipulation than both androgenized females and males; this suggests that neonatal T is crucial for experimental modifications of neonatal 5HT2 activity to have any consistent effect on adult agonistic behavior. On the other hand, effects observed in males and androgenized females were dependent on the behavior considered and the drug administered. This was especially evident for defense, enhanced by ritanserin in males only, and in both males and androgenized females by DOI. Neonatal 5HT2 activity seems therefore to play a role in the modulation of adult agonistic behaviors, which depends on the behavior considered and is under multiple control of genetic sex and hormonal neonatal substrate. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Applying the self-determination theory continuum to unhealthy eating: Consequences on well-being and behavioral frequency

The present research applies self-determination theory (SDT) to the context of unhealthy eating. The extent to which each of the six types of motivations stemming from the SDT continuum applies to unhealthy eating is examined, as well as the contribution of each motivation for eating unhealthily in predicting psychological well-being and frequency of unhealthy eating. A three-wave longitudinal study (N = 379) was conducted before, during, and after the Christmas holidays. Results demonstrated that three types of motivations (i.e., identified, introjected, and external regulation) for unhealthy eating fluctuated over time and peaked during the holidays, a time when unhealthy eating becomes especially salient in Western societies. However, amotivation for unhealthy eating reached its lowest level during the holidays. While identified regulation was associated with greater well-being, introjected regulation, and amotivation for unhealthy eating were linked with lower well-being. Integrated regulation was associated with lower well-being only before and after the holiday period. Finally, the integrated, introjected, external regulations, and amotivation were linked to higher frequency of unhealthy eating. These results confirm that each type of motivation presents distinct patterns of associations with well-being and actual behavior. Results also demonstrate that the social context in which eating takes place can have an impact on the relationship between motivations and well-being as well as behavior.     

Relative effects of breastfeeding intention and practice on maternal responsiveness

Our objective was to examine the differential effects of antenatal breastfeeding intention (BI) and breastfeeding practice (BP) on maternal postnatal responsiveness. We conducted a secondary analysis of longitudinal data from a subsample of 962 mother–infant dyads from a U.K.-based birth cohort study the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Exposures were BI and BPs measured at 32 weeks of gestation and 18 months’ postpartum. The outcome was maternal responsiveness assessed at 12 months’ postpartum. We used logistic regression analyses unadjusted and adjusted for confounders. Intention to breastfeed was associated with increased odds of postnatal maternal responsiveness independent of BP, adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 2.34, 95% CI [1.42, 3.86]. There was no evidence that BP was an independent predictor of maternal responsiveness, OR = 0.93, 95% CI [0.55, 1.57]. Life-course epidemiology analyses demonstrated that maternal responsiveness is most positive when both BI and BP are present. This is the first population-based study to provide evidence that BI during pregnancy is more strongly associated with maternal postnatal responsiveness than is BP. Further research is needed to understand the determinants of BI in pregnancy and its relationships with maternal responsiveness.