An unobtrusive measurement method of the horizontal gaze angle

A horizontal gaze angle measurement device is introduced. By combining a photoelectric viewing device to measure the horizontal eye angle with a similar head angle measurement device, it is possible to measure the horizontal gaze angle without using a headrest. After discussion of circuit diagrams and measurement principles, it is shown that the measurements made with the device yield a reasonable precision. The mean absolute measurement error is below 1°. This inexpensive and unobtrusive device covers a visual field of about 20° and can be used in parallel with many tasks. Further, data on the successful application of the device in a driving simulation setting are discussed.     

The effects of colour and valence on news evaluation

Research across different fields of psychology has reported effects of colour cues on a variety of cognitive processes. Especially, the colour red has been shown to have striking influences. In the context of media reception, however, colour effects have been widely neglected so far. This study made a first step in this direction by investigating the effects of the colour red (compared with blue and grey) on the way news articles are evaluated. Two types of news were framed by a coloured border while the valence of the news content additionally varied. Based on 369 participants who read and evaluated the news articles online, we observed effects for colour cues and news valence in the absence of an interaction effect, indicating that the colour red induced approach motivation. However, only the contrast between red and grey reached statistical significance, indicating that chromatic and achromatic colours may differ in their perceived visual saliency. Overall, these results provide an important complement to previous studies and have practical implications for media researchers and producers.     

Do Construal Levels Affect Athletes’ Imagery and Performance Outcomes? It Depends on the Task!

We investigated the hypothesis that an interaction of construal levels and task types would improve performance outcomes, mediated by imagery abstraction levels. In a pilot study (N = 30; table tennis rallies, jumps, throws) and a main study (N = 32; badminton rallies, soccer penalties), athletes performed tasks after receiving high or low construal frames, with an imagery recall completed in the main study. Table tennis and badminton players won more rallies in low construal conditions; track athletes and soccer penalties had higher success rates in high construal conditions. Frames impacted self-reported imagery, but abstraction levels of imagery did not affect outcomes.     

Supervision in der psychotherapeutischen Ausbildung in Deutschland

One of the functions of supervision in psychotherapy training is quality assurance. In order to fulfill this function the quality of supervision itself needs to be high and needs to be controlled. Thus in a large survey of psychotherapy training in Germany questions related to the quality of supervision were included in the survey. Answers to those questions from different samples (trainees, alumni, trainers, training institutes, expert organizations) were compiled. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Satisfaction and usefulness ratings with individual and group supervision were high to very high. Supervision amount, group size and frequency were rated as adequate. Criticism pertained to the lack of systematic evaluation, insufficient qualification of the supervisors and lacking integration of supervision into the whole training. As supervision is a very important part of psychotherapy training measures for quality assurance and improvement are necessary.     

Der Exzess einer Tugend

Querulous behavior and querulous paranoia are seldom in forensic settings, but produce major problems because of the chronicity and severity of the disorders. Aspects of psychopathology and differential diagnosis are discussed, especially characteristics of volition, of cognition and of behavior control. Regarding criminal responsibility the capacity of understanding the wrongfulness of behavior will usually not be severely impaired. In cases of strong deformation of personality structure with transition into paranoid disorder the capacity for behavior control may be significantly diminished. Irresponsibility will only occur in the rare cases of psychotic disorders. Because of a poor prognosis detention in forensic hospitals may be necessary when threats and manifest aggressive behavior occur.     

Zusammenhang zwischen Art der strafbaren Handlung und Suizid in Haftanstalten der USA

Does the nature of the criminal charge or conviction influence whether a jail or prison inmate will take his life? In the United States several nationwide surveys provide relevant information for answering this question. Studies of jail suicides in 1979, 1985 and 1986 respectively indicated that most inmates who committed suicide were charged with nonviolent offenses including drug related or minor offenses. In more recent national surveys the rate of suicide among jail inmates charged with violent offenses was triple that for those charged with nonviolent offenses. Offenses with the highest rates of suicide were kidnapping, rape and homicide. In prisons, where the rate of suicide is much lower than in jails, the rate of suicide for violent prisoners was twice that for nonviolent prisoners. Violent offenses with the highest rates of suicide in prisons included kidnapping, homicide, sexual assault and assault. Discussion addresses the discrepant results between the early surveys of jail suicides and the more recent surveys of suicides in jails and prisons. Further explored are possible explanations for the earlier predominance of nonviolent offenses among suicide victims, the recently elevated rates among violent offenses, and the elevated rates among specific criminal offenses. Commentary is also given to the practical implications of these findings.     

Characterizing the motivational orientation of students in higher education: A naturalistic study in three Hong Kong universities

Background . Consideration of motivation in higher education has often been drawn upon theories and research that were based upon school or workplace studies. Aims . This paper reports an open naturalistic study to better characterize the motivational orientation of students in higher education. Method . Open semi‐structured individual interviews were conducted with 36 students from three universities in Hong Kong. The analysis used an exploratory grounded theory approach. Results . Motivation was characterized as a framework with six continua with positive and negative poles. On enrolment, students had positions on the six facets of motivation, which shifted as they progressed through their degree, according to perceptions of their teaching and learning environment. The positive poles of the six continua were given labels: compliance, individual goal setting, interest, career, sense of belonging and university lifestyle. Conclusion . The formulation of motivational orientation is consistent with contemporary social cognitive theories of motivation in that it has been characterized as a multifaceted phenomenon, with students expressing context‐dependent multiple motives.     

OGAMA (Open Gaze and Mouse Analyzer): Open-source software designed to analyze eye and mouse movements in slideshow study designs

In the present article, a new software is introduced that allows the recording and analyzing of eye- and mouse-tracking data from slideshow-based experiments in parallel. The Open Gaze and Mouse Analyzer (OGAMA) is written in C#.NET and has been released as an open-source project. Its main features include slide-show design, the recording of gaze and mouse data, database-driven preprocessing and filtering of gaze and mouse data, the creation of attention maps, areas-of-interest definition, and replay. Eyetracking and/or presentation soft- and hardware recordings in ASCII format can be imported. Data output is provided that can be used directly with different statistical software packages. Because it is open source, one can easily adapt it to suit one’s needs.