Movement-produced feedback as a mechanism for the temporal anticipation of motor responses

That part of the input hypothesis of motor timing behavior which postulates that movement-produced feedback can serve as a mechanism for the temporal anticipation of motor responses was tested. 32 male college Ss temporally anticipated (no preview) the coincidence of a moving pointer with a stationary one and executed the timing response with his right hand while either a high (HFB) or low (LFB) level of movement-produced feedback was indirectly manipulated in the left arm. The HFB group temporally anticipated with greater accuracy than the LFB group which supported that part of the input hypothesis being tested. Apparently, Ss were relying on proprioceptive feedback about the position of their left arm movement to cue the timing response of their right hand.     

Discrepancy in Personality Perceptions Is Related to Relationship Satisfaction: Findings from Dyadic Latent Discrepancy Analyses

The current study investigated discrepancies in self‐, partner‐, and meta‐perceptions of the Big Five traits and their associations with relationship satisfaction in intimate couples. The study was based on a subsample of the Swiss study “Co‐Development in Personality: Longitudinal Approaches to Personality Development in Dyads Across the Life Span” (CoDiP) including cross‐sectional data of 216 heterosexual couples. We adapted the Latent Congruence Model (LCM) for the study of discrepancies in personality perceptions in dyads. Beyond personality trait levels, the discrepancies between self‐ and partner‐perceptions and between partner‐ and meta‐perceptions of the Big Five traits were related to relationship satisfaction as actor and partner effects. In general, flattering and favorable partner‐perceptions in relation to self‐ and meta‐perceptions seem to positively contribute to relationship satisfaction. The present study implies that not only personality trait levels but also discrepancies between personality perceptions are important for understanding relationship satisfaction.     

Emotion Regulation in Relation to Emerging Adults’ Mental Health and Delinquency: A Multi-informant Approach

Relative to the merits of authoritative parenting, potential adverse outcomes are well documented for authoritarian and permissive parenting. However, conclusions are typically drawn from single informants. The ability of youths’ emotion regulation skills to mediate outcomes in emerging adults has also not been fully explored. This study investigated whether emotion regulation mediated parenting style history and potential outcomes of mental health and delinquency. Parenting style history and emerging adults’ emotion regulation ability were reported by 110 youth and their caregivers; youth reported on mental health functioning and delinquency. Emerging adults’ emotion regulation ability partially mediated the association between authoritative parenting history and mental health functioning and authoritative parenting history was indirectly related to delinquency through emotion regulation; however, based on all reporters, emotion regulation ability was not associated with authoritarian or permissive parenting style history. Results support that the merits of authoritative parenting may lie in fostering better emotion regulation skills.     

Psychometric Properties of the Power of Food Scale in a Community Sample of Preadolescents and Adolescents

The Power of Food Scale (PFS) was developed to assess hedonic hunger, or how individuals think and feel about food and eating in the absence of metabolic need. The measure was originally developed and validated in two adult samples, and recent preliminary support has been provided for the validity in a sample of preadolescents. The aim of the current study was to conduct a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the PFS in a community sample of preadolescents and adolescents to examine the psychometric properties in youth. Participants were 148 youth ages 11–18 (M = 12.85) from two Midwestern communities in the United States. Participants completed the PFS to assess for hedonic hunger. Structural equation modeling was used to conduct multiple CFAs to test varying factor structures of the PFS in preadolescents and adolescents. Results suggested that the scale was best represented by the previously established 15-item version of the measure with an aggregate domain and three subscales based on food proximity (i.e., food available, food present, and food tasted). Results from the CFA revealed that the measurement model had a close fit (RMSEA = 0.033, CFI = 0.985). Cronbach’s α for the total scale and the three subscales ranged from 0.86 to 0.95. Findings suggest that the previously established factor structure of the 15-item PFS best represents the factor structure of the measure in a community sample of preadolescents and adolescents.     

LearningRx Cognitive Training Effects in Children Ages 8–14: A Randomized Controlled Trial

In a randomized controlled study, we examined the effects of a one‐on‐one cognitive training program on memory, visual and auditory processing, processing speed, reasoning, attention, and General Intellectual Ability (GIA) score for students ages 8–14. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group to complete 60 h of cognitive training or to a wait‐list control group. The purpose of the study was to examine changes in multiple cognitive skills after completing cognitive training with ThinkRx, a LearningRx program. Results showed statistically significant differences between groups on all outcome measures except for attention. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are examined. © 2016 The Authors Applied Cognitive Psychology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

The positive contributions of hope to maintaining and restoring health: An integrative,mixed-method approach

A link between hope and physical well-being has long been suspected. To shed further light on this issue, an integrative theory of hope was used to design three health-related studies. In studies one and two, an integrative hope scale was used. In study one, greater hope was associated with depth of commitment to a healthier diet and regular exercise. In study two, the integrative hope scale was associated with a wider array of health behaviors as compared to a standard goal-oriented hope scale. In study three, a hope-centered content analysis of testimonies provided by long-term breast cancer survivors revealed a strong reliance on attachment and spirituality, dimensions typically neglected in psychological studies of this [hope] construct. An integrative approach to hope offers a framework for further research on hope and health as well as a blueprint for developing positive interventions to sustain and restore physical well-being.     

Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group

Bullying was investigated as a group process, a social phenomenon taking place in a school setting among 573 Finnish sixth-grade children (286 girls, 287 boys) aged 12–13 years. Different Participant Roles taken by individual children in the bullying process were examined and related to a) self-estimated behavior in bullying situations, b) social acceptance and social rejection, and c) belongingness to one of the five sociometric status groups (popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, and average). The Participant Roles assigned to the subject were Victim, Bully, Reinforcer of the bully, Assistant of the bully, Defender of the victim, and Outsider. There were significant sex differences in the distribution of Participant Roles. Boys were more frequently in the roles of Bully, Reinforcer and Assistant, while the most frequent roles of the girls were those of Defender and Outsider. The subjects were moderately well aware of their Participant Roles, although they underestimated their participation in active bullying behavior and emphasized that they acted as Defenders and Outsiders. The sociometric status of the children was found to be connected to their Participant Roles. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Taking Time to Incubate: The Moderating Role of ‘What You Do’ and ‘When You Do It’ on Creative Performance

We explore how the choices available to individuals planning multi‐task work can facilitate the incubation of ideas and enhance creative performance. Using opportunistic assimilation theory, we hypothesize that two considerations can determine the effectiveness of incubation and creative performance. First, we argue that having the discretion to switch tasks when needed, as well as the timing of this discretionary switch between tasks (i.e., earlier versus later in the work process on the main task) is important. Second, the scope of the intervening task (i.e., in the same knowledge domain as the main task versus in a different domain) can lead to more effective incubation and creativity. Results of a laboratory study indicate that participants who made a discretionary switch to an intervening task later in their work process on the main task benefited significantly more in terms of creative performance than those who chose to switch earlier in their work process or chose not to switch tasks. Additionally, participants who worked on an in‐domain intervening task exhibited significantly higher creativity on the main task than those who worked on an out‐of‐domain intervening task. Furthermore, focus of attention on the main task partially mediated these results.