Aging: a switch from automatic to controlled processing of sounds?

In this article, the authors show that aging differentially affects peoples' ability to automatically and voluntarily process auditory information. Young, middle-aged, and older adults matched behaviorally in an auditory discrimination task showed similar patterns of neural activity indexing the voluntary and conscious detection of deviant (i.e., target) stimuli. In contrast, a negative wave indexing automatic processing (the mismatch negativity) was elicited only in young adults for near-threshold stimuli. These results indicate that aging affects the ability to automatically register small changes in a stream of homogeneous stimuli. However, this age-related decline in automatic detection of small change in the auditor environment can be compensated for by top-down controlled processes.     

Neurophysiological evidence for disturbances of conflict processing in patients with schizophrenia

Deficits in cognition are a hallmark of schizophrenia. In the present study, the authors investigated the effects of schizophrenia on the neural correlates of conflict processing in a single-trial version of the Stroop task by using event-related brain potentials. Relative to matched controls, patients with schizophrenia showed increased Stroop interference in response time, but this effect was eliminated when the effect of response slowing was controlled. In controls, conflict processing was associated with a negative wave peaking between 400 and 500 ms (N450) and conflict sustained potential (SP) peaking between 600 and 800 ms after stimulus onset. In patients with schizophrenia, the amplitude of the N450 was significantly attenuated and the conflict SP was absent. These results provide evidence for the existence of altered neural processes associated with conflict processing that may be associated with dysfunction of the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in patients with schizophrenia.     

Construction and initial validation of the Work Context Inventory

Although the importance of taking the work context into account is now a given when attempting to better understand behavior at work and career development, it is not always effectively considered, and a consensus regarding this context is difficult to reach. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the present study developed the Work Context Inventory, composed of 36 items drawn from analyses of work situations. The inventory describes 9 dimensions related to empowerment, relationships with others at work, and performance requirements. The study discusses this theoretical and empirical model by comparing it with other models that were based on different conceptual and methodological approaches. Finally, we present the practical implications of using this model, such as to support career mobility or skill development.     

Body-esteem, body mass index, and risk for disordered eating among adolescents in synchronized swimming

The aim of this study was to examine dimensions of body-esteem, Body Mass Index, and their relations with eating disorder symptoms among 42 elite adolescent athletes engaged in competitive synchronized swimming (M = 15.4 yr., SD = 1.2) and to compare them with 40 athletes in sports with no emphasis on leanness (M = 16.5 yr., SD = .93), and 50 nonathlete college female students (M = 16.3 yr., SD = 1.1). They completed the Body-esteem Scale and the Eating Attitudes Test, and the Body Mass Index was computed. Analysis showed synchronized swimmers reported greater negative feelings about their appearance than the two other groups and low perceptions of how others evaluate their physical appearance. Participants did not differ on the EAT-26. Regression analyses showed that Body Mass Index and Body-esteem Appearance accounted for 38% of the variance in log-transformed Dieting scores of synchronized swimmers. Results are discussed in relation to the literature.     

Illusory form with inducers of opposite contrast polarity: Evidence for multistage integration

The perception of brightness differences in Ehrenstein figures and of illusory contours in phaseshifted line gratings was investigated as a function of the contrast polarity of the inducing elements. We presented either continuous lines or line-like arrangements composed of aligned dashes or dots whose spacing was varied. Ayes/no procedure was used in which naive observers had to decide whether or not they perceived a brightness difference in a given Ehrenstein figure or an illusory contour in a phase-shifted line grating. The results show that brightness differences are perceived to some extent in Ehrenstein figures with inducers of opposite polarity of contrast; however, the percentage ofyes responses was systematically lower and response times were longer than for figures with inducers of the same polarity. Phase-shifted line gratings with lines of opposite polarity of contrast yielded stronger illusory contours and shorter response times than those with lines of the same polarity. When the sign of contrast was not the same within a given line of induction, neither differences in brightness nor illusory contours were perceived. The results suggest that the mechanisms that lead to apparent differences in brightness are more sensitive to input of the same contrast polarity, the mechanisms generating illusory contours more sensitive to input of opposite polarity. The data are discussed in the light of a multistage approach to illusory form perception and some implications for cortical models of illusory contour integration are discussed.     

On the temporal stability of self-determined work motivation profiles: a latent transition analysis

ABSTRACT

This study extends the research and theory on work motivation by examining temporal stability and change in employees’ self-determined work motivation profiles and their differential relations to various predictors and outcomes. We gathered data at two time points over a 24-month period from a sample of 438 newly registered public health care nurses. Results of latent profile and latent transition analyses revealed four distinct profiles (strongly, moderately, self-determined, and poorly motivated), estimated from the position of global and specific behavioural regulations on the motivation continuum proposed by self-determination theory. These profiles were entirely stable at the within-sample level, although within-person changes in profile membership occurred for 30–40% of employees. Of particular interest, perceptions of job resources were consistently associated with greater likelihood of membership in the strongly and moderately motivated profiles. These profiles were also consistently associated with lower emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave the occupation and the organization and with higher in-role performance compared to the self-determined and poorly motivated profiles.     

Executive functions in kindergarteners with high levels of disruptive behaviours

Executive function (EF) deficits have yet to be demonstrated convincingly in children with disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD), as only a few studies have reported these. The presence of EF weaknesses in children with DBD has often been contested on account of the high comorbidity between DBD and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and of methodological shortcomings regarding EF measures. Against this background, the link between EF and disruptive behaviours in kindergarteners was investigated using a carefully selected battery of EF measures. Three groups of kindergarteners were compared: (1) a group combining high levels of disruptive behaviours and ADHD symptoms (COMB); (2) a group presenting high levels of disruptive/aggressive behaviours and low levels of ADHD symptoms (AGG); and (3) a normative group (NOR). Children in the COMB and AGG groups presented weaker inhibition capacities compared with normative peers. Also, only the COMB group showed weaker working memory capacities compared with the NOR group. Results support the idea that preschool children with DBD have weaker inhibition capacities and that this weakness could be common to both ADHD and DBD.