Subliminal priming and effects of hand dominance

In the masked priming paradigm, motor responses to targets are influenced by previously presented subliminal primes, and are guided by facilitatory and inhibitory mechanisms that depend on prime-target compatibility/duration. In this study, we evaluate subliminal-driven priming in right- and left-handers during unimanual as well as bimanual tasks. The data from the unimanual tasks confirmed that prime-target compatibility affects performance as a function of prime-target duration. In a bimanual setting, the preferred hand benefitted from facilitation in both handedness groups whereas the non-preferred hand showed a positive priming effect only in left-handers. This denotes that left-handers are more susceptible to response activation of either hand. In addition, inhibitory priming had a stronger effect on the non-preferred than preferred hand, independent of handedness group. Overall, the findings suggest that subliminal-driven mechanisms that assist adaptive motor behavior are sensitive not only to extrinsic (task-related) factors such as prime-target compatibility but also to intrinsic (performer-related) factors such as hand dominance. The data further provide support for handedness-specific effects in motor functions and underline a significant role of hand dominance in the control of bimanual actions.     

The perceptual span during foveally-demanding visual target localization

Foveally-induced processing load deteriorates target localization performance in vision-guided tasks. Here, participants searched for a target embedded among coded distractors. High processing load was effected by instructing some participants to use the coded distractors to guide their search for the target. Other participants (in the low processing load condition) were not apprised of the code. The experiment examined whether increased processing load alters the span of effective processing (i.e. perceptual span) by (a) reducing its size, (b) altering its shape, or (c) reducing its size and altering its shape. The results demonstrated a reduction in the size of the perceptual span, with no significant change to its shape. It is argued that when distractors are processed beyond simply rejecting them as non targets, the perceptual span shrinks with increasing processing load. The findings are discussed in contrast to a general interference theory that predicts a change in vision-guided performance without a shrinking of the perceptual span.     

Does Happiness Predict Medication Adherence among African Americans with Hypertension?

Poor medication adherence is a leading cause of excessive cardiovascular morbidity among African Americans. Many adherence-promoting interventions have addressed economic barriers, improved the patient-provider relationship, simplified regimens, and used reminder systems; however, the problem of low adherence remains intractable. Meanwhile, positive psychological attributes that might serve to promote medication adherence have not been fully explored. To address this gap, we examined the association between happiness and medication adherence among low-income African Americans with hypertension treated in a safety-net setting. Data were obtained from the Alabama Collaboration for Cardiovascular Equality, 2007?C2008. Happiness was measured using the 4-item scale of Lyubomirsky and Lepper; low, moderate, and high happiness were defined by tertiles because of the non-normal distribution. Medication adherence was assessed with the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Associations were quantified with ordinal logistic regression. Our sample of 573 African Americans was 71.6?% female and had an average age?±?SD of 53.6?±?9.7?years and a median happiness score of 5.2. Compared to participants with low happiness, the odds (OR; 95?% CI) of being in a better medication adherence category were greater for those with moderate (1.53; 1.02?C2.27) and high (2.26; 1.52-3.37) happiness, after adjusting for age, sex, income, education, and difficulty paying for medical care. Within this cohort of low-income African Americans with hypertension, participants with greater happiness exhibited better medication adherence. Although one interpretation of our study is that more adherent patients are naturally happier, our findings raise the possibility that adding happiness-boosting components may increase the effectiveness of more traditional adherence interventions.     

Optimizing Engagement in Behavioral Parent Training: Progress Toward a Technology-Enhanced Treatment Model

Low-income families are more likely to have a child with an early-onset Behavior Disorder (BD); yet, socioeconomic strain challenges engagement in Behavioral Parent Training (BPT). This study follows a promising pilot to further examine the potential to cost-effectively improve low-income families’ engagement in and the efficiency of BPT. Low-income families were randomized to (a) Helping the Noncompliant Child (HNC; McMahon & Forehand, 2003), a weekly, mastery-based BPT program that includes both the parent and child or (b) Technology-Enhanced HNC (TE-HNC), which includes all of the standard HNC components plus a parent mobile application and therapist web portal that provide between-session monitoring, modeling, and coaching of parent skill use with the goal of improved engagement in the context of financial strain. Relative to HNC, TE-HNC families had greater homework compliance and mid-week call participation. TE-HNC completers also required fewer weeks to achieve skill mastery and, in turn, to complete treatment than those in HNC without compromising parent satisfaction with treatment; yet, session attendance and completion were not different between groups. Future directions and clinical implications are discussed.     

Volunteering for family strength

This paper describes the development of the volunteer component of the Perinatal Positive Parenting program—a program for parents of firstborns who deliver at the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. Effective parenting volunteer service requires energy, interest, and an extraordinary commitment to healthy family relationships. Principles which assure a high level of commitment to the Perinatal Positive Parenting Program are discussed. Recruitment, training, supervision, and evaluation dimensions which specifically support this commitment are also examined.     

Effects of short-term interaction coaching with mothers of preterm infants

This study examined the effects of eight 40-minute interaction coaching sessions on the mother-infant interaction patterns of mother-preterm infant dyads. Thirty-five preterm infants and their mothers were matched for sex and then were assigned randomly to a treatment and a no-treatment control group. Behavior counts and ratings of maternal and infant interactive behavior (Interaction Rating Scale; Field, 1980) were obtained from naturalistic home observations, precoaching, postcoaching, and at a 2-month follow-up. It was hypothesized that coaching, which was intended to facilitate more sensitive responding by mothers, would positively influence mother-infant interaction and mothers' knowledge of infant development. The only marginally significant difference between the groups that emerged over time was in knowledge of infant development, in which the treatment group surpassed the control group.     

Assessment of Executive Functions after Treatment of Childhood Acute Lymphoid Leukemia: a Systematic Review

Neuropsychology Review - Individuals treated for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a high survival rate. This fact, however, may lead to neurocognitive impairments in survivors, as...     

Personal Images of the Sacred

Jung’s works on religion focus on images of the divine, which people experience in various ways. Here, we consider a variety of such numinous experiences, ranging from childhood dreams to experiences of Christian saints and of 20th-century cult leaders, all of which can be described as images of God in the human psyche.     

The Contribution of Individualism vs. Collectivism to Cross-national Differences in Display Rules

Despite the fact that display rules are an important concept of theories of emotion and contemporary psychology, relatively little cross-cultural research has been done on them. This study examined cross-national differences in display rules of emotion, and investigated the degree to which those differences could be attributed to Individualism and Collectivism (IC) measured on the individual level. Participants in the US, Japan, South Korea, and Russia completed a comprehensive measure of display rules assessing behavioral tendencies for seven universal emotions in four social contexts in two rating domains. They also completed Matsumoto et al .'s (1997) Individualism–Collectivism Interpersonal Assessment Inventory. The results confirmed the existence of cross-national differences in IC and display rules, and indicated that IC and display rules were correlated. Significant differences between the countries remained even after IC was controlled for, and effect size analyses comparing cross-national differences when IC was controlled and not indicated that IC accounted for approximately 30% of the effect sizes related to cross-national differences. This study is unique in that it not only used the concept of IC to explain and predict differences; it also quantitatively assessed the degree to which IC contributed to those differences. These findings are discussed in terms of the utility of the IC concept to understanding cross-cultural and cross-national differences in emotion.