A review of the day–night task: The Stroop paradigm and interference control in young children

The day–night task is a widely used measurement of interference control in young children between ages 3 and 7. This integrative review examines the development of interference control by describing day–night task performance. We outline essential task demands and task variants, describe theoretical explanations of performance, highlight key methodological concerns relevant to future research, and speculate upon the neural events that likely correspond to distinct components of task performance. The review concludes with suggestions for future investigation.     

Sense of community in a remote mining town: Validating a Neighborhood Cohesion scale

Psychometric properties and determinants of Buckner's Neighborhood Cohesion Index (NCI) have previously been reported for 206 individuals from three Washington, DC suburbs. This study analyses the properties and determinants of the scale for 1182 mine workers in Elliot Lake, a remote Canadian single-industry town. Data were collected through in-person interviews. The scale in the Elliot Lake sample was highly reliable (α=.91) and the Elliot Lake and Washington NCI item-total scale correlations were similar. Multiple regression found income and education related significantly negatively and years in neighborhood and home ownership significantly positively to NCI with coefficients comparable to those Buckner found in Washington. However, additional significant positive predictors of NCI were home equity, length of home ownership, and the presence of both pre-school-age and school-age children in the home, whereas a significant negative predictor was poor health. The NCI thus appears to be stable across societies, and shows systematic relationships with background variables. Home equity, duration of home ownership, children and health were significant predictors of NCI in our larger Canadian sample. This paper is based on data from the Elliot Lake Tracking Study. We are eager to acknowledge the contribution of our collaborators, David Leadbeater and Peter Suschnigg, in designing the study and collecting the data. We take full responsibility for our conclusions. Funding for the study has been provided by the Laurentian University Institute for Northern Ontario Research and Development, The Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, and the Elliot Lake Job Creation Fund.     

Watch Where You're Going? Interferer Velocity and Visual Behavior Predicts Avoidance Strategy During Pedestrian Encounters

Pedestrians can avoid collisions with other pedestrians by modifying some combination of their velocity and their path. The authors investigated how path constraints (constrained or unconstrained), interferer velocity (slow or fast), and vision (looking or not looking; time spent looking at the interferer) influenced collision avoidance to an oblivious interferer walking on a perpendicular path. Ten participants walked 6 m to either a point or line target on either a constrained or unconstrained path while wearing an eye-tracking device and avoiding an oblivious interferer that walked at 2 speeds. Looking behavior and interferer velocity were reliable predictors of determining whether a pedestrian would pass in front of or behind the interferer, while path constraints were less reliable. These findings highlight the degeneracy in human movement systems and suggest that, in complex environments, behavior may not always be optimized for efficiency.     

Temporal framing and the hidden‐zero effect: rate‐dependent outcomes on delay discounting

Recent research suggests that presenting time intervals as units (e.g., days) or as specific dates, can modulate the degree to which humans discount delayed outcomes. Another framing effect involves explicitly stating that choosing a smaller–sooner reward is mutually exclusive to receiving a larger–later reward, thus presenting choices as an extended sequence. In Experiment 1, participants (N = 201) recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire in a 2 (delay framing) by 2 (zero framing) design. Regression suggested a main effect of delay, but not zero, framing after accounting for other demographic variables and manipulations. We observed a rate‐dependent effect for the date‐framing group, such that those with initially steep discounting exhibited greater sensitivity to the manipulation than those with initially shallow discounting. Subsequent analyses suggest these effects cannot be explained by regression to the mean. Experiment 2 addressed the possibility that the null effect of zero framing was due to within‐subject exposure to the hidden‐ and explicit‐zero conditions. A new Amazon Mechanical Turk sample completed the Monetary Choice Questionnaire in either hidden‐ or explicit‐zero formats. Analyses revealed a main effect of reward magnitude, but not zero framing, suggesting potential limitations to the generality of the hidden‐zero effect.     

Continuous Theta Burst Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of the Right Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Inhibitory Control and Increases Alcohol Consumption

Previous research indicates that alcohol intoxication impairs inhibitory control and that the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) is a functional brain region important for exercising control over thoughts and behaviour. At the same time, the extent to which changes in inhibitory control following initial intoxication mediate subsequent drinking behaviours has not been elucidated fully. Ascertaining the extent to which inhibitory control impairments drive alcohol consumption, we applied continuous theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (rDLPFC cTBS vs. control) to isolate how inhibitory control impairments (measured using the Stop-Signal task) shape ad libitum alcohol consumption in a pseudo taste test. Twenty participants (13 males) took part in a within-participants design; their age ranged between 18 and 27 years (M = 20.95, SD = 2.74). Results indicate that following rDLPFC cTBS participants’ inhibitory control was impaired, and ad libitum consumption increased. The relationship between stimulation and consumption did not appear to be mediated by inhibitory control in the present study. Overall, findings suggest that applying TMS to the rDLPFC may inhibit neural activity and increase alcohol consumption. Future research with greater power is recommended to determine the extent to which inhibitory control is the primary mechanism by which the rDLPFC exerts influence over alcohol consumption, and the degree to which other cognitive processes may play a role.     

The unity of moral attitudes: recipe semantics and credal exaptation*

Abstract

This paper offers a noncognitivist characterization of moral attitudes, according to which moral attitudes count as such because of their inclusion of moral concepts. Moral concepts are distinguished by their contribution to the functional roles of some of the attitudes in which they can occur. They have no particular functional role in other attitudes, and should instead be viewed as evolutionary spandrels. In order to make the counter-intuitive implications of the view more palatable, the paper ends with an account of the evolution of normative judgments as exaptations of the cognitive structures that underlie beliefs.     

A qualitative exploration of alcohol use among student sportspeople: A social identity perspective

Research indicates that university student sportspeople are a high‐risk subgroup for hazardous alcohol consumption. Adopting a social identity perspective, we explored the social and psychological processes linking sports participation and alcohol use. Twenty‐two individual semi‐structured interviews were conducted with UK student sportspeople (male: 12; female: 10). A deductive thematic analysis identified three core themes: social identification and sports group membership, identity processes in (alcohol) behaviours and sport context‐specific significance of alcohol. Results suggest that the consumptive practices among student sportspeople were strategic activities underpinned by social identity processes, and which served to provide a positive sports experience at the group level. Our findings highlight the interactions between the sport environment, the social structure of sport participation and the multipurpose function of alcohol in this context. We discuss the implications of these results in support of a social identity approach to sport‐related drinking.     

Effects of Anxiety on Novice Genetic Counseling Students’ Experience of Supervised Clinical Rotations

Supervised clinical experiences with patients comprise a critical component of genetic counseling student education. Previous research has found genetic counseling students tend to be more anxiety prone than the general population, and anxiety related to supervision has been found in genetic counseling and related fields. The present study investigated how anxiety affects the experience of supervision for genetic counseling students. Second year genetic counseling students were invited to participate through email invitations distributed via training directors of the 33 programs accredited at the time of the study by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. An initial online survey contained the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to estimate anxiety proneness in this population and an invitation to participate in a 45-minute semi-structured phone interview focusing on students’ experiences of supervision during their clinical rotations. High and low trait anxiety groups were created using STAI scores, and the groups’ interview responses were compared using consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR; Hill 2012). The high anxiety group was more likely to describe problematic supervisory relationships, appreciate the supervisor’s ability to help them when they get stuck in sessions, and feel their anxiety had a negative effect on their performance in general and in supervision. Common themes included supervisors’ balancing support and guidance, the importance of feedback, ego-centric responses, and supervisors as focal points. The results of the present study are largely consistent with current literature. Further research findings and research, practice, and training recommendations are provided.