Spatial limits on referred touch to an alien limb may reflect boundaries of visuo-tactile peripersonal space surrounding the hand

In this study, the spatial limits of referred touch to a rubber hand were investigated. Participants rated the strength of the perceived illusion when the rubber hand was placed in one of six different spatial positions (at a distance of 17.5-67.5cm horizontal from the participant's own hand). The results revealed a significant nonlinear relationship in the strength of the illusion, with the strongest ratings given when the two hands were closest; decaying significantly after a distance of 30cm. The time taken to elicit the illusion followed a similar trend. These results may reflect the response properties of bimodal visuo-tactile cells encoding peripersonal space around the hand.     

First trial outcome but not training difficulty predicts performance in goldfish visual discrimination

Animal Cognition - The easy-to-hard effect in perceptual learning shows that training with easier examples can facilitate initially difficult or impossible distinctions between very similar...     

Development and Preliminary Evaluation of a 1-Week Summer Treatment Program for Separation Anxiety Disorder

Numerous clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for the treatment of childhood Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and other anxiety disorders yet additional research may still be needed to better access and engage anxious youth. In this study, we investigated the acceptability and preliminary utility of a group cognitive-behavioral intervention for school-aged girls with SAD provided within an intensive, 1-week setting. The development of the proposed treatment strategy, a 1-week summer treatment program, was predicated on evidence supporting the need for childhood treatments that are developmentally sensitive, allow for creative application of intervention components, incorporate a child's social context, and ultimately establish new pathways for dissemination to the community. The summer treatment program for SAD was pilot-tested using a case-series design with 5 female children, aged 8 to 11, each with a principal diagnosis of SAD. For 4 of the 5 participants, treatment gains were evidenced by changes in diagnostic status, significant reductions in measures of avoidance, and improvements on self- and parent-report measures of anxiety symptomology. Specifically, severity of SAD symptoms decreased substantially at posttreatment for each participant and, 2 months following treatment, none of the participants met diagnostic criteria for the disorder. A fifth participant experienced substantive improvement in diagnostic status prior to the onset of treatment and, though she evidenced continued improvements following treatment, the role of the intervention in such improvements is less clear.     

A masked priming ERP study of letter processing using single letters and false fonts

Previous event-related potential (ERP) research on letter processing has suggested that a P150 reflects lowlevel, featural processing, whereas a P260 reflects high-level, abstract letter processing. In order to investigate the specificity of these effects, ERPs were recorded in a masked priming paradigm using matching and nonmatching pairs of letters (e.g., g-g, g-j) and false fonts (e.g.,      

Coping Options: Missing Links between Minority Group Identification and Psychological Well-Being

Using concepts from social identity theory ( Tajfel & Turner, 1979 ) and Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) cognitive theory of stress and coping we tested the capacity for group identification to foster beliefs in one's ability to cope successfully and in turn predict psychological well-being. Black American participants appraised the availability of coping options that varied by level of identity (individual, intragroup, and intergroup) as well as function of coping (problem-focused and emotion-focused). Replicating prior work, participants who were higher in racial group identification reported more positive well-being. Appraisals of individual emotion-focused and intergroup problem-focused options mediated the relationship of group identification with both self-esteem and life satisfaction. Appraisals of intergroup emotion-focused options also partially mediated the relationship between group identification and life satisfaction. Findings suggest that the relationship between minority group identification and well-being may partly be due to its influence over a person's sense that they and their group can respond effectively to disadvantage.     

Evaluating Responsiveness to Intervention for English-Language Learners: A Comparison of Response Modes on Letter Naming Rates

An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of two response modes on acquisition and retention rates of letter naming fluency performance (LNF) by six kindergarten English Language Learners (ELLs) performing below the average letter naming level and slope of other ELL classmates. With equal amounts of practice opportunities, ELLs practiced by orally reading printed letters (see/say) or practiced by pointing to a printed letter that was orally read to them (hear/point). The see/say intervention practiced printed letter sounds to enhance oral reading competence. Alternatively, the hear/point intervention confirmed a non-verbal recognition of oral letter sounds to increase attention and information processing of oral and printed letters prior to an oral LNF assessment. The see/say intervention was moderately more effective on LNF rates than the hear/point intervention for all ELLs on the acquisition assessment and for 4 of the 6 ELLs on the retention assessment. Results are discussed in terms of efficiency as well as effectiveness when making decisions about selecting and implementing responsiveness to intervention assessments when ELLs students are not responding to an effective general education program.     

Prevalence and psychosocial correlates of forced sexual intercourse among U.S. high school adolescents

Although a history of forced sexual intercourse affects a relatively small number of U.S. adolescents, it is a persistent and alarming public health problem. This study examined the robustness of the risk profile of adolescents who report a history of forced sexual intercourse using the most current and representative data from the national 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Overall, 8.01% of high school adolescents reported a history of forced sexual intercourse. The lifetime prevalence for females (10.3%) was roughly twice of that for males (4.8%). Important differences in the risk profile associated with forced sexual intercourse were found by gender.     

Culture, gender, and the self: variations and impact of social comparison processes

Psychological differences between women and men, far from being invariant as a biological explanation would suggest, fluctuate in magnitude across cultures. Moreover, contrary to the implications of some theoretical perspectives, gender differences in personality, values, and emotions are not smaller, but larger, in American and European cultures, in which greater progress has been made toward gender equality. This research on gender differences in self-construals involving 950 participants from 5 nations/cultures (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, and Malaysia) illustrates how variations in social comparison processes across cultures can explain why gender differences are stronger in Western cultures. Gender differences in the self are a product of self-stereotyping, which occurs when between-gender social comparisons are made. These social comparisons are more likely, and exert a greater impact, in Western nations. Both correlational and experimental evidence supports this explanation.