Separating global and specific factors in developmental dyslexia

The general goal of the study was to identify global and specific components in developmental dyslexia using various manipulations based on the rapid automatization paradigm (RAN). In two experiments, we used both factor analysis and the Rate-and-Amount Model to verify if one (or more) global factor(s) and a variety of specific effects contribute to the naming (and visual search) deficits in children with dyslexia. Results of Experiment 1 indicated the presence of three global components: pictorial naming, detailed orthographic analysis, and visual search. Pictorial naming is predicated by typical RAN tasks (such as naming colors or objects), independent of set size, but also from a variety of other tasks including Stroop interference conditions. The detailed orthographic analysis factor accounts for naming of orthographic stimuli at high set size. Visual search marked tasks requiring the scanning of visual targets. Results of Experiment 2 confirmed the separation between the pictorial naming and detailed orthographic analysis factors both in the original sample and in a new group of children. Furthermore, specific effects of frequency, lexicality, and length were shown to contribute to the reading deficit. Overall, it is proposed that focusing on the profile of both global and specific effects provides a more effective and, at the same time, simpler account of the dyslexics' impairment.     

Assessing the interpersonal circumplex model in late childhood: the interpersonal behavior questionnaire for children

The authors developed the Interpersonal Behavior Questionnaire for Children with the aim of assessing the constructs of the interpersonal circumplex model, that is, Dominance and Love and their possible combinations, via third- to fifth-grade children's self- and peer reports. In the three studies presented herein, the authors examined several psychometric properties of the questionnaire. Results demonstrated that children's ratings along the questionnaire yielded the hypothesized circumplex structure of the interpersonal variables; that they reached significant association levels with external criteria; and that they were reliable. Specifically, interrater correlations were shown to reach substantive levels when inspected in older children, when scores were aggregated over raters, and when dominant behaviors were evaluated. Overall, the findings demonstrated the tenability of the circumplex model in young ages via children's ratings. The authors suggest that both personality assessment and personality development research may take advantage from using children's evaluations, in addition to adults' ratings of their children's personality.     

Psychosocial predictors of relapse in cocaine-dependent patients in treatment

Relapses in cocaine abusers in treatment are an important problem. The majority of patients are incapable of sustaining abstinence over any length of time. To identify the factors associated to relapses risk in the cocaine use can be an optimal choice to improve the treatment strategies. The aim of this study was to analyze relapse-risk factors in cocaine-dependent patients on treatment. Participants were 102 patients who had begun outpatient treatment at a public health center in Spain. Some functional areas and cocaine use are evaluated for a period of six months. A structural equations model was used to identify possible predictive variables. The results show that social-family environment and economic-employment situation were associated with greater risk of relapse. Likewise, the social-family environment was related to severity of addiction. It is concluded that the incorporation of family intervention strategies and vocational/employment counseling may help to reduce relapse rates in cocaine addicts receiving treatment.     

The feature-binding problem is an ill-posed problem

The binding problem arises when visual features (colour, orientation), said to be coded in independent brain modules, are to be integrated into unitary percepts. I argue that binding is an ill-posed problem, because those modules are now known to code jointly for multiple features, rendering the feature-binding issue moot. A hierarchical reentrant system explains the emergence of coherent visual objects from primitive features. An initial feed-forward sweep activates many high-level perceptual hypotheses, which descend to lower levels, where they correlate themselves with the ongoing activity. Low correlations are discarded, whereas the hypothesis that yields the highest correlation is confirmed and leads to conscious awareness. In this system, there is no separate binding process that actively assigns features to objects.     

How Can We Study Heroism? Integrating Persons,Situations and Communities

Heroism—an individual's commitment to a noble purpose, usually aimed at furthering the welfare of others, and involving the willingness to accept the consequences of achieving that purpose—has received little attention from political psychologists, even though a person is arguably as liable to act heroically as she is to act in a morally reprehensible manner. Specifically, important questions remain in how heroes can be identified beforehand and how such behavior can be successfully studied and promoted. We posit that recent work in genocide studies, positive psychology, personality psychology, ecological psychology, and moral psychology provides new and promising directions for better understanding heroic behavior. These developments can provide the tools for understanding the complex interplay of factors—including traits, situations, and communal beliefs—motivating heroic behavior.     

Semantic processing of unattended parafoveal words

The influence that a context word presented either foveally or parafoveally, may exert on the processing of a subsequent target word was studied in a semantic decision task. Fourteen subjects participated in the experiment. They were presented with word-nonword pairs (prime). One member of the pair (which the subjects had to attend to) appeared centrally, the other parafoveally. The prime was followed by a target at two inter-stimulus intervals (ISI; 200 and 2000 msec). The word stimulus of the pair could be semantically related or unrelated to the target. The subjects' task was to classify the target as animal or not animal by pressing one of two buttons as quickly as possible. When the target word was semantically associated with the foveal (attended) word the reaction times were faster for both ISIs; when it was associated with the parafoveal (unattended) word in the prime pair, there were facilitatory effects only in the short ISI condition. A second experiment was run in order to evaluate the possibility that the obtained results were due to identification of the parafoveal stimulus. The same prime-target pairs of experiment 1 (without the target stimuli) were used. The prime-target pairs were presented to fourteen subjects who were requested to name the foveal (attended) stimulus and subsequently, if possible, the parafoveal (unattended) one. Even in this condition, percentage of identification of the unattended word was only 15%, suggesting that previous findings were not due to identification of unattended stimuli. Results are discussed in relation to Posner and Snyder's (1975) dual coding theory.     

Multimodal signaling in the visuo-acoustic mismatch paradigm: similarities between dogs and children in the communicative approach

Animal Cognition - In this review, we have analyzed the studies on the “mismatch paradigm” or “contrasting paradigm”, in which the word indicates an intent that is opposite...     

“打”出来的手机成瘾？父母粗暴养育对青少年智能手机成瘾的作用

对湖北省两所中学3219名初一至初三年级学生进行问卷调查,建立结构方程模型考察父母粗暴养育、核心自我评价、友谊质量和青少年智能手机成瘾的关系。结果发现：（1）核心自我评价在父母粗暴养育和青少年智能手机成瘾之间起部分中介作用,即父母粗暴养育既对青少年智能手机成瘾产生直接影响,也通过核心自我评价对青少年智能手机成瘾产生间接影响;（2）父母粗暴养育和核心自我评价的关系（中介作用的前半段路径）受到友谊质量的调节,即在高友谊质量和低友谊质量条件下,随着粗暴养育程度的增加,青少年核心自我评价均显著下降,但在高友谊质量的条件下,下降的程度更高。研究结果有助于揭示父母粗暴养育对青少年智能手机成瘾的影响及其作用机制,为预防和干预青少年智能手机成瘾带来一些重要的启示。     

元记忆监测研究综述

元记忆监测是元记忆能力的重要部分,元记忆监测能力是元记忆能力的关键。近年来元记忆监测引起越来越多人的研究兴趣,这种研究兴趣渗透到心理学的不同领域,如记忆心理学、认知神经心理学和社会心理学等。本文探讨了元记忆监测的含义、类型、机制理论和研究方法,也指出了存在的问题并进行了展望。     

A grammar of action generates predictions in skilled musicians

The present study investigates shared representations of syntactic knowledge in music and action. We examined whether expectancy violations in musical harmonic sequences are also perceived as violations of the movement sequences necessary to produce them. Pianists imitated silent videos showing one hand playing chord sequences on a muted keyboard. Results indicate that, despite the absence of auditory feedback, imitation of a chord is fastest when it is congruent with the preceding harmonic context. This suggests that the harmonic rules implied by observed actions induce expectations that influence action execution. As evidence that these predictions are derived at a high representational level, imitation was more accurate for harmonically incongruent chords than for congruent chords executed with unconventional fingering. The magnitude of the effects of context and goal prioritization increased with musical training. Thus, musical training may lead to a domain-general representation of musical grammar, i.e., to a grammar of action.