Relationship between masculinity-femininity and concession in an experimental collaborative eyewitness testimony

The present study examined the relationships of masculinity and femininity with concession in an experimental collaborative eyewitness testimony task, using the MORI technique. Participants formed same sex or mixed sex pairs and watched a videotaped event. Their eyewitness memories were assessed three times: immediately after watching, after discussing the event together, and individually 1 week later . The participants' self-confidence in their recalled memories and percentages of concessions were also examined. The Masculinity-Humanity-Femininity Scale was administered to the participants at the end of the experiment. The results showed that masculinity negatively correlated with concession, and that both masculinity and femininity were associated with inaccuracy in collaborative memory recall.     

Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants Accessing Housing Support Services

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that explain immigrant housing vulnerability, thereby contributing to the growth of a more substantial knowledge base on the intersection between immigration, housing and homelessness. Administrative data on housing support service recipients (n?=?4168) in Alberta, Canada, were analysed to determine the varied demographic, socio-economic and health-related factors that contribute to living in a precarious housing situation (such as homelessness, couch surfing, staying with friends or family etc.). Logistic regression analysis shows that being an immigrant is a protective factor from living in a precarious housing situation. For the immigrant subsample (n?=?525), logistic regression analysis demonstrates that living in a larger city, having a mental illness and being married were protective factors from living in a precarious housing situation. However, having an addiction and being precariously employed (such as only working part-time, having temporary employment or being unemployed) were risk factors for living in a precarious housing situation. Shared and distinctive vulnerabilities among the immigrant subsample and the full study sample are discussed, along with implications for specific policy and programmes that aim to address the housing needs of immigrants.     

Cognitive Control of Attentional Guidance by Visual and Verbal Working Memory Representations

Both visual and verbal information in working memory guide visual attention toward a memory‐matching object. We tested whether: (a) visual and verbal representations have different effects on the deployment of attention; and (b) both types of representations can be used equally in a top‐down manner. We asked participants to maintain a visual cue or a verbal cue at the beginning of each trial, and ended with a memory task to ensure that each cue was represented actively in working memory. Before the memory task, a visual search task appeared where validity was manipulated as valid, neutral, or invalid. We also manipulated the probability of valid trials (20%, 50%, and 80%), which had been told to the participants prior to the task. Consistent with earlier findings, attentional guidance by visual representations was modulated by the probability. We also found that this was true for verbal representations, and that these effects did not differ between representation types. These results suggest that both visual and verbal representations in working memory can be used strategically to control attentional guidance.     

First interactions between hydrogen and stress-induced reverse transformation of Ni–Ti superelastic alloy

The first dynamic interactions between hydrogen and the stress-induced reverse transformation have been investigated by performing an unloading test on a Ni–Ti superelastic alloy subjected to hydrogen charging under a constant applied strain in the elastic deformation region of the martensite phase. Upon unloading the specimen, charged with a small amount of hydrogen, no change in the behaviour of the stress-induced reverse transformation is observed in the stress-strain curve, although the behaviour of the stress-induced martensite transformation changes. With increasing amount of hydrogen charging, the critical stress for the reverse transformation markedly decreases. Eventually, for a larger amount of hydrogen charging, the reverse transformation does not occur, i.e. there is no recovery of the superelastic strain. The residual martensite phase on the side surface of the unloaded specimen is confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Upon training before the unloading test, the properties of the reverse transformation slightly recover after ageing in air at room temperature. The present study indicates that to change the behaviour of the reverse transformation a larger amount of hydrogen than that for the martensite transformation is necessary. In addition, it is likely that a substantial amount of hydrogen in solid solution more strongly suppresses the reverse transformation than hydrogen trapped at defects, thereby stabilising the martensite phase.     

Schizotypal personality traits and prediction of one's own movements in motor control: what causes an abnormal sense of agency?

Background. Positive schizophrenic symptoms, especially passivity phenomena, including auditory hallucinations, may be caused by an abnormal sense of agency, which people with schizotypal personality traits also tend to exhibit. A sense of agency asserts that it is oneself who is causing or generating an action. It is possible that this abnormal sense of self-agency is attributable to the abnormal prediction of one’s own movements in motor control. Method. We conducted an experiment using the “disappeared cursor” paradigm in which non-clinical, healthy participants were required to click on a target using an invisible mouse cursor. Prediction error was defined as the distance between the target and the click point. Results. The results showed that schizotypal personality traits, but not depressive or anxious traits, were correlated with deficits in predicting movements of the subjects’ left hand. In particular, auditory hallucination proneness had the strongest relationship with movement prediction error. In this report, we also discuss the error tendency (overestimations or underestimations of one’s own movements). Conclusions. This finding is in accordance with the idea that passivity phenomena or proneness may be caused by the abnormal prediction of one’s own actions or movements.