Motivated attention to fear-related stimuli: Evidence for the enhanced processing of fear in the late positive potential

Differences in the processing of emotions like fear and sadness have important implications for our understanding of many psychological phenomena (e.g., attentional biases, psychopathology). The late positive potential (LPP) is an established event-related potential that reflects motivated attention to emotional stimuli at the neural level with excellent temporal resolution, but has been infrequently used to study differences across emotions. Drawing on functional theories of emotion suggesting that the quick processing of fear-inducing stimuli increases chances of survival, we hypothesized that fear-inducing pictures would produce larger LPP amplitudes compared to other emotions (happy and sad) in the early time windows of the LPP (e.g., 400–700, 700–1000 ms). The results supported our hypothesis, offering new, albeit preliminary, evidence of the differential processing of threat-related stimuli on the LPP.     

A progressive model for teaching children with autism to follow gaze shift

Gunby, Rapp, Bottoni, Marchese and Wu (2017) taught three children with autism spectrum disorder to follow an instructor's gaze shift to select a specific item; however, Gunby et al. used different types of prompts with each participant. To address this limitation, we used a progressive training model for increasing gaze shift for three children with autism spectrum disorder. Results show that each participant learned to follow an adult's shift in gaze to make a correct selection. In addition, two participants displayed the skill in response to a parent's gaze shift and with only social consequences; however, the third participant required verbal instruction and tangible reinforcement to demonstrate the skill outside of training sessions.     

“It’s Sort of My Calling”: The Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility of Latino Immigrant-Origin Young Adults

The aim of this study was to describe civic patterns of engagement of Latino first- and secondgeneration (immigrant-origin) young adults and to provide insights into what differentiates these patterns. Based on 58 in-depth interviews with 18- to 25-year-olds of Dominican, Mexican, and Central American origin, the authors first established variations in different levels of civic engagement profiles. The authors then analyzed the characteristics that distinguish these civic profiles, considering demographic variables (generation, gender, education level, and undocumented status) as well as motivations for civic engagement. Two thirds of first- and second-generation participants were actively engaged, though variations in patterns emerged across civic profiles; undocumented status appeared a particularly salient driver of engagement. The authors found that rather than being instrumentally and individually motivated, Latino immigrant-origin young adults were primarily motivated to be civically engaged by social responsibility as well as by social (in)justices.     

Judgments of Monkey’s (Macaca mulatta) Facial Expressions by Humans: Does Housing Condition “Affect” Countenance?

The Psychological Record - The ability to interpret facial expressions of others is one of the more important abilities possessed by humans. However, is it possible for humans to interpret the...     

Assessing Stimulus Control in a Discrimination Task with Compound Stimuli: Evaluating Testing Procedures and Tracking Eye Fixations

The Psychological Record - Experiments with pigeons have suggested that the way stimuli are arranged in tests affects the demonstration of the stimulus control established during training. The...     

Effects of Business Internships on Students,Employers, and Higher Education Institutions: A Systematic Review

The objective of this study is to provide a systematic review of the literature on the impact of internships completed by university students. This research also aims to analyze variables that can affect outcomes and satisfaction in the internship experience. Fifty‐seven studies were included and examined. The effects and variables identified were listed and classified. The findings of this review support the overall positive effects of business internships and confirm that they are a win‐win situation for the main 3 stakeholders: students, employers, and higher education institutions.