Does syntax contribute to the function of duets in a parrot, Amazona auropalliata?

Complex acoustic signals in many animal species are characterized by a syntax that governs how different notes are combined, but the importance of syntax to the communicative function of signals is not well understood. Mated pairs of yellow-naped amazons, Amazona auropalliata, produce coordinated vocal duets that are used for territory maintenance and defense. These duets follow rules that specify the ordering of notes within duets, such as a strict alternation of sex-specific notes and a defined progression of note types through each duet. These syntactical rules may function to define sex-specific roles, improve coordination, and allow individuals to combine calls into meaningful sequences. As a first step toward understanding the functional significance of syntax, we conducted two separate audio playback experiments in which we presented nesting pairs with normal duets and duets with broken syntax (i.e., one of the syntactic rules was broken). In Experiment One, we reversed the order of female and male notes within note pairs while retaining the typical progression of note types through a duet. In Experiment Two we reversed the order of note types across a whole duet while retaining the typical female-male ordering within note pairs. We hypothesized that duets with broken syntax would be less-effective signals than duets with normal syntax and predicted that pairs would respond less to broken syntax than to normal duets. Contrary to predictions, we did not observe differences in response between treatments for any variables except latency to approach the speaker. After we combined data across experiments post hoc, we observed longer latencies to approach the speakers after playbacks of broken syntax duets, suggesting that pairs could differentiate between playbacks. These responses suggest that breaking one rule of duet syntax at a time does not result in detectable loss of signal efficacy in the context of territorial intrusions.     

An empirical examination of distributional assumptions underlying the relationship between personality disorder symptoms and personality traits

This article examines the relationship between personality disorder (PD) symptoms and personality traits using a variety of distributional assumptions. Prior work in this area relies almost exclusively on linear models that treat PD symptoms as normally distributed and continuous. However, these assumptions rarely hold, and thus the results of prior studies are potentially biased. Here we explore the effect of varying the distributions underlying regression models relating PD symptomatology to personality traits using the initial wave of the Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders (N = 250; Lenzenweger, 1999), a university-based sample selected to include PD rates resembling epidemiological samples. PD symptoms were regressed on personality traits. The distributions underlying the dependent variable (i.e., PD symptoms) were variously modeled as normally distributed, as counts (Poisson, Negative-Binomial), and with two-part mixture distributions (zero-inflated, hurdle). We found that treating symptoms as normally distributed resulted in violations of model assumptions, that the negative-binomial and hurdle models were empirically equivalent, but that the coefficients achieving significance often differ depending on which part of the mixture distributions are being predicted (i.e., presence vs. severity of PD). Results have implications for how the relationship between normal and abnormal personality is understood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Is It Lonely at the Top? An Empirical Study of Managers’ and Nonmanagers’ Loneliness in Organizations

Loneliness is often assumed to be an occupational hazard for senior-ranked members of an organization. However, most of what researchers hear about being "lonely at the top" is anecdote. This article provides empirical evidence from three separate studies assessing loneliness in managers and nonmanagers. Across all three studies, loneliness did not differ by managerial status. Managers were no more or less lonely than their nonmanager counterparts. This suggests that factors beyond seniority may be contributing to loneliness in organizational settings. Ideas for future research are discussed.     

Practical Implementation Science: Developing and Piloting the Quality Implementation Tool

According to the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation, implementation is a major mechanism and concern in bridging research and practice. The growing number of implementation frameworks need to be synthesized and translated so that the science and practice of quality implementation can be furthered. In this article, we: (1) use the synthesis of frameworks developed by Meyers et al. (Am J Commun Psychol, 2012) and translate the results into a practical implementation science tool to use for improving quality of implementation (i.e., the Quality Implementation Tool; QIT), and (2) present some of the benefits and limitations of the tool by describing how the QIT was implemented in two different pilot projects. We discuss how the QIT can be used to guide collaborative planning, monitoring, and evaluation of how an innovation is implemented.     

The Relations among Maternal Depressive Disorder, Maternal Expressed Emotion, and Toddler Behavior Problems and Attachment

Direct and indirect relations among maternal depression, maternal Expressed Emotion (EE: Self- and Child-Criticism), child internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and child attachment were examined. Participants were mothers with depression (n?=?130) and comparison mothers (n?=?68) and their toddlers (M age?=?20 mo.; 53% male). Assessments included the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (maternal depression); the Five Minute Speech Sample (EE); the Child Behavior Checklist (toddler behavior problems); the Strange Situation (child attachment). Direct relations were significant linking: 1) maternal depression with both EE and child functioning; 2) Child-Criticism with child internalizing and externalizing symptoms; 3) Self-Criticism with child attachment. Significant indirect relations were found linking maternal depression with: 1) child externalizing behaviors via Child-Criticism; 2) child internalizing behaviors via Self- and Child-Criticism; and 3) child attachment via Self-Criticism. Findings are consistent with a conceptual model in which maternal EE mediates relations between maternal depression and toddler socio-emotional functioning.     

The Relationship between Temperamental Negative Affect,Effortful Control,and Sensory Regulation: A New Look

Temperamental negative affectivity (NA) and effortful control (EC) have long been of interest to psychologists, but sensory regulation (SR) has received less attention. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the present study reexamined the Rothbart model of EC and NA using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; M.K. Rothbart, S.A. Ahadi, K.L. Hershy, & P. Fisher, 2001), along with alternative models of EC, NA, and SR using the CBQ and Short Sensory Profile. The results failed to replicate the Rothbart model of EC and NA, which includes SR within the EC and NA factors. A good fit was found for a three‐factor model (EC, NA, and SR) that was replicated in a holdout sample. A three‐factor model also showed a good fit when EC, NA, and SR items similar to symptoms of behavior problems were eliminated.     

Offline improvement occurs for temporal stability but not accuracy following practice of integer and non-integer rhythms

Procedural learning benefits from memory processes occurring outside practice resulting in offline learning. Offline gains have been demonstrated almost exclusively for the ordinal structure of sequential motor tasks. Many skills also demand that the correct serial order of events be appropriately timed. Evidence indicates that the temporal aspect of a procedural skill can be encoded independent of serial order knowledge and governed by at least two distinct neural circuits. The present experiment determined if (a) offline gains emerge for temporal learning, and (b) if such gains occur for timing supervised by distinct timing systems. Participants experienced 216 practice trials of a 7-key press sequence that involved integer- or non-integer timing rhythms. Twenty-four hours after training 30 test trials were administered. Results revealed robust offline enhancement for timing performance of the non-integer based temporal sequences. This improvement was localized to stabilization of the required relative but not absolute time profiles. The neural circuitry central to supporting the performance of non-integer timing sequences is also a principal constituent of what is described as the "cognitive" timing system. Timing governed by this system appears most susceptible to offline gains via consolidation.     

Using the movement-related cortical potential to study motor skill learning

The movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) is a low-frequency negative shift in the electroencephalographic recording that occurs about 2 s before voluntary movement production. The MRCP is thought to reflect the cortical processes involved in movement planning and movement preparation. In recent years, researchers have used this potential to investigate the processes involved in motor skill learning. Their findings indicate differences in the amplitude and onset times of the MRCP between experienced and novice performers, which have been attributed to long-term training in the experts. The authors discuss these findings critically and consider their implications for both future research and practice.