How honest are the signals? A protocol for validating wearable sensors

There is growing interest among organizational researchers in tapping into alternative sources of data beyond self-reports to provide a new avenue for measuring behavioral constructs. Use of alternative data sources such as wearable sensors is necessary for developing theory and enhancing organizational practice. Although wearable sensors are now commercially available, the veracity of the data they capture is largely unknown and mostly based on manufacturers’ claims. The goal of this research is to test the validity and reliability of data captured by one such wearable badge (by Humanyze) in the context of structured meetings where all individuals wear a badge for the duration of the encounter. We developed a series of studies, each targeting a specific sensor of this badge that is relevant for structured meetings, and we make specific recommendations for badge data usage based on our validation results. We have incorporated the insights from our studies on a website that researchers can use to conduct validation tests for their badges, upload their data, and assess the validity of the data. We discuss this website in the corresponding studies.     

Associations between sleep variables and ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs: A scoping review

Night-time is a period of great significance for many people who report paranormal experiences. However, there is limited understanding of the associations between sleep variables and seemingly paranormal experiences and/or beliefs. The aim of this review is to improve our understanding of these associations while unifying a currently fragmented literature-base into a structured, practical review. In this pre-registered scoping review, we searched for relevant studies in MEDLINE (PubMed), PsycINFO (EBSCO), Web of Science and EMBASE using terms related to sleep and ostensibly paranormal experiences and beliefs. Forty-four studies met all inclusion criteria. All were cross-sectional and most investigated sleep paralysis and/or lucid dreaming in relation to ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs. Overall, there were positive associations between many sleep variables (including sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, nightmares, and hypnagogic hallucinations) and ostensibly paranormal experiences and paranormal beliefs (including those of ghosts, spirits, and near-death experiences). The findings of this review have potential clinical implications such as reducing misdiagnosis and treatment development and provide foundations for further research. Our findings also highlight the importance of understanding why so many people report ‘things that go bump in the night’.     

Semantic and syntactic factors in the perception of rapidly presented sentences

An important controversy in psycholinguistics has been the nature of the initial hypothesis in sentence processing. This problem has been directly addressed with the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) technique, in which words of a sentence are presented one at a time at tachistoscopic rates. The results of this research (Forster and Ryder, 1971) have provided evidence against Bever's (1970) thesis that most normal perceptual processing of sentences is probably carried out with little regard to actual sequence or structure. However, since the number of words seen is a result of presentation speed as well as psycholinguistic processing, this result could be an artifact of presentation rate. A slower or faster rate could facilitate different processing strategies and perhaps suggest a different nature of the initial hypothesis. Thus, the present study is a conceptual replication of Forster and Ryder (1971), at different presentation rates. While significant effects for syntactic structure were obtained only at the slower presentation rate, results for semantics were significant at both slow and fast presentation speeds. Thus, insofar as sentence perception with the RSVP technique reflects the nature of the initial hypothesis, it is suggested that the hypothesis is semantic.     

Adherence to HAART: perspectives from clients in treatment support programs

The development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has resulted in dramatic decreases in morbidity and mortality for HIV-infected individuals. Because the long-term efficacy of HAART is dependent on near perfect adherence, many providers offer services to support adherence, including education, regimen review, counseling, and reminder tools. Little is known regarding the utilization or efficacy of these services. In this paper, we report on data collected during 32 open-ended interviews conducted with individuals receiving services through the New York State Treatment Adherence Demonstration Project. Participants in the project reported deriving benefits from a broad range of project activities. Educational efforts helped clients to recognize HIV as a manageable, rather than terminal, illness. Information and tools focused on specific regimens provided clients with concrete knowledge and skills. Effective communication with medical providers and pharmacists was facilitated by adherence staff who proactively advocated for client needs. Program-based social support was particularly valuable for many participants, helping them to retain needed motivation and strength. Educational, practical, and supportive services were all considered valuable to clients participating in adherence support programs. A mix of services may best meet the range of needs found among persons taking HAART.     

The role of bottom-up processing in perceptual categorization by 3- to 4-month-old infants: simulations and data

Disentangling bottom-up and top-down processing in adult category learning is notoriously difficult. Studying category learning in infancy provides a simple way of exploring category learning while minimizing the contribution of top-down information. Three- to 4-month-old infants presented with cat or dog images will form a perceptual category representation for cat that excludes dogs and for dog that includes cats. The authors argue that an inclusion relationship in the distribution of features in the images explains the asymmetry. Using computational modeling and behavioral testing, the authors show that the asymmetry can be reversed or removed by using stimulus images that reverse or remove the inclusion relationship. The findings suggest that categorization of nonhuman animal images by young infants is essentially a bottom-up process.     

Understanding bilingual memory: models and data

Bilingual memory research in the past decade and, particularly, in the past five years, has developed a range of sophisticated experimental, neuropsychological and computational techniques that have allowed researchers to begin to answer some of the major long-standing questions of the field. We explore bilingual memory along the lines of the conceptual division of language knowledge and organization, on the one hand, and the mechanisms that operate on that knowledge and organization, on the other. Various interactive-activation and connectionist models of bilingual memory that attempt to incorporate both organizational and operational considerations will serve to bridge these two divisions. Much progress has been made in recent years in bilingual memory research, which also serves to illuminate general (language-independent) memory processes.     

Rorschach Depression indices with children and adolescents: concurrent validity findings.

Exner (1983, 1986) developed and recently revised (1990b) a Rorschach Depression Index based on scores from variables in the Comprehensive System. This study evaluated both the original and the revised DEPIs for child and adolescent outpatient (n = 67) and inpatient (n = 99) samples in order to assess the diagnostic utility of these indices. There were no significant relationships between the original form and the revised form of the DEPI and clinical elevations on the Depression scale of the Personality Inventory for Children in the outpatient sample or treatment team diagnostic judgments in the inpatient sample. These findings sound a strong cautionary note for using only Rorschach Depression indices to diagnose depression in children and adolescents.     

Comparison of mood states of college able-bodied and wheelchair basketball players.

The mood states of 26 college wheelchair basketball players were examined in relation to 11 varsity college basketball players and normative data from 340 college men. Multivariate analysis indicated that the wheelchair basketball players had significantly better mental health profiles than the two comparison groups.