Uncertainty about perception and dissociation after compulsive-like staring: Time course of effects

Repeated and compulsive-like checking reduces confidence in memory for the last check. Obsessive-compulsive (OC) patients are not only uncertain about memory, but may also be uncertain about perception, while this perceptual uncertainty may be associated with prolonged visual fixation on the object of uncertainty. It was reported earlier that, among healthy participants, prolonged staring at light bulbs or gas rings induces OC-like uncertainty about perception and feelings of dissociation [van den Hout, M. A., Engelhard, I. M., de Boer, C., du Bois, A., & Dek, E. (2008). Perseverative and compulsive-like staring causes uncertainty about perception. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 1300–1304]. In that study, staring continued for 10 min. For patients, however, staring intervals seem to be considerably shorter. To test the clinical credibility of the paradigm as a model of the maintenance of OC perceptual uncertainty, we investigated whether the effects of staring materialize long before 10 min. Five groups of 16 undergraduates participated: one group did not stare at a gas stove while the others stared for 7.5, 15, 30 or 300 s. In the absence of staring, no pre-to-post increase in dissociation/uncertainty was reported, but after staring it was. The larger part of the observed dissociation/uncertainty after 5 min had occurred within 30 s, and around 50% of this maximal increase was reported between 7.5 and 15 s. Thus, even relatively short intervals of staring induce uncertainty about perception and dissociative experiences. Perseverative looking at objects may be a counter-productive OC strategy, which increases uncertainty about perception and may serve to maintain the disorder.     

Interelectrode distance and warning signal interval and the evaluation of clinical electrical shock

Contingent shock is used on a small scale for behaviors that may lead to severe damages to one's body or to others. Research efforts focus on exploring variables that control the evaluation of electrical shocks. This study focuses on two practical questions, that is, whether the distance between the electrodes would influence the evaluation of shock and whether using a variable time interval in the administration would influence the evaluation of shock. Results reveal that both investigated variables control the evaluation of shock. Multiple shocks appear to produce a stronger sensation than single shocks, a phenomenon that was also revealed in previous studies. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of the uniqueness point in spoken-word recognition

Summary The study examines the possibility of observing on-line recognition of spoken words through manipulations of the location of the uniqueness point (UP) in a gender-classification task. The subjects were presented with spoken French nouns and had to indicate by a key-press response whether each was feminine or masculine. RTs measured from word onset were significantly correlated with UP location, a finding that supports the notion of on-line processing. The effect of UP location is, however, smaller than that predicted by the original cohort theory (that recognition occurs exactly at the UP). On the other hand, it is stronger when words with respectively early and late UPs are presented in homogeneous blocks rather than in mixed order. It is proposed that the results can be accounted for by the notion of a sub-optimal lexical strategy in which some monitoring of the phonetic data continues past the UP.     

Exposure to community violence and social support as predictors of anxiety and social and emotional behavior among African American children

We examined the effects of exposure to violence and social support on self-reported state and trait anxiety and parental rated problem behaviors among school-aged African-American children in low and high violence areas. Ninety-seven (97) fourth through sixth graders and their parents were interviewed about exposure to community violence, social support, and state and trait anxiety. Results indicate that trait anxiety was correlated positively with exposure to violence and negatively with social support. State anxiety was correlated negatively with family social support. Problem behaviors were correlated negatively with family support and income. Hierarchial multiple regression analyses indicated that children's reports of their exposure to community violence continued to explain significant variability in trait anxiety, and problem behavior after controlling for both income and social support measures. Social support from peers, family and teachers played differential roles in predicting problem behaviors among children from high and lower violence areas. These findings suggest that in planning intervention programs for children exposed to violence, greater attention to empowering parents to support their children, to fostering peer group support, and to bolstering teacher support may be useful, but attention to the underlying socio-political causes of violence exposure is essential.     

Achievement motivation in college women revisited: Implications for women,men, and the gathering of coconuts

An attempt was made to replicate the findings of French and Lesser (1964) within one university on the effects of value-appropriate arousal conditions on achievement motivation scores and motivation performance relationships in women. The findings of this study do not uphold those previously reported. There were no significant differences on either achievement motivation scores or task performance under value-appropriate versus -inappropriate arousal conditions. In the present study there were two innovations — performance criteria were extended to include academic performance, and scoring procedures were developed to give equal weight to achievement imagery in areas defined as traditionally feminine. The principle findings concern the importance of the scoring procedures. Intellectual (classic) N Ach does not relate to value orientation, task performance, or grade point average. Women's Role N Ach, however, is significantly related to task performance and to grade point average. This motivation-performance relationship exists despite differences in value orientation among women. It is suggested that when scoring procedures allow subjects, male or female, to express achievement strivings in areas of value to them, then performance may be morc sensitive to motivational variables.This article is based on research supported by Grant 1 RO1 HD-02403-01 from the National Institute of Mental Health to Lynette K. Friedrich and John S. Harding and by funds from the College Committee on Research, New York State College of Human Ecology, Cornell University, to Lynette K. Friedrich. The author is deeply indebted to Dr. John Harding for faculty support in securing the grant and for his invaluable participation as consultant. Dr. Doris B. Rosen and Dr. Elizabeth Anisfeld made significant contributions to the study. In addition, the assistance of Serena Weaver, Helen Grebow, Bruce Ambler, and Jansis Smithels is gratefully acknowledged. Further acknowledgment is made to Dr. Elizabeth G. French for her advice and generous cooperation.     

Phonological priming in spoken word recognition: Task effects

In two experiments, we examined the role of phonological relatedness between spoken items using both the lexical decision task and the shadowing task. In Experiment 1, words were used as primes and overlaps of zero (control), one, two, or all four or five (repetition) phonemes were compared. Except for the repetition conditions, in which facilitation was found, phonological overlap resulted in interference on word responses. These effects occurred in both tasks but were larger in lexical decision than in shadowing. The effects that were evident in shadowing can be attributed to an attentional mechanism linked to the subjects' expectancies of repetitions. The extra effects obtained in lexical decision can be interpreted by taking into account both activation of the response corresponding to the prime's lexical status and postlexical processes that check for phonological congruency between prime and target. In Experiment 2, some modifications were introduced to prevent the involvement of strategic factors, and pseudowords were used as primes. No effect at all was observed in shadowing, whereas in lexical decision interference effects occurred, which is consistent with the hypothesis that lexical decision may be negatively affected by finding a phonological discrepancy at the same time as the primed response is reactivated. Neither experiment provided evidence for the occurrence of phonological priming in the perceptual processing of words.     

Kommunikationsstruktur und Gruppenleistung

Zusammenfassung Vierergruppen von Vpn arbeiteten in Kommunikationsnetzen, in denen es infolge des Fehlens einer (direkten oder indirekten) Wechselseitigkeit gewisser Verbindungen einigen Vpn — nämlich denjenigen, die ganz bestimmte (ungünstige) Positionen innerhalb des Netzes einnahmen — verwehrt war, die Lösung eines Problems durch Austausch von Informationen zu finden. Den Vpn-Gruppen wurde diese Eigenschaft der Kommunikationssysteme bei Beginn der Versuche nicht mitgeteilt. In einer derartigen Lage suchen jene Vpn den Grund für den unbefriedigenden Informationsaustausch (zumindest zunächst) nicht in der Struktur des Kommunikationsnetzes, sondern unterstellen den anderen Gruppenmitgliedern mangelnde Loyalität oder/und mangelndes Verständnis. Die Folge sind starke affektive Spannungen, die zur Verschlechterung der Kooperation und zur Verringerung der Gruppenleistung führen. Die kognitive Seite des Erlebens der Vpn wurde u. a. mit Hilfe der Begriffe phänomenale Variabilität und phänomenale Konstanz näher analysiert.