Effects of multisource feedback and a feedback facilitator on the influence behavior of managers toward subordinates

The authors compared a feedback workshop with both a no-feedback control group and a comparison group of managers who received a feedback report but no feedback workshop. The multisource feedback was based on ratings of a manager's influence behavior by subordinates, peers, and bosses. Managers in the feedback workshop increased their use of some core influence tactics with subordinates, whereas there was no change in behavior for the control group or for the comparison group. The feedback was perceived to be more useful by managers who received it in a workshop with a facilitator than by managers who received only a printed feedback report.     

Social interactions and cardiovascular reactivity during problem disclosure among friends

The authors examined the relations of social interactions with cardiovascular response in the context of two friends disclosing a problem. They also examined the relations of the sex composition of the dyad and partner gender-related traits (communion/agency) with social interactions. Same-sex and opposite-sex dyads (N = 79) came to the lab. One friend disclosed a real-life problem while the partner provided support; cardiovascular response was monitored. Women provided more emotional support than men, and this sex difference was due to women's higher levels of communion. Agency was linked with greater advice, whereas unmitigated communion was linked with greater negative interactions. Negative interactions predicted slower diastolic blood pressure (DBP) recovery, whereas advice predicted slower heart rate (HR) recovery. Sex composition of dyad moderated some of these effects.     

Spatial and nonspatial escape strategies in the Barnes maze

The Barnes maze is a spatial memory task that requires subjects to learn the position of a hole that can be used to escape the brightly lit, open surface of the maze. Two experiments assessed the relative importance of spatial (extra-maze) versus proximal visible cues in solving the maze. In Experiment 1, four groups of mice were trained either with or without a discrete visible cue marking the location of the escape hole, which was either in a fixed or variable location across trials. In Experiment 2, all mice were trained with the discrete visible cue marking the target hole location. Two groups were identical to the cued-target groups from Experiment 1, with either fixed or variable escape locations. For these mice, the discrete cue either was the sole predictor of the target location or was perfectly confounded with the spatial extra-maze cues. The third group also used a cued variable target, but a curtain was drawn around the maze to prevent the use of spatial cues to guide navigation. Probe trials with all escape holes blocked were conducted to dissociate the use of spatial and discrete proximal cues. We conclude that the Barnes maze can be solved efficiently using spatial, visual cue, or serial-search strategies. However, mice showed a strong preference for using the distal room cues, even when a discrete visible cue clearly marked the escape location. Importantly, these data show that the cued-target control version of the Barnes maze as typically conducted does not dissociate spatial from nonspatial abilities.     

Lesions of the dorsolateral or dorsomedial striatum impair performance of a previously acquired simple discrimination task

Previous evidence has suggested a specific role for the dorsal striatum, especially the dorsolateral region of the dorsal striatum, in stimulus-response learning. In a previous study, we found an impairment in animals with dorsolateral striatal lesions on a simple discrimination task (CS+/CS-), thought to require the involvement of both stimulus-reward and stimulus-response learning. It is possible that the generally poor performance of dorsolateral lesioned animals on this experiment precluded adequate exposure to stimulus-reward pairings necessary for solving this task, and, thus, had little to do with stimulus-response learning. To test this hypothesis, the performance of animals with dorsolateral and dorsomedial striatal lesions was assessed on a previously acquired simple discrimination task. To independently assess the effects of each lesion on the performance of stimulus-reward learning, dorsolateral and dorsomedial lesioned animals were assessed on a previously acquired conditioned place preference task (CPP). In agreement with our earlier experiment, and the stimulus-response interpretation of dorsolateral striatal function, animals with dorsolateral striatal lesions were found to be impaired during post-lesion performance of the simple discrimination task, but not CPP learning. Additionally, dorsomedial lesioned animals were found to be impaired in performance of the simple discrimination task, but not on the CPP task. Possible explanations for the differences between the role of the dorsomedial striatum in acquisition and expression of the simple discrimination task are proposed.     

A Model of Contagion Through Competition in the Aggressive Behaviors of Elementary School Students

This article extends the work of Kellam, Ling, Merisca, Brown and Ialongo (1998) by applying a mathematical model of competition between children to peer contagion in the aggressive behaviors of elementary school students. Nonlinearity in the relationship between group aggression and individual aggression at 2-year follow-up is present. Consistent with the findings of Kellam et al. (1998), hierarchical linear modeling indicates that the relationship is statistically significant for those students whose initial parental ratings of aggressive behavior were above the sample median. In the context of competition between students, the behavior of initially aggressive students may be negatively reinforced. Lowering aggression in the school environment may therefore be the most effective way to lower the level of these students aggressive behavior.     

Leaders' bases of social power and anticipation of targets' resistance as predictors of transactional and transformational leadership

This paper examines the value of power and resistance for predicting transactional and transformational leadership. A sample of 232 leader-follower dyads was used to examine these relationships using Hinkin and Schriesheim's 1989 measure of power, Barbuto's 2000 measure of resistance, and Bass' 1985 measure of transformational leadership. Analysis yielded a significant negative relationship between leaders' Reward Power and their use of Individualized Consideration.     

Development of the Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM) in healthy adults

Impairments of Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities occur in a wide range of brain disorders. Therefore, reliable and ecologically valid examination of these abilities is a crucial part of any comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. An established and ecologically valid, English-language test identifying deficits in ToM abilities is “The Awareness of Social Inference Test – Social Inference Minimal (TASIT-SIM)”. However, no comparable German-language ToM test currently exists. In this study, we aimed to develop the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM in healthy adults. We selected 13 scenes [four scenes per message type (i.e., honesty, simple sarcasm, paradoxical sarcasm) and one practice scene] out of the 30 TASIT-SIM scenes. In collaboration with a film institute, we filmed each scene at three different intensities. These intensity version scenes were then administered to 240 healthy adults, equally distributed in sex and age, ranging from 35 to 92 years. By applying Rasch analysis, we selected intensity versions that showed neither floor nor ceiling effects in the majority of ToM questions in participants whose ToM abilities were in the medium range. In conclusion, we have developed the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM, i.e., the “Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM)”. The BASIT-ToM incorporates the strengths of TASIT-SIM, while overcoming its limitations such as inconsistencies in cinematic realization and ceiling effects in healthy participants. Next, the BASIT-ToM needs to be validated in healthy people and clinical populations.     

Uncertainty-dependent activity within the ventral striatum predicts task-related changes in response strategy

Recent neuroimaging work has demonstrated that the ventral striatum (VS) encodes confidence in perceptual decisions. However, it remains unclear whether perceptual uncertainty can signal the need to adapt behavior (such as by responding more cautiously) and whether such behavioral changes are related to uncertainty-dependent activity within the VS. Changes in response strategy have previously been observed following errors and are associated with both medial frontal cortex (MFC) and VS, two components of the performance-monitoring network. If uncertainty can elicit changes in response strategy (slowing), then one might hypothesize that these changes rely on the performance-monitoring network. In the present study, we investigated the link between perceptual uncertainty and task-related behavioral adaptations (response slowing and accuracy increases), as well as how such behavioral changes relate to uncertainty-dependent activity within MFC and VS. Our participants performed a two-choice perceptual decision-making task in which perceptual uncertainty was reported on each trial while behavioral and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected. Analysis of the behavioral data revealed that uncertain (but correct) responses led to slowing on subsequent trials, a phenomenon that was positively correlated with increased accuracy. Critically, post-uncertainty slowing was negatively correlated with the VS activity elicited by uncertain responses. In agreement with previous reports, increases in MFC activation were observed for uncertain responses, although MFC activity was not correlated with post-uncertainty slowing. These results suggest that perceptual uncertainty can serve as a signal to adapt one’s response strategy and that such behavioral changes are closely tied to the VS, a key node in the performance-monitoring network.