Hand asymmetries in interresponse intervals during rapid repetitive finger tapping

Interresponse intervals (IRIs) were recorded as 8 right-handed male subjects tapped a key separately with the index finger of each hand as fast as possible for twenty 10-s runs. Frequency distributions of the IRIs produced by each hand showed that the shorter mean IRI that is usually reported for preferred-hand tapping is a result of a systematic production of shorter IRIs by the preferred hand. It is not secondary to inflation of the mean IRI of the non-preferred hand by the sporadic occurrence of long IRIs.     

Laterality, attention and rate effects in the auditory temporal discrimination of chronic schizophrenics: The effect of treatment with chlorpromazine

Schizophrenic patients, non-psychotic patients and healthy subjects were required to detect longer target tones from a sequence of short tones presented to either ear. The rate of stimulus presentation and the frequency of switches between the ears were varied. The schizophrenic patients were examined for four weeks while on standard clinical doses of chlorpromazine, for four weeks while on placebo, and for four weeks following reinstatement of medication. Lateral asymmetries in the performance of the schizophrenics were found to diminish in proportion to both the duration and the dosage of medication. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that chlorpromazine causes an improvement of left hemisphere performance relative to the right. The performance of the schizophrenics, relative to that of comparison subjects, deteriorated as the rate of stimulus presentation increased, supporting the hypothesis that schizophrenics have particular difficulties in response selection or organization.     

Evidence for abstract response codes: Ear-hand correspondence effects in a three-choice reaction-time task

A three-choice reaction-time task was used to investigate the source-of-stimulation effect, that is, the tendency for subjects to react faster and more accurately to a stimulus if the spatial locations of the stimulus and the response correspond than if they do not. Auditory stimuli varied on dimensions of tonal frequency and spatial location, although only the former was relevant for response selection. Responses were found to be faster for the conditions in which stimulus location and response location corresponded than for those in which they did not, but stimulus location had no effect on differences between the two hands with bimanual responses. These results support the hypothesis that the source-of-stimulation effect is due to response plans which interact at a level prior to the programming of the motor response.     

The effect of contingency upon the appetitive conditioning of free-operant behavior

The problem of maintaining independence between response rates and reinforcement probabilities when determining the effect of varying the response-reinforcement contingency upon free-operant behavior was solved by programming local reinforcement probabilities for response and no response on a second-by-second basis. Fifty-seven rats were trained to lever-press on schedules of water reinforcement involving different values of contingency. All rats were first trained on a high positive contingency and then shifted to less positive, zero, or negative contingencies. Under these conditions, rate of lever-pressing declined appropriately when the contingency between response and reinforcement decreased or was made negative. The decline in rate produced by a zero contingency cannot be attributed to extinction, since the probability of reinforcement given the occurrence of a response was the same as for the positive contingency from which the shift to zero was made. That is, there was no change in the opportunity for response-reinforcement contiguity. It was concluded that the technique of programming local reinforcement probabilities offers promise for more critical examinations of the effects of contingency upon free-operant behavior.     

Computers in psychology teaching in the U.K.

This paper describes the first year of operation of the CTI Centre for Psychology, which pro-motes the use of computers in psychology teaching in the U.K. We outline current use of computers in teaching and some of the obstacles to the effective development of computer-supported courses. In particular, we focus on the need for closer integration of innovative forms of teaching into courses. We describe the Centre’s strategy for supporting both conventional and innovative computer-supported teaching, and argue that effective use of software depends on both the instructional situation and the educational context.     

The Best Possible Selves Intervention: A Review of the Literature to Evaluate Efficacy and Guide Future Research

Since its inception in 2001, the best possible selves (BPS) activity has been the focus of more than 30 studies which have shown it to be a viable intervention for increasing optimism, positive affect, health and well-being. It is timely to critically review the findings from the BPS literature and suggest directions for future research. The majority of BPS studies have used an experimental methodology and have administered the BPS activity to diverse groups including students, adults, depressive individuals and suicidal inpatients. The BPS intervention can be effective when administered in-person or on-line and repeating the activity appears to enhance efficacy. Suggestions for future research include: (a) investigation of mediator variables, (b) additional outcome variables such as hope and appreciation, (c) comparative studies regarding dosage to enhance effectiveness, (d) extension of the BPS into a best-possible-other activity, (e) diversity of delivery methods, and (f) thematic content analysis of BPS text.     

Age moderates the link between relationship desire and life satisfaction among singles

Higher desire for a romantic partner has been shown to be associated with lower life satisfaction for singles, but research has not considered whether the strength of this association might vary across age groups. We collected data from single participants (N = 3057) across a broad age range (18 to 75 years of age, mean = 36.12, standard deviation [SD] = 12.34) to examine age as a moderator of the relationship between desire for a partner and singles' life satisfaction. Our results suggest that having greater desire for a partner is associated with lower life satisfaction for older (1 SD above the mean or 48.46 years) versus younger (1 SD below the mean or 23.78 years) individuals. We also found some evidence that this age-dependent association was stronger for women than men. Further, this interaction effect remained largely unchanged controlling for participants' attachment anxiety or avoidance. This study highlights the importance of considering how singlehood may play out differently for individuals at different life stages.