Comparing the handwriting behaviours of true and false writing with computerized handwriting measures

The goal of this study is to compare the handwriting behaviours of true and false writing. Based on the cognitive load and dis‐automaticity known to be experienced while communicating a deceptive message, we hypothesized a difference (in temporal and spatial, pressure measures and peak velocities) between the handwriting of true vs. false messages. Thirty‐four participants wrote true and false sentences on a digitizer, which is part of a new system called the Computerized Penmanship Evaluation Tool (ComPET). The ComPET evaluates brain‐hand performance, as manifested through handwriting behaviour, and was found to be a valid measure for detecting the dis‐automaticity that is indicative of certain diseases in the clinical field. Differences were found in mean pressure, spatial measures (mean stroke length and mean stroke height), but no differences were found in temporal measures and in the number of peak velocities. The use of ComPET in lie detection is discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alzheimer’s disease and impairment of the Self

Impairment of the Self has been described in frontal–temporal dementia but little research has been carried out in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Objective

The aim of this study was to explore changes in the self in patients with AD.

Method

Forty-seven patients with mild to moderate AD were examined using a semi-structured scale designed to assess the self-concept along three dimensions, namely, the Material Self, the Social Self and the Spiritual Self.

Results

The majority of patients (43 out of 47) presented impairment of at least one dimension of the Self. When only one dimension was affected, it was always the Social Self. The severity of impairment of the Self was correlated to the impairment of the semantic autobiographical memory and apathy.

Conclusion

The Self is impaired in AD and the Social Self dimension appears to be more vulnerable in AD than other dimensions.     

Differential Reinforcement in Simple Discrimination Learning in 10- to 20-Month-Old Toddlers

The Psychological Record - The present study examined two procedures for teaching simple discrimination to six toddlers aged 10- to 20-months. A pair of toys was displayed in the windows of an...     

Effects of Decision Training on Decision Making and Performance in Young Tennis Players: An Applied Research

This study examined the effectiveness of a 10-week decision training program on decision making and performance in tennis. Decision training was based on the analysis combining tactical questioning and video feedback about players own actions. A quasi-experimental design with intermediate tennis players (control group, n = 6; experimental group, n = 5) was developed over 18 weeks, divided into 3 phases: preintervention, postintervention, and retention. A total of 13,383 game play actions were analyzed to test differences. Experimental group improves significantly decision making and performance and maintained improvements during the retention phase. Video feedback combined with questioning is recommended to achieve sport expertise.     

Adolescent suicide and defensive style.

This empirical study investigated the relation between ego defense mechanisms, diagnoses, and suicidality among 200 adolescent psychiatric patients ages 12 to 16 years. Based on a structured diagnostic interview, adolescents were divided into three groups: suicide attempters, suicidal ideators, and nonsuicidal patients. Using the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI), suicidal adolescents scored higher on the defense of turning-against-self and lower on reversal, as compared to nonsuicidal adolescents. Although suicide was significantly more common among adolescents with an affective disorder, turning-against-self remained significantly associated with suicide attempt even when diagnosis was controlled for. Results demonstrate the importance of defense mechanisms in understanding adolescent suicidal behavior.     

Follow-up of coping skills training in adults with sickle cell disease: analysis of daily pain and coping practice diaries.

This study examined the 3-month follow-up effects of a pain coping skills intervention in African American adults with sickle cell disease. Sixty-seven participants were randomly assigned to either a coping skills condition or a disease-education control condition. Multivariate analyses applied to summary measures of coping, laboratory pain perception, and clinical measures indicated that participants in the coping intervention reported significantly lower laboratory pain and significantly higher coping attempts at 3-month follow-up in comparison with the control condition. Multilevel random effects models applied to prospective daily diaries of daily pain, health care contacts, and coping practice indicated that on pain days when participants practiced their strategies, they had less major health care contacts in comparison with days when they did not use strategies.     

Motivations for Political Discussion: Antecedents and Consequences on Civic Engagement

Scholarship on informal discussion of politics and current events has mainly focused on its cognitive, attitudinal, and behavioral effects. In comparison, fewer studies have addressed the antecedents of political talk. Using 2‐wave U.S. panel survey data, this study sheds light over 2 sets of motivations people may have for engaging in political conversation: civic‐oriented and social‐oriented goals; and their effects over civic participation. Using structural equation modeling, results suggest that both civic and social motivations are positive predictors of frequency of political discussion, and indirectly associated with civic engagement. From a theoretical perspective, these findings cast political talk as a more complex phenomenon than what deliberative theory suggests, and point to social motivations as an additional path to civic life.     

Needs and Cognition/Behavior Patterns at Work and the Big Five: An assessment of the Personality and Preference Inventory‐Normative (PAPI‐N) from the perspective of the five‐factor model

This study examined the relationship between psychological needs and cognition/behavior patterns at work as measured by the Personality and Preference Inventory – Normative (PAPI‐N) and the five‐factor model of personality as measured by the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO‐FFI) in a sample of 91 working adults and 71 psychology undergraduates who worked or had some work experience. Our results showed significant and theoretically congruent correlations between the PAPI‐N scales and the measures of the five‐factor model. These correlations were similar to those found using alternative instruments to measure Murray's needs. Despite the differences in the conceptual origins of the PAPI‐N and the NEO‐FFI and divergences in the aspects of personality measured by the two inventories, joint and interbattery factor analyses showed that most of the needs and cognition/behavior patterns measured by the PAPI‐N can be meaningfully organized within the framework of the five‐factor model. These results provide further empirical evidence for the validity of the five‐factor model and the PAPI‐N, although they also point out personality aspects that are not encompassed by the five‐factor model.     

An associative model of geometry learning: a modified choice rule

In a recent article, the authors (Miller & Shettleworth, 2007) showed how the apparently exceptional features of behavior in geometry learning ("reorientation") experiments can be modeled by assuming that geometric and other features at given locations in an arena are learned competitively as in the Rescorla-Wagner model and that the probability of visiting a location is proportional to the total associative strength of cues at that location relative to that of all relevant locations. Reinforced or unreinforced visits to locations drive changes in associative strengths. Dawson, Kelly, Spetch, and Dupuis (2008) have correctly pointed out that at parameter values outside the ranges the authors used to simulate a body of real experiments, our equation for choice probabilities can give impossible and/or wildly fluctuating results. Here, the authors show that a simple modification of the choice rule eliminates this problem while retaining the transparent way in which the model relates spatial choice to competitive associative learning of cue values.     

Designing Organizations: Does Expertise Matter?

From an organizational cognition standpoint, we approach organizational design as an ongoing creative sensemaking process. This study examined the role of expertise in the cognitive problem-solving patterns underlying design processes and the resulting organizational forms. The simulated problem elicited the mental models applied by naives, novices, and experts in designing an organization. The thinking-aloud protocol analysis revealed quantitative and qualitative expert/nonexpert differences in problem-solving strategies, the time spent on problem representation, and the justifications and difficulties expressed in the course of the design process. In addition, our results showed that naives created organizations consistent with mechanistic structures, while novices and experts created organizations consistent with organic structures. We discuss the implications of these findings for the understanding of the cognitive basis of organizational design and the development of effective training programs.