Developmental differences in drawing performance of the dominant and non-dominant hand in right-handed boys and girls

This paper addresses the development of fine motor skills in the dominant and non-dominant hand. A total of 60 right-handed children, aged 4-12 years old, were divided in five groups of 12 children, with six girls and six boys in each group. The children were presented with drawing tasks that had to be performed with the dominant and non-dominant hand. Small or large targets had to be connected by lines making either a zigzag (discrete) or slalom (continuous) movement. For each task, effects of age group, gender, hand, and target size were examined for drawing time, percentage of stop time, drawing distance, velocity, and errors. Comparison of stop times in both tasks showed that the zigzag task was performed in a discrete way while the slalom task was performed more continuously, except in the youngest children, who performed both tasks in a discrete manner. With increasing age the children performed the tasks faster, more accurate and with shorter stops. No significant differences were found between boys and girls. While a shorter drawing distance and less errors were observed for the dominant hand in both tasks, drawing time and velocity were not significantly different between both hands. However, the percentage of stop time was higher for the dominant hand. Moving to smaller targets resulted in slower and less accurate performance. A significant interaction of age group and hand was found for errors in both tasks, and for stop time and velocity in the slalom task, suggesting differential maturational changes for both hands in discrete and continuous drawing tasks.     

Competencies Through the Eyes of Psychologists: A closer look at assessing competencies

Competencies have become a leading construct in human resource practices. However, empirical research on competencies has lagged behind resulting in a gap between practice and science. In this study, the focus was on the nature of competencies by examining the relationships of three competency dimensions with cognitive ability, personality and performance during assessment center exercises. Data of 932 applicants participating in a 1‐day selection procedure were used. Results showed that to assess the competency dimension Thinking psychologists focus on cognitive ability. To assess the competency dimension Feeling psychologists rely on performance during interview simulation exercises and on measures of personality. In assessing the dimension Power psychologists focus mainly on personality, although they also rely on cognitive ability and performance during interview simulation exercises.     

No Self Without Salience: Affective and Self-relevance Ratings of 552 Emotionally Valenced and Neutral Dutch Words

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - It is unknown how self-relevance is dependent on emotional salience. Emotional salience encompasses an individual's degree of attraction or aversion to...     

Children’s first and second-order false-belief reasoning in a verbal and a low-verbal task

We can understand and act upon the beliefs of other people, even when these conflict with our own beliefs. Children’s development of this ability, known as Theory of Mind, typically happens around age 4. Research using a looking-time paradigm, however, established that toddlers at the age of 15 months old pass a non-verbal false-belief task (Onishi and Baillargeon in Science 308:255–258, 2005). This is well before the age at which children pass any of the verbal false-belief tasks. In this study we present a more complex case of false-belief reasoning with older children. We tested second-order reasoning, probing children’s ability to handle the belief of one person about the belief of another person. We find just the opposite: 7-year-olds pass a verbal false-belief reasoning task, but fail on an equally complex low-verbal task. This finding suggests that language supports explicit reasoning about beliefs, perhaps by facilitating the cognitive system to keep track of beliefs attributed by people to other people.     

Experiences of Support Staff with Expanding and Strengthening Social Networks of People with Mild Intellectual Disabilities

A supportive social network is crucial for facilitating social inclusion. The social networks of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) are often small and typically include very little contact with friends and acquaintances who do not have ID. Professionals can play an important role in strengthening and expanding the social networks of clients. In this study, experiences with interventions aimed at doing this were examined. Six group interviews were held with a total of 27 professionals. The results showed interventions to strengthen social networks (e.g. attention to the maintenance of contact with network members) and interventions to expand social networks (e.g. participation in leisure time activities and working with volunteers). However, a large number of impeding factors was mentioned, such as the limited size of the social networks, characteristics of the client, different perceptions and clients falling between the cracks when it comes to leisure time. The large number of impeding factors shows the strengthening and expansion of social networks to be complicated in actual practice. Recommendations are thus made to strengthen and expand the social networks of clients in an innovative manner which also takes these impeding factors into account. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Image of God and personality pathology: An exploratory study among psychiatric patients

The associations between personality pathology according to DSM-IV, symptomatology and God image were examined among a group of 46 psychiatric patients. Features of personality disorders were assessed using the 'Questionnaire to Assess Personality Pathology', a self-report screener. God image was measured by means of the 'Questionnaire God Image'. Symptomatology was assesed by means of the SCL-90. The more personality pathology present, the more negative the image of God. The negative image of God appeared to be associated with personality pathology, in particular with pathology from the DSM-IV A- and C-cluster, even after controlling for the influence of symptomatology, suggesting that the association between symptomatology and the God image is mediated by personality pathology. When symptoms of the A-cluster are present God is experienced as detached and passive. When C-cluster symptoms prevail, God is experienced as a harsh judge. Results are discussed both from a psychodynamic object-relational as well as from a cognitive schema focused perspective.     

Perceived Inequity: Does It Explain Burnout Among Medical Specialists?1

This study investigated, among medical specialists (N= 2,400), the association between perceived inequity in relationships at work (patients, colleagues, organization) and burnout, and the moderating role of communal orientation. Intrapersonal inequity, involving an internal standard of reference, and interpersonal inequity, taking colleagues as the standard of reference, were assessed. The adjusted response rate was 63%. Intrapersonal inequity affected all burnout dimensions: emotional exhaustion in all relationships at work, depersonalization in the relationship with patients, and reduced personal accomplishment in relationships with colleagues and the organization. Intrapersonal inequity explained more variance in burnout than did interpersonal inequity. Communal orientation did not moderate these associations. Hence, medical specialists are more vulnerable to burnout if they perceive their relationships at work to be inequitable, regardless of their tendency to help others. Organizations might, therefore, prevent burnout by creating a working environment that is supportive and appreciative.     

Effect of wave frequency of clinical electric shock: pain sensation and startle response

Contingent shock has been used in a number of studies to suppress health‐threatening self‐injurious behavior of individuals with mental retardation and autism. As sustained suppression is an issue of clinical concern, research into procedural variables of contingent shock is needed. As research on subjects who have mental retardation and who show self‐injurious behavior is ethically impossible, we conducted research on healthy volunteers. In this study, we compared the effect of wave frequency (i.e. Hz) of electric shock on subjects' pain sensation and startle response. It was found that 60 Hz revealed a significantly stronger pain sensation rating than 30 Hz and that 90 Hz revealed a significantly stronger rating than 60 Hz. Also, the magnitude of subjects' startle response significantly increased as wave frequency increased from 30 Hz to 60 Hz and from 60 to 90 Hz. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What motivates lay third parties to take sides in a conflict? Examining the relationships between the Big Five personality traits and side‐taking motives

Taking sides is one of the reactions available to third parties in handling a dispute. From the perspective of individual differences, this study was aimed at identifying lay third parties' motives for side taking and exploring their relations with the Big Five personality traits. We tested our assumptions using three samples: A Dutch student sample (n = 111), a Dutch employee sample (n = 101) and a Chinese student sample (n = 124). The findings revealed four types of side‐taking motives: Moral, relational, reward‐approaching and sanction‐avoiding motives. The results also showed that individuals' personality traits were relevant to the four types of side‐taking motives: Agreeableness was associated with the relational motive for side taking, and intellectual autonomy was associated with the reward‐approaching motive, the sanction‐avoiding motive and the relational motive for side taking. Implications and explanations of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lateralization of auditory rhythm length in temporal lobe lesions

In the visual modality, short rhythmic stimuli have been proven to be better processed (sequentially) by the left hemisphere, while longer rhythms appear to be better (holistically) processed by the right hemisphere. This study was set up to see if the same holds in the auditory modality. The rhythm task as originally designed by Seashore was computerized and is part of the Fepsy Neuropsychological battery. This task was performed by 85 patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (left TLE = 32; right TLE = 53) enrolled in the Dutch Collaborative Epilepsy Surgery Program. They performed the task before and 6 months after surgery. The task consists of 30 pairs of rhythmic patterns in 3 series of 10 items. The series contains patterns of 5, 6, or 7 notes. The purpose is to indicate whether the two patterns are the same or different. Reaction times are also measured. If the hypothesis is true, the short-item sequence will be better processed by patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy (nonimpaired left temporal lobe), the longer sequence will be better processed by the left temporal epilepsy group (nonimpaired right temporal lobe). No overall laterality effect on rhythm perception could be found and no difference was found between both test moments. IQ did not correlate with rhythm performance. However, there was an interaction effect of laterality and rhythm length on performance and reaction time. This effect can be explained by the increase after the operation of the score of the left focus group and a decrease in the right focus group on the longer rhythms. This effect was somewhat less strong in the reaction times: a clear tendency for faster reaction times after surgery in the left and longer reaction times in the right focus group. The effect could not be explained for by the difference in extent of resection in either temporal lobe. This study showed that memory for and discrimination of auditory rhythm is dependent on which hemisphere is used in processing. The effect could be demonstrated for the right hemisphere, which uses a holistic processing of stimuli, which outperforms the left in rhythms consisting of a long sequence. In left temporal resections an improvement occurs on the longer rhythms and in right temporal resections the performance on the longest rhythms decreases.