Reading the tea leaves in an intelligent Coffee Corner: Challenges for understanding behavior

This article discusses the challenges for methodological innovation on the basis of experiences in an experimental Living Lab setting: a context-aware Coffee Corner in a research institute. A context-aware infrastructure collects sensory information on users while they move and interact. People getting coffee can use a variety of services offered in the intelligent environment at the Coffee Corner’s site; for example, a colleague-radar application allows users to see the current positions of their colleagues in the building. At the same time, it identifies and authenticates users using proximity-aware and context-aware security features. Apart from proximity and context awareness, the analysis of contextual data allows the construction of a behavioral model of users that can be used to customize the services offered at the Coffee Corner. We explain how the Living Lab allows us to measure behavior in context in an unobtrusive and trustworthy way (e.g., by respecting a user’s right to privacy).     

Emotion recognition of facial expressions in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder / Reconocimiento de emociones de expresiones faciales en adultos con trastorno de hiperactividad con déficit de atención

Various studies have indicated that children with ADHD have difficulties with the facial interpretation of affect. Research in the adult ADHD population overall is scarce. The present study explores how adults with ADHD react to a simple attention task and an emotion-containing task. Thirty adults clinically diagnosed with ADHD and 30 non-ADHD controls completed a computer-based task through a set of facial expressions standardized for Chile. The task was composed of two parts: first, a simple attention task with facial expressions; and second, a facial expression-labelling task. Reaction Time (RT) and Accuracy (Acc) of responses were evaluated. Participants with ADHD responded significantly faster and were significantly less accurate in both tasks compared to controls. Across both groups, emotion-specific errors increased in the facial expression of anger. Additionally, the ADHD group was significantly faster in responding for anger, but not for happiness or neutral expressions. Impulsivity commonly associated with ADHD may account for faster RT and lower Acc. Moreover, happiness may be more pleasant to identify than anger. These results are consistent with studies that have recorded greater Acc for positive emotions in comparison with negative emotions.     

Children's false memories: easier to elicit for a negative than for a neutral event

The present study examined the role of valence in the development of children's implanted false memories. Seventy-six 7-year-old children listened to two true and one false narrative. The false narrative was either neutral ("moving to another classroom") or emotional negative ("being accused by the teacher for copying off your neighbor"). In addition, half of the children were presented with their class photograph while listening to the narratives. During two interviews, children recalled as many details as possible from the true and false events. Results showed that the negative event elicited more false memories than the neutral event. The presentation of a true photograph did not promote the development of false memories.     

Visual attention and the mechanism of metacontrast

The U-shaped metacontrast function may result from the superimposition of two monotonic components which reflect the effects of mechanisms similar to the peripheral and central processes suggested for backward pattern masking by Turvey (Psychol Rev 80:1–52, 1973). In an experiment using the disc-ring paradigm, it was demonstrated that the decreasing and increasing branches of the metacontrast function are differently affected by the exposure duration of the mask and a task-irrelevant stimulus (distractor) appearing in the contralateral visual hemifield. The phenomenal representation of masking is different for the two parts of the curve. It is suggested that masking in the second part of the masking function, but not in the first, is related to the control of visual attention.     

Working memory training and transfer in older adults

There has been a great deal of interest, both privately and commercially, in using working memory training exercises to improve general cognitive function. However, many of the laboratory findings for older adults, a group in which this training is of utmost interest, are discouraging due to the lack of transfer to other tasks and skills. Importantly, improvements in everyday functioning remain largely unexamined in relation to WM training. We trained working memory in older adults using a task that encourages transfer in young adults (Chein & Morrison, 2010). We tested transfer to measures of working memory (e.g., Reading Span), everyday cognitive functioning [the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT)], and other tasks of interest. Relative to controls, trained participants showed transfer improvements in Reading Span and the number of repetitions on the CVLT. Training group participants were also significantly more likely to self-report improvements in everyday attention. Our findings support the use of ecological tasks as a measure of transfer in an older adult population.     

Traumatic impact predicts long-term memory for documented child sexual abuse

Prospective studies of adults' memories of documented child sexual abuse (CSA) reveal that the majority of individuals remember their victimization. However, the accuracy of these memories has rarely been investigated scientifically. The present study examined predictors of memory accuracy and errors 12 to 21 years after abuse ended for individuals with legal experiences resulting from documented CSA. Severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology was positively associated with memory accuracy. However, individuals nominating CSA as their most traumatic life event exhibited relatively accurate memory regardless of indicators of PTSD. Predictors of memory errors were also identified (e.g., less maternal support). These results indicate that, in addition to understanding the role of traditional cognitive factors, understanding an event's traumatic impact is important for predicting the accuracy of long-term memory for reported CSA.     

CATECHOLAMINE EXCRETION IN YOUNG CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS AS RELATED TO BEHAVIOR

L ambert , W. W., J ohansson , G., F rankenhaeuser , M. & K lackenberg -L arsson , I. Catecholamine excretion in young children and their parents as related to behavior. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1969, 10, 306–318. — Catecholamine excretion in 100 children and their parents was examined in relation to the children's behavior and to data on the parents' disciplinary procedures: ( a ) children's adrenaline excretion was positively correlated with their intellectual level, ( b ) their noradrenaline excretion was positively correlated with that of their mothers, as well as with both parents' age at the birth of the child, ( c ) mothers' adrenaline excretion was positively correlated with the frequency at which the fathers punished their children by smacking, and ( d ) fathers' noradrenaline excretion was negatively correlated with their own as well as with their wives' frequency of smacking their children.