Perceptual Factors in Color-Affect Arousal

Summary: Two samples of college students, one obtained in 1971 and one in 1973, were asked to draw a picture of a happily married couple. Some subjects were asked to draw the couple after two years of marriage and some after five years of marriage. The pictures were scored for the presence or absence of children as an estimate of the attitude that children are necessary for a happy marriage. A large decrease in the "presence of children" from the 1971 to 1973 sample was interpreted as indicating that fewer college students now accept the notion that children are necessary for marital happiness.     

Does school suspension affect subsequent youth non‐violent antisocial behaviour? A longitudinal study of students in Victoria,Australia and Washington State,United States

School suspension has been not only associated with negative behaviours but also is predictive of future poor outcomes. The current study investigates (1) whether school suspension is a unique predictor of youth non‐violent antisocial behaviour (NVAB) relative to other established predictors, and (2) whether the predictors of NVAB are similar in Australia and the United States (USA). The data analysed here draw on two statewide representative samples of Grade 7 and 9 students in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, USA, resurveyed at 12‐month follow‐up (N = 3,677, 99% retention). School suspension did not uniquely predict NVAB in the final model. The predictors of NVAB, similar across states, included previous student NVAB, current alcohol and tobacco use, poor family management, association with antisocial friends, and low commitment to school. An implication of the findings is that US evidence‐based prevention programmes targeting the influences investigated here could be trialled in Australia.     

Virtual Deviance: Swinging and Swapping in an On-Line Network

The purpose of the current research is to study the virtual presentation of self in on-line profiles, specifically within a deviant subculture. The study explores the social construction of deviant identities using the on-line community of “swingers.” Our research explored what self-presentation strategies are employed by participants in their profiles to develop credibility to attract others to their profiles and what major concerns, expectations, and values characterize the profiles of the on-line swinger community. Most on-line profiles focus on developing credibility. We used Aristotle's notions of goodwill, practical intelligence, and virtue to categorize the specific means used in profiles to develop credibility.     

Asymmetrical loading affects intersegmental dynamics during the swing phase of walking

Much of the work related to lower extremity inertia manipulations has focused on temporal, kinematic and traditional inverse dynamics assessments during locomotion. Intersegmental dynamics is an analytical technique that provides further insights into mechanisms underlying linked-segment motion. The purpose of this study was to determine how intersegmental dynamics during the swing phase of walking are altered during asymmetrical lower extremity loading. Participants walked overground at a speed of 1.57 m s^?1 with 0, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kg attached to one foot. Net, interaction, gravitational, and muscle moments were computed. Moment magnitudes at joints of the loaded leg increased systematically with increasing load, whereas unloaded leg moments were unaffected by loading. With increasing load, relative contributions of interaction moments about the knee and hip and gravitational moment about the ankle increased (i.e., 21%, 8%, and 44% increases, respectively), whereas the relative contributions of muscle moments about all three joints declined (i.e., ?4%, ?13%, and ?8% decreases for the ankle, knee, and hip, respectively for unloaded vs. 2.0 kg). These results suggest that altered inertia properties of the limb not only affected the amount of muscular effort required to swing the leg, but also changed the nature of the interaction between segments.     

On the witness stand:

Abstract

The family therapist is frequently called upon to testify as an expert witness. For many family therapists, the courtroom is an unfamiliar environment with different ground rules and basic assumptions. Testifying can be a difficult experience as the mental health professional faces different situational role demands than those encountered in usual therapeutic settings. If the family therapist can transfer to the court context the art of influencing interpersonal situations, the effectiveness of his/her testimony will be enhanced. This paper describes predictable legal behaviors and suggests to the family therapist strategic responses to improve skills as an expert witness.     

The influence of indirect and direct emotional processing on memory for facial expressions

We used the Remember–Know procedure (Tulving, 1985 Tulving, E. 1985. Memory and consciousness. Canadian Psychology, 26: 1–12. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to test the behavioural expression of memory following indirect and direct forms of emotional processing at encoding. Participants (N=32) viewed a series of facial expressions (happy, fearful, angry, and neutral) while performing tasks involving either indirect (gender discrimination) or direct (emotion discrimination) emotion processing. After a delay, participants completed a surprise recognition memory test. Our results revealed that indirect encoding of emotion produced enhanced memory for fearful faces whereas direct encoding of emotion produced enhanced memory for angry faces. In contrast, happy faces were better remembered than neutral faces after both indirect and direct encoding tasks. These findings suggest that fearful and angry faces benefit from a recollective advantage when they are encoded in a way that is consistent with the predictive nature of their threat. We propose that the broad memory advantage for happy faces may reflect a form of cognitive flexibility that is specific to positive emotions.     

Myelin breakdown mediates age-related slowing in cognitive processing speed in healthy elderly men

Background

To assess the hypothesis that in a sample of very healthy elderly men selected to minimize risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cerebrovascular disease, myelin breakdown in late-myelinating regions mediates age-related slowing in cognitive processing speed (CPS).

Materials and methods

The prefrontal lobe white matter and the genu of the corpus callosum myelinate later in brain development (late-myelinating white matter; LMWM) and are more vulnerable to breakdown due to the effects of normal aging. An in vivo MRI biomarker of myelin integrity (transverse relaxation rates; R₂) of LMWM was obtained for 38 very healthy elderly adult men (mean age = 66.3 years; SD = 6.0; range = 55–76). To evaluate regional specificity, we also assessed a contrasting early-myelinating region (splenium of the corpus callosum; SWM), which primarily contains axons involved in visual processing. CPS was assessed using the Trail Making Test.

Results

LMWM R₂ and CPS measures were significantly correlated (r = .515, p = .0009), but no significant association between R₂ and CPS was detected in the splenium (p = .409). LMWM R₂, but not SWM R₂, was a significant mediator of the relationship between age and CPS (p = .037).

Conclusions

In this very healthy elderly sample, age-related slowing in CPS is mediated by myelin breakdown in highly vulnerable late-myelinating regions but not in the splenium.     

The Development of Specialized Brain Systems in Reading and Oral-Language

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine differences between children (9–12 years) and adults (21–31 years) in the distribution of brain activation during word processing. Orthographic, phonologic, semantic and syntactic tasks were used in both the auditory and visual modalities. Our two principal results were consistent with the hypothesis that development is characterized by increasing specialization. Our first analysis compared activation in children versus adults separately for each modality. Adults showed more activation than children in the unimodal visual areas of middle temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus for processing written word forms and in the unimodal auditory areas of superior temporal gyrus for processing spoken word forms. Children showed more activation than adults for written word forms in posterior heteromodal regions (Wernicke's area), presumably for the integration of orthographic and phonologic word forms. Our second analysis compared activation in the visual versus auditory modality separately for children and adults. Children showed primarily overlap of activation in brain regions for the visual and auditory tasks. Adults showed selective activation in the unimodal auditory areas of superior temporal gyrus when processing spoken word forms and selective activation in the unimodal visual areas of middle temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus when processing written word forms.     

Post-LDAC Reflections of ROTC Cadets: Relationship to Leadership and Performance

In the United States Reserve Officer Training Program, cadets attend a month-long camp, where they are evaluated on leadership ability. The purpose of this study was to assess the experiences of cadets upon their return. Through semistructured interviews, with 25 cadets, 3 distinct higher order themes emerged: (a) perceived difficulty of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, (b) psychological skills required for success, and (c) social climate experienced. Furthermore, upon completion of general inductive analysis, cadets’ responses were compared to their leadership score, thereby highlighting how salient aspects of leadership manifest themselves through cadets’ behaviors and performances.     

Psychological States Following Resistance Exercise of Different Workloads

This experiment was designed to examine the effect of resistance exercise of different workloads on subsequent psychological states. Participants, 54 undergraduate students (34 male, 20 female), were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) low workload resistance exercise (50% of 1 RM), (b) high workload resistance exercise (80% of 1RM), or (c) a no exercise control. Resistance exercise consisted of three sets of five repetitions for three free-weight exercises: the bench press, overhead press, and dumbbell row. Psychological state was indicated by the Exercise-Induced Feeling States Inventory (Gauvin & Rejeski, 1993) and was assessed prior to exercise and at 10, 25, and 40 min post exercise. Data were analyzed via a 3 (group) x 4 (time) ANOVA with repeated measures on the second factor. All exercise participants experienced an increased sense of revitalization, which persisted for a greater extent in low rather than high workload participants. None of the groups reported changes over time in positive engagement or tranquility. In addition, while exercise groups did report a reduction in physical exhaustion during recovery, this improvement did not differ from no exercise controls nor did it differ between exercise groups. Thus, weight lifting appears to result in a sense of revitalization, an effect whose duration may be impacted by exercise workload.