Auditory‐motor adaptation is reduced in adults who stutter but not in children who stutter

Previous studies have shown that adults who stutter produce smaller corrective motor responses to compensate for unexpected auditory perturbations in comparison to adults who do not stutter, suggesting that stuttering may be associated with deficits in integration of auditory feedback for online speech monitoring. In this study, we examined whether stuttering is also associated with deficiencies in integrating and using discrepancies between expected and received auditory feedback to adaptively update motor programs for accurate speech production. Using a sensorimotor adaptation paradigm, we measured adaptive speech responses to auditory formant frequency perturbations in adults and children who stutter and their matched nonstuttering controls. We found that the magnitude of the speech adaptive response for children who stutter did not differ from that of fluent children. However, the adaptation magnitude of adults who stutter in response to auditory perturbation was significantly smaller than the adaptation magnitude of adults who do not stutter. Together these results indicate that stuttering is associated with deficits in integrating discrepancies between predicted and received auditory feedback to calibrate the speech production system in adults but not children. This auditory‐motor integration deficit thus appears to be a compensatory effect that develops over years of stuttering.     

Adaptive memory: Is the animacy effect on memory due to emotional arousal?

Animate entities are often better remembered than inanimate ones. The proximal mechanisms underlying this animacy effect on recall are unclear. In two experiments, we tested whether the animacy effect is due to emotional arousal. Experiment 1 revealed that translations of the animate words used in the pioneering study of Nairne et al. (Psychological science, 24, 2099–2105, 2013) were perceived as being more arousing than translations of the inanimate words, suggesting that animacy might have been confounded with arousal in previous studies. In Experiment 2, new word lists were created in which the animate and inanimate words were matched on arousal (amongst several other dimensions), and participants were required to reproduce the animate and inanimate words in a free recall task. There was a tendency towards better memory for arousing items, but robust animacy effects were obtained even though animate and inanimate words were matched on arousal. Thus, while arousal may contribute to the animacy effect when it is not carefully controlled for, it cannot explain the memory advantage of animate items.     

Primary teachers’ perceptions that impact upon track recommendations regarding pupils’ enrolment in secondary education: a path analysis

In less meritocratic educational systems, teachers’ decision-making processes and their perceptions of pupils are essential for the practice of pupils’ allocation at transitory moments. The present study investigated how perceptions held by teachers impact upon teacher track recommendations regarding pupils’ enrolment in secondary education in Flanders. By means of structural equation modelling, we studied the hypothesised impact of pupils’ cognitive (i.e. maths skills, language skills and technical skills) and non-cognitive (i.e. school-appropriate behaviours and personal-social behaviours) attributes and of teacher–pupil relationships, as perceived by the teachers. Additionally, we addressed the hypothesised (mediated) impact of perceived parental involvement in education and parents’ socio-economic status (SES) and ethnicity, as social and cultural parental background characteristics. Results show that teacher track recommendations are best directly predicted by pupils’ perceived maths skills. Also pupils’ perceived school-appropriate behaviours and parents’ SES substantially and directly predict teacher track recommendations. Teacher track recommendations are further indirectly affected by perceived parental involvement in education, parents’ SES and parents’ ethnicity.     

Trust in alternative and professional media: The case of the youth news audiences in three European countries

Abstract

This exploratory paper applying cross-cultural and developmental perspective analyses and discusses trust in alternative media and its relation to trust in professional media, seeking to identify the national specifics of media trust and its developmental patterns. Employing 2016 survey data of Czech, Estonian and Greek youth (aged 14–25, N = 3654) collected as part of the international CATCH-EyoU project (Horizon 2020), the study outlines the typology of media trust, comprising trust in alternative and professional media, and compares social and political predictors influencing media trust in the three countries. The study illustrates the diversity of relations between the two types of media trust, concluding that differences in selected predictors of media trust and the distribution of media trust types across national sub-samples illuminate the strong role national context plays, illustrating the varying pathways development of media trust follows in these varied contexts along socioeconomic and cultural lines.     

Attachment styles and clinical correlates in people at ultra high risk for psychosis

Evidence suggests that attachment styles may influence subclinical psychosis phenotypes (schizotypy) and affective disorders and may play a part in the association between psychosis and childhood adversity. However, the role of attachment in the initial stages of psychosis remains poorly understood. Our main aim was to describe and compare attachment styles in 60 individuals at ultra high risk for psychosis (UHR) and a matched sample of 60 healthy volunteers (HV). The HV had lower anxious and avoidant attachment scores than the UHR individuals (p < .001). Sixty-nine percentage of the UHR group had more than one DSM-IV diagnosis, mainly affective and anxiety disorders. The UHR group experienced more trauma (p < .001) and more mood and anxiety symptoms (p < .001). Interestingly, in our UHR group, only schizotypy paranoia was correlated with insecure attachment. In the HV group, depression, anxiety, schizotypy paranoia, and social anxiety were correlated with insecure attachment. This difference and some discrepancies with previous studies involving UHR suggest that individuals at UHR may compose a heterogeneous group; some experience significant mood and/or anxiety symptoms that may not be explained by specific attachment styles. Nonetheless, measuring attachment in UHR individuals could help maximize therapeutic relationships to enhance recovery.     

The development and validation of an implicit measure of competence need satisfaction

Research on self-determination theory has typically relied on explicit measures when examining the concept of competence need satisfaction. As a result, we know relatively little about competence need satisfaction that arises under conditions of automaticity. Across four studies, we developed and validated implicit measures of competence need satisfaction by drawing on two tasks: a relational variant of the implicit association test (IAT; Study 1, 3, and 4) and the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP; Study 2–3). Results across these studies revealed that both implicit measures were either unrelated or moderately related to their explicit counterpart. They were also unrelated to one another. Unlike the IRAP, the IAT was found to be reliable, to display discriminant validity, and to yield meaningful but modest relations with constructs in a nomological network. Together, these results provide modest support for the usefulness of the competence need satisfaction IAT but not of the competence need satisfaction IRAP as an implicit measure of the need for competence. Future research examining the unique predictive value of this IAT is needed, together with research on possible explanations for the low reliability of the IRAP.     

Student-Teacher Relationships and Early School Adaptation of Children with ASD: A Conceptual Framework

In this conceptual article, we integrate existing literature on early school transitions, ecological systems theory, and student-teacher relationships to propose a framework for investigating the transition to school for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A review of the literature suggests that the quality of early student-teacher relationships may play an important role in this process for young children with ASD. Factors important in predicting student-teacher relationship quality, and ultimately, early school outcomes, are derived from the existing literature, which is heavily focused on the experiences of typically developing children. Hypothesized direct effects of child characteristics, teacher factors, classroom/school characteristics, and parent-school connectedness on student-teacher relationship quality are set forth. Potential moderators of the relation between student-teacher relationship quality and child outcomes are proposed, including child cognitive functioning, child relationships with other school staff, classroom placement, and parent involvement. Continued research on these factors will help identify malleable targets for school-based intervention with teachers and children with ASD to enhance student-teacher relationship quality and, in turn, school adjustment for this student population.     

International Adaptations of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory: Construct Validity and Clinical Applications

This article examines the influence of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) as a clinical and research instrument beyond the borders of the United States. The MCMI's theoretical and empirical grounding, its alignment with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), and scales that can be interpreted both categorically and dimensionally, are the primary features that make the test attractive. We begin with studies that evaluated the construct equivalence of the different language adaptations. Data from the most widely researched non English-language forms (Danish, Dutch, and Spanish) show excellent comparability with Millon's original. Nevertheless, significant problems were noted in efforts to create clinical groups that would allow for equivalence of diagnostic accuracy when using the cutoff scores. Although dimensional aspects of the scale scores were not affected by this, the adapted measures might show attenuated diagnostic accuracy compared with Millon's original. Next, we present MCMI studies conducted in clinical settings to document where the adapted tests have made their greatest impact in the international literature. A wide variety of clinical applications demonstrated broad utility, and given the high number of issues addressed, we think Millon's influence will certainly stand the test of time in different domains and settings.     

The Effect of Motive‐Trait Interaction on Satisfaction of the Implicit Need for Affiliation Among German and Cameroonian Adults

Research provided evidence that personality traits influence the realization of implicit motives: Extraversion supported the successful realization of the implicit motives for affiliation and power, whereas introversion deflected implicit motives away from significant goals and created difficulties in goal attainment. Based on those findings on motive‐trait interaction, we tested whether the traits of Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Extraversion affect the satisfaction of the implicit affiliation motive (i.e., the need for establishing and maintaining close relationships with other people) approximately 18 months later. Data on personality traits, the implicit affiliation motive, and need satisfaction were assessed from 244 Cameroonian and German adults. As expected, across cultural groups, Neuroticism constrains but Agreeableness supports the realization of the implicit affiliation motive. No significant results could be found for Extraversion, even if the effect was in the assumed direction. The findings support the argument that different significant personality components ought to be taken into account in research on implicit motives and their psychological and behavioral correlates.