Perceived bending motions from a quadrangle changing form

In an earlier study by Jansson and Johansson it was found that rotation of a rigid object is perceptually preferred over bending motion, and that bending motion in turn is preferred over two-dimensional stretching. The aim of the present experiment was to study if the same preference order is retained also when the proximal stimuli are changing in a physically more complex way. The stimuli were quadrangular outline figures with two stationary and two moving corners; the figures differed in degree of phase lag between the motions of the two corners. The result was that the preference order found earlier was retained. It was also found that the relative frequency of two subcategories of bending motion, bending proper and folding, varied with phase lag. The relation of the result to a principle of minimum object change was discussed.     

Communicative factors,conflict progression,and use of reconciliatory strategies in pre‐school boys‐a series of random events or a sequential process?

Affiliative interactions between former opponents soon after a conflict, in non‐human primates and pre‐school children, have been documented to be followed by a reduction of future aggression and stress reactions, and to promote tolerance between individuals. The phenomenon has, therefore, been called reconciliation. Studies of non‐human primates have shown that the conflict cause can influence the reconciliatory outcome, and whether the aggressor or the victim of the aggression is more likely to take the initiative to reconcile, can differ between species. Few studies in pre‐school children have addressed how factors preceding the post‐conflict period, such as social interactions before the conflict outbreak, or the cause of the conflict, may be related to the likelihood of reconciliation, conflict progression, and conflict outcome in the form of possible continuation or initiation of interactions. Twenty boys were video‐recorded during free‐play at six pre‐schools. The existence of social interaction between the opponents in the upcoming conflict was examined in the pre‐conflict period. The observed causes of conflict were determined and classified into five categories. The affiliative behaviors identified in the post‐conflict period were classified into six categories. Finally, whether or not conflicts were followed by communicative exchanges in the succeeding non‐conflict period was documented. The results revealed that the cause of the conflict is associated with whether opponents had established social interaction prior to conflict in the pre‐conflict period. Acceptance rates (for the various categories of affiliative behaviors) appeared to differ. A non‐random pattern of conflict progression was apparent, suggesting the conflict cause was related to the category of reconciliatory strategy shown by the individuals. The aggressor and the victim initiated reconciliation at similar rates, with the exception of verbal apologies, which were initiated most often by the aggressor. Finally, the data also showed that higher frequencies of social interaction between former opponents in the succeeding non‐conflict period were associated both with whether or not social interaction had occurred in the pre‐conflict period, and whether or not the conflict was reconciled. In conclusion, communicative factors preceding conflicts, and conflict cause, are distinctively correlated with both the use and the outcome of post‐conflict affiliation in pre‐school boys. Aggr. Behav. 00:000–000, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Occupational Therapists' Perception of the Tree Theme Method™ as an Intervention in Psychosocial Occupational Therapy

This study investigated how occupational therapists experience utilization of the Tree Theme Method, an intervention based on creative activities and life-story telling and making. The Tree Theme Method is comprised of five sessions in which the therapist asks the client to paint symbolic trees, with specific themes representing their present life situation, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and the future. Nine occupational therapists in mental health care were asked about their experiences when using the Tree Theme Method. The informants formed two focus groups and each group was interviewed twice. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify five categories including: (1) therapeutic frames, (2) therapist requirements, (3) client requirements, (4) the therapeutic relationship, and (5) the Tree Theme Method as a multi-dimensional process. Overall the informants were satisfied with the intervention with some variation as to therapists' perception about the helpfulness of the tool. The Tree Theme Method was experienced as a structured method of starting a therapeutic process and initiating a therapist–client relationship. The therapeutic attitude, self-knowledge, and expert knowledge seemed to be important prerequisites for the therapists when using the Tree Theme Method intervention.     

Psychological mechanisms in the maintenance of insomnia: arousal, distress, and sleep-related beliefs

The purpose of this study was to examine whether arousal, distress, and sleep-related beliefs are related to the maintenance of insomnia. From a randomly selected sample from the general population (n=3600), 1936 participants filled out a baseline and 1-year follow-up survey. Logistic regressions were used to investigate whether arousal, distress, and beliefs were related to sleep status (insomnia: n=116; poor sleep: n=222; normal sleep: n=529; good sleep: n=234) over 1 year. Cluster analysis was employed to assess whether it was possible to classify the participants based on their profiles of psychological functioning. The results showed that beliefs in the long-term negative consequences of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and arousal were significantly related to the maintenance of insomnia (18-72% of the variance). Of the individuals with persistent insomnia, 91% belonged to a cluster characterized by high scores on sleep-related beliefs, anxiety, depression, and arousal, and 9% to a cluster defined by low scores on the mechanisms. This study shows that sleep-related beliefs, anxiety, depression, and arousal are related to the maintenance of persistent insomnia, but also that these mechanisms often co-occur in individuals with insomnia.     

Skin conductance responses as predictor of emotional responses to stressful life events

Preferential preattentive processing towards threat has been proposed to play a casual role in the development of anxiety, mainly because it reliably predicts emotional responding to stressful events. However, in the investigation of the predictive value of preferential preattentive processing towards threat, the emotional Stroop task has exclusively being used. This study was designed to prospectively investigate the predictive value of skin conductance reactivity in response to masked (i.e., preattentively perceived) threatening pictures on emotional responding following stressful life events. To collect skin conductance data, the picture perception task was administered to 136 police recruits due to enroll into active duty within 2-4 months. To assess psychological distress following emotionally stressful life events, the impact of event scale were administered approximately 24 months later. Controlling for trait anxiety, analyses indicated that enhanced skin conductance reactivity in response to masked threatening pictures (relative to neutrals) was a strong predictor of emotional responding to stressful life events. This finding support preferential preattentive processing towards threat as a relatively independent factor predictive of emotional responding.     

Exploring Pathways Related to Men’s Violence: A Qualitative Exploration of the Relationship between Violent Men’s Violence and Their Masculinities,Childhood, and Emotions

ABSTRACT

This study explored new ways of finding knowledge about violent men’s pathways toward their status as violent criminals and the mechanisms that underlie their violent behavior. The empirical data were gathered through biographical interviews with 10 men sentenced to therapy against violence and drugs at a Swedish treatment center. The men who had experienced violence and childhood maltreatment tended to bypass shame with uncontrolled anger and violence when reliving childhood traumas. Conversely, men without extreme childhood experiences seemed to exhibit more controlled violence mechanisms. Two men who had experienced brutal physical school bullying might have been expected to bypass shame with immediate violence; however, these men described their violence as controlled, suggesting that they had learnt to take cognitive control over their bypass mechanisms in order to escape the bullying.     

Autobiographical Memory in Patients with Tinnitus

Studies on psychiatric patients have found that their memories of the past are often unspecific and overgeneral, but the extent to which this is the case for patients with somatic problems has so far only been examined in patients with chronic pain and in patients with diabetes. The present study investigated autobiographical memories in 19 tinnitus patients and 19 controls without tinnitus. Participants were administered the autobiographical memory test (AMT), the Controlled word association test, and self-report measures of depression, anxiety, and tinnitus distress. Compared to control participants, tinnitus patients had difficulty retrieving specific memories and showed longer retrieval latencies. Additionally, tinnitus patients had fewer specific memories to positive cue words. While AMT responses were associated with depression scores, the difference between controls and patients remained significant for positive cue words after controlling for depression scores. Results suggest that cognitive components should be an integral element of the psychological management of tinnitus. The use in future studies of experimental methods such as AMT in health psychology is encouraged.     

Unconscious responses to threatening pictures: interactive effect of trait anxiety and social desirability on skin conductance responses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of trait anxiety and social desirability on skin conductance responses (SCRs) following exposure to masked and unmasked pictures in a non-clinical sample. The most prominent results were found with regard to masked pictures (i.e. subliminal). Higher levels of social desirability were associated with a decrease in SCRs to masked threat pictures (relative to neutral), whereas elevated levels of trait anxiety were associated with an increase in SCRs. This latter effect, however, was mainly seen among participants who simultaneously scored low on social desirability. These results were discussed in terms of trait anxiety (combined with lower social desirability scores) being associated with (i) enhanced autonomic responses to threatening information most evident at a pre-attentive level, that (ii) may potentially be a vulnerability marker for anxiety disturbances.     

Perceived direction of rotary motion

The starring point for this study was the rotating trapezoidal window. The aim was to reanalyze the problem of information about direction of rotation that is available in simplified proximal stimulations and to study empirically if the Ss utilized the possibilities demonstrated in the theoretical analyses. These analyses showed that a distal poin t moving in a horizontal circular path gives different proximal stimulations when moving clockwise and counterclockwise Further, a distal vertical line moving with its midpoint in the same path has a proximal change of length with different phase relations with the horizontal back-and-forth motion for the two directions. The proximal stimulation is ambiguous, however, unless some restrictions or “decoding principles” are introduced. In the first two experiments it was shown that the Ss could not report “correct” direction of motion of the point but were able to do so about the vertical line. In a third experiment a second vertical line was introduced. This necessitates a determination of relative distance to the two lines. It was shown that the proximally shorter line was usually perceived further away than the proximally longer one. The results are discussed with reference to the trapezoidal window. and some hypotheses are stated.