Attenuating memory distrust in a repeated checking task

Repeated checking has been demonstrated to lead to reductions in memory confidence in several previous studies using student and clinical samples. This process of reduced confidence in memory and detail for memory, are thought to arise from the inhibition of perceptual processing that develops during repeated checking. Our research investigated whether reduced memory confidence from repeated checking could be attenuated through the use of novel stimuli during the repeated checking task. Three groups were generated through random assignment of 65 undergraduate students. As seen in previous research, individuals who repeatedly checked a stimulus (a virtual stovetop) showed reduced memory confidence, vividness, and detail, when compared with individuals who repeatedly checked a different stimulus. A third group in which the colour of the repeatedly-checked stovetop changed every five trials showed no significant decline in memory confidence between the pre-test and post-test. Results suggest that increased memory distrust can be ameliorated through the use of stimuli with characteristics that are novel and distinctive. Findings are discussed in the context of the existing model of repeated checking and memory confidence, and implications for treatment methods are presented.     

Dissecting online control in Developmental Coordination Disorder: a kinematic analysis of double-step reaching

In a recent study, children with movement clumsiness (or Developmental Coordination Disorder-DCD) were shown to have difficulties making rapid online corrections when reaching, demonstrated by slower and less accurate movements to double-step targets (Hyde & Wilson, 2011). These results suggest that children with DCD have difficulty using predictive estimates of limb position when making rapid adjustments to movement, in-flight. However, chronometric data alone does not provide strong evidence for this hypothesis: it remains unclear whether early (and rapid) control parameters or post-correction stages of the movement trajectory are affected. Thus, the overarching aim of this study was to conduct a kinematic analysis of double-step reaching in order to isolate the different control parameters that might explain the slower and less accurate double-step reaching performance of children with DCD. Participants were a new sample of 13 children with DCD aged between 8-12 years and 13 age-matched controls. Children were required to reach and touch one of three possible targets presented at the coordinates -20°, 0° and 20° on a 17 in. LCD touch-screen. For most trials (80%) the target remained stationary for the duration of movement (non-jump trials), while for the remainder (20%), the target jumped randomly to one of two peripheral locations at movement onset (jump trials). Consistent with earlier work, children with DCD were slower to initiate reaching compared to controls and showed longer MT and more errors on jump trials. Kinematic data showed that while the two groups did not differ on time to peak velocity or acceleration, children with DCD were slower to correct reach trajectory on jump trials. No group differences were observed on late kinematic markers, e.g., post-correction time. The pattern of results support and extend earlier work showing deficits in ROC in DCD. From a computational perspective, delayed corrections to the reach trajectory suggests some difficulty integrating information about the target perturbation with a predictive (or forward) estimate of limb position relative to the initial target. These conclusions are discussed, along with directions for future research.     

The link between sensation seeking and aggression: a meta-analytic review

Substantial empirical evidence supports low resting heart rate (HR) as the best replicated psychophysiological correlate of aggression [Ortiz and Raine, 2004]; however, researchers continue to debate the explanatory mechanisms of the phenomenon. Sensation seeking has been proposed as a possible outcome of low resting HR that may lead to aggressive tendencies but findings have been inconsistent in terms of showing a relationship between sensation seeking and aggression. A meta-analysis was conducted on 43 independent effect sizes, from studies with a total of 32,217 participants, to test the hypothesis that sensation seeking would be positively related to aggression across studies. A significant overall effect size was found (d = .1935, P<.001), supporting the hypothesis. Moderator analyses revealed that the relationship differed based on participant and methodological characteristics, such as participant age and the nature of the aggression measurement; however, these conclusions are limited by the uneven number of studies in many of the moderator classes. Overall, the findings provide support for higher levels of aggression in high sensation seekers and have theoretical implications for arousal theory. Further research on the links between arousal, sensation seeking and aggression can inform clinicians about potential interventions.     

Blaming, praising, and protecting our humanity: the implications of everyday dehumanization for judgments of moral status

Being human implies a particular moral status: having moral value, agency, and responsibility. However, people are not seen as equally human. Across two studies, we examine the consequences that subtle variations in the perceived humanness of actors or groups have for their perceived moral status. Drawing on Haslam's two-dimensional model of humanness and focusing on three ways people may be considered to have moral status - moral patiency (value), agency, or responsibility - we demonstrate that subtly denying humanness to others has implications for whether they are blamed, praised, or considered worthy of moral concern and rehabilitation. Moreover, we show that distinct human characteristics are linked to specific judgments of moral status. This work demonstrates that everyday judgments of moral status are influenced by perceptions of humanness.     

Acknowledging the skeletons in our closet: the effect of group affirmation on collective guilt, collective shame, and reparatory attitudes

Just as with threats to personal identity, people defend against social identity threats. In the context of intergroup injustice, such defensiveness undercuts collective guilt and its prosocial consequences. The current research examines whether group affirmation allows perpetrator groups to disarm threat without undermining guilt. In Study 1, men accepted greater guilt for gender inequality after affirming the ingroup. Given the distinction between collective guilt and collective shame, Studies 2-4 assessed both emotions and revealed that Canadians accepted greater guilt and shame over the mistreatment of Aboriginals following group affirmation. In Study 3, group affirmation also moderated the relation of each emotion with reparatory attitudes. When controlling for each other, collective shame predicted compensation in a nonaffirmation control condition whereas guilt predicted compensation once identity threat had been disarmed by group affirmation. In Study 4, the effect of group affirmation on the collective emotions was mediated by defensive appraisals of the injustice.     

Inexpensive video cameras used by parents to record social communication in epidemiological investigations in early childhood-A feasibility study

We tested the feasibility of parents recording social interactions with their infants using inexpensive camcorders, as a potential method of effective, convenient, and economical large scale data gathering on social communication. Participants were asked to record two short video clips during either play or a mealtime, and return the data. Sixty-five video clips (32 pairs) were returned by 33 families, comprising 8.5% of families contacted, 44.6% of respondents and 51.6% of those sent a camcorder, and the general visual and sound quality of the data was assessed.Audio and video quality were adequate for analysis in 85% of clips and several social behaviours, including social engagement and contingent responsiveness, could be assessed in 97% of clips. We examined two quantifiable social behaviours quantitatively in both adults and infants: gaze direction and duration, and vocalization occurrence and duration. It proved difficult for most observers to obtain a simultaneous clear view of the parents and infant's face.Video clips obtained by parents are informative and usable for analysis. Further work is required to establish the acceptability of this technique in longitudinal studies of child development and to maximize the return of usable data.     

Maternal attributions and young children's conduct problems: a longitudinal study

The association between negative maternal attributions and child conduct problems is well established in correlational studies. However, little is known about how these variables influence each other over time. The present study examined patterns of prediction over time between maternal attributions and pre‐school conduct problems. Sixty mothers and their 3‐year‐old children with a range of levels of conduct problems were interviewed when the child was just 3, and then again when the child was just 4. Childhood conduct problems were assessed using the parental account of childhood symptoms and parental attributions were assessed using a modification of Walker's Parental Attribution Questionnaire. Results indicate that even as young as age 3, child conduct problems are associated with negative maternal attributions. In longitudinal analyses, children's conduct problems at age 3 predicted mothers' attributions at age 4, but mothers' attributions did not predict children's conduct problems over the same time period. The data are consistent with the notion that negative attributions may be a result, rather than a cause, of having a difficult‐to‐manage child. This has implications for current proposed mechanisms that link maternal attributions and child conduct problems, and thus for interventions for these problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a Biomedical Program of Research in the Blackfeet Community: Challenges and Rewards

American Indian (AI) communities have high levels of stress and trauma and are disproportionately affected by numerous preventable diseases. Here, we describe an academic–community partnership based on a collaboration between Blackfeet Community College students and faculty in Psychology and Immunology at Montana State University (MSU). The collaboration, which has spanned over 5 years, was sparked by community interest in the relationship between stress and disease on the Blackfeet reservation. Specifically, community members wanted to understand how the experience of psychological stress and trauma may affect disease risk in their community and identify factors that promote resilience. In doing so, they hoped to identify pathways through which health could be improved for individual community members. Here, we discuss all stages of the collaborative process, including development of measures and methods and themes of research projects, challenges for community members and non‐indigenous collaborators, future directions for research, and the lessons learned. Finally, we note the ways in which this partnership and experience has advanced the science of community engagement in tribal communities, with the hope that our experiences will positively affect future collaborations between indigenous community members and non‐indigenous scientists.     

Should We Call E.T.? An Ethical-Political Analysis of METI

Is it possible to mount a compelling ethical argument for METI? As we have argued elsewhere, conventional ethical theories are highly anthropocentric, making them difficult to apply to unknown alien intelligences, whose characteristics, needs, and concerns may differ radically from our own. In the absence of ethically relevant information about ETIs we contend that it isn’t possible to provide a strong conventional ethical argument for METI. Drawing upon the ancient, less widely known, ethical-political tradition of cosmopolitanism, however, we show how proponents of METI could provide an ethical argument for trying to contact ETIs under the right procedural conditions.