Tactile-Based Pantomime Grasping: Knowledge of Results is Not Enough to Support an Absolute Calibration

Tactile-based pantomime-grasping requires that a performer use their right hand to ‘grasp’ a target previously held in the palm of their opposite hand – a task examining how mechanoreceptive (i.e., tactile) feedback informs the motor system about an object property (i.e., size). Here, we contrasted pantomime-grasps performed with (H+) and without (H?) haptic feedback (i.e., thumb and forefinger position information derived from the grasping hand touching the object) with a condition providing visual KR (VKR) related to absolute target object size. Just-noticeable-difference (JND) scores were computed to determine whether responses adhered to – or violated – Weber's law. JNDs for H+ trials violated the law, whereas H? and VKR trials adhered to the law. Accordingly, results demonstrate that haptic feedback – and not KR – supports an absolute tactile-haptic calibration.     

Longitudinal investigation of reciprocal relationship between stress reactions and hardiness

Although many studies have examined hardiness as a protective factor against stress reactions, to the authors' knowledge no studies have yet examined the impact of stress reactions on hardiness. However, there is theoretical support for this notion. In this longitudinal study of 1,571 Marine recruits who participated in a highly stressful training program, the authors applied regression-based cross-lagged analyses to examine associations between stress reactions and hardiness over time for both men and women, and they investigated social support as a moderator of these relationships. Men who were hardier at Time 1 (T1) reported lower stress reactions at Time 2 (T2), and men who experienced more stress reactions at T1 were less hardy at T2. Although the negative impact of stress reactions on hardiness was strongest when social support was low for both genders, stress reactions predicted enhanced hardiness when social support was high for women only.     

The driver vigilance telemetric control system (DVTCS): Investigating sensitivity to experimentally induced sleep loss and fatigue

Vigilance technologies are used in the Australian rail industry to address the risks associated with driver sleepiness and fatigue. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a new device, designed to detect lowered states of arousal using electrodermal activity (EDA), would be sensitive to experimentally induced sleepiness and fatigue. Fifteen individuals (7 of them female, 9 male; 18–32 years of age) spent 3 consecutive days in the laboratory, which included 1 night of sustained wakefulness (28 h). The participants completed a 10-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) and fatigue and sleepiness ratings every 2 h, and a 30-min driving simulator every 4 h. As was expected, simulated driving, PVT, and subjective ratings indicated increasing levels of sleepiness and fatigue during sustained wakefulness. The EDA device output did not coincide with these findings. The results indicated that the EDA indicator was not sensitive to increased sleepiness and fatigue at the levels produced in the present study.     

Family-of-origin maltreatment, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, social information processing deficits, and relationship abuse perpetration

In this study, the authors examined the interrelations among family-of-origin maltreatment variables, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, social information processing deficits, and male-to-female psychological and physical intimate relationship abuse perpetration in adulthood among a community sample of 164 men and their partners. In bivariate analyses, higher family-of-origin childhood parental rejection was associated with the perpetration of psychological and physical abuse in adulthood, and childhood exposure to interparental violence was also associated with adult psychological abuse perpetration. Structural equation modeling analyses indicated that when childhood variables and other study variables were considered together, only childhood parental rejection was associated with the abuse perpetration outcomes, and these effects were indirect through PTSD symptoms and social information processing deficits. Results indicate a need for further investigation into the mechanisms accounting for the impact of early maltreatment on the development of abusive intimate relationship behavior.     

Intimate partner aggression reporting concordance and correlates of agreement among men with alcohol use disorders and their female partners

This study examined relationship aggression reporting concordance among 303 men with alcohol use disorders and their female partners enrolled in couples-based alcohol abuse treatment. Agreement for physical and psychological aggression was generally consistent with, or higher than, concordance rates reported among other populations. Men's antisocial personality disorder characteristics were the strongest predictor of higher concordance for male- and female-perpetrated aggression. Higher alcohol problem severity, poorer relationship adjustment, and higher psychopathic personality features were associated with better concordance in some analyses. Women reported experiencing more physical aggression than men reported perpetrating, and women reported perpetrating more psychological aggression than men reported experiencing. Findings highlight the importance of obtaining aggression reports from both partners and the need for research investigating methods for improving concordance.     

THE EFFECTS OF MATCHED STIMULATION AND RESPONSE INTERRUPTION AND REDIRECTION ON VOCAL STEREOTYPY

Stereotypy has been classified as repetitive behavior that does not serve any apparent function. Two procedures that have been found to reduce rates of vocal stereotypy effectively are response interruption and redirection (RIRD) and noncontingent access to matched stimulation (MS). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of RIRD alone, MS alone, and MS combined with RIRD. One participant's results suggested similar suppressive effects on vocal stereotypy across treatment conditions. For the second participant, a slightly greater suppression of stereotypy was associated with MS + RIRD. In addition, both participants emitted a greater frequency of appropriate vocalizations in conditions with RIRD. Data suggest that the addition of MS might facilitate the implementation of RIRD in applied settings.     

Motivated social memory: Belonging needs moderate the own-group bias in face recognition

The current research examines why people have superior recognition memory for own-group members compared to other-group members. In two studies, we provide evidence for one motivational mechanism underlying own-group bias—social belonging needs. In Study 1, participants assigned to a minimal group had superior memory for own-group compared to other-group faces, replicating previous research on the own-group bias. This pattern was moderated by participants' need to belong: participants who reported a higher (versus lower) need to belong showed greater own-group memory bias. In Study 2, participants who were socially excluded had superior memory for own-university compared to other-university faces than participants who were selected to work alone by a computer. Together, these studies suggest that chronic belonging needs and social exclusion motivate own-group bias. (124 words)     

The neural underpinnings of prosody in autism

This study examines the processing of prosodic cues to linguistic structure and to affect, drawing on fMRI and behavioral data from 16 high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and 11 typically developing controls. Stimuli were carefully matched on pitch, intensity, and duration, while varying systematically in conditions of affective prosody (angry versus neutral speech) and grammatical prosody (questions versus statement). To avoid conscious attention to prosody, which normalizes responses in young people with ASD, the implicit comprehension task directed attention to semantic aspects of the stimuli. Results showed that when perceiving prosodic cues, both affective and grammatical, activation of neural regions was more generalized in ASD than in typical development, and areas recruited reflect heightened reliance on cognitive control, reading of intentions, attentional management, and visualization. This broader recruitment of executive and "mind-reading" brain areas for a relative simple language-processing task may be interpreted to suggest that speakers with high-functioning autism (HFA) have developed less automaticity in language processing and may also suggest that "mind-reading" or theory of mind deficits are intricately bound up in language processing. Data provide support for both a right-lateralized as well as a bilateral model of prosodic processing in typical individuals, depending upon the function of the prosodic information.     

Attributions for ambiguity in a treatment-decision context can create ambiguity aversion or seeking

The phenomenon of ambiguity aversion suggests that people prefer options that offer precisely rather than imprecisely known chances of success. However, past work on people's responses to ambiguity in health treatment contexts found ambiguity seeking rather than aversion. The present work addressed whether such findings reflected a broad tendency for ambiguity seeking in health treatment contexts or whether specific attributions for ambiguity play a substantial role. In three studies, people choose between two treatment options that involved similar underlying probabilities, except that the probabilities for one option involved ambiguity. The attributions offered for the ambiguity played an important role in the results. For example, when the range of probabilities associated with an ambiguous treatment was attributed to the fact that different studies yield different results, participants tended to show ambiguity aversion or indifference. However, when the range was attributed to something that participants could control (e.g., regular application of a cream) or something about which they were overoptimistic (e.g., their immune system function), participants tended to show ambiguity seeking. Health professionals should be mindful of how people will interpret and use information about ambiguity when choosing among treatments.