The development of rapid online control in children aged 6–12 years: Reaching performance

Rapid online control during reaching has an important bearing on movement accuracy and flexibility. It is surprising then that few studies have investigated the development of rapid online control in children. In this study, we were particularly interested in age-related changes in the nature of motor control in response to visual perturbation. We compared the performance of younger (6–7 years of age), mid-aged (8–9), and older (10–12) children, as well as healthy young adults using a double-step reaching task. Participants were required to make target-directed reaching movements in near space, while also responding to visual perturbations that occurred at movement onset for a small percentage of trials. Results showed that both the older and mid-aged children corrected their reaching in response to the unexpected shifts in target location significantly faster than younger children, manifest by reduced time to correction. In turn, the responses of adults were faster than older children in terms of movement time and on kinematic measures such as time to correction and time to peak velocity. These results indicate that the capacity to utilize forward estimates of limb position in the service of online control of early perturbations to ballistic (or rapid) reaching develops in a non-linear fashion, progressing rapidly between early and middle childhood, showing a degree of stability over mid and later childhood, but then evidence for continued refinement between childhood and young adulthood. The pattern of change after childhood and into early adolescence requires further investigation, particularly during the rapid phase of physical growth that accompanies puberty.     

Relationship aggression,violence and self‐regulation in Australian newlywed couples

Research in the United States shows that relationship violence occurs in a substantial minority of newlywed couples, and is associated with a range of risk factors such as family‐of‐origin violence. Few of the associated risk factors, however, are potentially modifiable through early intervention to prevent violence. In the current study self‐reported aggression and violence were assessed in 379 Australian newlywed couples. Consistent with US‐based research, >20% of newlywed Australian couples reported at least one incident of relationship violence in the past year. A range of correlates of relationship violence and aggression was assessed, including the construct of relationship self‐regulation, which is the extent that partners report being able to enhance their relationship with their partner. Low relationship self‐regulation was correlated with relationship aggression and violence. It was concluded that the aggression and violence are common problems in Australian newlywed couples, and that enhancing relationship self‐regulation might help reduce the prevalence of aggression.     

Post‐Traumatic Symptoms Among Victims of Workplace Bullying: Exploring Gender Differences and Shattered Assumptions

The aims of the present study were twofold: assessing the prevalence and intensity of post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in victims of bullying, and exploring whether victims of bullying differ in their basic assumptions compared to a control group. A total of 183 victims of bullying and 183 control group participants took part in the research. The results showed that 42.6% of the total sample met all DSM‐IV‐TR criteria for PTSD, whereas 54.1% did not fulfill the A1 criterion. Post‐traumatic symptoms were more prevalent among women (49%), as compared to men (35.3%). Furthermore, victims showed significantly more negative beliefs about the world, the people, and themselves, compared to their non‐bullied controls. These results fit well with cognitive theory of trauma.     

Imagery Use and Self‐Determined Motivations in a Community Sample of Exercisers and Non‐Exercisers1

This study examined the patterns of imagery use and motivational self‐determination, and the relationships between them in regular exercisers (RE), non‐exercisers who intend to exercise (NE‐I), and non‐exercisers who do not intend to exercise (NE‐N). A survey was conducted through the random sampling of a large population. The NE‐N group reported using the same amount of imagery as the other 2 groups. NE‐N participants were the least and RE participants the most self‐determined, with NE‐I participants in between. The patterns of association among imagery and self‐determination were different for the NE‐N participants than the other 2 groups. It was concluded that imagery interventions that might be successful with RE and NE‐I participants are unlikely to be effective with NE‐N participants.     

Increasing positive intergroup contact

We tested an intervention designed to correct negative expectations about inter-racial interactions, increase the positivity of those interactions, and increase inter-racial friendships. In Study 1 (n = 58) White college students watched videotapes depicting an inter-racial friendship and either did or did not write about a similar experience. Participants who wrote about a similar experience expected and actually had a more positive inter-racial interaction. In Study 2 (n = 99) White college students watched videotapes depicting an inter-racial or same-race friendship and either did or did not write about a similar experience. Those who saw the inter-racial video and wrote about a similar experience had a more positive inter-racial interaction and initiated more inter-racial friendships in the following weeks than participants in the other conditions.     

Consuming experience: Why affective forecasters overestimate comparative value

The hedonic value of an outcome can be influenced by the alternatives to which it is compared, which is why people expect to be happier with outcomes that maximize comparative value (e.g., the best of several mediocre alternatives) than with outcomes that maximize absolute value (e.g., the worst of several excellent alternatives). The results of five experiments suggest that affective forecasters overestimate the importance of comparative value because forecasters do not realize that comparison requires cognitive resources, and that experiences consume more cognitive resources than do forecasts. In other words, because forecasters overestimate the extent to which they will be able to think about what they did not get while experiencing what they got.     

Searching for a Vulnerable Dark Triad: Comparing Factor 2 Psychopathy,Vulnerable Narcissism,and Borderline Personality Disorder

ABSTRACT Paulhus and Williams (2002) identified a “Dark Triad” comprising the following related personality styles: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. The heterogeneity found in narcissism and psychopathy raises the possibility of a second triad made up of emotional vulnerability and dark traits (i.e., the vulnerable dark triad; VDT). Along with vulnerable narcissism and Factor 2 psychopathy, the third member of the hypothesized VDT is borderline personality disorder (BPD). Using a sample of 361 undergraduates, we examine the relations between these constructs and their relations with criterion variables, including personality, environmental etiological factors (e.g., abuse), and current functioning (e.g., psychopathology, affect). The results suggest that the VDT constructs are significantly related to one another and manifest similar nomological networks, particularly vulnerable narcissism and BPD. Although the VDT members are related to negative emotionality and antagonistic interpersonal styles, they are also related to introversion and disinhibition. Ultimately, it seems there is a “dark continuum” of pathological personality traits that differ primarily in relation to negative and positive emotionality and disinhibition.     

Syndromes or symptoms in the assessment of aphasic patients?

The procedure generally used to diagnose aphasic patients consists of classifying them in one of the classic syndromes on the basis of the analysis of their symptoms. However, this taxonomy has several important problems, the main one being that it does not take into account the variability of aphasic patients, as there are many more disorder profiles than those included in the syndromes. In order to test the homogeneity of a sample of patients diagnosed with the classic taxonomy, 15 aphasic patients (5 Broca, 5 Wernicke and 5 Conduction) and 5 healthy controls were tested with nine comprehension and production tasks. Participants were aged 38 to 81 years old. The results indicate the existence of great variability in patients labeled with the same diagnosis, as revealed by the differences in within-group scores in each task, and a limited adjustment to the expected profile, with some patients showing symptoms allegedly corresponding to other syndromes. Our results call attention to the need to study each patient individually and interpret their disorders regardless of the syndromes.     

Effects of computer-assisted practice on reading and spelling in children with learning disabilities

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of computer-assisted practice on reading and spelling in children with learning disabilities (LD). We compared three practice conditions, one with reading and two with spelling, in order to test whether computer-based reading and spelling practice has an influence on the development of reading and spelling ability in children with LD. A sample was selected of 85 children with LD, with age range between 8 years and 10 years (age, M=111.02, SD=9.6), whose spelling performance was two years below grade level. The participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: 1) Copy the target word from the computer screen (n=22), 2) Memorize the target word and write it from memory (n=21), 3) Word reading (n=21), and 4) the untrained control group (n=21). We administered measures of pseudoword reading, phonological awareness, phonological word decoding and orthographical word decoding tasks. We examined the learning effects and transfer effects on words classified as a function of length, consistency, and complexity of syllable structure. Overall, the results showed that reading training did not improve spelling; however, the children who participated in the copy training condition improved their spelling skills.     

Response to Intervention (RtI) Model: a promising alternative for identifying students with learning disabilities?

Until recently, in the United States, the traditional way to identify students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) was through the discrepancy model where student IQs were compared to their level of achievement. However, educators and researchers alike have questioned this model as a means to define and identify students with SLD. The 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) includes the use of response to intervention (RtI) as possible alternative to the intelligence-achievement discrepancy for identifying SLD. Core components of RtI include high-quality classroom instruction, universal screening, continuous progress monitoring, research-based interventions, and fidelity of instructional interventions. In Spain, the last publication of Ley Orgánica 2/2006, May 3, of Education (LOE) uses the term, Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), in the chapter on students with specific needs of educational support. Some Autonomous Communities in Spain like the Canary Islands region are regulating SLD identification that adds RtI as an option to use in the eligibility process. Nevertheless, this model it is still at an embryonic stage and many issues are unresolved. While no special issue can cover all of these themes and issues, the contributions included in this monograph examine relevant aspects of this approach. Indeed, this special section is an attempt to introduce in Spain an approach that could be an alternative for identifying and intervening with students who have learning disabilities.