Everyday scale errors

Young children occasionally make scale errors – they attempt to fit their bodies into extremely small objects or attempt to fit a larger object into another, tiny, object. For example, a child might try to sit in a dollhouse-sized chair or try to stuff a large doll into it. Scale error research was originally motivated by parents' and researchers' informal accounts of these behaviors. However, scale errors have only been documented using laboratory procedures designed to promote their occurrence. To formally document the occurrence of scale errors in everyday settings, we posted a survey on the internet. Across two studies, participants reported many examples of everyday scale errors that are similar to those observed in our labs and were committed by children of the same age. These findings establish that scale errors occur in the course of children's daily lives, lending further support to the account that these behaviors stem from general aspects of visual processing.     

The learning of two similar complex movement sequences: does practice insulate a sequence from interference?

Panzer et al. [Panzer, S., Wilde, H., & Shea, C. H. (2006). The learning of two similar complex movement sequences: Proactive and retroactive effects on learning. Journal of Motor Behavior, 38, 60-70] found evidence to indicate that the memory state(s) underpinning the production of a movement sequence that was practiced for one day was essentially "overwritten" when another similar sequence was subsequently practiced on the next day. An interference paradigm was used to determine if additional practice on the first sequence would insulate it from retroactive interference arising from learning a new similar sequence. Participants produced the sequences by moving a lever with their right arm/hand to sequentially presented target locations. The experimental group practiced one 16-element movement sequence (S1) for two consecutive days. A second 16-element sequence (S2) was practiced on Day 3. The sequence practiced on Day 3 was created by switching the positions of 2 of 16 elements in the sequence practiced on the first day. Control groups received either two days of practice on S1 or one day of practice on S2. Contrary to our earlier findings (Panzer, Wilde, & Shea, 2006) of strong retroactive interference when S1 was only practiced for one day, we found no evidence of retroactive interference when S1 was practiced for two days prior to the switch to S2 practice. Interestingly, but also contrary to our earlier findings, we found the learning of S2 was facilitated by the prior practice of S1. This proactive facilitation was observed in S2 acquisition and on the S2 retention test.     

University psychology clinics in Australia: Their place in professional training

Abstract: There is universal recognition of the need for developmentally appropriate supervised clinical experience in professional psychology training. University clinics were established to provide a bridging function for postgraduate clinical psychology students, assisting the integration of psychological theory and research into real‐world clinical applications and professional identity development. The aim of training in university clinics is to provide opportunities for clinical practice and high‐quality supervision to monitor and shape clinical skills. The experiences gained in external practicum settings complement this initial training but cannot replace it. The recent introduction of Medicare rebates for psychology services has threatened the survival of university clinics because low‐cost psychological treatment is now available from experienced practitioners. This paper provides data on Australian university clinics collected before the introduction of Medicare. Concerted efforts are needed to protect university clinics in order to maintain standards required for accreditation of clinical psychology training programs. The potential impact of the loss of university training clinics is discussed and strategies to ensure their survival are suggested.     

Transfer of movement sequences: bigger is better

Experiment 1 was conducted to determine if proportional transfer from "small to large" scale movements is as effective as transferring from "large to small." We hypothesize that the learning of larger scale movement will require the participant to learn to manage the generation, storage, and dissipation of forces better than when practicing smaller scale movements. Thus, we predict an advantage for transfer of larger scale movements to smaller scale movements relative to transfer from smaller to larger scale movements. Experiment 2 was conducted to determine if adding a load to a smaller scale movement would enhance later transfer to a larger scale movement sequence. It was hypothesized that the added load would require the participants to consider the dynamics of the movement to a greater extent than without the load. The results replicated earlier findings of effective transfer from large to small movements, but consistent with our hypothesis, transfer was less effective from small to large (Experiment 1). However, when a load was added during acquisition transfer from small to large was enhanced even though the load was removed during the transfer test. These results are consistent with the notion that the transfer asymmetry noted in Experiment 1 was due to factors related to movement dynamics that were enhanced during practice of the larger scale movement sequence, but not during the practice of the smaller scale movement sequence. The findings that the movement structure is unaffected by transfer direction but the movement dynamics are influenced by transfer direction is consistent with hierarchal models of sequence production.     

The effects of attributions of intent and apology on forgiveness: When saying sorry may not help the story

Despite the oft-cited positive effects of an apology on forgiveness, forgiveness does not always follow. In three studies we tested the ironic notion that, following an interpersonal transgression, an apology following an attribution of intent might further hinder, rather than benefit, the forgiveness process. The findings of three studies were systematically replicated and supported our primary prediction that, following attributions of intent, saying sorry does not always lead to forgiveness. When offenders intentionally committed a transgression, forgiveness was less likely following an apology. However, when offenses were unintentional, forgiveness was more likely following an apology. We also showed that these effects were explained by participants’ impression of the transgressor.     

Detecting the snake in the grass: attention to fear-relevant stimuli by adults and young children

Snakes are among the most common targets of fears and phobias. In visual detection tasks, adults detect their presence more rapidly than the presence of other kinds of visual stimuli. We report evidence that very young children share this attentional bias. In three experiments, preschool children and adults were asked to find a single target picture among an array of eight distractors. Both the children and the adults detected snakes more rapidly than three types of nonthreatening stimuli (flowers, frogs, and caterpillars). These results provide the first evidence of enhanced visual detection of evolutionarily relevant threat stimuli in young children.     

A comparison of interview and self-report methods for the assessment of borderline personality disorder criteria

Interview methods are widely regarded as the standard for the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD), whereas self-report methods are considered a time-efficient alternative. However, the relative validity of these methods has not been sufficiently tested. The current study used data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality disorder Study to compare diagnostic base rates and the relative validity of interview and self-report methods for assessing functional outcome in BPD. Although self-report yielded higher base rates of criteria endorsement, results did not support the common assumption that diagnostic interviews are more valid than self-reports, but instead indicated the combined use of these methods optimally identifies BPD criteria.     

Measurement of equity sensitivity: a comparison of the Equity Sensitivity Instrument and Equity Preference Questionnaire

The psychometric properties of the Equity Sensitivity Instrument (Huseman, Hatfield, & Miles, 1985, 1987) and Equity Preference Questionnaire (Sauley & Bedeian, 2000) are compared. 173 undergraduate business majors completed several work attitude and personality measures. Results suggest that the Equity Preference Questionnaire may be a better measure of the equity sensitivity construct than the Equity Sensitivity Instrument which is typically used in research. Reliabilities for the scores on the Equity Sensitivity Instrument and Equity Preference Questionnaire were equivalent (coefficient alphas of .85 and .86, respectively); however, evidence for convergent and content validity was greater for the Equity Preference Questionnaire. Understanding individual differences in perceptions of equity and how best to measure these differences can affect workplace outcomes (e.g., turnover, employee engagement.     

Thinking of things unseen: infants' use of language to update mental representations

One of the most distinctive characteristics of humans is the capacity to learn from what other people tell them. Often new information is provided about an entity that is not present, requiring incorporation of that information into one's mental representation of the absent object. Here we present evidence regarding the emergence of this vital ability. Nineteen- and 22-month-old infants first learned a name for a toy and later were told that the toy had undergone a change in state (it had become wet) while out of view. The 22-month-olds (but not the 19-month-olds) subsequently identified the toy solely on the basis of the property that they were told about but had never seen. Thus, before the end of their 2nd year, infants can use verbal information to update their representation of an absent object. This developmental advance inaugurates a uniquely human and immensely powerful form of learning about the world.     

The effect of attentional focus on social anxiety

The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of attentional focus on social anxiety in a group of high and low blushing-anxious subjects. One hundred and fourteen psychology undergraduate students were screened using the Fear of Blushing subscale of the Blushing Questionnaire [B?gels, S. M., & Reith, W. (1999). Validity of two questionnaires to assess social fears: The Dutch social phobia and anxiety questionnaire and the blushing, trembling and sweating questionnaire. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 21, 51-66]. Those with the most extreme scores in the top and bottom 20% of the distribution were selected to form a high (n=22) and a low (n=22) blushing-anxious group. Subjects were randomly allocated to either a self-focused attention (SFA) condition or a task-focused attention (TFA) condition. They were asked to engage in a 5 min conversation with the first author, and were instructed to either self-focus (SFA condition) or task-focus (TFA condition). Levels of social anxiety and self-awareness were measured using visual analogue scales. Results suggest that the there was a significant condition by group interaction, with high blushing individuals showing considerably higher levels of social anxiety in the SFA condition compared to the TFA condition while low blushing individuals showed no significant difference across the two conditions.