Increased activation in superior temporal gyri as a function of increment in phonetic features

A common assumption is that phonetic sounds initiate unique processing in the superior temporal gyri and sulci (STG/STS). The anatomical areas subserving these processes are also implicated in the processing of non-phonetic stimuli such as music instrument sounds. The differential processing of phonetic and non-phonetic sounds was investigated in this study by applying a “sound-morphing” paradigm, where the presence of phonetic features were parametrically varied, creating a step-wise transition from a non-phonetic sound into a phonetic sound. The stimuli were presented in an event-related fMRI design. The fMRI-BOLD data were analysed using parametric contrasts. The results showed a higher sensitivity for sounds containing phonetic features compared to non-phonetic sounds in the middle part of STG, and in the anterior part of the planum temporale (PT) bilaterally. Although the same areas were involved in the processing of non-phonetic sounds, a difference in activation was evident in the STG, with an increase in activation related to increment of phonetic features in the sounds. The results indicate a stimulus-driven, bottom-up process that utilizes general auditory resources in the secondary auditory cortex, depending on specific phonetic features in the sounds.     

Assessment Center for Pilot Selection: Construct and Criterion Validity and the Impact of Assessor Type

Cette recherche a examiné la validité d'un centre d'évaluation pour la sélection de pilotes. Les scores de N = 1,036 participants ont été utilisés pour étudier la validité de construit. Un sous-échantillon de participants performants a été suivi et les évaluations des pairs ont été retenus comme mesures du critère. Les résultats démontrent une première évidence de validité de construit et de critère pour cet outil d'évaluation des compétences interpersonnelles et liées à la performance. Par ailleurs, les résultats ont aussi montré que le type d'évaluateur (psychologue vs pilote) modère la validité prédictive des scores du centre d'évaluation. Cet effet "type d'évaluateur" dépend de la sorte de variables prédictives. Les résultats sont discutés et des implications pratiques sont suggérées.
This study examined the validity of an assessment center in pilot selection as a new field of application. Assessment center ratings of N = 1,036 applicants were used to examine the construct validity. A subsample of successful applicants was followed up and peer ratings were chosen as criterion measures. The results provide first evidence of the construct and criterion validity of this assessment center approach for rating interpersonal and performance-related skills. Furthermore the type of assessor (psychologist versus pilot) moderates the predictive validity of the assessment center ratings. This type-of-assessor effect depends on the kind of predictor variables. The results are discussed and practical implications are suggested.     

Moving arms: the effects of sensorimotor information on the problem-solving process

Embodied cognition postulates a bi-directional link between the human body and its cognitive functions. Whether this holds for higher cognitive functions such as problem solving is unknown. We predicted that arm movement manipulations performed by the participants could affect the problem-solving solutions. We tested this prediction in quantitative reasoning tasks that allowed two solutions to each problem (addition or subtraction). In two studies with healthy adults (N?=?53 and N?=?50), we found an effect of problem-congruent movements on problem solutions. Consistent with embodied cognition, sensorimotor information gained via right or left arm movements affects the solution in different types of problem-solving tasks.     

Frustration of Life Goals Mediates the Negative Effect of Unemployment on Subjective Well-Being

The present study investigated whether unemployment influences the importance and the realization of life goals and whether a reduced realization of life goals mediates the negative effect of unemployment on subjective well-being. A sample of 256 employed and unemployed German adults was studied with scales measuring six different life goal domains (power, achievement, variety, altruism, intimacy, affiliation). Only weak differences between unemployed and employed people were found for importance ratings of life goals. However, current realization of life goals, particularly of agency goals such as power, achievement and variety, was significantly lower among unemployed persons than among employed persons. Thus, unemployment did not change the goals people wanted to achieve in their lifetime, but it inhibited the success of these strivings. Furthermore, current realization of life goals was found to be a mediator of the detrimental effect of unemployment on life satisfaction and positive/negative affect.     

Teaching multiply controlled intraverbals to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Reciprocal conversations, instructional activities, and other social interactions are replete with multiply controlled intraverbals, examples of which have been conceptualized in terms of conditional discriminations. Although the acquisition of conditional discriminations has been examined extensively in the behavior‐analytic literature, little research has evaluated procedures to establish multiply controlled intraverbals. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effects of procedures based on conditional discrimination training on the acquisition of multiply controlled intraverbals with 7 participants who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. We evaluated the effects of prompt delay with error correction, a differential observing response (DOR), and a DOR plus blocked trials on the acquisition of intraverbals using a multiple baseline design. Accuracy of intraverbal performance increased for at least 1 set of stimuli for all participants under prompt delay with error correction conditions; however, 4 participants required additional teaching (i.e., DOR, modified DOR, modified prompt delay with error correction). Based on these findings, when prompt delay with error correction is not sufficient to establish multiply controlled intraverbals, prompted DORs may be an effective alternative.     

Brain activation on pre-reading tasks reveals at-risk status for dyslexia in 6-year-old children

In this fMRI-study, 6-year-old children considered at risk for dyslexia were compared with an age-/gender-matched control group for differences in brain activation when presented with visual stimuli differing in demands for literacy processing. Stimuli were nameable pictures, brand logos familiar to children, and written words - these were either regularly spelled using early-acquired rules ("alphabetic") or more complex ("orthographic"). Brain responses distinguished between the presentation conditions, as a function of group, within many cortical areas. Activation in the alphabetic and orthographic conditions in the left angular gyrus correlated with individual at-risk index scores, and activation in inferior occipito-temporal regions further indicated differential activation for the two groups related to orthographic processing, especially. Since similar patterns are reported in adult dyslexics when processing written words, it appears that sensitivity to the cortical differentiation of reading networks is established prior to formal literacy training.     

Simulationen in den Sozialwissenschaften

Summary   Simulation in the Social Sciences. Computer simulation—hereafter just called ‘simulation’— more and more is getting an important tool in scientific research and development. Simulations provide powerful means for quite different scientific disciplines, for instance for cosmology as well as for economics, and it seems that they can help to extend the borderline of science. However, from a methodological point of view, besides their benefits one can identify several theoretical problems which can occur in the process of scientific research. Some of these problems shall be discussed and consequences of these problems for the use of simulations shall be outlined.     

Family Assessment Measure (FAM) and Process Model of Family Functioning

This paper provides an overview of twenty years' work in the development of the Family Assessment Measure (FAM), based on the Process Model of Family Functioning. The Process Model describes a conceptual framework for conducting family assessments according to seven key dimensions: task accomplishment, role performance, communication, affective expression, involvement, control, values and norms. The FAM provides measures of these dimensions at three levels: whole family system (general scale, fifty items), various dyadic relationships (dyadic scale, forty-two items) and individual functioning (self-rating scale, forty-two items). In addition, the general scale includes social desirability and defensiveness response style measures. Brief FAMs (fourteen items) are available for each scale as well. The measurement properties of FAM have been evaluated in a variety of clinical and non-clinical settings. Reliability estimates are very good in most contexts. FAM's validity has been supported using a number of techniques. Overall, the weight of the evidence is that FAM's effectively and efficiently assess family functioning and provide strong explanatory and predictive utility. This empirical evidence reinforces experiences of clinicians, indicating that FAM provides a rich source of information on family functioning.