Imagining novel futures: the roles of event plausibility and familiarity

The constructive episodic simulation hypothesis suggests that episodic memory supports the simulation of future events through extraction and recombination of stored information. The current study explicitly investigated the use of past episodic thought in the simulation of future scenarios. Participants simulated one of three possible scenarios, differing in plausibility and participants' prior experience of similar events. Participants recorded related memories and whether they were explicitly used during future event simulation. Memories were rated for source (self-experienced, other-experienced, or media). Findings suggest prior experience and event plausibility did not impact upon ease of future event simulation or the extent of memory usage during simulations. Differences emerged in the source of information used to assist future event simulation. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that episodic memories from a variety of sources are recombined when generating future simulations of novel events.     

Attention and social functioning in children with malformations of cortical development and stroke

Attention and social functioning and their interrelationships have not been routinely examined in children with early brain insult (EBI). This study aimed to describe attention and social functioning in children with two types of EBI: malformations of cortical development (MCD) and stroke. Children diagnosed with MCD (n = 14, 6 males) or stroke (n = 14, 8 males) aged 8 to 14 years (M = 12 years 11 months) completed neuropsychological assessments to examine attention processes. Primary caregivers completed a questionnaire to assess executive components of children's attention and teachers completed a questionnaire to measure children's social functioning. Brain scans (MRI or CT) were coded by a pediatric neuroradiologist. Higher rates of impairments in attention and social function were found in children with EBI compared with normative expectations. Children with MCD experienced more global and clinically significant levels of impairment than children with stroke; though impairments were present in both groups. A strong association between executive components of attention and social function was observed. In addition, complex attention processes were associated with social function. The findings emphasize the reciprocity between attention, behavior and social outcomes, and the vulnerability of social function following EBI.     

Applicant Reactions in Saudi Arabia: Organizational attractiveness and core‐self evaluation

This paper reports findings from a survey into applicant reactions of working adults in Saudi Arabia. A sample of 193 participants from four job functions was obtained, with measures of organizational attractiveness, core‐self evaluation, and applicant reactions to four popular selection methods in the country – interviews, résumés, work sample tests, and references – being included. Findings indicate a notably similar pattern of preference reactions to previous studies in other (Western) countries, affirming arguments for so‐called reaction generalizability. Work sample tests were rated the most favorably followed by interviews, résumés, and references. For specific procedural dimensions, résumés were perceived as the most favorable, followed by work sample tests, interviews, and references. Several significant differences were found across job functions, mostly for interviews and résumés. Significant effects were found between reactions and organizational attractiveness, and between reactions and core‐self evaluation, including some interaction effects. Implications for future research and for practice in employee selection are considered in the conclusion.     

Assessing Innovation: A 360‐degree appraisal study

This study examines the evaluation of innovation in a wider competency framework and within a 360‐degree rating procedure among managerial‐level job holders. The total sample of 2,979 individuals consisted of 296 target employees and their 318 bosses, 1208 peers, 828 direct reports, and 329 others who provided ratings on a competency framework. The results showed significant differences in innovation‐related competence ratings between different raters. Self‐ratings were significantly lower compared to the overall observer ratings and were correlated only with peer ratings. Different patterns of results were found for the lower and upper quartiles based on self‐ratings. For instance, no correlations were observed between self‐ratings and the ratings of any observers in the group of best self‐rated individuals. Implications for practice and future research in assessment and evaluation of innovation are discussed in conclusion.     

Psychometric assessment of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) among Chinese adolescents

The Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) has the longest empirical track record as a valid measure of trait mindfulness. Most of what is understood about trait mindfulness comes from administering the MAAS to relatively homogenous samples of Caucasian adults. This study rigorously evaluates the psychometric properties of the MAAS among Chinese adolescents attending high school in Chengdu, China. Classrooms from 24 schools were randomly selected to participate in the study. Three waves of longitudinal data (N = 5,287 students) were analyzed. MAAS construct, nomological, and incremental validity were evaluated as well as its measurement invariance across gender using latent factor analyses. Participants' mean age was 16.2 years (SD = 0.7), and 51% were male. The 15-item MAAS had adequate fit to the one-dimensional factor structure at Wave 1, and this factor structure was replicated at Wave 2. A 6-item short scale of the MAAS fit well to the data at Wave 3. The MAAS maintained reliability (Cronbach's α = .89-.93; test-restest r = .35-.52), convergent/discriminant validity, and explained additional variance in mental health measures beyond other psychosocial constructs. Both the 15- and 6-item MAAS scales displayed at least partial factorial invariance across gender. The findings suggest that the MAAS is a sound measure of trait mindfulness among Chinese adolescents. To reduce respondent burden, the MAAS 6-item short-scale provides an option to measure trait mindfulness.     

Maturation of rapid auditory temporal processing and subsequent nonword repetition performance in children

According to the rapid auditory processing theory, the ability to parse incoming auditory information underpins learning of oral and written language. There is wide variation in this low-level perceptual ability, which appears to follow a protracted developmental course. We studied the development of rapid auditory processing using event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by tone pairs presented at varying inter-stimulus intervals (25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 ms) in a sample of children (N = 103) aged 7-9 years initially and again at 9-11 years. We also assessed their ability to repeat nonsense words at both time-points. The amount of difference between the ERP to single tones and paired tones (as assessed by the intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) provided a measure of the brain's capacity to discriminate auditory information delivered at different presentation rates. Results showed that older children showed greater neural discrimination to tone pairs than younger children at rapid presentation rates, although these differences were reduced at slower presentation rates. The ICC at time 1 significantly predicted nonword repetition scores two years later, providing support for the view that rapid auditory temporal processing ability affects oral language development in typically developing children.     

Overlapping neural substrates between intentional and incidental down-regulation of negative emotions

Emotion regulation can be achieved in various ways, but few studies have evaluated the extent to which the neurocognitive substrates of these distinct operations overlap. In the study reported here, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure activity in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex of 10 participants who completed two independent tasks of emotion regulation-reappraisal, measuring intentional emotion regulation, and affect labeling, measuring incidental emotion regulation-with the objective of identifying potential overlap in the neural substrates underlying each task. Analyses focused on a priori regions of interest in the amygdala and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). For both tasks, fMRI showed decreased amygdala activation during emotion regulation compared with emotion conditions. During reappraisal, this decrease in amygdala activation was accompanied by a proportional decrease in emotional intensity ratings; during affect labeling, the decrease in amygdala activation correlated with self-reported aggression. Importantly, across participants, the magnitude of decrease in amygdala activation during reappraisal correlated with the magnitude of decrease during affect labeling, even though the tasks were administered on separate days, and values indexing amygdala activation during each task were extracted independently of one another. In addition, IFG-amygdala connectivity, assessed via psychophysiological interaction analysis, overlapped between tasks in two regions within the right IFG. The results suggest that the two tasks recruit overlapping regions of prefrontal cortex, resulting in similar reductions in amygdala activation, regardless of the strategy employed. Intentional and incidental forms of emotion regulation, despite their phenomenological differences, may therefore converge on a common neurocognitive pathway.     

Elevated responding to safe conditions as a specific risk factor for anxiety versus depressive disorders: evidence from a longitudinal investigation

The current study evaluated the degree to which startle reflexes (SRs) in safe conditions versus danger conditions were predictive of the onset of anxiety disorders. Specificity of these effects to anxiety disorders was evaluated in comparison to unipolar depressive disorders and with consideration of level of neuroticism. A startle paradigm was administered at baseline to 132 nondisordered adolescents as part of a longitudinal study examining risk factors for emotional disorders. Participants underwent a repetition of eight safe-danger sequences and were told that delivery of an aversive stimulus leading to a muscle contraction of the arm would occur only in the late part of danger conditions. One aversive stimulus occurred midway in the safe-danger sequences. Participants were assessed for the onset of anxiety and unipolar depressive disorders annually over the next 3 to 4 years. Larger SR magnitude during safe conditions following delivery of the aversive stimulus predicted the subsequent first onset of anxiety disorders. Moreover, prediction of the onset of anxiety disorders remained significant above and beyond the effects of comorbid unipolar depression, neuroticism, and subjective ratings of intensity of the aversive stimulus. In sum, elevated responding to safe conditions following an aversive stimulus appears to be a specific, prospective risk factor for the first onset of anxiety disorders.     

Mind the gap: assessing impairment among children affected by proposed revisions to the diagnostic criteria for oppositional defiant disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) workgroup for disruptive behavior disorders is considering adopting a frequency threshold for symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). In the present study, the impact of substituting the term "often" with a specific age-based frequency on impairment and prognosis among preschool children was tested in a longitudinal design. Mutually exclusive groups were created to identify children who met criteria for ODD based on a symptom threshold of "often," as in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-4), and those that met criteria for ODD based on a threshold of "1-2 times per day," which approximated the proposal for DSM-5. Comparisons of these groups to each other and to nondiagnosed peers determined the impact of changing the symptom threshold on impairment and prognosis. Close to one-third of children who met DSM-4 criteria for ODD did not meet criteria under the alternative diagnosis; African American children were overrepresented in this group. Preschoolers who met DSM-4, but not the alternative criteria, had higher rates of ODD, conduct disorder (CD), and were more impaired than their nondiagnosed peers at baseline and follow-up. Preschoolers meeting DSM-4 criteria were less impaired than children meeting the alternative ODD criteria at baseline according to parent, but not according to teacher report. No differences could be detected between those meeting DSM-4 and those meeting the alternative criteria in rate of ODD, CD, or impairment at follow-up. Among clinically referred preschool children, changing the symptom threshold for ODD could result in a sizable group of children who would no longer meet diagnostic criteria, despite demonstrating significant morbidity concurrently and prospectively.