Introduction to the special section on the neural substrate of analogical reasoning and metaphor comprehension

The special section on the neural substrate of relational reasoning includes 4 articles that address the processes and brain regions involved in analogical reasoning (Green, Kraemer, Fugelsang, Gray, & Dunbar, 2011; Maguire, McClelland, Donovan, Tillman, & Krawczyk, 2011) and in metaphor comprehension (Chettih, Durgin, & Grodner, 2011; Prat, Mason, & Just, 2011). We see this work as an example of how neuroscience approaches to cognition can lead to increased understanding of cognitive processes. In this brief introduction, we first situate the 4 articles in the context of prior cognitive neuroscience work on relational reasoning. We then highlight the main issues explored in these articles: different sources of complexity and difficulty in relational processing, potential differences between the roles of the 2 hemispheres, and the impact of individual differences in various cognitive abilities. The 4 articles illustrate a range of methodologies, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; Green et al., 2011; Prat et al., 2011), event-related potentials (ERPs; Maguire et al., 2011), and different types of semantic priming (Chettih et al., 2011; Prat et al., 2011). They highlight the connections between research on analogy and on metaphor comprehension and suggest, collectively, that a cognitive neuroscience approach to relational reasoning can lead to converging conclusions.     

Obstacles to research in residential juvenile justice facilities: recommendations for researchers

Federal, state, and local initiatives to improve the treatment and outcomes for young people in the juvenile justice system prompt the need for additional research. Despite the call for empirical data, researchers encounter numerous obstacles when initiating and conducting studies in detention and post-adjudication facilities. These obstacles are often only briefly mentioned in publications, but they can interfere with researchers' desires and abilities to conduct studies in these settings. This paper reviews legal, ethical, and methodological challenges to successfully conducting research in detention and residential post-adjudication placements, including selecting and accessing appropriate facilities, obtaining institutional review board approval, seeking parental permission and youth assent, reporting child abuse and neglect, responding to participants' threats to harm self or others, working effectively with facilities, juvenile justice system-related attrition, and the dissemination of research findings. Recommendations are presented to help investigators anticipate obstacles when designing and executing research protocols to prevent interference and to encourage ethical responses and successful study completion.     

An Inkblot for the Implicit Assessment of Personality: The Semantic Misattribution Procedure

Misattributions people make about their own reaction to ambiguous stimuli can be used to measure personality self‐concepts implicitly. On the basis of a semantic misattribution priming paradigm [semantic misattribution procedure (SMP)], we assessed the implicit personality self‐concept related to three dimensions included in the Big‐Five model: conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion. Across three studies (N1 = 98, N2 = 140, and N3 = 135), the SMP was robustly related, in the expected direction, to individual differences in self‐reported personality questionnaires and managed to predict both self‐reported and objectively measured behaviours. The main advantage of SMP over classical explicit measures of personality is its higher resistance to social desirability tendencies, although its psychometric properties are somewhat lower than those pertaining to explicit measures of personality. Finally, comparisons of our results with studies that used other implicit measures of personality self‐concept indicate that the SMP has higher criterion validity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Executive functioning and psychological adjustment in children and youth with spina bifida

Children and adolescents with spina bifida are at risk for poor neuropsychological functioning and psychological outcomes. The relationship between executive functioning and psychological adjustment is an area worthy of investigation in this population. The current study assessed executive functioning and psychological outcomes in a group of children and adolescents with spina bifida (SBM) (n = 51) and nondisabled controls (n = 45). A mediation model was hypothesized, such that Metacognition, as measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), mediated the relationship between group status (spina bifida versus nondisabled controls) and psychological outcomes. Results indicated that metacognitive skills fully explained the relationship between group and internalizing and depressive symptoms as reported by mothers. In particular, specific components of the BRIEF Metacognition composite were most responsible for this relationship, including Initiate, Working Memory, and Plan/Organize. The study limitations include its cross-sectional nature that precludes drawing conclusions about causality. The results have implications for treatment interventions for children and adolescents with spina bifida and typically developing individuals.     

The cost of callousness: regulating compassion influences the moral self-concept

It has often been argued that compassion is fundamental to morality. Yet people often suppress compassion for self-interested reasons. We provide evidence that suppressing compassion is not cost free, as it creates dissonance between a person's moral identity and his or her moral principles. We instructed separate groups of participants to regulate their compassion, regulate their feelings of distress, or freely experience emotions toward compassion--inducing images. Participants then reported how central morality was to their identities and how much they believed that moral rules should always be followed. Participants who regulated compassion-but not those who regulated distress or experienced emotions--showed a dissonance-based trade-off. If they reported higher levels of moral identity, they had a greater belief that moral rules could be broken. If they maintained their belief that moral rules should always be followed, they sacrificed their moral identity. Regulating compassion thus has a cost of its own: It forces trade-offs within a person's moral self-concept.     

Neuropsychological Sequelae of PTSD and TBI Following War Deployment among OEF/OIF Veterans

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are highly prevalent among Veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These conditions are associated with common and unique neuropsychological and neuroanatomical changes. This review synthesizes neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies for both of these disorders and studies examining their co-occurrence. Recommendations for future research, including use of combined neuropsychological and advanced neuroimaging techniques to study these disorders alone and in concert, are presented. It is clear from the dearth of literature that addiitonal studies are required to examine and understand the impact of specific factors on neurocognitive outcome. Of particular relevance are temporal relationships between PTSD and mTBI, risk and resilience factors associated with both disorders and their co-occurrence, and mTBI-specific factors such as time since injury and severity of injury, utilizing comprehensive, yet targeted cognitive tasks.     

Comma N' cents in pricing: The effects of auditory representation encoding on price magnitude perceptions

Numbers and prices can be processed and encoded in three different forms: 1) visual [based on their written form in Arabic numerals (e.g., 72)], 2) verbal [based on spoken word-sounds (e.g., “seventy” and “two”), and 3) analog (based on judgments of relative “size” or amount (e.g., more than 70 but less than 80)]. In this paper, we demonstrate that including commas (e.g., $1599 vs. $1599) and cents (e.g., $1599.85 vs. $1599) in a price's Arabic written form (i.e., how it is perceived visually) can change how the price is encoded and represented verbally in a consumer's memory. In turn, the verbal encoding of a written price can influence assessments of the numerical magnitude of the price. These effects occur because consumers non-consciously perceive that there is a positive relationship between syllabic length and numerical magnitude. Three experiments are presented demonstrating this important effect.     

Relationship distress in partners of combat veterans: the role of partners' perceptions of posttraumatic stress symptoms

Partners of combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder report elevated relationship and psychological distress, but little is known about the mechanisms by which such distress develops. In two separate samples, we examined partners' perceptions of veterans' PTSD symptoms, with a specific focus on the simultaneous associations of partners' distress with their perceptions of veterans' reexperiencing, withdrawal/numbing, and hyperarousal symptom clusters. The first sample consisted of 258 partners of Operation Enduring- and Iraqi Freedom-era veterans who completed questionnaires. The second sample consisted of 465 partners of Vietnam-era veterans who completed interviews as part of the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study. In both samples, path analyses revealed that, when examined simultaneously, partners' perceptions of withdrawal/numbing symptoms were associated with greater distress, but perceptions of reexperiencing symptoms were unrelated to psychological distress and significantly associated with lower levels of relationship distress. Given the cross-sectional nature of the data in both samples, there are multiple plausible interpretations of the results. However, the pattern is consistent with an attributional model of partner distress, whereby partners are less distressed when symptoms are more overtly related to an uncontrollable mental illness. Potential clinical implications are discussed.     

Effects of behavioral skills training on parental treatment of children's food selectivity

We used behavioral skills training to teach parents of 3 children with autism spectrum disorder and food selectivity to conduct a home-based treatment package that consisted of taste exposure, escape extinction, and fading. Parent performance following training improved during both taste sessions and probe meals and was reflected in increases in children's acceptance of bites and decreases in their disruptive behavior. Parents also reported that increases in diet variety were maintained at follow-up.     

Generational differences in young adults' life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation, 1966-2009

Three studies examined generational differences in life goals, concern for others, and civic orientation among American high school seniors (Monitoring the Future; N = 463,753, 1976-2008) and entering college students (The American Freshman; N = 8.7 million, 1966-2009). Compared to Baby Boomers (born 1946-1961) at the same age, GenX'ers (born 1962-1981) and Millennials (born after 1982) considered goals related to extrinsic values (money, image, fame) more important and those related to intrinsic values (self-acceptance, affiliation, community) less important. Concern for others (e.g., empathy for outgroups, charity donations, the importance of having a job worthwhile to society) declined slightly. Community service rose but was also increasingly required for high school graduation over the same time period. Civic orientation (e.g., interest in social problems, political participation, trust in government, taking action to help the environment and save energy) declined an average of d = -.34, with about half the decline occurring between GenX and the Millennials. Some of the largest declines appeared in taking action to help the environment. In most cases, Millennials slowed, though did not reverse, trends toward reduced community feeling begun by GenX. The results generally support the "Generation Me" view of generational differences rather than the "Generation We" or no change views.