Skulking around the dinosaur: Eliciting cues to children's deception via strategic disclosure of evidence

Research has shown that cues to deception are more salient as an effect of strategic use of evidence (SUE) during interviews. This study examined the feasibility of the SUE‐technique for eliciting cues to children's deception. Experiment 1 investigated verbal cues to deception as a function of early vs. late disclosure of evidence. Eighty‐four children (12–14 years) either guilty or innocent of a mock crime were interviewed. As predicted, deceptive statements were significantly more inconsistent with the evidence than truthful statements, and this was more pronounced as a function of late compared to early disclosure of evidence. In Experiment 2, adult observers (N = 168) made veracity assessments of the videotaped statements. Observers in the late disclosure condition achieved an accuracy rate higher than chance (63.1%), whereas accuracy rates in the early disclosure condition were at chance level (56%). Accuracy rates were significantly higher for truthful (70.2%), than deceptive statements (48.8%). Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assimilative hue shifts in color depend on bar width

Hue shifts were measured in isoluminant color gratings whose bar width was varied from 2′ to 20′ of visual angle. Subjects matched the hues in each grating with individual Munsell swatches. Hue shifts were largest for bar widths of 2′; however, they depended on the color combination used. Green and red shifted toward (i.e., assimilated with) whatever second grating color they were paired with. Blue, on the other hand, assimilated with red and with yellow, but remained relatively unchanged when combined with green. Yellow shifted only minimally, regardless of the second grating color. Hue shifts decreased with increasing stripe width and disappeared between 4.5′ and 7.5′. Compared with the assimilative hue shifts, color contrast effects were slight or absent. These results cannot be attributed merely to chromatic aberration, macular pigment, eye movements, or field size.     

Psychosocial stress and HPA functioning: no evidence for a reduced resilience in healthy elderly men

In order to investigate if HPA functioning is altered with age, the present study was conducted. Fifteen healthy elderly men (60-76 years; mean age 66.5 +/- 1.48 yrs.) and 12 younger adults (20-29 years; mean age 25.6 +/- 0.77 yrs.) collected salivary free cortisol profiles after awakening for basal HPA activity. Then, all subjects were exposed to the "Trier Social Stress Test" (TSST). This psychosocial stress protocol consists of a free speech and a mental arithmetic task of 13 minutes duration performed in front of an audience. Beside the assessment of endocrine and cardiovascular responses to the stressful task ratings of depression, mood and perceived stressfulness were obtained. Results show that younger and elderly men had similar morning cortisol profiles after awakening with both groups showing the expected rise after awakening (P=0.004). The TSST induced significant increases in ACTH, total plasma cortisol, saliva free cortisol, and heart rates (all P<0.0001). Regardless of age, both age groups showed comparable endocrine response patterns when confronted with the stressor. However, cardiovascular responses were significantly higher in younger men compared to elderly men (P=0.03). Catecholamine data revealed significant norepinephrine and epinephrine increases due to the stressor (both P<0.0001) with a trend toward elevated norepinephrine levels in elderly men (P=0.058). In sum, the investigated basal and response parameters of HPA functioning neither support the idea of a reduced resilience in healthy aged humans nor do they appear to strengthen assumptions derived from the so called "glucocorticoid cascade hypothesis".     

Factors in adolescent rebellious feelings.

To verify the existence and determine some sources of 15- and 16-year-old youths' (midteens') antisocial feelings, 174 midteens (89 males and 85 females) from two small Tennessee towns were administered L. Srole's Anomia Scale and two author-devised tests, the Inventory of Midteen Rearing Theories and the Rebellion Scale. As their parents' levels of education rose, midteens' feelings of anomie and rebellion decreased significantly: fathers F (3, 160) = 4.77,p less than .01; mothers F (3, 163) = 2.77, p less than .05. Midteen feelings of anomie and rebellion correlated positively with midteen perception of parent-midteen disagreement about how the midteen should be reared: Anomia r (172) = .25, p less than .01; Rebellion r (172) = .37, p less than .01. Probable causes of extremely rebellious feelings in midteens include parent-midteen conflict over how the midteen should be reared and the midteen's rejection of attending school as a worthwhile occupation.     

Psychiatrically noticeable anxiety, EEG alpha index, alpha feedback and relaxation

In a follow-up study (first investigation: KIRSCHBAUM u. GISTL, arch. Psychol. 1973, 125, 263-273) fifteen patients with psychiatric or neurological disorders were examined for correlations between anxiety (clinical rating), scores from MAS and MMQ, and EEG-Alpha-percentage alterations during an unspecific relaxation training with or without Alpha-Biofeedback. Clinically and psychometrically high anxious patients (n = 10) showed under both conditions significant diminuation of Alpha-percentage in contrast to earlier examined students whose Alpha-rates had increased (significantly). Theoretical explanations of these results are discussed.     

Trauma exposure is associated with increased context-dependent adjustments of cognitive control in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder and healthy controls

Recent evidence has suggested that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with alterations in prefrontal-cortex-dependent cognitive processes (e.g., working memory, cognitive control). However, it remains unclear whether these cognitive dysfunctions are related to PTSD symptomatology or trauma exposure. Furthermore, regarding cognitive control, research has only focused on the integrity of selected control functions, but not their dynamic regulation in response to changing environmental demands. Therefore, the present study investigated dynamic variations in interference control, in addition to overall interference susceptibility and working memory (WM) performance in matched groups of 24 PTSD patients and 26 traumatized and 30 nontraumatized healthy controls. The Simon task was used to measure overall interference susceptibility and the flexible adjustment of cognitive control, on the basis of the occurrence of response conflicts (conflict adaptation effect). WM performance was assessed with the forward and backward digit span tasks. Since we have previously shown that trauma exposure per se is associated with reduced hair cortisol concentrations (HCC), we further explored whether PTSD/trauma-related cognitive alterations are related to HCC in proximal 3-cm hair segments. The results revealed that PTSD patients and traumatized controls showed significantly more pronounced conflict adaptation effects than nontraumatized controls. Moreover, the conflict adaptation effect was positively related to the number of lifetime traumatic events and the frequency of traumatization. The groups did not differ in overall interference susceptibility or WM performance. Exploratory analyses revealed no association between HCC and the observed cognitive differences. These results suggest that context-driven control adjustments constitute a sensitive correlate of trauma exposure, irrespective of PTSD.     

Combining EEG,MIDI, and motion capture techniques for investigating musical performance

This article describes a setup for the simultaneous recording of electrophysiological data (EEG), musical data (MIDI), and three-dimensional movement data. Previously, each of these three different kinds of measurements, conducted sequentially, has been proven to provide important information about different aspects of music performance as an example of a demanding multisensory motor skill. With the method described here, it is possible to record brain-related activity and movement data simultaneously, with accurate timing resolution and at relatively low costs. EEG and MIDI data were synchronized with a modified version of the FTAP software, sending synchronization signals to the EEG recording device simultaneously with keypress events. Similarly, a motion capture system sent synchronization signals simultaneously with each recorded frame. The setup can be used for studies investigating cognitive and motor processes during music performance and music-like tasks—for example, in the domains of motor control, learning, music therapy, or musical emotions. Thus, this setup offers a promising possibility of a more behaviorally driven analysis of brain activity.     

Seeking help for non-suicidal self-injury: A social network analysis approach

Individuals who self-injure have consistently reported less perceived social support; yet, little is actually known about the support they seek out from others specifically for non-suicidal self-injury. The goal of this study was to explore characteristics of support networks of those who self-injure. Twenty-three percent reported not seeking support for self-injury, while the remaining reported smaller social networks than typical. Most participants sought help infrequently, and when they did, found supporters to be only moderately helpful. Network characteristics were found to relate to self-injury behavior and patterns emerged regarding supporters in the networks. Implications for advocacy and education are provided.