A longitudinal study of relational aggression, physical aggression, and children's social-psychological adjustment

Although great strides have recently been made in our understanding of relational aggression and its consequences, one significant limitation has been the lack of prospective studies. The present research addressed this issue by identifying and assessing groups of relationally aggressive, physically aggressive, relationally plus physically aggressive (co-morbid), and nonaggressive children during their third grade year in elementary school and then reassessing them a year later, during fourth-grade (N = 224, 113 girls). Two aspects of social-psychological adjustment were assessed during both assessment periods including internalizing difficulties (i.e., withdrawal, depression/anxiety, and somatic complaints) and externalizing problems (i.e., aggressive behavior, delinquency). It was revealed that the strongest predictor of future social-psychological adjustment problems and increases in these problems from third to fourth was the combination of relational and physical aggression. Relational aggression also contributed unique information, relative to physical aggression, in the prediction of future maladjustment. Implications of these findings for future research and prevention efforts, particularly for aggressive girls, are discussed.     

Spatial distortions induced by multiple visual landmarks: how local distortions combine to produce complex distortion patterns

Visual landmarks introduce systematic distortions into spatial short-term memory for single target positions, the exact form of the distortion depending on the spatial layout of the landmarks. In two experiments, we investigated how the combined effect of two landmarks can be predicted from the effects of individual landmarks. Participants used a mouse cursor to reproduce the positions of briefly presented targets in the context of one, the other, or both landmarks. We found that distortions near a landmark are independent of whether another landmark is present, so that remembered space is partitioned into regions dominated by single landmarks. Interestingly, the display midpoint behaves like a "virtual landmark," with its own pattern of distortion. Results are inconsistent with current models of spatial memory distortions but suggest that attentional processes can lead to enhanced fidelity of salient regions in topographical neural networks while also introducing some spatial biases.     

Egocentric and geocentric frames of reference in memory of large-scale space

This experiment investigated the frames of reference used in memory to represent the spatial structure of a large-scale outdoor environment. Participants learned the locations of eight objects in an unfamiliar city park by walking through the park on one of two prescribed paths that encircled a large rectangular building. The aligned path was oriented with the building; the misaligned path was rotated by 45°. Later, participants pointed to target objects from imagined vantage points using their memories. Pointing accuracy was higher in the aligned than in the misaligned path group, and the patterns of results differed: In the aligned condition, accuracy was higher for imagined headings parallel to legs of the path and for an imagined heading oriented toward a nearby lake, a salient landmark. In the misaligned condition, pointing accuracy was highest for the imagined heading oriented toward the lake, and decreased monotonically with angular distance. These results indicated that locations of objects were mentally represented in terms of frames of reference defined by the environment but selected on the basis of egocentric experience.     

Contrasting activity patterns of two related octopus species, Octopus macropus and Octopus vulgaris

Octopus macropus and Octopus vulgaris have overlapping habitats and are exposed to similar temporal changes. Whereas the former species is described as nocturnal in the field, there are conflicting reports about the activity time of the latter one. To compare activity patterns, the authors tested both species in the laboratory. Octopuses were exposed to a light-dark cycle and held under constant dim light for 7 days each. O. macropus showed nocturnal and light-cued activity. According to casual observations, O. vulgaris started out nocturnal but had switched to mostly diurnal when the experiment began. Individual variation of its activity was found. The different activity patterns of O. macropus and O. vulgaris might reflect their lifestyles, the latter species being more generalist.     

Bayesian decision theory in sensorimotor control

Action selection is a fundamental decision process for us, and depends on the state of both our body and the environment. Because signals in our sensory and motor systems are corrupted by variability or noise, the nervous system needs to estimate these states. To select an optimal action these state estimates need to be combined with knowledge of the potential costs or rewards of different action outcomes. We review recent studies that have investigated the mechanisms used by the nervous system to solve such estimation and decision problems, which show that human behaviour is close to that predicted by Bayesian Decision Theory. This theory defines optimal behaviour in a world characterized by uncertainty, and provides a coherent way of describing sensorimotor processes.     

Memory for fact, fiction, and misinformation: the Iraq War 2003

Media coverage of the 2003 Iraq War frequently contained corrections and retractions of earlier information. For example, claims that Iraqi forces executed coalition prisoners of war after they surrendered were retracted the day after the claims were made. Similarly, tentative initial reports about the discovery of weapons of mass destruction were all later disconfirmed. We investigated the effects of these retractions and disconfirmations on people's memory for and beliefs about war-related events in two coalition countries (Australia and the United States) and one country that opposed the war (Germany). Participants were queried about (a) true events, (b) events initially presented as fact but subsequently retracted, and (c) fictional events. Participants in the United States did not show sensitivity to the correction of misinformation, whereas participants in Australia and Germany discounted corrected misinformation. Our results are consistent with previous findings in that the differences between samples reflect greater suspicion about the motives underlying the war among people in Australia and Germany than among people in the United States.     

Color naming, lens aging, and grue: what the optics of the aging eye can teach us about color language

Many languages without separate terms for green and blue are or were spoken in locations receiving above-average exposure to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation. It has been proposed that this correlation is caused by premature lens aging. This conclusion was supported by an experiment in which younger observers used the term "blue" less often when they described simulated paint chips filtered through the equivalent of an older observer's lens-removing much short-wavelength light-than when they described the unfiltered versions of the same paint chips. Some stimuli that were called "blue" without simulated aging were called "green" when filtered. However, in the experiment reported here, we found that the proportion of "blue" color-name responses did not differ between younger subjects and older observers with known ocular media optical densities. Color naming for stimuli that were nominally green, blue-green, or blue was virtually identical for older and younger observers who viewed the same (unfiltered) stimuli. Our results are inconsistent with the lens-brunescence hypothesis.     

Functional localization and mechanisms of sequential effects in serial reaction time tasks

Reaction times (RTs) to randomly ordered stimuli are influenced in various ways by the sequence of preceding events. Depending on the response-stimulus interval and stimulus-response compatibility, cost-only or cost-benefit patterns can be observed. In order to localize these effects within the information-processing system, different sequential patterns were induced in overt performance. RTs and amplitude developments of the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) across several trials indicated the accumulation of residual traces as a possible mechanism underlying sequential effects. Analysis of LRP onsets indicated two possible loci of action of such traces. Whereas in motoric stages trace accumulation appeared to produce processing advantages only for continued event repetitions, without corresponding costs for discontinuations, cost-benefit patterns were consistently observed in premotoric stages.     

Why people engage in parasuicide: a cross-cultural study of intentions

Information obtained at interview from 1,646 parasuicide patients in 14 regions in 13 European countries participating in the WHO/EURO Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour was used to study self-reported intentions involved in parasuicide. Comparisons were made across cultures, genders, and age groups. Although some statistically significant differences were found, the effect sizes were very small. The main finding from this study is thus that parasuicide patients in different countries tend to indicate that similar types of intentions are involved in their acts of parasuicide, and that the intentions do not vary greatly with gender or age. The hypothesis that rates of suicide and parasuicide vary between regions with the frequency with which suicidal intention is indicated by the patients was also tested, but was supported only for women and in relation to national suicide rates. The findings from this study are likely to be generalizable to other settings and have implications for clinical practice.     

Worship with a twist

The core values of hospitality, respect, and innovation help to guide and initiate changes in the worship services of a rehabilitation hospital. The Antiphon of the day, special hymnals containing residents choices, and inclusion in the prayers of the day helped achieve these goals. Residents are constantly given choices with the Chaplain ready to keep the service moving smoothly. In these ways the core values are included in all services. Specific resources are listed, and the article is followed by a response from another chaplain with a somewhat different approach.