The coregulatory effects of emotionally focused therapy

This study examined the heart rate synchrony between a single couple in emotionally focused therapy (EFT) as a method of measuring coregulatory effects over the course of treatment. A clinician who is an EFT certified therapist, supervisor, and trainer administered all eight sessions in a private practice setting. Surrogate synchrony analysis assessed heart rate synchrony between partners, indicating that significant heart rate synchrony was more likely over time. Significant heart rate synchrony was more likely during sessions that focused on clients’ sharing attachment injuries, bonds, and longings with their partner compared to sessions more focused on cognitive processing of the relationship. Additionally, there were delays in heart rate synchrony that occurred between the couple, which may be indicative of the emotional processing speed of the empathic response of each partner. Understanding the physiological synchrony patterns between dyads in treatment could clarify the potential of coregulation in the therapeutic process.     

Neurotoxic dorsal CA1 lesions versus 4 VO ischaemic lesions: behavioural comparisons

Anterograde amnesia, a common consequence of transient cerebral ischaemia, has been attributed to cell loss in the hippocampal CA1 subfield. However, variable, widespread damage outside hippocampal CA1 can also occur following ischaemia. We compared the functional consequences of ischaemia and ibotenate acid CA1 lesions on 2 spatial memory tasks (water maze 'place' and 'matching-to-position') to address the possibility that extra-CA1 loss contributes to ischaemia-induced memory deficits in the rat. During place task acquisition, ischaemic rats showed deficits on more measures than ibotenic rats, and during a 1 min probe trial, only ischaemic rats were impaired. On the matching-to-position task, ibotenic rats showed greater impairment than ischaemic rats in terms of one-trial learning, whereas ischaemic rats were more impaired after Trial 2. Ischaemia and ibotenic acid lesions resulted in equivalent CA1 loss, but silver impregnation revealed additional extra-CA1 cell loss in ischaemic rats. Together with the greater behavioural deficits of ischaemic rats, these data indicate a role for extra-CA1 cell loss in ischaemia-induced memory impairments in both animals and humans.     

Individual differences in type A behavior and cardiovascular responses to stress

The purpose of this study was to predict heart rate and blood pressure responses to a stressor task in 166 male and female university students using the multidimensional approach of the Survey of Work Styles. The Survey of Work Styles is comprised of scales for Impatience, Anger, Time Urgency, Work Involvement, Job Dissatisfaction, and Competitiveness. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were measured before and during a 5 min serial subtraction task. Three bipolar Survey of Work Styles profiles were identified for each sex. In males, similarity to each profile was uniquely related to one task cardiovascular measure. In females, two of the three profiles were uniquely related to one physiological measure assessed during the task. The data thus support separate treatment of male and female data. Consideration was given to the possible influence of TABP components, such as Anger, in the differences in the patterns of physiological responses for different Type A profile types. Implications of the physiological results for future studies on psychophysiological differences between Type A and B individuals, and the pathological links between Type A behavior and coronary heart diseases are discussed with emphasis on the recognition of the heterogeneity of personality profiles associated with Type A behavior.     

Effects of diazepam on approach, self-reported fear and psychophysiological responses in snake phobics

The effects of diazepam was assessed on a number of measures of phobic anxiety. Snake-phobic subjects underwent two sessions on either diazepam or placebo in a crossover design. In addition to a habituation series, a slide with the phobic object was displayed as well as a live snake which subjects were asked to approach. The anxiolytic effect of diazepam was manifest in only one measure of fear, namely self-rated fear at the point of closest approach when it also attained the highest level. The result would indicate that diazepam has an anxiolytic only on high levels of subjective anxiety. The magnitude of the phasic cardiac reaction to the slide was highly and positively correlated with self-rated fear of the slide.     

Use of electronic games by young children and fundamental movement skills?

This study investigated associations between pre-school children's time spent playing electronic games and their fundamental movement skills. In 2009, 53 children had physical activity (Actigraph accelerometer counts per minute), parent proxy-report of child's time in interactive and non-interactive electronic games (min./week), and movement skill (Test of Gross Motor Development-2) assessed. Hierarchical linear regression, adjusting for age (range = 3-6 years), sex (Step 1), and physical activity (cpm; M=687, SD=175.42; Step 2), examined the relationship between time in (a) non-interactive and (b) interactive electronic games and locomotor and object control skill. More than half (59%, n=31) of the children were female. Adjusted time in interactive game use was associated with object control but not locomotor skill. Adjusted time in non-interactive game use had no association with object control or locomotor skill. Greater time spent playing interactive electronic games is associated with higher object control skill proficiency in these young children. Longitudinal and experimental research is required to determine if playing these games improves object control skills or if children with greater object control skill proficiency prefer and play these games.     

Neural correlates of creativity in analogical reasoning

Brain-based evidence has implicated the frontal pole of the brain as important for analogical mapping. Separately, cognitive research has identified semantic distance as a key determinant of the creativity of analogical mapping (i.e., more distant analogies are generally more creative). Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to assess brain activity during an analogy generation task in which we varied the semantic distance of analogical mapping (as derived quantitatively from a latent semantic analysis). Data indicated that activity within an a priori region of interest in left frontopolar cortex covaried parametrically with increasing semantic distance, even after removing effects of task difficulty. Results implicate increased recruitment of frontopolar cortex as a mechanism for integrating semantically distant information to generate solutions in creative analogical reasoning.     

Human–Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) reciprocity: a follow-up study

In a previous study (Péron et al. in Anim Cogn, doi:10.1007/s10071-012.05640, 2012), Grey parrots, working in dyads, took turns choosing one of four differently coloured cups with differing outcomes: empty (null, non-rewarding), selfish (keeping reward for oneself), share (sharing a divisible reward), or giving (donating reward to other). When the dyads involved three humans with different specific intentions (selfish, giving, or copying the bird’s behaviour), birds’ responses only tended towards consistency with human behaviour. Our dominant bird was willing to share a reward with a human who was willing to give up her reward, was selfish with the selfish human, and tended towards sharing with the copycat human; our subordinate bird tended slightly towards increased sharing with the generous human and selfishness with the selfish human, but did not clearly mirror the behaviour of the copycat. We theorized that the birds’ inability to understand the copycat condition fully—that they could potentially maximize reward by choosing to share—was a consequence of their viewing the copycat’s behaviour as erratic compared with the consistently selfish or giving humans and thus not realizing that they were indeed being mirrored. We suggested that copycat trials subsequently be performed as a separate experiment, without being contrasted with trials in which humans acted consistently, in order to determine if results might have differed. We have now performed that experiment, and shown that at least one Grey parrot—our dominant—responded in a manner suggesting that he deduced the appropriate contingencies.     

The Effects of Family Type, Family Relationships and Parental Role Models on Delinquency and Alcohol Use Among Flemish Adolescents

This study focused on the effects of family type, family relationships and socialization on alcohol consumption and delinquent behaviour among Flemish adolescents. Data came from the second round of the Leuven Adolescents and Families Study and were collected in 2010 by paper-and-pencil questionnaires in 10 different secondary schools (N = 1,688). The results show that children living in non-intact families are more likely to be delinquent and to drink alcohol at an age it is not legally allowed (below 16 years old). High delinquent behaviour is found among boys in single parent families and among girls in stepfamilies. For alcohol use the reverse is true. A good relationship with the same-sex parent is negatively associated with delinquency. High interparental conflict increases delinquency for boys and alcohol use for girls. Parental role models are highly important, since drinking behaviour of parents, and especially the same-sex parent, are positively associated with externalising problems of children.