Vestibular influence on auditory metrical interpretation

When we move to music we feel the beat, and this feeling can shape the sound we hear. Previous studies have shown that when people listen to a metrically ambiguous rhythm pattern, moving the body on a certain beat--adults, by actively bouncing themselves in synchrony with the experimenter, and babies, by being bounced passively in the experimenter's arms--can bias their auditory metrical representation so that they interpret the pattern in a corresponding metrical form [Phillips-Silver, J., & Trainor, L. J. (2005). Feeling the beat: Movement influences infant rhythm perception. Science, 308, 1430; Phillips-Silver, J., & Trainor, L. J. (2007). Hearing what the body feels: Auditory encoding of rhythmic movement. Cognition, 105, 533-546]. The present studies show that in adults, as well as in infants, metrical encoding of rhythm can be biased by passive motion. Furthermore, because movement of the head alone affected auditory encoding whereas movement of the legs alone did not, we propose that vestibular input may play a key role in the effect of movement on auditory rhythm processing. We discuss possible cortical and subcortical sites for the integration of auditory and vestibular inputs that may underlie the interaction between movement and auditory metrical rhythm perception.     

Thoughts, Feelings and Intentions to Learn: Attitudes by Beginning Teachers Towards Aboriginal Peoples

Given that education plays a key role in the development of social attitudes, intentions to learn about other social groups is a strategic addition to cognitive and affective models of attitudes towards others. This project examined related yet discrete aspects of attitudes towards Australian Aboriginal peoples that are expressed by beginning teachers (N = 266). Cognitive aspects indicate positive and negative stereotyping of the social group. Affective aspects across situations relate positive feelings and negative feelings of guilt, worry and anger. Results suggest differential links from cognitive and affective aspects to intentions for positive and negative actions, and intentions to gain experience with others. The findings implicate broadly defined components of attitudes in situations where individuals have limited experience with people in other social groups.     

Procrastination in College Students: The Role of Self-Efficacy and Anxiety

In this study, the authors examined the relationships among procrastination, efficacy expectations, anxiety, gender, and age for 141 university students. Participants were asked to think about a major project and to rate their efficacy regarding the skills needed to accomplish the project. Bivariate correlations showed that efficacy expectations and anxiety had significant, individual relationships with procrastination. When these variables were entered into a regression model, only cumulative efficacy strength was a significant predictor of procrastination. Implications for practice and research suggestions are discussed.     

Repetition and Reconfiguration: Demand‐Based Confabulation in Initial Eyewitness Memory

Repeated recall, as a result of repeated questioning, is typical of situations involving eyewitness evidence. The present study addressed questions of eyewitness performance with reference to repeated questioning in an initial interview, in a format based on actual police procedures. This experiment focused on eyewitness accuracy, eyewitness confidence, and the addition of false details to eyewitness accounts. Ninety‐two adult respondents were asked to recall all the information they could from a single viewing of a scene depicting an assailant aiming a handgun at a victim. This initial question was followed by three additional questions, in which respondents were asked to report any additional details they could recall. On average, respondents provided several times as many correct as false details to the initial question. However, performance deteriorated significantly to the three subsequent questions; on average, across the three subsequent questions, witnesses recalled nearly as much false as accurate information. Witness confidence was positively related to amount of accurate information recalled. However, confidence was also positively related to the number of instances of erroneous recall. These results indicate that reconfigurative dynamics begin to operate, producing confabulated responses in response to questioning demands, as early as the initial interview. This work may also help to clarify the critical relationship between accuracy and confidence in eyewitness reportage, at least within the framework reflected by the present research. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Aggression is suppressed by acute stress but induced by chronic stress: Immobilization effects on aggression, hormones, and cortical 5-HT1B/ striatal dopamine D2 receptor density

Although it has been established by a number of investigators that a variety of stressors are associated with the induction of aggressive behavior, two specific issues remain unanswered. First, it is unclear whether the contexts surrounding stressors (e.g., stressor length and chance of winning over opponents) change outcomes regarding aggressive behavior. Second, if a relationship exists between stress and aggressive behavior, altered levels of stress-related hormone (e.g., corticosterone [CORT]), as well as aggression-related biomarkers (e.g., testosterone [T], density of prefronto-cortical 5-HT(1B) receptor and striatal dopamine D(2) receptor [D2r]) may contribute to changes in aggressive behavior. Thus, we examined how immobilization (with a 1-, 5-, or 10-day exposure) would impact (1) a longitudinal course of aggression toward different-sized opponents, (2) levels of CORT and T, and (3) densities of 5-HT(1B) receptor (5-HT1Br) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and D2r in the striatum. It was found that, regardless of small or large opponents, a single 2-h exposure to immobilization reduced aggressive behavior (stress-suppressed aggression) over time, whereas repeated (10-day) exposure to immobilization escalated aggressive behavior (stress-induced aggression). These stress effects persisted up to 1 week of recovery from immobilization stress. Moreover, immobilized rats demonstrated elevated levels of T, but not CORT, as compared with controls. Finally, acute immobilization altered D2r densities in the shell of the nucleus accumbens, and chronic immobilization changed 5-HT1Br in the PFC, including the downregulation of 5-HT1Br densities in the right prelimbic and orbitolateral cortices. The potential relationships among stress, aggression, and 5-HT1Br/D2r roles are discussed.     

Heart attack risk perception biases among hypertension patients: the role of educational level and worry

Risk biases such as comparative optimism (thinking one is better off than similar others) and risk inaccuracy (misestimating one's risk compared to one's calculated risk) for health outcomes are common. Little research has investigated racial or socioeconomic differences in these risk biases. Results from a survey of individuals with poorly controlled hypertension (N=813) indicated that participants showed (1) comparative optimism for heart attack risk by underestimating their heart attack risk compared to similar others, and (2) risk inaccuracy by overestimating their heart attack risk compared to their calculated heart attack risk. More highly educated participants were more comparatively optimistic because they rated their personal risk as lower; education was not related to risk inaccuracy. Neither race nor the federal poverty level was related to risk biases. Worry partially mediated the relationship between education and personal risk. Results are discussed as they relate to the existing literature on risk perception.     

Enculturation to musical pitch structure in young children: evidence from behavioral and electrophysiological methods

Children learn the structure of the music of their culture similarly to how they learn the language to which they are exposed in their daily environment. Furthermore, as with language, children acquire this musical knowledge without formal instruction. Two critical aspects of musical pitch structure in Western tonal music are key membership (understanding which notes belong in a key and which do not) and harmony (understanding which notes combine to form chords and which notes and chords tend to follow others). The early developmental trajectory of the acquisition of this knowledge remains unclear, in part because of the difficulty of testing young children. In two experiments, we investigated 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds' enculturation to Western musical pitch using a novel age‐appropriate and engaging behavioral task (Experiment 1) and electroencephalography (EEG; Experiment 2). In Experiment 1 we found behavioral evidence that 5‐year‐olds were sensitive to key membership but not to harmony, and no evidence that 4‐year‐olds were sensitive to either. However, in Experiment 2 we found neurophysiological evidence that 4‐year‐olds were sensitive to both key membership and harmony. Our results suggest that musical enculturation has a long developmental trajectory, and that children may have some knowledge of key membership and harmony before that knowledge can be expressed through explicit behavioral judgments.     

A randomized wait-list controlled pilot study of dialectical behaviour therapy guided self-help for binge eating disorder

This study examined the efficacy of guided self-help based on dialectical behaviour therapy (DBTgsh) for binge eating disorder (BED). Individuals (88.3% female; mean 42.8 years) were randomized to DBTgsh (n = 30) or wait-list (WL; n = 30). DBTgsh participants received an orientation, DBT manual, and six 20-min support calls over 13 weeks. All participants were assessed pre- and post-treatment using interview and self-report; also, DBTgsh participants were re-assessed six months post-treatment. At treatment end, DBTgsh participants reported significantly fewer past-month binge eating episodes than WL participants (6.0 versus 14.4) and significantly greater rates of abstinence from binge eating (40.0% versus 3.3%). At six-month follow-up, DBTgsh participants reported significantly improved quality of life and reduced ED psychopathology compared to baseline scores. In addition, most improvements in the DBTgsh group were maintained, although binge eating abstinence rates decreased to 30%. These preliminary positive findings indicate that DBTgsh may offer an effective, low-intensity treatment option for BED.     

A Social Exchange Model of Employee Reactions to Electronic Performance Monitoring

The primary goal of this study was to develop and test a social exchange model of employee reactions to electronic performance monitoring (EPM) to help managers use EPM more effectively. This study proposed that certain EPM practices are related to perceptions of interpersonal and informational justice, which in turn build trust in the manager, along with other important attitudes and outcomes. In a sample of 257 call center representatives, the purpose for using EPM, development versus control, was associated with interpersonal justice perceptions, but EPM-based feedback characteristics, whether the feedback was timely, specific, and constructive, were not. Furthermore, the presence of an explanation for EPM was positively related to perceptions of informational justice. Moreover, interpersonal and informational justice perceptions were positively related to trust in the manager, which in turn was positively related to job performance and job satisfaction.