The effect of response choice relatedness on pantomime and verbal recognition ability in aphasic patients

Twenty aphasic and twenty control subjects were examined on two versions of a pantomime recognition and a verbal recognition test; one version containing response choices conceptually/semantically related to target responses, the other containing unrelated response choices. The aphasic group was inferior to controls on the pantomime and verbal recognition tests, although the magnitude and consistency of the differences between aphasics and controls were greater for the pantomime test. The presence of conceptually/semantically related response choices on the pantomime recognition test significantly reduced test scores of aphasic patients, and this reduction was related to the magnitude of the effect of response choice relatedness on their verbal recognition test performance. The findings are consistent with an interpretation of aphasia as an impairment of a central symbolic ability which can affect processing for meaning in both verbal and nonverbal modes of communication.     

Guessing Strategies, Aging, and Bias Effects in Perceptual Identification

In the typical single-stimulus perceptual identification task, accuracy is improved by prior study of test words, a repetition priming benefit. There is also a cost, inasmuch as previously studied words are likely to be produced (incorrectly) as responses if the test word is orthographically similar but not identical to a studied word. In two-alternative forced-choice perceptual identification, a test word is flashed and followed by two alternatives, one of which is the correct response. When the two alternatives are orthographically similar, test words identical to previously studied items are identified more accurately than new words (a benefit) but tests words orthographically similar to studied words are identified less accurately than new words (a cost). Ratcliff and McKoon (in press) argue that these are bias effects that arise in the decision stage of word identification. We report five experiments that examined the alternative hypothesis that these bias effects arise from postperceptual guessing strategies. In single-stimulus perceptual identification, repetition priming benefits were equally great for young and older adults who claimed to use deliberate guessing strategies and those who did not (Experiment 1). In contrast, only groups of young and older people who claimed to deliberately guess studied words in a two-alternative forced-choice task (Experiments 2 and 5) showed reliable benefits and costs. Costs and benefits were abolished in the two-alternative forced-choice task when a very long study list was used, presumably because the increased retrieval burden made the use of deliberate guessing strategies less attractive (Experiment 3). Under conditions similar to those of Experiment 3, repetition priming was observed in single-stimulus perceptual identification (Experiment 4). These results are consistent with the view that costs and benefits in the forced-choice perceptual identification task arise from deliberate guessing strategies but that those in the single-stimulus task do not. The possibility that the observed relationship between strategy reports and priming effects reflects erroneous postexperimental assessments of strategies by participants is also considered.     

Neighborhood Risk Factors for Recidivism: For Whom do they Matter?

Justice‐involved people vary substantially in their risk of reoffending. To date, recidivism prediction and prevention efforts have largely focused on individual‐level factors like antisocial traits. Although a growing body of research has examined the role of residential contexts in predicting reoffending, results have been equivocal. One reason for mixed results may be that an individual’s susceptibility to contextual influence depends upon his or her accumulated risk of reoffending. Based on a sample of 2218 people on probation in San Francisco, California, this study draws on observational and secondary data to test the hypothesis that individual risk moderates the effect of neighborhood factors on recidivism. Results from survival analyses indicate that individual risk interacts with neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and disorder—and these factors increase recidivism among people relatively low in individual risk, but not those at higher risk. This is consistent with the disadvantage saturation perspective, raising the possibility that some people classified as low risk might not recidivate but for placement in disadvantaged and disorderly neighborhoods. Ultimately, residential contexts “matter” for lower risk people and may be useful to consider in efforts to prevent recidivism.     

Evaluation of the Self-Report Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in a Sample of Urban Middle School Students: a Multidimensional Rasch Analysis

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by limited empathy, lack of guilt, and callous use of others. The Inventory of Callous...     

Investigating the relationship between bilingualism,cognitive control,and mind wandering

Some research has suggested that bilingualism produces cognitive control advantages, although it has recently been shown that reported advantages are influenced by a publication bias. If the bilingual (BL) advantage does exist, the specific causes and contexts for its appearance remain unclear. The purpose of the current study was twofold: one, to examine performance of BLs and monolinguals (MLs) on a variety of simple versus complex cognitive control tasks; and two, to determine whether there were language group differences in the tendency to mind wander, which has been heavily implicated in cognitive control tasks. Although we hypothesised that if BLs outperformed MLs on cognitive control tasks, this would be associated with less mind wandering for BLs, the results did not reveal any BL advantages or any differences in mind-wandering tendencies. These findings support calls to temper BL advantage claims and shows a need for future research to better specify which underlying factors of cognitive control may be optimised by multilingualism.     

Effects of individualized video feedback combined with group parent training on inappropriate maternal behavior

The effects of adding individualized video feedback (IVF) to Webster-Stratton's (2000, 2001) group-based parent training program (GT) were evaluated using a multiple baseline design across four mother-child dyads. During all phases of the study, inappropriate maternal behavior was recorded from videotapes of playtime with their preschoolers with developmental disabilities. Results suggested that GT+IVF reduced inappropriate maternal behavior to levels below GT alone.     

A Systematic Review of Studies Reporting Data-Driven Cognitive Subtypes across the Psychosis Spectrum

Neuropsychology Review - The delineation of cognitive subtypes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may offer a means of determining shared genetic markers and neuropathology among individuals...     

Ghosted?: Navigating strategies for reducing uncertainty and implications surrounding ambiguous loss

Ghosting is the unilateral dissolution process of ceasing communication through media. When ghosted, non‐initiators are often left without the ability to navigate the resulting uncertainty or impending dissolution processes. Utilizing uncertainty reduction theory and ambiguous loss, this investigation explores effective and ineffective strategies used to find answers, reduce uncertainty, and navigate post‐dissolution consequences. Employing two studies from Amazon's Mechanical Turk, a thematic analysis to delineate and affirm categories—7 effective and ineffective strategies and 11 categories of personal and relational implications after being ghosted—was used. These studies provide insight about non‐initiators process to resolve their uncertainty and highlight ramifications from ambiguity that non‐initiators experience after being ghosted. These findings discuss connections to knowledge acquisition, closure processing, and consequences of ghosting.     

The four P’s of purpose among College Bound students: People,propensity, passion,prosocial benefits

Abstract

College preparation programs, such as College Bound, aim to increase low-income students’ preparation for achieving future goals. Yet, little research has examined the nature of these students’ future goals and purposes from their own perspectives. In this study, in-depth interviews with 10 adolescents (six males and four females) participating in College Bound were analyzed using a qualitative approach informed by grounded theory. Four interrelated themes related to the development of youth purpose emerged: (a) people; (b) propensity; (c) passion; and (d) prosocial benefits. These themes were further categorized across two major dimensions: influences (i.e. capability and motivation) and sources of such influences (i.e. intrinsic and extrinsic). Moreover, ways in which students’ unique social contexts contributed to their experiences of purpose are discussed. Findings inform an understanding of the development of purpose in underrepresented youth, as well as provide insights for programs designed to promote their positive development and post-secondary school success.     

Correction to: Think ahead before you regulate: A focus on future consequences predicts choices of and beliefs about strategies for the downregulation of negative emotions

Motivation and Emotion - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the last paragraph of result section in Study 1.