Lower limb kinematic variability in dancers performing drop landings onto floor surfaces with varied mechanical properties

Elite dancers perform highly skilled and consistent movements. These movements require effective regulation of the intrinsic and extrinsic forces acting within and on the body. Customized, compliant floors typically used in dance are assumed to enhance dance performance and reduce injury risk by dampening ground reaction forces during tasks such as landings. As floor compliance can affect the extrinsic forces applied to the body, secondary effects of floor properties may be observed in the movement consistency or kinematic variability exhibited during dance performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of floor mechanical properties on lower extremity kinematic variability in dancers performing landing tasks. A vector coding technique was used to analyze sagittal plane knee and ankle joint kinematic variability, in a cohort of 12 pre-professional dancers, through discrete phases of drop landings from a height of 0.2 m. No effect on kinematic variability was observed between floors, indicating that dancers could accommodate the changing extrinsic floor conditions. Future research may consider repeat analysis under more dynamic task constraints with a less experienced cohort. However, knee/ankle joint kinematic variability was observed to increase late in the landing phase which was predominantly comprised of knee flexion coupled with the terminal range of ankle dorsiflexion. These findings may be the result of greater neural input late in the landing phase as opposed to the suggested passive mechanical interaction of the foot and ankle complex at initial contact with a floor. Analysis of joint coordination in discrete movement phases may be of benefit in identifying intrinsic sources of variability in dynamic tasks that involve multiple movement phases.     

Close women,distant men: Line bisection reveals sex‐dimorphic patterns of visuomotor performance in near and far space

The mid‐points of a series of lines which were positioned both within hand‐reach (near space) and beyond hand‐reach (far space) were estimated by 24 women and 24 men. When using a laser pointer to perform estimations, women were more accurate in the near condition than the far, whereas men were more accurate in the far condition than the near. When using a stick pointer for the far condition, women were more accurate than when using the laser, whereas men were more accurate using the laser pointer than the stick for the far condition. There was no difference between near and far accuracy scores for either sex using the stick. These results suggest that use of a tool which provides proprioceptive feedback causes the brain to remap far‐space stimuli as if situated in near space. Possible origins and neural bases for these differences are considered. Finally, the study found evidence for pseudoneglect, but no evidence for pseudoneglect shift.     

Shedding light on insight: Priming bright ideas

Previous research has characterized insight as the product of internal processes, and has thus investigated the cognitive and motivational processes that immediately precede it. In this research, however, we investigate whether insight can be catalyzed by a cultural artifact, an external object imbued with learned meaning. Specifically, we exposed participants to an illuminating lightbulb - an iconic image of insight - prior to or during insight problem-solving. Across four studies, exposing participants to an illuminating lightbulb primed concepts associated with achieving an insight, and enhanced insight problem-solving in three different domains (spatial, verbal, and mathematical), but did not enhance general (non-insight) problem-solving.     

Pigeons' discounting of probabilistic and delayed reinforcers

Pigeons' discounting of probabilistic and delayed food reinforcers was studied using adjusting-amount procedures. In the probability discounting conditions, pigeons chose between an adjusting number of food pellets contingent on a single key peck and a larger, fixed number of pellets contingent on completion of a variable-ratio schedule. In the delay discounting conditions, pigeons chose between an adjusting number of pellets delivered immediately and a larger, fixed number of pellets delivered after a delay. Probability discounting (i.e., subjective value as a function of the odds against reinforcement) was as well described by a hyperboloid function as delay discounting was (i.e., subjective value as a function of the time until reinforcement). As in humans, the exponents of the hyperboloid function when it was fitted to the probability discounting data were lower than the exponents of the hyperboloid function when it was fitted to the delay discounting data. The subjective values of probabilistic reinforcers were strongly correlated with predictions based on simply substituting the average delay to their receipt in each probabilistic reinforcement condition into the hyperboloid discounting function. However, the subjective values were systematically underestimated using this approach. Using the discounting function proposed by Mazur (1989), which takes into account the variability in the delay to the probabilistic reinforcers, the accuracy with which their subjective values could be predicted was increased. Taken together, the present findings are consistent with Rachlin's (Rachlin, 1990; Rachlin, Logue, Gibbon, & Frankel, 1986) hypothesis that choice involving repeated gambles may be interpreted in terms of the delays to the probabilistic reinforcers.     

Delay discounting of qualitatively different reinforcers in rats

Humans discount larger delayed rewards less steeply than smaller rewards, whereas no such magnitude effect has been observed in rats (and pigeons). It remains possible that rats' discounting is sensitive to differences in the quality of the delayed reinforcer even though it is not sensitive to amount. To evaluate this possibility, Experiment 1 examined discounting of qualitatively different food reinforcers: highly preferred versus nonpreferred food pellets. Similarly, Experiment 2 examined discounting of highly preferred versus nonpreferred liquid reinforcers. In both experiments, an adjusting-amount procedure was used to determine the amount of immediate reinforcer that was judged to be of equal subjective value to the delayed reinforcer. The amount and quality of the delayed reinforcer were varied across conditions. Discounting was well described by a hyperbolic function, but no systematic effects of the quantity or the quality of the delayed reinforcer were observed.     

Using the CLOX drawing task to educate the public of the effects of hearing loss

We describe a task used to educate the public on the importance of hearing and the experience of hearing loss. During an open day at Nottingham University, participants were presented with verbal instructions (with or without a background masker) and asked to draw the image of a clock face as accurately as possible. Poorest performance was observed when the instructions were presented with a background masker. We suggest that the task could be applied effectively by healthcare professionals who aim to educate younger individuals of the difficulties associated with hearing loss.     

The nature and position of processing determines why forgetting occurs in working memory tasks

The effect of potentially distracting processing within working memory was examined by varying the nature and position of processing across conditions of a Brown-Peterson-like task. Separate groups of participants carried out verbal or visuospatial processing operations on identical stimuli, while retaining lists of to-be-remembered words. The number of words presented either before or after the processing interval was varied systematically. Results showed that although verbal processing was no more demanding than visuospatial processing, it led to greater forgetting. However, forgetting was confined to items presented prior to processing, and the difference in degree of forgetting shown by the two groups was maximal when four items occurred before processing. Temporal isolation effects were more marked in the verbal processing group. These findings indicate that individuals can keep active a limited number of items in primary memory during processing, unless processing blocks rehearsal, in which case retrieval occurs from secondary memory.     

Developing Metacompetence in Low Intensity Cognitive‐Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Interventions: Evaluating a Self‐Practice/Self‐Reflection Programme for Experienced Low Intensity CBT Practitioners

Self‐practice/self‐reflection (SP/SR) is a targeted training and professional development strategy in which clinicians practice cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques and processes on themselves and then working through a structured process of self‐reflection. Previous studies with CBT trainees and experienced mental health practitioners have found that SP/SR or experiencing CBT “from the inside out” has been perceived by participants as increasing competency in a number of important areas and increasing therapist flexibility and artistry. Low intensity (LI) practitioners are identified as a relatively new addition to mental health service delivery in the UK. These workers are differentiated from traditional mental health practitioners by a shorter training period, the delivery of a circumscribed number of CBT interventions, and a very high weekly patient load. This study, the first of its kind, reports outcomes from an SP/SR programme undertaken by seven experienced LI CBT practitioners. Participants used the following measures to track their experience of the programme: time spent on programme, personal‐ and therapy‐related belief rating, goals attained, and perceived skill rated for average and most difficult patients. Results showed a positive change in work‐related skill and behaviour change, particularly when working with the more difficult patients. The findings are consistent with those found in other groups of therapists (e.g., trainee CBT therapists and highly experienced CBT therapists), suggesting that SP/SR may be a valuable addition to LI intensity training and professional development. These findings are discussed in the context of the particular needs of LI practitioners.     

Aging,Spirituality, and Time: A Qualitative Study

We examined the concepts of aging, time, spirituality, and future care needs in four randomly selected informants from a group of 54 never-married childless older women. Using data from the Generativity and Lifestyles of Older Women (GLOW) study, we questioned how women’s perceptions of these concepts came together in current older age. We employed cultural theory, (our theoretical framework), ethnography, (our methodological framework), and phenomenology, (our philosophical foundation) to produce a portrait of each woman interviewed. Through a three-session interview process, we elicited the women’s life stories, reasons for childlessness, and topics that emerged as significant to the women, including aging, a sense of time remaining, and spirituality. A key finding was that the context of each woman’s life, both biographical and historical, transpired as a foundation for these concepts. That is, a woman’s “place in time” shaped their experiences of aging, as well as her reasons for childlessness and perceptions of finitude.