Redundant visual signals boost saccade execution

The redundant signal effect (RSE) refers to the fact that human beings react more quickly to a pair of stimuli than to only one stimulus. In previous studies of the RSE in the oculomotor system, bimodal signals have been used as the goal of the saccade. In consistency with studies using manual response times (RTs), saccadic RTs have been shown to be shorter for redundant multimodal stimuli than for single unimodal stimuli. In the present experiments, we extended these findings by demonstrating an RSE in the saccadic system elicited only by unimodal visual stimuli. In addition, we found that shorter saccadic RTs were accompanied by an increased saccadic peak velocity. The present results are of relevance for neurophysiological models of saccade execution, since the boost of saccades was elicited by two visual transients (acting as a “go” signal) that were presented not at the goal of the saccade but at various other locations.     

Gerry Adams and the Northern Ireland Peace Process

This research note uses Hermann's personality-at-a-distance (PAD) method and applies it to negotiating behavior. Gerry Adams's personality and its effect upon his negotiating behavior in the current peace process in Northern Ireland is used as an illustration of the expanded application of PAD in a negotiating context.     

Elucidating The Etiology and Nature of Beliefs about Parenting Styles

This study was designed to investigate relationships among self‐reported and spouse‐reported beliefs about parenting styles, the characteristics of the individuals manifesting these styles, and the contextual characteristics of parenting. Demographic characteristics, life circumstances, family functioning, personality traits, ability indices, and parenting‐styles indicators were collected from a sample of 452 women and 293 men, all of whom were raising adolescents in contemporary Russia. Of the families studied, 275 were intact (i.e. consisted of married and cohabiting couples). It was found that individual characteristics and contextual characteristics (e.g. family functioning) together predicted about 20% of the variance in reported beliefs about parental styles of responsiveness and demandingness. Moreover, these variables discriminated about 65% of the parents reporting indulging, neglectful, authoritarian or authoritative beliefs about parenting. The percentage of explained variance doubled when beliefs about parenting styles of partners were placed in the model. Thus, in attempts to understand the etiology of parents’ beliefs about parenting styles, more attention should be given to beliefs about parenting styles of their spouses. It might be that beliefs about parenting styles emerge as a structure shared by spouses; they are mediated, but not solely determined, by the individual characteristics of parents and their children.     

Personality traits and alcohol consumption in a sample of non-alcoholic women

Many studies have shown the importance of personality traits as factors related to alcohol use and misuse. The relationship between personality traits and alcohol consumption was studied in a sample of 149 non-alcoholic women using the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R). The results showed positive correlations between alcohol consumption and disinhibitory personality traits (sensation seeking, impulsivity, psychopathy, nonconformity) and dimensions (psychoticism and extraversion). Sensation seeking combined with impulsivity were the strongest predictors of alcohol consumption. Anxiety-related traits and neuroticism were not related to alcohol frequency/amount of alcohol use.     

Integrative neuropsychological characteristics of subcortical-frontal brain regions as a schizophrenia liability factor

In order to study neuropsychological characteristics of subcortical-frontal brain regions function and assessment of their relation with vulnerability to schizophrenia 59 patients and 23 controls were investigated using Luria's neuropsychological methods. The analysis established bilateral abnormalities of the function of prefrontal and profound frontal lobe zones in patients as compared with controls. These abnormalities were more predominate in the left hemisphere. Point biserial correlation coefficients of determined integrative neuropsychological indicators with liability to schizophrenia were 0.39 +/- 0.11 and 0.28 +/- 0.09, for the left and right brain zones respectively. The obtained data permits discussion of the integrative neuropsychological indicators of subcortical-frontal brain regions as potential markers of liability to schizophrenia and confirms the role of structural and functional brain asymmetry in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.     

Testing the predictors of boredom at school: Development and validation of the precursors to boredom scales

Background. Boredom has been found to be an important emotion for students' learning processes and achievement outcomes; however, the precursors of this emotion remain largely unexplored. Aim. In the current study, scales assessing the precursors to boredom in academic achievement settings were developed and tested. Sample. Participants were 1,380 grade 5–10 students in mathematics classes. Method. The Precursors to Boredom Scales were tested for structural and convergent validity with multi‐level confirmatory factor analyses (ML‐CFA), and differences in the perception of the precursors of boredom due to gender were investigated. Results. The first ML‐CFA found support for the structural validity of the Precursors to Boredom Scales. In a second ML‐CFA, the newly developed boredom scales showed good convergent validity with several key aspects of instructional quality. Finally, the results supported previous research that found no gender differences in academic self‐concept and interest. Conclusion. The precursors contained in our scales are empirically separable. Implications of the current findings for research on boredom among students are discussed.     

The representation of abstract words: why emotion matters

Although much is known about the representation and processing of concrete concepts, knowledge of what abstract semantics might be is severely limited. In this article we first address the adequacy of the 2 dominant accounts (dual coding theory and the context availability model) put forward in order to explain representation and processing differences between concrete and abstract words. We find that neither proposal can account for experimental findings and that this is, at least partly, because abstract words are considered to be unrelated to experiential information in both of these accounts. We then address a particular type of experiential information, emotional content, and demonstrate that it plays a crucial role in the processing and representation of abstract concepts: Statistically, abstract words are more emotionally valenced than are concrete words, and this accounts for a residual latency advantage for abstract words, when variables such as imageability (a construct derived from dual coding theory) and rated context availability are held constant. We conclude with a discussion of our novel hypothesis for embodied abstract semantics.