The effect of old age on the learning of supraspan sequences

Two experiments examined age-related differences in sequence learning using computerized versions of the D. O. Hebb (1961) paradigm. In this learning task, the participant executes immediate serial recall of 24 supraspan sequences. Without the participants' knowledge, 1 sequence is presented several times. Repetition leads to improved recall of this repeated sequence relative to random sequences. Results showed a dissociation in age-related learning deficits depending on the nature of the to-be-remembered material. The effect of repetition is similar for younger and older adults with familiar and unfamiliar verbal material (words and pseudowords) but is significantly reduced in older adults when learning is assessed with a visuospatial version of Hebb's supraspan learning task (P. M. Corsi, 1972).     

Manual pointing to remembered targets...but also in a remembered visual context

In this paper we investigated whether visual background information available during target presentation influences manual pointing to remembered targets. Younger and older participants manually pointed with their unseen hands to remembered or visible targets that were presented or not over a structured visible background. The results indicated that a structured visual background biased movement planning processes, but did not influence motor control processes, regardless of the fact that target location and the background were visible or remembered. How one uses visual background information for movement planning is not modified by aging.     

Laterality effects in processing tonal and atonal melodies with affective and nonaffective task instructions

Right-handed university subjects were presented with monaural melodies that either conformed to the rules of the Western tonal system (tonal melodies) or that systematically deviated from it (atonal melodies) while containing similar contours and pitch skips. Subjects were tested under two different task instructions. One group was requested to judge whether each melody sounded correct or not (the nonaffective task); the other group had to judge whether each melody sounded pleasant or not (the affective task). The nonaffective task was found to elicit essentially no ear difference. In contrast, the affective instruction induced opposite and reliable laterality effects, depending on the valence of the response. The pleasant responses were indicative of a left hemisphere predominance and the unpleasant responses of a right hemisphere predominance. The results are consistent with the claim that the left hemisphere is biased toward positive emotions and the right to negative emotions. Moreover, the results suggest that affective appreciation of melodies is dissociable from their nonaffective judgment.     

Cognitive intrusions in a non-clinical population. I. Response style, subjective experience, and appraisal

The present study identified distinctive response styles to unpleasant cognitive intrusions to further understanding of intrusive phenomena similar to those observed in obsessive-compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders. Response styles were studied among 125 university students who completed a questionnaire describing and evaluating seven cognitive intrusions and inventories of depressive, anxious, and compulsive symptoms. Almost all subjects (99%) reported intrusions and 92% included effortful strategies in response to intrusions in their repertoire. Large differences were observed in the dominant strategy used. Three distinctive dominant response styles were identified including no effortful response (26%) and two effortful styles, attentive thinking (34%), and escape/avoidance (40%). The two groups using effortful strategies were more anxious and reported more difficulty removing intrusions. The group using escape/avoidance strategies reported more sadness, worry, guilt, and disapproval than subjects reporting no effortful response. The attentive thinking group reported more varied forms and more frequently triggered intrusions then the no effortful response group. Within subject analyses support the group comparisons and showed that intrusions eliciting escape/avoidance strategies were evaluated more disapprovingly than thoughts eliciting attentive thinking. The results are discussed in terms of Salkovskis' (Behavior Research and Therapy, 27, 677–682, 1985) formulation of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Borkovec's (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 23, 481–482, 1985) and Barlow's (Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic, 1988) discussions of worry and generalized anxiety.     

Heterogeneity of Incentives for Physical Activity and Self-Efficacy in Highly Active and Moderately Active Women Exercisers

The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether persons exercising 2 times per week or less versus 3 times per week or more, with intentions to maintain current level of activity form a homogenous group in terms of motivational features. A group of 86 women recruited from local fitness clubs reported on their exercise incentives, self-efficacy, exercise behavior, and exercise intentions. A discriminant function analysis revealed that self-efficacy and incentives for stress reduction and mental health discriminated highly active from moderately active women. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of stage theory and research in exercise adherence.     

L'INVENTAIRE DE RESOLUTION DE PROBLEMES PERSONNELS: UNE PERSPECTIVE METACOGNITIVE*

Studies on personal problem solving demonstrate important variations in intra- and interindividual problem solving performances. These differences have been associated with different levels of subject's psychological distress. Recently, several investigators have attempted to identify meta-cognitive factors associated with fluctuations in problem solving performance and variations in subject's level of mental health. The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric qualities of the French version of the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI). The 35-item questionnaire assess people's attitudes toward their personal problem solving competence. Reliability, factorial structure and construct validity of the instrument were evaluated with two different samples of subjects. Results indicated that the French version of the PSI has high internal consistency and, as predicted, a tri-dimensional factorial structure. The observed relation between subject's appraisal of their personal problem solving abilities and level of psychological distress support the discriminant properties and the concurrent validity of the PSI.     

Short versus long term gains of a cognitive-behavioral social skills program targeting the giving and receiving of criticism

Seventy-four university undergraduates (40.2% male and 59.8% female) reporting difficulty in giving and receiving criticism were randomly assigned to either a training group consisting of cognitive behavioral criticism skills including behavior rehearsal, modeling, coaching, cognitive restructuring, or to a control group. Dependent measures were given at pre-test, post-test, and one year follow-up. Included were self-report measures consisting of Fear of Negative Evaluation (FNE), Criticism Concerns Scale (CCS), Criticism Self-Esteem Giving and Receiving Scales, and behavioral role-play measures consisting of judges’ global ratings of subject’s verbal and nonverbal criticism behaviors in role-play scenarios with a live actor. Results for the self-report measures, FNE, and Criticism Self-Esteem Receiving showed both training program and control groups improved at post-test, but only the training program group maintained gains at one year follow-up. For the CCS and Criticism Self-Esteem Giving, the training program group improved over time, yet was only significantly different from control group at post-test. Results were discussed in terms of the pro-active nature of giving criticism versus the more reactive nature of receiving criticism.     

Evidence for selective target processing with a low perceptual load flankers task

In this article, we demonstrate that selective target processing is possible when the perceptual load of the task is low. We presented a row of three items with two different identities: one identity for the target letter and one for the two flankers (B. A. Eriksen & C. W. Eriksen, 1974). Such stimulus arrays have been defined as low-load displays (Lavie & Tsal, 1994). We investigated whether subjects could ignore the irrelevant flankers, which were never response alternatives, by manipulating the predictive relationship between the flankers and the response (Miller, 1987). In a high-correlation block, the identity of the flankers was highly predictive of the target identity, whereas in a lowcorrelation block, the predictive value of the flankers was reduced. We varied (1) whether or not the target location was precued, (2) the flanker’s category (digit vs. letter), (3) the target-flanker proximity (near = 3° vs. far = 5°), and (4) the size of the characters. The results indicate that subjects were influenced by the predictive value of near flankers and that the magnitude of this effect was jointly modulated by the target-flanker categorical overlap and by the size of the characters. In contrast, null flanker effects were obtained for far letter flankers in the precue condition, and for far digit flankers, regardless of attentional cuing. These findings (1) are inconsistent with suggestions (Lavie, 1995) that irrelevant stimuli automatically capture attention, and (2) support the notion that target-flanker distinctiveness plays a role when the perceptual load of the task is low.