Cross‐sectional study on the relationship between music training and working memory in adults

Learning to play musical instruments has been shown to enhance a wide variety of cognitive domains. The present study investigated the specific aspects of working memory (WM) that differed between adult musicians and non‐musicians. Twenty‐four musicians and 30 non‐musicians matched for age, gender, years of formal education, and verbal intelligence performed several WM tasks. A multivariate analysis of covariance, wherein family income was controlled, revealed that musicians outperformed non‐musicians in tasks related to visual–motor coordination, visual scanning ability, visual processing speed, and spatial memory. However, no significant differences were found in phonological and visual memory capacity. This study supports the view that music training is associated to specific (and not general) WM skills.     

A PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FOR AN INTERNATIONAL-LEVEL TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE

This study outlined the development, implementation, and evaluation of an intervention strategy that was designed to improve the technical skill and performance of an international-level pole vaulter. Intervention, in the form of a prompting and shaping procedure, consisted of breaking a photoelectric beam with the hands at the moment of take-off. The height of the beam was gradually increased until the vaulter reached maximum arm extension at take-off. Increase in arm extension was matched by an increase in bar height clearance.     

An electrode hookup for eyelid conditioning

A method for recording eyelid CRs, using skin electrodes rather than the usual mechanical connection to the S’s eyelid, is described. Data are presented to show the comparability of the two recording systems.     

Client Gender and Sex Role: Predictors of Counselors' Impressions and Expectations

Researchers of this study questioned: Are clients (male or female) with self-reported “masculine” versus “feminine” role orientations viewed more favorably by counselors? Which is more predictive of the counselor's impressions: the client's gender or his or her sex role orientation? Results suggested that highly masculine and highly feminine clients (regardless of gender) are perceived as more socially skilled and likely to experience a positive therapeutic outcome. Gender did not uniquely predict counselors' impressions. Highly feminine women clients, however, were viewed as more socially skilled than were highly feminine men. On average, clients were viewed as friendly and submissive.     

A special latin square for the use of each subject “as his own control”

When the purpose of the experiment is to compare treatments, the Sequences × Positions Latin Square has been employed to control unwanted effects attributable to individuals, position, and sequence. This particular Latin Square has been subjected to criticism on the grounds there is confounding due to structure, random variables, and subject interactions. Special Latin Square, a subclass of the Sequences × Positions Latin Square, is basically ap ×p factorial design in blocks of sizep. The two factors are treatments (T) and positions (P). Sequence is one component of theTP interaction, and square uniqueness is the sum of the remaining components. This completely replicated factorial design has no structural or random variable confounding; if subject interactions are present, square uniqueness may be used as the error term and the bias in the test of treatments will be conservative.     

The Role of Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance in Communication Modality and Relationship Quality of Romantic Relationships Initiated Online

This study explores the relationships among an individual's attachment anxiety and avoidance, the ratio of technology mediated communication (TMC) in their relationship, and relationship quality for individuals who met their romantic partners online. Participants (N = 219) consisted of individuals between the ages of 18–25, who were US citizens, and met a romantic partner utilizing online dating, dating mobile web applications, social networking sites, online chatrooms, or any way of meeting through technology. A survey measuring relationship beliefs, relationship attitudes, and use of technology was distributed and completed via MTurk. Structural equation modeling revealed that anxious attachment was associated with a higher ratio of TMC, whereas avoidant attachment was not significantly related with the ratio of TMC. Higher ratios of TMC were associated with lower relationship quality. Implications for intervention are discussed.     

Seeing the forest and not the trees: When impact uncertainty heightens causal complexity

This study attempts to isolate the effects of experiencing uncertainty on people's cognitive processes. I argue that people can believe that their actions affect the outcome (i.e. outcome control), but still face uncertainty regarding the extent to which actions will make a difference (i.e. impact uncertainty). To this end, I introduce a novel experimental paradigm which isolates the effects of impact uncertainty from outcome control. The findings revealed that after experiencing impact uncertainty, participants demonstrated greater causal complexity (i.e. more likely to make situational attributions and judge outcomes as having a “ripple effect”), but did not make fewer effort attributions for the outcomes. These findings demonstrate how the experience of impact uncertainty can affect cognitive processing, without compromising outcome control. Implications of these findings for developing more nuanced theories on control and uncertainty are discussed.     

Psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents: an updated narrative review of the evidence base

While the evidence base for psychodynamic therapy with adults is now quite substantial, there is still a lack of research evaluating the effectiveness of psychodynamic therapies with children and young people. Those studies that have been carried out are also not widely known in the field. To help address the second point, in 2011, we carried out a review of the evidence base for psychodynamic psychotherapy for children and adolescents, which identified 35 studies which together provided some preliminary evidence for this treatment for a range of childhood disorders. The present study is an updated review, focusing on research published between March 2011 and November 2016. During this period, 23 additional studies were published, of which 5 were reports on randomised controlled trials, 3 were quasi-experimental controlled studies and 15 were observational studies. Although most studies covered children with mixed diagnoses, there were a number of studies examining specific diagnostic groups, including children with depression, anxiety and disruptive disorders. whilst the quality of studies was mixed, some were well-designed and reported, and overall indicated promising findings. Nevertheless, further high-quality research is needed in order to better understand the effectiveness of psychodynamic psychotherapy across a range of different disorders, and to ensure that services can provide a range of evidence-based treatments for children and young people.     

Predicting the psychological health of older adults: Interaction of age-based rejection sensitivity and discriminative facility

We hypothesize that older adults who anxiously expect, readily perceive, and intensely react to social rejection because of their old age (i.e., have high age-based rejection sensitivity) are vulnerable to depression and poor social functioning. We further hypothesize that the association between age-based rejection sensitivity and poor psychological health would be attenuated among older adults who possess adequate cognitive coping ability—they can discern and respond discriminatively to subtle variations in situational demands (i.e., have high discriminative facility). Based on the results of a focus group study, we constructed an age-based rejection sensitivity measure, which predicts greater depression, poorer social functioning, greater loneliness, and lower life satisfaction among individuals in late adulthood. As hypothesized, the relationship between age-based rejection sensitivity and poor psychological health was weaker among older adults with high (vs. low) discriminative facility.     

Folkbiology meets microbiology: a study of conceptual and behavioral change

Health education can offer a valuable window onto conceptual and behavioral change. In Study 1, we mapped out 3rd-grade Chinese children’s beliefs about causes of colds and flu and ways they can be prevented. We also explored older adults’ beliefs as a possible source of the children’s ideas. In Study 2, we gave 3rd- and 4th-grade Chinese children either a conventional cold/flu education program or an experimental “Think Biology” program that focused on a biological causal mechanism for cold/flu transmission. The “Think Biology” program led children to reason about cold/flu causation and prevention more scientifically than the conventional program, and their reasoning abilities dovetailed with their mastery of the causal mechanism. Study 3, a modified replication of Study 2, found useful behavioral change as well as conceptual change among children who received the “Think Biology” program and documented coherence among knowledge enrichment, conceptual change, and behavioral change.