Constrained action selection in children with developmental coordination disorder

The effect of advance ('precue') information on short aiming movements was explored in adults, high school children, and primary school children with and without developmental coordination disorder (n=10, 14, 16, 10, respectively). Reaction times in the DCD group were longer than in the other groups and were more influenced by the extent to which the precue constrained the possible action space. In contrast, reaction time did not alter as a function of precue condition in adults. Children with DCD showed greater inaccuracy of response (despite the increased RT). We suggest that the different precue effects reflect differences in the relative benefits of priming an action prior to definitive information about the movement goal. The benefits are an interacting function of the task and the skill level of the individual. Our experiment shows that children with DCD gain a benefit from advance preparation in simple aiming movements, highlighting their low skill levels. This result suggests that goal-directed RTs may have diagnostic potential within the clinic.     

Average size perception and the allure of a new mechanism

In this brief response to commentaries by Ariely (2008) and Chong, Joo, Emmanouil, and Treisman (2008) on our earlier article, we highlight the two key assumptions underlying earlier claims about statistical summary representations of object size and argue that existing studies have not met either of them. We note why statistical summary representations of size are different from such representations of motion or orientation, and we emphasize the need for simulations of performance to exclude focused attention explanations for judgments of average size.     

Automatic processing of pain: the change of implicit pain associations after psychotherapy

This study explores the utility of a pain IAT for the assessment of dysfunctional cognitive beliefs in chronic pain patients before and after a cognitive behaviour therapy. A patient group suffering from chronic pain (N=25) treated with a 4-week cognitive behavioural psychotherapy is compared with an untreated healthy control group (N=27) at two points in time. In addition, both groups completed a self-esteem questionnaire (Rosenberg-scale) and a self-esteem IAT. In the clinical group a questionnaire assessing self-reported pain cognitions was administered. The pain IAT was able to differentiate between chronic pain patients and healthy controls before the treatment. Most important, pain-related implicit associations could be shown to change over the course of treatment in the clinical group of chronic pain patients. Results provide first evidence for an application of the IAT in chronic pain research.     

Staying or returning: Pre‐migration influences on the migration process of German migrants to New Zealand

Changes in migrants' backgrounds and societies sending and receiving migrants might increase adaptation issues and reduce retention. To enhance migrants' well‐being/health and their likelihood of staying it is necessary to gain an understanding of psychological and social factors that contribute to resilience and adaptation. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that investigated the experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrant couples to New Zealand throughout the whole migration process to identify these factors. In depth, episodic interviews were conducted with four couples who decided to stay in New Zealand and four couples who decided to return to Germany. Interview data were complemented with participant observation. This paper provides insights into how the pre‐migration experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrants to New Zealand influenced their establishment, their interpretations and actions and consequently adaptation, well‐being/health and the decision whether to stay in New Zealand or to return to Germany. The findings illuminate the influence of psychological and social factors on migration experiences, interpretations and actions throughout the migration process. The paper offers some solutions for addressing the identified barriers to successful migration and integration into host societies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Better than average: alternatives to statistical summary representations for rapid judgments of average size

People can perceive the individual features of an object by focusing attention on it and binding the features together at a location. Some perceptual processing can occur without focusing attention on each object, though; people may even be able to extract summary information about the sizes of all the objects in a display, essentially computing the mean size at a glance. Evidence that people can judge the mean size of an array efficiently and accurately has been used to support the strong claim that people use a global, parallel process to extract a statistical summary of the average size of the objects in the display. Such claims are based both on the accuracy of performance and on the supposition that performance exceeds what would be possible with serial, focused attention. However, these studies typically have not examined the limits of performance with focused-attention strategies. Through experiments and simulations, we show that existing evidence for mean size perception can be explained through various focused-attention strategies, without appealing to a new mechanism of average size perception. Although our evidence does not eliminate the possibility that people do perceive the average size of all the objects in a display, it suggests that simpler mechanisms can accommodate the existing data.     

A revised semantic differential scale distinguishing between negative and positive God images

A sample of 755 school pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 years completed the Benson and Spilka semantic differential measure of God images. Factor analysis indicated the advantages of re‐scoring the measure as an eight item unidimensional index, defining semantic space relating to God images ranging from negative affect to positive affect.     

Facets of psychopathy, Axis II traits, and behavioral dysregulation among jail detainees

Forensic evaluations of offender populations often consider psychopathy as an integral component of these consultations. Vexing issues remain of whether psychopathic traits should be evaluated consistently irrespective of demographic characteristics (e.g. gender), comorbidity (e.g. other Axis II pathology), or setting (e.g. jail or community). The current study examined gender differences for psychopathy and Axis II traits in a nonreferred jail sample of predominantly nonviolent offenders. Participants with moderate to high levels of psychopathy evidenced substantial comorbidity, especially with Cluster B personality disorders. Facets of psychopathy and Axis II traits varied substantially across both genders. In addition, the research evaluated Lynam's Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, and Attention difficulties (HIA) model of psychopathy. These initial data found little support for the HIA model in this jail sample. In testing competing hypotheses, the HIA model was substantially better at predicting Cluster B traits than psychopathy per se.     

The relationship between psychological type and the three major dimensions of personality

Five hundred and fifty-four undergraduate students attending a university-sector college in South Wales, United Kingdom, completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (Form G) and the short-form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The results showed a number of statistically significant relationships between the two models of personality and drew attention to two substantively significant relationships. In Eysenckian terms, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator constructs of introversion and extraversion translated as “neurotic introversion” and as “stable extraversion.” The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator constructs of judging and perceiving translated as “low psychoticism” and “high psychoticism”. Based on their interpretation of findings, the authors argue that the MBTI and the Eysenckian models should be viewed as interacting in a dynamic and informative fashion, not as unrelated, totally disparate models.     

Action information from classification learning

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois Much of our learning comes from interacting with objects. Two experiments investigated whether or not arbitrary actions used during category learning with objects might be incorporated into object representations and influence later recognition judgments. In a virtual-reality chamber, participants used distinct arm movements to make different classification responses. During a recognition test phase, these same objects required arm movements that were consistent or inconsistent with the classification movement. In both experiments, consistent movements were facilitated relative to inconsistent movements, suggesting that arbitrary action information is incorporated into the representations.