Contextual interference processing during fast categorisations of facial expressions

We examined interference effects of emotionally associated background colours during fast valence categorisations of negative, neutral and positive expressions. According to implicitly learned colour-emotion associations, facial expressions were presented with colours that either matched the valence of these expressions or not. Experiment 1 included infrequent non-matching trials and Experiment 2 a balanced ratio of matching and non-matching trials. Besides general modulatory effects of contextual features on the processing of facial expressions, we found differential effects depending on the valance of target facial expressions. Whereas performance accuracy was mainly affected for neutral expressions, performance speed was specifically modulated by emotional expressions indicating some susceptibility of emotional expressions to contextual features. Experiment 3 used two further colour-emotion combinations, but revealed only marginal interference effects most likely due to missing colour-emotion associations. The results are discussed with respect to inherent processing demands of emotional and neutral expressions and their susceptibility to contextual interference.     

Revisiting the association of aggression and suicidal behavior in schizophrenic inpatients

Our study investigated the association of aggression and suicidal behavior in schizophrenic inpatients. Eight thousand nine hundred one admissions for schizophrenia (1998-2007) to a psychiatric university hospital were included. Schizophrenic suicides (n = 7)/suicide attempters (n = 40) were compared to suicides (n = 30)/suicide attempters (n = 186) with other diagnoses and to schizophrenic non-attempters regarding aggression. Logistic regression analysis was performed to explore risk factors for attempted suicide. Schizophrenic suicides/suicide attempters did not differ from other suicides/suicide attempters or from schizophrenic non-attempters with regard to aggression. Risk of inpatient suicide attempt was increased for patients with attempted suicide at admission, high school graduation, and disorganized subtype. Aggression could not be found to be a predictor of attempted suicide. Aggression seems to have a minor role for suicidal behavior in schizophrenia.     

The Predictive Validity of Injury Proxies: Predicting Early Adolescent Injuries with Assessments of Minor Injuries

This study offers an initial step in establishing the predictive validity of injury proxies. Proxies are utilized frequently by injury researchers to overcome various methodological and ethical issues inherent in injury research, although psychometric data on proxies are limited. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development we found that minor injuries predicted adolescent injuries longitudinally, even in the context of well-established predictors of injury risk. This study is the first to demonstrate the predictive validity of minor injuries, a common proxy of pediatric injury risk. Findings are discussed with respect to implications for conceptual understanding of injury risk, future research, and prevention efforts.     

Discrepancies Between Implicit and Explicit Self‐concepts of Intelligence Predict Performance on Tests of Intelligence

Three studies investigated the correspondence between implicit and explicit self‐concepts of intelligence and how that correspondence is related to performance on different intelligence tests. Configurations of these two self‐concepts were found to be consistently related to performance on intelligence tests in all three studies. For individuals who self‐reported high intelligence (high explicit self‐concept), a negative implicit self‐concept (measured with the Implicit Association Test) led to a decrease in performance on intelligence tests. For participants whose self‐report indicated a low self‐concept of intelligence, positive automatic associations between the self and intelligence had a similar effect. In line with a stress hypothesis, the results indicate that any discrepant configuration of self‐concepts will impair performance. Importantly, the prediction of performance on intelligence tests by the self‐concept of intelligence was shown to be independent of self‐esteem (Study 3). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Langzeitergebnisse einer Funktionellen-Magnetresonanztomographie-Studie

In a controlled functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study the effect of psychodynamic short-term psychotherapy on cerebral activation of panic disorder patients was determined. In a linguistic go-no go paradigm behavioral measures and cerebral activation to affective word stimuli with threatening, neutral and positive content were assessed pretreatment and post-treatment in 9 patients with panic disorder. 18 healthy controls were scanned twice at the same intervals. In an additional long-term follow-up after approximately 3 years post-treatment the effect of brain activation changes during treatment on the long-term outcome of core symptoms (panic-related cognition and fear of body sensations) were determined. In accordance with the hypotheses increased limbic (hippocampus and amygdala) activation accompanied by low prefrontal activation to negative words were found. At treatment termination, panic-related symptoms had improved significantly and fronto-limbic activation patterns were normalized. Reduction of activation of the limbic system during treatment was predictive of a favorable long-term outcome. The results indicate that short-term psychodynamic treatment leads to changes in fronto-limbic networks, similar to previous findings on cognitive-behavioural treatment.     

The missing fundamental in vowel height perception

Traunmüller (1981) suggested that the tonotopic distance between the first formant (F ₁) and the fundamental frequency (F ₀) is a major determinant of perceived vowel height. In the present study, subjects identified a vowel-height continuum ranging in formant pattern from /?/ to /ε/, at fiveF ₀ values. IncreasingF ₀ led to an increased probability of /I/ responses (i.e., the phoneme boundary shifted toward the /ε/ end of the continuum). Various conditions of filtering out the lower harmonics of the stimuli caused only marginal shifts of the phoneme boundary. The experiments provide evidence against interpretations of Traunmüller’s (1981) results that claim that vowel height is determined by the distance betweenF ₁ and the lowest harmonic that is present in the basilar membrane excitation pattern.     

Relative weight and personality: analyses with the personality research form

A sample of 311 West German women and 254 men aged from 16 to 84 yr was investigated in order to examine the relationship between relative body weight (as an indicator of adequate/inadequate nutrition habits) and personality traits as measured by the Personality Research Form (PRF). To control for sex all analyses were done separately for men and women. A larger number of significant (linear and non-linear) relationships was found when sociodemographic factors (age and education) were not controlled. The univariate and multivariate relationships between relative weight and personality became practically insignificant, however, after statistical control of both factors. Personality types formed by cluster analysis also did no longer differ in mean relative weight when the values were adjusted for the effects of age and education. The conclusion is drawn that the individual degree of deviation from a medical or aesthetic body-weight norm is practically independent of the personality traits measured by the PRF (as long as the degree of obesity is not a severe one).