Short-Term Kinesthetic Training for Sensorimotor Rhythms: Effects in Experts and Amateurs

The authors’ aim was to examine whether short-term kinesthetic training affects the level of sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) in different frequency band: alpha (8–12 Hz), lower beta (12.5–16 Hz) and beta (16.5–20 Hz) during the execution of a motor imagery task of closing and opening the right and the left hand by experts (jugglers, practicing similar exercises on an everyday basis) and amateurs (individuals not practicing any sports). It was found that the performance of short kinesthetic training increases the power of alpha rhythm when executing imagery tasks only in the group of amateurs. Therefore, kinesthetic training may be successfully used as a method increasing the vividness of motor imagery, for example, in tasks involving the control of brain–computer interfaces based on SMR.     

Neuropsychological Functioning in Children with Medium Chain Acyl Coenzyme A Dehydrogenase Deficiency (MCADD): The Impact of Early Diagnosis and Screening on Outcome

Children with medium chain acyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD) have been reported to be at high risk for neurocognitive deficits. However this has not been systematically studied and little is known about the exact nature of neuropsychological sequelae or of the impact of early diagnosis and screening on outcome. We examined cognitive and adaptive outcome in children with MCADD (N?=?38, age range: 2 years, 2 months – 10 years, 3 months) diagnosed either through a newborn screening program (tandem mass spectrometry/MSMS) or upon clinical presentation. There was no evidence of overall intellectual impairment in either groups but there was some suggestion of poorer verbal and specific executive functioning (i.e., planning) abilities in the unscreened cohorts. Adaptive functioning was relatively intact with the exception of reduced Daily Living Skills in both our screened and unscreened groups. Early diagnosis and greater number of hospitalizations were related to higher verbal, communication, and socialization skills. Overall, our results highlight the importance of early diagnosis and management for children with MCADD.     

Need for closure and heuristic information processing: The moderating role of the ability to achieve the need for closure

In contrast to the ample research that shows a positive relationship between the need for closure (NFC) and heuristic information processing, this research examines the hypothesis that this relationship is moderated by the ability to achieve closure (AAC), that is, the ability to use information‐processing strategies consistent with the level of NFC. Three different operationalizations of heuristic information processing were used: recall of information consistent with the impression (Study 1); pre‐decisional information search (Study 2); and stereotypic impression formation (Study 3). The results of the studies showed that there were positive relationships between NFC and heuristic information processing when participants assessed themselves as being able to use cognitive strategies consistent with their level of NFC (high AAC). For individuals with low AAC, the relationships were negative. Our data show that motivation–cognition interactions influence the information‐processing style.     

Synesthetic grapheme-color percepts exist for newly encountered Hebrew,Devanagari, Armenian and Cyrillic graphemes

Grapheme-color synesthetes experience color, not physically present, when viewing symbols. Synesthetes cannot remember learning these associations. Must synesthetic percepts be formed during a sensitive period? Can they form later and be consistent? What determines their nature? We tested grapheme-color synesthete, MC2, before, during and after she studied Hindi abroad. We investigated whether novel graphemes elicited synesthetic percepts, changed with familiarity, and/or benefited from phonemic information. MC2 reported color percepts to novel Devanagari and Hebrew graphemes. MC2 monitored these percepts over 6 months in a Hindi-speaking environment. MC2 and synesthete DN, reported synesthetic percepts for Armenian graphemes, or Cyrillic graphemes + phonemes over time. Synesthetes, not controls, reported color percepts for novel graphemes that gained consistency over time. Phonemic information did not enhance consistency. Thus, synesthetes can form and consolidate percepts to novel graphemes as adults. These percepts may depend on pre-existing grapheme-color relationships but they can flexibly shift with familiarity.     

The Universality of Childhood Emotional Abuse: A Meta-Analysis of Worldwide Prevalence

This comprehensive meta-analysis combined prevalence figures of child emotional abuse reported in 29 studies, including 46 independent samples with a total of 7,082,279 participants. The overall estimated prevalence was 3/1,000 for studies using informants and 363/1,000 for studies using self-report measures of child emotional abuse. Procedural factors seem to exert a greater influence on the prevalence of childhood emotional abuse than sample characteristics and definitional issues, without fully explaining the vast variation of prevalence rates reported in individual studies. We conclude that child emotional abuse is a universal problem affecting the lives of millions of children all over the world, which is in sharp contrast with the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child.     

The link between anger and admiration toward governmental actions and self-reported preventive behaviour in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, across six correlational studies in four different countries (total N = 4937), we examined the link between citizens' anger with and admiration for the government's actions and decisions (i.e., system-based anger and admiration) and engagement in preventive behaviour. The internal meta-analyses showed that individuals who admired the government's actions were more likely to adopt personal hygiene and social distancing behaviour. Yet, the link between emotions and preventive behaviour differed concerning the target of emotions, especially for anger. Specifically, anger about restrictions imposed by the government was negatively related to preventive behaviours, but this relationship was not significant when the target of anger was the government's overall handling of the pandemic. Our findings emphasise the importance of citizens' emotions and the targets of those emotions during the crisis.     

Bocheński on Morality and Ethics

Studies in East European Thought - What are the main results of Bocheńskiinvestigations in ethics and moral philosophy?In his own view, he contributed to threematters: his treatise on miltary...     

Positive mood boosts the expression of a dispositional need for closure

Three studies (N=539) examined the hypothesis that positive mood increases the degree to which epistemic motivation, i.e., the need for closure (NFC), affects the way in which an individual processes information (heuristic vs. systematic processing). In each of the studies, different methods of operationalising mood were used: in Study 1, mood was measured as a state; in Study 2, mood was induced by asking participants to recall emotional events; and in Study 3, mood was induced by emotional pictures. The styles of information processing that were utilised by our participants were operationalised in terms of their preferences for (Study 1) and ability to recall (Studies 2 and 3) schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent information. Taken together, the results of the three studies show that only under positive mood, NFC level of an individual is consistent with his or her style of information processing, that is, only under positive mood is there a negative relationship between the NFC level of an individual and the utilisation of schema-inconsistent information. Our results can be explained in terms of the effect that mood has on an individual's perceived ability to achieve NFC.