Proximate outcomes of gatekeeper training for suicide prevention in the workplace

In this pilot study we report on proximate outcomes of a 1-hour community gatekeeper training in-service for 76 nonclinical employees in a university hospital workplace setting. Pre-post analyses resulted in positive changes in participants' knowledge about suicide and attitudes (self-efficacy) about intervening with suicidal individuals. A subset of participants engaged in role play practice of gatekeeper skills following training and rated the experience positively. Fifty-five observations were rated using an observational measure developed for this study and approximately half of these demonstrated satisfactory skills post training. Participants in this workplace gatekeeper training reported sharing new knowledge and skills with family, friends, and coworkers.     

Planning and on-line control of catching as a function of perceptual-motor constraints

Two experiments were conducted in order to investigate the adaptability and associated strategies of the human perceptuo-motor system to deal with changing constraints. In a catching task, perceptual-motor constraints were internally controlled by coupling movement onset of the catch and the illumination circuit in the lab: upon the first movement of the catcher, all lights went out within 3 ms. The authors studied (a) how much movement time catchers prefer if no visual information is available after movement onset, and (b) how movement execution changes under such temporal constraints. It was hypothesised that, in order to accomplish successful catching behaviour, (1) movement initiation would be postponed in order to allow sufficient information uptake before the lights went out, and (2) an alternative control strategy would have to be mobilised, since on-line control becomes inappropriate when catching in the dark. In the first experiment, the adaptation process to the light-dark paradigm was investigated. In the second experiment, the conclusions from experiment 1 were challenged under varying ball speeds. In order to maintain catching performance, subjects initiated the catch approximately 280 ms before ball-hand contact. Next to changes in temporal structure of the catch and subtle kinematic adaptations, evidence for a change in the control mode emerged: while an on-line control strategy was adopted under normal illumination, catching movements seemed to be executed as planned in advance when catching in the dark. Additionally, perceptual constraints seem to determine the time of movement initiation, rather than motor constraints. These results emphasize the capability of the human perceptuo-motor system to adjust promptly to new task constraints.     

Mechanisms underpinning successful decision making in skilled youth soccer players: an analysis of visual search behaviors

The authors examined the complex interactions between perception, cognition, and expertise by using a film-based decision-making test. They stratified 40 youth soccer players (aged 13.0-15.8 years) into groups by using a within-task criterion. They assigned the players to successful or less successful groups on the basis of their performance on a laboratory-based test of tactical skill. Using soccer-specific film simulations, movement-based response measures, and eye movement registration techniques, the authors determined the players' decision-making processes and skill level. The results showed that investigators can use film-based tests to discriminate soccer players of comparable experience and playing level on the basis of their decision-making skills. When compared with their less successful counterparts, successful decision-makers used more goal-oriented search strategies, which resulted in superior performance, as characterized by faster decision times and greater response accuracy. Successful decision-makers (a) spent more time fixating the player in possession of the ball and (b) alternated gaze more frequently between that player and other areas of the display. An earlier study in which researchers (R. Vaeyens, M. Lenoir, A. M. Williams, L. Mazyn, & R. M. Philippaerts, 2007) stratified participants into groups on the basis of playing level had not revealed those differences. The implication of the present findings is that a within-task criterion provides investigators with a more sensitive approach when they try to identify the mechanisms underlying decision-making skill. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Parallel sexual relationships in the Norwegian context

The purpose of the paper is to describe and analyse the prevalence of parallel sexual relationships among adult Norwegians in terms of social background variables, possibility factors and motivational factors. Data stem from two cross-sectional, postal questionnaire surveys in 1987 and 1992 on two separate representative samples of 10,000 Norwegians aged between 18 and 60. The results showed that 16% of the respondents reported one or more parallel sexual relationships. The prevalence of parallel sexual relationships increased with possibility factors, such as the number of travelling days and population density. Among motivational factors, parallel sexual relationships increased with the number of years married/cohabiting, except for those married the longest. It decreased with increasing age of first intercourse, and increased with the number of partners before the last partnership. Of those not satisfied with coital frequency with their permanent partner, 22% had parallel sexual relationship experience compared to 12% among those who were satisfied. Furthermore, more men than women reported parallel sexual relationships; respondents with higher levels of education more often reported parallel sexual activity than those with lower level of education; and subjects born between 1937 and 1956 reported more parallel sexual activity than the other cohorts. When controlled for the number of years married/cohabiting, the predicted trend suggests that for the cohorts born up to 1970, men and women with lower and higher levels of education have become more similar as regards parallel sexual behaviour. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Motivated responses to ‘senseless’ violence: explaining emotional and behavioural responses through person and position identification

We integrate and extend insights from just world theory (Lerner, 1980 ), appraisal and attribution theories of emotion (e.g. Scherer, Schorr, & Johnstone, 2001 ; Weiner, 1995 ), and the sacred value protection model (Tetlock, Kirstel, Elson, Green, & Lerner, 2000 ) to explain observers' emotional and behavioural responses to incidents of so‐called ‘senseless’ violence. The presence or absence of an opportunity to blame a victim for his or her violent fate resulted in stronger perceptions of ‘senselessness’ of the violence, stronger identification with the victim's suffering (i.e. person identification) and stronger identification with his or her violent fate (i.e. position identification). The presence or absence of an opportunity to blame the victim also influenced observers' feelings of anger and pity, and their willingness to protest and help. Importantly, both types of identification helped explain these emotional and behavioural responses. The results of this experiment suggest dual motivations for how observers come to feel and care for victims of ‘senseless’ violence. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transcranial direct current stimulation of the right temporoparietal junction impairs third-person perspective taking

Given the current debates about the precise functional role of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) in egocentric and exocentric perspective taking, in the present study we manipulated activity in the rTPJ to investigate the effects on a spatial perspective-taking task. Participants engaged in a mental body transformation task, requiring them to mentally rotate their own body to the position of an avatar, while undergoing anodal, cathodal, or sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the rTPJ. As a control task, participants judged the laterality of a stimulus feature with respect to a fixation cross on the screen. For the first half of the experiment (only during online tDCS), a task-selective effect of tDCS was observed, reflected in slower reaction times following anodal than following cathodal and sham tDCS for the mental body transformation task, but not for the control task. The effects of tDCS were most pronounced for stimuli implying a more difficult mental body transformation. No effects of tDCS were observed during the second half of the experiment. The effects of tDCS were most pronounced for participants scoring low on aberrant perceptual beliefs and spiritual transcendence, suggesting a relation between third-person perspective taking and bodily and perceptual experiences. The finding that anodal stimulation of the rTPJ impairs third-person perspective taking indicates a key role of this region in exocentric spatial processing.     

What Should A “Gibsonian Neuroscience” Look Like? Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

Ecological psychology has been criticized for ignoring the brain in its theory formation. In recent years, however, a number of researchers have started asking ecologically-inspired questions about the ways in which not only the embodied activity of the organism in its environment, but also the particulars of the organism's nervous system matter. This work has typically appeared in neuroscience journals, thereby potentially escaping the attention of ecological psychologists. The current article introduces a Special Issue of Ecological Psychology that aims to correct this problem. This issue brings together one empirical and six theoretical articles that develop ideas about the contributions of the nervous system to perception-action. We briefly review each of the articles, identify common themes, and point out the surprising variety in theoretical positions. It is hoped that this Special Issue will help guide discussions amongst ecological psychologists and (ecological) neuroscientists as they confront the question “What should a ‘Gibsonian neuroscience’ look like?”     

Dynamic estimation in the extended marginal Rasch model with an application to mathematical computer-adaptive practice

We introduce a general response model that allows for several simple restrictions, resulting in other models such as the extended Rasch model. For the extended Rasch model, a dynamic Bayesian estimation procedure is provided, which is able to deal with data sets that change over time, and possibly include many missing values. To ensure comparability over time, a data augmentation method is used, which provides an augmented person-by-item data matrix and reproduces the sufficient statistics of the complete data matrix. Hence, longitudinal comparisons can be easily made based on simple summaries, such as proportion correct, sum score, etc. As an illustration of the method, an example is provided using data from a computer-adaptive practice mathematical environment.