Precueing imminent conflict does not override sequence-dependent interference adaptation

Interference effects are largely reduced after cognitive conflicts in previous trials. This sequence-dependent interference adaptation is often seen as a consequence of strategic executive control. We sought to investigate whether sequential modulations are comparable with cue-induced strategic adjustments in spatial interference tasks. If so, reliable cues indicating the next compatibility condition should override effects caused by prior events. To this end, cues were introduced in a spatial stimulus-response compatibility task and a Simon task that either indicated the upcoming trial compatibility (rule cues) or the target position, which was not related to the S-R rule (position cues). The proportion of valid cues was either completely or predominantly valid. In both tasks cueing benefits for absolutely reliable rule cues were clearly present. Remarkably, sequential modulations were not influenced by effective rule cueing and vice versa. Even absolutely reliable information about prospective control demands did not cancel out sequence-dependent interference adaptation. In addition, the contingent negative variation—an event-related brain potential in the cue-target interval that is related to response preparation and readiness—showed additive effects of preceding compatibility and cue reliability. The present results indicate that processes underlying sequence-dependent interference adaptation differ from cue-induced strategic processes of cognitive control.     

The Effectiveness of Parenting Programs for Incarcerated Mothers: A Systematic Review

There is evidence to suggest that maternal incarceration can have negative implications for children. Children in these families can be at greater risk for conduct problems and antisocial behavior, as well as school dropout and academic failure. Institution-based parenting programs represent one means of addressing the potential negative impacts of maternal incarceration on children’s wellbeing. Through parent training programs, mothers may develop skills and strategies to help their children cope with the challenges and stressors associated with incarceration. However, it is currently unclear whether parenting programs for mothers in these facilities have a positive effect on different parenting outcomes. We conducted a systematic search of several electronic databases using key search terms and identified sixteen treatment studies. The results suggest that in the short-term, corrections-based parenting programs are associated with positive effects on parenting behavior, parenting attitudes, and parenting knowledge. However, these programs appear to have no effect on parenting stress immediately post-treatment. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

‘When Difference Gets in the Way’: Young People,Whiteness and Sexualisation

Scholars of young people and sexualisation have noted an omission of studies that attend to race and whiteness. In the main, a white-Anglo middle-class child is placed at the centre of media, policy and academic debates about the effects, production and consumption of sexualised media. In light of this, it is important to ask: how can research in this area disrupt the tendency to place normative white subjects at the centre of debates, and position ‘raced others’ at the sidelines? Drawing on postcolonial and critical race and whiteness theory, this paper presents the findings from a study undertaken in South Australia with young people and young adults from a broad variety of cultural backgrounds. Through a series of focus groups designed to explore participant views of sexualised media, a powerful set of resistant narratives emerged. Firstly, participants discussed how their views on sex and sexuality are often read ‘through difference’. They revealed how ‘difference gets in the way’, frustrating conversations they want to have about sexy media, along with moments when they felt stereo-typed and type-cased. Secondly, by presenting perspectives of sexualised media on their own terms, participant narratives were not constrained or bounded by fixed cultural viewpoints. Through a series of ‘transitional moves’, participants employed notions of freedom, individual choice and rights, expressing an urgent desire to speak ‘outside of difference’.     

Resentment of Advice and Norms of Advice

Advice-giving is an important means of supporting others to act well. It inspires gratitude, indifference and resentment in equal measure. Although we can often predict a resentful reception for advice, its normative implications may be unclear. Should advice that is likely to be resented be withheld or modified because of its resentability, or delivered despite it? The norms that underwrite advice-giving, and which inform justified resentment, have thus far evaded systematic philosophical analysis. Using a case proposed by Edward Hinchman, the first part of this paper develops three lines of reasoning that explain why advice might be resented. The second part explores three norms of advice suggested by the case. Together they cast light upon the role of advice in our moral and social lives, and offer a starting point for practical reasoning about when to give resentable advice, and how to be a good advisor.     

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.     

Autonomy, competence, and social relatedness in task interest within project-based education

To prepare students for instructive collaboration, it is necessary to have insight into students' psychological needs and interest development. The framework of self-determination theory was used to conduct a field experiment involving 114 students in vocational education. These students followed a practical business course which required they work in small learning groups. During the course, students were asked to complete the Quality of Working in Groups Instrument, an online measure of how strong autonomy, competence, social relatedness, and task interest are fulfilled. SEM showed that students' psychological needs were jointly and uniquely related to task interest over time. The significance of this on-line test for the assessment of interest within project-based education is discussed.     

Responses to Conflict and Cooperation in Adolescents with Anxiety and Mood Disorders

This study examined patterns of behavioral and emotional responses to conflict and cooperation in adolescents with anxiety/mood disorders and healthy peers. We compared performance on and emotional responses to the Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) game, an economic exchange task involving conflict and cooperation, between adolescents with anxiety/depressive disorders (A/D) (N=21) and healthy comparisons (n = 29). Participants were deceived to believe their co-player (a pre-programmed computer algorithm) was another study participant. A/D adolescents differed significantly from comparisons in patterns of play and emotional response to the game. Specifically, A/D participants responded more cooperatively to cooperative overtures from their co-players; A/D girls also reported more anger toward co-players than did comparison girls. Our findings indicate that A/D adolescents, particularly females, respond distinctively to stressful social interchanges. These findings offer a first step toward elucidating the mechanisms underlying social impairment in youth with internalizing disorders. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, NIMH.     

Sleep-competing behaviours among Australian school-attending youth: Associations with sleep,mental health and daytime functioning

Sleep problems are highly prevalent among school-attending youth, and impact on school performance and outcomes. Sleep-competing behaviours are likely factors in the inadequate sleep time and related functional outcomes observed in this population. We examined a range of sleep-competing behaviours and their associations with sleep variables in Australian school-attending youth. We also assessed whether these behaviours indirectly affected mental health and daytime functioning through poorer sleep quality. A total of 353 school-attending youth (mean age = 14.6 years, 53% female) were recruited from high schools in Australia, and completed a range of self-report measures. Approximately 50% of the youth obtained sub-optimal levels of sleep and reported having a problematically long sleep onset latency. Sleep competing behaviours, related and unrelated to electronic media use, were reported as occurring frequently, and were associated with a range of sleep variables. These behaviours were also related to poorer mental health and daytime sleepiness, with this association explained by indirect effects through sleep quality. Sleep-competing behaviours are prevalent on school nights in Australian youth, and may have adverse associations with mental health and functioning. Prevention and intervention programs might address the risk factors identified in the current study.