Sex differences in scanning faces: Does attention to the eyes explain female superiority in facial expression recognition?

Previous meta-analyses support a female advantage in decoding non-verbal emotion (Hall, 1978, 1984), yet the mechanisms underlying this advantage are not understood. The present study examined whether the female advantage is related to greater female attention to the eyes. Eye-tracking techniques were used to measure attention to the eyes in 19 males and 20 females during a facial expression recognition task. Women were faster and more accurate in their expression recognition compared with men, and women looked more at the eyes than men. Positive relationships were observed between dwell time and number of fixations to the eyes and both accuracy of facial expression recognition and speed of facial expression recognition. These results support the hypothesis that the female advantage in facial expression recognition is related to greater female attention to the eyes.     

Physical activity does not provoke panic attacks in patients with panic disorder: A review of the evidence

Abstract

This paper summarizes the results of published studies in which physical activity has been performed by patients with panic disorder. Several case studies of apparent exercise-induced panic attacks were found. However, in field studies that involved ambulatory monitoring of panic disorder patients only 1 of 91 panic attacks that were monitored actually occurred while the test subject was engaged in moderately intense physical activity. Moreover, only five panic attacks occurred in association with 444 exercise bouts performed by 420 panic disorder patients in laboratory settings despite the fact that exercise induces somatic signs and symptoms of anxiety. Thus, the weight of the published evidence shows that acute physical activity does not provoke panic attacks in panic disorder patients.     

Career Counselling in the 21st Century: A Reaction Article

This article reviews the articles on career counselling in the special edition of the Journal of Psychology in Africa. A thematic analysis to the content of the articles was conducted and common themes extrapolated. The main themes were (a) the shift toward postmodern career counselling, (b) the importance of cultural sensitivity in career counselling practice and (c) adolescents career development. This is followed by a reaction comment.     

Short review and book note

John McManners, Death and the enlightenment. Changing attitudes to death among Christians and unbelievers in eighteenth-century France, Oxford University Press 1981, vii + 619 pp. £17.50

Richard Swinburne, Faith and reason, Oxford, The Clarendon Press 1981, 206 pp. £16.00

John Coulson, Religion and imagination, Oxford, The Clarendon Press 1981, 193 pp. £12.50

Irving Hexham, The irony of apartheid, the struggle for national independence of Afrikaner calvinism against British imperialism, New York, Edwin Mellen Press 1981, 239 pp

David Tracy, The analogical imagination, London, SCM Press 1981, xii + 467 pp. £12.50

K. D. Sethna Rutherford, The spirituality of the future, a search apropos of R. C. Zaehner's study in Sri Aurobindo and Teilhard de Chardin, Madison, Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; London and Toronto: Associated University Presses 1981. 314 pp. $28.50     

Pediatric traumatic brain injury: Language outcomes and their relationship to the arcuate fasciculus

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) may result in long-lasting language impairments alongside dysarthria, a motor-speech disorder. Whether this co-morbidity is due to the functional links between speech and language networks, or to widespread damage affecting both motor and language tracts, remains unknown.     

Systems of modal logic for impossible worlds

The intuitive notion behind the usual semantics of most systems of modal logic is that of ‘possible worlds’. Loosely speaking, an expression is necessary if and only if it holds in all possible worlds; it is possible if and only if it holds in some possible world. Of course, contradictory expressions turn out to hold in no possible worlds, and logically true expressions turn out to hold in every possible world. A method is presented for transforming standard modal systems into systems of modal logic for impossible worlds. To each possible world there corresponds an impossible world such that an expression holds in the impossible world if and only if it does not hold in the possible world. One can then talk about such worlds quite consistently, and there seems to be no logical reason for excluding them from consideration.     

Memory for Emotional Content from Entertainment Film: The Role of Subtitles,Sex, and Empathy

A major component of consuming filmed entertainment is vicariously experiencing emotions of the filmed characters, yet little is known about how this occurs. Four experiments assessed memory for emotions felt by characters in extended film clips from either a contemporary farce (Overboard) or a historical drama (Sense and Sensibility) under various conditions of native or foreign language in the dialogue or subtitles. English-speaking participants watched a clip and then assessed on 6-point scales specific positive and negative affect felt by characters at various points during the film. Both positive and negative affect felt by characters in both films were perceived and remembered better in conditions with English sound or subtitles than in conditions with no English channel, although, unexpectedly, spoken dialogue or subtitles alone were equally effective at conveying emotion. Overall, emotion memory from the contemporary farce was better than from the historical drama and was surprisingly good even in conditions with no English, especially for the farce. Conditions with only sound, subtitles, or pictures were very comparable to each other. Participants higher in trait fantasy empathy remembered emotions better. The components of an eventual model of emotional comprehension were sketched.     

Development,Acceptability, and Effectiveness of an Acceptance-Based Behavioral Stress/Anxiety Management Workshop for University Students

College is a critical time in which individuals experience transition and stress, and may experience subthreshold or clinical symptoms of anxiety and depression. In addition, educational contexts offer a unique opportunity to serve the needs of a diverse group of students who may experience additional stressors related to experiences with discrimination; acculturative stress; financial strain; and balancing family, work, and school demands. Therefore, college appears to be an ideal time for students to learn about evidence-based skills to use in response to anxiety and depression.However, there are multiple barriers that may make it less likely that evidence-based skills and services are available to or utilized by students, including lack of funding and services available on campus, as well as concerns about mental health stigma. This study examines the preliminary acceptability and effectiveness of an acceptance-based behavioral stress/anxiety management workshop for university students on a diverse urban campus. Results indicate that participants found the workshop to be acceptable and helpful. Mixed-effect regression models examining symptom and impairment measures at preworkshop, 1-week follow-up, and 4-week follow-up showed a significant effect for time on anxious arousal, general anxiety symptoms, and social anxiety, but no significant effect for time on impairment. Implications and future directions for mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches in educational contexts are discussed.     

Evaluation of an arm‐splint belt to reduce self‐injury

After a functional analysis yielded undifferentiated results, a subsequent assessment suggested self‐injury exhibited by a young boy with autism was sensitive to physical restraint. Canvas arm splints with metal stays were initially effective to reduce self‐injury. Although we successfully faded the number of stays in each sleeve to 3, self‐injury reemerged. We then used a withdrawal design to evaluate a behind‐the‐back belt connected to the arm splints. When the belt and splints were on, self‐injury did not occur. When the belt was removed, self‐injury increased, even though the splints remained intact. Finally, we faded the length of the belt to allow increased range of motion, and rates of self‐injury remained low.