Impact of the format of user instructions on the handling of a wrist blood pressure monitor

Cognitive Processing - Few studies have focused on procedural documents in the field of home medical devices, although incorrect use and usability problems can have important consequences for the...     

Sophistry in Vygotsky: Contributions to the Rhetorical and Poetic Pedagogy

Studies in Philosophy and Education - This work relates L. S. Vygotsky’s theory to the rhetorical and poetic pedagogy, which is a set of educational ideas and practices derived from the...     

Factors Influencing the Maternal Life Balance of Flemish Mothers,a Cross-Sectional Study

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This cross-sectional study examined the levels of maternal life balance and its influencing factors. The sample was composed of 731 Flemish mothers who...     

On the automaticity of pure perceptual sequence learning

We investigated the automaticity of implicit sequence learning by varying perceptual load in a pure perceptual sequence learning paradigm. Participants responded to the randomly changing identity of a target, while the irrelevant target location was structured. In Experiment 1, the target was presented under low or high perceptual load during training, whereas testing occurred without load. Unexpectedly, no sequence learning was observed. In Experiment 2, perceptual load was introduced during the test phase to determine whether load is required to express perceptual knowledge. Learning itself was unaffected by visuospatial demands, but more learning was expressed under high load test conditions. In Experiment 3, we demonstrated that perceptual load is not required for the acquisition of perceptual sequence knowledge. These findings suggest that perceptual load does not mediate the perceptual sequence learning process itself, supporting the automaticity of implicit learning, but is mandatory for the expression of pure perceptual sequence knowledge.     

Use of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning for the assessment of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The psychological assessment is an important component of the diagnostic evaluation in young children suspected of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder but can be hampered by behavioral difficulties. Overt behaviors during administration of the Mullen Scales of Early Learning were coded in 22 preschoolers with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and 20 age-matched typically developing children. Children in the Autism Spectrum Disorder group required less time to complete the assessment but spent proportionally more time exhibiting off-task behaviors and less time engaged with the assessment. Scores obtained on the Mullen Scales were positively correlated with level of engagement and negatively correlated with off task behaviors.     

Ape metaphysics: object individuation without language

Developmental research suggests that whereas very young infants individuate objects purely on spatiotemporal grounds, from (at latest) around 1 year of age children are capable of individuating objects according to the kind they belong to and the properties they instantiate. As the latter ability has been found to correlate with language, some have speculated whether it might be essentially language dependent and therefore uniquely human. Existing studies with non-human primates seem to speak against this hypothesis, but fail to present conclusive evidence due to methodological shortcomings. In the present experiments we set out to test non-linguistic object individuation in three great ape species with a refined manual search methodology. Experiment 1 tested for spatiotemporal object individuation: Subjects saw 1 or 2 objects simultaneously being placed inside a box in which they could reach, and then in both conditions only found 1 object. After retrieval of the 1 object, subjects reached again significantly more often when they had seen 2 than when they had seen 1 object. Experiment 2 tested for object individuation according to property/kind information only: Subjects saw 1 object being placed inside the box, and then either found that object (expected) or an object of a different kind (unexpected). Analogously to Experiment 1, after retrieval of the 1 object, subjects reached again significantly more often in the unexpected than in the expected condition. These results thus confirm previous findings suggesting that individuating objects according to their property/kind is neither uniquely human nor essentially language dependent. It remains to be seen, however, whether this kind of object individuation requires sortal concepts as human linguistic thinkers use them, or whether some simpler form of tracking properties is sufficient.     

Perceptual or motor learning in SRT tasks with complex sequence structures

We investigated under which conditions sequence learning in a serial reaction time task can be based on perceptual learning. A replication of the study of Mayr (1996) confirmed perceptual and motor learning when sequences were learned concurrently. However, between-participants manipulations of the motor and perceptual sequences only supported motor learning in cases of more complex deterministic and probabilistic sequence structures. Perceptual learning using a between-participants design could only be established with a simple deterministic sequence structure. The results seem to imply that perceptual learning can be facilitated by a concurrently learned motor sequence. Possibly, concurrent learning releases necessary attentional resources or induces a structured learning condition under which perceptual learning can take place. Alternatively, the underlying mechanism may rely on binding between the perceptual and motor sequences.     

Longitudinal Model Predicting Self‐Concept in Pediatric Chronic Illness

Although self‐concept has been identified as salient to the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents dealing with a chronic illness (CI), little research has focused on its predictors it. Given that depression and parent–child attachment have been linked to self‐concept in the population at large, the goal of this study was to evaluate these relationships longitudinally in a sample of adolescents with CI. Using participant data from the Mastering Each New Direction (MEND) program, a 3‐month psychosocial, family based intensive outpatient program for adolescents with CI, we employed multilevel modeling to test longitudinal changes in self‐concept, as predicted by depressive symptoms and parent–child attachment, in a sample of 50 youths (M_age = 14.56, SD_age = 1.82) participating in MEND. Both “time spent in the program” and decreases in depressive symptoms were associated with increases in self‐concept over time. Higher baseline levels of avoidant attachment to both mother and father were also associated with greater initial levels of self‐concept. Targeting depressive symptoms and supporting adaptive changes in attachment may be key to promoting a healthy self‐concept in pediatric CI populations. The association between avoidant attachment and higher baseline self‐concept scores may reflect differences in participants’ autonomy, self‐confidence, or depression. Limitations of the study include variability in the amount of time spent in the program, attrition in final time point measures, and the inability to fully examine and model all potential covariates due to a small sample size (e.g. power).