Interference and negative priming effects in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Three visual selective attention tasks were used to measure potential differences in susceptibility to interference and inhibitory cognitive control processes in 16 adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 45 similar-aged controls. Susceptibility to interference was assessed using the Stroop color and word naming test. Efficiency of distractor inhibition was assessed in two conceptual negative priming tasks. The majority of studies in this area indicate that people with ADHD demonstrate higher levels of interference and lower negative priming effects in comparison with age-matched peers. However, we found that although the ADHD group was consistently slower to name target stimuli than the control group, there were no differences in interference or negative priming between the two groups.     

The packaging problem: bivalve prey selection and prey entry techniques of the octopus Enteroctopus dofleini

Many predators face a complex step of prey preparation before consumption. Octopuses faced with bivalve prey use several techniques to penetrate the shells to gain access to the meat inside. When given prey of mussels Mytilus trossulus, Manila clams Venerupis philippinarum, and littleneck clams Protothaca staminea, Enteroctopus dofleini solved the problem differently. They pulled apart V. philippinarum and M. trossulus, which had the thinnest shells and the least pulling resistance. P. staminea were eaten after the shells had been chipped or had been penetrated by drilling, presumably to inject a toxin. Likely because of these differences, octopuses consumed more V. philippinarum and M. trossulus than P. staminea when the mollusks were given to them either 1 species at a time or all together. However, when the shells were separated and the penetration problem removed, the octopuses predominantly chose P. staminea and nearly ignored M. trossulus. When V. philippinarum were wired shut, octopuses switched techniques. These results emphasize that octopuses can learn on the basis of nonvisual information and monitor their body position to carry out feeding actions.     

Safety and the True–True Problem

Standard accounts of semantics for counterfactuals confront the true–true problem: when the antecedent and consequent of a counterfactual are both actually true, the counterfactual is automatically true. This problem presents a challenge to safety‐based accounts of knowledge. In this paper, drawing on work by Angelika Kratzer, Alan Penczek, and Duncan Pritchard, we propose a revised understanding of semantics for counterfactuals utilizing machinery from generalized quantifier theory which enables safety theorists to meet the challenge of the true–true problem.     

Looking After Number One: Associations Between Psychopathic Traits and Measures of Social Motivation and Functioning in a Community Sample of Males

Individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits do not typically form enduring bonds with others. However, few studies have documented the associations between psychopathic traits and social functioning. This study systematically explored associations between psychopathic traits and a number of measures characterising social/material goals, social beliefs and the need for belonging, providing a comprehensive assessment of aspects of social functioning associated with psychopathic personality traits. Additionally, a novel experimental vignettes task assessed the extent to which participants identified dominance in themselves and admired this trait in others. Community males with high levels of psychopathic traits appeared not to be motivated by meaningful, long-term relationships. Instead, they seemed to be motivated by goals relating to their own image and financial success. Additionally, these individuals admired dominance in others, but did not clearly identify this trait in themselves. Thus, this study is one of the first to empirically explore multiple areas of social functioning in relation to psychopathic traits, with a view to understanding the social motivations of individuals with high levels of these traits. The findings provide empirical evidence that individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits seem motivated to look after themselves, but not others.     

Stereotype threat,test anxiety,and mathematics performance

We investigated the combined effects of stereotype threat and trait test anxiety on mathematics test performance. Stereotype threat and test anxiety interacted with each other in affecting performance. Trait test anxiety predicted performance only in a diagnostic condition that prevented stereotype threat by stereotype denial. A state measure of fear of the test mediated this influence. However, stereotype threat reduced the performance of low test-anxious participants to the level of high test-anxious participants. Thus, stereotype threat affected persons low in test anxiety but not persons high in test anxiety. Both phenomena apparently share common mechanisms through which they impair performance.     

Event centrality and posttraumatic outcomes in the context of pervasive violence: a study of teachers in El Salvador

It is well established that the importance assigned to a trauma can affect one's recovery and psychological health in numerous ways. Event centrality is an increasingly popular construct that captures the tendency among survivors to reevaluate and possibly accommodate their worldviews posttrauma. The centrality given to trauma appears to serve as a “double-edged sword” in that this construct might factor prominently in both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Focusing on 257 violence-exposed teachers from educational departments throughout El Salvador, we examined whether the centrality assigned by the teachers to stressful life events uniquely predicted both PTSD symptomatology and PTG. Results revealed that event centrality was positively related to both PTSD and PTG, even when controlling for demographic factors, violence exposure, and depression. In addition, PTSD symptomatology and PTG were not associated with one another in this sample. In summary, these findings support the role of event centrality as a contributing factor for PTSD and PTG among persons exposed to pervasive trauma.     

Joint response–effect compatibility

When performing jointly on a task, human agents are assumed to represent their coactor’s share of this task, and research in various joint action paradigms has focused on representing the coactor’s stimulus–response assignments. Here we show that the response–effect (R–E) contingencies exploited by a coactor also affect performance, and thus might be represented as if they were used by oneself. Participants performed an R–E compatibility task, with keypresses producing spatially compatible or incompatible action effects. We did not observe any R–E compatibility effects when the task was performed in isolation (individual go–no-go). By contrast, small but reliable R–E compatibility effects emerged when the same task was performed in a joint setting. These results indicate that the knowledge of a coactor’s R–E contingencies can influence whether self-produced action effects are used for one’s own motor control.     

Mindeststandards forensischer Nachsorge

In 2007 forensic aftercare was integrated into the German Penal Code as part of legal supervision. Since then a large and growing number of patients have been supervised by forensic psychiatric aftercare units throughout Germany. Forensic psychiatric aftercare appears to be very successful as measured by the relapse rates in delinquency. Nevertheless, only very little has been considered about which standards have contributed to and are indispensable for this success. This article presents the quality criteria which are the basis for a successful aftercare and outlines the minimum standards for the equipment and therapeutic approach and in combination with this forms the framework for an appropriate reporting system.     

Asymmetric transfer effects between cognitive and affective task disturbances

Task-irrelevant features of a stimulus can disturb performance on a given task, and this can occur for cognitive reasons such as irrelevant stimulus position, and affective reasons such as high stimulus valence. The human brain adapts to such disturbances in order to ensure successful task performance. Adaptations can occur in a transient manner in response to recent events, and they can also be sustained to account for overall probabilities of disturbances. Here, we study the mutual interplay between affective and cognitive task disturbances under conditions of sustained conflict adaptation. More precisely, we examined the trajectory of finger movements in a speeded classification task and investigated whether adaptation to a high probability of spatial disturbances transfers to the impact of affective disturbances (Experiment 1) and whether adaptation to a high probability of affective disturbances transfers to the impact of spatial disturbances (Experiment 2). Our observations point towards an asymmetric transfer from adaptation to affective onto the processing of cognitive disturbances, but not the other way around.