An n-back task using vibrotactile stimulation with comparison to an auditory analogue

We report a vibrotactile version of the common n-back task used to study working memory. Subjects wore vibrotactile stimulators on three fingers of one hand, and they responded by pressing a button with the other hand whenever the current finger matched the one stimulated n items back. Experiment 1 showed a steep decline in performance as n increased from 1 to 3; each additional level ofn decreased performance by 1.5 d' units on average. Experiment 2 supported a central capacity locus for the vibrotactile task by showing that it correlated strongly with an auditory analogue; both tasks were also related to standard digit span. The vibrotactile version of n-back may be particularly useful in dual-task contexts. It allows the assessment of cognitive capacity in sensory-impaired populations in which touch remains intact, and it may find use in brain-imaging studies in which vibrotactile stimuli impose a memory load.     

Moore’s Paradoxes and Conscious Belief*

For Moore, it is a paradox that although I would be absurd in asserting that (it is raining but I don’t believe it is) or that (it is raining but I believe it isn’t), such assertions might be true. But I would be also absurd in judging that the contents of such assertions are true. I argue for the strategy of explaining the absurdity of Moorean assertion in terms of conscious Moorean belief. Only in this way may the pathology of Moorean absurdity be adequately explained in terms of self-contradiction. David Rosenthal disagrees with this strategy. Ironically, his higher-order thought account has the resources to fulfil it. Indeed once modified and supplemented, it compares favourably with Brentano’s rival account of conscious belief. *This paper was written with the support of a grant from the SMU-Wharton Research center.     

Bonus of rebate?: the impact of income framing on spending and saving

All income increases a person's absolute wealth, but consumption decisions may be based more heavily on perceived changes in wealth. Change is computed by comparing a current state with a former state, and we predicted that people would be more likely to spend income framed as a gain from a current wealth state than income framed as a return to a prior state. Four experiments confirmed this prediction on people's memory for spending of a government tax rebate (Experiment 1), on unobtrusive self‐report measures of spending an unexpected windfall (Experiments 2 and 3), and on actual spending on items for sale in a laboratory experiment (Experiment 4). These results can be explained, at least in part, by the reference points implied in the framing of income (follow‐ups to Experiments 1 and 4). Discussion focuses on implications for the consumption of other commodities, assessments of risk, and government tax policies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Treatment for Youth in Short-Term Care Facilities: The Impact of a Comprehensive Behavior Management Intervention

We describe a comprehensive program to train emergency shelter staff in effective methods for dealing with youth who have behavioral and emotional problems; assess the degree to which staff implemented the treatment approach; measure the impact of the intervention on shelter-wide incidents such as out-of-control behavior, runaways, and violence against other youth; and examine pre-post changes in staff experiences at the shelter via anonymous surveys. Overall, the short-term shelter staff indicated adequate implementation of the intervention. The rate of youth incidents at the shelter significantly declined from pre to post assessment. Direct-care staff ratings of their satisfaction with their proficiency in behavior management and teaching youth skills increased significantly from pre to post implementation. These findings suggest that it is feasible to deliver an effective staff-training program to improve the behavior management and social skills of youth residing in short-term care facilities within the child welfare system.     

Moral Injury,Chaplaincy and Mental Health Provider Approaches to Treatment: A Scoping Review

Journal of Religion and Health - The aim of this research was to describe the evidence examining the approaches taken by mental health providers (MHPs) and chaplains to address symptoms related to...     

Psychometric intelligence dissociates implicit and explicit learning

The hypothesis that performance on implicit learning tasks is unrelated to psychometric intelligence was examined in a sample of 605 German pupils. Performance in artificial grammar learning, process control, and serial learning did not correlate with various measures of intelligence when participants were given standard implicit instructions. Under an explicit rule discovery instruction, however, a significant relationship between performance on the learning tasks and intelligence appeared. This finding provides support for Reber's hypothesis that implicit learning, in contrast to explicit learning, is independent of intelligence, and confirms thereby the distinction between the 2 modes of learning. However, because there were virtually no correlations among the 3 learning tasks, the assumption of a unitary ability of implicit learning was not supported.     

Adjustment problems in the family and school contexts, attitude towards authority, and violent behavior at school in adolescence

This study analyzed the role of different but interrelated variables in the family and school contexts in relation to problems of violent behavior at school during adolescence. Participants were 1,068 students aged 11 to 16 (47% male) drawn from secondary schools in the Valencian Community (Spain). Statistical analyses were carried out using structural equation modeling. The model accounted for 32% of the variance in school violence. Results showed a direct association between quality of communication with father and teacher's expectations of the student with the adolescent's involvement in violent behavior at school. Moreover, findings showed indirect paths by which adolescents' self-concept (family and school domains), acceptance by peers, and attitude toward authority, seemed to be influenced by the quality of interactions with parent and teachers, and also were closely associated with violent behavior at school. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research on adolescent psychosocial adjustment and behavioral problems at school.     

Why do children perseverate when they seem to know better: Graded working memory,or directed inhibition?

Children sometimes have trouble switching from one task to another, despite demonstrating an awareness of current task demands. This behavior could reflect problems either directly inhibiting previously relevant information or sufficiently activating graded working memory representations for the current task. We tested competing predictions from each account, using a computerized card-sorting task in which we assessed children’s task switching abilities and their response speed to simple questions about current task demands. All children answered these questions correctly, but children who successfully switched tasks responded more quickly to questions than did children who perseverated on previous tasks, even after factoring out processing speed and age. This reaction time difference supports graded working memory accounts, with stronger representations of current task demands aiding both task-switching and responses to questions. This result poses a challenge for directed inhibition accounts, because nothing needs to be inhibited to answer simple questions that lack conflicting information.