A comparison of visual and auditory representational momentum in spatial tasks

Similarities have been observed in the localization of the final position of moving visual and moving auditory stimuli: Perceived endpoints that are judged to be farther in the direction of motion in both modalities likely reflect extrapolation of the trajectory, mediated by predictive mechanisms at higher cognitive levels. However, actual comparisons of the magnitudes of displacement between visual tasks and auditory tasks using the same experimental setup are rare. As such, the purpose of the present free-field study was to investigate the influences of the spatial location of motion offset, stimulus velocity, and motion direction on the localization of the final positions of moving auditory stimuli (Experiment 1 and 2) and moving visual stimuli (Experiment 3). To assess whether auditory performance is affected by dynamically changing binaural cues that are used for the localization of moving auditory stimuli (interaural time differences for low-frequency sounds and interaural intensity differences for high-frequency sounds), two distinct noise bands were employed in Experiments 1 and 2. In all three experiments, less precise encoding of spatial coordinates in paralateral space resulted in larger forward displacements, but this effect was drowned out by the underestimation of target eccentricity in the extreme periphery. Furthermore, our results revealed clear differences between visual and auditory tasks. Displacements in the visual task were dependent on velocity and the spatial location of the final position, but an additional influence of motion direction was observed in the auditory tasks. Together, these findings indicate that the modality-specific processing of motion parameters affects the extrapolation of the trajectory.     

Self-Presentation Concerns and Health Behaviors Among Cosmetic Surgery Patients

The present investigation examined the relationship between self-presentational motives and physical activity in a population of cosmetic surgery participants. Participants were 50 female and 5 male cosmetic surgery patients (CSPs; M age = 38.5 years) who completed a battery of self-report measures following either vein or acne treatment. Analyses revealed significant group differences on self-presentational concern and public self-consciousness between: (a) those who elected the treatment for appearance motives and those who elected treatment for health-based motives, and (b) the more frequent (3 or more times per week) and less frequent (2 or less times per week) exercisers. Greater self-presentational concerns and greater public self-consciousness were associated with having appearance-related motives for treatment and with being a less frequent exerciser.     

Do behavioral responses mediate or moderate the relation between cardiovascular reactivity to stress and parental history of hypertension?

To examine whether differences in behavioral responses to stress mediated or moderated the relation between cardiovascular response to stress and parental history of hypertension, 64 healthy undergraduates-16 men with hypertensive parents (PH+), 16 men without hypertensive parents (PH-), 16 PH+ women, and 16 PH- women-participated in a mental arithmetic task, mirror tracing task, and 2 interpersonal role plays. PH+ participants exhibited higher resting heart rates than PH- participants and higher resting systolic blood pressures (SBPs) than PH- women. PH+ participants exhibited greater SBP responses to tasks and engaged in more negative verbal and nonverbal behavior across tasks than PH- counterparts. Differences in behavioral responding neither mediated nor moderated the observed relation between parental history status and SBP response to stress.     

Velocity as a Predictor of Performance Satisfaction,Mental Focus,and Goal Revision

In a longitudinal study, the authors examined the role of students' rate of progress, or velocity, in goal‐striving over one semester of a college‐level Introductory Psychology course. At both mid‐course and near end‐of‐course time periods, results demonstrated that velocity uniquely contributed to the prediction of students' performance satisfaction, mental focus, and goal revision, above and beyond the influence of performance‐goal discrepancies and ability. Specifically, velocity demonstrated main effects on performance satisfaction and mental focus. Velocity significantly interacted with goal importance in the prediction of goal revision. The authors call for increased attention to the role of velocity in self‐regulation. Dans une étude longitudinale, les auteurs examinent le rôle du taux de progrès des étudiants ou leur rapiditéà atteindre des buts sur un semestre pour un cours d'introduction à la psychologie en faculté. Deux mesures ont été faites: l'une à la moitié du semestre et l'autre à la fin de ce même semestre. Les résultats montrent que uniquement la rapidité contribue à prédire la satisfaction de la performance des étudiants, la concentration, et la révision de l'objectif quels que soient les écarts entre le but de la performance et les capacités. Plus spécifiquement, la rapidité a des effets importants sur la satisfaction de la performance et la concentration. La rapidité interagit significativement avec l'importance des buts dans le cas où l'on envisage leur révision. Les auteurs soulignent le rôle de la rapidité sur l'auto‐régulation.     

A comparison of race‐related pain stereotypes held by White and Black individuals

Pain judgments are the basis for pain management. The purpose of this study was to assess Black and White participants' race‐related pain stereotypes. Undergraduates (n = 551) rated the pain sensitivity and willingness to report pain for the typical Black person, White person, and themselves. Participants, regardless of race, rated the typical White person as being more pain sensitive and more willing to report pain than the typical Black person. White participants rated themselves as less sensitive and less willing to report pain than same‐race peers; however, Black participants rated themselves as more pain sensitive and more willing to report pain than same‐race peers. These findings highlight similarities and differences in racial stereotypic pain beliefs held by Black and White individuals.     

From Campers to Counselors: a Resource for Prospective Genetic Counseling Students

When thinking about the future of the genetic counseling field, one place to start is with prospective genetic counseling graduate school applicants. Although resources and mentorship opportunities exist for genetic counselors entering the field, the process of deciding on a career, applying to graduate programs, and being admitted can be daunting. As members of the profession, we should take responsibility for ensuring that individuals have the information and resources necessary to make an educated decision about whether genetic counseling is the correct path for them and to take the initial steps along this path. In this article, we present our Genetic Counseling Boot Camp as a model for other genetic counselors to use in developing their own local programs. This type of program can benefit prospective genetic counselors as they begin their professional journeys and can also provide value for the organizers and presenters who are already seasoned in the field.     

Psychometric Evaluation of the Rage Outbursts and Anger Rating Scale in an Outpatient Psychiatric Sample

The primary objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a measure of anger/rage attacks—the Rage Outburst and Anger Rating Scale (ROARS)—in a sample of youth (n = 81, ages 7–17 years, 72.8 % male) receiving treatment at an outpatient pediatric psychiatric clinic. A trained rater completed the ROARS and Clinical Global Impression-Rage (CGI-Rage). Children completed the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale for Children and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Parents completed the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale for Parents. Internal consistency (α = .89), inter-rater reliability (κ = .94) and 1-week test–retest reliability (r = .72) were calculated for the ROARS. The ROARS was correlated with CGI-Rage (r = .68, ρ < .001), although not with parent- and child-rated anxiety symptoms or with child-rated depressive symptoms. Implications regarding clinical utility of the ROARS and directions for future research are discussed.     

Memory systems in the rat: effects of reward probability,context, and congruency between working and reference memory

The interaction of working and reference memory was studied in rats on an eight-arm radial maze. In two experiments, rats were trained to perform working memory and reference memory tasks. On working memory trials, they were allowed to enter four randomly chosen arms for reward in a study phase and then had to choose the unentered arms for reward in a test phase. On reference memory trials, they had to learn to visit the same four arms on the maze on every trial for reward. Retention was tested on working memory trials in which the interval between the study and test phase was 15 s, 15 min, or 30 min. At each retention interval, tests were performed in which the correct WM arms were either congruent or incongruent with the correct RM arms. Both experiments showed that congruency interacted with retention interval, yielding more forgetting at 30 min on incongruent trials than on congruent trials. The effect of reference memory strength on the congruency effect was examined in Experiment 1, and the effect of associating different contexts with working and reference memory on the congruency effect was studied in Experiment 2.     

The Role of Non-Numerical Stimulus Features in Approximate Number System Training in Preschoolers from Low-Income Homes

Recent findings have suggested that adults’ and children’s approximate number system (ANS) acuity may be malleable through training, but research on ANS acuity has largely been conducted with adults and children who are from middle- to high-income homes. We conducted 2 experiments to test the malleability of ANS acuity in preschool-aged children from low-income homes and to test how non-numerical stimulus features affected performance. In Experiment 1, mixed-effects models indicated that children significantly improved their ratio achieved across training. Children’s change in probability of responding correctly across sessions was qualified by an interaction with surface area features of the arrays such that children improved their probability of answering correctly across sessions on trials in which numerosity conflicted with the total surface area of object sets significantly more than on trials in which total surface area positively correlated with numerosity. In Experiment 2, we found that children who completed ANS acuity training performed better on an ANS acuity task compared with children in a control group, but they only did so on ANS acuity trials in which numerosity conflicted with the total surface area of object sets. These findings suggest that training affects ANS acuity in children from low-income homes by fostering an ability to focus on numerosity in the face of conflicting non-numerical stimulus features.