Motor Intention/Intentionality and Associationism - A conceptual review

Motor intention/intentionality (MI) has been investigated from many different angles. Some researchers focus on the purely physical and mechanical aspects of the human motor system, while others emphasize the subjectivity involved in intentionality. While bridging this seemingly dualistic gap between the two concepts ought to be the researcher’s’ main task, different schools of thought have instead specialized in stressing one (objective) or the other (subjective) part of this construct. Thus, we find everything from neuroscientific to phenomenologically inspired approaches to MI. The purpose of this article is to review the literature regarding these different approaches to the MI construct. In reviewing the literature, we introduce a broadened conception of associationism. In organizing our data in relation to the laws of association, a lack of methodology clearly manifests itself. Hence, 123 articles out of 143 meet the criteria of our definition of associationism. It seems that this old doctrine sneaks in to a big part of the research rather implicitly through a lack of methodology. To shed light on how this happens in the 123 articles, we develop a continuum to show to which extend associationism operates on a transcendent or substantial level in each article. We find only very few articles that seem to try to gap the bridge between motor and intention/intentionality, and thus we suggest that future MI research reintroduce methodological debates concerning the conceptual character of this construct.     

A Measure of Delay Discounting Within the Academic Domain

It is important to better understand the decision‐making processes involved in student procrastination, in order to develop interventions that reduce this common problem. Students may procrastinate because studying produces delayed reinforcers; however, no task measuring delay discounting of academic outcomes currently exists. In Experiment 1, we developed and piloted a measure of academic discounting modeled on titrating‐amount tasks successfully used in the discounting literature. Participants made hypothetical choices between working for money (the smaller, sooner reinforcer) and working on an assignment that was due at various times (the larger, later reinforcer). Participants showed systematic decreases in the subjective value of the assignment as a function of delay, and the hyperbolic and hyperboloid models described the shape of this decrease in value well. In general, larger delayed rewards are discounted less steeply than smaller delayed rewards (the magnitude effect). In Experiment 2, we observed the magnitude effect in academic discounting: Participants discounted a “not important” assignment more steeply than an “important” assignment. In the hyperboloid model, this change was captured by an increase in the s parameter. Results provide support for the validity of the academic discounting task. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prevention of child abuse and neglect

With the dramatic increase in recent reports of physical and sexual child abuse and neglect, professionals are well as the public are increasingly concerned about the prevention of child abuse. This article provides an overview of existing child abuse prevention programs (physical abuse and sexual abuse programs are treated separately). Five computerized data bases (psychology, social work, criminal justice, education, and social sciences) were searched for literature published between 1982 and 1991. We also call attention to critical issues that need to be considered in the development and planning of future prevention efforts and evaluations.     

Empirical Support for an Evolutionary Model of Self‐Destructive Motivation

We tested predictions generated from an evolutionary account of self‐destructive motivation in two survey studies of 18–24‐year‐old university students. As hypothesized, hierarchical regressions showed that the positive relationship between perceived burden to family and suicide ideation was amplified for participants with low measured health and romantic relationship satisfaction, and for participants with relatively young mothers. The moderating effect of maternal age was also observed in logistic regressions of suicide attempts. These effects occurred independently of depression, hopelessness, and other relevant extraneous variables. Results have implications for understanding self‐destructive motivation, assessing suicide risk, and preventing suicidal thinking and behavior.     

Trace and contextual fear conditioning is enhanced in mice lacking the α4 subunit of the GABAA receptor

The GABA_AR α4 subunit is highly expressed in the dentate gyrus region of the hippocampus at predominantly extra synaptic locations where, along with the GABA_AR δ subunit, it forms GABA_A receptors that mediate a tonic inhibitory current. The present study was designed to test hippocampus-dependent and hippocampus-independent learning and memory in GABA_AR α4 subunit-deficient mice using trace and delay fear conditioning, respectively. Mice were of a mixed C57Bl/6J X 129S1/X1 genetic background from α4 heterozygous breeding pairs. The α4-knockout mice showed enhanced trace and contextual fear conditioning consistent with an enhancement of hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. These enhancements were sex-dependent, similar to previous studies in GABA_AR δ knockout mice, but differences were present in both males and females. The convergent findings between α4 and δ knockout mice suggests that tonic inhibition mediated by α4βδ GABA_A receptors negatively modulates learning and memory processes and provides further evidence that tonic inhibition makes important functional contributions to learning and behavior.     

Sleep deprivation and hallucinations. A qualitative study of military personnel

Much anecdotal evidence suggests that sleep deprivation not only impairs performance, but also brings about other extraordinary effects like hallucinations. However, knowledge about how sleep deprivation may trigger hallucinations is limited. To qualitatively describe hallucinatory experiences during sleep deprivation 12 male military officers from the Norwegian Armed Forces who all had experienced at least one sleep loss-induced hallucinatory experience were recruited. Data were collected and analyzed by semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. This resulted in the identification of three distinct main themes: (1) Modalities, (2) circumstances/triggers and (3) reactions to hallucinations. Hallucinations were experienced in several modalities (visual, auditory and multi-modality), although visual hallucinations seemed to dominate. Typical reported circumstances/triggers were sleep loss, physical exhaustion, time-of-day, low calorie intake, mental exhaustion and lack of external stimuli (low sensory and social input, boring situations, and monotonous activity). Negative emotions were dominant during the hallucinatory episodes. Often some reasoning and checking on behalf of the officers were necessary to differentiate between real percepts and hallucinations. In some cases the hallucinations caused erroneous actions. Retrospectively, most officers viewed their hallucinatory experiences in light of positive emotions and several emphasized having learned something from them. The results are discussed in relation to the existing literature and suggestions for future studies are outlined.     

Using eye-tracking to parse object recognition: Priming activates primarily a parts-based but also a late-emerging features-based representation

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Biederman and Cooper (Cognitive Psychology, 23, 393-419, 1991), using parts-deleted and features-deleted stimuli, presented evidence that object priming...     

Feedback in Couple and Family Therapy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) is recommended as a psychotherapy procedure to serve as clinical feedback in order to improve client treatment outcomes. ROM can work as a warning signal to the therapist if the client shows signs of no change or deterioration. This study has investigated whether any difference in outcome could be detected between those clients in couple and family therapy who used the Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change (STIC) feedback system (ROM condition) versus those who were offered treatment without the use of STIC (“treatment as usual” or TAU condition). A sample of 328 adults seeking couple and family therapy in Norway was randomly assigned to ROM versus TAU conditions. Outcome measures were The Outcome Questionnaire–45 and The Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The results demonstrated no significant differences in outcomes between the ROM and TAU. Possible explanations of this result related to design and implementation issues are discussed.     

Conventions and Rules in Literature

Views of what role convention plays in the creation and appreciation of art works gravitate towards two extremes. One view holds that works of art can be apprehended and appreciated as well as created with no reference to convention. The other claims that conventions fully determine how works of art are apprehended and are therefore necessary conditions for the creation of works of art as well as constitutive of appreciation. The former is a version of the Romantic view of art as something that appeals spontaneously to man's most profound emotions, to man's sentient nature, without making use of or needing mediating conventions. The conventionalist view denies that it is possible to respond spontaneously to art. All apprehension and appreciation of art are structured by conventions, and the reader/audience cannot go beyond these conventions because they constitute , the experience of the work of art. This paper explains the sense in which the constitutive view may be best understood.