The French version of the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking: Internal and predictive validity

In this study we examine the psychometric characteristics and the predictive validity of the AISS-17, the French version of the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking. Two samples were used, one of which enabled us to carry out prospective monitoring over a period of six months. Our study provides data that support the validity of the AISS-17. This inventory includes the same two factors as the AISS (Novelty and Intensity). It has good concurrent and convergent validity, and its nomological network is comparable to that of the AISS and to the SSS of Zuckerman. However, our study confirms the low reliability of the AISS. We also showed that the AISS-17 has good predictive validity. We observed a significant cross-lagged effect of the AISS-17 at T1 on risk taking at T2, when controlled for age, gender and risk-taking at T1.     

Phonological coding in reading of deaf children: Pseudohomophone effects in lexical decision

The purpose of this study was to find new evidence for phonological coding in written word recognition among deaf Dutch children. A lexical decision task was presented to 48 severely and profoundly deaf children aged from 6 years 8 months to 13 years 5 months, and a control group of Grade 1 hearing children matched on written word recognition. Sixteen pseudohomophones were introduced, closely matched on orthographic similarity with 16 control pseudo-words. Both hearing children and deaf children made significantly more mistakes on pseudohomophones than on control pseudo-words. Although pseudohomophony effects were smaller for deaf than for hearing participants, the findings were taken as evidence that deaf children also used phonological coding during written word recognition.     

The human Turing machine: a neural framework for mental programs

In recent years much has been learned about how a single computational processing step is implemented in the brain. By contrast, we still have surprisingly little knowledge of the neuronal mechanisms by which multiple such operations are sequentially assembled into mental algorithms. We outline a theory of how individual neural processing steps might be combined into serial programs. We propose a hybrid neuronal device: each step involves massively parallel computation that feeds a slow and serial production system. Production selection is mediated by a system of competing accumulator neurons that extends the role of these neurons beyond the selection of a motor action. Productions change the state of sensory and mnemonic neurons and iteration of such cycles provides a basis for mental programs.     

Dopamine transporter gene moderates response to behavioral parent training in children with ADHD: a pilot study

There is great variability in the degree to which children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) improve through behavioral treatments. This study investigates the influence of the dopamine transporter gene (SCL6A3/DAT1) on outcome of behavioral parent training (BPT). Study subjects were a subsample (n = 50, for whom DAT1 genotypes were available) of a randomized controlled BPT effectiveness study (N = 94) comparing BPT plus ongoing routine clinical care (RCC) versus RCC alone in referred children (4-12 years old) with ADHD. Treatment outcome was based on parent-reported ADHD symptoms and behavioral problems. Presence of 2 versus no or 1 DAT1 10-repeat allele served as moderator variable. Time × Treatment × Genotype effect was analyzed with repeated-measures analysis of variance, controlling for baseline medication status. Results indicate that DAT1 moderated treatment response (p = .009). In children with no or 1 DAT1 10-repeat allele, superior treatment effects of BPT + RCC compared with RCC alone were present (p = .005), which was not the case in children with 2 DAT1 10-repeat alleles (p = .57). Our findings suggest that genetic differences in DAT1 in children with ADHD influence their susceptibility to a behavioral intervention directed at shaping their environment through their parents. The role of the dopamine system in motivation and learning and in the aberrant sensitivity to reinforcement in children with ADHD may explain this moderating effect, given that the management of contingencies is typically addressed in BPT.     

Time course of information processing during scene perception: The relationship between saccade amplitude and fixation duration

The present study focuses on two aspects of the time course of visual information processing during the perception of natural scenes. The first aspect is the change of fixation duration and saccade amplitude during the first couple of seconds of the inspection period, as has been described by Buswell (), among others. This common effect suggests that the saccade amplitude and fixation duration are in some way controlled by the same mechanism. A simple exponential model containing two parameters can describe the phenomena quite satisfactorily. The parameters of the model show that saccade amplitude and fixation duration may be controlled by a common mechanism. The second aspect under scrutiny is the apparent lack of correlation between saccade amplitude and fixation duration (Viviani, ). The present study shows that a strong but nonlinear relationship between saccade amplitude and fixation duration does exist in picture viewing. A model, based on notions laid out by Findlay and Walker's () model of saccade generation and on the idea of two modes of visual processing (Trevarthen, ), was developed to explain this relationship. The model both fits the data quite accurately and can explain a number of related phenomena.     

Analysis of Variance of Multiply Imputed Data

As a procedure for handling missing data, Multiple imputation consists of estimating the missing data multiple times to create several complete versions of an incomplete data set. All these data sets are analyzed by the same statistical procedure, and the results are pooled for interpretation. So far, no explicit rules for pooling F tests of (repeated-measures) analysis of variance have been defined. In this article we outline the appropriate procedure for the results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) for multiply imputed data sets. It involves both reformulation of the ANOVA model as a regression model using effect coding of the predictors and applying already existing combination rules for regression models. The proposed procedure is illustrated using 3 example data sets. The pooled results of these 3 examples provide plausible F and p values.     

Spatial balance of color triads in the abstract art of Piet Mondrian

We examined the interactive contribution of the color and size of the three areas occupied by the primary colors red, yellow, and blue in adaptations of abstract compositions by Mondrian to the perceived weight of the areas and the location of the balance centers of the compositions. Thirty-six art stimuli were created by experimentally changing the colors in the three areas of six original works so that the resulting five variations and the original constituted the six possible spatial arrangements of the three colors in the three locations. In experiment 1, design-trained and untrained participants determined the location of the balance center of each composition seen on a computer screen and rated the apparent weight or heaviness of each color area. In experiment 2, untrained participants determined the location of the balance centers of the compositions when projected to their actual size. It was found that, for both trained and untrained participants, the perceived weight of a color, especially red and yellow, varied as a function of the size of the area it occupied. Furthermore, participants in both experiments perceived shifts in the locations of the balance centers between the originals and their altered versions. Only the trained participants, however, perceived significant shifts in balance centers among the five variations of the compositions, demonstrating their superior sensitivity to the contribution of color to balance structure. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the existence of a color-area-weight relationship among color triads in abstract displays and the influence of this relationship on color balance in abstract compositions.     

The Dangers of Resource Myopia in Work and Organisational Psychology: A Plea for Broadening and Integration

On souligne dans cet essai les limites de l'approche quantitative traditionnelle en psychologie du travail et des organisations. Il est nécessaire de s'orienter vers un élargissement de la palette des méthodes une ouverture sur de nouveaux problèmes et une meilleure intégration d'une part avec les disciplines connexes, d'autre part avec les applications des résultats des recherches pour garantir l'utilité et la mise en œuvre de la future psychologie du T&O. Ce qui ne signifie pas que les microproblèmes doivent être laissés de côté, mais on part du principe que la psychologie du T&O ne doit pas être privée de la possibilité de s'attaquer aux questions de niveau moyen et global, souvent les plus pertinentes, sous prétexte que l'on ne dispose pas des outils appropriés pour les traiter.
In this essay the limitations of the traditional quantitative approach in work and organisational psychology are put forward. It is argued that an extension of the methods, a broadening of the type of problems to be addressed, and a stronger integration with associated disciplines as well as with the application and implementation of the research findings are needed to ensure the usefulness and application of future W&O psychology. It is not suggested that micro-level problems should not be investigated, but it is postulated that W&O psychology should not be deprived of the opportunity to tackle other, and often more relevant, meso- and macro-level issues because we lack appropriate tools for attacking them.     

Psychology: Is It Applied Enough?

The question “Is psychology applied enough?” can be regarded in two ways. In the first place, it could refer to the distinction “pure versus applied science”, and the reproach that modern scientific experimental psychology has little to offer to the practitioner. It is argued that this distinction has lost much of its topicality in modern science, and certainly with respect to psychology. In this sense “applied psychology” is an outmoded notion. Secondly, it could refer to the question whether psychology is utilised enough in dealing with the great many pressing problems in modern society. And it is shown that this question cannot be answered in the affirmative. Too often psychological aspects of problems escape notice and too often potential psychological contributions are neglected in governmental and organisational decision‐making, also in cases where such a contribution would prove valuable indeed. A number of reasons for such a neglect are discussed and some ways of improvement are suggested. La question de savoir si la psychologie est suffisamment appliquée peut être abordée de deux façons. Elle peut d’abord renvoyer à la distinction entre science fondamentale et science appliquée et à la critique selon laquelle la psychologie expérimentale moderne a peu à offrir au praticien. Nous pensons que cette distinction a perdu beaucoup de son actualité, surtout en psychologie. Dans ces conditions, la « psychologie appliquée » est une notion désuète. Ensuite, cette question peut faire référence au fait de savoir si la psychologie est suffisamment exploitée dans le traitement des nombreux problèmes sociaux qu’il est urgent de résoudre. Il apparaît qu’il n’est pas possible de répondre par l’affirmative. Trop souvent, les dimensions psychologiques des problèmes passent inaperçues et les contributions potentielles de la psychologie sont négligées dans les décisions gouvernementales et organisationnelles, même quand cet apport serait manifestement précieux. On analyse les raisons de cette négligence et l’on suggère quelques pistes en vue d’une amélioration.