Synchronizing movements with the metronome: nonlinear error correction and unstable periodic orbits.

The control of human hand movements is investigated in a simple synchronization task. We propose and analyze a stochastic model based on nonlinear error correction; a mechanism which implies the existence of unstable periodic orbits. This prediction is tested in an experiment with human subjects. We find that our experimental data are in good agreement with numerical simulations of our theoretical model. These results suggest that feedback control of the human motor systems shows nonlinear behavior.     

The Assessment of Optimistic Self-beliefs: Comparison of the German, Spanish, and Chinese Versions of the General Self-efficacy Scale

L'auto-efficacité générale est mesurée grâce à une courte échelle composée de dix items. Son usage est très répandu et elle a été adaptée à plusieurs cultures. Cet article compare des versions qui ont été proposées à des étudiants: 430 Allemands, 952 Costariciens et 293 Chinois. lies validités internes sont respectivement de.84,.81 et.91. L'unidimensionnalité de l'échelle est réapparue dans tous les échantillons. L'équivalence items-modèle interlinguistique ne fut que modérément approuvé par des analyses factorielles de confirmation. On a trouvé des différences au niveau des moyennes des scores totaux entre les langues. De plus, une intéraction entre sexe et langue s'est manifestée. Des corrélations avec la dépression, l'anxiété' et l'optimisme ont fourni des éléments complémentaires en faveur de la validité de construction.
General self-efficacy is measured by a widely used parsimonious ten-item scale that was developed for use in several cultures. The present paper compares the verions that were examined in samples of 430 German, 959 Costa Rican, and 293 Chinese university students. The internal consistencies were.84,.81, and.91, respectively. The unidimensional nature of the scale was replicated in all samples. Multilingual item-pattern equivalence was only moderately supported by confirmatory factor analyses. Mean differences of sum scores between languages were found. Moreover, an interaction between gender and language emerged. Correlations with depression, anxiety, and optimism provided some further evidence for construct validity.     

Stochastic Dominance and Opaque Sweetening

This paper addresses the problem of opaque sweetening and argues that one should use stochastic dominance in comparing lotteries even when dealing with incomplete orderings that allow for non-comparable outcomes.     

What is the Impact of Placement Type on Educational and Health Outcomes of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors? A Systematic Review of the Evidence

Record numbers of unaccompanied refugee minors have been arriving in high-income countries since 2015. Child welfare agencies and non-governmental organisations tasked with providing services have struggled to cope with demands on their services as a result. Despite this, there is little research on how best to meet their needs and in particular what services can mitigate the psychological difficulties they face. As a result, the evidence base for social services for refugee children remains very limited. This paper is a systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence on the relationship between care placement type and the educational, mental health and physical health outcomes of unaccompanied refugee minors. We searched ten databases and identified 3877 citations which were screened for inclusion. Nine studies were included in the final review, with seven included in the meta-analysis. Eight studies examined the link between accommodation type and mental health outcomes, and two analysed the relationship between accommodation type and education. There were no studies looking at physical health outcomes. Included studies suggest that foster care and placements that are culturally sensitive may be associated with better mental health outcomes. This review highlights the paucity of research on the impact of services provided by child welfare agencies and non-governmental organisations.     

The Effect of an Ethical Decision-Making Training on Young Athletes’ Attitudes Toward Doping

This article examines whether a training program in ethical decision making can change young athletes’ doping attitudes. Fifty-two young elite athletes were randomly assigned to either an ethical decision-making training group or a standard-knowledge-based educational program group. Another 17 young elite athletes were recruited for no-treatment control purposes. The ethical decision-making training comprised six 30-min online sessions in which the participants had to work through 18 ethical dilemmas related to doping. The standard-knowledge-based educational program was also conducted in six online sessions of comparable length to that of the ethical training. A short version of the Performance Enhancement Attitude Scale was administered to measure the effects of the trainings on doping attitude. Prior to as well as after the intervention, the mean doping attitude scores of the young athletes were low to very low, indicating vehement rejections of doping. The results of our experiment showed that the ethical training led to an attenuation of these rejections. No intervention effect was found in the standard education group. The observed slight increase in the doping attitude score could be an indication that the ethical decision-making training was successful in breaking up the athletes’ stereotypical style of reasoning about doping.     

Positive or Negative Effects of Technology Enhancement for Brand Placements? Memory of Brand Placements in 2D, 3D,and 4D Movies

Brand placements in movies are common throughout the world. Within the last few years, 3D movie technology has experienced substantial growth in both cinemas and home entertainment. Furthermore, advanced cinemas also offer 4D experiences by adding scent, airflow or tactile stimuli to the 3D film. Based on the limited capacity model of information processing and the levels of processing effect theory, we conduct two studies to investigate how delivery modes of a 2D movie clip, compared to a 3D and a 4D (3D + scent) movie clip, influence recall and recognition of brands that are placed in either prominent or subtle ways. With regard to subtle placements, results from both studies demonstrate that the memory of subtle brand placements is negatively affected by the enhancement offered by 3D or 4D, as compared to 2D movies. With regard to prominent placements, results indicate that the memory of a highly prominent brand placement benefits from 3D, but not from 4D technology. This article addresses implications for research as well as for marketers and movie makers, while also outlining directions for further research.     

Testosterone,aggressiveness, and antisocial personality

Testosterone levels were examined in prisoners convicted of violent crimes (n = 13), in men previously convicted of violent crimes but currently not in prison (n = 15), in nonviolent alcoholics (n = 15), and in randomly selected control males (n = 16). Morning, afternoon, and evening testosterone levels were assessed after a minimum alcohol abstinence period of 24 hr. Violent and nonviolent men did not differ in plasma total testosterone level on any sampling occasion. In violent men, however, testosterone levels were significantly correlated with hostility, as measured by the Derogatis Symptom Check List. Most violent men were diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASP) [DSM‐III‐R; 301.70], and the unweighted ASP symptom count also correlated significantly with testosterone levels in these subjects. We suggest that individuals whose life histories involve numerous antisocial behaviors tend to have high testosterone levels even when interpersonal violence is excluded. This, however, does not eliminate the possibility that males who are characterized by high hostility may also have elevated testosterone levels. Violent predisposition and antisocial conduct beginning in early adolescence predict adult aggressive behaviors, which are augmented by power‐related alcohol expectancies and alcohol abuse. Aggr. Behav. 25:113–123, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.