Thyme to touch: Infants possess strategies that protect them from dangers posed by plants

Plants have been central to human life as sources of food and raw materials for artifact construction over evolutionary time. But plants also have chemical and physical defenses (such as harmful toxins and thorns) that provide protection from herbivores. The presence of these defenses has shaped the behavioral strategies of non-human animals. Here we report evidence that human infants possess strategies that would serve to protect them from dangers posed by plants. Across two experiments, infants as young as eight months exhibit greater reluctance to manually explore plants compared to other entities. These results expand the growing literature showing that infants are sensitive to certain ancestrally recurrent dangers, and provide a basis for further exploration.     

Reflexive orienting in response to short- and long-duration gaze cues in young,young-old,and old-old adults

Shifting visual focus on the basis of the perceived gaze direction of another person is one form of joint attention. In the present study, we investigated whether this socially relevant form of orienting is reflexive and whether it is influenced by age. Green and Woldorff (Cognition 122:96–101, 2012) argued that rapid cueing effects (i.e., faster responses to validly than to invalidly cued targets) were limited to conditions in which a cue overlapped in time with a target. They attributed slower responses following invalid cues to the time needed to resolve the incongruent spatial information provided by the concurrently presented cue and target. In the present study, we examined the orienting responses of young (18–31 years), young-old (60–74 years), and old-old (75–91 years) adults following uninformative central gaze cues that overlapped in time with the target (Exp. 1) or that were removed prior to target presentation (Exp. 2). When the cue and target overlapped, all three groups localized validly cued targets more quickly than invalidly cued targets, and validity effects emerged earlier for the two younger groups (at 100 ms post-cue-onset) than for the old-old group (at 300 ms post-cue-onset). With a short-duration cue (Exp. 2), validity effects developed rapidly (by 100 ms) for all three groups, suggesting that validity effects resulted from reflexive orienting based on the gaze cue information rather than from cue–target conflict. Thus, although old-old adults may be slow to disengage from persistent gaze cues, attention continues to be reflexively guided by gaze cues late in life.     

Memory rehabilitation for older adults: preserving independent living / Rehabilitación de la memoria para adultos mayores: preservación de la autonomía de vida

Abstract

Episodic memory problems are the hallmark of cognitive ageing in normal elderly people. Learning of new material is worse in pathological cognitive ageing, such as dementia and its preliminary states (mild cognitive impairment). Because episodic learning is crucial to preserve independent living in the elderly, rehabilitation programmes for everyday memory problems are welcomed. The scope of scientific interest has switched from treatment to prevention. We claim that lifestyle interventions are the most direct way to preserve cognition. We summarize evidence for changes in nutrition and exercise. In addition, psychological interventions for elderly people with normal or pathological cognitive ageing are available. Recent meta-analyses found lacking evidence of transfer to everyday life and long-term effects. We critically assess these meta-analyses. We propose theoretically derived experimental interventions relying on spared learning mechanisms. As an example we report visual-imagery training showing positive effects in a randomized control trial, using individual memory diaries on memory improvement.     

Rehearsal in serial memory for visual-spatial information: Evidence from eye movements

It is well established that rote rehearsal plays a key role in serial memory for lists of verbal items. Although a great deal of research has informed us about the nature of verbal rehearsal, much less attention has been devoted to rehearsal in serial memory for visual-spatial information. By using the dot task—a visual-spatial analogue of the classical verbal serial recall task—with delayed recall, performance and eyetracking data were recorded in order to establish whether visual-spatial rehearsal could be evidenced by eye movement. The use of eye movement as a form of rehearsal is detectable (Experiment 1), and it seems to contribute to serial memory performance over and above rehearsal based on shifts of spatial attention (Experiments 1 and 2).     

Backward recall and benchmark effects of working memory

Working memory was designed to explain four benchmark memory effects: the word length effect, the irrelevant speech effect, the acoustic confusion effect, and the concurrent articulation effect. However, almost all research thus far has used tests that emphasize forward recall. In four experiments, we examine whether each effect is observable when the items are recalled in reverse order. Subjects did not know which recall direction would be required until the time of test, ensuring that encoding processes would be identical for both recall directions. Contrary to predictions of both the primacy model and the feature model, the benchmark memory effect was either absent or greatly attenuated with backward recall, despite being present with forward recall. Direction of recall had no effect on the more difficult conditions (e.g., long words, similar-sounding items, items presented with irrelevant speech, and items studied with concurrent articulation). Several factors not considered by the primacy and feature models are noted, and a possible explanation within the framework of the SIMPLE model is briefly presented.     

The role of self‐determination in the relationship between social support and physical activity intentions

Using the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (HMIEM) and self‐determination theory as theoretical frameworks, the purpose of the present study was to assess the role of motivation‐related variables in the relationship between perceptions of social support and intentions to be physically active. Undergraduate students completed surveys assessing perceptions of social support, psychological needs satisfaction, self‐determination, and future exercise intentions. Model fit with the data was examined and was considered acceptable, indicating that social support was positively related to the satisfaction of psychological needs, which, in turn, was related positively to self‐determination and then to physical activity intentions.     

Concordance Between the Quality of Maternal and Paternal Parenting Behavior Within Couples

There is compelling evidence that the quality of maternal and paternal parenting behavior bears critical importance for child development. Yet, less is known of the degree of similarity between maternal and paternal parenting behavior in families, and especially little is known about the factors that may explain variation in degrees of similarity. This article aims to examine (a) the concordance (similarity) between the quality of mothers’ and fathers’ interactive behavior with their child and (b) the sociodemographic determinants of this concordance. The sample included 74 families (mother, father, and their child). The quality of maternal and paternal interactive behavior was assessed independently, and rated with the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (mother–infant, 12 months; D. R. Pederson et al., 1990) or the Mutually Responsive Orientation scale (father–toddler, 18 months; N. Aksan et al., 2006). The results indicated that the overall correlation between the quality of mothers’ and fathers’ behavior was moderate. The concordance was greater among higher socioeconomic status families or when interacting with a boy, but did not differ according to the presence or absence of siblings in the family.     

Marital Satisfaction and Quality of Father–Child Interactions: The Moderating Role of Child Gender

The authors aimed to investigate the prospective links between normative variation in fathers’ marital satisfaction and the observed quality of father–toddler interactions, as well as the moderating role of child gender in these associations. Sixty-three fathers reported on their marital satisfaction when their children were 15 months of age, and were observed interacting with their child at 18 months. The results suggested that marital satisfaction was positively associated with the quality of father–son interactions, while no relations emerged among fathers of girls. These findings reiterate the importance of marital relationships for the quality of fathers’ parenting, while reaffirming previous suggestions that the role of child gender in the marriage-parenting connections requires further investigation.     

Perceived Impact of Professional Counselor Identity: An Exploratory Study

Counselor educators (N= 378) provided their viewpoints regarding the impact of counselor identity on professional advancement and recognition. Respondents indicated that counselors, the American Counseling Association, and other counseling organizations are responsible for advocacy of the counseling profession. Collaboration among counselors for the development of a single coherent message is necessary for advocacy efforts aimed at congressional Medicare leaders, managed care organizations, state licensing boards, and allied professions.