Effects of a Private Room Versus Group Setting on Math Test Performance of College Students with ADHD

The effects of (a) private room, (b) typical classroom, and (c) high-distraction room test settings were examined on the math test performance of six college students (four females) with ADHD. Participants (aged 18–30 years) completed multiple, equivalent algebra calculation tests (100 items each) under the three test-setting conditions. A multi-element design was used to compare the number of items attempted (test access) and percentage correct (accuracy). Students also rated their level of distraction after each testing session on a Likert-type scale. Results showed that students found the high-distraction setting more distracting than other settings and that five of six students accessed more test items in the private room versus the high-distraction setting, with three of the six demonstrating nonoverlapping data across settings. A regular classroom setting did not produce a high level of distraction, nor did it restrict student access to the math tests relative to a private room setting. These findings suggest that some students with ADHD are affected negatively by highly distracting environments and may benefit from a quiet, private test setting. Single-case experimental designs may be useful for examining individual differences among students with disabilities receiving specific test accommodations.

     

The (un)detectability of absolute Newtonian masses

Synthese - Absolutism about mass claims that mass ratios obtain in virtue of absolute masses. Comparativism denies this. Dasgupta (in: Bennett, Zimmerman (eds), Oxford studies in metaphysics,...     

Training Young Adult Peers in a Mobile Motivational Interviewing‐Based Mentoring Approach to Upstream HIV Prevention

Mentoring relationships are characterized by a sustained, high quality, and skill‐building relationship between a protégé and mentor (Handbook of Youth Mentoring, Los Angeles, SAGE, 2014). Within prevention science, youth mentoring programs emphasize creating a specific context that benefits a young person. Program‐sponsored relationships between youth and adults allow for creating a mentor–mentee partnership, but do not require the establishment of a strong bond in order to deliver prevention‐focused activities and experiences (Handbook of Youth Mentoring, Los Angeles, SAGE, 2014). Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a counseling style used widely to promote health behavior change and in prevention interventions. As part of an upstream approach to HIV prevention, we combined mentoring and MI by training peer mentors to use MI skills in their interactions as part of a large RCT of a mobile life skills intervention for adolescent men who have sex with men (AMSM). Our training model developed for training peer mentors in MI skills resulted in peers reaching and exceeding established MI fidelity thresholds (e.g., mean percentage of complex reflections = 80%, mean reflection to question ratio = 2.2:1). We offer reflections on lessons learned and future directions for those researchers and practitioners who may benefit from adapting this blended approach for mentoring AMSM.     

No evidence of binding items to spatial configuration representations in visual working memory

When detecting changes in visual features (e.g., colour or shape), object locations, represented as points within a configuration, might also be automatically represented in working memory. If the configuration of a scene is represented automatically, the locations of individual items might form part of this representation, irrespective of their relevance to the task. Participants took part in a change-detection task in which they studied displays containing different sets of items (shapes, letters, objects), which varied in their task relevance. Specifically, they were asked to remember the features of two sets, and ignore the third set. During the retention interval, an audio cue indicated which of the to-be-remembered sets would become the target set (having a 50% probability of containing a new feature). At test, they were asked to indicate whether a new feature was present amongst the target set. We measured binding of individual items to the configuration by manipulating the locations of the different sets so that their position in the test display either matched or mismatched their original location in the study display. If items are automatically bound to the configuration, location changes should disrupt performance, even if they were explicitly instructed not to remember the features of that particular set of items. There was no effect on performance of changing the locations of any of the sets between study and test displays, indicating that the configural representation did not enter their decision stage, and therefore that individual item representations are not necessarily bound to the configuration.     

Reconsidering the roles of gratitude and indebtedness in social exchange

Receiving favors is often a mixed blessing and commonly triggers two emotions: the positive emotion gratitude and negative emotion indebtedness. In three studies, we examined the hypothesis that gratitude and indebtedness have distinct functions in social exchange. Contrary to current views, we believe that the function of gratitude does not primarily reside in facilitating social exchange. Instead, we propose that indebtedness motivates people to repay favours received, and thus accounts for most of the prosocial effects commonly attributed to gratitude. On the other hand consistent with current views, we believe that gratitude signals the potential for developing a relationship and fosters proximity seeking. Supporting these assumptions, in Study 1 we found that gratitude and indebtedness were associated with aspects of the favour that reflect the concern for relationship and the level of inequity. Studies 2 and 3 provided causal support for these relations, and revealed the unique associations between gratitude and the motivation of proximity seeking, and between indebtedness and the motivation to reciprocate. We argue that this functional distinction has escaped research attention as gratitude and indebtedness are naturally correlated because they stem from the same eliciting event. To appreciate this functional distinction, both emotions should be studied simultaneously in the context of social exchange.     

The premotor theory of attention as an account for the Simon effect

The Simon effect refers to the phenomenon that responses are faster when the irrelevant location of a stimulus corresponds with the response location than when these locations do not correspond. In the current paper we examined the viability of an updated version of the premotor theory of attention (PMTA) as an account for the Simon effect. Two predictions were evaluated. First, in the case of focused attention at the relevant target position a strong reduction of the Simon effect should be observed as the Simon effect according to PMTA crucially depends on attentional orienting. Secondly, if attention is directed towards a location then this orienting by itself should already be sufficient for producing a Simon effect, as stimulus presence is not required. Our data confirmed these predictions thereby supporting the relevance of the PMTA for the Simon effect.     

Working in Indigenous Contexts: Self‐Reported Experiences of Non‐Indigenous Australian Psychologists

Despite assertions in the literature that psychologists adopt culturally inappropriate strategies for working with Indigenous clients, there is little empirical evidence about this. The aim of this study was to document the self‐reported experiences of non‐Indigenous psychologists working with Indigenous clients, the factors that they felt constrain these interactions, and the clinical, assessment and communication strategies they perceived as effective in Indigenous contexts. Structured interviews were held with 23 psychologists, 18 females and five males, with age groups ranging from 20–30 to 50+. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that participants experienced contradictions between the typical Western white psychologists' ways of interacting with clients, which they had been taught and the typical ways in which relationships are structured in Indigenous communities. The results suggest that the Western model of psychological training does not work very well in Indigenous contexts, and that psychologists working in Indigenous contexts have to work out their own methods on a trial‐and‐error basis. This points to the need for more systematic cultural competence training. However, there is a lack of research into the effectiveness of psychological intervention from the viewpoints of Indigenous clients themselves.     

Perceived parenting and separation-individuation in Belgian college students: associations with emotional adjustment

The present study examined associations among perceived parenting, separation-individuation, and emotional adjustment in a convenience sample of college students in Belgium (N=350; 68% female; aged 18 to 26). In line with a conceptual model advanced in the literature, factor analysis supported the distinction between three dimensions of separation-individuation: overdependence and healthy separation (both of which had already been described in earlier research) and a new dimension, labeled excessive autonomy. Path analysis findings were consistent with a mediational model in which lower quality of perceived parenting predicted more excessive autonomy, which in turn predicted poorer emotional adjustment. In addition, healthy separation predicted superior emotional adjustment, whereas overdependence was not associated with this particular type of adjustment. Implications for current understanding of the process of separation-individuation in college students and of excessive autonomy, in particular, are discussed.     

Can Reasons be Self-Undermining?

The characterization of objective, normative reasons to φ as facts (or truths) that count in favor of φ-ing is widely accepted. But are there any further conditions that considerations which count in favor of φ-ing must meet, in order to count as a reason to φ? In this brief paper, I consider and reject one such condition, recently proposed by Caspar Hare.     

Electrophysiological examination of embodiment in vision and action

A wealth of behavioral data has shown that the visual properties of objects automatically potentiate motor actions linked with them, but how deeply are these affordances embedded in visual processing? In the study reported here, we used electrophysiological measures to examine the time course of affordance resulting from the leftward or rightward orientation of the handles of common objects. Participants were asked to categorize those objects using a left- or right-handed motor response. Lateralized readiness potentials showed rapid motor preparation in the hand congruent with the affordance provided by the object only 100 to 200 ms after stimulus presentation and up to 400 ms before the actual response. Examination of event-related potentials also revealed an effect of handle orientation and response-hand congruency on the visual P1 and N1 components. Both of these results suggest that activity in the early sensory pathways is modulated by the action associations of objects and the intentions of the viewer.