‘Women are Bad at Math,but I'm Not,am I?’ Fragile Mathematical Self‐concept Predicts Vulnerability to a Stereotype Threat Effect on Mathematical Performance

The present research reports the results of three studies showing that individuals with a fragile self‐concept in the domain of performance are particularly vulnerable to stereotype threat effects. Specifically, women who explicitly described themselves as rather mathematical but whose implicit self‐concepts contradicted these claims were vulnerable to stereotype threat effects on mathematical performance. This effect was robust across three studies, independent of the subtleness or content of the stereotype threat manipulation. Additionally, it was shown that the effect was mediated by anxious worrying (Study 3). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

c-Fos expression reveals aberrant neural network activity during cued fear conditioning in APPswe transgenic mice

The neural circuitry underlying emotional learning and memory is known to involve both the amygdala and hippocampus. Both of these structures undergo anatomical and functional changes during the course of Alzheimer's disease. The present study used expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos to examine the effect of amyloid-induced synaptic pathology on neural activity in the hippocampus and amygdala immediately following Pavlovian fear conditioning. Tg2576 mice underwent cued fear conditioning and the regional interdependencies of c-Fos expression in the hippocampus and the amygdala were assessed using structural equation modelling. Tg2576 mice displayed normal acquisition of conditioned freezing to a punctate auditory cue paired with shock. However, the analysis of c-Fos expression indicated abnormal regional activity in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of Tg2576 mice. Structural equation modelling also supported the view that activity within the amygdala was independent of hippocampal activity in Tg2576 mice (unlike control mice) and regional interaction between the dentate gyrus and CA3 region was disrupted. The results provide novel insight into the effects of excess amyloid production on brain region interdependencies underpinning emotional learning.     

Phasic affective modulation of creativity

Thus far, it has been shown that positive compared to negative mood increases creativity, for instance, as measured by performance in the remote associate task, where participants are asked to find the common remote associate for three clue words (e.g., RABBIT CLOUD MILK solution word WHITE). The present experiments show that very brief variations in affect, lasting for only a few seconds and changing from trial to trial within participants, are sufficient to modulate creativity in that task, presumably by modulating the breadth of semantic spread. Using word valence of remote associates themselves (Experiment 1), and consonant and dissonant chords (Experiment 2) as affect inductions, it was observed that brief positive compared to negative affect increased creative performance. This evidence extends the affect-modulation hypothesis to a temporal micro-level.     

An inkblot for sexual preference: A semantic variant of the Affect Misattribution Procedure

A newly developed Semantic Misattribution Procedure (SMP), a semantic variant of the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP), was used in three studies as an indirect measure of sexual interest. Using a known-group approach, homosexual men (Studies 1 and 2), heterosexual men (Studies 1 to 3) and heterosexual women (Study 3) were asked to guess the meaning of briefly presented Chinese ideographs as “sexual” or “not sexual”. The ideographs were preceded by briefly presented primes depicting male and female individuals of varying sexual maturity. As hypothesised, the frequency of “sexual” responses increased after priming with pictures of individuals of the preferred sex and increasing sexual maturation. The SMP showed satisfactory reliability and convergent validity as indicated by correlations with direct and two indirect measures of sexual interest. In two further studies, the hypothesised pattern was replicated whereas a standard AMP with the identical prime stimuli did not produce this result. The potential usefulness of semantic variants of the AMP is discussed.     

Augmented visual, auditory, haptic, and multimodal feedback in motor learning: A review

It is generally accepted that augmented feedback, provided by a human expert or a technical display, effectively enhances motor learning. However, discussion of the way to most effectively provide augmented feedback has been controversial. Related studies have focused primarily on simple or artificial tasks enhanced by visual feedback. Recently, technical advances have made it possible also to investigate more complex, realistic motor tasks and to implement not only visual, but also auditory, haptic, or multimodal augmented feedback. The aim of this review is to address the potential of augmented unimodal and multimodal feedback in the framework of motor learning theories. The review addresses the reasons for the different impacts of feedback strategies within or between the visual, auditory, and haptic modalities and the challenges that need to be overcome to provide appropriate feedback in these modalities, either in isolation or in combination. Accordingly, the design criteria for successful visual, auditory, haptic, and multimodal feedback are elaborated.     

Activity Group Therapy of a Dull Boy with Severe Body EGO Problems

The presence of a time limit shapes the entire therapeutic process and culminates in the management of termination. This paper outlines a protocol for dealing with termination in time-limited psychotherapy groups: (1) Select suitable members with similar capacity to use a time-limited format; (2) use a closed group format; (3) clarify the time boundaries at the beginning; (4) reinforce the time frame during the last half of the group; (5) provide focused interventions; (6) forestall premature termination; (7) reinforce termination themes of deprivation, resentment and anger, rejection, grief and loss, responsibility for self; (8) structure the final session; and (9) plan a 4-month follow-up visit to encourage ongoing application. These guidelines provide the therapist with a general structure to ensure that major termination themes are systematically addressed. They deal with powerful concepts of maturation and self-responsibility and incorporate the principal strategies that distinguish time-limited from time-unlimited group psychotherapy.     

Experimental Studies in Ocular Behavior: II. Ocular Inadequacies in Epileptic Patients

The Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values and the Brown Modification of the Thouless Test of Religious Orthodoxy were administered to 120 male and female students in introductory psychology. Measures of anxiety, self-esteem, authoritarianism, and humanitarianism were also administered to the Ss in an effort to determine whether the two measures of religiosity would yield different personality and attitude profiles of the “religious” individual. A significant positive correlation was found between authoritarianism and the Thouless Test and between humanitarianism and the Study of Values religious measure. All other correlations involving the two measures of religiosity were found to be nonsignificant. These findings lend support to the notion that using two divergent measures of religiosity does result in the formation of different profiles of the “religious” individual.     

Relationship of Ocular Latency and Speed to Intellectual Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relative effectiveness of specific media attributes (visual) on S performance on criterion tests measuring different levels of understanding. One hundred seventy-one Ss were assigned to one of three entering behavior groups (high, middle, and low) as a result of their performance on a pretest designed for this purpose. Ss participated in their respective presentations and received two criterion tests. Analyses indicated that (a) there was a significant relationship between entering behavior and performance on the criterion tests; (b) no significant relationship was found to exist between the level of stimulus explicitness and achievement on the criterion tests; and (c) no significant interactions were found to exist between entering behavior and type of visualization.