Executive function in Parkinson’s disease: contributions of the dorsal frontostriatal pathways to action and motivation

Disruption of the dorsal frontostriatal pathways in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with impairments in motivation, as well as in executive function. The goal of this study was to investigate whether these impairments are related and, if so, whether the disruption of frontostriatal pathways compromises the ability to process the motivational aspects of feedback in such tasks. In Experiment 1, informative feedback improved the performance of young, healthy participants in a task-switching paradigm. This task-switching paradigm was then used in Experiment 2 to test whether feedback would improve the performance of 17 PD patients and age-matched controls. The PD group benefitted from feedback to the same degree as control participants; however, depression scores on the Beck Depression Inventory were significantly related to feedback usage, especially when response selection demands were high. Regardless of feedback, PD patients were more impaired when response demands were high than in an equally difficult condition with low action demands. These results suggest that response selection is a core impairment of insufficient dopamine to the dorsal frontal striatal pathways.     

Emotional regulation of fertility decision making: What is the nature and structure of "baby fever"?

Baby fever-a visceral physical and emotional desire to have a baby-is well known in popular culture, but has not been empirically studied in psychology. Different theoretical perspectives suggest that desire for a baby is either superfluous to biological sex drives and maternal instincts, a sociocultural phenomenon unrelated to biological or evolutionary forces, or an evolved adpatation for regulating birth timing, proceptive behavior, and life history trajectories. A series of studies (involving 337 undergraduate participants and 853 participants from a general population Internet sample) found that: (a) a simple scale measure could elicit ratings of desire frequency; (b) these ratings exhibited significant sex differences; (c) this sex difference was distinct from a general desire for sexual activity; and (d) these findings generalize to a more diverse online population. Factor analyses of ratings for desire elicitors/inhibitors identified three primary factors underlying baby fever. Baby fever appears to be a real phenomenon, with an underlying multifactorial structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The functions of music and their relationship to music preference in India and Germany

Is the use of music in everyday life a culturally universal phenomenon? And do the functions served by music contribute to the development of music preferences regardless of the listener's cultural background? The present study explored similarities and dissimilarities in the functions of music listening and their relationship to music preferences in two countries with different cultural backgrounds: India as an example of a collectivistic society and Germany as an example of an individualistic society. Respondents were asked to what degree their favorite music serves several functions in their life. The functions were summarized in seven main groups: background entertainment, prompt for memories, diversion, emotion regulation, self‐regulation, self‐reflection, and social bonding. Results indicate a strong similarity of the functions of people's favorite music for Indian and German listeners. Among the Indians, all of the seven functions were rated as meaningful; among the Germans, this was the case for all functions except emotion regulation. However, a pronounced dissimilarity was found in the predictive power of the functions of music for the strength of music preference, which was much stronger for Germans than for Indians. In India, the functions of music most predictive for music preference were diversion, self‐reflection, and social bonding. In Germany, the most predictive functions were emotion regulation, diversion, self‐reflection, prompt for memories, and social bonding. It is concluded that potential cultural differences hardly apply to the functional use of music in everyday life, but they do so with respect to the impact of the functions on the development of music preference. The present results are consistent with the assumption that members of a collectivistic society tend to set a higher value on their social and societal integration and their connectedness to each other than do members of individualistic societies.     

Refusing intergroup help from the morally superior: How one group's moral superiority leads to another group's reluctance to seek their help

We examine how group members paradoxically refuse intergroup help where they might need it most: in the moral status domain. Based on the Sacred Value Protection Model (Tetlock, 2002), we predicted and found that group members felt stronger group-based anger and a stronger motivation to reaffirm their group's moral status when an outgroup was morally superior to them. Despite this moral motivation, however, we also predicted and found that group members more strongly refused intergroup help to improve their moral status vis-à-vis the morally superior outgroup (compared to an uninvolved outgroup). Consistent with the Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (Reicher, Spears, & Postmes, 1995), group members thus strategically refused intergroup help to defend their group identity. Supporting this interpretation, particularly highly identified group members were most likely to refuse intergroup help when they needed it most. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings.     

Individual differences in ideological attitudes and prejudice: evidence from peer-report data

Our knowledge on the personality basis of ideological attitudes and prejudice, while based on a substantial body of research, suffers from a potentially serious methodological limitation: an overreliance on the method of self-reports. Across 2 studies (Ns = 193, 424), we examined associations between the Big Five personality dimensions, Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), and generalized prejudice, using both self-report and peer-report data stemming from 1 (Study 1) or 2 (Study 2) peer rater/s. Correlational and regression analyses as well as structural equation modeling showed that (a) the associations between personality dimensions, ideological attitudes, and prejudice were largely similar to previous research for both data sources; (b) RWA and prejudice showed a similar level of self-peer agreement to personality dimensions; (c) most of the known associations between personality, ideological attitudes, and prejudice were replicated also when measured by independent methods; (d) peer reports had some incremental validity in predicting ideological attitudes and prejudice; and (e) there was evidence that Openness to Experience and Agreeableness predicted prejudice directly and not only indirectly via RWA and SDO, respectively. Implications for the status of RWA, SDO, and prejudice as individual-difference constructs and for their bases in personality dimensions are discussed.     

Is there evidence for the use of art therapy in treatment of psychosomatic disorders,eating disorders and crisis? A comparative study of two different systems for evaluation

A comparative study of two different systems for evaluation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 47-53. As with any type of treatment the requirement for evidence based practice (EBP) has also affected art therapy (AT) when used as an intervention. This review evaluates the available evidence for using AT for psychosomatic disorders, eating disorders and crisis. The search in Cochrane, Best Practice, AMED, CINAHL, PION, PsycINFO and PubMed from 1987 until now resulted in a huge number of articles but only 32 articles met our criteria for evaluations. The articles were assessed with two evaluation systems, the GRADE system used by the Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment (SBU) and the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF/Task Force). When comparing the results we found that the GRADE evaluation system rejected the quality in 84% of the 32 studies and the USPSTF/Task Force 41% of these studies. An evidence base for AT was found only according to the criteria of USPSTF/Task Force. Hence, the evidence concept is not explicit, which means that effective treatments run a risk of not being implemented in health care. We suggest a broader view of what constitutes evidence in order to make it possible to include different types of research designs and methods.     

Using individual differences to predict job performance: correcting for direct and indirect restriction of range

The present study investigates the relationship between individual differences, indicated by personality (FFM) and general mental ability (GMA), and job performance applying two different methods of correction for range restriction. The results, derived by analyzing meta-analytic correlations, show that the more accurate method of correcting for indirect range restriction increased the operational validity of individual differences in predicting job performance and that this increase primarily was due to general mental ability being a stronger predictor than any of the personality traits. The estimates for single traits can be applied in practice to maximize prediction of job performance. Further, differences in the relative importance of general mental ability in relation to overall personality assessment methods was substantive and the estimates provided enables practitioners to perform a correct utility analysis of their overall selection procedure.     

The dynamics of ethnic discrimination,identities and outgroup attitudes: A pre–post longitudinal study of ethnic migrants

This longitudinal study among ethnic migrants from Russia to Finland (N = 127) examined the relationships between anticipated and perceived discrimination, ethnic and national identities, and outgroup attitudes towards the national majority group. The study included one pre‐migration and two post‐migration assessments. First, associations between the variables studied were tested using a conventional autoregressive sample‐level modelling approach. Second, individual trajectories and the associations between the individual‐level changes in the variables included in the models were tested. Although there were no sample‐level effects over time, there were significant relationships between changes in discrimination and changes in identification and outgroup attitudes at the individual level. The results indicated that changes in perceived discrimination were not reflected in increased ethnic identification. However, participants who perceived higher levels of discrimination after migration than they anticipated before migration were, in the post‐migration stage, more likely to disidentify from and to increasingly show negative attitudes towards the national majority group. The study complements previous research by examining the identity and attitudinal reactions to perceived ethnic discrimination starting from the pre‐migration stage and highlights the value of incorporating both group and individual perspectives to the research on perceived discrimination. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of the Social Behavior of Two Mice Species With Contrasting Social Systems

The house mouse (Mus musculus) and the mound‐building mouse (M. spicilegus) differ in their mating and social systems. The M. musculus is polygynous and females tend to breed cooperatively while M. spicilegus is known to be monogamous and famous for its unique cooperative behavior; the communal overwintering. Mus spicilegus is considered as a highly aggressive species in the genus Mus. In the present study, we attempted to analyze the development of aggressive and sociable behavior in these species and to discover how familiarity with the target moderates the development of sociable and aggressive behaviors and moderates the differences between the species. Dyadic social interaction tests in neutral cages were performed on 21‐, 60‐, and 120‐day‐old mice of both genders and both species. Each individual was tested against a sibling and an unfamiliar individual at all three ages. Our results showed that the development of aggressive and sociable behavior with age differed between the species and sexes; however, familiarity with the other mouse moderated the effect of species on aggression. At 21 days, both genders of M. spicilegus were more aggressive against strangers than siblings. This became true of both species at 60 days. When facing a stranger, both sexes of M. spicilegus were more aggressive than M. musculus at 120 days. However, when facing a sibling, neither gender of M. spicilegus was more agonistic than M. musculus, indicating that either kinship or early social experiences elicit tolerance. Aggr. Behav. 38:288‐297, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

SUBSTANCE-ABUSING MOTHERS IN RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT WITH THEIR BABIES: IMPORTANCE OF PRE- AND POSTNATAL MATERNAL REFLECTIVE FUNCTIONING

A residential treatment program has been developed specifically for substance-abusing pregnant and parenting women in Finland, focusing on simultaneously supporting maternal abstinence from substances and the mother-baby relationship. The aims of the study are to explore maternal pre- and postnatal reflective functioning and its association with background factors, maternal exposure to trauma, and psychiatric symptoms, postnatal interaction, child development, and later child foster care placement. Participants were 34 mother-baby pairs living in three residential program units during the pre- to postnatal period. We employed self-report questionnaires on background, trauma history, and psychiatric symptoms (Brief Symptom Inventory: L.R. Derogatis, 1993; Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: J.L. Cox, J.M. Holden, & R. Sagovsky, 1987; Traumatic Antecedents Questionnaire: B. Van der Kolk, 2003), videotaped mother-child interactions coded for sensitivity, control, and unresponsiveness (Care Index for Infants and Toddlers: P. Crittenden, 2003); a standardized test of child development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II: N. Bayley, 1993); and semistructured interviews for maternal reflective functioning (Pregnancy Interview: A. Slade, E. Bernbach, J. Grienenberger, D.W. Levy, & A. Locker, 2002; Parent Development Interview: A. Slade et al., 2005). Pre- and postnatal maternal reflective functioning (RF) was on average low, but varied considerably across participants. Average RF increased significantly during the intervention. Increase in RF level was found to be associated with type of abused substance and maternal trauma history. Mothers who showed lower postnatal RF levels relapsed to substance use more often after completing a residential treatment period, and their children were more likely to be placed in foster care. The intensive focus on maternal RF is an important direction in the development of efficacious treatment for this very high risk population.