Stress Induced Oral Behaviors and Facial Pain

Facial pain is frequently associated with environmental stress and emotional distress. One hypothetical mechanism by which stress is translated into pain is through stress induced motor function (e.g., teeth clenching, grinding, nail biting). Existent data partially supports these stress-hyperactivity models although they have also come under theoretical and empirical attack. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between oral behaviors and pain in an analog sample of facial pain sufferers and student controls. Subjects engaged in a controlled clenching task and reported on subjective facial pain intensity and unpleasantness at 5 specified times over the subsequent 48 hours. A one-way ANCOVA indicated group differences in self reported oral habits (p < .05) with the facial pain group reporting great frequency of oral habits. Two repeated measures ANCOVAs (i.e., pain intensity and pain unpleasantness), controlling for baseline pain ratings, indicated a between groups effect with facial pain sufferers experiencing significantly greater pain over the 48 hours postexperiment (p < .05). This study supports a hyperactivity model of facial pain and provides clues about relevant factors in facial pain development.     

Re-Examining the Effect of Top-Down Linguistic Information on Speaker-Voice Discrimination

The current study replicated and extended the results from a study conducted by Narayan, Mak, and Bialystok (2017) that found effects of top-down linguistic information on a speaker discrimination task by examining four conditions: rhymes (day-bay), compounds (day-dream), reverse compounds (dream-day), and unrelated words (day-bee). The original study found that participants were more likely to judge two words to be spoken by the same speaker if the words cohered lexically (created lexical compounds such as day-dream) or were phonologically related (rhymes, such as day-bay), but their study contained two limitations: (a) Same- and different-speaker trials were analyzed separately, which obscures effects of response bias, and (b) cross-gender pairs were used in the different-speaker trials, potentially inflating performance. The current study addresses these limitations by including only within-gender trials and by examining sensitivity and bias using signal detection theory. Our results not only provide support of the original study but also provide clear evidence that listeners are biased to judge two words as being produced by the same person when they share either phonological information (rhymes) or lexical-semantic coherence (compounds). Thus, the current study provides an important modified replication of previous research.     

Luminance affects age-related deficits in object detection: implications for computerized psychological assessments

As psychological instruments are converted for administration on computers, differences in luminance and contrast of these displays may affect performance. Specifically, high-luminance assessments may mask age-group differences that are apparent under lower luminance conditions. We examined the effects of luminance and contrast on object detection using computerized and naturalistic assessments. Younger and older adults displayed more differences in performance across differing contrast levels in conditions that were matched for luminance, despite the conditions appearing perceptually different. These findings indicate that computerized assessments should be created with luminance levels that are similar to those of the tasks they purport to simulate in order to enhance their validity.     

Toward a psychoeducational curriculum for training sport-injury rehabilitation personnel

Abstract

This paper addresses significant gaps in the wining programs of sport-injury rehabilitation personnel (SIRPs) in the psychology ma. The main aim of the article is to offer for consideration a psychoeducational curriculum that is specifically designed for the training of professionals who work with injured athletes. In addition to describing the applied implications of research on the psychological aspects of sport injuries for professional practitioners. reviews of what SIRPs consider is missing-but-desirable in their professional wining. and the effectiveness of certain psychological strategies, are presented. Finally. an overview of a prototypical three-year curriculum for professional training programs is outlined.     

Measuring Postural Sway in Sitting: A New Segmental Approach

Global measures of trunk sway are traditionally used even though the trunk comprises a multiple number of segments. The authors’ aim was to measure the seated sway of typically developing children using a multisegment approach. Twenty typically developing children divided into 2 groups, older and younger than 10 years old, participated in this study. The children sat unsupported for 30 s while their posture and sway were quantified using stereophotogrammetry. The tendency in both age groups was to sit with a backward tilted pelvis and a kyphotic trunk. The sitting position was most varied in the younger group. Marker sway amplitude and velocity in sitting were age dependent, with reduced sway amplitude and velocity with increased age for all segments. Anteroposterior intersegmental angular sway was not age dependent. The difference in marker sway in the anteroposterior direction for the younger group appeared to result from an equally stable trunk supported on a less stable pelvis. Mediolateral marker sway and intersegmental angular sway showed a clearer age dependency. Trunk postural control does not appear to differ between children older and younger than 10 years old, but sagittal plane pelvic stability can explain the increased sway reported in younger children.     

Are You What Your Avatar Eats? Health-Behavior Effects of Avatar-Manifested Self-Concept

Drawing on the self-concept activation and goal-priming account of the priming effect, this study examined how self-concept—i.e., ideal self, ought self, and actual self—can be harnessed as a model for avatar customization in digital games to promote healthy-eating behavior. Female participants (N = 133) customized an avatar in a digital game to reflect either the ideal, ought, or actual self. Participants then selected food items for their avatar within the digital game as well as food items for themselves to eat afterward. Results suggest that for participants using an ought-self avatar, the extent to which they were conscious of their health was positively related to healthier food choice both within and after playing the game. No such effect emerged for participants who used an ideal- or actual-self avatar, indicating that participants formed the goal of being healthy only with regard to the ought self. This study demonstrates that avatar customization in a digital game can serve a regulatory function by representing individuals’ duties and responsibilities, thus, causing them to adopt such attributes manifested in their avatar during and after the game.     

Psychometric evaluation of the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue scale for use with pregnant and postpartum women

Although fatigue is a common experience for pregnant women and new mothers, few measures of fatigue have been validated for use with this population. To address this gap, the authors assessed psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue (MAF) scale, which was used in 2 independent samples of pregnant women. Results indicated that the psychometric properties of the scale were very similar across samples and time points. The scale possesses a high level of internal consistency, has good convergent validity with measures of sleep quality and depression, and discriminates well from a measure of social support. Contrary to previous evaluations of the MAF, data strongly suggest that the scale represents a unidimensional construct best represented by a single factor. Results indicate that the MAF is a useful measure of fatigue among pregnant and postpartum women.     

Interaction between the development of postural control and the executive function of attention

The authors examined the interaction between the development of postural control and the development of the executive function of attention in 13 children and 6 adults in dual-task conditions. Participants performed an attentionally demanding cognitive task and a postural task simultaneously. The authors equalized the attentional load of the cognitive task across age groups. Comparative changes in the center of pressure in dual- and single-task conditions indicated that dual tasks interfered with postural performance in the wide stance (WS) and the modified Romberg stance (RS). Children at 4-6 years of age (but not children at ages 7-12 years of age or adults) experienced postural control interference in both stance positions, but interference was greater in the RS (p = .018). For all participants, cognitive task performance in RS was unchanged from that in WS. The knowledge gained from the results of this study will contribute to the design and implementation of academic and preacademic programming for young children. Their performance of an intentionally demanding cognitive task would be enhanced by the provision of appropriately sized desks and chairs or their use of an alternate, less demanding position.     

A Note on the Natural Basis of Action Categories

What is the basis for the categorical distinctions evident in action? For some visually-guided activities it can be shown that categories of action are specified by criterial values of optical properties. In the more general case, the criterial optical properties should be scaled relative to dimensions of the acting animal. The analysis of the prey-catching behavior of praying mantids is used to exemplify the strategy for determining naturally defined boundaries on actions.     

“Mindless” Decision Making as a Failure of Contextual Reasoning

People often make decisions without reference to vital information, even when such information is readily available. In the present research, the authors addressed the possibility that this tendency may derive from failure to have pertinent information immediately available in the decision context. Participants rated the utility of decisions in either the presence or absence of simple pertinent information. The information provided required no training and was relatively obvious (e.g., if money is spent on a given item, that money will not be available for other expenditures). Presentation of such information in the immediate context of decisions significantly improved participants' abilities to understand their negative consequences. These results indicate that the presentation of pertinent information in immediate decision contexts, even information that is already available through participants' long-term memory, can improve the understanding of decision situations and reduce “mindlessness” in decision processes.