Stabilized images: Dependent variable specificity of pattern-specific effects with prolonged viewing

Two studies report results of viewing lines in different orientations in stabilized Maxwellian view. The first study examined the time course of four dependent variables-whole- and partial-fade frequencies and whole- and partial-fade durations. Whole-fade frequencies increased systematically throughout 10 min of the 15-min viewing session and were sensitive to line orientations. Partial-fade frequencies increased for 3–5 min during which orientation specificity occurred. Thereafter, partial-fade rate was constant and pattern-specific effects disappeared. Mean fade duration, which increased throughout the 15-min session for whole fades but for only 5 min for partial fades, was not pattern-specific. The second study demonstrated that the pattern specificity of whole fades could not be accounted for in terms of time-dependent extraneous variables. It was concluded that partial and whole fades may reflect the operation of different visual processes. The complete fading of images was attributed to the operation of supraretinal pattern processing units.     

Stability of Family Interaction from Ages 6 to 18

Research has demonstrated the stability of juvenile offending during childhood and adolescence but generally has not focused on the continuity of family interactions associated with juvenile offending. The present report focused on the stability of several family interaction events and attributes (i.e., physical punishment, communication, supervision, positive parenting, and parent–child relationship) for a large sample of male adolescents and their primary caretakers, drawn from a multiyear longitudinal study that represented middle childhood through late adolescence (ages 6–18). We also assessed the impact of ethnicity, family composition, teenage motherhood, and youth delinquency on these interactions. Test–retest correlations and growth-curve analyses were used to assess relative and absolute stability of the interactions, respectively. As predicted, relative stability of family interaction was high. There was an absolute change in scores of physical punishment (decreased) compared to poor supervision and low positive parenting (both increased), whereas poor communication and bad relationship with the caretaker did not measurably change with age. Single-parent families and families with teenage mothers experienced significantly worse interactions over time than did families consisting of two biological parents present in the household. These findings are discussed in relation to the development of juvenile offending.     

Relationships between thought-action fusion, thought suppression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: a structural equation modeling approach

Research has shown that there are strong similarities in content between the obsessions and compulsions that characterize obsessive-compulsive disorder and nonclinical obsessions and compulsions. However, clinical and nonclinical obsessions and compulsions do differ with respect to characteristics like frequency, intensity, discomfort and elicited resistance. Two separate concepts have been invoked to explain how normal obsessions and compulsions may develop into clinical phenomena. First, it is suggested that thought-action fusion (TAF) contributes to obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Second, thought suppression may intensify obsessive-compulsive symptoms due to its paradoxical effect on intrusive thoughts. Although both phenomena have been found to contribute to obsessive-compulsive symptoms, possible interactions between these two have never been investigated. The current study explored how TAF and thought suppression interact in the development of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 173) completed questionnaires pertaining to TAF, thought suppression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Covariances between the scores on these questionnaires were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. Results suggest that TAF triggers thought suppression, while thought suppression, in turn, promotes obsessive-compulsive symptoms.     

Differential roles of depressive and anxious symptoms and gender in defensiveness

Among a sample of Air Force cadets facing the prospect of basic training (N= 1,190; 1,005 men and 185 women), the influence of a defensive test-taking style on measures of depressive and anxious symptoms was examined. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck & Steer, 1987) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988), as well as the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943) L scale. Results supported hypotheses that defensiveness would affect a self-report measure of depression but not a self-report measure of anxiety and would do so more among men than women. Applied implications of the results are discussed.     

Does Adding the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure (DBT PE) Protocol for PTSD to DBT Improve Outcomes in Public Mental Health Settings? A Pilot Nonrandomized Effectiveness Trial With Benchmarking

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Prolonged Exposure (DBT PE) protocol improves DBT’s effects on PTSD in research settings, but its effectiveness in community settings is largely unknown. This pilot nonrandomized controlled trial examined DBT with and without DBT PE in four public mental health agencies. Patients (N = 35, 12-56 years old, 80.0% female, 64.7% racial/ethnic minorities, 44.1% sexual minorities) had PTSD, were receiving DBT, and completed assessments every four months over one year. Sixteen patients (45.7%) initiated DBT PE, 19 (54.3%) did not, and dropout did not differ between groups (31.3% vs. 26.3%). The primary barrier to initiating DBT PE was clinician turnover (57.9% of non-initiators). After adjusting for confounds, DBT PE initiators (g = 1.1) and completers (g = 1.4) showed a greater reduction in PTSD than patients who received DBT only (g = 0.5; p’s < .05). Rates of reliable improvement in PTSD were 71.4% (DBT PE completers), 53.8% (DBT PE initiators), and 31.3% (DBT). Similar patterns were observed for posttraumatic cognitions, emotion dysregulation, general psychological distress, and limited activity days. There was no worsening of self-injurious behavior or crisis service use among patients who received DBT PE. Benchmarking analyses indicated comparable feasibility, acceptability, and safety, but a smaller magnitude of clinical change, than in efficacy studies. Results require replication in a randomized trial but suggest that DBT PE can be transported effectively to community settings.     

The emotional carryover effect in memory for words

Emotional material rarely occurs in isolation; rather it is experienced in the spatial and temporal proximity of less emotional items. Some previous researchers have found that emotional stimuli impair memory for surrounding information, whereas others have reported evidence for memory facilitation. Researchers have not determined which types of emotional items or memory tests produce effects that carry over to surrounding items. Six experiments are reported that measured carryover from emotional words varying in arousal to temporally adjacent neutral words. Taboo, non-taboo emotional, and neutral words were compared using different stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs), recognition and recall tests, and intentional and incidental memory instructions. Strong emotional memory effects were obtained in all six experiments. However, emotional items influenced memory for temporally adjacent words under limited conditions. Words following taboo words were more poorly remembered than words following neutral words when relatively short SOAs were employed. Words preceding taboo words were affected only when recall tests and relatively short retention intervals were used. These results suggest that increased attention to the emotional items sometimes produces emotional carryover effects; however, retrieval processes also contribute to retrograde amnesia and may extend the conditions under which anterograde amnesia is observed.     

On the dark side of the moon: Voice and the event of the word

Continental Philosophy Review -     

Response bias in judging deceptive movements

Two not mutually exclusive explanations, perceptual and motor expertise, account for the finding that experts outperform novices in recognizing deceptive actions from bodily (kinematic) cues. The aim of the present study was twofold: First, we sought to examine the impact of motor and perceptual expertise on distinguishing deceptive and non-deceptive actions. Second, we tested the hypothesis that differences in perceptual judgments on deceptive movements vs. non-deceptive movements do not necessarily need to be caused by either perceptual or motor expertise differences, but can also be a result of response bias. Skilled handball players (field players and goalkeepers) and novices had to detect whether a penalty-taker shot or faked a shot at the goal. Signal detection theory (SDT) analysis revealed that skilled handball players outperformed novices in discriminating shots from fakes. No differences in perceptual sensitivity were found between the goalkeepers and the field players. However, SDT analysis showed that goalkeepers were significantly biased to judge movements as deceptive, while neither field players nor novices showed this response bias.