Parent-infant interaction: a growth model approach

The aim of this study is to compare the interaction of fathers and mothers with their 10–12 months old infants (n = 97; parental sensitivity and mood, and infant mood) during five structured contiguous play segments, and to examine the utility of individual growth modeling. Conventional comparison of means across play-segments showed that parents were equally responsive, but mothers were happier than fathers, and infants were equally happy during interaction with both parents. Sensitivity and mood were more strongly related for mothers than for fathers. Uni- and multivariate growth models revealed fine-grained patterns not seen in conventional analysis: (a) parental and infant mood decreased across play more for mothers than for fathers, (b) parental sensitivity in one play-segment predicted parental mood and infant mood in the next segment, (c) change in infants’ mood was related to change in sensitivity in mothers, and to change in mood in fathers, and (d) mothers’ sensitive interaction with the infant was predicted by family socio-demographic background.     

Vision and touch: multiple or multisensory representations of objects?

The relationship between visually and haptically derived representations of objects is an important question in multisensory processing and, increasingly, in mental representation. We review evidence for the format and properties of these representations, and address possible theoretical models. We explore the relevance of visual imagery processes and highlight areas for further research, including the neglected question of asymmetric performance in the visuo-haptic cross-modal memory paradigm. We conclude that the weight of evidence suggests the existence of a multisensory representation, spatial in format, and flexibly accessible by both bottom-up and top-down inputs, although efficient comparison between modality-specific representations cannot entirely be ruled out.     

Gun safety management with patients at risk for suicide

Guns in the home are associated with a five-fold increase in suicide. All patients at risk for suicide must be asked if guns are available at home or easily accessible elsewhere, or if they have intent to buy or purchase a gun. Gun safety management requires a collaborative team approach including the clinician, patient, and designated person responsible for removing guns from the home. A call-back to the clinician from the designated person is required confirming that guns have been removed and secured according to plan. The principle of gun safety management applies to outpatients, inpatients, and emergency patients, although its implementation varies according to the clinical setting.     

Foundations of Representation: Where Might Graphical Symbol Systems Come From?

It has been suggested that iconic graphical signs evolve into symbolic graphical signs through repeated usage. This article reports a series of interactive graphical communication experiments using a 'pictionary' task to establish the conditions under which the evolution might occur. Experiment 1 rules out a simple repetition based account in favor of an account that requires feedback and interaction between communicators. Experiment 2 shows how the degree of interaction affects the evolution of signs according to a process of grounding. Experiment 3 confirms the prediction that those not involved directly in the interaction have trouble interpreting the graphical signs produced in Experiment 1. On the basis of these results, this article argues that icons evolve into symbols as a consequence of the systematic shift in the locus of information from the sign to the users' memory of the sign's usage supported by an interactive grounding process.     

Improving forensic tribunal decisions: the role of the clinician

Three empirical investigations of forensic decision-making were conducted: a study of 104 hearings by a forensic tribunal; an evaluation of which aspects of forensic patients' clinical presentation were empirical predictors of violence; and a survey of forensic clinicians to determine which factors they said they used to assess risk of violent recidivism and which they actually used. Results showed a significant correlation between actuarial risk and clinical advice to the tribunal, and a nonsignificant trend for patients higher in actuarial risk to receive more restrictive dispositions. Psychotic diagnoses and symptoms were not indicators of increased risk of violent recidivism. Clinicians endorsed some empirically valid indicators of risk, but also relied on some invalid indicators. There was also inconsistency between factors clinicians said they used and factors actually related to their hypothetical decision-making. An automated system is presented as an illustration of how the consistency and validity of forensic decisions could be enhanced.     

The Impact of Personality and Team Context on the Relationship Between Workplace Injustice and Counterproductive Work Behavior

This study ascertains whether the impact of workplace injustice on counterproductive work behavior is moderated by personality and team context. A sample of 131 public-service employees completed a questionnaire that assessed the extent to which they receive distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Furthermore, team commitment, coworker satisfaction, and Big Five personality traits were assessed. Finally, respondents estimated the frequency with which they and their colleagues engage in counterproductive behaviors. Procedural, distributive, and interactional injustice all provoked counterproductive behaviors. The effect of justice on these destructive acts diminished when team commitment was elevated, coworker satisfaction was limited, agreeableness was pronounced, and neuroticism was reduced. The findings confirm that vulnerability amplifies the impact of injustice, but interdependence can diminish this effect.     

The development of collective efficacy in teams: a multilevel and longitudinal perspective

The authors developed and tested a longitudinal multilevel model of collective efficacy formation. In 50 self-managing student teams, they investigated the effects of individual-level and team-level factors on observed behaviors and the subsequent development of collective efficacy for mastering a complex team task. Self-efficacy for teamwork, task-relevant knowledge, and collective efficacy predicted individual teamwork behaviors (rated by peers). Aggregated measures of teamwork behavior were related to subsequent collective efficacy, which was significantly related to final team performance.     

Gradations of awareness in a modified sequence learning task

We argue performance in the serial reaction time (SRT) task is associated with gradations of awareness that provide examples of fringe consciousness [Mangan, B. (1993b). Taking phenomenology seriously: the “fringe” and its implications for cognitive research. Consciousness and Cognition, 2, 89–108, Mangan, B. (2003). The conscious “fringe”: Bringing William James up to date. In B. J. Baars, W. P. Banks & J. B. Newman (Eds.), Essential sources in the scientific study of consciousness (pp. 741–759). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.], and address limitations of the traditional SRT procedure, including criticism of exclusion generation tasks. Two experiments are conducted with a modified SRT procedure where irrelevant stimulus attributes obscure the sequence rule. Our modified paradigm, which includes a novel exclusion task, makes it easier to demonstrate a previously controversial influence of response stimulus interval (RSI) on awareness. It also allows identification of participants showing fringe consciousness rather than explicit sequence knowledge, as reflected by dissociations between different awareness measures. The NEO-PI-R variable Openness to Feelings influenced the diversity of subjective feelings reported during two awareness measures, but not the degree of learning and awareness as previously found with traditional SRT tasks [Norman, E., Price, M. C., & Duff, S. C. (2006). Fringe consciousness in sequence learning: the influence of individual differences. Consciousness and Cognition, 15(4), 723–760.]. This suggests possible distinctions between two components of fringe consciousness.     

Allowing for correlations between correlations in random-effects meta-analysis of correlation matrices

Practical meta-analysis of correlation matrices generally ignores covariances (and hence correlations) between correlation estimates. The authors consider various methods for allowing for covariances, including generalized least squares, maximum marginal likelihood, and Bayesian approaches, illustrated using a 6-dimensional response in a series of psychological studies concerning prediction of exercise behavior change. Quantities of interest include the overall population mean correlation matrix, the contrast between the mean correlations, the predicted correlation matrix in a new study, and the conflict between the existing studies and a new correlation matrix. The authors conclude that accounting for correlations between correlations is unnecessary when interested in individual correlations but potentially important if concerned with a composite measure involving 2 or more correlations. A simulation study indicates the asymptotic normal assumption appears reasonable. Because of potential instability in the generalized least squares methods, they recommend a model-based approach, either the maximum marginal likelihood approach or a full Bayesian analysis.     

Do people use language production to make predictions during comprehension?

We present the case that language comprehension involves making simultaneous predictions at different linguistic levels and that these predictions are generated by the language production system. Recent research suggests that ease of comprehending predictable elements is due to prediction rather than facilitated integration, and that comprehension is accompanied by covert imitation. We argue that comprehenders use prediction and imitation to construct an "emulator", using the production system, and combine predictions with the input dynamically. Such a process helps to explain the rapidity of comprehension and the robust interpretation of ambiguous or noisy input. This framework is in line with a general trend in cognitive science to incorporate action systems into perceptual systems and has broad implications for understanding the links between language production and comprehension.