"Time flies in the presence of angry faces"… depending on the temporal task used!

A number of studies have reported that the perception of an arousing emotional stimulus, such as an angry face, results in temporal overestimations which are probably due to the speeding up of a clock-like system. The aim of the present study was to examine whether this emotional effect can be generalized to all temporal tasks irrespective of the underlying cognitive processes involved in each task. Five different temporal tasks involving the presentation of neutral and angry faces were therefore tested: bisection, generalization, verbal estimation, production and reproduction. Our results showed an overestimation of time for the angry compared to the neutral faces in the temporal bisection, verbal estimation and production tasks but not in the temporal generalization and reproduction tasks. Moreover, the results obtained in the temporal verbal estimation and production tasks suggest that this temporal overestimation of the angry faces was associated with relatively more accurate estimates. The involvement of both arousal and attention mechanisms in the effect of emotional facial expressions on time perception is discussed in the light of the differences in the impact of the same emotional stimulus as a function of the temporal task considered.     

Miss it and miss out: Counterproductive nonspatial attentional capture by task-irrelevant,value-related stimuli

Recent studies of visual search suggest that learning about valued outcomes (rewards and punishments) influences the likelihood that distractors will capture spatial attention and slow search for a target, even when those value-related distractors have never themselves been the targets of search. In the present study, we demonstrated a related effect in the context of temporal, rather than spatial, selection. Participants were presented with a temporal stream of pictures in a fixed central location and had to identify the orientation of a rotated target picture. Response accuracy was reduced if the rotated target was preceded by a “valued” distractor picture that signaled that a correct response to the target would be rewarded (and an incorrect response punished), relative to a distractor picture that did not signal reward or punishment. This effect of signal value on response accuracy was short-lived, being most prominent with a short lag between distractor and target. Impairment caused by a valued distractor was observed if participants were explicitly instructed regarding its relation to reward/punishment (Exps. 1, 3, and 4), or if they could learn this relationship only via trial-by-trial experience (Exp. 2). These findings show that the influence of signal value on attentional capture extends to temporal selection, and also demonstrate that value-related distractors can interfere with the conscious perception of subsequent target information.     

Auditory and visual differences in time perception? An investigation from a developmental perspective with neuropsychological tests

Adults and children (5- and 8-year-olds) performed a temporal bisection task with either auditory or visual signals and either a short (0.5-1.0s) or long (4.0-8.0s) duration range. Their working memory and attentional capacities were assessed by a series of neuropsychological tests administered in both the auditory and visual modalities. Results showed an age-related improvement in the ability to discriminate time regardless of the sensory modality and duration. However, this improvement was seen to occur more quickly for auditory signals than for visual signals and for short durations rather than for long durations. The younger children exhibited the poorest ability to discriminate time for long durations presented in the visual modality. Statistical analyses of the neuropsychological scores revealed that an increase in working memory and attentional capacities in the visuospatial modality was the best predictor of age-related changes in temporal bisection performance for both visual and auditory stimuli. In addition, the poorer time sensitivity for visual stimuli than for auditory stimuli, especially in the younger children, was explained by the fact that the temporal processing of visual stimuli requires more executive attention than that of auditory stimuli.     

面孔再认及学习程度判断中的同龄效应

同龄效应指个体对自己年龄段面孔的记忆成绩显著高于其他年龄面孔.实验采用3×3混合设计,考察不同年龄被试对面孔再认及学习程度判断中的同龄效应,探讨同龄效应的发展规律.结果显示,青年和老年人对同龄面孔的再认显著好于异龄面孔,儿童对同龄与异龄面孔的再认成绩差异不显著;各组被试对不同年龄的面孔学习程度判断准确性之间的差异没有区别.这表明:青年和老年人在面孔再认中出现了同龄效应,儿童没有表现出同龄效应;个体学习程度判断中不存在同龄效应,且这种特点与年龄无关.     

工作记忆负荷和自动化提取对小学生加法心算策略执行效果的影响

本研究选取43名小学四年级学生(18名男生和25名女生)为实验被试,探究了工作记忆负荷和自动化提取对复杂加法心算策略效果的影响.结果显示:(1)工作记忆负荷对复杂加法心算策略的影响显著,即一项加法心算策略所需的工作记忆负荷越小,该策略的执行效果越好;(2)自动化提取对加法心算策略的影响显著,即一项加法心算策略所需自动化提取的程度越高,该策略的执行效果越好;(3)工作记忆负荷和自动化提取对加法心算策略效果的交互作用显著,表现为在自动化提取水平较高的情况下,工作记忆负荷的大小对心算策略执行效果的影响差异不显著;而在自动化提取水平较低的情况下,工作记忆负荷小的心算策略的执行效果显著优于工作记忆负荷大的心算策略的执行效果.     

The development of relational competence among young high-risk fathers across the transition to parenthood

This study examined relationship factors associated with paternal functioning among young, high-risk fathers, with an emphasis on the role of a young mother's relational competence on her partner's paternal functioning. Participants included 60 young fathers and their coparenting partners, who were identified before childbirth and followed over 2 years. Fathers were identified as being at high risk for paternal failure based on a history of school dropout, psychopathology, and/or serial fatherhood. It was hypothesized that young men who were more relationally competent before childbirth would function more adequately as fathers, despite their high-risk status. Based on principles of family systems theory, it was also predicted that young men with more relationally competent partners would become more relationally competent, and therefore learn to function more positively as fathers. Relational competence was assessed using interview data collected before and 2 years post child birth, and coded with the Relational Competence Index. Paternal functioning was based on a composite score consisting of self-reported and observed parenting. Path analysis indicated that (1) high-risk fathers with relationally competent partners had higher relational competence scores over time, and (2) higher relational competence scores were associated with more positive paternal functioning scores.     

Modeling Associations Among Multivariate Longitudinal Categorical Variables in Survey Data: A Semiparametric Bayesian Approach

This paper proposes a semiparametric Bayesian framework for the analysis of associations among multivariate longitudinal categorical variables in high-dimensional data settings. This type of data is frequent, especially in the social and behavioral sciences. A semiparametric hierarchical factor analysis model is developed in which the distributions of the factors are modeled nonparametrically through a dynamic hierarchical Dirichlet process prior. A Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is developed for fitting the model, and the methodology is exemplified through a study of the dynamics of public attitudes toward science and technology in the United States over the period 1992?C2001.     

Conservatives are happier than liberals, but why? Political ideology, personality, and life satisfaction

Political conservatives are happier than liberals. We proposed that this happiness gap is accounted for by specific attitude and personality differences associated with positive adjustment and mental health. In contrast, a predominant social psychological explanation of the gap is that conservatives, who are described as fearful, defensive, and low in self-esteem, will rationalize away social inequalities in order to justify the status quo (system justification). In four studies, conservatives expressed greater personal agency (e.g., personal control, responsibility), more positive outlook (e.g., optimism, self-worth), more transcendent moral beliefs (e.g., greater religiosity, greater moral clarity, less tolerance of transgressions), and a generalized belief in fairness, and these differences accounted for the happiness gap. These patterns are consistent with the positive adjustment explanation.     

La portée normative des avis d’expert dans l’élaboration de la décision administrative en matière de sécurité sanitaire

The development of scientific knowledge and the complexity of the issues of health safety have led to increase the use of expertise. The need for transparency following the “scandals” at the end of the last century has led the state to outsource its assessment procedures in health safety, by creating independent agencies. These agencies turn to outside experts because their own staff does not have all the necessary competence. So, the question is: what is the role of these experts in the elaboration of the standards made by the decisions of the agencies? The link between the decision and the expert advice may be almost considered as subordination: the administrative decision becomes stuck by the advice, due to the technical incompetence of the agency. But the circumstances of the administrative decision, especially the situation of scientific uncertainty, can impose a degree of autonomy. If the scope of expert advice seems considerable in certain aspects, it should not hide the full responsibility of policy makers.     

Moderators and mediators of remission in family-based treatment and adolescent focused therapy for anorexia nervosa

Few of the limited randomized controlled trails (RCTs) for adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN) have explored the effects of moderators and mediators on outcome. This study aimed to identify treatment moderators and mediators of remission at end of treatment (EOT) and 6- and 12-month follow-up (FU) for adolescents with AN (N = 121) who participated in a multi-center RCT of family-based treatment (FBT) and individual adolescent focused therapy (AFT). Mixed effects modeling were utilized and included all available outcome data at all time points. Remission was defined as ≥ 95% IBW plus within 1 SD of the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) norms. Eating related obsessionality (Yale-Brown-Cornell Eating Disorder Total Scale) and eating disorder specific psychopathology (EDE-Global) emerged as moderators at EOT. Subjects with higher baseline scores on these measures benefited more from FBT than AFT. AN type emerged as a moderator at FU with binge-eating/purging type responding less well than restricting type. No mediators of treatment outcome were identified. Prior hospitalization, older age and duration of illness were identified as non-specific predictors of outcome. Taken together, these results indicate that patients with more severe eating related psychopathology have better outcomes in a behaviorally targeted family treatment (FBT) than an individually focused approach (AFT).