Reinstatement of fear in humans: autonomic and experiential responses in a differential conditioning paradigm

The present study investigated reinstatement of fear in humans using an aversive differential conditioning paradigm. Two neutral human face pictures were presented during habituation, acquisition, extinction, and postreinstatement phases. One picture served as a conditioned stimulus (CS) reinforced by an unconditioned stimulus (US) in the form of electrical stimulation (CS+) and the second picture as a control stimulus that was never reinforced (CS-). The prediction that in a reinstatement manipulation a previously extinguished fear response in humans can be reinstated in a reinstatement group by the mere presentation of three unpredicted electrical stimulations (USs) was tested. Participants in the control group were not exposed to unpredicted USs and no reinstatement effect was expected. Outcome measures included subjective US expectancy ratings and skin conductance responses. Results showed non-selective return of the fear response due to fear recovery associated with both CSs (CS+/CS-) in the reinstatement group. Unexpected fear recovery was observed for both CSs (CS+/CS-) in control participants. Results are discussed with respect to context conditioning, fear generalisation, and anxiety-related cognitive mechanisms underlying fear recovery after extinction.     

Exogenous orienting of crossmodal attention in 3-D space: Support for a depth-aware crossmodal attentional system

The aim of the present study was to investigate exogenous crossmodal orienting of attention in three-dimensional (3-D) space. Most studies in which the orienting of attention has been examined in 3-D space concerned either exogenous intramodal or endogenous crossmodal attention. Evidence for exogenous crossmodal orienting of attention in depth is lacking. Endogenous and exogenous attention are behaviorally different, suggesting that they are two different mechanisms. We used the orthogonal spatial-cueing paradigm and presented auditory exogenous cues at one of four possible locations in near or far space before the onset of a visual target. Cues could be presented at the same (valid) or at a different (invalid) depth from the target (radial validity), and on the same (valid) or on a different (invalid) side (horizontal validity), whereas we blocked the depth at which visual targets were presented. Next to an overall validity effect (valid RTs < invalid RTs) in horizontal space, we observed an interaction between the horizontal and radial validity of the cue: The horizontal validity effect was present only when the cue and the target were presented at the same depth. No horizontal validity effect was observed when the cue and the target were presented at different depths. These results suggest that exogenous crossmodal attention is “depth-aware,” and they are discussed in the context of the supramodal hypothesis of attention.     

The Job Demands and Resources Decision Making (JD-R-DM) Model

This study explores the effects of nurses’ daily job characteristics (i.e., job demands and resources) and general work engagement on their daily decision making (i.e., analytical and intuitive) and consequently their daily performance (i.e., task and contextual). Participants completed a baseline questionnaire and a diary for five consecutive days. Results reveal a positive influence of the job demands “work pressure” and “predictability” on analytical decision making. In turn, analytical decision making promotes task performance. Work pressure also negatively influences intuitive decision making which, in turn, stimulates task and contextual performance. However, the job resource (i.e., autonomy) had a nonsignificant relationship with decision making. General work engagement had positive effects on analytical decision making and moderated the relationship between intuitive decision making and contextual performance. For those high on work engagement, the relation was stronger compared to their counterparts low on work engagement. Results corroborate that expanding and testing decision-making theories can increase understanding on how the work environment and engagement influence employee decision making and performance.     

Senility versus Wisdom: The Meaning of Old Age as a Cause for Behavior

Past research links the use of small talk in negotiations to positive outcomes. We posit that men and women may not benefit equally from small talk. Building on stereotype and environmental certainty theories, we propose contexts when male negotiators who small talk are perceived more favorably. Studies 1a/1b show that men enjoy a social boost from small talk when cues for behavior are not strongly articulated. Study 2 identifies a social boost from small talk to both genders when cues for behavior are clearly articulated, but this boost only translates into better deals for men who small talk. Overall, small talk in negotiations has a stronger, more consistent effect for men.     

Delayed oculomotor inhibition in patients with lesions to the human frontal oculomotor cortex: Evidence from a study on saccade averaging

The frontal oculomotor cortex is known to play an important role in oculomotor selection. The aim of the current study was to examine whether previously observed findings concerning the role of the frontal oculomotor cortex in the speed of saccade initiation and oculomotor inhibition might be related to a common underlying role of these areas in oculomotor selection. To this end, six patients with lesions to the frontal oculomotor cortex performed a double stimulus paradigm in which two elements were presented simultaneously in close proximity. Patients performed a block in which no specific task instruction was given and a block in which an instruction was provided about which of the two elements was the target. The rationale behind this manipulation was that the introduction of a specific task instruction would require a stronger involvement of top-down factors. In contrast to the block without a specific task instruction, saccade latencies to the contralesional visual field were longer than the ipsilesional visual field when a task instruction was given. This effect was strongest for saccades that landed away from the target and the distractor, reflecting trials in which strong oculomotor inhibition was applied. The observed deficits can be explained in terms of a slowing of the inhibitory signals associated with the rejection of a distractor. Given the known role of the Frontal Eye Fields and the location of the lesions, we attribute these findings to the Frontal Eye Fields, revealing their important role in the voluntary control of eye movements.     

Mobbing

Bullying at the workplace and its negative effects on mental and physical health are a subject of avid public discussion with the mass media being part of this process. Often bullying at the workplace is assumed to result in somewhat specific consequences due to causal relationships. Contrarily, research suggests relatively complex interactions between bullying and negative health outcomes. Furthermore, the use of the term bullying is inflated, lowering the threshold for a conflict to be categorized in this way. This article reviews the bullying concept: what is the definition of bullying and how common is it in the work environment? What consequences of bullying are discussed in the literature and to what extent are they empirically confirmed? Which causes for bullying are accepted? Having answered these questions it will be discussed why the bullying concept is so popular and why this popularity might counteract more appropriate conceptualizations of the problem.     

Michel Henry's Phenomenology of Aesthetic Experience and Husserlian Intentionality

In his essay 'The Pit and the Pyramid: Introduction to Hegel's Semiology', Jacques Derrida claims that there is a privilege of speech over writing inherent in Hegel's theory of signs. In this paper, I examine Derrida's criticism. While it is to Derrida's credit that he focusses on an area of Hegel's philosophy that has hardly been analysed, his reading is problematic in several regards. After presenting Derrida's main arguments, I pose three questions, the first of which belongs to the realm of subjective spirit, the second to objective spirit, and the third to absolute spirit. I shall then show that Hegel makes several statements in favour of a privilege of writing over speech - statements that are not merely parenthetic or marginal. Moreover, those claims that Hegel makes toward any privilege of speech are in the wrong place, namely, subjective spirit, for them to represent his final point of view.     

The imbalance of oculomotor capture in unilateral visual neglect

Visual neglect has been associated with an imbalance in the level of activity in the saccadic system: activity in the contralesional field is suppressed, which makes target selection unlikely. We recorded eye movements of a patient with hemispatial neglect and a group of healthy participants during an oculomotor distractor paradigm. Results showed that the interfering effects of a distractor were very strong when presented in her ipsilesional visual field. However, when the distractor was presented in her contralesional field, there were no interfering effects when the target was presented in her ipsilesional field. These findings could not be explained by the presence of a visual field defect as revealed by the results of two hemianopic patients. Our results are in line with an imbalance in the level of activity in the saccadic system in visual neglect because visual elements presented in the contralesional field did not compete for saccadic selection.