Rehearsal strategies during motor-sequence learning in old age: execution vs motor imagery

Motor imagery and action-based rehearsal were compared during motor sequence-learning by young adults (M = 25 yr., SD = 3) and aged adults (M = 63 yr., SD = 7). General accuracy of aged adults was lower than that of young adults (F(1,28) = 7.37, p =.01) even though working-memory capacity was equivalent in the two groups. Motor imagery and rehearsal by action increased accuracy in both age groups, compared with minimization of opportunity for rehearsal (F(1,28) = 30.95, p < .001), but no interaction was found with age group, which suggests that young and aged adults were equally capable of motor imagery and action-based rehearsal. It was assumed that differences in performance between young and aged participants related to the formation of mental representations of sequences and integration of new elements into these representations rather than the capacity for motor imagery or rehearsal by action per se. The current study was exploratory and involved a relatively small sample of 15 participants per age group. Caution must be taken when considering the results.     

Adolescents’ Conflict Resolution Styles Toward Mothers: The Role of Parenting and Personality

In the present research, we examined associations between contextual and individual factors and adolescents’ conflict resolution with mothers. In Study 1, we explored links between maternal responsiveness and psychological control and adolescent conflict resolution styles (positive problem solving, conflict engagement, withdrawal, and compliance) with two informants. In Study 2, we examined the unique contribution of adolescents’ personality above and beyond perceived parenting in the prediction of conflict resolution styles. Results of both studies indicated that responsiveness was related positively to problem solving and negatively to withdrawal. Psychological control was positively associated with destructive resolution styles. Study 2 indicated that extraversion predicted more problem solving and conflict engagement, and less withdrawal. Agreeableness predicted more problem solving and less conflict engagement. Finally, certain personality traits moderated associations between parenting and conflict resolution, indicating that some adolescents are more sensitive to these parenting dimensions than others.     

A stage is a stage is a stage: a direct comparison of two scoring systems

L. Kohlberg (1969) argued that his moral stages captured a developmental sequence specific to the moral domain. To explore that contention, the author compared stage assignments obtained with the Standard Issue Scoring System (A. Colby & L. Kohlberg, 1987a, 1987b) and those obtained with a generalized content-independent stage-scoring system called the Hierarchical Complexity Scoring System (T. L. Dawson, 2002a), on 637 moral judgment interviews (participants' ages ranged from 5 to 86 years). The correlation between stage scores produced with the 2 systems was .88. Although standard issue scoring and hierarchical complexity scoring often awarded different scores up to Kohlberg's Moral Stage 2/3, from his Moral Stage 3 onward, scores awarded with the two systems predominantly agreed. The author explores the implications for developmental research.     

Visual Attention in Real-World Conversation: Gaze Patterns Are Modulated by Communication and Group Size

Gaze behavior both initiates and maintains conversations, playing a crucial role in real-world collaboration. Hitherto, most findings on social attention stem from research using pictures of faces in the laboratory, however, attention operates differently in the real world. Thus, we know little of how gaze behavior operates in naturalistic interactions. To bridge this gap, we applied mobile eye-tracking to investigate the gaze patterns present in naturalistic conversations. Specifically, we examined gaze behavior of participants in a group of two or five, either sitting together in silence, or engaging in a conversation, in which they took turns either listening or speaking to each other. Results show that participants looked more frequently towards others when the group was communicating compared to when remaining silent, and that they looked at others more frequently when listening compared to when speaking. Furthermore, being part of a dyad led to more social attention being afforded during conversation compared to the group situation, regardless of whether subjects were listening or speaking. Meanwhile, when sitting in silence subjects showed less social gazing in a dyad than in a group of five. Our results provide qualitative and quantitative insights into the patterns of visual attention during dynamic naturalistic conversations.     

Compositional Natural Language Semantics using Independence Friendly Logic or Dependence Logic

Independence Friendly Logic, introduced by Hintikka, is a logic in which a quantifier can be marked for being independent of other quantifiers. Dependence logic, introduced by Väänänen, is a logic with the complementary approach: for a quantifier it can be indicated on which quantifiers it depends. These logics are claimed to be useful for many phenomena, for instance natural language semantics. In this contribution we will compare these two logics by investigating their application in a compositional analysis of the de dicto - de re ambiguity in natural language. It will be argued that Independence Friendly logic is suitable, whereas Dependence Logic is not.     

Personal Identity in College and the Work Context: Developmental Trajectories and Psychosocial Functioning

Personal identity formation represents a core developmental challenge for adolescents and young adults. Because much of the identity literature focuses on college students, it is necessary to conduct a detailed inquiry into the ways in which specific commitment and exploration processes develop over time for college students and for employed individuals. Two samples (456 college students and 318 employed individuals) were used to identify identity status trajectories over time and to examine external correlates of these trajectories (i.e. depressive symptoms, self‐esteem, identity centrality, community integration, and sense of adulthood). Similar identity trajectories emerged in both college students and employed individuals. Four of these trajectories corresponded to Marcia's identity statuses. In addition, apart from the ‘classical’ or troubled diffusion trajectory, a carefree diffusion trajectory was also obtained. Whereas individuals on an identity‐achieved pathway fared best in terms of the outcome measures, individuals in the troubled diffusion trajectory fared worst in terms of self‐esteem, depressive symptoms, and community integration over time. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attention Demands in Balance Recovery following Lower Limb Amputation

The attention demands in balance control after damage to the peripheral sensorimotor system were studied in 12 persons with a recent lower limb amputation. The interference of an arithmetic task with two postural tasks of different complexity (quiet standing and active weight shifting) was examined several times during their rehabilitation while the subjects stood on a force platform. Control data were obtained from healthy subjects. For both postural tasks, persons with amputation performed worse than controls. Quiet standing, a relatively simple task, revealed clear dual-task interference only in the amputation group. Evidence was found for a reduction in dual-task interference as rehabilitation progressed. In contrast, voluntary (feedback-controlled) weight shifting, a more complex task, revealed an equal amount of dual-task interference in persons with amputation and in controls, without changes in interference over the period of rehabilitation. The results indicate that attentional mechanisms may be involved in postural control, depending on both the novelty and complexity of the task. Moreover, a reduction in attention demands of quiet standing may reflect a central adaptation of the postural organization to the peripheral sensorimotor impairments caused by lower limb amputation.