Sticky plans: Inhibition and binding during serial-task control

Recent evidence suggests substantial response-time costs associated with lag-2 repetitions of tasks within explicitly controlled task sequences [Koch, I., Philipp, A. M., Gade, M. (2006). Chunking in task sequences modulates task inhibition. Psychological Science, 17, 346-350; Schneider, D. W. (2007). Task-set inhibition in chunked task sequences. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 14, 970-976], a result that has been interpreted as inhibition of no-longer relevant tasks. Experiments 1-3 confirm much larger lag-2 costs under serial-control than under externally cued conditions, but also show (a) that these costs occur only when sequences contain at least two distinct chunks and (b) that direct lag-2 repetitions are not a necessary condition for their occurrence. This pattern suggests the hypothesis that rather than task-set inhibition, the large lag-2 costs observed in complex sequences, reflect interference resulting from links between positions within a sequential plan and the individual tasks controlled by this plan. The remaining experiments successfully test this hypothesis (Experiment 4), rule out chaining accounts as a potential alternative explanation (Experiment 5), and demonstrate that interference results from information stored in long-term memory rather than working memory (Experiment 6). Implications of these results for an integration of models of serial-order control and serial memory are discussed.     

Doing gender differently—The interplay of strength of gender identification and content of gender identity in predicting women's endorsement of sexist beliefs

To explain differences in women's endorsement of sexist beliefs, we introduce the gender identity model (GIM). Based on social identity theory (SIT) and social role theory (SRT), we combine strength of gender identification and identity content and propose that different types of gender identity can be distinguished, which are predicted to relate to different levels of women's endorsement of sexist beliefs and engagement in collective action. Results of a correlational study and two experiments support the assumptions of the model: women reject Benevolent (BS), Hostile (HS), and Modern Sexisms (MS) and participate in collective action in particular when they are highly identified with the category women and have, at the same time, internalized progressive identity contents. In contrast, gender role preference has weaker or no effects on sexist beliefs and collective action when women are low identified with their gender in‐group. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The contemporary relevance of Wittgenstein: Reflections and directions

In the introduction to this special issue, we discuss the development of Wittgenstein's thought, distinguish what we take to be well-travelled versus less well-travelled aspects of his philosophy of psychological phenomena and summarize the diverse contributions to this collection. In order to do so, we briefly discuss the extent to which his writings themselves can properly serve as a basis for psychological theory and method.     

Zum Zusammenhang zwischen Vollzugslockerungen, Unterbringung im offenen Vollzug und Legalbewährung bei Sexualstraftätern

Early release, temporary absence, and minimum security confinement have been permitted less often in German prisons in recent years. There are several reasons and indications that sexual offenders are particularly affected by these developments. Prison files and recidivism data of 115 adult sexual offenders who had been in a Lower Saxony prison in the mid-1990s were analyzed for the current study to find out whether this group posed a specific risk when permitted temporary absence or minimum security confinement. It was also considered whether temporary absence and minimum security confinement were related to reduced recidivism after release. The average follow-up interval was 8.5 years. The following findings emerged: First, 50.9% were reconvicted for any offence, 21.3% with an aggressive offence, and only 7.4% were reconvicted with a sexual offence. Every fifth (19.4%) was sentenced to another prison term or had another probation term revoked. Second, rule-breaking and criminal activity by sex offenders during minimum confinement or temporary absence were very rare and of low severity. Third, sexual offenders in minimum security confinement were less likely to recidivate than others on all measures of reoffending. With Cox regression analyses that controlled for important risk factors for recidivism it was found that minimum security confinement contributed to reduced general, but not to reduced sexual or aggressive reoffending. No relationship was found between level of temporary absence status (unaccompanied vs. accompanied) and recidivism. It is concluded that, contrary to public opinion and judicial practice, sexual offenders can be granted minimum security confinement and temporary absence if an adequate selection process is implemented.     

Review

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Adaptive Dynamics of the Leg Movement Patterns of Human Infants: I. The Effects of Posture on Spontaneous Kicking

This is the first of two articles in which we describe how infants adapt their spontaneous leg movements to changes in posture or to elicitation of behaviors by a mechanical treadmill. In this article, we compare the kinematics of kicks produced by 3-month-old infants in three postures, supine, angled (45 degrees ), and vertical, and examine the changes in muscular and nonmuscular force contributions to limb trajectory. By manipulating posture we were able to assess the sensitivity of the nascent motor system to changes in the gravitational context. The postural manipulation elicited a distinct behavioral and dynamic effect. In the more upright postures, gravitational resistance to motion at the hip was 4 to 10 times greater than resistance met in the supine posture, necessitating larger muscle torques to drive hip flexion. Kicks produced in the vertical posture showed a reduction in hip joint range of motion and an increase in synchronous joint flexion and extension at the hip and knee. At the same time, hip and knee muscle torques were also more highly correlated in kicks performed in the vertical than in the supine or angled posture. This increased correlation between muscle torques at the hip and knee implicates anatomical and energetic constraints-the intrinsic limb dynamics-in creating coordinated limb behavior out of nonspecific muscle activations.     

A double-response paradigm to study stimulus intensity effects upon the motor system in simple reaction time experiments

A double response paradigm is utilized to study stimulus intensity effects upon the motor system in simple visual and auditory reaction times (RT). Subjects had to respond with both hands simultaneously upon detection of a stimulus. The RT difference of both hands is thereby of special interest, because it is considered that this variable does not contain any sensory latency and therefore allows one to study those processes that follow stimulus detection. It was found that the RT-difference distribution varies with stimulus intensity, which questions the general view that stimulus intensity affects only very early sensory stages in the processing chain. In particular, it was found that the variance of RT difference diminished with increasing stimulus intensity. This finding supports the notion of speeding up the motor process by increasing stimulus intensity. A generalization of a stochastic model by Meijers and Eijkman (1974) and Meijers, Teulings, and Eijkman (1976) is advanced to account for the findings. The central assumption is that more units (e.g., motoneurons) are activated if stimulus intensity is increased. The model’s qualitative predictions are confirmed.     

The role of inhibition in a spreading-activation model of language production. I. The psycholinguistic perspective

Spreading-activation models of language production are only workable to the extent that they manage to solve the heat death problem, i.e., the danger that too many nodes in the network are overactive at the same time. Therefore, a delicate balance between activational and deactivational forces has to be struck. Of the three prevailing dampening mechanisms of decay, self-inhibition and other-inhibition, the latter has been selected for closer scrutiny. The key proposal of this two-part article is that activation-based models of language production cannot afford to do without an inhibitory component, in particular lateral inhibition among nodes of the same level. Psycholinguistic evidence is reviewed in an attempt to insulate inhibitory from excitatory mechanisms. Although it is difficult in normal adult language use to distinguish between the effects of excessive activation and insufficient inhibition, some patterns from language acquisition and aphasia can be shown to follow from inhibitory rather than excitatory problems, thus demonstrating the reality of inhibition. In a system of activational and deactivational forces, other-inhibition is claimed to have the excitatory mechanism of syntax as its natural opponent. It is finally argued that other-inhibition offers an explanation for some puzzling findings from the experimental literature.