The effect of spatial frequency information and visual similarity in threat detection

In the current research, we sought to examine the role of spatial frequency on the detection of threat using a speeded visual search paradigm. Participants searched for threat-relevant (snakes or spiders) or non-threat-relevant (frogs or cockroaches) targets in an array of neutral (flowers or mushrooms) distracters, and we measured search performance with images filtered to contain different levels (high and low) of spatial frequency information. The results replicate previous work demonstrating more rapid detection of threatening versus non-threatening stimuli [e.g. LoBue, V. & DeLoache, J. S. (2008). Detecting the snake in the grass: Attention to fear-relevant stimuli by adults and young children. Psychological Science, 19, 284–289. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02081.x]. Most importantly, the results suggest that low spatial frequency or relatively coarse levels of visual information is sufficient for the rapid and accurate detection of threatening stimuli. Furthermore, the results also suggest that visual similarity between the stimuli used in the search tasks plays a significant role in speeded detection. The results are discussed in terms of the theoretical implications for the rapid detection of threat and methodological implications for properly accounting for similarity between the stimuli in visual search studies.     

The Variability and Flexibility of Gender-Typed Toy Play: A Close Look at Children's Behavioral Responses to Counterstereotypic Models

Gender differences in play behavior are well documented. However, little work has examined the issue of variability of gender-typed behaviors within individuals or within genders. We investigated whether children's gender-typed toy play behavior is (a) variable across time within individuals, and (b) variable in response to exposure to counterstereotypic models. Extensive observations (N=203) were made of 8 highly gender-typed preschool children over 4 months. Variability was assessed by examining changes in the percentage of masculine and feminine toy play across successive days in which (a) gender neutral stories were read (within-individual variability) and (b) gender counterstereotypic stories were introduced (environmental variability). Variability of gender-typed play within individuals and in response to environmental stimuli was found among girls, but not among boys.     

The influence of levels of processing on recall from working memory and delayed recall tasks

Recent research in working memory has highlighted the similarities involved in retrieval from complex span tasks and episodic memory tasks, suggesting that these tasks are influenced by similar memory processes. In the present article, the authors manipulated the level of processing engaged when studying to-be-remembered words during a reading span task (Experiment 1) and an operation span task (Experiment 2) in order to assess the role of retrieval from secondary memory during complex span tasks. Immediate recall from both span tasks was greater for items studied under deep processing instructions compared with items studied under shallow processing instructions regardless of trial length. Recall was better for deep than for shallow levels of processing on delayed recall tests as well. These data are consistent with the primary-secondary memory framework, which suggests that to-be-remembered items are displaced from primary memory (i.e., the focus of attention) during the processing phases of complex span tasks and therefore must be retrieved from secondary memory.     

An Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Affective Control Scale in an Undergraduate Sample

A considerable amount of clinical research interest has recently developed regarding emotion dysregulation and psychopathology. Many have suggested that distinct affective management deficits may characterize anxiety and mood pathology. Despite increased research attention, efforts to validate and sufficiently investigate the psychometric properties of many self-report measures of affect regulation have been lacking. The current study examined the response behavior of 1566 undergraduate participants who completed the Affective Control Scale (ACS). The ACS assesses fear of intense emotion, and it is frequently used in empirical research. The present investigation examined the structural qualities of the measure using exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic techniques. Findings suggest the original four rationally-derived subscales do not adequately fit the observed response patterns. Rather, results indicated that a five-factor solution that included a subscale measuring emotion mismanagement better represented response behavior. Additional normative data and bivariate correlations with other measures of emotion regulation and affect are presented.     

Siblings of Military Servicemembers: A Qualitative Exploration of Individual and Family Systems Reactions

How does having a sibling in the military affect young adults? Despite increasing attention to the challenges faced by spouses and children of servicemembers, the siblings of servicemembers have been largely ignored. This qualitative investigation uses unstructured narratives to explore siblings' perceptions of changes in their lives and changes in the family of origin associated with having a family member enlist in the United States military. Thematic analyses revealed an acute period of conflict followed by reorganization, awareness of the parents' distress, changes in the emotional climate of the family, shifts in family roles, admiration for the military sibling, and increased meaning and purpose for the family following the servicemember's enlistment. Computer-assisted text analyses revealed both positive and negative emotional content associated with the siblings' military service. For professional psychologists who come into contact with siblings of servicemembers, it is important to recognize that military enlistment can have ripple effects and complicate other common individual and family stresses. More generally, it is important to provide siblings and the family of origin with information about what to expect during and after the servicemember's enlistment, especially since these families may lack support and contact from others going through similar transitions.     

Association Between Independent Reports of Maternal Parenting Stress and Children’s Internalizing Symptomatology

Although considerable research has investigated parenting stress and children’s externalizing behavior problems, comparatively less has considered parenting stress in relation to children’s internalizing difficulties. Even less research on parenting stress has incorporated children’s report of their internalizing symptoms or the potential mediating role of children’s attributional style. The current study hypothesized that children’s independent reports of internalizing symptoms would be associated with mothers’ reports of parenting stress through children’s attributional style. A community sample of 92 mother–child dyads participated. Results suggest maternal parenting stress from both child and parent sources were significantly associated with children’s anxious and depressive symptoms. Parenting stress was associated with children’s internalizing symptoms partially mediated by children’s maladaptive attributional style, primarily negative attributions for positive outcomes. Findings are discussed in terms of future directions to tease apart specific areas of parenting stress that may be most pertinent as well as to explore other cognitive mechanisms in children that may relate to parenting stress and children’s adjustment.     

Stronger neural dynamics capture changes in infants' visual working memory capacity over development

Visual working memory (VWM) capacity has been studied extensively in adults, and methodological advances have enabled researchers to probe capacity limits in infancy using a preferential looking paradigm. Evidence suggests that capacity increases rapidly between 6 and 10 months of age. To understand how the VWM system develops, we must understand the relationship between the looking behavior used to study VWM and underlying cognitive processes. We present a dynamic neural field model that captures both real-time and developmental processes underlying performance. Three simulation experiments show how looking is linked to VWM processes during infancy and how developmental changes in performance could arise through increasing neural connectivity. These results provide insight into the sources of capacity limits and VWM development more generally.     

Psychometric properties of the mobility inventory for agoraphobia: convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity

Aims of this study were (a) to summarize the psychometric literature on the Mobility Inventory for Agoraphobia (MIA), (b) to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the MIA's Avoidance Alone and Avoidance Accompanied rating scales relative to clinical severity ratings of anxiety disorders from the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule (ADIS), and (c) to establish a cutoff score indicative of interviewers’ diagnosis of agoraphobia for the Avoidance Alone scale. A meta-analytic synthesis of 10 published studies yielded positive evidence for internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity of the scales. Participants in the present study were 129 people with a diagnosis of panic disorder. Internal consistency was excellent for this sample, α = .95 for AAC and .96 for AAL. When the MIA scales were correlated with interviewer ratings, evidence for convergent and discriminant validity for AAL was strong (convergent r with agoraphobia severity ratings = .63 vs. discriminant rs of .10–.29 for other anxiety disorders) and more modest but still positive for AAC (.54 vs. .01–.37). Receiver operating curve analysis indicated that the optimal operating point for AAL as an indicator of ADIS agoraphobia diagnosis was 1.61, which yielded sensitivity of .87 and specificity of .73.     

Path analytic examination of a cognitive model of PTSD

Ehlers and Clark (2000) developed a cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom maintenance which implicated the role of posttraumatic cognitions and aspects of the trauma memory in maintaining symptoms via an increased sense of current threat. The aim of the current study was to empirically test a variant of this model using path analysis. Participants in the current study were 514 undergraduates at a midwestern university who reported experiencing at least one traumatic event. Path analyses examined various models of the possible relationships between one’s posttraumatic cognitions and the centrality of the traumatic event to the sense of self (considered an aspect of memory integration) in predicting current level of PTSD symptoms. Results indicate that both event centrality and posttraumatic cognitions are unique and independent predictors of current symptom level. Overall, the results of this study support aspects of Ehlers and Clark’s cognitive model of PTSD; cognitive appraisals of the self and centrality of the event were highly related to levels of distress. However, the current study suggests that overly integrated trauma memories may lead to greater distress and not poorly integrated ones as suggested by Ehlers and Clark.     

Social problem solving and strategy use in young children

In the present study, the authors investigated what prosocial-assertive, passive, and coercive strategies 6-year-olds (N=257) would propose in response to stories about 2 socially challenging situations: displacing another child in a game and obtaining a toy from another child. The scenarios also varied the gender composition of the characters. Participants' verbalizations while acting out their responses using toy props fell into 13 categories of strategies. Teachers reported antisocial behavior and social competence of the participants. Girls and boys responded similarly in their general suggestions of prosocial or assertive strategies, but girls were more likely to offer prosocial strategies with other girls than with boys. Teacher-rated competence and antisocial behavior interacted in predicting coercive responses by girls but not by boys. The results demonstrate that prosocial and antisocial behaviors need to be considered in interaction to fully understand the nature of social competence.