Test anxiety: associations with personal and family variables

Test anxiety is a common behavior among students facing social pressure centered on mastery. Only a few studies have analyzed the relations between test anxiety, academic procrastination, personal and family variables and math grades. This work focus on the analysis of the impact of students' social-personal variables such as parents' education level, number of siblings and under-achievement by performing ANOVAs in two samples of 533 and 796 students from junior high-school. Corroborating the findings in other studies, the data stress that test anxiety is higher in girls and decreases when students' parents have higher educational levels, with the number of courses flunked, and when students' math grades were lower. Test anxiety and procrastination correlate positive and significantly. Findings are discussed and compared with those of previous researches. The implications for teaching practice are also analyzed.     

Embodiment, spatial categorisation and action

Despite the subjective experience of a continuous and coherent external world, we will argue that the perception and categorisation of visual space is constrained by the spatial resolution of the sensory systems but also and above all, by the pre-reflective representations of the body in action. Recent empirical data in cognitive neurosciences will be presented that suggest that multidimensional categorisation of perceptual space depends on body representations at both an experiential and a functional level. Results will also be resumed that show that representations of the body in action are pre-reflective in nature as only some aspects of the pre-reflective states can be consciously experienced. Finally, a neuro-cognitive model based on the integration of afferent and efferent information will be described, which suggests that action simulation and associated predicted sensory consequences may represent the underlying principle that enables pre-reflective representations of the body for space categorisation and selection for action.     

Comparing persistent juvenile delinquents and normative peers with the Five-Factor Model of Personality

Recent research suggests that personality traits are associated with delinquency. T-tests were run to identify which traits and facets of the Five-Factor Model of Personality contributed to differentiate persistent juvenile delinquents (n = 48) from normative peers (n = 48). Results showed that two traits, namely Agreeableness and Neuroticism, and 12 facets differed significantly between the groups. Observed effect sizes varied from medium to large.     

Simulation study of a decision-making model of squash competition, phase one: The analysis of the protocol

This study aims at specifying some of the cognitive processes underlying decision-making in squash competition. More specifically, the study focuses on the strategy of the defending player (D) when chosing among three categories of preparation (total preparation for one particular event, partial preparation in favor of one event and absence of biased preparation). D is viewed as an information processing system (IPS) placed in a problem-solving situation, the problem being what decision to reach. The results obtained in a preceding investigation about the nature of the information processed by a player to anticipate and prepare for the opponent's shot in a real game setting, are used to determine a typical protocol of the behavior of D. The analysis of this protocol allows one to formally define (in Backus-Normal-Form) the problem space of D which is also D's internal representation of the task environment. From the problem space are derived (1) the problem behavior graph depicting the search of D through his problem space for a solution, and (2) the production system (a set of conditional statements, each expressing what to do under specific conditions) defining the logic of the search. The results of this first phase of the simulation study of a decision-making model of squash competition show that the cognitive strategy of D is based upon the use of a specific preformed algorithm. This algorithm could be stored in some long-term memory and activated by the current state of information in short-term memory. Finally, the proposed model also leads to the suggestion that the cognitive strategy of the performer may be influenced by a variety of factors such as the experience of the player, the time pressure, the expectancies, the performer's confidence in his predictions and the mistakes caused by incorrect predictions.     

Retracted:Staff,miter, book,share: how attributes of Saint Nicholas induce normative behavior

In three studies the hypothesis was tested that for young Dutch children, who associate Saint Nicholas with the norm to share one's wealth with others, attributes of Saint Nicholas (miter, book, and staff) would spontaneously activate the “sharing norm” and subsequent sharing behavior. The results confirmed our expectations. In two studies, young Dutch children share more candy with others after being primed with attributes of Saint Nicholas compared to being primed with a dwarf in the control condition. In a third study, children evaluate sharing more positively after being primed with attributes of Saint Nicholas, and more negatively after being primed with the Toys R Us logo, compared to being primed with a dwarf. This is the first empirical evidence that attributes of normative symbols can induce normative behavior and change norm judgments. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determination of target distance in a structured environment: Selection of visual information for action

In the literature relating to visuo-motor control, controversial data are found concerning the consequence of enriching the visual scene in the specification of the target's spatial coordinates. In this paper four experiments were carried out to unravel this issue. Based on spatio-temporal analysis of pointing movements carried out in an open loop condition, the effect of appending contextual elements in the vicinity of a visual target was investigated, taking into account (1) their location in the visual field, (2) the extent of the movement, and (3) their presence during the planning and/or execution period of the movement. Taken as a whole, results showed that enriching the visual scene gave rise to a decrease of perceptual underestimation of distance (with no effect on the direction parameter), as otherwise observed (dark environment). Though not deeply affecting reaction and movement time, this effect held whatever the target position, provided that the contextual elements were situated between the initial and terminal position of the hand trajectory. The magnitude of the effect was, however, dependent upon the space conferred to the visual context. Furthermore, a higher spatial performance was observed when the latter was provided during the planning of execution period of the movement. Both effects combined when contextual elements were provided during the entire movement, which suggests a continuous updating of target coordinates during the whole motor performance. Altogether these findings underline a dynamic aspect of space perception, originating, in part, in the functional use of contextual cues in the coding of target distance. They also suggest that, provided the visual environment is structured, the retinal signal is widely used in the perception of target distance in visuo-manual tasks.     

Variants of Psychopathic Traits Follow Distinct Trajectories of Clinical Features Among Children with Conduct Problems

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Original definitions of psychopathy suggest the existence of two variants that present with distinct clinical features among antisocial adults,...     

Effect of visuomotor calibration and uncertainty on the perception of peripersonal space

Target selection for action depends not only on the egocentric location of objects estimated from retinal and extraretinal variables, but also on the assessment of current action possibilities. In the present study, we investigated the effect of altering sensorimotor anticipation processes on subsequent perceptual estimates of reachability. To do so, we conducted two experiments in which we changed the relation between visual distance and movement amplitude. Experiment 1 showed that iterative visuomotor adaptation to distorted visual feedback (in steps of ±15?mm, up to a total adaptation of ±75?mm) led to a congruent variation of perceived reachable space, although the first introduction of the shifted visual feedback produced a reduction of perceived reachable space whatever the direction of the feedback shift. Experiment 2 showed that increasing uncertainty about visuomotor performances, by providing a visual feedback randomly shifted in depth (±7.5?mm), produced the same reduction of perceived reachable space in the absence of visuomotor adaptation. Taken together, these data suggest that the visual perception of reachable space depends on a motor-related perceptual system, which is affected by both visuomotor recalibration and reliability of the visuomotor system.     

Autobiographical Memory, Self, and Stress-Related Psychiatric Disorders: Which Implications in Cancer Patients?

Autobiographical memory refers to information and memories of personal life events, accumulated since childhood, which enable the construction of a feeling of identity and continuity. Autobiographical memory retrieval is a dynamic and reconstructive process, as mental representations change with the passage of time. This flexible aspect of memory is linked to one’s changing self and aspirations over time, that evolve according to our personal status and environment. Hence, any breakdown in the continuity of life involves a distortion of memory. Such distortions can be observed in stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, where autobiographical memory retrieval is characterized by overgenerality (i.e., the tendency to recall generic memories rather than specific events in response to cue words). Such memory disorders can be observed at different degrees in cancer patients. We will report studies focusing on the above-mentioned psychiatric disorders and cancer, and will attempt to establish a relation with autobiographical memory disturbances. The better understanding of such memory deficits could permit new pathophysiological hypotheses to emerge. Recommendations for future research that will enhance understanding of the factors that contribute to autobiographical memory in cancer are suggested.