Accessing the asymmetrical representations of causal relations and hierarchical relations in semantic memory

In a speeded aiming task, participants were trained to move a cursor with a mouse from a start position to target locations when the mouse–cursor relationships were either normal or reversed (vertically, horizontally, or both vertically and horizontally). Testing, which occurred after a 5-min delay, involved either the same or a different reversal condition. Response times improved across training, but no transfer occurred when reversal conditions were changed between training and testing. Specificity of training effects extended even to performance with the highly familiar normal mouse. Normal mouse use was slowed by a factor of two to three with training on a reversed mouse although the effect was transient in that case. To contend with a reversed mouse, participants apparently adopt a global inhibition strategy, suppressing all normal movements (and replacing them with sensorimotor remapped movements) but disinhibiting movements along any nonreversed dimension (selectively disengaging the sensorimotor remapping).     

How robust are the deviations in haptic parallelity?

Several studies have shown that physically parallel bars do not feel parallel and vice versa. The most plausible cause of this deviation is the biasing influence of an egocentric reference frame. The aim of the present study was to assess the strength of this egocentric contribution. The deviations from veridicality were measured in six experiments where subjects were presented with either haptic or visual information about parallelity or their deviations. It was found that even direct error feedback (either haptically or visually) did not even nearly result in veridical performance. The improvements found were attributed to a shift in focus towards a more allocentric reference frame, possibly reflecting the same mechanisms as found in delay and noninformative vision studies. We conclude that the illusionary percept of haptic parallelity is rather robust and is indeed caused by a strong reliance on an egocentric reference frame.     

Krankheitsbewältigung bei multipler Sklerose

Zusammenfassung Obwohl ein erheblicher psychosozialer Versorgungsbedarf bei Patienten mit multipler Sklerose (MS) unstrittig ist, stehen die theoretische Aufarbeitung belastender Aspekte des Krankheitsverlaufs wie die Entwicklung standardisierter Interventionsmaßnahmen nach wie vor am Beginn. In vorliegendem Beitrag werden Konzepte und Modelle der Krankheitsbewältigung als geeigneter theoretischer Bezugsrahmen charakterisiert. Im Anschluss an eine knappe Bestandsaufnahme von Versorgungsbedarf und vorhandenen Versorgungsansätzen werden zunächst kurz Modelle der Krankheitsbewältigung (Coping) vorgestellt, die zur Abbildung spezifischer belastender Folgen der MS geeignet erscheinen. Weiterhin werden in einer Befundübersicht neuere Ergebnisse bewältigungsorientierter Forschung dargestellt, die auch erste Berichte zur Evaluation von Bewältigungstrainings einschließen. Ferner werden Ziele und Techniken, die als Bausteine eines umfassenden Trainings zur Bewältigung von Folgen der MS unverzichtbar erscheinen, erörtert. Abschließend werden offene Forschungsfragen, die die Gestaltung von Bewältigungstrainings betreffen, diskutiert.     

Intervention-based school psychology services: Training for child-level accountability; preparing for program-level accountability

This research evaluated the outcomes of a school psychology training practicum by replicating intervention-based service delivery procedures established in prior research. The key components include describing a service delivery model, teaching the model, deriving practice guidelines that fit the model, supporting trainees in carrying out the steps, and evaluating the outcomes. Procedures to determine outcomes were based on single-case design facets including accountability design (A-B), visual analysis of graphic data, and social validity ratings. Meta-analysis techniques included calculation of effect sizes and percent of nonoverlapping data (PND). Goal attainment scaling (GAS) also was used to summarize outcomes. The analyses indicated that the interventions led to positive changes for most children. For example, the median effect size was 1.42 across cases. Social validity evidence showed that consumers judged the outcomes positively. Achieving ideal baseline and technical adequacy checks (e.g., observer agreement, intervention adherence) represented challenges for many consultations. The contributions of the study include describing methods for child- and program-level accountability in training and areas for improvement including further supporting the completion of technical checks for intervention services.