Types of self-reported anxiety in outpatients with DSM-III-R anxiety disorders1

To ascertain whether psychiatric outpatients can be classified into distinct types according to their self-reported symptoms of anxiety, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was administered to 655 outpatients diagnosed with DSM-III-R anxiety disorders. Cluster analysis identified three internally consistent subscales representing subjective, somatic, and panic symptoms. Further analysis revealed six types of outpatients reflecting below average, panic-subjective, low subjective, low somatic-panic, above average, and subjective-somatic anxiety. The types were differentiated with respect to age, primary diagnosis, clinically rated anxiety, and both self-reported and clinically rated depression.     

Investigation of the process underpinning vowel‐size correspondence

Vowel‐size correspondence is frequently reported in the literature: Namely, the vowels a and i tend to elicit bigger and smaller images, respectively. Previous studies have speculated that two factors may contribute to this vowel‐size correspondence: the acoustical features of vowels and the speaker's kinesthetic experience of producing them. However, these two factors have been investigated without being considered separately in previous research. In this study, we investigated the process underpinning vowel‐size correspondence by using speeded classification tasks and manipulating the two factors mentioned above separately in two experiments. The results of Experiment 1 indicate that a and i elicited bigger and smaller images even in the absence of kinesthetic experience. The results of Experiment 2 indicate that the proprioception of the size of the oral cavity on its own may not contribute to vowel‐size correspondence. Thus, the acoustic features of vowels mainly contribute to vowel‐size correspondence, although other possibilities are also discussed.     

Anticipatory baseline effects and information integration in visual world studies

Researchers often conduct visual world studies to investigate how listeners integrate linguistic information with prior context. Such studies are likely to generate anticipatory baseline effects (ABEs), differences in listeners' expectations about what a speaker might mention that exist before a critical speech stimulus is presented. ABEs show that listeners have attended to and accessed prior contextual information in time to influence the processing of the critical speech stimulus. However, further evidence is required to show that the information actually did influence subsequent processing. ABEs can compromise the validity of inferences about information integration if they are not appropriately controlled. We discuss four solutions: statistical estimation, experimental control, elimination of “on-target” trials, and neutral gaze. An experiment compares the performance of these solutions, and suggests that the elimination of on-target trials introduces bias in the direction of ABEs, due to the statistical phenomenon of regression toward the mean. We conclude that statistical estimation, possibly coupled with experimental control, offers the most valid and least biased solution.     

Attention and spatial stimulus coding in the Simon task: a rejoinder to van der Lubbe and Abrahamse (2010)

Hommel (2011-this issue) has reviewed the major lines of research and ongoing controversies on and around the Simon effect. Van der Lubbe and Abrahamse (2010) take issue with Hommel's assessment of the role of attention shifting in the Simon effect. This rejoinder argues that van der Lubbe and Abrahamse's criticism is off target because it (a) fails to distinguish between the attention-shifting account of (spatial stimulus coding in) the Simon effect—which Hommel discusses and criticizes—and the premotor theory of attention—which Hommel does not discuss; (b) confuses the relationship between the attention-shifting account and the referential-coding account of spatial stimulus coding in the Simon effect—the actual topic of Hommel's discussion—with the relationship between the premotor theory and the theory of event coding—which the criticism focuses on; and (c) confuses the uncontroversial role of attention in stimulus selection with the controversial role of attention in the generation of location codes.     

Distraction by irrelevant sound during foreperiods selectively impairs temporal preparation

The issue of unidimensionality is dealt with in various research areas in the field of Psychology (e.g. conceptual spaces, semantic modeling, psychometrics) and always involves spatial modeling. An investigation of the dimensionality of opposite spatial scales (even basic) has however not yet been carried out. In this paper we look at whether opposite judgments of height, size, width and length (high/low, large/small, wide/narrow, and long/short) imply underlying unidimensional continua. In three experiments, independent ratings for the 8 above mentioned properties were elicited with participants looking at photographic representations of various objects (Study 1), real life objects (Study 2) and spatial extensions in object-independent conditions (Study 3). Explorative and confirmative factor analysis and Andrich Extended Rating Scale Models were applied in order to determine whether the ratings referred to opposite scales on the same linear continuum. Results from the three studies consistently revealed that this is not the case. A joint analysis of the data showed interesting interactions between the spatial properties analyzed suggesting a possible explanation for the lack of unidimensionality.     

The Simon effect as tool and heuristic

On its 43rd anniversary the Simon effect can look back at a long and varied history. First treated as a curious observation with implications for human factors research, it slowly evolved not only into a valuable target of psychological theorizing itself but also into a handy means to investigate attentional operations, the representation of space and of one's body, the cognitive representation of intentional action, and executive control. This article discusses the major characteristics of the Simon effect and the Simon task that laid the ground for this success and reviews the major lines of research, theoretical developments, and ongoing controversies on and around the Simon Effect and the cognitive processes it reflects.     

The components of visual attention and the ubiquitous Simon effect

Spatial responding is influenced by the degree of correspondence between the stimulus–response (S–R) code activated by the target's task-irrelevant location and the S–R code activated by the target's non-spatial, task-relevant feature. A generally accepted explanation of this “Simon effect,” named after its discoverer, is that there is a natural tendency to respond towards the source of stimulation. First we will review the ubiquity of the Simon effect. Then we will review the literature, including our own studies when appropriate, that has explored the relationship between the Simon effect and the components of attention: alertness, orienting and executive control, with an emphasis on visual orienting. The Simon effect is reduced when participants are not alert and when executive control is effective in filtering out the irrelevant location information. When attention is oriented endogenously, or is captured exogenously by uninformative peripheral stimulation, the Simon effect is additive with attentional facilitation (i.e., the Simon effect is the same magnitude for targets presented at attended and unattended locations). Yet, some forms of orienting, such as orienting directed by gaze and biased by inhibition of return, modulate the Simon effect. We will explore the implications of these patterns of additivity and interaction for our understanding of both the Simon effect and spatial attention.     

Dissecting the clock: understanding the mechanisms of timing across tasks and temporal intervals

Currently, it is unclear what model of timing best describes temporal processing across millisecond and second timescales in tasks with different response requirements. In the present set of experiments, we assessed whether the popular dedicated scalar model of timing accounts for performance across a restricted timescale surrounding the 1-second duration for different tasks. The first two experiments evaluate whether temporal variability scales proportionally with the timed duration within temporal reproduction. The third experiment compares timing across millisecond and second timescales using temporal reproduction and discrimination tasks designed with parallel structures. The data exhibit violations of the assumptions of a single scalar timekeeper across millisecond and second timescales within temporal reproduction; these violations are less apparent for temporal discrimination. The finding of differences across tasks suggests that task demands influence the mechanisms that are engaged for keeping time.     

Detrimental effects of using negative sentences in the autobiographical IAT

The autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT) is a method that accurately identifies which one of two contrasting autobiographical events is true for the subject. The aIAT indexes the real autobiographical event (e.g. I was in Paris for Christmas) on the basis of the facilitating effect because it maps the real autobiographical event with true sentences (e.g. I am in front of a computer) on the same motor response. In this paper we focus on the conditions under which the autobiographical IAT accurately and reliably identifies autobiographical memories. A recent study showed a reduction in the accuracy of the aIAT when negative sentences are used. We have investigated the detrimental effect on aIAT accuracy of such negative sentence items, used to describe autobiographical events, compared with affirmative sentence items. While we highlight the reliability of the results obtained using negative sentences, we also show that the use of affirmative sentences in describing autobiographical events guarantees high accuracy and reliability of results in identifying the true autobiographical event. Finally, we summarise the criteria for preparing stimuli for an effective aIAT in order to maximise correct classifications of individual subjects.