Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to assess maternal and infant contributions to mother-infant affective exchanges during the Still-Face Paradigm

This study describes maternal and infant contributions to dyadic affective exchanges during the Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) in an understudied mostly low-income sample. One hundred eleven mothers and their 7-month-old infants were videotaped during the SFP to analyze how a social stressor affects mother-infant positive and negative affective exchanges during interaction. The SFP includes 3 episodes: baseline, maternal still-face, and reunion. Maternal and infant positive and negative affect were scored by masked reliable coders. Data were analyzed using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to test the hypotheses that each partner’s affectivity during the baseline episode would predict their own affectivity during the reunion episode (actor effects). We also expected that each partner’s affectivity during the baseline episode would influence the other partner’s affectivity during the reunion episodes (partner effects). After controlling for infant sex and maternal education, results provided evidence for actor effects for maternal and infant positive affect, and for partner effects for maternal baseline positive affect to infant positive affect during the reunion. One significant partner effect was observed for negative affect: Infant negativity during baseline predicted greater maternal negativity during reunion. Findings confirm that both mothers and infants contribute to dyadic affective processes during the SFP but specific findings vary depending on the affective valence in question. Clinical implications and future research are discussed.     

Changes in step time variability,not changes in step length and width,are associated with lower-trunk sway during dual-task gait in older adults

Individuals are exposed to repetitive dual-task-like situations in daily life, particularly while walking, and falls among community-dwelling older adults typically occur in such situations. Thus, understanding how individuals adapt their walking-related motion under dual-task conditions is of clinical importance. The present study was conducted to investigate the association between dual-task-related changes (DT-changes) in lower-limb gait parameters and DT-changes in lower-trunk sway. We hypothesized that DT-changes in both spatial- and temporal-lower-limb gait parameters would be associated with DT-changes in lower-trunk sway. Participants were older adults aged > 60 years who lived independently in communities (n = 43, 73.7 [6.1] years old), and younger adults (n = 28, 22.7 [5.1] years old). Participants were asked to walk while performing an additional cognitive task, or with no additional task. During walking, lower-limb gait parameters (step time, step length and width) and lower-trunk sway were measured using a photoelectric cell system and inertial sensors. In older adults, DT-changes in step time variability was significantly associated with DT-changes in lower-trunk sway (standard beta = 0.683, p = 0.003), and DT-changes in lower-trunk sway variability (standard beta = 0.493, p = 0.029). In younger adults, DT-changes in step width were significantly associated with DT-changes in lower-trunk sway (standard beta = 0.395, p = 0.041). The current results partially supported our hypotheses. The association between DT-changes in lower limb and DT-changes in lower-trunk sway varied according to age group.     

Age Differences Across Adulthood in Interpretations of Situations and Situation–Behaviour Contingencies for Big Five States

In the last two decades, a burgeoning literature has begun to clarify the processes underlying personality traits and momentary trait‐relevant behaviour. However, such work has almost exclusively investigated these questions in young adults. During the same period, much has been learned about adult personality trait development but with scant attention to the momentary processes that contribute to development. The current work connects these two topics, testing developmental questions about adult age differences and thus examining how age matters to personality processes. The study examines how four important situation characteristics are experienced in everyday life and how situations covary with Big Five trait‐relevant behaviour (i.e. situation–behaviour contingencies). Two samples were collected (total N = 316), each assessing three age groups: young, middle‐aged, and older adults. Using experience sampling method, participants completed reports four or five times per day across a representative period of daily life. Results suggested age differences in how situations are experienced on average, in the variability around these average situation experiences, and in situation–behaviour contingencies. The results therefore highlight that, across adulthood, age groups experience chronically different situations, differ in how much the situations they experience vary moment to moment, and differ in how much situation experience predicts their enactment of traits. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Basic visual perceptual processes in children with typical development and cerebral palsy: The processing of surface,length, orientation,and position

The present study aims to assess how the processing of basic visual perceptual (VP) components (length, surface, orientation, and position) develops in typically developing (TD) children (n = 215, 4–14 years old) and adults (n = 20, 20–25 years old), and in children with cerebral palsy (CP) (n = 86, 5–14 years old) using the first four subtests of the Battery for the Evaluation of Visual Perceptual and Spatial processing in children. Experiment 1 showed that these four basic VP processes follow distinct developmental trajectories in typical development. Experiment 2 revealed that children with CP present global and persistent deficits for the processing of basic VP components when compared with TD children matched on chronological age and nonverbal reasoning abilities.     

Relation between referential and reflexive processes: an explorative study

Referential process (RP) has been investigated in the psychotherapy domain to understand the mechanisms underlying clients’ problems and identify the process of change. RP shares some theoretical assumptions with another relevant construct in the psychotherapy domain, i.e. the reflexive process. However, the relation between RP and reflexive process has never been explored through an operational approach. This study aims at analyzing the relation between referential activity (RA), conceived as the linguistic index of RP, and two reflexive processes of different complexity, reflection and reflexivity, in a group counseling program. Audio recordings from seven group counseling sessions were analyzed through two procedures: (1) the latest Italian version of the computerized text analysis software developed for analyzing RA, and (2) the analysis of the narrative functions of reflection and reflexivity. Accordingly, reflection processes were mainly identified in the narrative excerpts by adopting the conventional procedure for RA software-based analysis and combining it with the analysis of the narrative functions. More complex processes of reflexivity were detected when the analysis of the narrative functions was combined with an innovative procedure for RA software-based analysis. Overall, these data indicated that a high level of RA is essential for activating reflexive processes of higher complexity.     

Dutch plural inflection: the exception that proves the analogy

We develop the view that inflection is driven partly by non-phonological analogy and that non-phonological information is of particular importance to the inflection of non-canonical roots, which in the view of [Marcus, G. F., Brinkmann, U., Clahsen, H., Wiese, R., & Pinker, S. (1995). German inflection: the exception that proves the rule. Cognitive Psychology, 29, 189-256.] are inflected by a symbolic rule process. We used the Dutch plural to evaluate these claims. An analysis of corpus data shows that a model using non-phonological information (orthography) produces significantly fewer errors on plurals of non-canonical Dutch nouns, in particular borrowings, than a model that includes only phonological information. Moreover, we show that a double default system, as proposed by Pinker [Pinker, S. (1999). Words and rules. London: Phoenix.], does not offer an advantage over the latter model. A second study, examining the use of orthography in an online plural production task, shows that, in Dutch, the chosen pseudoword plural is significantly affected by non-phonological information. A final simulation study confirms that these results are in line with a model of inflectional morphology that explains the inflection of non-canonical roots by non-phonological analogy instead of by a default rule process.     

Investigating the dynamics of affect: Psychological mechanisms of affective habituation to pleasurable stimuli

Affective habituation (i.e., reductions in stimulus-evoked affective reactions as a result of previous exposure) may serve a functional purpose. However, little is know about the psychological mechanisms underlying this process. To elucidate the characteristics of affective habituation, two experiments that examined affective reactions to repeated exposures of pleasurable stimuli were conducted. Results of these experiments indicated that habituation trajectories are characterized by linear decreases in affect. Results also demonstrated that habituation can be slowed by the introduction of novel stimuli (i.e., “novelty effects”), effects that are dimensional (rather than taxonic) in nature. Experiment 2 demonstrated that habituation is mediated by conceptual rather than perceptual processes. Depressed and anhedonic individuals were not more susceptible to habituation in either experiment. The current findings and previous theorizing suggest that habituation may be an important component of an adaptive affective processing system that promotes effective responses to salient stimuli and prevents compulsive reward-seeking behavior.

Understanding the relationship between obesity and positive and negative affect: the role of psychosocial mechanisms

We examined the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and positive and negative affect, and evaluated whether this relationship is mediated (or suppressed) by physical health, intrusiveness of weight on physical functioning, and distressing interpersonal interactions. Analyses were based on a national sample of more than 3,000 adults ages 25 to 74. Class II (BMI 35–39.9) and Class III (BMI ≥ 40) obesity were associated with more frequent negative affect and less frequent positive affect, even after demographic and socioeconomic status characteristics were controlled. After the purported pathway variables were controlled, however, obese I persons reported significantly more frequent positive affect, while overweight, obese I, and obese II persons reported significantly less frequent negative affect, compared to normal weight persons. These patterns did not differ significantly by race or gender. Our findings suggest that excessive body weight is not necessarily distressing, yet the physical and interpersonal strains associated with obesity may impair one's mood. We discuss the implications for policy and practice.     

Asking, Witnessing, Interpreting, Knowing: Conducting Qualitative Research in Community Psychology

We present a framework to describe the process of conducting community-based qualitative research. Qualitative research activities are presented as a series of interrelated acts called asking, witnessing, interpreting, and knowing. Each act in the research process is described in terms of current qualitative research practices, and illustrated with examples from our own research projects on families with schizophrenia and men's mutual support and batterer intervention groups. We critically examine the assumption that qualitative research serves to reveal or amplify the voices of participants. We examine connections between qualitative research and social change and describe the use of qualitative research to not only empower marginalized groups, but also to critique and transform privileged groups. The framework is intended to help community researchers to more fully conceptualize, understand, and engage in the practice of qualitative research.     

Is word perception in a second language more vulnerable than in one's native language? Evidence from brain potentials in a dual task setting

We assessed the effect of additional tasks on language perception in second-language and native speakers. The N400 component of the event-related potential was recorded to spoken nouns that had to be judged for synonymity with a preceding word, while additional choice responses were required to visual stimuli. In both participant groups N400 was delayed as a function of temporal overlap with the additional task. In second-language speakers there was a global delay of N400 independent of additional task load and a decrease of accuracy at highest overlap. These findings are interpreted within a single channel account of language perception.