Higher inhibitory control is required to escape the innate attraction to effort minimization

Recent evidence suggests humans have an automatic attraction to effort minimization. Yet, how this attraction is associated with response inhibition is still unclear. Here, we used go/no-go tasks to capture inhibitory control in response to stimuli depicting physical activity versus physical inactivity in 59 healthy young individuals. Higher commission errors (i.e., failure to refrain a response to a “no-go” stimulus) indicated lower inhibitory control. Based on the energetic cost minimization theory, we hypothesized that participants would exhibit higher commission errors when responding to physical inactivity stimuli rather than physical activity stimuli. Mixed effects models showed that, compared to physical activity stimuli, participants exhibited higher commission errors when responding to stimuli depicting physical inactivity (odds ratio = 1.59, 95% Confidence Interval = 1.18 to 2.16, p = .003). These results suggest that physical inactivity stimuli might require high response inhibition. This study lends support for the hypothesis that an attraction to effort minimization might affect inhibitory processes in the presence of stimuli related to this minimization. The study pre-registration form can be found at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RKYHB.     

辣食渴求者抑制控制能力的行为和ERP研究

采用事件相关电位(ERP)技术,探讨一般线索Go/Nogo和辣食线索Go/Nogo任务过程中,辣食渴求者和非辣食渴求者的抑制控制能力。（1）行为结果显示,两组被试辣食线索的反应时和错误率无显著差异,均在任务类型上有差异,即对辣食线索的反应更慢;（2）ERP结果显示,在辣食相关线索Go/Nogo任务中辣食渴求者的N2b和P3波幅都显著小于非辣食渴求者,N2a没有差异;在一般线索Go/Nogo任务中,ERP成分没有发现显著差异。结果提示,辣食渴求者只在辣食相关线索的抑制控制能力弱于非辣食渴求者,这可能意味着他们对辣食线索抑制反应的缺失。     

来源记忆中背景的情绪效价与唤醒对提取过程的影响

以往研究表明情绪背景对来源记忆存在影响,但背景的情绪效价和唤醒如何影响熟悉性及回想尚存争议。本研究以ERPs技术作为测量手段,采用来源记忆多键范式,操纵背景的情绪效价及唤醒强度,以探讨编码阶段背景情绪影响来源记忆提取的认知神经机制。学习阶段,呈现中性汉字及情绪图片（正性高唤醒、正性低唤醒、负性高唤醒、负性低唤醒）;测验阶段,仅呈现汉字,被试进行五键判断。行为结果发现：来源正确的比率比来源错误的比率更高,反应时更短;同时提取正性背景的辨别力更强,反应时更短;提取高唤醒背景反应时更短。脑电结果发现了分别代表熟悉性及回想的FN400及LPC新旧效应,且在500～700 ms,提取正性背景及高唤醒背景诱发显著更正的ERPs,但效价与唤醒没有交互作用。总体来说,来源记忆中背景效价及唤醒度对回想过程存在独立影响,体现为正性背景及高唤醒背景对来源提取的促进作用。     

Violent behavior patterns on psychiatric wards

A study of 379 violent incidents between pairs of psychiatric inpatients during an eight-month period indicates a substantial number of patterned associations between assaulting patients and those struck. In addition, regularities are observed in these incidents between frequency of occurrence and spatiotemporal and other contextual factors. Taken in the aggregate, these relationships support enlargement of most current conceptualizations of the violent act in psychiatric settings, which focus almost exclusively upon physiologic and psychologic state changes within the identified initiator of violent acts.     

The lntergenerational transmission of family violence: The long-term effects of aggressive behavior

This paper examines the contention that family violence is passed down from generation to generation. The sample was primarily nonclinical and was composed of 14 clients of community guidance clinics and 82 members of a randomly selected control group. The primary hypothesis that individuals who are exposed to a high degree of physical punishment as children are more likely to resort to family violence as adults was supported. Studies of the modeling of aggression were examined to suggest factors which may mediate the hypothesized relationship. It was found that respondents who had grown up in an environment characterized by either low family warmth or high stress in combination with exposure to a high degree of parental punishment were more likely to use physical punishment in their own families. Also, family violence was more likely to be transmitted in same-sex rather than cross-sex linkages.     

Examining the efficacy of truth/lie discussions in predicting and increasing the veracity of children's reports

This study investigated whether children's ability to reason about truths and lies influenced their truth-telling behavior. Four-six-year-old children (n=118) played a game that was intended to motivate children to use deception to hide a minor transgression. Next, an interviewer gave children one of four preliminary discussions. Children received a typical forensic truth/lie discussion (TLD), a developmentally appropriate and more elaborate TLD, or one of two discussions that controlled for the time spent conversing with children. Children were interviewed about the event. The results revealed that children's performance on the truth/lie questions did not predict their truth-telling behavior. Regardless of their performance on truth/lie questions, children who received TLD's gave more honest reports than children who did not receive TLD's. These results suggest that discussing truths and lies with children may promote truth-telling behavior. However, the results cast doubt on the validity of using children's performance on truth/lie questions as a measure of competency.     

Battered women's coping strategies and psychological distress: differences by immigration status

People are rarely passive, and battered women are no exception. This study investigated the types of coping strategies women of Japanese descent (both Japan-born and U.S.-born) chose and their perceived effectiveness in dealing with their partners' violence. Japan-born respondents were significantly less likely to use active strategies and perceived them to be less effective than did U.S.-born respondents. For the Japan-born, the more effective they perceived active strategies, the higher their psychological distress, whereas the more effective they perceived passive strategies, the lower their psychological distress. In contrast, for the U.S.-born, the higher the perceived effectiveness of active strategies, the lower their psychological distress, and the perceived effectiveness of passive strategies had little effect on their psychological distress. The complex relationship between individuals' country of birth, the choice and perceived effectiveness of coping strategies, and psychological distress calls for increased attention to the role of culture in studies of coping and domestic violence.     

The Process Through Which an Advocacy Intervention Resulted in Positive Change for Battered Women Over Time

A prior experimental evaluation of a community-based advocacy program for women with abusive partners demonstrated positive change in the lives of women even 2 years postintervention (C. M. Sullivan & D. I. Bybee, 1999). The current study explored the complex mediational process through which this change occurred, using longitudinal structural equation modeling and formal tests of mediation. As hypothesized, the advocacy intervention first resulted in women successfully obtaining desired community resources and increasing their social support, which enhanced their overall quality of life. This improvement in well-being appeared to serve as a protective factor from subsequent abuse, as women who received the intervention were significantly less likely to be abused at 2-year follow-up compared with women in the control condition. Increased quality of life completely mediated the impact of the advocacy intervention on later reabuse. Discussion places advocacy for women in the context of other efforts that are needed to build an effective community response to preventing intimate violence against women.     

Interval length and time-use by children with AD/HD: a comparison of four models

Predictions made by 4 competing models of time use by children with AD/HD were tested using a computerized version of the Matching Familiar Figures Test in 2 studies. In Study 1 teacher-identified AD/HD children (N = 10) and non-AD/HD controls (N = 10) completed the task under 3 different trial duration conditions (5, 10, and 15 s). In Study 2 the same task was completed by a group of children with a diagnosis of Hyperkinetic Disorder (N = 12) and controls (N = 12). In both studies AD/HD children performed poorly on trials of both 5- and 15-s duration but as well as controls on the 10-s trials. This quadratic function provided support for the State Regulation Deficit model of time use in AD/HD. The value of tailoring the temporal features of learning contexts to the conceptual style of AD/HD children is discussed.