Reality monitoring and metacognitive beliefs related to cognitive confidence in obsessive-compulsive disorder

The present study investigated general reality monitoring ability, and selective reality monitoring ability for anxiety relevant actions in a group of individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and a group of non-anxious controls. In addition, reality monitoring confidence was assessed, as well as specific meta-cognitive beliefs related to cognitive confidence (by means of the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire (MCQ)). No differences were found between both groups in actual reality monitoring ability. Unlike previous studies, the reality monitoring task included actions that were related to the individual concerns of the OCD patients and were ideographically selected. Nevertheless, no differential reality monitoring effect was observed for the anxiety relevant stimuli. Data from the MCQ, however, revealed that OCD patients had less overall confidence in their memory for actions and their reality monitoring ability. Analysis of the confidence ratings of the reality monitoring task showed that this reduced confidence was restricted to the neutral actions. No differences were observed for patients that reported low or high frequencies of checking behaviour. The whole of these data do not support memory deficit models of OCD, but are in line with recent emphasis on the importance of memory confidence and other meta-cognitive beliefs in OCD.     

The quantity and quality of marital interaction related to marital satisfaction: A behavioral analysis

An assessment instrument is presented for the evaluation of the quantity and quality of dyadic interaction, as well as for the daily recording of behaviors presented and omitted which influence marital satisfaction. Comparison of data from ten happy couples and from ten couples entering therapy indicated two distinct dysfunctional patterns among distressed couples, with significantly different patterns of time-together and positive/negative ratios differentiating the happy versus therapy groups. Independent behavioral recording for 14 consecutive days significantly increased husband-wife agreement on a traditional adjustment questionnaire without significantly increasing or decreasing the level of satisfaction being assessed. There was no difference between groups as to interspousal agreement on amount of time together. However, the happy couples agreed on daily quality ratings of the 72 15-minute segments significantly more often than did the distressed couples. Couples at the extremes of the happy-distressed continuum reported rewarding and punishing, respectively, in response to the partners presence, regardless of behaviors emitted. Midrange happy couples defined "pleasant" as positive behaviors presented; midrange distressed couples defined "pleasant" as negative behaviors omitted. Theoretical and clinical implications of behavioral analysis of sequential patterns are discussed.     

Loneliness and social monitoring: A conceptual replication of Knowles et al.

Contrary to the claim that loneliness routinely impairs the decoding of social cues such as emotion displays, Knowles, Lucas, Baumeister, and Gardner (2015) proposed that lonely adults “choke under pressure,” experiencing impairments only when social monitoring is framed as diagnostic of general social skill. In four experiments, Knowles et al. showed that lonely individuals performed worse than nonlonely individuals at decoding social cues when the decoding task was framed as a test of social aptitude, but not when it was framed as a test of academic aptitude. The studies were small (N's ranging from 78 to 203), and all employed a convenience sample of mostly female undergraduate students, impairing both statistical power and external validity. In addition, the lack of a true control group precluded the studies from establishing whether loneliness inhibits social monitoring ability if no frame is offered. This study conceptually replicates the central hypothesis of Knowles et al. using a sample of adults that is substantially larger and more diverse demographically and geographically, and using a true control group in addition to the comparison group. Results revealed a significant main effect of loneliness on social monitoring ability but did not replicate the choking under pressure phenomenon.     

Hysteresis behaviour of psychobiological variables during exercise

ObjectivesThe rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and the heart rate (HR) have been widely studied and monitored during exercise, but their hysteresis behaviour is still unexplored. Our aim was to study the hysteresis behaviour of RPE and HR in triathletes and non-athletes.DesignCross-sectional study.MethodEighteen triathletes at different competitive levels (elite n = 9, non-elite n = 9) and ten students were tested while cycling and running, using a pyramidal protocol (incremental/decremental workloads). The hysteresis area, considered positive when values of the dependent variables (RPE and HR) at the same workload were higher in the decremental phase than in the incremental phase, and vice versa for the negative areas, was calculated in all tests. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs test and Kruskal Wallis ANOVA were applied to detect intra- and inter-group differences, respectively, of RPE and HR values during the incremental and decremental phases, as well as between cycling and running.ResultsThe following results were observed: a) an incoherent relationship of RPE with HR and workload, b) positive hysteresis areas of RPE and HR in all groups during cycling and running, c) a partial negative hysteresis area of RPE, but not of HR, in the triathlete groups, d) larger hysteresis areas of RPE and HR in students than in triathletes, and e) larger hysteresis areas in cycling than in running.Conclusionsthe study of the hysteresis behaviour of RPE and HR reveals the history dependency of both variables, highlights their incoherent or non-unique relationship during a pyramidal exercise, and questions their widely assumed linear association to workload intensity. The hysteresis area is proposed as a new non-invasive marker of exercise stress and tolerance that should be further investigated.     

Effects of training, prompting, and self-monitoring on staff behavior in a classroom for students with disabilities

This study extended the limited research on the utility of tactile prompts and examined the effects of a treatment package on implementation of a token economy by instructional assistants in a classroom for students with disabilities. During baseline, we measured how accurately the assistants implemented a classroom token economy based on the routine training they had received through the school system. Baseline was followed by brief in-service training, which resulted in no improvement of token-economy implementation for recently hired instructional assistants. A treatment package of prompting and self-monitoring with accuracy feedback was then introduced as a multiple baseline design across behaviors. The treatment package was successfully faded to a more manageable self-monitoring intervention. Results showed visually significant improvements for all participants during observation sessions.     

The role of collaborative planning in children's source-monitoring errors and learning.

The aim of this research was to provide empirical evidence for a cognitive process that may contribute to children's learning from another person. A cornerstone of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory is that knowledge is internalized from others; however, the cognitive processes that support this transformation are underspecified. In a series of three studies, kindergarten children (mean age 5 years 8 months) participated in a categorization task with an adult in several collaborative and noncollaborative conditions and then were tested on their memory of who had performed which actions in the task. After the memory task, children were asked to recategorize the items on their own. Source-monitoring patterns and children's learning varied across conditions according to predictions. A measure of recoding was related to children's planning language that, in turn, predicted learning among the children. The results suggest that one process that contributes to children's internalization of knowledge may involve recoding of agent information and that recoding can be indexed by source-monitoring performance.     

Reducing child witnesses' false reports of misinformation from parents.

This study explored whether a source-monitoring training (SMT) procedure, in which children distinguished between events they recently witnessed versus events they only heard described, would help 3- to 8-year-olds to report only experienced events during a target interview. Children (N = 132) who witnessed science demonstrations and subsequently heard their parents describe nonexperienced events received SMT before or after a forensic-style interview. SMT reduced the number of false reports that 7- and 8-year-old children reported in response to direct questions but had no impact on the performance of younger children. Combined with earlier results, these data suggest a transition between 3 and 8 years of age in the strategic use of source-monitoring information to support verbal reports, such that only 7- and 8-year-olds generalize training to a difficult memory task that does not include mention of specific alternative sources.     

理解评估与成绩预测：两种不同的元理解监测形式

探讨理解评估与成绩预测与各种强化元理解监测线索的认知任务的关系。结果发现,理解评估与成绩预测的判断值偏离标准测验成绩的程度受监测线索强化方式的调节;主动强化监测线索比被动强化更能提高理解评估和成绩预测的精确性;精确的理解评估或成绩预测所需的线索不同,利用同一线索评估理解或预测成绩,其精确性也不同。这一结果挑战了元理解监测的一维观,表明理解评估与成绩预测涵盖了元理解监测不同方面的心理特征     

青少年父母监控现状研究

本研究从北京市两所普通中学的初一到高二年级中选取了1090名中学生为被试,采用问卷调查的方式,要求他们分别报告父亲和母亲的主、客观监控水平和监控手段(控制、沟通和搜寻),以探讨我国青少年父母监控的现状。经过(2)卡方检验、相关分析t、检验和方差分析,结果表明:(1)总体来讲,母亲在家庭里是青少年的主要监控者:母亲监控的客观水平高于父亲,并且母亲使用三种监控手段的情况均多于父亲;(2)女孩受到的父母监控超过男孩:母亲对女孩的客观监控水平高于男孩,并且母亲对女孩更多使用沟通手段;父母对女孩使用控制手段的情况超过男孩;(3)父母监控的年级差异并不明显,只有父母对初一学生会更多使用沟通手段;(4)父母对沟通手段和控制手段的使用都与客观监控水平呈正相关,但与主观监控水平呈负相关,而搜寻手段使用与监控水平之间的关系则跟沟通、控制手段相反;沟通手段对客观监控水平的正向预测力最强,搜寻手段对主观监控水平的正向预测力最强。     

老年原发性高血压晨峰现象与靶器官损害临床研究

应用24h动态血压监测(ABPM)了解老年原发性高血压晨峰现象对主要靶器官结构及功能的潜在损害。114例老年原发性高血压患者根据24h动态血压监测分为晨峰组和非晨峰组,均常规检查血脂谱,空腹血糖,放免法测定尿微量白蛋白,计算体重指数(BMI)、左室质量指数(LVMI)、颈总动脉(CCA-IMT)和颈内动脉内膜中层厚度(ICA-IMT)、心电图测量计算QT离散度(QTcd)。晨峰组的24h、白昼、夜间平均收缩压均显著高于非晨峰组动态血压监测水平(P<0.05),而且晨峰组的睡-谷晨峰变异幅度增高有统计学意义(P<0.05)。晨峰组的LVMI、CCA-IMT、ICA-IMT、QTcd和尿微量白蛋白指标均高于非晨峰组(P<0.01)。两组在BMI、血脂谱、血糖差异无统计学意义。清晨高血压是老年原发性高血压病的一个不可忽视的潜在危险因素。长期晨间血压负荷升高使得机体全天处于血压高负荷状态,更易使心肌重构肥厚和心电生理特征改变,增加心律失常发生率;加速动脉粥样硬化斑块形成。因此遏制老年原发性高血压患者的晨峰高反应是降压达标和减缓靶器官损害的关键环节。