Throwing light on the dark side of personality: Reinforcement sensitivity theory and primary/secondary psychopathy in a student population

In a student sample, we examined two major issues in relation to primary/secondary subtypes of psychopathy and the reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality: the roles played by (a) fear (related to the fight-flight-freeze system, FFFS) and anxiety (related to the behavioural inhibition system, BIS), and (b) different aspects of the behavioural approach system (BAS). Largely consistent with Corr’s (2010a) proposal concerning the neuropsychological deficits associated with the psychoticism-psychopathy continuum, results confirmed that low BIS activity was associated with both primary and secondary psychopathy; whereas low FFFS activity was associated with only primary psychopathy. In relation to the BAS, reward sensitivity and drive were positively related to primary psychopathy; whereas Fun Seeking was negatively related to primary psychopathy but positively related to secondary psychopathy. These results represent a more nuanced picture of FFFS/BIS/BAS and dispositional psychopathy in a student sample. Specifically, they challenge the view that low BIS is preferentially associated with primary psychopathy and a high BAS is preferentially associated with secondary psychopathy. Further work is needed to confirm that these findings extend to clinical and forensic psychopathy populations.     

Costs and benefits of tool-use on the perception of reachable space

Previous studies have shown that using a tool modifies in a short time-scale both near-body space perception and arm-length representation in the body schema. However, to date no research has specifically investigated the effect of tool-use on an action-related perceptual task. We report here a study assessing the effect of tool-use on the perception of reachable space for perceptual estimates made in reference to either the tool or the hand. Using the tool on distal objects resulted in an extension of perceived reachable space with the tool and reduced the variability of reachability estimates. Tool use also extended perceived reachable space with the hand, but with a concomitant increase of the variability of reachability estimates. These findings suggest that tool incorporation into the represented arm following tool-use improves the anticipation of action possibilities with the tool, while hand representation becomes less accurate.     

Decision processes in temporal discrimination

The processing dynamics underlying temporal decisions and the response times they generate have received little attention in the study of interval timing. In contrast, models of other simple forms of decision making have been extensively investigated using response times, leading to a substantial disconnect between temporal and non-temporal decision theories. An overarching decision-theoretic framework that encompasses existing, non-temporal decision models may, however, account both for interval timing itself and for time-based decision-making. We sought evidence for this framework in the temporal discrimination performance of humans tested on the temporal bisection task. In this task, participants retrospectively categorized experienced stimulus durations as short or long based on their perceived similarity to two, remembered reference durations and were rewarded only for correct categorization of these references. Our analysis of choice proportions and response times suggests that a two-stage, sequential diffusion process, parameterized to maximize earned rewards, can account for salient patterns of bisection performance. The first diffusion stage times intervals by accumulating an endogenously noisy clock signal; the second stage makes decisions about the first-stage temporal representation by accumulating first-stage evidence corrupted by endogenous noise. Reward-maximization requires that the second-stage accumulation rate and starting point be based on the state of the first-stage timer at the end of the stimulus duration, and that estimates of non-decision-related delays should decrease as a function of stimulus duration. Results are in accord with these predictions and thus support an extension of the drift–diffusion model of static decision making to the domain of interval timing and temporal decisions.     

Visual content of words delays negation

Many studies have shown the advantage of processing visualizable words over non-visualizables due to the associated image code. The present paper reports the case of negation in which imagery could slow down processing. Negation reverses the truth value of a proposition from false to true or vice versa. Consequently, negation works only on propositions (reversing their truth value) and cannot apply directly to other forms of knowledge representation such as images (although they can be veridical or not). This leads to a paradoxical hypothesis: despite the advantage of visualizable words for general processing, the negation of clauses containing words related to the representation of an image would be more difficult than negation containing non-visualizable words. Two experiments support this hypothesis by showing that sentences with a previously negated visualizable word took longer to be read than sentences with previously negated non-visualizable words. The results suggest that a verbal code is used to process negation.     

When two actions are easier than one: How inhibitory control demands affect response processing

Numerous studies showed that the simultaneous execution of multiple actions is associated with performance costs. Here, we demonstrate that when highly automatic responses are involved, performance in single-response conditions can actually be worse than in dual-response conditions. Participants responded to peripheral visual stimuli with an eye movement (saccade), a manual key press, or both. To manipulate saccade automaticity, a central fixation cross either remained present throughout the trial (overlap condition, lower automaticity) or disappeared 200 ms before visual target onset (gap condition, greater automaticity). Crucially, single-response conditions yielded more performance errors than dual-response conditions (i.e., dual-response benefit), especially in gap trials. This was due to difficulties associated with inhibiting saccades when only manual responses were required, suggesting that response inhibition (remaining fixated) can be even more resource-demanding than overt response execution (saccade to peripheral target).     

Motor resources in peripersonal space are intrinsic to spatial encoding: Evidence from motor interference

The aim of this study was to explore the role of motor resources in peripersonal space encoding: are they intrinsic to spatial processes or due to action potentiality of objects? To answer this question, we disentangled the effects of motor resources on object manipulability and spatial processing in peripersonal and extrapersonal spaces. Participants had to localize manipulable and non-manipulable 3-D stimuli presented within peripersonal or extrapersonal spaces of an immersive virtual reality scenario. To assess the contribution of motor resources to the spatial task a motor interference paradigm was used. In Experiment 1, localization judgments were provided with the left hand while the right dominant arm could be free or blocked. Results showed that participants were faster and more accurate in localizing both manipulable and non-manipulable stimuli in peripersonal space with their arms free. On the other hand, in extrapersonal space there was no significant effect of motor interference. Experiment 2 replicated these results by using alternatively both hands to give the response and controlling the possible effect of the orientation of object handles. Overall, the pattern of results suggests that the encoding of peripersonal space involves motor processes per se, and not because of the presence of manipulable stimuli. It is argued that this motor grounding reflects the adaptive need of anticipating what may happen near the body and preparing to react in time.     

Implicit transfer of spatial structure in visuomotor sequence learning

Implicit learning and transfer in sequence learning are essential in daily life. Here, we investigated the implicit transfer of visuomotor sequences following a spatial transformation. In the two experiments, participants used trial and error to learn a sequence consisting of several button presses, known as the m × n task (Hikosaka et al., 1995). After this learning session, participants learned another sequence in which the button configuration was spatially transformed in one of the following ways: mirrored, rotated, and random arrangement. Our results showed that even when participants were unaware of the transformation rules, accuracy of transfer session in the mirrored and rotated groups was higher than that in the random group (i.e., implicit transfer occurred). Both those who noticed the transformation rules and those who did not (i.e., explicit and implicit transfer instances, respectively) showed faster performance in the mirrored sequences than in the rotated sequences. Taken together, the present results suggest that people can use their implicit visuomotor knowledge to spatially transform sequences and that implicit transfers are modulated by a transformation cost, similar to that in explicit transfer.     

Response-repetition costs in choice-RT tasks: Biased expectancies or response inhibition?

Repetition effects are often viewed as informative regarding the cognitive mechanisms of action control. One particular finding, namely costs for repeating the same response in subsequent trials, especially challenges theorizing. Costs for response repetitions have recently been reported in task-switch studies on task-switch trials (whereas benefits usually arise in task-repetition trials), but also in some choice-RT task studies. In three experiments, two of the most successful accounts for the response-repetition costs in choice-RT task studies and task switching were tested: an expectancy-based explanation, and an inhibition-based account. Using a choice-RT task introduced by Smith (1968) and manipulating the response–stimulus interval (RSI) and the categorizability of the stimuli, some specific predictions of the two accounts were tested. The results clearly revealed that expectancy-based explanations fail to account for the observed patterns of effects, whereas they are well in line with the predictions from the inhibition-based account. Finally, the results are further discussed with respect to alternative accounts from the field of task switching.     

Attention orienting by eye gaze and arrows reveals flexibility to environmental changes

This study aimed to evaluate the difference in non-predictive cues between gaze and arrows in attention orienting. Attention orienting was investigated with gaze or arrows as separate cues in a simple condition (i.e., block design) in Experiment 1 and in an unpredictable condition (i.e., randomized design) in Experiment 2. Two kinds of sound (voice and tone) stimuli were used as targets. Results showed that gaze and arrow cues induced enhanced attention orienting to a voice versus tone target in the block condition. However, in the randomized condition, enhanced attention orienting to a voice versus tone target was found in gaze but not arrow cues. The congruency of the meaning between a social cue (i.e., gaze) and a social target (i.e., voice) was clear in the randomized but not blocked design, because social gaze and non-social arrow cues were implemented in the same block. Thus, attention orienting might be mediated by the associated relationship of cue–target in a randomized condition, as an enhanced orienting effect was found when the associated relationship of cue–target was strong (i.e., social cue and target). The present study suggests that the difference in attention orienting between gaze and arrows is apparent in a randomized design (the unpredictable condition), and people employ a flexibly strategy of orienting to better respond to environmental changes.     

计算机自适应测验在特质焦虑量表中的运用

将基于项目反应理论的计算机自适应测验运用于特质焦虑量表,考察这一测验形式在人格测量中所具有的特性.收集特质焦虑量表真实纸笔作答数据,选用合适的心理测量模型,模拟计算机自适应测验.结果表明：相对纸笔测验而言,计算机自适应测验的测试效率更高、对被试的分辨力更强、结果更直观.计算机自适应测验在人格测量中的实践值得进一步探索.