Impact of motivation on cognitive control in the context of vigilance lowering: an ERP study

We assessed the effects of time-on-task on cognitive control expressed by the CRN/Nc and the extent to which motivation modulates this relationship. We utilized two groups of participants, who were told that their performance would (evaluation condition) or would not (control condition) be evaluated online. Both groups performed a version of the Eriksen Flanker Task for 60 min. We observed classical vigilance lowering, manifested by a progressive performance decline with time-on-task, in the control, but not in the evaluation, condition. In the latter, performance remained stable throughout the task. ERP analysis indicated the same interaction in our main component of interest, the CRN/Nc, whose amplitude decreased from the first to the last period in the control condition but remained stable over time in the evaluation condition. To our knowledge, this study is the first to demonstrate the impact of motivation on monitoring processes as indexed by the correct response negativity, in the context of a prolonged task. Vigilance lowering caused by a repetitive and prolonged flanker task, results in compromised response control and compromised control of correct responses. Our results suggest that alterations in ACC functioning may underlie vigilance decline and can be viewed as evidence that the action monitoring functions of the ACC can be positively affected by motivation.     

Foot-in-the-door and action identification. Binding communication applied to environmental conservation

IntroductionGrowing concern for the environment gives rise to the development of projects aimed at changing attitudes and/or behaviors of individuals in a more ecological way. While the traditional levers of change (information/persuasion) have clear limitations (Perloff, 2003), the promising results of Binding Communication (Joule et al., 2004) present a relevant alternative.ObjectiveOur research, based on the Binding Communication paradigm, aimed to encourage participation in a project to reduce energy consumption and CO₂ emission. The underlying theoretical aim was to identify the impact of action identification (Vallacher and Wegner, 1985) on individual behavior. A variable that commitment theorists (Girandola, 2003, Joule and Beauvois, 1998, Joule et al., 2004) consider as decisive in the paradigm effect although it has not yet been empirically studied.MethodOne hundred and twenty-three households in Brittany, France received a letter inviting them to participate in the presented project. According to three experimental conditions, some households had already received a phone call in order to answer a questionnaire about the environment (8–10 days earlier), wording in reference to two distinct identification levels.ResultsStatistical analyses showed a positive effect of procedure on intention to participate when the wording of the initial questionnaire referred to a high and adequate level of identification.ConclusionDiscussed in the context of commitment (Joule and Beauvois, 1998, Joule and Beauvois, 2002, Kiesler, 1971), self-perception (Bem, 1972) and action identification (Vallacher and Wegner, 1985); the results provide the first empirical validation of the effect of action identification on Binding Communication.     

Controlling the flight on double-handed foiling catamarans: The role of shared equipment on the crew members' mutual modes of regulation

The purpose of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the role of shared sport equipment in the collective coordination of a team. It was conducted within an enactive approach of human cognition by mobilizing the methodological tools and methods of the Course of Action framework. Six crew members of hydrofoil sailing catamarans participated in this study. Data collection consisted in video-recording training sessions followed by individual self-confrontation interviews. A qualitative analysis of the data allowed typical modes of regulation of the flight to be characterized from each crew member's perspective. Three main modes of regulation were identified. All of them involved either salient perception of the boat's movements, or actions directed to regulating the boat’s movement. In the discussion, we propose a distinction between three types of collective sport situations, regarding the role of the material environment of athletes in their coordination. This distinction opens new perspectives both for future research on team coordination, and for pedagogical and training implications.     

Do Parent–Adolescent Discrepancies in Family Functioning Increase the Risk of Hispanic Adolescent HIV Risk Behaviors?

In the family‐based prevention science literature, family functioning, defined as positive parenting, parental involvement, family cohesion, family communication, parental monitoring of peers, and parent–adolescent communication, has been shown to ameliorate HIV risk behaviors in Hispanic youth. However, the majority of studies have relied solely on parent or adolescent reports and we know very little about parent–adolescent family functioning discrepancies. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine whether and to what extent parent–adolescent discrepancies in family functioning increased the risk of HIV risk behaviors, including substance use and sexual risk behaviors, and whether these associations vary as a function of acculturation and youth gender. A total of 746 Hispanic 8th grade youth and their primary caregivers were included in the study. Structural equation modeling findings indicate that parent–adolescent family functioning discrepancies are associated with an increased risk of Hispanic adolescent HIV risk behaviors, including lifetime and past 90‐day alcohol and illicit drug use, and early sex initiation. In addition, study findings indicate that results vary by acculturation and youth gender. Findings are discussed in the context of existing family‐based research and practice in preventing and reducing HIV risk behaviors among Hispanic youth and their families.     

The impact of a rural or urban context in eating awareness and self‐regulation strategies in children and adolescents from eight European countries

Complex relationships exist between eating behaviour and personal and environmental factors. Rural and urban geographic contexts seem to play a role in eating behaviour, and therefore deserve a deeper study. A healthy eating behaviour and the conditions that promote it are a major issue in the promotion of adolescent health. The study aims to investigate the associations between the area of residence (urban vs. rural), self‐regulation strategies (TESQ‐E) and eating behaviours among children and adolescents. A total of 11,820 adolescents (50.6% girls) participated in the study, with a mean age of 13.30 years (SD= 2.13). Nine countries (The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Poland, Portugal, Denmark, Romania, Germany, Finland and Belgium) completed a questionnaire in the school context, asking about the use of self‐regulation strategies, eating behaviour awareness/care and sociodemographic questions such as age, gender and residential area. Both areas of residence (urban vs. rural) are associated with eating awareness/care in Romania and Portugal, controlling for age, gender and self‐regulation strategies. In some European countries at least, and most probably around the world, health promotion should focus on an ecological approach that includes the understanding of the effect of both environmental factors and personal skills on eating behaviour/awareness.     

Alerting enhances attentional bias for salient stimuli: Evidence from a global/local processing task

The present study examined the role of alerting in modulating attentional bias to salient events. In a global/local processing task, participants were presented with a large arrow (global level) comprised of smaller arrows (local level) pointing in the same or opposite directions and had to indicate the direction of the large or small arrows in different blocks. Saliency of the global and local levels was manipulated, creating global-salient and local-salient conditions. Alerting signals were presented in half of the trials prior to the target. Results revealed a double dissociation in the effects of alerting on global/local interference effects. In a global salient condition, alerting increased global interference and decreased local interference. In a local salient condition, alerting reduced global interference and increased local interference. We demonstrate that within a single task, alerting can increase and reduce conflict based on perceptual saliency. These findings help to better understand disorders like hemispatial neglect in which both arousal and attention to salient events are impaired. These results also challenge previous theories suggesting that alerting acts to increase conflict interference. We argue that alerting is an adaptive mechanism that diverts attention to salient events, but comes at a cost when selective attention to less salient details is required.     

The sandwich model: The ‘music and dance’ of therapeutic action

My premise is that a ‘layered’ approach is necessary to understand the process of exchanges that result in therapeutic change. I imagine these processes occurring in three layers – although the number of domains in which change is taking place is actually infinite – such as in a sandwich. The top layer, or top slice of bread of the sandwich, represents a broad view of the change process; it is non‐linear and includes the feature of uncertainty, a general principle of dynamic systems theory. The middle layer, or the meat of the sandwich, is explained by theories that are immediately and clinically useful to a therapist, such as psychoanalytic theories. These are primarily linear theories and use language and symbols to ‘tell a story of what happened’. The bottom layer, or bottom slice of bread of the sandwich, is the micro‐process; this layer includes the moment‐to‐moment patterns of coordinated rhythms that both communicate meaning and provide the essential scaffold for all higher‐level change processes. The micro‐process also requires a non‐linear theory to make sense of its variability and emergent properties. Taking a bite out of the sandwich will include a ‘polysemic bundle of communicative behaviors’ (Harrison and Tronick, 2011). I will illustrate the ‘sandwich model’ with the clinical case of the analytic treatment of a 5 year‐old boy.