The role of prediction in mental processing: A process approach

Although prediction plays a prominent role in mental processing, we have only limited understanding of how the brain generates and employs predictions. This paper develops a theoretical framework in three steps. First I propose a process model that describes how predictions are produced and are linked to behavior. Subsequently I describe a generative mechanism, consisting of the selective amplification of neural dynamics in the context of boundary conditions. I hypothesize that this mechanism is active as a process engine in every mental process, and that therefore each mental process proceeds in two stages: (i) the formation of process boundary conditions; (ii) the bringing about of the process function by the operation – within the boundary conditions – of a relatively ‘blind’ generative process. Thirdly, from this hypothesis I derive a strategy for describing processes formally. The result is a multilevel framework that may also be useful for studying mental processes in general.     

Validation française du questionnaire d’évaluation de l’environnement invalidant durant l’enfance : the Invalidating Childhood Environments Scale (ICES)

IntroductionThe Invalidating Childhood Environments Scale (ICES) was developed by Mountford et al. (2007) in order to measure the parental invalidation of the child's emotional needs from the adolescent or young adult perception.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is the validation in French of the ICES based on its factorial structure and psychometric property.MethodParticipants included 585 freshmen university students (186 males, 399 females), aged 18–22.ResultsResults show that the French version had good psychometric validity. Factorial analyses indicate a two dimensions construct structure identical for each parent. These dimensions were labeled “personal distress” and “inability of empathy” in reference of Batson's studies on altruism (Batson, 1991). The convergent validity of the ICES is supported by the relationship between the scores on the different dimensions and the depression symptomatology.ConclusionImplications of the perception of these two dimensions of empathy and the family environment in the psychological health are addressed.     

Self-regulation in early childhood: the interplay between family risk,temperament and teacher–child interactions

Abstract

This study investigates the interplay between family risk and the quality of classroom interactions and their impact on self-regulation skills in two groups of children—children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds (at-risk) and non-risk children. Participants included 485 children (N = 93 classrooms)—233 (N = 47 classrooms) of which were from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Temperament was measured using teacher report. Trained observers rated classroom quality via live observations of a typical preschool day. Behavioral regulation was assessed using direct measures and emotional regulation was assessed using a teacher report. Analyses using multiple group structural equation modeling showed that at-risk children had lower levels of cool behavior regulation than non-risk children. In addition, classroom quality was positively linked to cool behavioral self-regulation. Moderating effects were additionally found between family risk and classroom quality on both hot behavioral regulation and emotional regulation. Classroom quality served as a protective factor for children exposed to more risk factors. Results showed complex associations between individual characteristics, classroom quality, and family risk, indicating a need to further explore the interplay among these variables.     

When repeating aloud enhances episodic memory for spoken words: interactions between production- and perception-derived variability

We demonstrate that the phonetic detail of an original speaker’s pronunciation for a word can be detected with a memory measure even when a participant listens to and then repeats that word aloud (production). At study, native English participants heard English words pronounced by a native speaker of American-English or by a Chinese national. For half of the words they listened. For the others, they produced it. In both recall and old/new recognition tests in Experiment 1, production improved performance relative to listening alone. Effects of accent were present only in recognition and only in interaction with production. In Experiment 2, a source-monitoring recognition test where participants identified whether the speaker of a word changed from study to test, effects of accent and production were additive indicating that hearing an unfamiliar accent increased memory irrespective of production. An exemplar account including both production- as well as perception-derived experience describes the outcome.     

A stimulus set of words and pictures matched for visual and semantic similarity

Researchers in different fields of psychology have been interested in how vision and language interact, and what type of representations are involved in such interactions. We introduce a stimulus set that facilitates such research (available online). The set consists of 100 words each of which is paired with four pictures of objects: One semantically similar object (but visually dissimilar), one visually similar object (but semantically dissimilar), and two unrelated objects. Visual and semantic similarity ratings between corresponding items are provided for every picture for Dutch and for English. In addition, visual and linguistic parameters of each picture are reported. We thus present a stimulus set from which researchers can select, on the basis of various parameters, the items most optimal for their research question.     

Worry and working memory influence each other iteratively over time

Little research has examined whether the relationship between working memory (WM) and anxiety/worry remains stable or changes over time; and, if changes occur, the factor(s) influencing change. Claims about influence are typically inferred from data collected at a single time point, and may misrepresent the nature of influence. To investigate the iterative influence of WM and Worry and/or vice versa, 133 fourteen-year-olds completed WM and Worry measures several times over the course of a single day as they prepared for a math test. We used a bivariate latent difference score model to analyse possible changes in WM–Worry relationships. The best fitting model indicated high Worry predicts decreases in WM, and low or decreased WM predicts increases in Worry; high WM with low Worry predicts accurate problem solving; low WM with high Worry predicts inaccurate problem solving. Findings show relationships between WM and Worry varies considerably over a single day, and initial disadvantages become worse over time.     

What good leaders actually do: micro-level leadership behaviour,leader evaluations,and team decision quality

We supplement broad definitions of leadership behaviour with the concept of micro-level leadership behaviour, leaders’ verbal and non-verbal visible conduct and interaction. For the context of team decision-making, we identify two potentially beneficial micro-level leadership behaviours, question asking and behavioural mimicry. Specifically, we propose that under conditions of informational complexity and unshared information, participative leadership is most appropriate for team decision-making, that its effects are mediated by inquiring and empathy, and that question asking and mimicry are the behavioural micro-level manifestations of inquiring and empathy. We thus hypothesize that the effect of participative leadership on team decision quality and leader evaluation is mediated by question asking and mimicry. We conduct a laboratory experiment with student teams working on a hidden profile decision-making task and measure question asking through behavioural coding and mimicry with motion sensors. Results show that the effect of participative leadership on decision quality is mediated by question asking, and that the effect of participative leadership on leader evaluation as transformational is mediated by leaders’ behavioural mimicry and question asking. Under control of these micro-level behaviours, team decision quality and leader evaluations were unrelated.     

Minding gaps on the skin: Opposite bisection biases on forehead and back of one’s head

Humans perceive the world from an egocentric perspective, while being able to mentally take a third person’s perspective. Graphesthesia tasks revealed that letters written on the back of one’s own head are consistently perceived from an embodied perspective, while the perspective on one’s front is less consistent and often disembodied. We developed a cutaneous gap bisection task as a more discrete measure of the perspective on the body. In analogy to a visual pseudoneglect, we expected bisections to deviate toward the left ear when perceived from an embodied perspective. While this hypothesis was confirmed for gap bisections on the back, the results on the front suggest overall a disembodied perspective. Contrary to our expectation, this pattern was not predicted by the spontaneous perspective participants took in a graphesthesia task, indicating different cognitive mechanisms. We discuss these findings in the frame of the current literature on spatial attention and perspective taking.