Do production patterns influence the processing of speech in prelinguistic infants?

The headturn preference procedure was used to test 18 infants on their response to three different passages chosen to reflect their individual production patterns. The passages contained nonwords with consonants in one of three categories: (a) often produced by that infant (‘own’), (b) rarely produced by that infant but common at that age (‘other’), and (c) not generally produced by infants. Infants who had a single ‘own’ consonant showed no significant preference for either ‘own’ (a) or ‘other’ (b) passages. In contrast, infants’ with two ‘own’ consonants exhibited greater attention to ‘other’ passages (b). Both groups attended equally to the passage featuring consonants rarely produced by infants of that age (c). An analysis of a sample of the infant-directed speech ruled out the mothers’ speech as a source of the infant preferences. The production-based shift to a focus on the ‘other’ passage suggests that nascent production abilities combine with emergent perceptual experience to facilitate word learning.     

Does the "eyes lead the hand" principle apply to reach-to-grasp movements evoked by unexpected balance perturbations?

A fundamental principle that has emerged from studies of natural gaze behavior is that goal-directed arm movements are typically guided by a saccade to the target. In this study, we evaluated a hypothesis that this principle does not apply to rapid reach-to-grasp movements evoked by sudden unexpected balance perturbations. These perturbations involved forward translation of a large (2 × 6 m) motion platform configured to simulate a “real-life” environment. Subjects performed a common “daily-life” visuo-cognitive task (find a telephone and make a call) that required walking to the end of the platform, which was triggered to move as they approached a handrail mounted alongside the travel path. A deception was used to ensure that the perturbation was truly unexpected. Eleven of 18 healthy young-adult subjects (age 22-30) reached to grasp or touch the rail in response to the balance perturbation. In support of the hypothesis, none of these arm reactions was guided by concurrent visual fixation of the handrail. Seven of the 11 looked at the rail upon first entering the environment, and hence may have used “stored” central-field information about the handrail location to guide the subsequent arm reaction. However, the other four subjects never looked directly at the rail, indicating a complete reliance on peripheral vision. These findings add to previous evidence of distinctions in the CNS control of volitional and perturbation-evoked arm movements. Future studies will determine whether similar visuo-motor behavior occurs when the available handhold is smaller or when subjects are not engaged in a concurrent visuo-cognitive task.     

Emotion and reason in everyday risk perception

Although research has documented the importance of emotion in risk perception, little is known about it in the context of everyday life. Using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), 94 part‐time students were prompted at random—via cellular telephones—to report on mood state and three emotions and to assess risk on thirty occasions during their working hours. The emotions—valence, arousal, and dominance—were measured using self‐assessment manikins (SAMs) (Bradley & Lang, 1994). Hierarchical linear models (HLM) revealed that mood state and emotions explained significant variance in risk perception. In addition, valence and arousal accounted for variance over and above “reason” (measured by severity and possibility of risks). Six risks were re‐assessed in a post‐experimental session and found to be lower than their real‐time counterparts. The study demonstrates the feasibility and value of collecting representative samples of data with simple technology. Evidence is also provided to demonstrate the statistical consistency of the HLM estimates. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Response-repetition effects in task switching - dissociating effects of anatomical and spatial response discriminability

In task switching, response repetitions typically lead to performance benefits for task repetitions but costs for task switches. We examined whether this cost–benefit pattern is affected by response discriminability (RD), varying (a) the anatomical response separation (within-hand vs. between-hand responses) and (b) the spatial separation (close vs. far response keys). We assumed that anatomical RD increases response competition generally, whereas spatial RD increases the salience of left–right coding and thus facilitates response selection. In two experiments, we found that spatial RD increased the response-repetition costs in task switches but similarly decreased the response-repetition benefit in task repetitions. The effect of spatial RD was response-specific but did not interact with task switching. This data pattern is consistent with a recent account that proposed that facilitated response selection increases response “self-inhibition” after response execution. In contrast, the influence of anatomical RD primarily consisted of an overall increase of reaction-time level in all conditions, whereas error rates decreased, suggesting a general shift in response criterion. Taken together, the data suggest that a self-inhibition mechanism on the level of motor response codes contributes to response-repetition effects in task switching, which is possibly independent of task-specific mechanisms of strengthening of associations.     

Anxiety disorders in 8–11‐year‐old children: Motor skill performance and self‐perception of competence

Ekornås, B., Lundervold, A. J., Tjus, T. & Heimann, M. (2010). Anxiety disorders in 8–11‐year‐old children: Motor skill performance and self‐perception of competence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 271–277. This study investigates motor skill performance and self‐perceived competence in children with anxiety disorders compared with children without psychiatric disorders. Motor skills and self‐perception were assessed in 329 children aged 8 to 11 years, from the Bergen Child Study. The Kiddie‐SADS PL diagnostic interview was employed to define a group of children with an anxiety disorder without comorbid diagnosis, and a control group (no diagnosis) matched according to gender, age, and full‐scale IQ. Children in the anxiety disorder group displayed impaired motor skills and poor self‐perceived peer acceptance and physical competence compared with the control group. Two‐thirds of the anxious boys scored on the Motor Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) as having motor problems. The present study demonstrated impaired motor skills in boys with “pure” anxiety disorders. Anxious children also perceived themselves as being less accepted by peers and less competent in physical activities compared with children in the control group.     

知识类别和特点对内隐序列学习的影响

用序列学习中的反应时和错误个数间接测量被试的内隐知识,用再认成绩和预测成绩直接测量被试的外显知识,通过倒转不同的规则探讨了知识类别和特点对内隐序列学习的影响。结果表明：(1)内隐学习和外显学习可能分别依赖于两个独立的学习系统,且互不干扰;(2)当内隐序列学习既包含运动知识又包含概念知识时,知识类别和特点影响被试对序列知识的获得,被试较易获得运动知识;(3)在内隐序列学习中练习的数量也影响被试对序列知识的获得,序列学习是一个动态的过程。     

Inducing Vocal Verbal Behavior in Children with Severe Language Delays Through Rapid Motor Imitation Responding

We conducted two experiments demonstrating the use of a rapid motor imitation sequence to evoke echoic and independent mands in three preschoolers with no vocal verbal behavior, who were unresponsive to alternative procedures. We further tested the procedure in the induction of echoics and independent tacts. The dependent variables for both experiments were echoics, mands, and tacts. In Experiment 1, we used a within subject multiple baseline design, across two mand and two tact forms, which were introduced in a counterbalanced order. In Experiment 2 we used a multiple baseline across subjects design with a tandem tact and mand training schedule, during which opportunities for echoic and independent mand training were contingent upon correct echoic and independent tact responses. Results showed that the rapid motor imitation antecedent was successful in inducing echoic and independent mands and tacts. Tacts required fewer opportunities than mands for mastery during the first experiment.     

Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of neuromotor behaviour in children with a specific speech and language disorder

Several studies have described problems in a wide area of motor functions in language impaired children. The purpose of this study was to identify the nature of the motor deficits in two subgroups of language impaired children. A standard neurological examination was performed on 18 children with an expressive language disorder and 21 children with a receptive language disorder. The motor performance of the language disordered children was compared with the motor performance of 23 normal children. The standard neurological examination allowed for a qualitative and quantitative assessment of five specific neurological subsystems. Handedness was determined for all children. The language impaired children had more motor problems than the control children on most neurological subsystems. There were few statistically significant differences between the two groups of language impaired children. An excess in left‐handedness was established in the group of children with a receptive language disorder. There was a co‐occurrence of verbal and non‐verbal deficits in language impaired children. As these motor problems put an additional burden on the development of language impaired children, they should be diagnosed as early as possible. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparing response blocking and response interruption/redirection on levels of motor stereotypy: Effects of data analysis procedures

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is marked by deficits in social communication and the presence of restrictive and/or repetitive behaviors or interests. Motor stereotypy is a form of repetitive behavior that is common in ASD. Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) and response blocking (RB) are two interventions found to be efficacious in reducing motor stereotypy. However, the current literature presents with inconsistencies regarding the relative efficacy of these two procedures. Thus, we sought to replicate and extend previous literature by evaluating the efficacy of both interventions on reducing motor stereotypy among 3 individuals with ASD. We also sought to evaluate how variations in data analysis affected the interpretation of treatment outcomes. Results indicated that both interventions were equally efficacious at reducing stereotypy when analyzing data exclusive of treatment‐implementation time. However, when analyzing total session time data, RB produced greater and more sustained reductions in stereotypy across all participants. These results emphasize the importance of data analysis decision‐making in evaluating intervention outcomes.     

Motivational effects of enhancing expectancies and autonomy for motor learning: An examination of the OPTIMAL theory

The OPTIMAL theory proposes that enhancing expectancies and autonomy facilitate motor performance and learning (Wulf & Lewthwaite). Present study with two experiments aimed to examine this proposition by using a modified dart throwing as motor task. In both experiments, motor learning (i.e., retention test) was enhanced by practice conditions, which enhance expectancies for future performance and support learners’ autonomy. Moreover, they led to significantly superior self-efficacy scores during all acquisition phase, retention, and transfer tests. Findings of the present study provided support for propositions of the OPTIMAL theory. Results are discussed in terms of motivational aspects of enhancing expectancies and autonomy and their role on facilitating motor learning.