Modeling Asymmetry in the Time–Distance Relation of Ordinal Personality Items

In analyzing responses and response times to personality questionnaire items, models have been proposed which include the so-called “inverted-U effect.” These models predict that response times to personality test items decrease as the latent trait value of a given person gets closer to the attractiveness of an item. Initial studies into these models have focused on dichotomous personality items, and more recently, models for Likert-type scale items have been proposed. In all these models, it is assumed that the inverted-U effect is symmetrical around 0, while, as will be explained in this article, there are substantive and statistical reasons to study this assumption. Therefore, in this article, a general inverted-U model is proposed which accommodates two sources of asymmetry between the response times and the attractiveness of the items. The viability of this model is demonstrated in a simulation study, and the model is applied to the responses and response times of the Temperament and Character Inventory–Revised, covering a broad range of personality dimensions.     

The effects of massage velocity on heart rate and heart rate variability in healthy infants: A randomized crossover study

BackgroundInfant massage, in which mothers stroke their infant’s skin slowly and gently, can cause pleasant sensations in the infant that can be affected by the velocity of massage. However, the massage velocity at which infants feel the most pleasant sensations remains unclear.ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of massage velocity on heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) in healthy infants.MethodTwenty-two infant-mother dyads two to seven months of age were recruited. Mothers stroked their infant’s skin at three massage velocities (5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 cm/s) in a randomized order for 15 min. The rhythm of massage velocity was calculated according to the length of three body areas. The massage velocity of the mothers was regulated using a metronome. HR and HRV (high frequency [HF] and low frequency [LF]) were measured at rest and during massage for each velocity. The effects on pleasantness were evaluated using percent change in median baseline value compared with median values for the three massage velocities. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance mixed effect models to exclude “period” and “carryover” effects during massage.ResultsWhen measuring HF, massage (7.5 cm/s) caused a significant increase in pleasantness compared with 10.0 cm/s (p = 0.04). The HR and LF/HF ratio were not significantly changed between velocities.ConclusionResults of this study suggested that a massage velocity of 7.5 cm/s was the most pleasant for infants. Future research should investigate the relationship between an infant massage by optimal velocity and infant development in longitudinal studies.     

自发性知觉经络反应中产生刺麻感和积极情绪的原因

自发性知觉经络反应(autonomous sensory meridian response,ASMR)是指在特定的视听刺激下,某些个体(ASMR敏感个体)在头皮后部、颈部乃至全身体验到一种令人极度愉快和放松的刺麻感的现象。其中,刺麻感的产生可能是个体大脑中负责感觉和肌肉运动的脑区高度激活引起的; 而与情绪和奖赏有关脑区的高度激活以及心率和呼吸频率的下降可能是产生愉快和放松感的重要原因。相比普通个体,ASMR敏感个体具有较高的神经质、共情特质、感觉受暗示性和特质正念。这可能说明ASMR敏感个体的感觉敏感性较高,情绪稳定性较弱,且比较关注自己身体的内外感受。这些个性特质可能导致ASMR敏感个体对某些视听刺激中所包含的一些感觉和情绪信息更加敏感,对其反应也更加强烈。目前,ASMR已经被用于抑郁,压力,失眠和慢性疼痛等的临床治疗以及商业广告之中。但ASMR可能会干扰个体的执行功能,在认知控制需求较高的情景下应尽量避免接触ASMR刺激。     

Some subordinates are more equal than others: Play fihgting amongst adult subordinate male rats

Adult male rats living together form dominance relationships, with one dominant and the remainder adopting subordinate roles. In previous studies, it was shown that in adult male pairs, the subordinate rat initiates more playful contacts and retains a more juvenile response to the playful contacts by the dominant. In this experiment, triads were used to examine the play between subordinate males. The subordinates directed fewer playful contacts to each other than to the dominant rat, and there was a symmetrical play relationship between the subordinates. After the dominant was removed from the colony, one subordinate became the dominant. Playful interactions amongst these pairs increased, with the subordiante intiating more playful contacts than the dominant. Furthermore, from a similarly low frequency of juvenile-type response to playful contact to each other when in triads, the subordinate in the dyads increased its frequency of juvenile responses to the dominant partner. This supports the hypothesis that the playful behavior of subordinate male rats towards the dominant is an adaptive response, playful behavior of subordinate male rats towards the dominant is an adaptive response, serving a “friendship maintenance” function. Finally, when in triads, one subordinate was more playful with the dominant than the other subordinate. It was the least playful subordinate that was the most likely to become the dominant. This sugests that within a colony, not all subordinates are the same. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Does inconsistency always lead to negative affect? The influence of need for closure on affective reactions to cognitive inconsistency

We present an experiment showing that need for closure (NFC)—defined as the epistemic desire for certainty—can moderate individuals' affective reactions to cognitive inconsistency. Informed by Kruglanski and colleagues' new theory, that cognitive inconsistency elicits negative affect particularly under certain circumstances, we find that NFC (i.e. the desire for certain, stable and unambiguous knowledge) influences the strength of consistency effects and resulting negative affect. More specifically, we find that individuals who are high on NFC experience more negative affect upon encountering an inconsistent (vs. consistent) cognition. However, when individuals are low on NFC, inconsistency is irrelevant, and their affect depends on whether the ultimate outcome of the cognition is positive or negative. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this research.     

Response to name in children with autism: Treatment,generalization, and maintenance

Deficits in response to name (RTN) are an early indicator of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and RTN is a treatment goal in many early intervention curricula for children with ASD. However, little research has empirically evaluated methods for increasing RTN in children with ASD. We evaluated a series of conditions designed to increase RTN for 4 children with ASD using a multielement experimental design. The schedules of tangible reinforcement were thinned after mastery and generalization was tested across people and contexts. Tangible reinforcers were necessary to increase RTN for all 4 participants, and the schedule of reinforcement was successfully thinned with all participants after intervention. Generalization was also observed across people and experimental contexts.     

Examining the item response process to personality measures in high-stakes situations: Issues of measurement validity and predictive validity

We conducted two experimental studies with between-subjects and within-subjects designs to investigate the item response process for personality measures administered in high- versus low-stakes situations. Apart from assessing measurement validity of the item response process, we examined predictive validity; that is, whether or not different response models entail differential selection outcomes. We found that ideal point response models fit slightly better than dominance response models across high- versus low-stakes situations in both studies. Additionally, fitting ideal point models to the data led to fewer items displaying differential item functioning compared to fitting dominance models. We also identified several items that functioned as intermediate items in both the faking and honest conditions when ideal point models were fitted, suggesting that ideal point model is “theoretically” more suitable across these contexts for personality inventories. However, the use of different response models (dominance vs. ideal point) did not have any substantial impact on the validity of personality measures in high-stakes situations, or the effectiveness of selection decisions such as mean performance or percent of fakers selected. These findings are significant in that although prior research supports the importance and use of ideal point models for measuring personality, we find that in the case of personality faking, though ideal point models seem to have slightly better measurement validity, the use of dominance models may be adequate with no loss to predictive validity.     

Neuronal correlates of full and partial visual conscious perception

Stimuli may induce only partial consciousness—an intermediate between null and full consciousness—where the presence but not identity of an object can be reported. The differences in the neuronal basis of full and partial consciousness are poorly understood. We investigated if evoked and oscillatory activity could dissociate full from partial conscious perception. We recorded human cortical activity with magnetoencephalography (MEG) during a visual perception task in which stimulus could be either partially or fully perceived. Partial consciousness was associated with an early increase in evoked activity and theta/low-alpha-band oscillations while full consciousness was also associated with late evoked activity and beta-band oscillations. Full from partial consciousness was dissociated by stronger evoked activity and late increase in theta oscillations that were localized to higher-order visual regions and posterior parietal and prefrontal cortices. Our results reveal both evoked activity and theta oscillations dissociate partial and full consciousness.     

Stroop interference is a composite phenomenon: Evidence from distinct developmental trajectories of its components

Only one previous developmental study of Stroop task performance (Schiller, 1966) has controlled for differences in processing speed that exist both within and between age groups. Therefore, the question of whether the early developmental change in the magnitude of Stroop interference actually persists after controlling for processing speed needs further investigation; work that is further motivated by the possibility that any remaining differences would be caused by process(es) other than processing speed. Analysis of data from two experiments revealed that, even after controlling for processing speed using z‐transformed reaction times, early developmental change persists such that the magnitude of overall Stroop interference is larger in 3rd‐ and 5th graders as compared to 1st graders. This pattern indicates that the magnitude of overall Stroop interference peaks after 2 or 3 years of reading practice (Schadler & Thissen, 1981). Furthermore, this peak is shown to be due to distinct components of Stroop interference (resulting from specific conflicts) progressively falling into place. Experiment 2 revealed that the change in the magnitude of Stroop interference specifically results from joint contributions of task, semantic and response conflicts in 3rd‐ and 5th graders as compared to a sole contribution of task conflict in 1st graders. The specific developmental trajectories of different conflicts presented in the present work provide unique evidence for multiple loci of Stroop interference in the processing stream (respectively task, semantic and response conflict) as opposed to a single (i.e. response) locus predicted by historically – favored response competition accounts.