The effects of foot cooling on postural muscle responses to an unexpected loss of balance

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of foot sole somatosensory information during reactive postural control. Twenty young adults (22.0 ± 1.4 y) participated in this study. Baseline skin sensitivity from the foot sole was assessed using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments. Postural muscle responses, in the form of electromyographic (EMG) onset latencies and amplitudes, were then obtained while participants recovered their balance while standing on a moveable platform that could translate in either the forward or backward direction. Following these baseline measures, the participant’s foot soles were immersed in a 0–2 °C ice-water bath for 12 min followed by a 3 min re-immersion period. At the completion of foot cooling, foot sole sensitivity and postural muscle responses to the balance perturbations were re-assessed. Results indicated that the foot cooling protocol reduced foot sole sensitivity and remained reduced throughout the duration of the experiment (p < 0.001). The reduction in foot sole somatosensation resulted in the soleus EMG onset latency being delayed by 3 ms (p = 0.041) and the soleus and medial gastrocnemius EMG amplitudes increasing by 14–23% (p = 0.002–0.036) during the balance perturbation trials. While the magnitude of these results may suggest that foot cooling has a minor functional consequence on reactive postural control, it is likely that the results also reflect the ability of the central nervous system to rapidly adapt to situations with altered somatosensory feedback.     

Why Does Frustration Predict Psychopathology? Multiple Prospective Pathways Over Adolescence: A TRAILS Study

Adolescents' temperamental frustration is a developmental precursor of adult neuroticism and psychopathology. Because the mechanisms that underlie the prospective association between adolescents' high frustration and psychopathology (internalizing/externalizing) have not been studied extensively, we quantified three pathways: stress generation [mediation via selection/evocation of stressful life events (SLEs)], cross‐sectional frustration‐psychopathology overlap (‘carry‐over’/common causes), and a direct (non‐mediated) vulnerability effect of frustration, including moderation of SLE impact. Frustration and psychopathology were assessed at age 16 with the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire and the Youth Self‐Report. No gender differences in frustration were observed. At age 19, psychopathology was reassessed by using the Adult Self‐Report, while occurrence of endogenous (self‐generated) and exogenous (not self‐generated) SLEs during the interval (ages 16–19) were ascertained with the Life Stress Interview, an investigator‐based contextual‐stressfulness rating procedure (N = 957). Half of the prospective effect of frustration on psychopathology was explained by baseline overlap, including effects of ‘carry‐over’ and common causes, about 5% reflected stress generation (a ‘vicious’ cycle with the environment adolescents navigate and shape), and 45% reflected unmediated association: a direct vulnerability effect including stress sensitivity or moderation of SLE impact. After adjustment for their overlap, frustration predicted the development of externalizing but not internalizing symptoms. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Which kind of attention is captured by cues with the relative target colour?

Most theories of visual search maintain that attention is selectively tuned to the attributes of the search target (e.g., orange). Conversely, according to the relational account, attention is biased to the relative feature of the target (e.g., redder). However, previous studies that supported the relational account mainly measured mean response times. Hence, the results might not reflect early, perceptual mechanisms (e.g., signal enhancement) but later, decision-based mechanisms (channel selection). The current study tested the relational account against feature-specific theories in a spatial cueing task, in which the targets were backward-masked, and target identification accuracy was measured. The first experiment corroborated earlier results, demonstrating that relational effects are due to signal enhancement. In the second experiment, we chose highly discriminable colours along the blue–red continuum, and obtained results that were more consistent with broad feature-specific rather than relational tuning. The implications of these findings for current theories of attention are discussed.     

Characteristics of Blood-Injection-Injury Fears in People Receiving Intravenous Chemotherapy

Blood-Injection-Injury (BII) phobia is associated with distress and avoidance in response to blood, injury, or receiving injections. BII phobia can therefore create problems for those receiving medical procedures such as chemotherapy. The prevalence rate of BII in the general population has been estimated to be less than 5% but as many as 19% of outpatients receiving chemotherapy surveyed by Carey and Harris (Behaviour Change 22:5–90, 2005) reported BII concerns. This study examined the extent and characteristics of BII concerns among outpatients receiving chemotherapy for the first time (n = 124). Almost 17% of the sample had scores on the Mutilation Questionnaire comparable to samples with clinical BII phobia. Those assigned to a high BII concern group based on Mutilation Questionnaire scores reported higher somatic and fainting responses to BII stimuli and elevated disgust sensitivity, compared to groups selected for low BII concerns. Females had significantly higher Mutilation Questionnaire scores than males. Thus, the BII concerns of outpatients receiving chemotherapy appear qualitatively similar to the concerns reported by clinical BII phobia samples and analogue student samples. We suggest that the standard inclusion of a brief, reliable screening measure of BII concerns for outpatients scheduled for chemotherapy, coupled with brief, effective interventions to reduce BII-related distress, may be warranted.     

内隐与外显倾向性道德敏感的关系及其预测源分析

以228名大学生为被试, 采用内隐联想测验(IAT)、倾向性道德敏感问卷(MDSQ)以及其它有关量表考察其内隐与外显倾向性道德敏感的关系及其预测变量。结果表明:男生比女生表现出在倾向性道德敏感上更高的内隐效应, 而女生则在外显倾向性道德敏感的移情内疚、移情烦扰等因子上得分高于男生, 在惩罚倾向因子上低于男生;大学生被试的外显、内隐倾向性道德敏感没有显著相关;自我监控、道德态度强度均能在不同程度上预测内隐与外显倾向性道德敏感的关系, 自我监控的预测作用相对较高。     

Components of the Behavioral Activation System and Functional Impulsivity: A test of discriminant hypotheses

It has recently been suggested that the concept of Functional Impulsivity bears some similarity to the sensitivity of the Behavioral Activation System (BAS; Smillie & Jackson, 2006). In the present research we take a closer look at this idea, testing more specific hypotheses on the associations of different BAS-related components with Functional and Dysfunctional Impulsivity. Analyzing a sample of 719, we found that the Drive component was uniquely connected with Functional Impulsivity, and Fun Seeking was linked to both impulsivities, but more weakly so to Functional Impulsivity compared with Drive. Reward Responsiveness was unrelated to Impulsivity. Implications for the conceptualization of Functional Impulsivity and for a complex view of BAS-related functions are addressed.     

Justice‐sensitive interpretations of ambiguous situations

The accessibility of concepts related to justice and injustice is proposed as a basic cognitive mechanism underlying the personality trait of justice sensitivity. To provide evidence for this assertion, the manner in which justice sensitivity shapes the interpretation of an ambiguous situation was investigated. It was found that, without priming, and after injustice is primed, persons high in justice sensitivity tend to perceive greater injustice in an ambiguous situation than persons low in justice sensitivity. If the restoration of justice is primed, however, persons high in justice sensitivity tend to interpret the ambiguous situation as more just when compared to persons low in justice sensitivity. Results are discussed with regard to a process‐oriented explanation of emotional and behavioural effects of justice sensitivity.     

The Church: Intransit and Intransigent

In this essay, I revisit James E. Dittes' first book, The Church in the Way, and discuss its most salient points. Of particular interest is the view that parish ministers should adapt concepts from psychoanalysis for their ministry, especially as concerns the phenomenon of resistant behavior on the part of parishioners. Dittes' central claim is that resistance is a sign of vitality and thus should be embraced and exploited as a resource for ministry. Evaluating that claim alongside the enduring value of the book as a whole, I suggest three ways the work remains contemporarily relevant.     

Infant sensitivity to distributional information can affect phonetic discrimination.

For nearly two decades it has been known that infants' perception of speech sounds is affected by native language input during the first year of life. However, definitive evidence of a mechanism to explain these developmental changes in speech perception has remained elusive. The present study provides the first evidence for such a mechanism, showing that the statistical distribution of phonetic variation in the speech signal influences whether 6- and 8-month-old infants discriminate a pair of speech sounds. We familiarized infants with speech sounds from a phonetic continuum, exhibiting either a bimodal or unimodal frequency distribution. During the test phase, only infants in the bimodal condition discriminated tokens from the endpoints of the continuum. These results demonstrate that infants are sensitive to the statistical distribution of speech sounds in the input language, and that this sensitivity influences speech perception.