Global dot integration in typically developing children and in Williams Syndrome

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results in deficits in visuospatial perception and cognition. The dorsal stream vulnerability hypothesis in WS predicts that visual motion processes are more susceptible to damage than visual form processes. We asked WS participants and typically developing children to detect the global structure Glass patterns, under “static” and “dynamic” conditions in order to evaluate this hypothesis. Sequentially presented Glass patterns are coined as dynamic because they induce illusory motion, which is modeled after the interaction between orientation (form) and direction (motion) mechanisms. If the dorsal stream vulnerability holds in WS participants, then they should process real and illusory motion atypically. However, results are consistent with the idea that form and motion integration mechanisms are functionally delayed or attenuated in WS. Form coherence thresholds for both static and dynamic Glass patterns in WS were similar to those of 4–5 year old children, younger than what is predicted by mental age. Dynamic presentation of Glass patterns improved thresholds to the same degree as typical participants. Motion coherence thresholds in WS were similar to those of mental age matches. These data pose constraints on the dorsal vulnerability hypothesis, and refine our understanding of the relationship between form and motion processing in development.     

Age-related changes in trunk neuromuscular activation patterns during a controlled functional transfer task include amplitude and temporal synergies

While healthy aging is associated with physiological changes that can impair control of trunk motion, few studies examine how spinal muscle responses change with increasing age. This study examined whether older (over 65 years) compared to younger (20–45 years) adults had higher overall amplitude and altered temporal recruitment patterns of trunk musculature when performing a functional transfer task. Surface electromyograms from twelve bilateral trunk muscle (24) sites were analyzed using principal component analysis, extracting amplitude and temporal features (PCs) from electromyographic waveforms. Two PCs explained 96% of the waveform variance. Three factor ANOVA models tested main effects (group, muscle and reach) and interactions for PC scores. Significant (p < .0125) group interactions were found for all PC scores. Post hoc analysis revealed that relative to younger adults, older adults recruited higher agonist and antagonistic activity, demonstrated continuous activation levels in specific muscle sites despite changing external moments, and had altered temporal synergies within abdominal and back musculature. In summary both older and younger adults recruit highly organized activation patterns in response to changing external moments. Differences in temporal trunk musculature recruitment patterns suggest that older adults experience different dynamic spinal stiffness and loading compared to younger adults during a functional lifting task.     

The relationship between cognitive errors,coping strategies,and clients' experiences in session: An exploratory study

Aim: Cognitive errors (CE) and coping strategies (CS) can bear weight on how individuals relate to others and perceive interpersonal relationships. However, there is little research into how clients' erroneous beliefs and maladaptive coping strategies can interfere with the therapeutic process. This study utilised a sample of healthy clients to explore the relationship between their CEs and CSs and their evaluation of therapy. Method: Therapy sessions of undergraduate student clients (N =26) were rated using the Cognitive Error Rating Scale (CERS – 3rd edition), the Coping Patterns Rating Scale (CPRS;), the Session Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ) and the Session Impact Scale (SIS). Results: Clients who engaged in dichotomous thinking endorsed problem solving less and were more likely to feel unsupported and misunderstood by the therapist. Clients who discounted the positive tended to feel more pressured and judged by therapists. Conversely, those who engaged in problem solving were more likely to find sessions deeper and more valuable as compared to those who reacted to stressful events by submission, escape, or opposition. Implications: Better understanding how and when a client's cognitive errors and coping mechanisms are at play during therapy can help clinicians to address them and intervene appropriately.     

Offending Patterns of Serial Sex Offenders: Escalation,De‐escalation,and Consistency of Sexually Intrusive and Violent Behaviours

A series of stranger sexual assaults poses considerable obstacles for law enforcement officials. One such preoccupation is concerned with whether or not the offender will escalate in the severity of his behaviours with subsequent victims. The current study uses transition matrices to address whether or not the offending patterns of 72 serial stranger sex offenders change from one victim to the next as it pertains to their sexual acts and level of physical force used during the crime. Findings indicate that stability, specifically the offender's intrusive sexual acts and use of physical force, and versatility are present in this sample's offending patterns. To explain changes in offending patterns between victims, multinomial regression analyses indicate that situational factors and modus operandi strategies are important considerations. Implications for investigations are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Obstacle avoidance under automated steering: Impact on driving and gaze behaviours

Within the context of more and more autonomous vehicles, an automatic lateral control device (AS: Automatic Steering) was used to steer the vehicle along the road without drivers’ intervention. The device was not able to detect and avoid obstacles. The experiment aimed to analyse unexpected obstacle avoidance manoeuvres when lateral control was delegated to automation. It was hypothesized that drivers skirting behaviours and eye movement patterns would be modified with automated steering compared with a control situation without automation. Eighteen participants took part in a driving simulator study. Steering behaviours and eye movements were analysed during obstacle avoidance episodes. Compared with driving without automation, skirting around obstacles was found to be less effective when drivers had to return from automatic steering to manual control. Eye movements were modified in the presence of automatic steering, revealing further ahead visual scanning of the driving environment. Resuming manual control is not only a problem of action performance but is also related to the reorganisation of drivers’ visual strategies linked to drivers’ disengagement from the steering task. Assistance designers should pay particular attention to potential changes in drivers’ activity when carrying out development work on highly automated vehicles.     

音乐经验对言语加工能力的促进作用

以初中二年级的学生为考察对象,探讨了音乐经验对不同层次的言语加工能力的促进作用,发现：在声音信号的加工层面,音乐经验对音高和时长信息感知能力的发展都有积极的促进作用;在语音意识层面,音乐经验的促进作用只局限于声调意识;在言语记忆方面,音乐经验可以促进言语材料在长时记忆中的保持。     

Moving the Arm at Different Rates: Slow Movements are Avoided

Qualitative and quantitative changes characterize locomotion and rhythmic interlimb coordination at different speeds. Legs and hands do not move more or less quickly; they also adopt different relative coordination patterns. In the present article, the authors asked whether similar transitions occur for unimanual hand movements when speed is slowed below the preferred speed. Participants moved a handheld dowel back and forth between 2 large circular targets in time with a metronome at periods between 370 ms and 1667 ms. The authors analyzed the kinematics of participants’ movements at each period and found that proportional dwell time and number of peaks in the velocity profile increased as driving periods increased. Path lengths and peak velocities remained relatively constant for driving periods exceeding 800 ms. Participants made only gradual changes to their movement parameters, so that they went from a continuous mode to a more discrete mode of behavior for longer driving periods. Thus, unlike for rhythmic bimanual movements or locomotory patterns, there are quantitative but no clear qualitative changes for unimanual movements. The results suggest that participants tried to move close to their preferred tempo at different rates, and that they avoided moving slowly.     

Using Genograms Creatively to Promote Healthy Lifestyles

ABSTRACT

Family therapists have used Genograms as an assessment tool for years to examine the interactions and relationships of family members across generations. This article discusses how a therapist can use a genogram creatively to help clients examine the impact of family relationships on healthy and unhealthy lifestyle patterns and how those relationships may be influencing the manner in which clients are currently managing their lives. The integration of a creative genogram can assist clients in recognizing inherited health-disease risks, learned lifestyle patterns, and parental behavior modeling. This technique can assist clients in developing a healthier lifestyle.     

锥指博识说《周易》——钱钟书论《易》述评

钱钟书先生《管锥编》开篇即论《周易》,他以如锥的深见,广博的学识,对《易》之若干重要义理、用象奥秘乃至修辞妙诣,皆用中西比较之法阐明其于昔世、今世,东方、西方的普遍性意义,并且给予颇具启迪性的发挥,使今之读《易》者获得不少生动的意趣。     

音高模式加工的大脑偏侧化研究

作为一种超音段成分,音高在言语的理解和产生过程中承担着重要作用,这些作用主要包括:区别不同声调的词汇意义,区别陈述、疑问等不同的语调,标志话语的情绪色彩等。音段、语义和句法信息的加工具有左脑优势,但音高模式加工的单侧优势及其机制还存在很多争论,本文从音高模式加工的两个主要理论———功能假设和声音信号假设出发,对相关研究加以评述。