Rapid error correction during human arm movements: evidence for central monitoring

Studies were made of rapid error correction movements in eight subjects performing a visually guided tracking task involving flexion-extension movements about the elbow. Subjects were required to minimize reaction times in this two-choice task. Errors in initial movement direction occurred in about 3% of the trials. Error correction times (time from initiation to reversal of movement in incorrect direction) ranged from 30-150 ms. The first sing of correction of the error movement was a suppression of the electromyographic (EMG) activity in the muscle producing the error movement. This suppression started as early as 20-40 ms after the initiation of the error-related EMG activity and as much as 50 ms before any overt sign of limb movement. The correction of the error movement was also accompanied by an increase in the drive to the muscle which moved the arm in the correct direction. This increased activity always occurred after the initiation of the error movement. it is concluded that the first step in the error correction, suppression of drive to the muscle producing the error movement, cannot be based on information from the moving limb. It is thus suggested that this earliest response to the error movement is based on central monitoring of the commands for movement.     

Sentence processing strategies in healthy seniors with poor comprehension: an fMRI study

We used fMRI to examine patterns of brain recruitment in 22 healthy seniors, half of whom had selective comprehension difficulty for grammatically complex sentences. We found significantly reduced recruitment of left posterolateral temporal [Brodmann area (BA) 22/21] and left inferior frontal (BA 44/6) cortex in poor comprehenders compared to the healthy seniors with good sentence comprehension, cortical regions previously associated with language comprehension and verbal working memory, respectively. The poor comprehenders demonstrated increased activation of left prefrontal (BA 9/46), right dorsal inferior frontal (BA 44/6), and left posterior cingulate (BA 31/23) cortices for the grammatically simpler sentences that they understood. We hypothesize that these brain regions support an alternate, nongrammatical strategy for processing complex configurations of symbolic information. Moreover, these observations emphasize the crucial role of the left perisylvian network for grammatically guided sentence processing in subjects with good comprehension.     

Alberta's suicide prevention training programs: a retrospective comparison with Rothman's developmental research model

Developmental research is used to transform existing knowledge into applied programs. A social research and development (R&D) method, developed by Rothman for the human service professions, is compared with the method used to develop the Suicide Prevention Training Programs in Alberta, Canada. A retrospective review compares the development of these programs, which have since been implemented both nationally and internationally, with Rothman's model; discusses social R&D as a transformation methodology; and draws conclusions about the probable success of using developmental research methods in the human services. The review finds that the Alberta method closely paralleled the phases of Rothman's model. Results show that the transformation of knowledge about suicide into widely disseminated suicide prevention training programs can be attributed to the application of social R&D principles. The study concludes that the use of developmental research methods to establish human service programs should increase the probability of their success.     

Conceptual fallacies in subjective probability

Subjective probability considered as a logic of partial belief succumbs to three fundamental fallacies. These concern the representation of preference via expectation, the measurability of partial belief, and the normalization of belief.     

Can a Supportive Workplace Impact Employee Resilience in a High Pressure Performance Environment? An Investigation of the Chinese Banking Industry

Resilience is one of the positive emotions that will enhance employees’ ability to cope in adverse conditions, such as work intensification, organisational change, and work stress. Despite growing research interest in the employee resilience area, there is limited knowledge of the process through which critical social support at workplaces, such as supportive leadership and co-worker support, affects employees’ ability to cope in challenging situations. This study, underpinned by the theory of conservation of resources and social cognitive theory, examines the role of supportive leadership and co-worker support in employee resilience, and how this may be moderated by work pressures in the context of the Chinese banking industry. Using a sample of 2,025 Chinese banking workers, we tested four hypotheses. Our findings demonstrate that supportive leadership and co-worker support are positively associated with employee resilience. High work pressure moderates the relationship between both supportive leadership and co-worker support and employee resilience, such that the relationship between these conditions is stronger when perceived performance pressure is high. Our study raises important implications for both the theoretical development of employee resilience and for management practices with respect to fostering employee resilience in organisations.     

Large-scale neural network for sentence processing

Our model of sentence comprehension includes at least grammatical processes important for structure-building, and executive resources such as working memory that support these grammatical processes. We hypothesized that a core network of brain regions supports grammatical processes, and that additional brain regions are activated depending on the working memory demands associated with processing a particular grammatical feature. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test this hypothesis by comparing cortical activation patterns during coherence judgments of sentences with three different syntactic features. We found activation of the ventral portion of left inferior frontal cortex during judgments of violations of each grammatical feature. Increased recruitment of the dorsal portion of left inferior frontal cortex was seen during judgments of violations of specific grammatical features that appear to involve a more prominent working memory component. Left posterolateral temporal cortex and anterior cingulate were also implicated in judging some of the grammatical features. Our observations are consistent with a large-scale neural network for sentence processing that includes a core set of regions for detecting and repairing several different kinds of grammatical features, and additional regions that appear to participate depending on the working memory demands associated with processing a particular grammatical feature.     

Don't Make Me Angry! A Psychophysiological Examination of the Anger–Performance Relationship in Intermediate and Elite Fencers

We aimed to identify the effect of state-anger on precision, speed, and power components of performance during fencing attacks. We conducted a laboratory-based, single-case research experiment to test the fine motor task performance of two experienced and two elite-level fencers under two emotional states: anger and emotion-neutral. We assessed anger via psychophysiological and self-report measures, and we induced anger via a brief imagery intervention. Through the use of an innovative design, which included multiple measures of change, we showed that anger had a consistent negative effect on precision but an inconsistent relationship with response time and muscle activity. The current research design and protocol offer a novel and in-depth method for examining the specific relationships between affective states, emotions, and the complexities that underpin performance. The specific effects of anger on performance were multifarious, complex, and inconsistent. Nonetheless, the results tend to indicate that anger facilitates reaction time and debilitates performance, and these effects were clearer for the most elite performers. The effects of anger on performance are clearly complex, so it would be rather premature to make any suggestions for future practice at this point. Nonetheless, the clearer findings with the elite fencers indicate that researchers will likely yield the most fruitful insights by examining the effects of emotion of performance in elite performers.