Development of linear measurement in five- and six-year-old children

This study sought to identify the higher level knowledge (e.g., conservation of number) necessary for a child to understand linear measurement and to chart the growth of linear measurement in terms of the development of its components. To assess the presence of these components, a battery of 34 number, length, and distance tasks was developed and administered to 100 children between the ages of 63 and 78 months from kindergarten and Grade 1. Results indicate that there is a substantial delay between acquisition of the necessary components and emergence of a mature grasp of linear measurement. The collection of components for the number and length domains form scaled sets; within each domain, however, the pattern of development is marked by discontinuities. These discontinuities are interpreted as being associated with the need to reorganize number and length concepts. Most elements of the observed sequences of development are predicted by Piagetian theory, although others, such as asynchronies between conservation and transitive inferences of nonequivalence, are more consistent with Gagne's (1968) model of development.     

Crowding and stress: 2. A personal space approach

The concept of ‘personal space’ has sometimes been invoked in attempts to explain stressful effects of crowding; but the literature on personal space reveals divergent findings according to the definitions and methods of measurement used. Redefinitions are proposed whereby personal space preferences can be seen as mediating our reactions to the spatial proximity of others, according to a dynamic model which considers both task-related needs for physical space and privacy needs, together with concern over social norms and attributions. It is argued that perceived illegitimate invasion of the personal space one claims is likely to give rise to stress effects if coping responses fail. Thus crowding is likely to be stressful in many natural contexts where personal space is intruded upon frequently, especially when attributions of intentional thwarting are made. Further theoretical advances in this area must rest upon more precise specification of processes by which social relationships, situational variables, and subjective motivational, perceptual, and evaluative factors jointly determine an agent’s personal space claims and associated reactions to spatial invasion.     

Examining the Spatiotemporal Disruption to Gaze When Using a Myoelectric Prosthetic Hand

The aim of this study was to provide a detailed account of the spatial and temporal disruptions to eye-hand coordination when using a prosthetic hand during a sequential fine motor skill. Twenty-one able-bodied participants performed 15 trials of the picking up coins task derived from the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure with their anatomic hand and with a prosthesis simulator while wearing eye-tracking equipment. Gaze behavior results revealed that when using the prosthesis, performance detriments were accompanied by significantly greater hand-focused gaze and a significantly longer time to disengage gaze from manipulations to plan upcoming movements. The study findings highlight key metrics that distinguish disruptions to eye-hand coordination that may have implications for the training of prosthesis use.     

A Multitrait-multimethod examination of Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI)

Recently, certain Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) scales have seen increasing usage for the measurement of DSM-III personality disorders. The current study sought to identify the convergent and discriminant validity of these two sets of scales for this purpose. In general, the results indicated significant convergence across the two instruments. However, better convergent validity was found for scales representing those DSM-III disorders which are most consistent with the typology upon which the MCMI was based. In particular, convergent and discriminant validity results were poorest for Compulsive, Antisocial, and Passive-Aggressive personality scales.     

A case of therapy by proxy?

Consultancy was offered to a worker requesting help, because of some concern he felt as to how best to progress with a single-parent family where a teenage son with a mental handicap wished to move out and establish himself independently. The situation appeared to us to be 'stuck', with parent and son engaged in a mutually distressing cycle of antagonism with both emotional and physical violence. During the consultancy, communication was established with the parent via messages carried by the worker, and significant change was promoted through these interventions. This work was novel, unusually complex and carried implications for theory, practice and ethics.     

Crowding and stress: 1. Review of variables and theories

Recent empirical research has sometimes failed to support the existence of a direct causal link between human crowding, as measured by objective density indices, and stress effects. It has even been proposed that high density merely intensifies reactions due to other causes, thereby casting basic doubt on the reality of crowding-induced stress. Conceptual issues in crowding research are discussed, and an attempt is made to resolve definitional problems. Theories of crowding are reviewed, suggesting that any plausible theory of crowding effects must take seriously the cognitive mediation of environmental variables, plus the operation of a complex set of personal and interpersonal processes which will determine whether and when high densityis likely to result in stress. These considerations cast doubt on the generalizability of that research which has failed to demonstrate crowding stress effects, and highlight the need for an integration of existing theories, so that predictions of the circumstances where crowding stress is most likely can eventually be made with greater precision.     

Examining the response programming function of the Quiet Eye: Do tougher shots need a quieter eye?

Support for the proposition that the Quiet Eye (QE) duration reflects a period of response programming (including task parameterisation) has come from research showing that an increase in task difficulty is associated with increases in QE duration. Here, we build on previous research by manipulating three elements of task difficulty that correspond with different parameters of golf-putting performance; force production, impact quality and target line. Longer QE durations were found for more complex iterations of the task and furthermore, more sensitive analyses of the QE duration suggest that the early QE proportion (prior to movement initiation) is closely related to force production and impact quality. However, these increases in QE do not seem functional in terms of supporting improved performance. Further research is needed to explore QE’s relationship with performance under conditions of increased difficulty.     

The impact of visual illusions on perception, action planning, and motor performance

The present study extended recent research revealing that illusions can influence performance in golf putting (Witt, Linkenauger, & Proffitt Psychological Science, 23, 397–399, 2012), by exploring the potential mediating roles of attention and action planning. Glover and Dixon’s (Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance, 27, 560–572, 2001) planning–control model suggests that both perceptual and movement-planning processes are prone to illusion-based bias. We therefore predicted that both the perception of target size and a measure of attentional control related to movement planning in golf putting (the quiet eye) would be influenced by the illusion. Moreover, as performance could not be corrected using online control (once the ball was struck), we predicted that these biases would also influence performance. We therefore proposed a three-stage process by which illusory context biases perceptual processes, which in turn bias subsequent attentional control related to movement planning, which in turn biases motor performance. Forty novice golfers completed an Ebbinghaus illusion putting task that was designed to manipulate their perceptions of target size, while quiet eye duration and performance (mean radial error) were measured. The results indicated that the illusion was effective in facilitating differences in perceived target size, with perceptually bigger holes promoting longer quiet eye durations and more accurate putting. Follow-up mediation analyses revealed that illusion-based differences in size perception partially mediated illusion-based differences in both quiet eye duration and performance. Moreover, the relationship between illusion-based differences in quiet eye duration and performance was also significant. Future research should further test this three-stage process of bias in other far-aiming tasks in which online control cannot be used.     

Flow and quiet eye: the role of attentional control in flow experience

This report was designed to investigate the role of effective attention control in flow states, by developing an experimental approach to the study of flow. A challenge-skill balance manipulation was applied to self-paced netball and basketball shooting tasks, with point of gaze recorded through mobile eye tracking. Quiet eye was used to index optimal control of visual attention. While the experimental manipulation was found to have no effect, quiet eye was associated with the experience of flow. Furthermore, mediation revealed an indirect effect of quiet eye on performance through flow experience. This study provides initial evidence that flow may be preceded by changes in visual attention, suggesting that further investigation of visual attention may elucidate the cognitive mechanisms behind flow experience.