The brain mechanism that reduces the vividness of negative imagery

The present study attempts to locate brain regions that are related to vividness control, a hypothesized mechanism that reduces the vividness of negative imagery by controlling memory retrieval and emotion processing. The results showed that BOLD response in the left posterior cingulate gyrus in the negative imagery condition, in which activation of vividness control mechanisms was considered to be strong, was greater than that in the positive imagery condition, in which the activation of control mechanisms was considered to be weak. Moreover, the activation of this region negatively correlated with the subjective vividness of negative imagery. These results support the idea that the posterior cingulate gyrus may be involved in the suppression of imagery generation. Several previous studies have suggested that the posterior cingulate cortex is involved in both memory and emotion processing. Therefore, the current results indicate that the posterior cingulate gyrus may function as the vividness control mechanism.     

The Body in Religion: The Spatial Mapping of Valence in Tibetan Practitioners of Bön

According to the Body‐Specificity Hypothesis (BSH), people implicitly associate positive ideas with the side of space on which they are able to act more fluently with their dominant hand. Though this hypothesis has been rigorously tested across a variety of populations and tasks, the studies thus far have only been conducted in linguistic and cultural communities which favor the right over the left. Here, we tested the effect of handedness on implicit space‐valence mappings in Tibetan practitioners of Bön who show a strong religious preference for the left, in comparison to an English group. Results showed that Bön right‐handers tended to implicitly associate positive valence more strongly with their dominant side of space despite strong explicit associations between the left and goodness in their religion. This pattern of results found in Bön participants was indistinguishable from that found in English speakers. The findings of the present study support the BSH, demonstrating that space‐valence mappings in people's minds are shaped by their bodily experience, which appears to be independent of space‐valence mappings enshrined in cultural conventions.     

Sur l'omniprésence du mensonge dans le discours

Three levels are proposed to explain lying as a process in discourse production, to characterize different types of lies and to distinguish them from mistakes, ignorance and forgetting as well fr from ill-timed or irrelevant utterances.

     

Ear asymmetries in dichotic listening tasks which increase in difficulty

Accuracy and laterality of ear preference in repeating 2, 3 and 4 word pairs (WP) of dichotic stimuli in English and French were determined in 80 right-handed subjects (anglophone/francophone, male/female), who were tested in both their native language (L1) and nonnative language (L2). Relative performance accuracy decreased as a function of word pairs per trial (from 2 to 4) as well as language (from L1 to L2). Right-lateral preference in turn increased as a function of WP (from 2 to 4) as well as language (L1 to L2). Right-ear advantage (REA) in L2 decreased as a function of language proficiency (low to high). REA was observed in over 90% of subjects. A rationale for greater lateralization of L2 performance is offered.     

Acquisition and retention of gestures by apraxic patients

The purpose of this study was to examine whether apraxic-aphasic patients with parietal lesions had difficulty learning lists of gestures and whether the performance deficits they displayed resulted from an inability either to consolidate this information in memory or to retrieve the information once stored. The findings indicate that apraxic-aphasic patients do have difficulty acquiring lists of gestures. This inability to reproduce gestural information was not associated with a retrieval disorder, but instead the apraxic-aphasic subjects could not consolidate the information in memory.     

Health behavior, knowledge and attitudes among Swedish university students

A range of health behaviors was related to beliefs concerning health practices and health knowledge. A questionnaire dealing with health-related practices, health beliefs and knowledge of health risk factors was answered by 166 male and 179 female students aged 18–30 years at Stockholm University. Female students reported engaging in better health behavior than males. Beliefs about the importance of health behaviors were closely related to their frequency of occurrence. There was only a weak relationship between health behaviors and knowledge of specific health matters. It is concluded that health attitudes rather than health knowledge determine health behavior.     

负荷水平和作业信息输入输出形式对视觉追踪操作心理负荷评估敏感性的影响

就负荷水平和信息输入形式、输出形式对视觉追踪作业心理负荷评估指标敏感性的影响进行了实验．获得以下主要结果：①主任务绩效具有较好的评估敏感性;②作业信息输入形式、输出形式对评估指标敏感性有显著影响．     

Personality disorder correspondence between the million behavioral health inventory (MBHI) and the minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI)

The MBHI and MMPI personality disorder scales were analyzed for convergent and discriminant validity. Correlational data demonstrated that six of the eight scales were significantly related, while the remaining two scales approached significance. Further analyses of these data, however, demonstrated that none of the scales correlated significantly better with its convergent scale compared to nonconvergent scales. The MBHI classified significantly more of the sample as personality disordered (93%) compared to the MMPI personality disorder scales (17%). Furthermore, the MBHI tended to describe the sample as falling within the Anxious cluster of personality disorders, whereas the MMPI described them within the Dramatic cluster. Single scale codetype correspondence was found to be 15%, while two-point concordance was 12.5%, indicating very low congruence between personality style codetypes. These two measures do not appear to be measuring the same personality style constructs.     

An integrated mindfulness and acceptance-based program for young elite female basketball players: Exploratory study of how it works and for whom it works best

In order to better understand how an integrated mindfulness and acceptance-based intervention works and for whom it works best, study objectives were to examine (i) the trajectories of mindfulness skills and performance-related outcomes during the intervention, and athletes’ perceptions of the impact of the intervention; and (ii) the potential moderating effects of personality characteristics on changes in targeted variables associated with the intervention. The sample consisted of 40 young elite female basketball players (M = 16.33, SD = 0.75 years) from three incoming groups at the French Federal Basketball Center over a 3-year period. All players participated in a 15-week Mindfulness BasketBall Integrated program. They completed online questionnaires measuring personality traits 10 months before the intervention, as well as pre-, mid- and post-intervention measurements of mindfulness skills, intensity and directional interpretation of stress, and performance satisfaction. They also participated in semi-structured social validation interviews conducted one month after the intervention. The results of the multilevel growth curve (MGCA) and thematic analyses revealed how the mindfulness skills and performance-related outcomes evolved over the course of the intervention and how these changes were perceived by the athletes. Specifically, the MGCA showed significant linear increases in acceptance, positive stress direction, and performance satisfaction. The complementary social validation data indicated perceived improvements in mindfulness skills and performance. The MGCA also showed that baseline personality traits moderated the effects of the program on acceptance and experience of stress. These findings may be used to inform the design of more effective integrated mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions.