List of Records in School of Psychology Publications - UQ eSpace

A behavioral comparison between motorcyclists and a matched group of non-motorcycling car drivers: factors influencing accident risk

Horswill, M. S. og Helman, S. — 2007-10-17T12:04:10Z

Motorcyclists and a matched group of non-motorcycling car drivers were assessed on behavioral measures known to relate to accident involvement. Using a range of laboratory measures, we found that motorcyclists chose faster speeds than the car drivers, overtook more, and pulled into smaller gaps in traffic, though they did not travel any closer to the vehicle in front. The speed and following distance findings were replicated by two further studies involving unobtrusive roadside observation. We suggest that the increased risk-taking behavior of motorcyclists was only likely to account for a small proportion of the difference in accident risk between motorcyclists and car drivers. A second group of motorcyclists was asked to complete the simulator tests as if driving a car. They did not differ from the non-motorcycling car drivers on the risk-taking measures but were better at hazard perception. There were also no differences for sensation seeking, mild social deviance, and attitudes to riding/driving, indicating that the risk-taking tendencies of motorcyclists did not transfer beyond motorcycling, while their hazard perception skill did. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

A behavior genetic investigation of adolescent motherhood and offspring mental health problems

2008-03-03T12:24:32Z

The present study examines the relations between adolescent motherhood and children's behavior, substance use, and internalizing problems in a sample of 1,368 children of 712 female twins from Australia. Adolescent motherhood remained significantly associated with all mental health problems, even when using a quasiexperimental design capable of controlling for genetic and environmental confounds. However, the relation between adolescent motherhood and offspring behavior problems and substance use was partially confounded by family background variables that influence both generations. The results are consistent with a causal relation between adolescent motherhood and offspring mental health problems, and they highlight the usefulness of behavior genetic designs when examining putative environmental risks for the development of psychopathology. The generalizability of these results to the United States, which has a higher adolescent birth rate, is discussed.

Abnormal fMRI adaptation to unfamiliar faces in a case of developmental prosopamnesia

2008-02-18T14:27:47Z

In rare cases, damage to the temporal lobe causes a selective impairment in the ability to learn new faces, a condition known as prosopamnesia [1]. Here we present the case of an individual with prosopamnesia in the absence of any acquired structural lesion. "C" shows intact processing of simple and complex non-face objects, but her ability to learn new faces is severely impaired. We used a neural marker of perceptual learning known as repetition suppression to examine functioning within C's fusiform face area (FFA), a region of cortex involved in face perception [2]. For comparison, we examined repetition suppression in the scene-selective parahippocampal place area (PPA) [3]. As expected, normal controls showed significant region-specific attenuation of neural activity across repetitions of each stimulus class. C also showed normal attenuation within the PPA to familiar and unfamiliar scenes, and within the FFA to familiar faces. Critically, however, she failed to show any adaptive change within the FFA for repeated unfamiliar faces, despite a face-specific blood-oxygen-dependent response (BOLD) response in her FFA during viewing of face stimuli. Our findings suggest that in developmental prosopamnesia, the FFA cannot maintain stable representations of new faces for subsequent recall or recognition.

Aboriginal self-determination in Australia - The effects of minority-majority frames and target universalism on majority collective guilt and compensation attitudes

2007-08-15T07:41:10Z

In the context of Aboriginal-Anglo Australian relations, we tested the effect of framing (multiculturalism versus separatism) and majority group members' social values (universalism) on the persuasiveness of Aboriginal group rhetoric, majority collective guilt, attitudes toward compensation, and reparations for Aboriginals. As predicted, Anglo Australians who are low on universalism report more collective guilt when presented with a multiculturalist than a separatist Aboriginal frame, whereas those high on universalism report high levels of guilt independent of frame. The same pattern was predicted and found for the persuasiveness of the rhetoric and attitudes toward compensation. Our data suggest that (a) for individuals low in universalism, framing produces attitudes consonant with compensation because it produces collective guilt and (b) the reason that universalists are more in favor of compensation and reparation is because of high collective guilt. We discuss the strategic use of language to create power through the manipulation of collective guilt in political contexts.

A brief history of monkey business

Suddendorf, T. — 2007-08-14T18:04:31Z

Abstracts of the 5th Annual Honours Conference

Broerse, P. J. og Bellas, G. — 2008-06-06T15:24:18Z

Abusive supervision in advising relationships: Investigating the role of social support

2009-04-03T16:36:05Z

The present study examines the consequences of abusive supervision in an educational setting. The study contrasts the cross-domain stress-buffering hypothesis with the within-domain stress exacerbation hypothesis in examining the moderating role of advisor and team member support on the relationship between abusive supervision and student outcomes in student–advisor relationships. Using a temporal research design, results provided support for both hypotheses. In support of the stress exacerbation hypothesis, in the presence of high advisor support, there was a significant positive relationship between abusive supervision and anxiety, and a significant negative association between abusive supervision and psychological well-being. Consistent with the stress-buffering hypothesis, in the presence of high team member support, there was a negligible association between abusive supervision and satisfaction and anxiety.

A case for early onset-rime sensitivity training in at-risk preschool and kindergarten children

Bowey, J. A. — 2008-06-06T11:40:03Z

A case of profound amnesia due to viral encephalitis

Ryan, A. og Geffen, G. M. og Mowat, P. D. — 2008-06-06T16:52:15Z

A case study of the sandpit structures and processes of a female university student in Australia

Hada, M. og Oei, T. P. S. — 2008-06-10T12:50:38Z

Accommodating a New Frontier: The context of law enforcement

2008-05-09T10:57:47Z

Accommodating intercultural encounters: Elaborations and extensions

2008-10-24T15:32:27Z

(From the chapter) as the need for sophisticated theories of intercultural communication grows increasingly important, Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) has been shown to provide insight into many of the critical phenomena and processes involved / CAT contributes to our understanding of interactions like these by focusing attention on the language, nonverbal behavior, and paralanguage used by interlocutors to realize moves of speech "convergence" and "divergence," that is, linguistic moves to decrease and increase communicative distance /// presents an approach to CAT in the intercultural context, together with some of its major propositions, revised for this context / describe some recent empirical work on intercultural communication that tests and extends CAT and that has clarified several important problems / point to a number of theoretical and methodological issues that must be addressed in the intercultural context, and that should be part of the research agenda in this area for the coming years

Accommodative communication as a mediator to the negative effects of cultural identity on perceptions of foreign management practices and perceptions of organisational climate

Dahesihsari, R. og Gallois, C. — 2007-08-23T21:43:08Z

This Study examines whether cultural identity has an impact on perceptions of foreign management practices and perceptions of organisational climate. Based on social identity theory as a conceptual framework, it is assumed that the salience of cultural identity leads to in-group bias in interpreting organisational events. This study also examines whether managers' accommodative communication behaviour mediates these relationships. In a multinational organisation, employees see the foreign company as a symbol, and the person that deals with them in everyday working relationships in the organisation is their direct leader. It is argued that the salience of cultural identity wiU depend on employees' perceptions of the way managers attach meaning to foreign managerial practices and communicate it to them. Interaction with managers who create a distance with their employees and who fail to Usten to what employees need may be a socially appropriate way to invoke the salience of cultural identity in the working relationship. The participants were 206 Indonesian employees from three multinational organisations. Using a questionnaire, this study shows that participants with strong cultural identity had more negative perceptions of foreign management practices and organisational climate. Furthermore, this study indicates that managers' accommodative communication behaviour mediated these relationships.

Acculturation and eating disorders in Asian and Caucasian Australian university students

2007-08-15T10:53:51Z

Accuracy of aimpoint detection during passive landing

2007-08-13T13:59:14Z

Accuracy of Mothers' Retrospective Reports of Smoking During Pregnancy: Comparison with Twin Sister Informant Ratings

2007-08-14T19:34:00Z

Retrospective assessment of maternal smoking or substance use during pregnancy is sometimes unavoidable. The unusually close relationship of twin sister pairs permits comparison of self-report data versus co-twin informant data on substance use during pregnancy. Information about smoking during pregnancy has been gathered from a series of mothers from an Australian volunteer twin panel (576 women reporting on 995 pregnancies), supplemented in many cases by independent ratings of their smoking by twin sister informants (821 pregnancies). Estimates of the proportion of women who had never smoked regularly (56-58%), who had smoked but did not smoke during a particular pregnancy (16-21%), or who smoked throughout the pregnancy (16-18%), were in good agreement whether based on self-report or twin sister informant data. However, informants underreported cases who smoked during the first trimester but then quit (1-3% versus 7-9% by self-report). Women who smoked throughout pregnancy (by informant report) rarely denied a history of regular smoking (<1%), although a small proportion of apparent false negative cases were identified where they either denied smoking during a pregnancy (9%) or denied smoking beyond the first trimester (10%). We conclude that retrospective smoking data can safely be used to identify potential associations of later child outcomes with maternal smoking during pregnancy.

Accuracy of predicting a child's response to potential threat: A comparison of children and their mothers

Cobham, VE og Rapee, RM — 2007-08-13T11:18:11Z

Considerable research has indicated that children and their parents often demonstrate marked discrepancies in their reporting of anxiety-related phenomena. In such cases, the question arises as to whether children are capable of accurately reporting on their anxiety. In the present study, 50 children (aged 5 to 14 years) were asked to approach a large, German Shepherd dog. Prior to the task, both the mother and child independently predicted the closest point likely to be reached by the child and the degree of anxiety likely to be experienced. These predictions were then compared with the actual phenomena displayed by the child during the task. On the behavioural measure (closest step reached), both the child and mother demonstrated equivalent predictive accuracy. On the subjective measure (fear ratings) children were considerably more accurate than their mothers. The data were not influenced by gender, age, or clinical status. The results indicate the ability of children to accurately predict their anxious responses, and support the value of incorporating children's self-reports in the assessment of emotional disorders.

Achieving effective supervision

2007-08-14T18:50:41Z

Super vision probably does have benefits both for the maintenance and improvement of clinical skills and for job satisfaction, but the data are very thin and almost non-existent in the area of alcohol and other drugs services. Because of the potential complexity of objectives and roles in super vision, a structured agreement appears to be an important part of the effective supervision relationship. Because sessions can degenerate easily into unstructured socialization, agendas and session objectives may also be important. While a working alliance based on mutual respect and trust is an essential base for the supervision relationship, procedures for direct observation of clinical skills, demonstration of new procedures and skills practice with detailed feedback appear critical to super vision's impact on practice. To ensure effective super vision, there needs not only to be a minimum of personnel and resources, but also a compatibility with the values and procedures of management and staff, access to supervision training and consultation and sufficient incentives to ensure it continues.

A cognitive behavioural case formulation framework for treatment planning in anxiety disorders

Boschen, M. J. og Oei, Tian P.S. — 2008-05-01T16:14:11Z

A cognitive behavioral case formulation framework (CBCFF) for anxiety disorders is presented, in which the etiological and maintaining factors for the anxiety disorders are outlined in a single, simple, visual framework. This CBCFF is then used to demonstrate the specific links of different cognitive and behavioural treatment components to aspects of the case formulation. An example is used to illustrate the use of the CBCFF, highlighting its utility with novel presentations for which no manualized treatments exist. Depression and Anxiety 2007.

A cognitive behaviour therapy intervention for anxiety in children with Asperger's syndrome

Sofronoff, K. V. og Attwood, T. — 2007-08-15T01:58:50Z

A cognitive complexity metric applied to cognitive development

Andrews, G. og Halford, G. S. — 2007-08-14T18:21:32Z

Two experiments tested predictions from a theory in which processing load depends on relational complexity (RC), the number of variables related in a single decision. Tasks from six domains (transitivity, hierarchical classification, class inclusion, cardinality, relative-clause sentence comprehension, and hypothesis testing) were administered to children aged 3-8 years. Complexity analyses indicated that the domains entailed ternary relations (three variables). Simpler binary-relation (two variables) items were included for each domain. Thus RC was manipulated with other factors tightly controlled. Results indicated that (i) ternary-relation items were more difficult than comparable binary-relation items, (ii) the RC manipulation was sensitive to age-related changes, (iii) ternary relations were processed at a median age of 5 years, (iv) cross-task correlations were positive, with all tasks loading on a single factor (RC), (v) RC factor scores accounted for 80% (88%) of age-related variance in fluid intelligence (compositionality of sets), (vi) binary- and ternary-relation items formed separate complexity classes, and (vii) the RC approach to defining cognitive complexity is applicable to different content domains. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

A cognitive model of binge drinking: The influence of alcohol expectancies and drinking refusal self-efficacy

Oei, T. P. S. og Morawska, A. — 2007-08-15T05:19:24Z

While binge drinking-episodic or irregular consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol-is recognised as a serious problem affecting our youth, to date there has been a lack of psychological theory and thus theoretically driven research into this problem. The current paper develops a cognitive model using the key constructs of alcohol expectancies (AEs) and drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE) to explain the acquisition and maintenance of binge drinking. It is suggested that the four combinations of the AE and DRSE can explain the four drinking styles. These are normal/social drinkers, binge drinkers, regular heavy drinkers, and problem drinkers or alcoholics. Since AE and DRSE are cognitive constructs and therefore modifiable, the cognitive model can thus facilitate the design of intervention and-prevention strategies for binge drinking. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A common Neural Mechanism for reversible figures and binocular rivalry

2008-06-06T15:25:03Z

A Comparative Approach to Differential Accident Liability: Motorcyclists versus Car Drivers

Horswill, M. S. og Helman, S. — 2009-03-03T09:43:53Z

Different types of road users are at different risk of having a road accident. The aim of the present research is to explore the causal mechanisms behind the accident liability of a high-risk type of road user and a lower-risk type of road user.

A comparative mental health literacy survey of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in Singapore

2007-08-13T11:52:42Z

Objective: The objectives of this study are, first, to replicate and extend an Australian approach to assessing mental health literacy by studying a sample of Singapore mental health professionals, and to focus on differences between judgements made by the psychiatrists in comparison with the other mental health professionals. Second, to compare the psychiatrists' judgements with those of Australian psychiatrists. Method: The Australian questionnaire, assessing responses in relation to vignettes of major depression and to schizophrenia was extended by adding a third vignette of mania, and by the addition of several region-specific response options. Nearly 500 questionnaires were distributed to representative staff (psychiatrists, nurses and allied health) of a large psychiatric institution in Singapore, with a response rate of 81%. Psychiatrists' judgements were compared with all other hospital staff, and with Australian psychiatrists' judgements. Results: The two principal contrast groups (Singapore psychiatrists and other Singapore mental health professionals) differed slightly in terms of diagnostic accuracy. The psychiatrists differed in favouring a more professionally focused model of intervention, while both professional groups viewed traditional healers and their practices as distinctly unhelpful. Direct comparison of psychiatrist ratings generated in Singapore and in Australia revealed quite similar response profiles. Conclusions: In addition to generating data of some intrinsic importance, comparison with Australian survey data allows the potential impact of regional and cultural differences, as well as of varying psychiatric practices, to be identified. Responses identified more similarities than differences in the judgements of the psychiatrists from the two countries.

A comparison between three and five factor models of Pakistani personality data

Aziz, S og Jackson, CJ — 2007-08-14T15:14:48Z

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R), the Eysenck Personality Profiler Short Version (EPP-S), and the Big Five Inventory (BFI-V4a) were administered to 135 postgraduate students of business in Pakistan. Whilst Extraversion and Neuroticism scales from the three questionnaires were highly correlated, it was found that Agreeableness was most highly correlated with Psychoticism in the EPQ-R and Conscientiousness was most highly correlated with Psychoticism in the EPP-S. Principal component analyses with varimax rotation were carried out. The analyses generally suggested that the five factor model rather than the three-factor model was more robust and better for interpretation of all the higher order scales of the EPQ-R, EPP-S, and BFI-V4a in the Pakistani data. Results show that the superiority of the five factor solution results from the inclusion of a broader variety of personality scales in the input data, whereas Eysenck's three factor solution seems to be best when a less complete but possibly more important set of variables are input. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

A comparison of body-image dissatisfaction and eating disturbance among Australian and Hong Kong women

Sheffield, JK og Tse, KH og Sofronoff, K — 2007-08-15T07:47:00Z

The current cross-cultural study was designed to test the validity of a biopsychosocial mediation model which hypothesized that a variety of biological, psychological and social variables would have their mode of action upon eating disturbance through the mediation of body-image dissatisfaction. The biopsychosocial variables examined were body mass, self-esteem, weight-related teasing, previous dieting and sociocultural influences. Forty-eight Hong Kong and 100 Australian females aged 17-28 years were assessed. Results revealed no significant difference between the groups of women in levels of body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance; however, different variables in the biopsychosocial model appeared to have contributed to their predisposition to these conditions. The findings suggest that there appear to exist important cultural differences in various aspects of dieting and body image in young women. Implications for prevention, treatment and future research are discussed. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

A Comparison of Delivery Methods of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder: An International Multicenter Trial

2005-05-20T00:00:00Z

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the psychological treatment of choice for panic disorder (PD). However, given limited access to CBT, it must be delivered with maximal cost-effectiveness. Previous researchers have found that a brief computer-augmented CBT was as effective as extended therapist-delivered CBT. To test this finding, this study randomly allocated 186 patients with PD across 2 sites in Scotland and Australia to 12 sessions of therapist-delivered CBT (CBT12), 6 sessions of therapist-delivered (CBT6) or computer-augmented CBT (CBT6-CA), or a waitlist control. On a composite measure, at post-treatment, the outcome for CBT12 was statistically better than the outcome for CBT6. The outcome for CBT6-CA fell between CBT12 and CBT6, but could not be statistically distinguished from either treatment. The active treatments did not differ statistically at 6-month follow-up. The study provided some support for the use of computers as an innovative adjunctive-therapy tool and merits further investigation.

A comparison of family functioning, temperament, and childhood conditions in monozygotic twin pairs discordant for lifetime bulimia nervosa

2007-08-14T15:13:14Z

Objective: The authors investigated differences between twins in nine pairs of female monozygotic twins in the Australian Twin Registry who were discordant for lifetime bulimia nervosa. Method: The twins affected and unaffected by lifetime bulimia nervosa were compared on self-report measures, including a measure of parental bonding, four measures of temperament, and six early-childhood medical conditions. Results: No twins had current bulimia nervosa, and there was no difference in weight or eating status between the affected and unaffected twins. The affected twins reported significantly lower self-esteem and less warmth but more overprotection by their mothers during childhood. Conclusions: Although limited by the small number of discordant twin pairs and the inability to detect causal relationships, these results suggest that environmental influences that promote low self-esteem may also increase the risk for bulimia nervosa. These temperamental differences may explain the discrepancies in parenting or perceived parenting.

A comparison of four self-report screening measures for sleep apnea

Lang, CP og Smith, S og Sullivan, K — 2007-08-13T13:19:15Z

A comparison of the MMSE and the TICS-m in hearing-impaired older adults

2008-06-16T10:29:14Z

Objective: The efficacy of telephone-administered cognitive screening instruments used with hearing-impaired populations is as yet unknown. Method: In a pilot study, performance of hearing-impaired veterans (N = 46) was compared on telephone-administered (Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status – modified; TICS-m) and face-to-face administered (Mini-Mental State Examination; MMSE) instruments. Results: Correlations between the MMSE and the TICS-m (r = 0.39) are lower than previously reported in the literature. Participants had difficulty perceiving words from the TICS-m on registration and thus also on later recall, regardless of whether hearing aids were worn. Further analyses revealed that when these items were removed from the TICS-m scores, correlations with the MMSE improved significantly. Conclusions: Hearing-impaired participants may have difficulties with telephone-administered instruments requiring accurate hearing of words in the absence of any context. Participants’ hearing should be taken into account when administering and interpreting cognitive screens over the telephone.

A conceptual complexity metric based on representational rank

2008-06-06T14:29:52Z

A consistent attentional bias for drug-related material in active cocaine users across word and picture versions of the emotional Stroop task

2007-10-17T14:33:08Z

Evidence from a number of drug-abuse populations suggests that an attentional bias for drug-related stimuli can be identified in chronic users. Such an effect has yet to be reliably demonstrated in cocaine users, despite mounting evidence of the salience and reinforcing properties of cocaine-related cues. The aim of the current study was to administer word (modeled on the versions shown to successfully identify attentional biases in alcohol abusers) and picture versions of the emotional Stroop tasks to gauge the reliability of cocaine-specific attentional biases across stimuli domains. A comparison of active cocaine users (n = 23), and their age and education matched controls revealed a significant bias for cocaine-related pictures and words in users. This attentional bias could not be attributed to confounding factors such as slowed response speed of cocaine users, cocaine-related material sharing category ownership, or that the cocaine-related material used in the current study was generally arousing for all participants. A comparison of the different classes of stimuli indicated that cocaine users had a very similar level of difficulty controlling their attention towards both cocaine-related material and incongruent-colOUr word stimuli, the latter being the traditional measure of attentional control from the Stroop task. These results provide corroborating evidence for cognitive biases being a hallmark of substance dependence. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Context Noise Model of Episodic Recognition Memory

Dennis, Simon og Humphreys, Michael S. — 2007-08-14T16:01:31Z

Item noise models of recognition assert that interference at retrieval is generated by the words from the study list. Context noise models of recognition assert that interference at retrieval is generated by the contexts in which the test word has appeared. The authors introduce the bind cue decide model of episodic memory, a Bayesian context noise model, and demonstrate how it can account for data from the item noise and dual-processing approaches to recognition memory. From the item noise perspective, list strength and list length effects, the mirror effect for word frequency and concreteness, and the effects of the similarity of other words in a list are considered. From the dual-processing perspective, process dissociation data on the effects of length. temporal separation of lists, strength, and diagnosticity of context are examined. The authors conclude that the context noise approach to recognition is a viable alternative to existing approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved)

A context noise model of episodic word recognition

Dennis, S og Humphreys, MS — 2007-08-13T12:31:56Z

Item noise models of recognition assert that interference at retrieval is generated by the words from the study list. Context noise models of recognition assert that interference at retrieval is generated by the contexts in which the test word has appeared. The authors introduce the bind cue decide model of episodic memory, a Bayesian context noise model, and demonstrate how it can account for data from the item noise and dual-processing approaches to recognition memory. From the item noise perspective, list strength and list length effects, the mirror effect for word frequency and concreteness, and the effects of the similarity of other words in a list are considered. From the dual-processing perspective, process dissociation data on the effects of length, temporal separation of lists, strength, and diagnosticity of context are examined. The authors conclude that the context noise approach to recognition is a viable alternative to existing approaches.

Acquired dysprosodic speech production: mood, motivational, cognitive or motor disorder?

Van Lancker, D. og Pachana, N. A. — 2008-07-06T14:01:37Z

Acquired theory of mind impairments in individuals with bilateral amygdala lesions

2007-10-17T11:45:50Z

Studies in humans suggest that the amygdala plays a role in processing social information. A key component of social information processing is what developmental psychologists call "theory of mind": the ability to infer others' mental states. Recent studies have raised the possibility that the amygdala is involved in theory of mind, showing amygdala activation during a theory of mind task, or showing impairment on theory of mind tasks in a patient with amygdala damage acquired in childhood. Here, we present the first evidence of theory of mind deficits following amygdala damage acquired in adulthood. Two participants, D.R. and S.E., with acquired bilateral amygdala damage showed difficulties with two theory of mind tasks, "Recognition of Faux Pas" (for D.R., z = -5.17; for S.E., z = -1.83) and "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" (for S.E., z = -1.91; for D.R., z = -1.4). The items on which D.R. and S.E. made errors on these tasks were uncorrelated with the items that control participants found most difficult, indicating that these deficits cannot be attributed solely to the cognitive difficulty of the tasks. These results indicate that the amygdala's critical role in theory of mind may not be just in development, but also in "on-line" theory of mind processing in the adult brain. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Acquisition of negative valence and modified attentional processing by non fear relevant stimuli

Purkis, H. M. og Lipp, O. V. — 2007-08-15T08:15:54Z

The current research examined valence and attentional processing of a priori fear relevant stimuli and investigated the extent to which these characteristics can be acquired by non fear relevant stimuli across an aversive learning episode. The first experiment compared pictures of snakes and spiders with pictures of birds and fish using affective priming, visual search and detection of a dot probe. Snakes and spiders were more negative than birds and fish as indexed by affective priming, and were preferentially attended to in the visual search task. The second experiment exposed the non fear relevant animal pictures, birds and fish, in an aversive learning episode involving an aversive shock US. Skin conductance responding was measured during acquisition. After acquisition, conditioned non fear relevant animal stimuli, CS1, and non conditioned, non fear relevant animal stimuli, CS, were compared across affective priming, visual search and dot probe tasks. During acquisition, skin conductance responses were larger during CS1 than during CS across all three response intervals. After acquisition, CS1 non fear relevant animal pictures were more negative than CS non fear relevant animal pictures as indexed by affective priming, and were preferentially attended to in a dot probe task. These studies provide evidence that negative valence and modified attentional processing can be acquired in a brief aversive learning episode.

Acquisition of structured knowledge without instruction: The relational schema induction paradigm

Halford, Graeme S. og Busby, Janie — 2008-02-18T17:03:28Z

Participants learned about a structure without explicit explanation, either by using relational schema induction (G. S. Halford, J. D. Bain, M. T. Maybery, & G. Andrews, 1998), which requires completion of instances of the structure, or by memorizing instances. Emergence of structured knowledge over trials was assessed by ability to map the structure to an isomorph and thereby to generate novel instances of the structure (the genterativity test). Schema induction was found to be an effective way to induce acquisition of the structure, and the generativity test was a sensitive measure of structure acquisition, as indicated by converging measures. Memorization produced only low levels of structured knowledge. A conception of structured knowledge acquisition based on relational schema induction is proposed.

Acting for women: A social psychological approach to women's political decisions and identity

Louis, W. og Terry, D. J. — 2007-08-24T12:55:08Z

Activation of visual areas during the attentional blink

2007-08-13T15:05:06Z

When two targets are presented in rapid succession, identification of the first target is nearly perfect while identification of the second is severely impaired at shorter inter-target lags, and then gradually improves as lag increases. This second-target deficit is known as the attentional blink (AB). Numerous studies have implicated competition for access to higher-order processing mechanisms as the primary cause of the AB. However, relatively few studies have directly examined how the AB modulates activity in specific brain areas. To this end, we used fMRI to measure activation in the occipital and parietal cortices (including V1, V2, and area MT) during an AB task. Participants were presented with an initial target of oriented line segments embedded in a central stream of letter distractors. This central target was followed 100 - 700 ms later by a peripheral ‘X’ presented at one of four locations along with three ‘+’ distractors. All peripheral items were presented in the centre of a small field of moving dots. Participants made non-speeded judgments about line-segment orientation and the location of the second target at the end of a trial and to ignore all other stimuli. The results showed a robust AB characterised by a linear improvement in second-target accuracy as lag increased. This pattern of behavioural results was mirrored by changes in activation patterns across a number of visual areas indicating robust modulation of brain activity by the AB.

Activity dependent coupling in sensorimotor coordination

Carson, R. G. — 2007-08-23T21:03:28Z

Adaptation to being at-risk for Huntington's disease and the availability of genetic testing: Application of a stress and coping model

2007-08-15T04:52:22Z

This study examined the utility of a stress/coping model in explaining adaptation in two groups of people at-risk for Huntington's Disease (HD): those who have not approached genetic testing services (non-testees) and those who have engaged a testing service (testees). The aims were (1) to compare testees and non-testees on stress/coping variables, (2) to examine relations between adjustment and the stress/coping predictors in the two groups, and (3) to examine relations between the stress/coping variables and testees' satisfaction with their first counselling session. Participants were 44 testees and 40 non-testees who completed questionnaires which measured the stress/coping variables: adjustment (global distress, depression, health anxiety, social and dyadic adjustment), genetic testing concerns, testing context (HD contact, experience, knowledge), appraisal (control, threat, self-efficacy), coping strategies (avoidance, self-blame, wishful thinking, seeking support, problem solving), social support and locus of control. Testees also completed a genetic counselling session satisfaction scale. As expected, non-testees reported lower self-efficacy and control appraisals, higher threat and passive avoidant coping than testees. Overall, results supported the hypothesis that within each group poorer adjustment would be related to higher genetic testing concerns, contact with HD, threat appraisals, passive avoidant coping and external locus of control, and lower levels of positive experiences with HD, social support, internal locus of control, self-efficacy, control appraisals, problem solving, emotional approach and seeking social support coping. Session satisfaction scores were positively correlated with dyadic adjustment, problem solving and positive experience with HD, and inversely related to testing concerns, and threat and control appraisals. Findings support the utility of the stress/coping model in explaining adaptation in people who have decided not to seek genetic testing for HD and those who have decided to engage a genetic testing service.

Adapting Situational awareness measures for hydropower display evaluations

2008-04-28T15:21:15Z

Adapting the Propensity for Angry Driving Scale for use in Australian research

Leal, Nerida L. og Pachana, Nancy A. — 2009-04-15T11:52:05Z

Road rage is a topic that receives consistent attention in both the road safety literature and media. Before Australian research can address the underlying factors associated with road rage, there is a need for a valid instrument appropriate for use in this context. The present program of research consisted of two studies. Study 1 used a university sample to adjust the scoring technique and response options of a 19-item American measure of the propensity for angry driving with acceptable reliability and validity. In Study 2, Factor Analysis confirmed a one-factor solution and resulted in a 15-item scale, the Australian Propensity for Angry Driving Scale (Aus-PADS), with a coefficient alpha of .82 (N = 433). The Aus-PADS may be used in future research to broaden the Australian road rage literature and to improve our understanding of the underlying processes associated with road rage in order to prevent the problem. Future research should also confirm the factor structure and generate normative data with a more representative sample.

A developmental link between the production of gestural representation and understanding of mental representation

Suddendorf, T. — 2007-08-14T10:52:51Z

ADHD and parental psychological distress: Role of demographics, child behavioral characteristics, and parental cognitions

Harrison, C. og Sofronoff, K. V. — 2007-10-17T10:31:38Z

Objective: This study aimed to examine the relative roles of demographic, child behavioral, and parental characteristics in understanding the psychological distress suffered by parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was hypothesized that a combination of child and parent demographics, severity of child behavioral disturbance, low knowledge of ADHD, causal and controllability attributions internal to the child, along with lower perceived parental control, would be associated with more severe psychological distress, as measured by parenting stress and depression. Method: One hundred mothers were interviewed and provided ratings of behavioral disturbance, severity of ADHD, knowledge of ADHD, attributions of cause and controllability of ADHD-related behaviors, parenting stress and depression, Results: Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the combination of these variables was significantly associated with parental psychological distress, accounting for24% and 21% of the variance in parenting stress and depression, respectively. Unique contributions were evident for severity of behavioral disturbance and perceived parental control over child behaviors. Child's age, gender, medication status, and maternal education were controlled in the analyses. Conclusion: Results support the view that interventions for ADHD aimed only at child behavior are unlikely to alter long-term outcome.

Adherence to Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy in Obstructive Sleep Apnoea sufferers: A theoretical approach to treatment adherence and intervention

2009-01-09T12:00:58Z

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder associated with significant health, quality of life and psychosocial problems. The aims of this review are to investigate the contribution of psychological constructs and theory to the assessment and treatment of OSA. Adherence to CPAP treatment remains a primary concern for improving treatment outcomes for OSA. Modifiable, psychological constructs of self-efficacy, coping, social support, treatment satisfaction and self-reported daytime sleepiness improve the prediction of CPAP adherence. These predictors are particularly robust in the context of a theoretical model. Social Cognition Theory (SCT) and Health Belief Model (HBM) are emerging as promising psychological models for understanding patient acceptance and adherence to CPAP treatment. An overview of psychologically informed interventions for CPAP use is presented. Education-based interventions have promise, but the strongest and robust findings are emerging from theory-driven interventions. Specifically, Cognitive-Behaviourally informed interventions and Motivational Interventions demonstrate consistent and large effect sizes in improving CPAP adherence rates.

ADH genotype does not modify the effects of alcohol on high-density lipoprotein

2007-08-14T19:34:23Z

Background: Alcohol consumption has beneficial effects on mortality which are mainly due to reduction in cardiovascular disease. These are believed to be due, at least in part, to the increase in plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) which is associated with alcohol consumption. It has been proposed that ADH3 genotype modifies the relationships between alcohol intake and cardiovascular disease by altering the HDL response to alcohol. The aim of this paper was to test for effects of ADH2 and ADH3 genotypes on the response of HDL components to habitual alcohol consumption. Methods: Adult male and female subjects were genotyped for ADH2 and ADH3; and plasma HDL cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-I, and apolipoprotein A-II were measured. Nine hundred one subjects had both ADH2 and ADH3 genotypes and HDL cholesterol results, while 753 had both genotypes and all three lipid results. The effect of alcohol intake on the three measured HDL components, and a factor score derived from them, was estimated for each of the ADH2 and ADH3 genotype groups. Results: All the measured components of HDL increased with increasing alcohol consumption over the range of intakes studied, 0-4 drinks per day. There were no significant interactions between alcohol consumption and ADH2 or ADH3 genotypes. Conclusions: The concept that alcohol dehydrogenase genotype and alcohol metabolic rate modify the effects of alcohol on plasma HDL concentration is not supported by our results.

A dissociation between attention and selection

Remington, RW og Folk, CL — 2007-10-17T10:35:05Z