Working-memory-triggered dynamic adjustments in cognitive control.

Dynamic adjustments in cognitive control are well documented in conflict tasks, wherein competition from irrelevant stimulus attributes intensifies selection demands and leads to subsequent performance benefits. The current study investigated whether mnemonic demands, in a working memory (WM) task, can drive similar online control modifications. Demand levels (high vs. low) of WM maintenance (memory load of 2 items vs. 1 item) and delay-spanning distractor interference (confusable vs. not confusable with memoranda) were manipulated using a factorial design during a WM delayed-recognition task. Performance was best subsequent to trials in which both maintenance and distractor interference demands were high, followed by trials with high demand in either of these 2 control domains, and worst following trials with low demand in both domains. These results suggest that dynamic adjustments in cognitive control are not triggered exclusively by conflict-specific contexts but are also triggered by WM demands, revealing a putative mechanism by which this system configures itself for successful task performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive Approach to Construction Safety: Task Demand-Capability Model

In the evolution of safety research, the literature identifies three paradigms: normative, error-based, and cognitive engineering. Traditionally, strategies to improve construction safety have been based on the normative paradigm—compliance with prescribed safety rules. However, the normative approach ignores how the characteristics of the production system and team processes influence the work behaviors and the possibility of errors and accidents. These factors are the focus of the cognitive engineering perspective. This study develops a cognitive model of construction safety, which conceptualizes safety as an emergent property of the production system. The model proposes that during a task, the task demands and the applied capabilities determine the potential for errors and accidents. It also proposes that the production practices and the teamwork processes of the crew shape the work situations that the workers face—that is, the task demands and the applied capability. Empirical evidence from recent case studies is discussed. The cognitive perspective shifts the focus of accident prevention from conformance with rules to the issues of task demands and applied capabilities, and the factors affecting them—such as work design, workload, resource allocation, and team processes.     

Procedural variation in behavioral avoidance tests.

Varied level of demand for approach to a live snake in a behavioral avoidance test by presenting the test either as a measure of degree of avoidance (low demand) or as a measure of physiological components of anxiety which required that Ss handle the target object (high demand). Mode of presentation of instructions was also manipulated; 1/2 of the 50 female undergraduates in each condition heard "1-shot" tape-recorded instructions and were alone in the test room (impersonal mode), while the other 1/2 heard the instructions presented by a "live" E who accompanied the S to the test room and provided sequential instructions for each step in the behavioral avoidance test (personal mode). The main effect of context was significant on latency to touch and overt fear measures (with low-demand Ss displaying more fear), while the main effect of mode was significant for behavior approach score as well as overt fear (the personal mode was associated with less avoidance). Implications for psychotherapy outcome research employing behavioral avoidance tests are discussed. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context effects in left-right shape discrimination.

The difficulty of discriminating between left–right orientations of a shape has usually been attributed to symmetrical coding in the brain or to the nature of perceptual learning. However, recent work on the context-dependent nature of the difficulty challenges such explanations and supports a more cognitive approach to the problem. The present work examined the basis for left–right difficulty in the standard two-choice task (stimuli aligned side by side) in children of 3 to 4 years. Experiment 1 found that children who learned the task with the easy, single-stimulus procedure could generalize to the difficult, two-choice task. Subsequent experiments found that the difficulty in learning the two-choice task could not be attributed to the attentional demands of the two stimuli, nor to the use of the second stimulus as a spatial referent for defining orientation. The data suggested that the standard two-choice task is difficult because it promotes the use of two competing orientation judgments. We conclude that the difficulty of left–right judgments lies in the cognitive demands of the task and is to be understood in the same terms as other problems in cognitive development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vasoactive substances and long-term control of blood pressure and hypertension]

The relationship between panic expectancy, social demand and agoraphobic avoidance was investigated in a group of 48 panic disorder subjects. Subjects were observed surreptitiously while completing a naturalistic behavioral avoidance task (BAT) involving either a high or low social challenge task. Subjects in the high social challenge task avoided more compared to subjects in the low social challenge task. Prediction of panic made before entering the situation and type of social challenge condition (high/low) were the only variables that accounted for significant amounts of unique variance in prediction of BAT score. The results confirm previous findings regarding the relationship between panic expectancy and avoidance and suggest that social interaction and scrutiny is a factor in avoidance.     

Task-contingent conscientiousness as a unit of personality at work.

The present study examined the viability of incorporating task-contingent units into the study of personality at work, using conscientiousness as an illustrative example. We used experience-sampling data from 123 managers to show that (a) momentary conscientiousness at work is contingent on the difficulty and urgency demands of the tasks people are engaged in, (b) there are significant and stable differences between people in the extent to which their conscientiousness behaviors are contingent on task demands, and (c) individual differences in task-contingent conscientiousness are related to, though distinct from, individual differences in trait conscientiousness. We also provide evidence in relation to (a) need for cognition as a possible antecedent of task-contingent conscientiousness and (b) adaptive performance on a cognitive task as a possible consequence of it. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings for the cognitive nature of personality and the way in which conscientiousness is expressed at work. Practical implications in relation to the predictive function of personality and applications that focus on behavioral change are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of text structure on use of cognitive capacity during reading.

The demand that text processing imposes on learners' cognitive capacity was measured with a secondary-task technique; the meaning of the textual materials was held constant while several structural (surface) variables were manipulated. Exp I (36 undergraduates) showed that text versions with simplified vocabulary and syntax (but equivalent content) required less cognitive capacity to process than standard versions. Exp II (96 Ss) revealed that the reduction in use of cognitive capacity was due primarily to syntactic factors. Exp III (72 Ss) demonstrated that texts containing signals about idea importance and relations required less cognitive capacity to process than texts with approximately the same propositional content but no such signals. Measures of total inspection time and content recall were also secured. In general, findings indicate that aspects of the surface structure of text made demands on Ss' cognitive processing capacity. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electrophysiological, behavioral, and subjective indexes of workload when performing multiple tasks: manipulations of task difficulty and training

This study examined whether alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) and theta event-related synchronization (ERS) could successfully measure changes in cognitive workload and training while an operator was engaged in a continuous, interactive, control task(s). Alpha 1 (8-10 Hz) ERD, alpha 2 (10-12 Hz) ERD, and theta (3-7 Hz) ERS were determined for a communications event that occurred during multiple task workload conditions or as a single task. Other measures (alpha and theta EEG power, heart rate, respiration, eye blinks, behavioral performance, and subjective workload ratings) were also evaluated. Results showed that alpha 2 EEG, heart rate, behavioral, and subjective measures were sensitive to changes in workload in the multiple tasks. In addition, eye blink rate and behavioral measures were sensitive to training. Alpha ERD and theta ERS were not sensitive to workload and training in our interactive, multiple task environment. However, they were effective indexes of cognitive/behavioral demands within an interactive single task.     

Racial bias in the use of work samples for personnel selection.

Examined the role of evaluation specificity and task relevance in explaining racial bias in the use of work samples. 56 White maintenance mechanics evaluated a videotaped performance of a Black job applicant and a White job applicant performing a relevant task (laying out, drilling, and tapping) and an irrelevant task (indexing drill bits). The applicants were evaluated by using a highly specific behavioral recording form, a global rating scale, or both. Race-linked bias was found only when Ss were asked to make global evaluations after observing an applicant's performance on a task representing irrelevant job behavior. Race-linked bias was not found when Ss used the behavioral recording form or in global evaluations made following the behavioral recordings. Race-linked bias was not evident when evaluations were based on observations of relevant job behavior. It is concluded that by using careful work sample development procedures and by assisting Ss in focusing on and recording relevant behavior, the potential for bias in the use of work samples appears small. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Amygdala kindling-resistant (SLOW) or -prone (FAST) rat strains show differential fear responses

The authors compared two rat strains, selectively bred for their susceptibility to amygdala kindling, with respect to their performance on various behavioral and learning tasks that are associated with fear and anxiety. The two rat strains differed significantly in measurements of exploration of novel and familiar environments, as well as in reactivity to footshock and fear-based learning. The kindling-resistant (SLOW) strain exhibited a lower ratio of open- to closed-arm entries in the elevated plus-maze, less activity over days in the open field, greater behavioral suppression in the open-field if previously footshocked, greater freezing in the inhibitory avoidance task, and slower acquisition and poorer retention in the one-way avoidance task than did the kindling-prone (FAST) strain. These experiments suggest that the SLOW rats are more expressively fearful than the FAST rats, particularly with respect to environmentally triggered freezing or immobility. Further, these observations imply that the relatively constrained excitability of the amygdala network in the SLOW rats might mediate their relatively greater expression of fear and anxiety compared with the FAST rats.     

Approach and avoidance coping responses among older problem and nonproblem drinkers.

The Coping Responses Inventory (CRI) was used to study coping among older problem and nonproblem drinkers. The CRI organizes coping efforts according to their focus (approach or avoidance) and method (cognitive or behavioral). Compared with nonproblem drinkers, older problem drinkers were more likely to use cognitive and behavioral avoidance responses to manage life stressors. Problem drinkers who experienced more negative life events and more severe stressors used both more approach and more avoidance coping. Those who had more financial and social resources relied more on approach and less on avoidance coping. Problem drinkers who relied more on avoidance coping tended to have more drinking problems and to report more depression and physical symptoms and less self-confidence. Positive reappraisal was associated with less depression and more self-confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The domain specificity and generality of belief bias: Searching for a generalizable critical thinking skill.

The domain specificity and generality of belief-biased reasoning was examined across a height judgment task and a syllogistic reasoning task that differed greatly in cognitive requirements. Moderate correlations between belief-bias indices on these 2 tasks falsified an extreme form of the domain specificity view of critical thinking skills. Two measures of cognitive ability and 2 measures of cognitive decontextualization skill were positively correlated with belief bias in a height judgment task where prior knowledge accurately reflected an aspect of the environment and negatively correlated with belief bias in a height judgment task where prior knowledge was incongruent with the environment. Likewise, cognitive ability was associated with skill at resisting the influence of prior knowledge in the syllogistic reasoning task. Participants high in cognitive ability were able to flexibly use prior knowledge, depending upon its efficacy in a particular environment. They were more likely to project a relationship when it reflected a useful cue, but they were also less likely to project a prior belief when the belief was inefficacious. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clearing the mind: A working memory model of distraction from negative mood.

The present research examined whether and how loading working memory can attenuate negative mood. In three experiments, participants were exposed to neutral, weakly negative, or strongly negative pictures followed by a task and a mood scale. Working memory demands were varied by manipulating task presence (Study 1), complexity (Study 2), and predictability (Study 3). Participants in all three experiments reported less negative moods in negative trials with high compared to low working memory demand. Working memory demands did not affect mood in the neutral trials. When working memory demands were high, participants no longer reported more negative moods in response to strongly negative pictures than to weakly negative pictures. These findings suggest that loading working memory prevents mood-congruent processing, and thereby promotes distraction from negative moods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aerobic fitness and response variability in preadolescent children performing a cognitive control task.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between aerobic fitness and cognitive variability in preadolescent children. Method: Forty-eight preadolescent children (25 males, 23 females, mean age = 10.1 years) were grouped into higher- and lower-fit groups according to their performance on a test of aerobic capacity (VO2max). Cognitive function was measured via behavioral responses to a modified flanker task. The distribution in reaction time was calculated within each participant to assess intraindividual variability of performance. Specifically, the standard deviation and coefficient variation of reaction time were used to represent cognitive variability. Results: Preadolescent children, regardless of fitness, exhibited longer reaction time, increased response variability, and decreased response accuracy to incongruent compared to congruent trials. Further, higher-fit children were less variable in their response time and more accurate in their responses across conditions of the flanker task, while no group differences were observed for response speed. Conclusion: These findings suggest that fitness is associated with better cognitive performance during a task that varies cognitive control demands, and extends this area of research to suggest that intraindividual variability may be a useful measure to examine the relationship between fitness and cognition during preadolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Behavioral Marital Therapy: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

This meta-analysis summarizes results from 30 randomized experiments that compare behavioral marital therapy with no-treatment control with distressed couples. Results showed that behavioral marital therapy is significantly more effective than no treatment (d=.585). Although behavioral marital therapy research studies tend to be conducted under conditions that are less clinically representative than other samples of studies, representativeness was not significantly related to outcome. However, evidence also suggested that publication bias may exist in this literature whereby small sample studies with small effects are systematically missing compared with other studies. This bias may inflate the effects of behavioral marital therapies reported in previous meta-analyses, though we also explore a number of alternative explanations for this small sample bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social constraints, cognitive processing, and adjustment to breast cancer.

This cross-sectional study of 70 breast cancer survivors examined relationships among social constraints, behavioral and self-report indicators of cognitive processing, depression, and well-being. On the basis of a social-cognitive processing (SCP) model, it was predicted that social constraints would inhibit cognitive processing of the cancer experience, leading to poorer adjustment. Constraints were positively associated with intrusions, avoidance, and linguistic uncertainty in cancer narratives. Greater uncertainty, intrusions, and avoidance, as well as less talking about cancer were associated with greater depression and less well-being. Intrusions partially mediated the positive constraints-depression relationship. Talking about cancer partially mediated the inverse avoidance-well-being relationship. Findings support the SCP model and the importance of using behavioral indicators of cognitive processing to predict positive and negative psychosocial outcomes of cancer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intrahepatic gas formation without abscess after hepatic artery thrombosis in the setting of liver transplantation

This paper reports that lesions of the medial frontal cortex (MFC) caused behavioral deficit in rats and that this deficit could be attenuated by a well formulated treatment with Org2766, an analog of ACTH-(4-9). Wistar rats were distributed in 3 groups: MFC lesion treated with saline (M-N); MFC lesion treated with Org2766 (M-O); and sham-operation treated with saline (S). Repeated Org2766 or saline injection commenced from the day of surgery and lasted for 13 days. After surgery, the rats were trained in a passive avoidance task and then in an active avoidance task. MFC lesions were found to be strongly associated with behavioral deficits. The M-N group rats displayed poor retention of the passive avoidance response and showed much slower learning of the active avoidance task as compared to S group rats. The result showed that chronic Org2766 administration improved the behavioral performance of both tasks in MFC lesioned rats. The also revealed that the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was significantly increased in the M-O group as compared to the M-N group 15 days after surgery. The possible mechanisms related to the beneficial effect of Org2766 on cortex damage are discussed.     

The effects of goal difficulty on physiological arousal, cognition, and task performance.

Conducted 2 laboratory experiments with 117 undergraduates to examine (1) the effect of assigned goal difficulty on arousal (self-report and heart rate), cognition (perceived norm, self-efficacy strength, and personal goal), and behavioral (task performance) measures and (2) the role of heart rate as a mediator of the goal-difficulty–performance relation. All Ss performed a task requiring cognitive and physical responses. Results of both experiments demonstrate that assigned goal difficulty affected heart rate, cognition, and task performance and that heart rate change was positively related to the cognitive and behavioral measures. Regression analyses suggested that a cognitive–affective mechanism may mediate the goal-difficulty–performance relation. Discussion is focused on the theoretical and practical implications of integrating an arousal concept within goal-setting theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of peripheral and motivational cues on rigid–flexible functioning: Perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive aspects.

Recent research has shown that performing approach versus avoidance behaviors (arm flexion vs. extension) effectively influences cognitive functioning. In another area, lateralized peripheral activations (left vs. right side) of the motivational systems of approach versus avoidance were linked to various performances in cognitive tasks. By combining these 2 avenues of research, the influence of motor behaviors on flexible thinking was examined through the use of lateralized approach or/and avoidance behaviors. In 5 experiments reported in this article, a combination of the laterality and arm flexion versus extension variables successfully determined flexibility–rigidity functioning, consistent with the motor congruence hypothesis (J. Cretenet & V. Dru, 2004). Through these experiments, this result has been replicated with perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive aspects of flexibility, contributing to a better understanding of the relationships between bodily components, affect, and cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the demand–control/support model of work stress in correctional officers.

The demand–control/support model of work stress was tested in a sample of 419 correctional officers. The results suggest a link between certain work characteristics (high demands, low control, and low support) and strain symptoms (e.g., psychological distress, job dissatisfaction) as well as with negative affectivity (NA). On the other hand, other job characteristics (high demands and high control) were associated with positive behavioral outcomes (seeking feedback, looking at work as a challenge). Workers in high-isolation strain jobs with the greatest work exposure showed higher levels of strain and NA than workers with less experience working in the same job. Results suggest that work experience may affect long-term personality evolution. It is concluded that studies that control for the nuisance aspects of trait NA may underestimate the impact of the work environment on strain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)