scholarly journals Carry-over effects of tool functionality and previous unsuccessfulness increase overimitation in children

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 201373
Author(s):  
Aurélien Frick ◽  
Hanna Schleihauf ◽  
Liam P. Satchell ◽  
Thibaud Gruber
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Old French ◽  
Testing Potential ◽  
Expressed Emotions ◽  
German Children ◽  
Carry Over ◽  
Children First ◽  
Task Experience

Children ‘overimitate’ causally irrelevant actions in experiments where both irrelevant and relevant actions involve a single common tool. This study design may make it harder for children to recognize the irrelevant actions, as the perceived functionality of the tool during the demonstration of the relevant action may be carried over to the irrelevant action, potentially increasing overimitation. Moreover, little is known how overimitation is affected by the demonstrator's expressed emotions and the child's prior success with the task. Here, 131 nine- to ten-year-old French and German children first engaged in a tool-based task, being successful or unsuccessful, and then watched an adult demonstrating the solution involving one irrelevant and one relevant action before smiling or remaining neutral. These actions were performed with the same tool or with two separate tools, testing potential carry-over effects of the functionality of the relevant action on the irrelevant action. We show that overimitation was higher when the same tool was used for both actions and when children were previously unsuccessful, but was not affected by the demonstrator's displayed emotion. Our results suggest that future overimitation research should account for the number of tools used in a demonstration and participants' previous task experience.

scholarly journals Influence of animacy and grammatical role on production and comprehension of intersentential pronouns in German L1-acquisition

2007 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 103-138
Author(s):  
Dagmar Bittner
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Anaphora Resolution ◽  
Demonstrative Pronoun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
German Children ◽  
Children First ◽  
L1 Acquisition ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Zero Pronoun

In anaphora resolution theory, it has been assumed that anaphora resolution is based on a reversed mapping of antecedent salience and anaphora complexity: minimal complex anaphora refer to maximal salient antecedents. In order to ex-amine whether and by which developmental steps German children gain command of this mapping maxim we conducted an experiment on production and comprehension of intersentential pronouns including the three pronoun types zero, personal, and demonstrative pronoun. With respect to antecedent salience, the experiment varied syntactic role (subject/object) and in/animacy. Six age groups of children (age range from 2;0 to 6;0) and an adult control group has been tested. The hypothesis arising from the mapping maxim is that zero pronoun correlates with more salient antecedents than personal and demonstrative pronoun, the latter correlating with the least salient antecedents. The results are: In production, children first establish the opposition of zero pronoun with animate antecedents vs. demonstrative pronoun with inanimate antecedents. In a next step, syntactic role comes into play and a more complex system opposing the three presented pronoun types is established. In comprehension, however, the effect of pronoun type re-mains weak and antecedent features remain a strong factor in reference choice. However, also adults employ pronoun type and antecedent features. The oldest children and the adults show variation in personal pronoun resolution according to the animacy pattern of the potential antecedents. In case of identical animacy features, the subject is the preferred candidate; in case of distinct animacy features, there is a tendency to choose the object antecedent.  

scholarly journals Learning Experience Reverses Catecholaminergic Effects on Adaptive Behavior

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Mückschel ◽  
Elena Eggert ◽  
Astrid Prochnow ◽  
Christian Beste
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Control ◽  
Crossover Study ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Behavioral Adaptation ◽  
Prior Learning ◽  
Task Experience ◽  
Adaptation Processes ◽  
Prior Task

Abstract Background Catecholamines are important for cognitive control and the ability to adapt behavior (e.g., after response errors). A prominent drug that modulates the catecholaminergic system is methylphenidate. On the basis of theoretical consideration, we propose that the effects of methylphenidate on behavioral adaptation depend on prior learning experience. Methods In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover study design, we examined the effect of methylphenidate (0.25 mg/kg) on post error behavioral adaptation processes in a group of n = 43 healthy young adults. Behavioral adaptation processes were examined in a working memory, modulated response selection task. The focus of the analysis was on order effects within the crossover study design to evaluate effects of prior learning/task experience. Results The effect of methylphenidate/placebo on post-error behavioral adaptation processes reverses depending on prior task experience. When there was no prior experience with the task, methylphenidate increased post-error slowing and thus intensified behavioral adaptation processes. However, when there was prior task experience, (i.e., when the placebo session was conducted first in the crossover design), methylphenidate even decreased post-error slowing and behavioral adaptation. Effect sizes were large and the power of the observed effects was higher than 95%. Conclusions The data suggest that catecholaminergic effects on cognitive control functions vary as a function of prior learning/task experience. The data establish a close link between learning/task familiarization and catecholaminergic effects for executive functions, which has not yet been studied, to our knowledge, but is of considerable clinical relevance. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Das „Expressed-Emotions-Konzept“ im Kontext psychiatrischer Pflege

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 37-42
Author(s):  
Birgit Wilhelm ◽  
Hilde Schädle-Deininger
Keyword(s):  
Expressed Emotions

Zusammenfassung. Das „Expressed-Emotions-Konzept“ kann Psychiatrie-Erfahrenen, Angehörigen oder auch professionell Pflegenden eine Grundlage bieten, sich mit den Auswirkungen von Emotionen auseinanderzusetzen. Diese spezifischen theoretischen Grundlagen können sowohl die Gestaltung eines förderlichen Milieus, als auch die Unterstützung von Angehörigen und Betroffenen sowie den gefühlsmäßigen Umgangsformen maßgeblich beeinflussen. Die Grundgedanken beziehen sich im Ursprung auf den Umgang von Angehörigen mit einem Familienmitglied, das an einer Schizophrenie erkrankt ist, aber auch auf Menschen mit bipolaren und affektiven Störungen. Es ist davon auszugehen, dass es grundsätzlich im zwischenmenschlichen Miteinander nützlich sein kann.

Dark and Peculiar

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janko Međedović ◽  
Goran Knežević
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Emotional Reaction ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Psychosis Proneness ◽  
Negative Emotional Reaction ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
Psychopathic Tendencies

Abstract. Earlier research suggested that militant extremists could have certain aspects of psychopathic and psychotic characteristics. Relying on these studies, we investigated whether the Militant Extremist Mind-Set (MEM) could be explained by psychopathy, sadism, and Disintegration (psychosis proneness), as subclinical manifestations of amoral, antisocial, and psychotic-like traits. In Study 1 (306 undergraduate students), it was shown that sadistic and psychopathic tendencies were related to Proviolence (advocating violence as a means for achieving a goal); psychopathic and disintegrative tendencies were associated to the Vile World (belief in a world as a corrupted and vile place), while Disintegration was the best predictor of Divine Power (relying on supernatural forces as a rationale for extremist acts). In Study 2 (147 male convicts), these relations were largely replicated and broadened by including implicit emotional associations to violence in the study design. Thus, while Proviolence was found to be related to a weakened negative emotional reaction to violent pictures, Vile World was found to be associated with stronger negative emotions as a response to violence. Furthermore, Proviolence was the only MEM factor clearly differentiating the sample of convicts from male students who participated in Study 1. Results help extend current understanding about personal characteristics related to militant extremism.

Minimizing Carry-Over Effects After Treatment Failure and Maximizing Therapeutic Outcome

2014 ◽  
Vol 222 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mareile Hofmann ◽  
Nathalie Wrobel ◽  
Simon Kessner ◽  
Ulrike Bingel
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Failure ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Subsequent Treatment ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Administration Route ◽  
Healthy Human ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
Analgesic Treatment ◽  
Balanced Design ◽  
Carry Over

According to experimental and clinical evidence, the experiences of previous treatments are carried over to different therapeutic approaches and impair the outcome of subsequent treatments. In this behavioral pilot study we used a change in administration route to investigate whether the effect of prior treatment experience on a subsequent treatment depends on the similarity of both treatments. We experimentally induced positive or negative experiences with a topical analgesic treatment in two groups of healthy human subjects. Subsequently, we compared responses to a second, unrelated and systemic analgesic treatment between both the positive and negative group. We found that there was no difference in the analgesic response to the second treatment between the two groups. Our data indicate that a change in administration route might reduce the influence of treatment history and therefore be a way to reduce negative carry-over effects after treatment failure. Future studies will have to validate these findings in a fully balanced design including larger, clinical samples.

Does CBT for Psychosis Have an Impact on Delusions by Improving Reasoning Biases and Negative Self-Schemas?

2018 ◽  
Vol 226 (3) ◽  
pp. 152-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Mehl ◽  
Björn Schlier ◽  
Tania M. Lincoln
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Secondary Outcome ◽  
Intervention Effect ◽  
Produce Change ◽  
Attribution Biases ◽  
Carry Over ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
Reasoning Biases

Abstract. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBTp) builds on theoretical models that postulate reasoning biases and negative self-schemas to be involved in the formation and maintenance of delusions. However, it is unclear whether CBTp induces change in delusions by improving these proposed causal mechanisms. This study reports on a mediation analysis of a CBTp effectiveness trial in which delusions were a secondary outcome. Patients with psychosis were randomized to individualized CBTp (n = 36) or a waiting list condition (WL; n = 34). Reasoning biases (jumping to conclusions, theory of mind, attribution biases) and self-schemas (implicit and explicit self-esteem; self-schemas related to different domains) were assessed pre- and post-therapy/WL. The results reveal an intervention effect on two of four measures of delusions and on implicit self-esteem. Nevertheless, the intervention effect on delusions was not mediated by implicit self-esteem. Changes in explicit self-schemas and reasoning biases did also not mediate the intervention effects on delusions. More focused interventions may be required to produce change in reasoning and self-schemas that have the potential to carry over to delusions.

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