scholarly journals The stability flexibility tradeoff and the dark side of detail

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Nassar ◽  
Vanessa Troiani
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
The Stability ◽  
High Flexibility ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Attention To Detail

AbstractLearning in dynamic environments requires integrating over stable fluctuations to minimize the impact of noise (stability) but rapidly responding in the face of fundamental changes (flexibility). Achieving one of these goals often requires sacrificing the other to some degree, producing a stability-flexibility tradeoff. Individuals navigate this tradeoff in different ways, with some people learning rapidly (emphasizing flexibility) and others relying more heavily on historical information (emphasizing stability). Despite the prominence of such individual differences in learning tasks, the degree to which they relate to broader characteristics of real-world behavior or pathologies has not been well explored. Here we relate individual differences in learning behavior to self-report measures thought to collectively capture characteristics of the Autism spectrum. We show that that young adults who learn most slowly tend to integrate more effective samples into their beliefs about the world making them more robust to noise (more stability), but are more likely to integrate information from previous contexts (less flexibility). We show that individuals who report paying more attention to detail tend to use high flexibility and low stability information processing strategies. We demonstrate the robustness of this inverse relationship between attention to detail and formation of stable beliefs in a heterogeneous population of children that includes a high proportion of Autism diagnoses. Together, our results highlight that attention to detail reflects an information processing policy that comes with a substantial downside, namely the ability to integrate data to overcome environmental noise.

Personality and Body-Focused Hand Movements

1989 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 907-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew N. Kenner
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Field Dependence ◽  
Hand Movement ◽  
Hand Movements ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Ordinal Consistency

The longer-term consistency with which subjects display apparently irrelevant self- or object-manipulations was examined by observing the subjects during the performance of two tasks followed by a repetition of these tasks after a 6-mo. interval. Individual subjects could not be characterized as consistently high or low producers of these movements across tasks and performances. Greater ordinal consistency among the subjects' body-focused movement frequencies was observed for the two different tasks conducted on the same day than was observed for the same task after 6 mo. Correlations between measures of anxiety and field-dependence and frequencies of body-focused movement varied significantly, not only with the task, but with repetitions of the same task after 6 mo. These results cast some doubt on explanations of individual differences in performance of body-focused hand movement through appeal to long-term individual differences in information-processing strategies.

scholarly journals Stigma experienced by family members of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: multidimensional construct

BJPsych Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 332-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha Mitter ◽  
Afia Ali ◽  
Katrina Scior
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Caregiver Burden ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundThere is a lack of good-quality instruments measuring stigma experienced by family members of stigmatised people.AimsTo develop a self-report measure of stigma among families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and examine associations between family stigma and other variables.MethodThe new Family Stigma Instrument (FAMSI) was tested with 407 family carers, 53% of whose offspring had an autism spectrum disorder in addition to intellectual disability. They also completed measures of subjective well-being, caregiver burden, self-esteem and social support.ResultsThe FAMSI yielded a five-factor structure and had good reliability. Perceived family stigma, caregiver burden and subjective well-being were the strongest predictors of family stigma.ConclusionsThis instrument can advance our understanding of the impact of stigma on family members. It can also help us understand sociodemographic, psychosocial and contextual variables of both the carer and cared for person that may influence family members' experiences.Declaration of interestNone.

Understanding the Dark Side of Costly Punishment: The Impact of Individual Differences in Everyday Sadism and Existential Threat

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 498-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Pfattheicher ◽  
Simon Schindler
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Costly Punishment ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

In public goods situations, a specific destructive behaviour reliably emerges when individuals face the possibility of costly punishing others: antisocial punishment, that is, costly punishing cooperative individuals. So far, however, little is known about the individual differences and situational factors that are associated with the dark side of costly punishment. This research deals with this shortcoming. We argue that antisocial punishment reflects the basic characteristics of sadism, namely, aggressive behaviour to dominate and to harm other individuals. We further argue that antisocial punishment may reflect a type of behaviour that allows for the maintenance of self–esteem (through aggressively dominating others). Therefore, we expect that individuals who report a disposition for everyday sadism are particularly likely to engage in antisocial punishment when their self has been threatened (by thinking about one's own death). In a study ( N = 99), we found empirical support for this assumption. The present research contributes to a better understanding of antisocial punishment and suggests that sadistic tendencies play a crucial role, especially when the self is (existentially) threatened. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

scholarly journals Yikes! Are we disgusted by politicians?

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153
Author(s):  
Bert N. Bakker ◽  
Gijs Schumacher ◽  
Maaike D. Homan
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Self Report ◽  
The Political ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Moral Disgust ◽  
Moral Transgressions ◽  
Pathogen Avoidance ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn the political domain, disgust is primarily portrayed as an emotion that explains individual differences in pathogen avoidance. We hypothesized that political rhetoric accusing opponents of moral transgressions also elicits disgust responses. In this registered report, we present the results from a laboratory experiment. We find that participants self-report higher disgust and have stronger physiological (Levator labii) responses to pictures of out-party leaders compared with in-party leaders. Participants also report higher disgust in response to moral violations of in-party leaders. There is more suggestive evidence that in-party leaders evoke more labii activity when they commit moral violations than when out-party leaders do. The impact of individual differences in moral disgust and partisanship strength is very limited to absent. Intriguingly, on average, the physiological and self-reported disgust responses to the treatment are similar, but individuals differ in whether their response is physiological or cognitive. This motivates further theorizing regarding the concordance of emotional responses.

scholarly journals Improving the Usefulness of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 239-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M McKillop ◽  
Warren R Nielson
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Good Precision ◽  
Sample Mean ◽  
Multidimensional Pain Inventory ◽  
Pain Management Program ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND: The Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI) is a reliable and valid self-report instrument that measures the impact of pain on an individual’s life, quality of social support and general activity. Criticism of the MPI has focused on this instrument’s internal structure and the stability of its classification taxonomy.OBJECTIVES: To determine whether empirical summary scales could be developed for the MPI based on a large sample of respondents diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome. It was hypothesized that summary scales would improve the psychometric quality of the MPI and increase the stability of respondents’ taxonomy profiles across time.METHODS: Respondents completed the MPI on two occasions before their admission to a multidisciplinary pain management program.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Based on principal components analysis, three summary scales were developed that reflected level of impairment, social support and activity. Summary scales possessed good psychometric qualities and, when cluster analyzed, replicated the MPI taxonomy. Exploratory analyses of the MPI taxonomy revealed that goodness-of-fit values generally became less reliable as respondent profiles approached the overall sample mean. When the relative distance between respondents fit to taxonomy profiles and the distance from the sample mean was considered, profile stability using summary scales was predicted with good precision. These results suggest that summary scales may enhance the usefulness of the MPI, and that the traditional method of determining profile fit within the MPI is not stable and needs to be reconsidered.

The Impact of Traditional and Nontraditional Media Forms in the 1992 Presidential Election

1996 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 401-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack M. McLeod ◽  
Zhongshi Guo ◽  
Katie Daily ◽  
Catherine A. Steele ◽  
Huiping Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Issue Salience ◽  
Traditional Media ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
The Impact

Data collected from two surveys in 1992, one cross-sectional and one two-wave panel, are used to examine the predictive patterns of traditional and nontraditional media forms on people's campaign interest, campaign information processing strategies, campaign participation, knowledge of candidates' issue positions, affect and image favorability toward candidates, perceived votes for candidates, and issue salience. Applying three incremental levels of controls, nontraditional media were found to have the strongest impact on labile characteristics (e.g., campaign interest) and weakest impact on criteria more difficult to alter, such as knowledge of candidates' issue positions. Traditional media forms continue to have a potent influence greater than that of nontraditional media forms on the campaign.

scholarly journals Daydream believer: Rumination, self-reflection and the temporal focus of mind wandering content

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 794-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisy Shrimpton ◽  
Deborah McGann ◽  
Leigh M. Riby
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Mind Wandering ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Temporal Focus ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Dispositional Differences

Current research into mind-wandering is beginning to acknowledge that this process is one of heterogeneity. Following on from previous findings highlighting the role of self-focus during mind wandering, the present study aimed to examine individual differences in rumination and self-reflection and the impact such styles of self-focus may have on mind-wandering experiences. Thirty-three participants were required to complete the Sustained Attention Response Task (SART), aimed at inducing mind-wandering episodes, whilst also probing the content of thought in terms of temporal focus. Self-report questionnaires were also administered after the SART to measure dispositional differences in style and beliefs regarding mind-wandering and assessments of individual differences in rumination and self-reflection. Those individuals with reflective self-focus showed a strong positive association with positive and constructive thoughts. Critically, ruminative self-focus was positively associated with a tendency for the mind to wander towards anguished fantasies, failures and aggression, but it was also positively associated with positive and constructive thoughts. Furthermore, while dispositional differences in self-focus showed no relationship with the temporal perspective of thoughts when probed during a cognitive task, performance on the task itself was related to whether participants were thinking about the past, present or future during that activity. Such findings are discussed in line with previous research, and provide a further step towards accounting for the heterogeneous nature of mind-wandering.

Dyadic coping and coparenting among couples after their child’s recent autism diagnosis

Autism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 136236132110209
Author(s):  
Naomi Downes ◽  
Marie-Maude Geoffray ◽  
Pascale Isnard ◽  
Eric Lemonnier ◽  
Marie-Joëlle Orêve ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Dyadic Coping ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Autism Diagnosis ◽  
Stress Appraisal ◽  
Mothers And Fathers ◽  
Sense Of Competence ◽  
Actor Partner Interdependence Model ◽  
Parenting Sense Of Competence ◽  
The Impact

This study explores how parenting couples use their relationship to support each other after their child’s autism diagnosis by assessing the role of dyadic coping and parenting sense of competence as predictors of their coparenting quality. Mothers and fathers raising a child on the spectrum ( N = 70 couples) individually completed self-report questionnaires measuring stress appraisal, dyadic coping, parenting sense of competence, and coparenting. Parents were recruited 1–36 months after their child’s autism diagnosis and data were analyzed using the actor-partner interdependence model. Parents’ dyadic coping and sense of competence were related to their level of coparenting. Partner effects were found as mothers’ dyadic coping was positively linked to fathers’ coparenting and a higher sense of competence among fathers predicted mothers’ coparenting. Further research is needed to understand how these effects evolve throughout the child’s development stages. Lay abstract We investigated how couples support each other after their child’s autism diagnosis and whether this affects the way they work together to raise their child. We recruited 70 couples raising a child on the autism spectrum. Both partners were asked to complete the same questionnaires measuring how they perceived the experience of having a child on the autism spectrum, how they used their relationship to support each other during stressful situations, how competent they felt completing their parenting tasks, and the coparenting relationship to explore how they worked together as a team when parenting their child. Parents participated in the study 1–36 months after their child’s autism diagnosis. We used statistical techniques that allowed us to see the impact mothers and fathers had on each other. Overall, parents who felt more competent and supported by their partner worked better as a team to raise their child on the spectrum. Fathers invested in the coparenting relationship more when mothers felt more supported by fathers. Mothers invested in the coparenting relationship more when fathers felt more competent parenting their child. Further research is needed to better understand how we can support couples as their child gets older.

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