EXPRESS: Your action does matter to me: examining the role of the co-actor’s action-effects in resolving the self-other discrimination problem

Sharing a task with another person can introduce the need to discriminate representations that refer to our own action from that of the other person’s. The current understanding is that information about the stimulus event drives the self-other discrimination process, as it promotes (via the reactivation of feature codes) the representation that encodes the corresponding action. However, this mechanistic explanation relies on experimental situations in which stimulus event information (e.g., spatial location) is always, and directly available. Thus, it remains unclear whether, and how we could successfully discriminate between self- and other-related action representations in the absence of such information. The present study addressed this unanswered question using a novel joint Simon task-based paradigm. We report the results of three experiments in which we manipulated the availability of stimulus event information into the contralateral space. Our findings demonstrate that participants are able to compensate for the absence of stimulus event information by relying on temporal features of their co-actor’s action-effects (Experiment 1). Even more surprising was that participants continued to monitor the temporal features of their co-actor’s actions even when given a verbal signal by their co-actor (Experiments 2a), or full access to the common workspace (Experiment 2b). Our results are strong evidence that the representation of actions is not purely stimulus driven. They suggest that the temporal dimension of the other person’s actions is able to drive the self-other discrimination process, in the same way as other perceptual dimensions and feature codes that are shared with the stimulus event.

Recall Accuracy in Children: Age vs. Conceptual Thinking

The aim of this study was to replicate a previous experiment using a different stimulus event. The present study examined the relationship between age, development of conceptual thinking, and responses to free recall, suggestive and specific option-posing questions in children and adults. Sixty-three children (aged 7–14) and 30 adults took part in an experiment in which they first participated in a live staged event, then, a week later, were interviewed about the event and tested using the Word Meaning Structure Test. Age and level of conceptual thinking were positively correlated in children. Compared to age, conceptual thinking ability better predicted children's accurate free recall and inaccurate responses to specific option-posing questions, but not inaccurate responses to suggestive questions.

Tolerance Training with Adolescents in a Residential Juvenile Facility

For individuals receiving treatment in residential juvenile facilities, the inability to tolerate typical but unpleasant stimulus events may manifest in aggressive behavior toward staff or other residents. Such behaviors can lead to loss of privileges, interfere with other treatments, and contribute to negative staff-student relationships. As a procedure, tolerance training (TT) involves systematically increasing the duration of exposure to an undesired stimulus event or situation. The current study evaluated the effects of a procedure to increase tolerance of aversive situations for four adolescents who were receiving treatment for sexual offenses in a residential detention facility. Results from single-subject experimental designs indicate that TT increased all four adolescents’ ability to tolerate a non-preferred stimulus event. We briefly discuss the clinical implications of the use of behavior-analytic procedures to improve skill sets for adolescents in residential treatment facilities.

Studi Kasus Dinamika Emosi Pada Anak Autis

This study aimed at exploring the emotional dynamics of children with autistic. A qualitative approach with case study method was employed. Two autistic children with average autism severity in Cita Hati Bunda School and Therapy Center for autistic children Sidoarjo were recruited as participants. Data were collected from interviews, observation, and relevant documents. The Plutchik’s concept of emotion components, namely stimulus event, inferred cognition, physiological arousal, feeling state, impulse to action, and overt behaviour and effect was used to invoke some psychological insight in the analysis. The study found that the dynamic of emotions that occurs in autistic children was influenced mainly by situational factors. The result suggested that autistic children need more times to perceive the contexts of stimuli. However, this study was not able to explain how these children make meanings of those stimuli.Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi dinamika emosional pada anak-anak autis. Pendekatan kualitatif dengan metode studi kasus diguna-kan. Dua anak autis dengan tingkat keparahan autisme rata-rata di Cita Hati Bunda Sekolah dan Terapi Pusat autis anak Sidoarjo direkrut sebagai partisipan. Data dikumpulkan dari wawancara, observasi, dan dokumen yang relevan. Konsep Plutchik tentang komponen emosi, yaitu stimulus event, inferred cogni-tion, physiological arousal, feeling state, impulse to action, overt behaviour dan effect digunakan untuk memberikan wawasan psikologis dalam menganalisis data. Studi ini menemukan bahwa meskipun ketika emosi itu bangkit anak-anak autistik ini tidak mampu mengontrolnya, namun dinamika emosi yang terjadi pada anak autistik sesungguhnya dipengaruhi terutama oleh faktor situasional. Hasil penelitian juga menunjukkan bahwa anak-anak autis perlu waktu yang lebih banyak untuk memahami konteks rangsangan. Namun, penelitian ini tidak dapat menjelaskan bagaimana anak-anak ini memaknai berbagai rangsangan yang mereka terima.

Latencies in Vehicle Steering: It is Possible to Measure Drivers’ Response Latencies and Attention Unobtrusively on the Road

This paper reviews results from a series of studies in which latencies in driver/ vehicle steering responses were measured on the road, unobtrusively, and with representative samples of unsuspecting drivers. Based on the fact that an obstacle on the road shoulder induces an avoidance response, i.e., a lateral displacement towards the middle of the road, a stimulus event was introduced at various distances when a car was approaching so that the time available to drivers for an avoidance response was known. It was found, first, that the average steering response started at latencies greater than 1 s, reached the half-way point at 2.5 s and the maximum at 3-4 s, depending on the situation. Second, this method was applied in a project on the effects of a warning flasher on driver behavior in school zones. It was found that the flasher reduced the drivers’ steering response latencies. This was supposedly the first time to measure drivers’ attention unobtrusively.