Armand De Clercq

Can offline metacognition enhance mathematical problem solving

The effectiveness of a short metacognitive intervention combined with algorithmic cognitive instruction was assessed in an elementary school setting. Two hundred thirty-seven 3rd-grade children were randomly assigned to a 5-session metacognitive strategy instruction, an algorithmic direct cognitive instruction, a motivational program, a quantitative-relational condition, or a spelling condition. Children in the metacognitive program achieved significant gains in trained metacognitive skills compared with the 4 other conditions. Moreover, the children in the metacognitive program performed better on trained cognitive skills than children in the algorithmic condition, with a follow-up effect on domain-specific mathematics problem-solving knowledge. Despite the consistency of findings, no generalization effects were found on transfer of cognitive learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychophysiological Analysis (PSPHA): A modular script-based program for analyzing psychophysiological data

In psychophysiological research, complex tailor-made and interactive analyses of biosignals (e.g., skin conductance, heart rate, and respiration) are often required. Moreover, a synchronization between experimental stimuli and psychophysiolgical responses is necessary. In this article, we present Psychophysiological Analysis (PSPHA), a modular script-based program for analyzing biosignals in the time domain. The modules can be integrated in a VBScript, and a wizard allows easy adaption of parameters. PSPHA is a free, interactive, and flexible program for analyzing the data of psychophysiological experiments.

Children with Mathematics Learning Disabilities in Belgium

In Belgium, between 3% and 8% of the children in elementary schools have mathematics learning disabilities (MLD). Many of these children have less developed linguistic, procedural, and mental representation skills. Moreover, a majority of the children have been found to show inaccurate prediction and evaluation skills in Grade 3. MLD often become obvious in elementary school. Whereas some children are retained, others are referred to special education. During the last 10 years, the number of children in special education and the number of children with learning disabilities who are following a special guidance program in general education (inclusive education) have increased. Children in Belgium with MLD can get therapy for about 2 years. Nevertheless, many problems continue unresolved even in high school and adulthood.

A simple and sensitive method to measure timing accuracy

Timing accuracy in presenting experimental stimuli (visual information on a PC or on a TV) and responding (keyboard presses and mouse signals) is of importance in several experimental paradigms. In this article, a simple system for measuring timing accuracy is described. The system uses two PCs (at least Pentium II, 200 MHz), a photocell, and an amplifier. No additional boards and timing hardware are needed. The first PC, a SlavePC, monitors the keyboard presses or mouse signals from the PC under test and uses a photocell that is placed in front of the screen to detect the appearance of visual stimuli on the display. The software consists of a small program running on the SlavePC. The SlavePC is connected through a serial line with a second PC. This MasterPC controls the SlavePC through an ActiveX control, which is used in a Visual Basic program. The accuracy of our system was investigated by using a similar setup of a SlavePC and a MasterPC to generate pulses and by using a pulse generator card. These tests revealed that our system has a 0.01-msec accuracy. As an illustration, the reaction time accuracy of INQUISIT for a few applications was tested using our system. It was found that in those applications that we investigated, INQUISIT measures reaction times from keyboard presses with millisecond accuracy.

Resistance to extinction in evaluative conditioning

A well-demonstrated phenomenon in traditional Pavlovian conditioning research with humans is that of experimental extinction. In contrast, human evaluative conditioning research suggests that evaluative learning shows marked resistance to extinction. Here, the authors replicate both findings concurrently. Two differential fear conditioning experiments with an electrocutaneous stimulus as the unconditioned stimulus evidenced (a) sensitivity to extinction using an autonomic skin-conductance measure and (b) complete resistance to extinction using an affective-priming measure. The results corroborate the idea that evaluative conditioning is more resistant to extinction than is expectancy learning (F. Baeyens, P. Eelen, & G. Crombez, 1995).

Advanced Mind-Reading in Adults with Asperger Syndrome

This study investigated the mind-reading abilities of 19 adults with Asperger syndrome and 19 typically developing adults. Two static mind-reading tests and a more naturalistic empathic accuracy task were used. In the empathic accuracy task, participants attempted to infer the thoughts and feelings of target persons, while viewing a videotape of the target persons in a naturally occurring conversation with another person. The results are consistent with earlier findings. The empathic accuracy task indicated significant between-group differences, whereas no such differences were found on the static mind-reading tasks. The most innovative finding of the present study is that the inference ability of adults with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) and controls depends on the focus of the target’s thoughts and feelings, and that the empathic accuracy of adults with Asperger syndrome and control adults might be different in terms of quantity and quality.

Do smokers have a negative implicit attitude toward smoking

Swanson, Rudman, and Greenwald (2001) used an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure attitudes toward smoking and found that smokers have negative implicit attitudes toward smoking. In a first experiment, we replicated the results of Swanson et al. but showed that scores on an attitude IAT do discriminate between smokers and nonsmokers to the same extent than scores on an IAT that is designed to measure associations between smoking and approach or avoidance. In a second experiment, we did find positive implicit attitudes toward smoking in smokers when we used a personalised version of the IAT that was designed to be less susceptible to effects of societal views. Our results indicate that implicit attitudes should not be dismissed as a causal factor in the maintenance of smoking behaviour.

Fear-conditioned cues of impending pain facilitate attentional engagement.

AIMS OF STUDY Selective attention to signals of impending pain allows the avoidance of bodily harm. In order to identify the attentional components involved in the selection of pain signals over competing demands, we used an emotional modification of an exogenous cueing task. METHODS Fifty-two pain-free volunteers detected visual targets of which the location was correctly or incorrectly predicted by a spatial cue. Cues were emotionally modulated using differential classical conditioning. The conditioned cue (CS+) was sometimes followed by an electrocutaneous stimulus (UCS), thus becoming a pain signal, whereas the UCS never followed the other cue (CS-), referred to as safety signal. RESULTS Analyses of response times showed that pain signals facilitated the directing of attention to their location in comparison to safety signals. In contrast, pain signals did not impair disengagement of attention from their location in comparison to safety signals. CONCLUSION It is concluded that attention is more strongly engaged to a signal of impending pain compared with a cue signalling its absence. We explore why disengagement from the pain signal is not impaired compared to the safety signal. The findings are discussed in terms of the defensive importance of pain anticipation.

Is it better to have controlled and lost than never to have controlled at all? An experimental investigation of control over pain

&NA; Trying to control pain is a common human goal. But little is know about what happens when one loses control over pain. This paper reports an experiment with 74 healthy volunteers, half of whom were given control over a pain stimulus and subsequently lost control, and half of whom never had control over the pain. This study investigates whether having had control and lost it would result in a more unpleasant pain experience, more fear about impending pain, a heightened vigilance to pain, and greater interference on a secondary task. Participants in the experimental group first learned to avoid a painful stimulus by correctly responding to a card sorting task, but later on lost control over the painful stimulus. In the yoked comparison group, participants had no control over the painful stimulus from the beginning. Results indicated that losing control over pain and, relatedly, attempting to control uncontrollable pain have significant costs such as a higher fear of the impending pain stimulus and retarded performance on a secondary task. When attempts to avoid pain are blocked, individuals persist in their avoidance attempts, try harder, and narrow their focus of attention upon the problem to be solved. These findings are discussed within the context of a dual process model of coping with uncontrollable adverse events [Brandtstädter J, Renner G. Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: explication and age‐related analysis of assimilative and accommodative strategies of coping. Psychol Aging 1990;5:58–67] and possible mechanisms for perseverance with ineffective solutions.

Antisociality, underarousal and the validity of the Concealed Information Polygraph Test

The Concealed Information Polygraph Test has been advocated as the preferred method for the physiological detection of deception. In this study, we further examined the validity of the Concealed Information Test in antisocial individuals. Physiological responding to concealed information was assessed in 48 male prisoners, and compared with responding in 31 male community volunteers. Based upon the association between antisociality and autonomic hyporesponsivity, lower detection rates were expected in the prisoners. Participants were questioned on five personally significant items (e.g., day of birth), instructed to deny recognition of this information, and promised a financial reward when able to hide recognition. Prisoners showed reduced autonomic reactivity in comparison to the community volunteers. This hyporesponsivity had little impact on the sensitivity of the Concealed Information Test. Detection efficiency in the prisoners was significantly above chance (d=2.67; a=0.82; 79%), and did not differ significantly from that obtained in the community volunteers (d=3.04; a=0.85; 87%). The present data support the validity of the Concealed Information Test in criminal populations.