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Room
Vestibül K
Thursday, September 13
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14:00
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15:30
Poster - Session 1
Poster Session 1
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P01-01
Angela Steiner
Effects of oxytocin in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients with contamination fear
Authors
Angela Steiner (University of Zurich)
Markus Heinrichs (University of Zurich)
Contamination is an intense and persisting feeling of having been polluted or infected as a result of contact with a person that is perceived soiled, impure, infectious or harmful. Compulsive cleaning is an attempt to remove feelings of contamination. Any avoidance of possible contaminants and their carriers may lead to impaired social functioning including intense social anxiety. There is evidence from earlier studies indicating that the central neuropeptide oxytocin may play a role in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In animals and humans, oxytocin has shown to play a key role in the regulation of social behavior (e.g., social support, trust, empathy) and has been shown to suppress neuroendocrine and behavioral stress responses. In a placebo-controlled double-blind design, we exposed 40 male patients who fulfill DSM-IV criteria for a diagnosis of OCD (with contamination fear and excessive washing) in 6 sessions over the course of two weeks to stimuli consisting of photographs of contaminating objects. In addition, the ability to infer another individual’s mental state (“mind-reading”) was assessed. All participants will be randomly assigned to receive intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) or placebo 45 min before exposure. Responses to the fear-relevant situation will be assessed using psychometric, endocrine (cortisol), and autonomic (heart rate monitor) parameters. Initial results will be presented at the conference.
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P01-02
Carla Raselli
Approaches to study brain activation patterns associated with alertness and working memory in healthy controls and multiple sclerosis patients
Authors
Carla Raselli (University of Basel)
Jochen Hirsch (University Hospital Basel)
Achim Gass (University Hospital Basel)
Lutz Achtnichts (University Hospital Basel)
Ludwig Kappos (University Hospital Basel)
Ernst-Wilhelm Radue (University Hospital Basel)
Klaus Opwis (University of Basel)
Iris-Katharina Penner (University of Basel)
Cognitive impairment due to white and gray matter dysfunction has a high prevalence in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Attention and working memory functions are particularly affected. In a current study, we are focusing on the evolution of functional, structural and behavioral differences between MS patients and controls in order to monitor the effects of disease progression on these functional domains. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), participants perform cognitive tasks with increasing degrees of complexity: a tonic alertness task and three working memory tasks (1-, 2 and 3-back). In addition, a neuropsychological test battery and several self-report measures are applied. We hypothesize that particularly the working memory 2- and 3-back tasks might reveal functional and behavioral differences between patients and controls while the attention task may reveal minor changes. Our results in controls show that an increase in task complexity causes increases in functional activation patterns across 10 normal control subjects. The easiest attention task, tonic alertness, causes activation in the motor, supplementary motor and cerebral areas. In contrast, the more demanding working memory tasks induce increased activation patterns in bilateral frontal and parietal areas. This allows several approaches for analysis and search for differences between controls and MS patients.
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P01-03
Coralie Zumwald
AMIS SUBITO: a diagnostic tools for an earlier assessment, identification and treatment of gamblers with suicidal behaviour.
Authors
Coralie Zumwald (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Mélina Andronicos (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Sophie Gougler (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Leyla Gyger (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Margret Rihs (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Jacques Besson (CHUV)
The suicidal risk in people with gambling problems is insufficiently evaluated; this risk is all the more hard to specify within a population which underreports gambling behaviour and associated co-morbidities. In the literature, the prevalence of suicidal behaviour among gamblers problems is variable due to the different populations taken into account and different methods applied. The samples studied are treatment seeking gamblers; available data are thus representative of only a small portion of excessive gamblers.
The AMIS SUBITO (Assessment, Measurement, Intervention and Studies for the Prevention of Suicidal Behaviour in Individuals inclined to Gamble Excessively) is a pilot study which aims to develop and evaluate a short intervention targeted towards suicide prevention among excessive gamblers.
60 excessive gamblers will be recruited. Half will receive suicide prevention intervention, while the other half will receive a current intervention targeted gambling problems. Gambling, suicidal behaviour and additional outcomes will be monitored over 7 sessions during 12 months.
We hypothesizes:
-Equal efficacy of both interventions
-Superior efficacy of suicide prevention intervention with respect to suicidal behaviour, knowledge of coping strategies applicable to suicidal crisis and perceived efficacy of self efficiency
AMIS SUBITO aims at providing appropriate diagnostic tools for an earlier assessment, identification and treatment of gamblers with suicidal behaviour.
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P01-04
Esther Biedert
Cholecystokinin (CCK), Ghrelin and Peptide YY (PYY) responses in subjects with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) before and after CBT treatment
Authors
Esther Biedert (University of Basel)
Simone Munsch (University of Basel)
Andrea Meyer (University of Basel)
Jürgen Margraf (University of Basel)
Christoph Beglinger (University hospital Basel)
Objective: Research in BED indicates that psychological factors might interact with peripheral satiety hormones, to induce binge eating. The study objective was to explore the role of satiety hormones such as CCK, ghrelin and PYY, in BED individuals compared to controls and before and after treatment.
Methods: Baseline and meal-induced characteristics of plasma CCK, ghrelin, and PYY were repeatedly assessed in 18 BED individuals participating in a randomized CBT trial compared to 20 healthy matched controls. After an overnight 8-h fast subjects ate a standardized breakfast. Measurements of plasma CCK, ghrelin, and PYY were made repeatedly. The experimental procedure was carried through before and after CBT.
Results: The baseline pre-meal plasma hormone levels did not differ among groups. BED subjects, compared to the controls, had a significant meal-induced increase of CCK (p=.001) and a significant different course of meal-induced PYY (p=.018), with BED patients releasing greater amounts of PYY. Baseline plasma levels and the course of concentrations did not differ in BED subjects following the intervention, with one exception, that when ghrelin was reexamined there was a significant decrease in fasting baseline ghrelin (p=.032).
Discussion:
The higher meal-induced CCK and PYY concentrations might be a secondary change to binge eating to counteract further energy intake. The lower fasting ghrelin level in BED after CBT may be a change of a primary causal factor.
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P01-05
Hanspeter Mathys
Qualitative psychotherapy research: The therapeutic interaction as a day's residue for the dream production
Authors
Hanspeter Mathys (University of Zurich)
The poster presents the results of a clinical case study: Audio transcripts from a psychoanalytic therapy counting more than 500 sessions with almost 100 dreams out of it. Focus is on session 29, including the 5th dream report in the current psychoanalysis of a female patient, called Amalie. Unprocessed day impressions are taken along from the waking state into sleep. In psychoanalytic patterns this contribution for dream formation is called the “day’s residue”. In various experimental test arrangements the stimuli incurred as “controlled induced day’s residues” into test persons’ dreams and had a dream forming effect. In the present case study, based on conversation analysis, we tie up to this result by observing the formation and nocturnal converting of the day’s residues in the clinical-psychoanalytic setting. The therapeutic interaction composes material for a day’s residue as well. It can be shown that events leaving behind an affective tension that cannot be resolved in the therapeutic interaction are of a special interest for the quality of a day’s residue. In this perspective dreaming is one part of a process of affect and tension regulation, that provides an insight into unconscious converting mechanisms.
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P01-06
Kerstin Suarez-Hitz
The Influence of Stress and Coping on Somatic, specifically Gastrointestinal Symptoms in a Sample of Swiss Students
Authors
Kerstin Suarez-Hitz (University of Zurich)
Claudia Mayer (University of Zurich)
Ulrike Ehlert (University of Zurich)
Background: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Functional Dyspepsia (FD) are common in the general population (10-20%). These patients present a reduced capacity and quality of life. The etiology is incompletely understood. Aim: To evaluate the correlation between "the susceptibility to stress", "chronic stress", "the professional life next to the study", the way of coping, and the somatic, particularly the gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in students. Methods: 673 students filled out an online-questionnaire with the following contents: demography, chronic stress, susceptibility to stress, coping, the number and the severity of GI-symptoms, and somatic discomfort. Results: 4% of the students meet the criteria of IBS with a comorbid FD, 17,7% only FD. 50,4% show subclinical IBS-symptoms and 4,6% an organic GI-disease. Females had more and severe symptoms than males (p<0.001). There could be shown a significant correlation between susceptibility to stress, chronic stress, coping and the number as well as the severity of GI-symptoms. Workload explains 13% variance of the severity of GI-symptoms. Discussion: The results suggest that decreasing stress and workload could improve GI- or other somatic symptoms. Whereas it seems that coping plays only a secondary role in the disease process.
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P01-07
Marc Luder
Qualitative psychotherapy research: JAKOB - Action repertoire in patient’s narratives
Authors
Marc Luder (University of Zurich)
The JAKOB narrative analysis is a qualitative research tool for systematically analyzing patient’s narratives. It conceptualizes narratives as dramaturgically constructed linguistic productions and interprets these in reference to the unconscious conflict material of the narrator contained therein. The goal of the narrative analysis is to achieve a psychoanalytically oriented clinical conflict diagnosis.
The narratives are extracted from transcripts, a linguistic analysis is performed, and the vocabulary is encoded according to predetermined categories of the JAKOB lexicon. Subsequent interpretation steps accomplish the qualitative analysis of a story.
The project investigates the individual word use (lexical choice) of different subjects and is focused on the use of verbs, i.e. the actions done by the subject and sustained by the subject. The JAKOB coding system incorporates 93 action categories. The following questions are investigated:
Is it possible to distinguish subjects according to their use of action codes?
Is it possible to classify subjects into different groups according to their individual use of action codes?
The results of the investigation provide a basis for future developments and enhancements of the JAKOB coding system.
The patient called “Amalie” as a central figure in many research projects and publications of the Department, is presented as an example for the JAKOB action codes.
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P01-08
Marie-Luise Hermann
What counts in life. Giving credit to oneself and others in elderly people’s life story interviews
Authors
Marie-Luise Hermann (University of Zurich)
What counts in life. Giving credit to oneself and others in elderly people’s life story interviews
The relationship and communication concept of giving credit is applied to narrative interviews and the life review perspective for the first time.
Objectives: What forms of giving credit or discredit can be found on the interactional and the life story level? What information can be derived about the construction of narrative identity and about individual strategies of dealing with fortune or misfortune?
Method: Using qualitative content analysis, the transcripts of two two-hour life review interviews are examined. Giving credit is operationalized by four criteria: A challenging project that requires resources and personal investment is appraised by ascription of e.g. competence, pride, weakness, or fear.
Results: Giving credit can be found in diverse forms on both the interactional and the life story level. A content-related category system can be developed along with more general functions of giving credit that reflect the construction of narrative identity. Individual portraits of giving credit show the interviewees’ clear-cut patterns of relationships and communication, related to coping strategies and theories of aging.
Conclusions: The analysis of giving credit entails focusing on complex appraisal processes of subjectively relevant actions of the self and others and on balancing the life as a whole – thus forming a concentrate of what really counts in life.
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P01-09
Monique C. Pfaltz
Time series modelling of anxiety symptoms in Panic Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in daily life: limited evidence for cognitive theories of panic
Authors
Monique C. Pfaltz (University of Basel)
Tanja Michael (University of Basel)
Vitaliy Kolodyazhniy (University of Basel)
Peter Peyk (University of Basel)
Jürgen Margraf (University of Basel)
Frank H. Wilhelm (University of Basel)
Theories on panic disorder (PD) emphasize cognitive factors in the development and maintenance of panic attacks. Bodily symptoms presumably trigger anxiety, which increases physiological activity, resulting in a positive feedback loop between anxiety and its effects, culminating in panic attacks. We tested part of this assumption by monitoring anxiety symptoms in the real life setting of 18 PD patients, 27 healthy controls (HC) and 13 patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD, clinical control group) using a Palm-based electronic diary. Participants rated their levels of anxiety (Anx), expectation of anxiety (ExpAnx), as well as bodily (BodSym) and cognitive symptoms (CogSym) of panic attacks every 3 hours on a 0-10 scale 5 times a day for one week. The relation between them was assessed using vector autoregression. On average, all four ratings were higher in PD and PTSD than in HC. In PTSD, higher ExpAnx predicted higher Anx. For several PD and PTSD patients, higher Anx was predicted by BodSym or CogSym, and vice versa. Yet, these findings were not significant within the total study groups, contradicting a general influence of cognitive factors on panic attacks. As a positive feedback loop seems important in some PD patients, different mechanisms might underlie different subgroups of PD. Yet, similar results are present in PTSD, pointing to non-specificity. The presence of PD core symptoms in PTSD suggests substantial symptomatic overlap between the two disorders.
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P01-10
Natasa Milenkovic
The application of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) in a population of severely addicted opioid users in a heroin-assisted treatment program: Preliminary results
Authors
Natasa Milenkovic (University of Basel)
Simone Munsch (University of Basel)
Otto Schmid (University Hospital Basel)
Gerhard A. Wiesbeck (University Hospital Basel)
Jürgen Margraf (University of Basel)
Frank Wilhelm (University of Basel)
Introduction: The method of EMA is used to assess antecedents of problem behavior simultaneously in several areas (i.e. smoking, eating disorders etc.). Patients with opioid and comorbid substance dependence represent an under-investigated population and concerned research is often based on retrospective self-report. To apply EMA is promising for clinical reasons, as it would allow investigating antecedents of substance use simultaneously in a naturalistic setting and thereby contributing to an efficacious treatment. A major study aim was therefore to investigate the feasibility of EMA. Further we were interested in the antecedents of substance use in the naturalistic setting of heroin-substituted patients. Methods: We used EMA in a randomized wait-list crossover-design to assess the antecedents of substance use 4 times daily during 1 week. Results: Preliminary results indicate that compliance is comparable to other patient populations, but decreases when data is restricted to polytoxicomanic patients. Impaired mood further seems to be an important antecedent of substance use. Discussion: We suggest that EMA can be applied as a valid and reliable method in populations with substance use disorders. Our findings further point to the possible role of substance use as a dysfunctional coping with impaired mood according to escape theory.
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P01-11
Peter Zorn
“Schema-focused Emotive Behavioral Therapy (SET)”: Evaluation of a new integrative therapy program for patients with personality disorders.
Authors
Peter Zorn (Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern
)
Leila Maria Soravia (Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern
)
Wolfgang Tschacher (Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern
)
Voler Roder (Universitäre Psychiatrische Dienste Bern)
Rationale: At present there is a paucity of standardised group behaviour therapy approaches targeting different kinds of personality disorders. On this background, our research group developed a new manualised treatment approach called "Schema-focused Emotive Behavioral Therapy" (SET), which integrates schematherapeutic, emotional-focused, cognitive and behavioural therapy methods. Method: In a multi-centre RCT-study, 93 patients with personality disorders of cluster B and C, were randomly assigned to either SET (n=47) or a classical Social Skills Training (SST, n=46) over 30 sessions. Patients were assessed before and after treatment and 1 year after study intake (follow-up). Results: During therapy phase, SET seems to improve outcome variables in several domains, as symptomatic complaints, interpersonal behavior, social adaptation as well as emotional coping. Especially cluster B patients seem to profit more, which is mostly seen during follow-up. Moreover, results indicate that SET meets a high patients acceptance. Conclusion: SET seems to be clinical suitable for patients with personality disorders and allows an adequate and effective group therapy. On a clinical and economic point of view, SET could significantly contribute to mental health care.
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P01-12
Sébastien Fernandez
ELADEB: a scale for self-rating of problems and needs in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders
Authors
Sébastien Fernandez (University of Lausanne)
Christine Reymond (University of Lausanne)
Valentino Pomini (University of Lausanne)
Psychiatric rehabilitation aims at providing care for people suffering from chronic psychiatric disorders. Given that patients present very distinct diagnosis, symptoms, cognitive deficits or incapacities, these characteristics have to be taken into account for optimal choice of treatments required and goals of treatments. There is a large amount of self-rating scales as well standardized and semi-standardized procedures to assess symptoms, social functioning or needs for care. In response to limitations occurring in available scales of assessment of needs, ELADEB, a new scale was designed for self-rating of problems and needs. Patients have to identify and rate domains in which they perceive problems and for which they wish to receive help. These domains are represented on cards by pictures and patients have to sort these cards to select perceived problems and needs. This method allows collecting quantitative and qualitative information about the patient’s situation. In order to study psychometric properties of ELADEB, this instrument and other scales (BDI-II, MADRS and WHOQOL-BREF) were administered over two sessions to a psychiatric outpatients sample (N = 30). Satisfactory reliability and good construct validity with depression and quality of life were observed. The pros and cons of using this new scale are presented and results are discussed.
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P01-13
Simone Schelling
Increasing the Motivation for Physical Activity in Obese Individuals
Authors
Simone Schelling (University of Basel)
Esther Biedert (University of Basel)
Hans Andrea Meyer (University of Basel)
Simone Munsch (University of Basel)
Theoretical Background: After behavioural weight loss treatment, weight is often regained. Physical activity turns out to be the strongest predictor of long-term weight loss. But only few obese individuals initiate physical activity and maintain their efforts.
Methods: Thirty-eight obese participants were randomly assigned to either a one-session motivation or relaxation intervention (control group). Thereafter both groups participated in an eight-week manualized aerobic program. Compliance, motivational stage of change, physical activity, and Body Mass Index were measured during intervention, at 3- and 6- months follow-up.
Results: Participants attending the motivation program showed significantly higher compliance to the aerobic program (t = 3.12 , p = .005). Moreover, there were significantly fewer dropouts (n= 2) compared to the control group (n= 8) (?21 = 4.077, p = .048, N = 38). Motivational stage of change significantly increased between before intervention and end of aerobic program (z = –2.33, p = .020) but only for the motivation group (control group z = 0.00, p = 1.0). BMI was significantly reduced in both groups by .58 points (SD = .85) on average.
Discussion: The motivation intervention seems to be efficacious in enhancing compliance to an aerobic program and in reducing BMI in obese individuals. Further research should focus on long-term efficacy of motivational interventions as an important therapeutic option for weight loss maintenance.
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P01-14
Urs Spiegel
Qualitative psychotherapy research: Dream reports and changes in a therapy process
Authors
Urs Spiegel (University of Zurich)
Results of a clinical case study are presented on the poster: Audio transcripts with almost one hundred dreams out of a psychoanalytic therapy of more than five hundred sessions with the patient Amalie. The focus is on the role of the dialogical self and changes in the therapy process.
Dream reports are fragmentary episodic reports inviting to dialogue. They present a threefold invitation to dialogue: Dialogues between dream protagonists, a dialogue between dream and dreamer and a dialogue between dreamer and dialogue partner. Analyzing the first and in the last dream, we can observe changes in the therapy process comparing them with the concept of the “polyphonic novel of self” (Bakhtin, 1973). Novels with various voices interacting to create a self-narrative. The self not as something given but as something that could be given up; a self that creates itself, constructs itself by talking and narrating (Schmaus, 2000).
Every dream reveals itself as a psychic structure which has a meaning and which can be inserted at an assignable point in the mental activities of waking life (Freud, 1900). For Amalie: What a change from the first to the last dream towards various contacts - considering her fears - in a scene, in which Amalie would like to appear to be attractive, admired and competent. Catamnestic studies showed Amalie being able to live in a happy and hopeful partnership.
Keywords Dream rhetoric, dialogical self, clinical narratology, qualitative research,therapy process
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P01-15
Virginie Salamin
Therapeutic relationshipS in the psychiatric hospital: preliminary results with depressed inpatients
Authors
Virginie Salamin (Hôpital Psychiatrique Cantonal, Marsens and University of Fribourg
)
Patrick Perrenoud (Hôpital Psychiatrique Cantonal, Marsens
)
Graziella Giacometti Bickel (Hôpital Psychiatrique Cantonal, Marsens )
There is currently little specific research on the therapeutic relationship in the psychiatric hospital setting. The bulk of published work shows a positive association between the quality of the therapeutic alliance and the outcome of treatment. However, there is a need to better understand the potential association of alliance with other outcomes (such as interpersonal relationships) in order to have a better understanding of the recovery process in psychiatry. Moreover, as the psychiatric hospital involves many professionals and therapeutic programs, it is necessary to consider both the relationships with the whole staff (i.e. with nurses, psychologists and occupational therapists) and with the main therapist.
Our ongoing study is designed along a longitudinal, repeated measurements model, thus allowing us to follow patients’ changes in the quality of the therapeutic relationships, symptoms and other outcomes throughout their hospital stay. Depressed inpatients complete weekly brief standardised questionnaires on: symptoms, emotionality, interpersonal relations and incongruence, therapeutic relationships, somatic symptoms and expectancies.
We will present and discuss preliminary results (N= at least 30) on the links between the relations to the therapist and/or staff and outcome measures. The importance of positive treatment expectancies and self-efficacy will also be discussed.
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P01-16
Virginie Salamin
Multi-method assessment of alexithymia and emotion regulation in daily life of somatoform inpatients: a pilot study
Authors
Virginie Salamin (University of Fribourg)
Sarah Menzies (University of Fribourg)
Christian Maggiori (University of Fribourg)
Michaël Reicherts (University of Fribourg)
There is some evidence for an association between alexithymia and somatization; however there are still controversies. Some limitations of existing studies could be attributed to the quasi exclusive use of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, i.e. a self-report trait questionnaire.
The aim of this study is to test the alexithymia and emotion regulation deficit of somatoform inpatients using a multimethod approach, i.e. self-report questionnaires and ambulatory monitoring of affective life. We hope to gain a more ecological understanding of the way those people verbally describe and experience their affective states in daily life.
This prospective process study takes place in an inpatient psychosomatic division. Somatoform inpatients use the “Learning Affect Monitor”, a newly developed computer-based system for ambulatory assessment studies (Reicherts, Salamin, Maggiori & Pauls, 2005): six times a day for seven consecutive days they record on a handheld computer their current affect and physical well-being. Somatization, alexithymia, emotional openness and psychopathology are assessed with self-report questionnaires.
Somatizing patients are compared to a non-clinical group (N=51). We present first results (min. 10 cases) on the links between dimensions of emotions (valence, perceived activation, and intensity), verbal descriptions of current affect (differentiation, expression) in daily life and questionnaire measures on alexithymia and openness to emotions.
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P01-17
Anton Bolfing
Estimating X-Ray Image Difficulty Using a Linear Model Based on Automated Image Processing
Authors
Anton Bolfing (University of Zurich)
Stefan Michel (University of Zurich)
Adrian Schwaninger (University of Zurich)
The public and political attention on the issue of aviation security has increased dramatically at the beginning of this century. Great improvement has been achieved in technological progress. But one of the most important tasks in aviation security, the visual inspection of passenger bags using x-ray machines, is widely neglected. This study is part of a comprehensive approach to tackle the improvement of human factors in aviation security.
VICOREG (Visual Cognition Research Group) from University of Zurich has developed a wide range of tools for testing, training and applied research in the field.
The present study focuses on the development of a statistical model to estimate the threat detection difficulty of single x-ray images based on image based factors.
Schwaninger, Hardmeier, and Hofer (2004) have identified three such image based factors: View Difficulty (3D-rotation of threat item), Superposition (occlusion by other objects) and Bag Complexity (texture unsteadiness). In our model these factors are implemented as image processing algorithms.
The study comprises four experiments confirming the effects of the image based factors (replication), showing the predictive power of the image processing algorithms and their perceptual plausibility and a comparison of the predictive power of our algorithms with the predictive power of human ratings. They are on a par. Possible applications for computer-based training and threat image projection (TIP) systems are discussed.
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P01-18
Diana Hardmeier
The influence of pre-employment assessment and individually adaptive computer-based training on detection performance in x-ray screening
Authors
Diana Hardmeier (University of Zurich)
Franziska Hofer (University of Zurich)
Adrian Schwaninger (University of Zurich and Max Planck Insitute, Tübingen)
The detection of prohibited items in x-ray images of passenger bags is one of the most important tasks of airport security screeners. In this task, knowledge-based and image-based factors are needed. A screener has to know which items are forbidden and what they look like in x-ray images in order to recognize them (knowledge-based factors). Furthermore, screeners have to be able to cope with bag complexity, superposition of a threat item by other objects and rotation of the threat item (image-based factors).
Image-based factors are assumed to be rather related to cognitive visual abilities and therefore only moderately affected by training. In contrast, knowledge-based factors would depend highly on training. This hypothesis was investigated in this study. We could show that the selection of job applicants with the X-Ray Object Recognition Test (X-Ray ORT), which measures the ability to cope with image-based factors in x-ray screening reliably and validly, leads to a much better detection performance of these screeners later on the job. Knowledge-based factors were measured using the Prohibited Items Test (PIT) before and after two years of recurrent computer-based training. This test contains x-ray images of passenger bags with different types of threat objects and we found large increases of detection performance as a result of recurrent computer based training. The implications for recommended practices regarding selection and training of x-ray screeners are discussed.
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P01-19
Esther Kaufmann
The idiographic approach in Social Judgment Theory: A review of the Lens Model Equation
Authors
Esther Kaufmann (University of Mannheim (D))
Lars Sjödahl (Malmö School of Education, Lund University (S))
Rüdiger Mutz (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich)
The Lens Model Equation (Tucker, 1964) quantifies the judge-environment interactions expressed as judgement achievement and reveals the underlying sources of judgement achievement. Since Tucker’s publication (1964), there has been no comprehensive review of the literature applying the Lens Model Equation to individuals, i.e. idiographic approach. By describing and analysing variations of individual data this review shows, by means of a meta-analysis, restricted to idiographic studies, the importance of focusing on the idiographic approach, which is mostly neglected by research on judgement and decision-making. Consequently, only 14 of 34 studies, using an idiographic approach, were included in our review. The findings of 263 judgement achievements, analysed by our meta-analysis, led to the conclusion that, generally speaking, our individuals judge a given criterion moderately well. Furthermore, the high error-free judgement achievements of most of our judges imply that there often is room for improvement of judgement achievement. Most important, however, is the result from our idiographic analysis, showing that there are great individual differences among the judges with regard to achievement level, knowledge and consistency. Consequently, further research, based on the Lens Model Equation supplemented by a qualitative approach, describing and analysing single judges’ performance is needed to prevent premature conclusions about eventual commonalities across persons.
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P01-20
Joana de Burgo
“Am I enjoying this task?”: Judgment context and mood effects on effort mobilization
Authors
Joana de Burgo (University of Geneva )
H.E. Gendolla (University of Geneva )
A series of previous studies on the impact of mood states on effort mobilization has supported the predictions of the Mood-Behavior-Model (Gendolla, 2000). When participants were confronted with a “Do your best” task, people in a negative mood mobilized more resources than people in a positive mood. However, those studies have assessed rather than manipulated the content of informational mood impact on behavior-related judgments. To provide a more conclusive test, this study also manipulated the judgment context. The hypothesis postulated the inversed pattern of the one obtained in the earlier studies. Twenty-six participants were randomly assigned to the conditions of a 2 (mood: negative vs. positive) x 1 (rule: enjoy-rule) between-persons design. The procedure consisted of (1) a habituation period, (2) mood manipulations with movies, and (3) performance of a mental task. Effort mobilization was operationalized as systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity. Referring to a study by Martin, Ward, Achee, and Wyer (1993) on mood effects on persistence, participants were instructed to evaluate the task’s pleasantness for determining the amount of effort to be invested: more effort if they were enjoying the task, less effort if they were not enjoying the task. As expected, SBP reactivity was stronger in a positive mood than in a negative mood. Thus, the results indicate that mood effects on effort mobilization are moderated by the judgment for which mood is used as information.
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P01-21
Louis Lamontagne-Müller
Images, words, expertise and the representation of emotion in football: A psycholinguistic approach.
Authors
Louis Lamontagne-Müller (University of Fribourg)
Pascal Gygax (University of Fribourg)
In this study, we investigated the representation of emotions built by football players when reading scripts describing emotion eliciting situations. Not only were we interested in differences between levels of expertise in the construction of emotion representations, but we were also interested in the close link between visual and verbal representations.
Participants (National League, 1st Division and 5th Division players) read different scripts containing situations in which the main protagonist was involved in emotion eliciting football situation (e.g., I score). At the end of each script, participants were presented with either a sentence explicating an emotion or a picture describing an emotional reaction (i.e., a body position). Their task was to judge whether the final sentence or the picture was congruent or not with the preceding context. Responses as well as response times were monitored.
Results showed that National League and 5th Division players were equally fast and accurate when responding positively to congruent emotional information (sentences and pictures), hinting that they had automatically incorporated emotional information in their mental representations. On the contrary, 1st Division players seemed not to have incorporated emotional information in their mental representations.
We discuss these results in terms of different representation processes between all levels of play and in terms of the close link between verbal and visual representations.
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P01-22
Marianne Kauer
Cognitive information processing skills and children’s social preference
Authors
Marianne Kauer (University of Berne)
Claudia M. Roebers (University of Berne)
In the literature on children's social preference, there is evidence indicating that popular and rejected children differ significantly in terms of their perception and interpretation of social interactions. In addition, there are certain studies documenting that specific developmental disorders like ADHD are associated with poor social adjustment. However, little is known about the influence of cognitive functioning on social preference in non-clinical samples. This is surprising given that social interactions require individuals to quickly and flexibly deal with new and continuously changing information. Hence, from an information processing point of view, social interactions may involve various basic, domain-general (e.g. executive control) cognitive processes. To explore the relationship between executive skills and social preference we assessed N = 120 7-year-olds’ performance on a variety of executive tasks and collected data to define the individuals’ sociometric status. In line with our expectations, analyses revealed a significant relationship between tasks measuring different aspects of executive functioning and social preference. These results stress the importance of specific cognitive competencies not only for children’s intellectual achievement, but also for obtaining satisfactory peer relations. Based on the findings of our study we argue that deficits in basic information processing skills may uniquely contribute to poor social adjustment in childhood.
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P01-23
Myriam Rudaz
Incidence and cognitive risk factors of DSM-IV anxiety disorders in community
Authors
Myriam Rudaz (University of Basel)
Jürgen Margraf (University of Basel)
Eni Sabine Becker (Radboud University Nijmegen (NL))
Background. A large body of evidence suggests that dysfunctional cognitions are associated with anxiety disorders. It remains unclear, however, whether such cognitions are simply correlates or whether they act as vulnerability factor for the development of anxiety disorders. The present study addressed this question using a prospective longitudinal design.
Method. A representative sample of young women (N=1396, 18-24 years old) were studied longitudinally over 1.5 years using the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS-R, german version) and questionnaires assessing dysfunctional cognitions (Dysfunctional Attitude Scale DAS, Interpretation Questionnaire IF-A, Anxiety Sensitivity Index ASI, Body Sensations Questionnaire BSQ).
Results. We specifically examined the 1026 women, who had never experienced anxiety disorders up to and including baseline. Fifteen percent of these women showed a first time incidence of a new anxiety disorder between baseline and follow-up. Newly occurring anxiety disorders were predicted by the DAS as well as the internal stimuli from the IF-A. The results remained significant after controlling for co-morbid depression, except for the subscale performance evaluation (DAS).
Conclusions. Our results show that a subset of dysfunctional cognitions may be regarded as vulnerability factors for the development of anxiety disorders in young adult women.
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P01-24
Olive Emil Wetter
Effectiveness of computer-based training for increasing detection performance in hold baggage screening
Authors
Olive Emil Wetter (University of Zurich)
Franziska Hofer (University of Zurich)
Adrian Schwaninger (University of Zurich and Max Planck Institute, Tübingen)
Aviation security has been moved into the focus of politicians and the general public due to several recent terrorist attacks. The most important measure to prevent such attacks is an effective screening of passenger bags using state-of-the-art x-ray screening systems. The success of the screening process however depends on the operating personnel. Screening x-ray images of passenger bags for dangerous and prohibited items effectively and efficiently is a demanding object recognition task. Effectiveness of computer-based training (CBT) on x-ray detection performance was assessed using computer-based tests and threat image projection (TIP) on the job. We show that adaptive CBT is a powerful tool to increase detection performance and efficiency of screeners in x-ray image interpretation. After only six months of training (31 sessions on average), detection performance in a sample of 52 screeners increased substantially. Moreover, these training results could be generalized to the real working situation as shown in the increased detection performance in TIP. This was due to a large effect of training on the hit rate (increase) whereas there was no effect on the false alarm rate. These robust increases in performance can be shown with different statistical procedures. Our results are consistent with theories of object recognition that point out the importance of perceptual experience and training stressing the necessity of stored representations of objects for their recognition.
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P01-25
Philippe Gay
Impulsivity and inhibition
Authors
Philippe Gay (University of Geneva)
Mathieu d'Acremont (University of Geneva)
Joël Billieux (University of Geneva)
Lucien Rochat (University of Geneva)
Martial Van der Linden (University of Geneva)
Whiteside and Lynam (2001) recently clarified the multifaceted nature of impulsive behaviours by identifying four facets of impulsivity: Urgency, Lack of Premeditation, Lack of Perseverance, and Sensation Seeking. Bechara and Van der Linden (2005) have proposed that Urgency and Lack of Perseverance are linked with two inhibitory functions that have been empirically distinguished from one another by Friedman and Miyake (2004): prepotent response inhibition and resistance to proactive interference. This proposition has been supported by a recent correlational study involving a community sample of young adults (N=74) who completed a French version of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (Van der Linden et al., 2006), which specifically assesses the four facets of impulsivity, and two tasks designed to assess prepotent inhibition and resistance to proactive interference: a Go/NoGo task (SART; Robertson et al., 1997) and a speeded recognition task (Hamilton & Martin, 2005). The results showed that self-reported Urgency was related to commissions in the Go/NoGo task and that Lack of Perseverance was related to errors reflecting difficulties resisting proactive interference in the speeded recognition task. These findings contribute to the identification of the cognitive mechanisms involved in the different components of impulsivity.
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P01-26
Sarah Chiller-Glaus
Identity Verification from Photographs in Travel Documents
Authors
Sarah Chiller-Glaus (University of Zurich )
Adrian Schwaninger (University of Zurich and Max Planck Institute, Tübingen)
Franziska Hofer (University of Zurich)
Abstract: At border control, it is the security personnel’s job to identify possible passport fraud, in particular to verify whether the photograph in a travel document matches its bearer. This industrial field provides an excellent possibility to investigate identity verification from document photographs in an applied context.
We compared the identity verification performance of experienced security personnel at border control with that of novices. As stimuli, photographs of passports and identity cards of Caucasian and Asian siblings were used. Presentation occurred upright and inverted. The task was to decide whether the document photograph matched a simultaneously presented current photograph.
The results showed that performance is highly error prone for both experts and novices. These findings complement previous research on limited abilities in identity verification from photographs (e.g. Kemp, Towell, & Pike, 1997) and stress the fact that even long years of experience in the task do not significantly increase performance.
References:
Kemp, R., Towell,N., & Pike, G. (1997). When seeing should not be believing: Photographs, credit cards and fraud. Applied cognitive psychology, 11, 211-222.
Key Words: Face Recognition, Visual Cognition, Document Control
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P01-27
Seraphina Zurbriggen
Time is money - is it? A comparison of two resources in the field of active and sequential information search
Authors
Seraphina Zurbriggen (University of Zurich)
Stephan Christen (University of Zurich)
Daniel Hausmann (University of Zurich)
Damian Läge (University of Zurich)
Decision making implies information which must be searched for – if it is not already given – before a correct decision can be made. An active and sequential search for useful and valid information requires time which subsequently is not available for other activities. The resource time is therefore an important “cost” factor in decision making processes.
In a recently developed experimental scenario (drinking water scenario) this important everyday life resource is made accessible to the field of decision making. The structural equivalence of this new scenario with a common stock exchange scenario allows the search behaviour (search rule, stopping rule and risk behaviour) to be directly compared with the traditionally used resource money. Both scenarios are set up as an information-board containing two options, four probabilistic cues and the chance to spare time or money. It is found that the subjects essentially show a similar behaviour pattern in handling information, independent of the resource time or money. However, there are tendencies to search for more information and make more risky decisions when time is the involved resource: people tend to be more generous spending time than spending money.
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P01-28
Stefan Michel
Are "image enhancement functions" really useful to enhance x-ray images?
Authors
Stefan Michel (University of Zurich)
Saskia Koller (University of Zurich)
Markus Ruh (University of Zurich)
Adrian Schwaninger (University of Zurich)
State-of-the art x-ray screening systems offer a variety of so-called “image enhancement” functions (IEFs). Examples are color inversion, edge-enhancement, organic only, metal only etc. IEFs are often promoted because they would bring out detail that is obscured or highlight certain features, such as for example organic content. In this study, we investigated the usefulness of IEFs for cabin baggage screening (CBS) and hold baggage screening (HBS). For CBS, the standard image and nine IEFs have been tested with 443 x-ray screeners that completed a standardized x-ray image interpretation test using Smiths-Heimann HISCAN 6040i x-ray imagery (X-Ray CAT, Koller & Schwaninger, 2006). The results showed that the standard image provided the best detection performance. Some IEFs impaired detection performance substantially if images were displayed only with one IEF, which was also dependent on threat type (guns, knives, improvised explosive devices, other threat items). A second experiment with 83 HBS screeners using a bomb detection test, Smiths-Heimann HISCAN 10080 2i imagery, and 5 IEFs showed similar results. Together with previous work conducted with Rapiscan images (Klock, 2005), these results highlight the importance of systematically studying the usefulness of IEFs in order to optimize human-computer interaction in x-ray screening.
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P01-29
Arlette S. Bär
Risk defusing and facial expressions of emotion and cognition
Authors
Arlette S. Bär (University of Fribourg)
Facial expressions are conceptualized as observable indicators of unobservable emotional processes as the face is the place of the biggest communicative outputs (Ekman, Friesen and Hager 2002).
In the present experiment subjects decided in two quasi-naturalistic risky scenarios. We analysed facial reaction (emotional and cognitive) of subjects after successful vs. unsuccessful RDO search as independent variable. Facial behavior was coded according to the Facial Action Coding System (FACS; Ekman and Friesen, 1978), allowing a reliable and valid measure of emotional and cognitive processes. Information search was operationalized by means of the Method of Active Information Search (Huber, Wider and Huber, 1997) with concurrent thinking aloud. Subjects were given a short scenario description and subsequently asked questions and received standardized answers. With successful RDO-Search we expect positive emotional facial expressions (e.g. happiness) and few cognitive facial expressions. With unsuccessful RDO-Search we expect negative emotional facial expressions (e.g. disappointment) and more cognitive facial expressions.
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P01-30
Bernhard Sollberger
Reflecting on self-concordant activities increases happiness: A random-assignment, placebo-controlled study
Authors
Bernhard Sollberger (University of Berne)
The term self-concordance refers to the extent to which people perceive autonomous reasons for their behaviour. Since self-concordance in important domains of life correlates positively with well-being (Brown & Ryan, 2004), we tested whether happiness can be increased by reflecting on self-concordant activities. To this aim, participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition (n = 48) or to a validated placebo control condition (n = 50) used by Seligman et al. (2005). Participants in the experimental condition first identified and then wrote about four self-concordant activities on four consecutive evenings, whereas participants in the control condition wrote about early childhood memories on each evening for one week. Using a German version of the Steen Happiness Index (encompassing pleasure, engagement, and meaning), happiness was measured before, and one week and one month after the intervention. Results revealed a significant Group x Time interaction: Whereas there was a significant increase in happiness from the pre-test to both post-tests in the self-concordance condition, there were no changes in happiness in the control group. We conclude that reflecting on things one likes to do and that are important to the person – a process that possibly also initiates changes in behaviour – increases happiness.
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P01-31
Catherine Bassal
The role of nonverbal communication in the interactions between Alzheimer’s patients, volunteers and dogs during Animal Assisted Therapy
Authors
Catherine Bassal (University of Geneva)
Susanne Kaiser (University of Geneva)
Nonverbal communication of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, volunteers and dogs is being analyzed in the context of Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT). Our research examines the underlying process and structure of the triadic interaction in order to determine the behavioural variables that may influence changes of AD patient’s behaviour. We hypothesized that nonverbal communication and affects in severely patients are maintained despite severe verbal communication impairments. Ten nursing home residents (7 women, 3 men) diagnosed with late to moderate-stage Alzheimer’s disease participated to the study (mean age = 84.1; range 74 to 95). Each AD subject participated in 5 AAT sessions, held with the same AAT volunteer and dog. Preliminary results show first that the presence of smile and laughter in AD patients indicates their remaining ability to express either positive or negative emotions. Second even if the presence of the dog enhances nonverbal behaviour, smiles are directed more frequently and longer at the other human being. Eventually three types of behavioural measures represent an indicator of a coordinated triadic and interspecies interaction: mutual gazes, patterns including smile and laughter and dog’s calming behaviour. Additional results will be presented at the conference.
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P01-32
Christelle Chrea
What are the emotions elicited by odors? Identifying the semantic space describing emotions elicited by olfactory stimuli
Authors
Christelle Chrea (University of Geneva)
Sylvain Delplanque (University of Geneva)
Didier Grandjean (University of Geneva)
Bénédicte Le Calvé (Firmenich SA)
Isabelle Cayeux (Firmenich SA)
David Sander (University of Geneva)
Scherer Klaus (University of Geneva)
Three studies were carried out to examine what are the odor-induced emotions. In Study 1, the relevance of a list of candidate affect terms to describe odor-related feelings was examined by two groups of participants with different level of knowledge about odors. The most relevant affect terms were retained and submitted to exploratory factor analyses: (1) to get a preliminary sense of the differentiation of affects elicited by odors and (2) to compare the factorial structure between the two groups. In study 2, the selected relevant terms were evaluated with actual odorant samples and the data were submitted to a new series of exploratory factor analyses to reduce the set of variables to a smaller set of summary-scales. The goal of Study 3 was to replicate the findings of Study 2 with a larger and more representative sample of odorant samples and participants by using confirmatory factor analyses to valid the odor-emotion scales with a new set of data. The findings of all three studies provided insights into the differentiation of affective responses to odors. These findings point to a structure of affective responses to odors that differs from the more conventional taxonomies of emotion such as posited by discrete emotion theory and suggested that emotions elicited by odors are structured around six emotion scales that clearly reflect the fundamental role of olfactory system in sexual attraction, danger prevention and arousal/relaxation sensations.
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P01-33
Christine Meyer
Conceptual background and psychometric properties of the subscale socio-emotional competence in the context of IDS
Authors
Christine Meyer (University of Basel)
Alexander Grob (University of Basel)
Aim of this study is to demonstrate the fundamental concept and psychometric properties of the IDS-subtest of socio-emotional competence. The subtest measures emotional as well as social abilities of children from 5 to 10 years. Including the ability (1) to recognize emotions (2) to know adaptive strategies for regulating negative emotions (3) to understand social situations as well as (4) to be able to name social competent behaviors. The test refers to Rose-Krasnor’s (1997) as well as Halberstadt, Denham and Dunsmore’s concepts of socio-emotional competence (2001).
The IDS-subtest was conducted within a pilot study with 100 children from 4 to 11 years. The data were used for item and reliability calculations as well as for conducting factor analyses.
The statistical values of the subscale refer to a high reliability. The factor loadings ot the items are throughout as expected. This indicates construct valence. Therewith an instrument for measuring socio-emotional abilities is presented. These abilities are seen als substantial factors of positive incidents as present and futute well-beeing, mental health, school appropriateness as well as school success of children (Denham, 2006).
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P01-34
Grégoire Zimmermann
Alexithymia and dimensions of Emotional Openness in non-clinical samples of adults and adolescents
Authors
Grégoire Zimmermann (University of Fribourg and University of Lausanne)
Philippe A. Genoud (University of Fribourg)
Michael Reicherts (University of Fribourg)
The concept of Alexithymia, mainly characterized by a difficulty in identifying and describing feelings is considered as a multifaceted and dimensional personality construct (Zimmermann, et al., 2005), reflecting a deficit in the cognitive processing and regulation of emotional states. Referring to recent emotion theory, Reicherts (1999, 2001) proposed the model of Emotional Openness which provides a multidimensional framework to analyze the patterns of emotion processing. Recent results underline the clinical importance of dysfunctional modes of emotion processing in dependence and personality disorders (Reicherts, et al., in press), or concerning Burnout (Genoud & Reicherts, submitted). The aim of this study is to provide data concerning the relationship between the dimensions of Alexithymia and of Emotional Openness. The TAS-20 and the DOE (Dimensions of Openness to Emotion) were administered to a sample of 327 adults and 79 adolescents. The results reveal meaningful correlations between dimensions of Alexithymia and dimensions of Emotional Openness. Regression analyses in the adult sample show that 44 % of the variance of the TAS-20 can be explained by DOE dimensions. “Conceptual representations of emotion” (REPCON) and “Emotion communication” (EMOCOM) are found to be strong predictors of TAS-20 total score. The results suggest that the DOE is a highly interesting alternative to assess the pattern of emotion processing in accordance with recent emotion theories.
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P01-35
Jana Nikitin
Fearing rejection and wanting acceptance - How do co-occurring approach and avoidant affiliation motives influence well-being, perception, and behavior?
Authors
Jana Nikitin (University of Zurich)
Alexandra M. Freund (University of Zurich)
Social affiliation is a central human need, comprising the desire to belong (approach motivation) as well as the fear of being rejected (avoidance motivation). Social approach motivation has positive consequences for cognition, behavior, and emotion, whereas the opposite holds for avoidance motivation. What happens, however, if approach and avoidance motivation are activated simultaneously? In study 1, a correlational study (N = 135), both avoidance motivation and co-occurrence of approach and avoidance motivation were associated with lower subjective well--being and life-satisfaction than approach motivation, but they differed significantly in positive and negative arousal. In two ongoing studies, we investigate how co-occurring approach and avoidance affiliation motivation influence basic behavioral reactions and perception of social stimuli. We hypothesize that individuals detect easier and react more readily to stimuli that are consistent with their motivational orientation. Co-occurance of approach and avoidant motivation should lead to equally fast detection of and reaction to positive and negative stimuli. Study 2 uses an arm-flexion-tension paradigm, study 3 a facial expression identification task. Results from all three studies will be presented.
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P01-36
Katia Schenkel
Emotion regulation and empathy in counseling
Authors
Katia Schenkel (University of Geneva)
Susanne Kaiser (University of Geneva)
Tanja Wranik (University of Geneva)
The concept of empathy is something difficult to define. Until now, many authors have discussed that issue. Today a consensus seems to be found about the fact that empathy implicates both an affective response and a cognitive capacity to understand and adopt the point of view of another person. We postulate that the regulation of our own emotion is a crucial requirement for being able to be empathic without being overwhelmed with the other’s emotion. Emotion regulation is one of our emotional competences that allow us to communicate in an efficient way in everyday life and also in counseling. For understanding links that exist between empathy and emotion regulation we will present results from a web experiment done with helpline volunteers. At least partly, emotion regulation involves controlling nonverbal expression of emotional reaction. Therefore, an observational study of the nonverbal communication with the same population will be done after this first study. The interest of our research is to better understand what happens in counseling and to find a way between accepting to get emotionally concerned by the other persons’ problems and to regulate emotional reactions.
We would like to examine how empathy and emotion regulation is expressed in nonverbal communication. Ultimately the findings would help to develop training programs in counseling focused on emotions, empathy and emotion regulation.
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P01-37
Kerstin Brinkmann
Depressed but Motivated: The Joint Effect of Dysphoria and Task Difficulty on Effort Mobilization
Authors
Kerstin Brinkmann (University of Geneva)
Guido H. E. Gendolla (University of Geneva)
Besides a persistent negative mood, a lack of motivation is one characteristic symptom of depression and dysphoria. Motivational deficits in depression have been investigated with respect to approach and avoidance motivation, self-regulation, and information processing. However, findings based on motivational intensity theory (Brehm & Self, 1989) and the mood-behavior-model (Gendolla, 2000) have demonstrated that negative mood may also lead to enhanced motivational intensity under certain task characteristics. Therefore, two studies investigated the mobilization of effort in dysphoric student samples. Based on their self-reported depression scores participants were assigned to one of two extreme groups (dysphoric vs. nondysphoric) and worked on a mental task (easy vs. difficult). Effort mobilization was measured by systolic blood pressure reactivity. Both studies confirmed the predicted crossover interaction pattern: In the easy task condition dysphoric participants had higher systolic reactivity; in the difficult task condition nondysphoric participants had higher systolic reactivity. Self-report measures prior to task performance confirmed the additive effect of dysphoria and difficulty on perceived task demand, which is regarded as mediating variable. The present findings indicate that dysphoria is not necessarily associated with a motivational deficit. It is rather task characteristics that combine together with negative affectivity to determine motivational intensity.
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P01-38
Lukas Giesinger
Plans Thwarted. Do Implementation Intentions Increase Persistence in a Failing Course of Action?
Authors
Lukas Giesinger (University of Zurich)
Veronika Brandstätter (University of Zurich)
Implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999) are known to enhance the initiation and smooth execution of actions. Few attempts have been made to tackle the question of possible limitations and costs of using implementation intentions, for example, producing dysfunctional persistence. The aim of the present study was to show that implementation intentions can promote dysfunctional persistence in a failing course of action by heightening the semantic activation of the chosen compared to the unchosen action alternative. In a laboratory experiment subjects were asked to solve a criminal case (goal intention). One group of subjects was instructed to form an implementation intention with respect to executing goal-directed behavior, while the other group was not. Action initiation latency and persistence in goal-directed, though failing action (interviewing a witness) were measured. In addition, as a possible mediator of implementation intention effects, semantic activation of action related constructs was measured using a lexical decision task. Subjects with implementation intentions showed faster action initiation and a marginally significant tendency to persist longer in the failing course of action. Semantic activation of action related constructs did not mediate implementation intention effects. The results indicate that using implementation intentions may enhance goal striving in some but impair it in other circumstances.
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P01-39
Michael Richter
Task difficulty, incentive value, and cardiac reactivity: Taking a closer look at motivational intensity theory
Authors
Michael Richter (University of Geneva)
Most of the studies that convincingly supported Wright’s integration of motivational intensity theory (Brehm & Self, 1989) and Obrist’s active coping approach (Obrist, 1981) used heart rate and systolic blood pressure reactivity to assess the postulated effects on energy mobilization. More direct measures of cardiac activity like pre-ejection period (PEP) have been rarely used. This is quite astonishing given that Wright postulated that energy mobilization in active coping situations is mediated by beta-adrenergic influences on the heart. To close this gap in the support for Wright’s integrative approach, we conducted two experiments that assessed energy mobilization by means of PEP reactivity. In Experiment 1 (N=44) participants performed a memory task in a one-factorial (task difficulty: low vs. moderate vs. high vs. impossible) between-persons design. Cardiac reactivity showed the expected pattern: PEP reactivity increased over the first three difficulty conditions and was low in the impossible condition. In Experiment 2 (N=33) participants performed a visual attention task with unclear task difficulty in a one-factorial (incentive value: low vs. moderate vs. high) between-persons design. Again, PEP reactivity showed the expected pattern and increased with incentive value. In summary, both experiments supported the predictions of Wright’s integrative approach and demonstrated for the first time the postulated mediating role of beta-adrenergic influences on the heart.
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P01-40
Nicolas Silvestrini
Autonomic Reactivity during Mood Regulation: The Impact of Mood States
Authors
Nicolas Silvestrini (University of Geneva)
Guido Gendolla (University of Geneva)
Based on the mood-behavior-model (Gendolla, 2000) an experiment investigated the influence of mood states on motivational intensity (i.e. effort, or task-engagement) during mood regulation. Motivational intensity was quantified as cardiovascular reactivity—especially systolic blood pressure—during mood inductions and a mood regulation task. Furthermore, skin conductance level and EMG reactivity of the Zygomaticus Major and the Corrugator Supercilii were assessed. The study (N = 43) had a 3 (Mood: negative, neutral, positive) x 2 (Time: mood inductions, mood regulation) mixed-model design. After mood was manipulated with videos, participants performed a relatively difficult mood regulation task. Results showed that cardiovascular and electrodermal reactivity did not differ between the conditions during the mood inductions. However, Zygomaticus reactivity was stronger in the positive than in the neutral and negative mood condition. During mood regulation, moods systematically influenced autonomic reactivity, resulting in stronger cardiovascular and electrodermal reactivity in a negative mood than in both positive and neutral moods. The findings support the predictions of the mood-behavior-model and challenge other approaches to the role of affect in motivation and affect regulation.
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P01-41
Ping Hu
The Influence Mechanism of Attachment on Affect Reaction and Social Attribution among the Chinese Undergraduate Students
Authors
Ping Hu (University of Geneva)
Two studies examined attachment behavior dimension and the relationship between the attachment and behavior in order to understand the adult’s interpersonal relationship. Study 1 tested 82 undergraduate students’ attachment behavioral dimension and their interpersonal relationship satisfied degree. Results indicated there wasn’t difference in the interpersonal relationship satisfied degree between the different attachment types, but the relationship between the attachment behavior dimension and the interpersonal relationship satisfied degree was significant. Study 2 examined the relationship between attachment behavior dimension and affection reaction and social attribution. Results indicated there was significant influence what attachment behavior dimension on the affect reaction and social attribution, the regression tests indicated the external behavior was decided by depend and anxiety attachment behavior dimension, self attribution, anxiety and indifferent affect reaction. The authors explain the results using internal working model, and analysis the specific behavior in the Chinese undergraduate students’ attachment behavior.
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P01-42
Stéphane With
Multimodal patterning of expressive channels during emotional communication
Authors
Stéphane With (University of Geneva)
Susanne Kaiser (University of Geneva)
Expressive behaviors change dynamically and morphologically during social communication of emotion eliciting events and corresponding situational appraisals. The main aim of our study is to explore how different expressive channels (facial displays, head movements, gazing behavior, voice pitch and intensity contours) co-vary during spontaneous emotional communication. To date, most research on patterning of expressive behaviors in different modalities study actors portraying strong emotions in controlled conditions. This project tackles with the complexity of studying spontaneous reactions in a social setting. Social sharing of emotional episodes is a pervasive phenomenon (Rimé, 1998) during which people experience emotional responses in reaction to the explicit evocation of past emotion eliciting events. 20 female subjects were filmed facing a researcher while talking about 5 different autobiographic situations (5 minutes narratives for each emotion) that elicited strong negative emotional reactions. Each narrative targeted a different negative emotion, namely: fear, anger, sadness, guilt and contempt. We will present the audio-video database, coding templates and results of pattern analysis that illustrate how multimodal synchronization occurs during non-acted emotional communication.
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P01-43
Christian Fichter
Do heuristics influence quality ratings? The case of automobile safety
Authors
Christian Fichter (University of Zurich)
It has been shown in decision research that not all relevant cues are used for rating an object. Instead, several types of heuristics are being applied, which leads to judgements with varying veridicality. We wanted to extend the research on such heuristic processing of information onto the domain of automobile brands, where this has not been done before. The study design involved subjective ratings of car brand's perceived safety, measured by a survey and compared to an objective measure. The latter was operationalized using the database of EuroNCAP crash test results. Next to perceived safety, brand image has been rated. We found that subjective safety judgments correlates stronger with brand image than with objective safety. This is strong evidence for the hypothesis that heuristic processing occures when participants rated the automobile brand's safety. We found further evidence in a small replication of the study on the topic of perceived car reliability. Taken together, these consumer psychological findings have different implications for manufacturers, buyers and insurance companies.
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P01-44
Christine Sutter
Does learning of sequences improve prospective memory performance in older adults?
Authors
Christine Sutter (University of Zurich)
Andrea Helg (University of Zurich)
Jacqueline Zöllig (University of Zurich)
Matthias Kliegel (University of Zurich)
Mike Martin (University of Zurich)
Prospective memory refers to the ability to form and later realize planned intentions, e.g. taking medication with a meal. Accordingly, it may be regarded as one of the main factors supporting the maintenance of autonomy in older adulthood. Prevailing evidence from the literature indicates a lower accuracy of old adults in prospective memory tasks compared to young adults. The processes underlying this reduced performance are still debated. The present study investigates whether learning the sequence of stimuli in which a prospective task is embedded might boost the prospective memory performance of older adults. Two groups of older adults were investigated, one training group and one control group (20 participants each, 69-83 years). As ongoing activity a 2-back working memory task was administered. Neural correlates were studied using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Behavioural data revealed significantly fewer prospective false alarms in ongoing activity trials and a higher accuracy in working memory non-targets trials in the training group compared to the control group. Electrophysiological data revealed a group-related difference in the amplitude of the FSW, a frontal slow wave associated with the disengagement from the ongoing activity following the detection of a prospective cue. Overall, our data suggest that learning the sequence of events in which a prospective task is embedded might increase the performance of older adults in prospective memory tasks.
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P01-45
Elisa Tartaglia
A top-down driven model of perceptual learning
Authors
Elisa Tartaglia (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
Kristoffer Aberg (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne )
Michael H. Herzog (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne)
Models of perceptual learning are usually purely feed-forward or employ lateral connections only. However, it was experimentally shown that top-down aspects, such as attention and feedback evaluation, have to be incorporated in models as well. Here, we present a model in which learning occurs only through recurrent connections that modulate the feed-forward pathway. We show how this model uses feedback signals as a measure of performance, for a vernier discrimination task. This use of feedback is strikingly different from the one used in standard neural network models where the feedback signals act as a teacher, telling the model to which class a stimulus belongs to. Our model also uses internal feedback and implements attention as part of the performance measuring process. Computer simulations with this model show that learning with external feedback is faster than with internal feedback only. Our model offers a new way of thinking about perceptual learning in general. Learning does not depend on the stimulus only but also on top-down settings not present in standard neural network models.
This research was supported by the Pro*Doc “Processes of Perception” of SNF.
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P01-46
Emilie Werlen
Differences in selected spatial strategies used by autistic and non-autistic children
Authors
Emilie Werlen (University of Lausanne)
Claire Boost (University of Lausanne)
Catherine Brandner (University of Lausanne)
It is suggested that autism is characterised by a different cognitive style. Autistic children appear to focus on details instead of the whole. Mental representations rely on the ability to combine multimodal stimuli into a configuration; therefore, evaluation of such competences in autistic children appears to be a crucial step to define the nature of this developmental disorder.
This study investigated strategies used during the exploration of peri-personal spatial tasks in children (43 autistic children, 8.19 2.04 years old, 43 children, 5.23 0.54 years old). It aimed to evaluate the strategies used for coding information during exploration and their correlation with the capacities of recall for visuo-spatial information.
Participants were asked to explore an experimental board where 14 images of household objects were hidden under 30 overturned plastic cups. Then, the children completed two other tasks: the recognition of the images amongst other similar images, followed by their spatial restitution on the original board.
Results show a significant difference in the selected strategies used during the exploration. Autistic children prefer to explore the board in silence whereas the other children used verbal strategies. Recognition capacity analysis showed that autistic children give a significantly larger number of "false alarms" than other children. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the two experimental groups for spatial restitution.
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P01-47
Ingo Aberle
The role of motivation and task setting in age differences in prospective memory performance.
Authors
Ingo Aberle (University of Zurich)
Matthias Kliegel (University of Zurich)
Peter Rendell (Australian Catholic University)
The finding, that in naturalistic prospective memory tasks older adults outperform younger adults, while in laboratory tasks performance of younger adults is superior to those of old adults (Maylor, 1996), is called age prospective memory paradox (Rendell & Craik, 2000). The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of motivation and task setting in this paradox. As a realistic laboratory task, the virtual week-task by Rendell & Craik (2000) was applied. Twenty younger and 20 older adults performed the virtual week-task in a computer based version. Afterwards, as a naturalistic task, they were asked to write short messages by mobile phone over the following five days at two fixed times (11 a.m. and 9 p.m.). Motivation was manipulated by one group of participants getting entries in a lottery, where likelihood to win increases by the quality of performing the task. The other group did not take part in a lottery. Data collection is in progression. We expect that high motivation has an effect on task performance, possibly eliminating age differences.
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P01-48
Melanie Zeintl
How do proactive interference and verbal distractors influence age-related performance in a recognition-based operation span task?
Authors
Melanie Zeintl (University of Zurich)
Matthias Kliegel (University of Zurich)
The present study investigates the role of inhibitory control in age-related working memory performance (Hasher & Zacks, 1988). Specifically, the relative importance of proactive interference and additionally presented verbal distractors in age-related performance in a novel, recognition-based version of the operation span task (Turner & Engle, 1989) was examined. Forty-two younger (M = 25 years, SD = 4.10) and 40 older adults (M = 67 years, SD = 5.80) performed four versions of the operation span task that required recognition of target words in word lists with targets and distractors. The recognition lists of the four versions differed in the types of distractors they contained. Results show that, overall, younger adults performed better than older adults in the operation span task with recognition recall, and that, overall, performance was better in the versions with no additionally presented distractor words. Furthermore, analysis of error types demonstrates that, while younger adults were only affected by additionally presented distracting words, older adults seemed to have difficulties with both proactive interference and additionally presented distracting information. Hence, the present study presents differential results for older and younger adults in a recognition-based operation span task and emphasizes the importance of analysing error data in operation span tasks to gain a better understanding of the underlying processes of age-related operation span performance.
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P01-49
Mélina Andronicos
Online health care program for gambling disorders
Authors
Mélina Andronicos (Centre du Jeu Excessif, CHUV
)
Margret Rihs (CHUV
)
Jacques Besson (CHUV)
In Europe, 3% of the population present a gambling behavior problem. Excessive gambling is still not well identified by health professionals care. Since 2003, the Center for Excessive Gambling from the University Hospital in Lausanne specialized in treatment,research,prevention,and training has offered training for professionals. However,a larger segment of professionals need to be trained in a more efficient way. This is the reason why the Center for Excessive Gambling is developing blended learning program partly face to face teaching with conventional techniques (role play, practices) and partly using e-learning (theories and exercises),in order to provide a solid knowledge base for professionals of the gambling industry and for health professionals in Europe.
The goals of this training are to:
>promote knowledge about risks factors
>contribute to the early assessment of excessive gambling behaviours
>prevent and identify crises
>acquire new skills, develop peer networks
>interact with other professionals and to advance critical thinking
>gain the capacity to reflect on practice
>obtain feedback by personalised coaching and by evaluations.
>improve knowledge and skills in the classroom.
>learn about the latest state of the art
>counsel and orient patients adequately
The blended learning program, using new technologies, aspires to educate and alert professionals in the gambling industry and health professionals about consequences and risks of gambling behavior.
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P01-50
Nicolas Rothen
Current issues and a new paradigm in synesthesia research
Authors
Nicolas Rothen (University of Berne )
Beat Meier (University of Berne )
In synaesthesia the sensory input of one modality activates brain areas which are normally not involved in processing the input of that modality. The result is an additional phenomenological experience. In grapheme-colour synesthesia, for example, a colour experience for a black letter. In the literature many single-case studies are documented and often performance is compared to a group of controls. In our study, we tested a group of grapheme-colour synesthetes rather than a single case, and compared their performance to an age-, education- and gender-matched control group. We used two common measures from previous studies (i.e., visual search and matrix recollection) and a new conditioning task. Our results revealed that neither in the visual search task nor in the matrix recollection task a group difference emerged. However synesthetes, in contrast to controls, showed a startle in response to a colour-inducing grapheme after a startle response was conditioned to the specific corresponding colour. While individual differences between synesthetes may have prevented a significant group difference in the common measures, the new conditioning procedure was robust in such a way that a group difference emerged. The latter result implicates that a conditioned response to a real color can spread to the synesthetic color by implicit cross-activation. Overall, our results suggest that single-case studies must be complemented by group comparisons to advance synesthesia research.
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P01-51
Petra C. Schmid
The influence of simulated and induced mood on mood congruity effects in incidental and intentional learning
Authors
Petra C. Schmid (University of Neuchâtel)
Anna K. Grubert (University of Fribourg)
Walter J. Perrig (University of Berne)
This experiment tested the mood congruity effect in 160 subjects in a 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 design whit the between-subjects factors mood quality (happy vs. sad), mood induction (induced vs. simulated), learning intention (incidental vs. intentional) and the within-subjects factor emotional valence of the words (positive, negative or neutral). While half of the participants were induced into either a happy or a sad mood by autobiographical recall, the remaining half was instructed to simulate the accordant mood. After that, participants had to learn positive, negative and neutral words either in an incidental or intentional way. In the learning phase all groups did an orienting task, where they had to rate the words on their emotional valence. According to our hypothesis asymmetric mood-congruity effects were found in ratings and free recall. These effects were stronger in induced and intentional conditions than in simulated and incidental conditions.
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P01-52
Philipp Leibacher
Age-related neuronal differences during the encoding of later successfully executed intentions
Authors
Philipp Leibacher (University of Zurich)
Jacqueline Zöllig (University of Zurich)
Matthias Kliegel (University of Zurich)
Mike Martin (University of Zurich)
Prospective memory requires the formation and later realization of intentions that must be delayed over minutes, hours, or days. Being able to successfully perform a prospective goal requires an effective encoding of the intention in the first place. The present study investigates electrophysiological differences in the intention encoding phase of correctly executed prospective memory trials across the lifespan. The applied paradigm is based on a study from West et al. (2003) where the prospective task is embedded in a semantic categorization task. Three groups were compared: adolescents (11-13), young adults (18-25), and older adults (64-79). Our data display clear age-related differences in ERP components during the intention encoding phase, especially in frontal polar slow waves, which seem to be important for dissociating from the ongoing activity to the prospective stimulus. The data also suggest that adolescent’s topographical distribution differs in their lateralization from those of younger and older adults. Source localization of ERP components with sLORETA reveals an increased activity in frontal and less strong in temporal regions in older adults compared to young adults. For adolescents the activity was increased in occipital and limbic regions compared to young adults. Therefore, differential processes seem to contribute to successful intention encoding across the lifespan.
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P01-53
Sibylle Matter
Prospective memory ability and checking behaviour affect the choice of contraceptive in Swiss female university students
Authors
Sibylle Matter (University of Berne)
Beat Meier (University of Berne)
The efficacy of the birth control pill depends on regular taking. To remember to take the pill daily at a specified time can be considered as a prospective memory (ProM) task. ProM is the ability we use to formulate intentions and execute them at an appropriate place or time. The subjective judgment of one’s ProM ability may affect the choice of contraceptive. It has been shown that sub-clinical checking behavior (CB) is used as a compensatory strategy when ProM is judged as poor. In this study we investigated whether the subjective judgment of one’s ProM and CB affect the choice for using the pill as a contraceptive. 86 female students from a Swiss university filled out a questionnaire about their contraception method and their contentment with this method. Further they completed the checking compulsion scale of the Padua Inventory (Sanavio, 1988) and the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (Crawford et al., 2003). A total of 81% of the young women used the pill as contraceptive. For women with low ProM, but not for high ProM, the proportion of choosing the pill was significantly lower for low checkers than for high checkers. Further analyses showed that woman with high ProM were significantly more content with the pill compared to woman with low ProM. The results underline the meaning of ProM and CB for the choice of contraceptives. They also suggest that the judgement of ProM ability should be addressed in contraception counselling.
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P01-54
Thierry Lecerf
Relationships between intraindividual variability, processing speed, visualization and field-dependence?
Authors
Thierry Lecerf (University of Geneva
)
Jean-Luc Roulin (Université de Savoie (F))
Researches on Intraindividual Variability (IV) have shown that within-person fluctuation was related to age or intelligence. IV is considered to reflect cognitive efficiency and measured basic information processes. Following this conception, the purpose of this study was to explore IV in visuospatial working memory tasks, and to link IV with individual differences in perceptual speed, visualization and spatial abilities. IV and performance were examined in 47 young adults (mean = 22.36; sd = 2.65), using two visuospatial working memory tasks (Direction Span test and Matrix task). Mean performance, intraindividual standard deviation (ISD) and intraindividual coefficient of variation (ICV) were recorded. Four psychometric tasks were administered: GEFT, Paper Folding, spatial rotation, and number comparison. First, ICV measured in Direction Span test was related to the one measured in Matrix task (r= .50), while ISD measured in Direction Span test was not related to the one measured in Matrix task (r= -.18). Second, IV and mean performance were interrelated: high performance was associated with lower ICV (r= -.84 and -.93, for Direction span test and Matrix task). ISD was related to performance in Matrix task, but not in Direction Span test. Finally, performance in Paper Folding was negatively related with IV in both visuospatial working memory tasks. Individual differences in visualization ability were related with IV in visuospatial working memory.
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P01-55
Thierry Lecerf
Age differences in intraindividual variability in working memory performance
Authors
Thierry Lecerf (University of Geneva)
Céline Bürki (University of Geneva)
Anik de Ribaupierre (University of Geneva)
Research on cognitive development has focused on differences in the average performance of children and younger adults, but little is known about age differences in intraindividual variability (IIV). However, it has been suggested that IIV would be higher for children than for young adults. IIV and level of performance were examined in 175 children (9 - 12 years-old) and 132 young adults (19 - 35 years-old). Two working memory tasks were administered (each with 2 sequence length; 10 items for each sequence length). In each task, average level of performance, Intraindividual Standard Deviation (ISD) and Intraindividual Coefficient of Variation (ICV) were computed. First, we assumed that IIV would be higher for children than for young adults. ANOVAs conducted on the ICV support this hypothesis; not the ANOVAs conducted on ISD. A second objective was to study whether intraindividual indices would correlate both within and across tasks. Correlations were mostly significant, attesting that IIV reflects a relatively stable characteristic for both groups. A third objective was to assess whether IIV would be related with level of performance: ICV is negatively correlated with level of performance for both groups, in line with hypotheses according to which IIV is larger in lower functioning individuals. If there was a trend for lower functioning individuals to present higher IIV, it was not systematic for all indices; higher IIV is not always associated with lower performance.
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P01-56
Wolfgang Gaissmaier
Successfully Betting on Speed of Retrieval in Memory-Based Decision Making
Authors
Wolfgang Gaissmaier (Max Planck Institute, Berlin (D))
Arndt Bröder (University of Bonn (D))
Lael J. Schooler (Max Planck Institute, Berlin (D))
Julian N. Marewski (Max Planck Institute, Berlin (D))
The mind is, to some degree, a reflection of the environment: The information stored in memory mirrors the structure of information in the world. The speed of retrieving information is mostly a function of frequency and recency of encountering this information (Anderson & Schooler, 1991). We investigated the degree to which the speed of retrieving information (“cues”) can thus be informative for inductive, memory-based inferences about the real world. More specifically, we investigated whether the speed of retrieving cues could be successfully used to order or weigh information in different decision strategies. An experiment was conducted to assess the accuracy of people’s cue knowledge concerning real cities, and to assess how fluently they retrieve the cues. Our results suggest that the fluency with which cues about objects come to mind is indeed informative. These cue fluencies then were used to simulate how well decision strategies exploiting the speed of retrieving cues would perform in an inference task comparing cities with regard to their size. The decision strategies investigated ranged from simple heuristics that use retrieval speed to order information to compensatory models that use retrieval speed to weigh information that is added up. The simulations showed that the retrieval order largely benefited the decision strategies. We conclude that relying on speed of retrieval is a simple and ecologically rational way to successfully order or weigh information.
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