Safe To Walk? Neighborhood Safety and Physical Activity Among Public Housing Residents

Background

Despite its health benefits, physical inactivity is pervasive, particularly among those living in lower-income urban communities. In such settings, neighborhood safety may impact willingness to be regularly physically active. We examined the association of perceived neighborhood safety with pedometer-determined physical activity and physical activity self-efficacy.

Methods and Findings

Participants were 1,180 predominantly racial/ethnic minority adults recruited from 12 urban low-income housing complexes in metropolitan Boston. Participants completed a 5-d pedometer data-collection protocol and self-reported their perceptions of neighborhood safety and self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in the ability to be physically active). Gender-stratified bivariate and multivariable random effects models were estimated to account for within-site clustering. Most participants reported feeling safe during the day, while just over one-third (36%) felt safe at night. We found no association between daytime safety reports and physical activity among both men and women. There was also no association between night-time safety reports and physical activity among men (p = 0.23) but women who reported feeling unsafe (versus safe) at night showed significantly fewer steps per day (4,302 versus 5,178, p = 0.01). Perceiving one''s neighborhood as unsafe during the day was associated with significantly lower odds of having high physical activity self-efficacy among both men (OR 0.40, p = 0.01) and women (OR 0.68, p = 0.02).

Conclusions

Residing in a neighborhood that is perceived to be unsafe at night is a barrier to regular physical activity among individuals, especially women, living in urban low-income housing. Feeling unsafe may also diminish confidence in the ability to be more physically active. Both of these factors may limit the effectiveness of physical activity promotion strategies delivered in similar settings.     

Weakened Resilience in Parenting Self-Efficacy in Pregnant Women Who Were Abused in Childhood: An Experimental Test

This study tested experimentally whether the combination of a history of childhood abuse and confrontation with difficult infant temperament is associated with negative changes in parenting self-efficacy. First-time pregnant women (N = 243) participated in the Adult Attachment Interview, which was used to assess the occurrence of abuse by parents in childhood and unresolved representations, and completed a task asking them to respond to infant cries. Sixty of the 243 participants (25%) experienced childhood abuse, mostly physical or sexual. The task simulated infant temperamental difficulty by manipulating soothing success in order to reflect an easy-to-soothe (80% soothing success) and a difficult-to-soothe infant (20% soothing success). Both after baseline and after each of the two stimulus series women assessed their parenting self-efficacy. Women who reported childhood abuse did not differ from women who reported no childhood abuse in parenting self-efficacy at baseline or in response to the easy-to-soothe infant (relative to baseline), but decreased more in parenting self-efficacy following the difficult-to-soothe infant. Effects did not vary according to resolution of trauma. These findings suggest that in response to infant temperamental difficulty, women who experienced childhood abuse may more easily lose confidence in their parenting abilities, which underlines the importance of preparing at-risk women for the possible challenges that come along with parenthood.     

Postural Control in Dual-Task Situations: Does Whole-Body Fatigue Matter?

Postural control is important to cope with demands of everyday life. It has been shown that both attentional demand (i.e., cognitive processing) and fatigue affect postural control in young adults. However, their combined effect is still unresolved. Therefore, we investigated the effects of fatigue on single- (ST) and dual-task (DT) postural control. Twenty young subjects (age: 23.7 ± 2.7) performed an all-out incremental treadmill protocol. After each completed stage, one-legged-stance performance on a force platform under ST (i.e., one-legged-stance only) and DT conditions (i.e., one-legged-stance while subtracting serial 3s) was registered. On a second test day, subjects conducted the same balance tasks for the control condition (i.e., non-fatigued). Results showed that heart rate, lactate, and ventilation increased following fatigue (all p < 0.001; d = 4.2–21). Postural sway and sway velocity increased during DT compared to ST (all p < 0.001; d = 1.9–2.0) and fatigued compared to non-fatigued condition (all p < 0.001; d = 3.3–4.2). In addition, postural control deteriorated with each completed stage during the treadmill protocol (all p < 0.01; d = 1.9–3.3). The addition of an attention-demanding interference task did not further impede one-legged-stance performance. Although both additional attentional demand and physical fatigue affected postural control in healthy young adults, there was no evidence for an overadditive effect (i.e., fatigue-related performance decrements in postural control were similar under ST and DT conditions). Thus, attentional resources were sufficient to cope with the DT situations in the fatigue condition of this experiment.     

Voluntary Modulation of Anterior Cingulate Response to Negative Feedback

Anterior cingulate and medial frontal cortex (dACC/mFC) response to negative feedback represents the actions of a generalized error-monitoring system critical for the management of goal-directed behavior. Magnitude of dACC/mFC response to negative feedback correlates with levels of post-feedback behavioral change, and with proficiency of operant learning processes. With this in mind, it follows that an ability to alter dACC/mFC response to negative feedback may lead to representative changes in operant learning proficiency. To this end, the present study investigated the extent to which healthy individuals would show modulation of their dACC/mFC response when instructed to try to either maximize or minimize their neural response to the presentation of contingent negative feedback. Participants performed multiple runs of a standard time-estimation task, during which they received feedback regarding their ability to accurately estimate a one-second duration. On Watch runs, participants were simply instructed to try to estimate as closely as possible the one second duration. On Increase and Decrease runs, participants performed the same task, but were instructed to “try to increase [decrease] their brain''s response every time they received negative feedback”. Results indicated that participants showed changes in dACC/mFC response under these differing instructional conditions: dACC/mFC activity following negative feedback was higher in the Increase condition, and dACC activity trended lower in the Decrease condition, compared to the Watch condition. Moreover, dACC activity correlated with post-feedback performance adjustments, and these adjustments were highest in the Increase condition. Potential implications for neuromodulation and facilitated learning are discussed.     

Does Anthropomorphism of Dogs Affect Pain Perception in Animal-Assisted Interventions? An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine the effects of anthropomorphism of a therapy dog on pain perception during an animal-assisted intervention. Participants were 32 college women who were randomly assigned to the anthropomorphism condition or the control condition. All participants engaged in a pretest cold pressor task to measure base-line individual differences in pain tolerance and perceptions of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness. After completing this task, participants in the anthropomorphism group engaged in a task intended to prime them to view a therapy dog anthropomorphically. Specifically, they rated photos of dogs on a series of humanlike traits (e.g., “this dog would be a good listener”). Participants in the control condition rated photos of dogs on a series of canine traits (e.g., “this dog would make a good watchdog”). After this experimental manipulation, participants engaged in a second cold pressor task in the presence of a therapy dog and the therapy dog handler. We hypothesized that participants in the anthropomorphism group would demonstrate greater pain tolerance and report lower levels of pain intensity and pain unpleasantness during the second cold pressor task than participants in the control group. Results provide partial support for these hypotheses. Participants in the anthropomorphism group reported lower posttest pain intensity than participants in the control group. In addition, they demonstrated greater posttest pain tolerance than participants in the control group—but only under conditions of medium or high pretest pain tolerance. The two groups did not differ with respect to posttest pain unpleasantness. The results of this exploratory study provide preliminary evidence that prompting individuals to view a therapy dog anthropomorphically may augment their experience of pain relief from a therapy dog visit.     

Enhancing Cognitive Abilities with Comprehensive Training: A Large,Online, Randomized,Active-Controlled Trial

Background

A variety of studies have demonstrated gains in cognitive ability following cognitive training interventions. However, other studies have not shown such gains, and questions remain regarding the efficacy of specific cognitive training interventions. Cognitive training research often involves programs made up of just one or a few exercises, targeting limited and specific cognitive endpoints. In addition, cognitive training studies typically involve small samples that may be insufficient for reliable measurement of change. Other studies have utilized training periods that were too short to generate reliable gains in cognitive performance.

Methods

The present study evaluated an online cognitive training program comprised of 49 exercises targeting a variety of cognitive capacities. The cognitive training program was compared to an active control condition in which participants completed crossword puzzles. All participants were recruited, trained, and tested online (N = 4,715 fully evaluable participants). Participants in both groups were instructed to complete one approximately 15-minute session at least 5 days per week for 10 weeks.

Results

Participants randomly assigned to the treatment group improved significantly more on the primary outcome measure, an aggregate measure of neuropsychological performance, than did the active control group (Cohen’s d effect size = 0.255; 95% confidence interval = [0.198, 0.312]). Treatment participants showed greater improvements than controls on speed of processing, short-term memory, working memory, problem solving, and fluid reasoning assessments. Participants in the treatment group also showed greater improvements on self-reported measures of cognitive functioning, particularly on those items related to concentration compared to the control group (Cohen’s d = 0.249; 95% confidence interval = [0.191, 0.306]).

Conclusion

Taken together, these results indicate that a varied training program composed of a number of tasks targeted to different cognitive functions can show transfer to a wide range of untrained measures of cognitive performance.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT-02367898     

Cognitive Coping Style and the Effectiveness of Distraction or Sensation-Focused Instructions in Chronic Pain Patients

AimThis study set out to investigate whether cognitive coping strategies that match participants’ preferred coping style effectively reduce pain intensity and situational anxiety in a population of people with chronic pain.MethodChronic pain patients (N = 43) completed questionnaires on coping style, pain intensity, self-efficacy, and situational/trait anxiety. Participants were classified as Monitors (n = 16) or Blunters (n = 19) based on their Miller Behavioural Style Scale score. Participants were then provided with an audiotaped intervention in which they were instructed to focus on pain sensations or to engage in a distraction task and then to rate the pain intensity and their anxiety during and after the attentional focus and distraction conditions. The two interventions were each completed by all participants, having been presented in counterbalanced order.ResultsFindings revealed that Monitors’ level of anxiety decreased following a congruent (i.e., sensation-focused) intervention. No effects were obtained in terms of perceived pain. For blunters, however, their perceived levels of anxiety and pain did not attenuate following a congruent, distraction-focused intervention.ConclusionAmong persons experiencing chronic pain, tailoring coping strategies to match an individual’s preferred coping style–in particular, those with a high level of monitoring–may enhance the benefit of psychological approaches to management of anxiety.     

Endo Echo Improves Primary Care Provider And Community Health Worker Self-Efficacy In Complex Diabetes Management In Medically Underserved Communities

Objective: To determine whether participation in a multidisciplinary telementorship model of healthcare delivery improves primary care provider (PCP) and community health worker (CHW) confidence in managing patients with complex diabetes in medically underserved regions.Methods: We applied a well-established healthcare delivery model, Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes), to the management of complex diabetes (Endo ECHO) in medically underserved communities. A multidisciplinary team at Project ECHO connected with PCPs and CHWs at 10 health centers across New Mexico for weekly videoconferencing virtual clinics. Participating PCPs and CHWs presented de-identified patients and received best practice guidance and mentor-ship from Project ECHO specialists and network peers. A robust curriculum was developed around clinical practice guidelines and presented by weekly didactics over the ECHO network. After 2 years of participation in Endo ECHO, PCPs and CHWs completed self-efficacy surveys comparing confidence in complex diabetes management to baseline.Results: PCPs and CHWs in rural New Mexico reported significant improvement in self-efficacy in all measures of complex diabetes management, including PCP ability to serve as a local resource for other healthcare providers seeking assistance in diabetes care. Overall self-efficacy improved by 130% in CHWs (P<.0001) and by 60% in PCPs (P<.0001), with an overall large Cohen's effect size.Conclusion: Among PCPs and CHWS in rural, medically underserved communities, participation in Endo ECHO for 2 years significantly improved confidence in complex diabetes management. Application of the ECHO model to complex diabetes care may be useful in resource-poor communities with limited access to diabetes specialist services.Abbreviations: CHW = community health worker; CME = Continuing Medical Education; ECHO = Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes; FQHC = federally qualified health center; PCP = primary care provider     

Hounds and Homesickness: The Effects of an Animal-assisted Therapeutic Intervention for First-Year University Students

Transitioning from high school to university can prove to be a for midable challenge for many first-year students, with many experiencing home sickness. Given that students who experience homesickness are more likely than their non-homesick cohorts to drop out of university, universities have a vested interest in supporting students during their first-year transition. Programs that provide opportunities for human–animal interactions on campus are gaining popularity as one way of increasing students’ wellbeing. The current study examined the effects of an 8-week animal-assisted therapy (AAT) program on first-year university students’ wellbeing. An initial feasibility study (n = 86) was conducted that provided opportunities for students to interact, in small groups, with trained therapy dogs and their volunteer handlers. Results indicated that this program reduced participants’ levels of homesickness and increased their satisfaction with life. An experimental study was then conducted utilizing a similar 8-week group AAT program. Participants (n = 44) were assigned to either a treatment condition (i.e., the AAT program) or to a no-treatment condition (akin to a wait-list control). At the end of the eight weeks, participants in the AAT program reported greater reductions in homesickness and greater increases in satisfaction with life than did those in the no-treatment condition. From beginning to end of the program, participants in the treatment group evidenced reductions in homesickness and increases in satisfaction with life and connectedness to campus, while participants in the no-treatment condition evidenced an increase in homesickness and no changes in satisfaction with life and connectedness to campus. Results of both the feasibility study and the experimental study support the use of AAT programs to increase the wellbeing of first-year university students experiencing homesickness.     

Embracing Complexity and Context to Improve Science Communication

Members of the public play a primary role in successful implementation of wildlife management plans, making communication between scientists and the public a vital component of wildlife management. Although there is substantial public interest in the health of ungulate populations, stakeholder perspectives can vary widely, rendering a single approach to communication ineffective. To improve science communication, we characterized perspectives regarding issues negatively affecting mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in Wyoming, USA. We used Q methodology, a mixed quantitative-qualitative approach where participants ranked a series of statements followed by semi-structured interviews, to identify shared perspectives. We interviewed individuals (n = 37) representing prominent stakeholder groups (e.g., ranchers, hunters, conservation non-profits) in Wyoming. We identified 3 perspectives (52% of variance explained) that captured shared views regarding what factors are negatively affecting mule deer: bottom-up (n = 17 participants; 26% variance), human contributions (n = 9; 14% variance), and top-down (n = 8; 12% variance) perspectives. Most participants shared the idea that mule deer are being negatively affected, but participants diverged in views as to the primary issues. Perspectives ranged from being focused on bottom-up factors (e.g., habitat fragmentation, condition of winter ranges) to top-down factors (e.g., predation, disease) to factors focused on human contributions (e.g., human activity, public and political interests). Based on how participants diverged in perspectives and their interest in mule deer management, we discuss opportunities for scientists to improve communication by incorporating ecological complexity and nuance, moving towards a 2-way dialogue of communication, and sharing their own first-hand experiences in future communications with stakeholders. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.     

Rapid Stress System Drives Chemical Transfer of Fear from Sender to Receiver

Humans can register another person’s fear not only with their eyes and ears, but also with their nose. Previous research has demonstrated that exposure to body odors from fearful individuals elicited implicit fear in others. The odor of fearful individuals appears to have a distinctive signature that can be produced relatively rapidly, driven by a physiological mechanism that has remained unexplored in earlier research. The apocrine sweat glands in the armpit that are responsible for chemosignal production contain receptors for adrenalin. We therefore expected that the release of adrenalin through activation of the rapid stress response system (i.e., the sympathetic-adrenal medullary system) is what drives the release of fear sweat, as opposed to activation of the slower stress response system (i.e., hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis). To test this assumption, sweat was sampled while eight participants prepared for a speech. Participants had higher heart rates and produced more armpit sweat in the fast stress condition, compared to baseline and the slow stress condition. Importantly, exposure to sweat from participants in the fast stress condition induced in receivers (N = 31) a simulacrum of the state of the sender, evidenced by the emergence of a fearful facial expression (facial electromyography) and vigilant behavior (i.e., faster classification of emotional facial expressions).     

Impulsive Action but Not Impulsive Choice Determines Problem Gambling Severity

Background

Impulsivity is a hallmark of problem gambling. However, impulsivity is not a unitary construct and this study investigated the relationship between problem gambling severity and two facets of impulsivity: impulsive action (impaired ability to withhold a motor response) and impulsive choice (abnormal aversion for the delay of reward).

Methods

The recruitment includes 65 problem gamblers and 35 normal control participants. On the basis of DSM-IV-TR criteria, two groups of gamblers were distinguished: problem gamblers (n = 38) and pathological gamblers (n = 27) with similar durations of gambling practice. Impulsive action was assessed using a response inhibition task (the stop-signal task). Impulsive choice was estimated with the delay-discounting task. Possible confounds (e.g., IQ, mood, ADHD symptoms) were recorded.

Results

Both problem and pathological gamblers discounted reward at a higher rate than their controls, but only pathological gamblers showed abnormally low performance on the most demanding condition of the stop-signal task. None of the potential confounds covaried with these results.

Conclusions

These results suggest that, whereas abnormal impulsive choice characterizes all problem gamblers, pathological gamblers'' impairments in impulsive action may represent an important developmental pathway of pathological gambling.     

Investigating the Role of Assessment Method on Reports of Déjà Vu and Tip-of-the-Tongue States during Standard Recognition Tests

Déjà vu and tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) are retrieval-related subjective experiences whose study relies on participant self-report. In four experiments (ns = 224, 273, 123 and 154), we explored the effect of questioning method on reported occurrence of déjà vu and TOT in experimental settings. All participants carried out a continuous recognition task, which was not expected to induce déjà vu or TOT, but were asked about their experiences of these subjective states. When presented with contemporary definitions, between 32% and 58% of participants nonetheless reported experiencing déjà vu or TOT. Changing the definition of déjà vu or asking participants to bring to mind a real-life instance of déjà vu or TOT before completing the recognition task had no impact on reporting rates. However, there was an indication that changing the method of requesting subjective reports impacted reporting of both experiences. More specifically, moving from the commonly used retrospective questioning (e.g. “Have you experienced déjà vu?”) to free report instructions (e.g. “Indicate whenever you experience déjà vu.”) reduced the total number of reported déjà vu and TOT occurrences. We suggest that research on subjective experiences should move toward free report assessments. Such a shift would potentially reduce the presence of false alarms in experimental work, thereby reducing the overestimation of subjective experiences prevalent in this area of research.     

An Examination of Psychopathology and Daily Impairment in Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder

Although social anxiety disorder (SAD) is most often diagnosed during adolescence, few investigations have examined the clinical presentation and daily functional impairment of this disorder exclusively in adolescents. Prior studies have demonstrated that some clinical features of SAD in adolescents are unique relative to younger children with the condition. Furthermore, quality of sleep, a robust predictor of anxiety problems and daily stress, has not been examined in socially anxious adolescents. In this investigation, social behavior and sleep were closely examined in adolescents with SAD (n = 16) and normal control adolescents (NC; n = 14). Participants completed a self-report measure and an actigraphy assessment of sleep. Social functioning was assessed via a brief speech and a social interaction task, during which heart rate and skin conductance were measured. Additionally, participants completed a daily social activity journal for 1 week. No differences were observed in objective or subjective quality of sleep. Adolescents with SAD reported greater distress during the analogue social tasks relative to NC adolescents. During the speech task, adolescents with SAD exhibited a trend toward greater speech latency and spoke significantly less than NC adolescents. Additionally, SAD participants manifested greater skin conductance during the speech task. During the social interaction, adolescents with SAD required significantly more confederate prompts to stimulate interaction. Finally, adolescents with SAD reported more frequent anxiety-provoking situations in their daily lives, including answering questions in class, assertive communication, and interacting with a group. The findings suggest that, although adolescents with SAD may not exhibit daily impaired sleep, the group does experience specific behavioral and physiological difficulties in social contexts regularly. Social skills training may be a critical component in therapeutic approaches for this group.     

Did My M.D. Really Go to University to Learn? Detrimental Effects of Numerus Clausus on Self-Efficacy,Mastery Goals and Learning

Exams with numerus clausus are very common in Medicine, Business Administration and Law. They are intended to select a predefined number of academic candidates on the basis of their rank rather than their absolute performance. Various scholars and politicians believe that numerus clausus policies are a vector of academic excellence. We argue, however, that they could have ironic epistemic effects. In comparison with selective policies based on criterion-based evaluations, selection via numerus clausus creates negative interdependence of competence (i.e., the success of some students comes at the expense of the others). Thus, we expect it to impair students’ sense of self-efficacy and—by extension—the level of mastery goals they adopt, as well as their actual learning. Two field studies respectively reported that presence (versus absence) and awareness (versus ignorance) of numerus clausus policies at University was associated with a decreased endorsement of mastery goals; this effect was mediated by a reduction in self-efficacy beliefs. Moreover, an experimental study revealed that numerus clausus negatively predicted learning; this effect was, again, mediated by a reduction in self-efficacy beliefs. Practical implications for the selection procedures in higher education are discussed.     

Is facial structure an honest cue to real-world dominance and fighting ability in men? A pre-registered direct replication of

Masculine facial morphology (e.g., larger jaw, prominent cheekbones) have been linked to a suite of social outcomes—including greater wealth, career progress, romantic desirability, and even greater political success. A leading explanation for these links is that dominant facial structures represent honest cues of physical dominance and fighting ability. T?ebický et al. (2013) published the first study to demonstrate that masculine facial cues (e.g., large nose, deep-set eyes) similarly predict both dominance judgments and real-world fighting success, but no studies have replicated these popular findings that a large and specific assortment of masculine facial structures are implicated in both fighting ability and dominance perception. Thus, we conducted a pre-registered direct replication and extension of T?ebický et al. (2013). Two separate samples of United States MTurk participants rated 516 UFC fighters' facial photographs on perceived aggressiveness (N = 500) and fighting ability (N = 500). Results showed that perceived aggressiveness was associated with masculine facial morphology (e.g., large nose, deep-set eyes) independent of bodily size. There was also some evidence that perceived fighting ability was associated with masculine facial morphology, which disappeared after controlling for bodily size. There was no support for the relation between facial structure and fighting success, and there were often negative relations between perceived aggressiveness and fighting ability on fighting success (i.e., more successful fighters were perceived as less successful and aggressive). We argue that our evolved psychology differentially processes the distinct avenues to victory that constitute overall fighting success (e.g., knockout versus submission wins).     

Protection Motivation Theory in Predicting Intention to Engage in Protective Behaviors against Schistosomiasis among Middle School Students in Rural China

Background

Among millions of people who suffer from schistosomiasis in China, adolescents are at increased risk to be infected. However, there is a lack of theory-guided behavioral prevention intervention programs to protect these adolescents. This study attempted to apply the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) in predicting intentions to engage in protective behaviors against schistosomiasis infection.

Methods

The participants were selected using the stratified cluster sampling method. Survey data were collected using anonymous self-reported questionnaire. The advanced structural equation modeling (SEM) method was utilized to assess the complex relationship among schistosomiasis knowledge, previous risk exposure and protective measures in predicting intentions to engage in protective behavior through the PMT constructs.

Principal Findings

Approximately 70% of participants reported they were always aware of schistosomiasis before exposure to water with endemic schistosomiasis, 6% of the participants reported frequency of weekly or monthly prior exposure to snail-conditioned water. 74% of participants reported having always engaged in protective behaviors in the past three months. Approximately 7% were unlikely or very unlikely to avoid contact with snail-conditioned water, and to use protective behaviors before exposure. Results from SEM analysis indicated that both schistosomiasis knowledge and prior exposure to schistosomiasis were indirectly related to behavior intentions through intrinsic rewards and self-efficacy; prior protective behaviors were indirectly related to behavior intentions through severity, intrinsic rewards and self-efficacy, while awareness had an indirect relationship with behavior intentions through self-efficacy. Among the seven PMT constructs, severity, intrinsic rewards and self-efficacy were significantly associated with behavior intentions.

Conclusions

The PMT can be used to predict the intention to engage in protective behaviors against schistosomiasis. Schistosomiasis intervention programs should focus on the severity, intrinsic rewards and self-efficacy of protection motivation, and also increase the awareness of infection, and enrich the contents of schistosomiasis education.     

Perceptions of Speed and Risk: Experimental Studies of Road Crossing by Older People

Crossing a road safely is a complex task requiring good sensorimotor function and integration of information about traffic speed, distances and one’s own speed. Poor judgement through age-related sensorimotor or cognitive impairment or a predisposition to take risks could lead to errors with serious consequences. On a simulated road, 85 participants (age ≥70 years) were asked to cross in front of an approaching car with a clearance as small as considered safe in two conditions; (1) with nothing else to attend to (free crossing) and (2) with an additional ball-gathering task while waiting to cross (task crossing). Participants were categorised according to their crossing outcome (failed to cross, ‘hit’, exact, safe, cautious). Participants also performed two sub-studies; (1) the perception of the time-to-arrival of moving objects and (2) the perception of own gait speed. Physical and cognitive function and everyday risk-taking behaviour were also assessed. In free crossing, clearances varied but no participants were “hit” by the car. In task crossing, participants allowed smaller clearances and 10% of participants would have been hit while 13% missed the opportunity to cross altogether. Across a wide range of physical and cognitive measures, including perceived and actual gait speed, a consistent pattern was observed in the task crossing condition. The exact group performed best, the ‘hit’, safe and cautious groups performed less well while those who missed the opportunity (fail) performed worst. The exact group reported taking the greatest risks in everyday life whereas the remaining groups reported being cautious. In conclusion, we found older people with poorer perceptual, physical and cognitive function made inappropriate and risky decisions in a divided attention road-crossing task despite self-reports of cautious behaviour in everyday life.     

Effects of reflex delays on postural control during unstable seated balance

Patients with low-back pain (LBP) exhibit longer trunk muscle reflex latencies and poorer postural control than healthy individuals. We hypothesized that balance during a simulated postural control task would become impaired when the delays exhibited by LBP patients were incorporated into neuromuscular control. The task chosen for this investigation was seated balancing, which emphasizes trunk muscles’ contribution in postural control. This task was modeled in Simulink? as a fourth order linearized dynamic system with feedback delays. Optimization (minimizing error between experimental and model data) of state variables was used to determine neuromuscular control parameters. Experimental data were obtained from 7 subjects during 5 perturbation trials while balancing on the seat with eyes closed. Model accuracy, reflecting the ability of the model to capture the dynamics of seated balance, was correlated with seated balance performance (r=0.91, p<0.001). To minimize the risk of erroneous findings from inaccurate modeling, only the best five balancers’ data were used for hypothesis testing. In these five subjects, feedback delays in modeled neuromuscular control were increased to determine their effect on task stability, trunk displacement and trunk moment. Simulations showed that longer delays found in LBP, in general, did not produce unstable balancing, but did result in increased trunk displacement (p<0.001) and trunk moment (p=0.001). This impairment in neuromuscular control in chronic LBP patients could possibly exacerbate their condition by increasing tissue strain (more spinal displacement) and stress (more spinal loading).     

Responses to Success: Seeking Pleasant Experiences before a Task Is Complete?

Although engaging in pleasant experiences following successful performance may be hedonically rewarding, in the present research we proposed that individuals might forego pleasant experiences when they have not yet completed a task. In Study 1 (N = 100), participants reported the extent to which they would like to engage in pleasant experiences in a hypothetical situation where their performance outcome on a task (successful vs. average) and task completion (task in progress vs. completed) were manipulated. In Study 2 (N = 115), participants were in a real situation in which they achieved either a successful or average performance outcome. Task completion was manipulated (task in progress vs. completed) and motivation to engage in a pleasant experience was assessed by a behavioral measure. Results of both studies provided support for our prediction by showing individuals to have a lower desire to engage in pleasant experiences following successful, but not average, performance when the task was in progress than when it was complete. These findings are discussed in light of the underlying mechanisms and consequences of the tendency to forego pleasant experiences.