Perceptual and motor skills
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Effect of warning on feigned malingering on the WAIS-R in college samples.
Research indicates claimant malingering of cognitive deficits to be common in personal injury litigation. Efforts have been made to either detect such tendencies or deter efforts at malingering. ⋯ Analysis indicated both feigned malingerer groups performed significantly worse than the control group; however, feigned malingerers with warning did not perform significantly better than those without warning. Unlike previous research using the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised, results did not support effectiveness of warning in reducing feigned malingering scores.
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Differences in methodology among studies using the cold pressor task have affected the level of pain reported by subjects. This study was designed to assess the effects of varying frequency of self-report on intensity of subjective pain ratings. In a sample of 108 subjects, significant differences in pain ratings were found between subjects who rated their pain at 50-sec. intervals and groups who rated at lower or higher frequencies. Analysis indicated that the frequency of reporting pain may influence the coping strategies used by patients with pain and should be considered carefully by researchers.
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The present study examined the general emotional content of dreams reported by individuals who typically experience "positive" versus "negative" dreams. Self-reports of the 153 participants indicated that positive versus negative dreamers (ns = 42 and 24, respectively) generally experienced more positive emotions, e.g., joviality, self-assurance, and fewer negative emotions, e.g., fear, sadness. No differences were found in the self-reports of the participants in the experience of surprise, guilt, fatigue, and shyness between the groups, hence, positive and negative dreams do not appear to reflect simply more positive and fewer negative emotions, respectively.
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40 congenitally blind and 40 sighted children were tested for fantasy-reality distinctions of real and imagined objects and the development of concepts of darkness, hidden objects, space, dreams, emotions, facial expressions, size, and height. Analysis indicated that the blind children distinguished between contents of fantasy and reality, although they were less sure about the reality status of the objects. ⋯ Cognitive development explained in terms of theory formation may not explain the development of young blind children completely. Their knowledge that contents of fantasy are not real may be obtained through interpersonal experiences that are publicly shared.
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137 undergraduate Le Moyne College students volunteered in a study on music and its effects on mood and memory. In a 2 x 3 between-subjects design, there were 2 lyric conditions (Happy and Sad Lyrics) and 3 music conditions (No Music, Happy Music, and Sad Music). Participants were asked to listen to instrumental music or mentally to create a melody as they read lyrics to themselves. ⋯ Analysis suggested that mood of participants was influenced by the music played, not the lyrics. Results also showed those exposed to No Music had the highest score on the recall test. Personal relevance to the lyrics was not correlated with memory.