Violent and prosocial music: Evidence for the impact of lyrics and musical tone on aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Although there is a large research base on the psychological impacts of violent and prosocial visual media, there is little research addressing the impacts of violent and prosocial music, and which facets of the music have the greatest impact. Four experiments tested the impact of lyrics and/or musical tone on aggressive and prosocial behavior, and on underlying psychological processes, using purpose-built songs to avoid the effect of music-related confounds. In study one, where mildly aggressive, overtly aggressive and violent lyrics were compared to neutral lyrics, any level of lyrical aggression caused an increase in behavioral aggression, which plateaued for all three aggression conditions. Violent lyrics were better recalled than other lyrics one week later. In studies two-three no significant effects of lyrics, or of aggressive versus nonaggressive musical tone, were found on aggressive or prosocial behavior. In terms of internal states, violent lyrics increased hostility/hostile cognitions in all studies, and negatively impacted affective state in three studies. Prosocial lyrics decreased hostility/hostile cognitions in three studies, but always in tandem with another factor. Aggressive musical tone increased physiological arousal in two studies and increased negative affect in one. In study four those who listened to violent lyrics drove more aggressively on a simulated drive that included triggers for aggression. Overall, violent lyrics consistently elicited hostility/hostile cognitions and negative affect, but these did not always translate to aggressive behavior. Violent music seems more likely to elicit behavioral aggression when there are aggression triggers and a clear way to aggress. Implications are discussed.

Gesture production at encoding supports narrative recall.

Existing research is inconsistent regarding the effects of gesture production on narrative recall. Most studies have examined the effects of gesture production during a recall phase, not during encoding, and findings regarding gesture's effects are mixed. The present study examined whether producing gestures at encoding could benefit an individual's narrative recall and whether this effect is moderated by verbal memory and spatial ability. This study also investigated whether producing certain types of gesture is most beneficial to recalling details of a narrative. Participants read a narrative aloud while producing their own gestures at pre-specified phrases in the narrative (Instructed Gesture condition), while placing both their hands behind their backs (No Gesture condition) or with no specific instructions regarding gesture (Spontaneous Gesture condition). Participants completed measures of spatial ability and verbal memory. Recall was measured through both free recall, and specific recall questions related to particular phrases in the narrative. Spontaneous gesture production at encoding benefited free recall, while instructed gestures provided the greatest benefit for recall of specific phrases where gesture had been prompted during encoding. Conversely, for recall of specific phrases where gesture had not been prompted during encoding, instructions to either gesture or not gesture suppressed recall for those higher in verbal memory. Finally, producing iconic and deictic gestures provided benefits for narrative recall, whilst beat gestures had no effect. Gestures play an important role in how we encode and subsequently recall information, providing an opportunity to support cognitive capacity.

Comparing gesture frequency between autistic and neurotypical individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

While diagnostic assessments for autism routinely screen for reduced frequency of gestures, evidence supporting reduced gesture production in autism is inconsistent. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to clarify differences in frequency of gestures between autistic and neurotypical individuals. Included studies compared frequency of gestures between autistic and neurotypical individuals. Database searches (APA PsycInfo, ERIC, MEDLINE, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global) and a call for unpublished data on the International Society for Gesture Studies listserv identified research from January 1994 to March 2023. Study quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Quasi-Experimental Designs. Quantitative synthesis involved a narrative review of all findings and meta-analysis of articles allowing effect size calculations, stratified by the type of gesture. Thirty-one articles comparing frequency of gestures between 701 autistic and 860 neurotypical individuals were included in the narrative review, 25 of which were also included in the meta-analysis. Compared to neurotypical individuals, meta-analyses found that autistic individuals produced significantly less total, deictic, and emblematic gestures. While the number of iconic gestures appeared comparable between groups, studies investigating iconic gestures exhibited an almost equal trend of both positive and negative effect sizes, which were mostly nonsignificant. The way gesture production was measured, age, observer familiarity, and task structure (but not overall study quality) moderated the effect size, albeit inconsistently across the types of gestures. Findings have implications relating to profiling gesture use in diagnostic assessments for autism and highlight gaps in our understanding of differences in gesture production in autism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of multilingualism on Australian infants' language environments in early childhood education centers.

This study investigates differences in the language environments experienced by multilingual and monolingual infants in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. The Language Environment Analysis (LENA) technology was used to collect day-long audio-recordings from 181 one-year-old infants (age range from 12 to 21 months). We examined whether infants' multilingual status predicts the amount of educators' language input (adult word count, AWC), child vocalizations (CVC) and conversational turns (CTC), as well as interaction effects on AWC, CVC and CTC of infants' multilingual status and other infant, home and ECEC characteristics. Multilevel mixed effects models revealed no main effect of infants' multilingual status on the language environment outcome variables. Instead, infant gender significantly predicted adult word count, with female infants hearing more words from educators than male infants. There was a significant interaction effect between the infants' multilingual status and both their age and length of time in an ECEC setting on child vocalizations. While monolingual infants produced more vocalizations as their age increased, multilingual infants did not show this increase in vocalizations with age. Further, the difference between monolingual and multilingual children's vocalizations decreased as the length of time in ECEC increased. There were no significant predictors of conversational turns. Findings from this study suggest that early childhood educators do not adjust their talk according to the multilingual status of the infants. However, multilingual infants do not increase their vocalizations as their age increases to the same extent as do their monolingual peers. The interaction effect between multilingualism and the length of ECEC attendance also implies that ECEC environments may be particularly beneficial for supporting multilingual infants' vocalizations. This study highlights the need to provide pedagogical support to educators to help them to encourage multilingual infants' vocalizations in ECEC settings.

Eye movements reveal that low confidence precedes deliberation.

Contemporary dual-process models of reasoning maintain that there are two types of thinking -intuitive and deliberative -and that low confidence often leads to deliberation. Previous studies examining the confidence -deliberation relationship have been limited by (1) issues of endogeneity and between-subject comparisons, which we address in this study through debias training and (2) measures of confidence that are taken relatively late in the reasoning process, which we address by measuring confidence via real-time eye-tracking. Self-reported and eye-tracked confidence were both negatively related to deliberative thinking. This finding provides new evidence of the timecourse of the confidence -deliberation relationship and reveals that lowered confidence precedes deliberation.

A Hands-On Approach to Learning: Gesture Production During Encoding and its Effect on Narrative Recall.

Research has shown that gesture production supports learning across a number of tasks. It is unclear, however, whether gesture production during encoding can support narrative recall, who gesture production benefits most, and whether certain types of gestures are more beneficial than others. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of gesture production during the encoding of a narrative on subsequent narrative recall, and whether individuals' levels of verbal and nonverbal memory moderated this effect. Additionally, this study investigated whether producing certain types of gestures during encoding was more beneficial than others. Participants (N = 90, Mage = 20.43) read aloud a narrative while under instruction to produce gestures, under no specific instruction to produce gestures, or were required to keep their hands behind their back to prevent them from gesturing. Participants completed measures assessing verbal and nonverbal memory. While gesture production during encoding benefitted narrative recall (as measured through specific questions), verbal memory moderated the effect, such that gesture production was more beneficial for individuals with higher than lower verbal memory. Furthermore, producing representational gestures during encoding benefitted recall of points in the narrative at which those gestures were produced, while beat gestures had no effect. Findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying the links between gesture and learning, as well as practical implications in instructional settings.

Internet Gaming Disorder: Evidence for a Risk and Resilience Approach.

Although previous research has noted a range of factors that predict developing Problematic Video Game Use (PVGU) and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD), few studies have looked at risk and protective factors together, and there is scant empirical evidence examining whether risk for PVGU or IGD increases or decreases as risk or protective factors accumulate in the individual. The aim of the current study was to examine both issues using predictors from three demonstrated PVGU and IGD risk categories: executive dysfunction, unmet needs in everyday life, and unhelpful family environment. In a survey of N = 866 12-17-year-old school students, the risk/protective factors that most strongly predicted severity of IGD symptomology and meeting IGD diagnostic criteria were self-control and social exclusion. Other significant predictors included impulsivity, self-esteem, mastery, control of one's external environment, and better parent-child attachment quality. Trend analyses revealed a linear increase in the risk of PVGU as risk and net-risk factors accumulated, and a decrease as protective and net-protective factors accumulated. Thus, a net accumulation of issues around impulse control and unmet needs in everyday life may predispose adolescents to PVGU or IGD. Results support a 'risk and resilience' approach to adolescent screen-based disorders and suggest potential benefits to a risk factor focus in treatment.

Eye tracking and the cognitive reflection test: Evidence for intuitive correct responding and uncertain heuristic responding.

The Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) has been used in thousands of studies across several fields of behavioural research. The CRT has fascinated scholars because it commonly elicits incorrect answers despite most respondents possessing the necessary knowledge to reach the correct answer. Traditional interpretations of CRT performance asserted that correct responding was the result of corrective reasoning involving the inhibition and correction of the incorrect response and incorrect responding was an indication of miserly thinking without feelings of uncertainty. Recently, however, these assertions have been challenged. We extend this work by employing novel eye-tracking techniques to examine whether people use corrective cognitive pathways to reach correct solutions, and whether heuristic respondents demonstrate gaze-based signs of uncertainty. Eye movements suggest that correct responding on the CRT is the result of intuitive not corrective cognitive pathways, and that heuristic respondents show signs of gaze-based uncertainty.

Short report: Learning through iconic gesture in autism spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: Understanding and therefore recalling spoken messages, including narratives, can be challenging for children with autism. While observing gesture can benefit narrative recall in typically developing children, whether observing gesture facilitates narrative recall in children with autism is unclear. AIMS: This paper examines whether observing iconic gestures affects narrative recall in children with a diagnosis of autism. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: We first identified iconic gestures to be observed by participants in the main study. Once appropriate iconic gestures had been identified, children with autism watched one video narrative with iconic gestures and one without gestures. While watching the video narratives, children wore Tobii Pro Glasses-2 to track their eye-movements. After watching each narrative, children were asked questions about the narratives to assess recall. OUTCOMES: Iconic gestures significantly benefitted narrative recall in children with autism beyond watching no gestures, and eye-tracking results suggested gestures helped children focus on the narrator. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Through identifying appropriate iconic gestures and producing them alongside a verbal narrative, gestures may successfully enhance learning in children with autism.

Lending a hand to storytelling: Gesture's effects on narrative comprehension moderated by task difficulty and cognitive ability.

Compelling evidence suggests observing iconic gestures benefits learning. While emerging evidence suggests typical iconic gestures benefit comprehension to a greater extent than atypical iconic gestures, it is unclear precisely when and for whom these gestures will be most helpful. The current study investigated factors that may moderate when and for whom gesture benefits narrative comprehension most, including the type of gesture, task difficulty, and individual differences in cognitive ability. Participants were shown a video narrative in which they observed either typical gestures (commonly produced gestures, highly semantically related to accompanying speech), atypical gestures (gestures that are seldom produced), or no gestures. The video narrative was either viewed with interference (background noise to increase task difficulty) or no interference (no background noise). To determine whether the effects of gesture observation and externally imposed task difficulty on narrative comprehension further depend on an individual's cognitive abilities, participants completed four measures of cognitive abilities (immediate and delayed non-verbal memory, attention, and intellectual ability). Observing typical gestures significantly benefitted narrative comprehension compared with atypical and no gestures combined, which did not differ significantly. Participants with below average and average levels of delayed non-verbal memory benefitted more from typical gestures than atypical or no gestures compared with those with an above average level of delayed non-verbal memory. However, this interaction was only significant when the task was difficult (i.e., with interference) but not when the task was simple (i.e., no interference). This finding suggests that the type of iconic gesture observed may affect gesture's beneficial effect on narrative comprehension, and that such gestures may be more beneficial in difficult tasks, but only for certain individuals.

The Emotional Dysregulation Questionnaire: Development and comparative analysis.

OBJECTIVES: A widely used measure of emotion dysregulation, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), may insufficiently cover a number of potentially important aspects of emotional dysregulation. A new measure of emotional dysregulation, the Emotional Dysregulation Questionnaire (EDQ) was therefore developed based upon an eight-factor model of the construct. DESIGN AND METHOD: The DERS and the EDQ were administered to a community sample (N = 362; 183 female, 179 male), along with a number of measures of psychopathology associated with emotional dysregulation. The capacity of the EDQ and the DERS to account for the emotional dysregulation associated with these different types of psychopathology was then compared. RESULTS: In several of the psychopathologies examined, the EDQ could account for more variation than the DERS, suggesting that it more comprehensively assessed the emotion regulation deficits associated with these issues. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest the EDQ possesses several advantages relative to the DERS, allowing for a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of emotional dysregulation. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Emotional dysregulation is a common component of many psychological disorders. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale is one of the primary self-report measures used to asses these difficulties, however, concerns exist that it may not comprehensively assess the construct of emotional dysregulation. A new self-report measure of comparable length, the Emotional Dysregulation Questionnaire has been developed, with this new measure possessing several advantages relative to the DERS with regard to the assessment of emotional dysregulation. The use of this measure in clinical practice may more accurately identify the emotion regulation deficits present in clients.

The effects of observing and producing gestures on Japanese word learning.

While observing and producing gesture can enhance native language learning, research in foreign word learning is limited. English-speaking university students were verbally presented with Japanese verbs with their English translations in one of three conditions: no gesture, observing an instructor's iconic gestures, or observing and reproducing the instructor's gestures. Participants verbally recalled the words immediately following training and after a one-week delay. Both observing only as well as observing and reproducing gestures at encoding enhanced learning and were equally beneficial for both the short and longer term beyond verbal learning alone. Reproducing the instructor's gestures during learning increased the rate of spontaneous iconic gesture production during recall, though the effects of this spontaneous gesture production at test were inconsistent. Findings emphasise the importance of an instructor's gesture production during foreign language learning, and suggest that motor imagery plays a key role in the beneficial effects of gesture on learning.

Partner Perceptions of Conversations with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Pragmatic difficulties resulting in problems with reciprocal conversation are widely studied in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is some consensus on the conversation differences between individuals with autism compared to neurotypical groups and groups with other developmental delays. There is little information on whether conversation partners (neurotypical or with ASD) of individuals with ASD find these differences problematic. The results indicate that behaviors reported to be the most problematic were not necessarily behaviors commonly addressed in research. Further, some conversational capacities that have received less research focus were perceived as more problematic. Although conversation partners who had ASD themselves reported the frequency of behaviors similarly to the neurotypical group, they did not find the behaviors as problematic.

I Should Have Known Better: Development of a Self-Report Measure of Gullibility.

The aim of this research was to explore the predictors of gullibility and to develop a self-report measure of the construct. In Studies 1 to 3, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on a large pool of items resulting in a 12-item scale with two factors: Persuadability and Insensitivity to cues of untrustworthiness. Study 4 confirmed the criterion validity of the scale using two distinct samples: scam victims and members of the Skeptics Society. Study 5 demonstrated positive relationships between gullibility and the self-reported persuasiveness of, and likelihood of responding to, unsolicited emails. Throughout the article, analyses of a variety of measures expected to converge with the scale provided evidence for its construct validity. Overall, these studies demonstrate that the construct of gullibility is distinct from trust, negatively related to social intelligence, and that the Gullibility Scale is a reliable and valid measure of gullibility.

When our hands help us understand: A meta-analysis into the effects of gesture on comprehension.

Speech and gesture are two vital components of communication. Gesture itself provides an external support to speech, potentially promoting comprehension of a spoken message. The question of whether gesture promotes comprehension is not new, with research dating back to the 1970s. However, when gestures are most beneficial to comprehension is poorly understood. This meta-analysis explored 2 questions: whether and when gestures benefit comprehension of verbal information. We examined the effect sizes of 83 independent samples. Within each sample, a learner's comprehension was measured when gestures accompanied speech, compared with speech alone. Across all samples, gesture had a moderate, beneficial effect on comprehension when either produced or observed by a learner. Further stratified tests revealed that gestures significantly benefitted comprehension under a variety of circumstances, dependent on the type of gesture used, the information provided by gesture, the function of the gesture, the age of the learner, and the way comprehension was measured. The function of the gesture moderated the magnitude of the effect, with studies investigating the effect of producing gestures on comprehension yielding significantly larger effect sizes on average than studies investigating the effect of observing gestures on comprehension. The results from the current meta-analysis have theoretical and practical implications for gesture-related research and highlight new avenues for future studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Pointing the way forward: Gesture and adults' recall of route direction information.

Spatial communication tasks, such as following route directions through unfamiliar environments, place considerable demands on multiple cognitive processes, including language comprehension and memory. Gestures accompanying spoken route directions may aide task performance by enhancing cognitive processes such as language and memory processing. It is not yet clear whether different kinds of gesture might influence the processing of route information in different ways. In 2 experiments, we examined how different gestures would enhance or reduce listeners' recall of spatial information when given route directions through an unfamiliar building. Adults were randomly allocated to one of three gesture conditions: no gesture (speech only), beat gesture (speech accompanied by simple rhythmic gestures), or iconic-deictic gesture (speech accompanied by iconic and deictic gestures). Recall was measured verbally, by recalling the route aloud, then physically, by walking the route. In Experiment 1, redundant gestures that mirrored verbal route directions did not enhance listeners' verbal recall or route navigation. In Experiment 2, when the verbal route directions were edited to be incomplete, nonredundant gestures enhanced recall to the level seen when hearing all information through speech. These findings suggest that gestures enhance recall when compensating for missing verbal information, but not when they replicate verbal information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Donald Duck's garden: The effects of observing iconic reinforcing and contradictory gestures on narrative comprehension.

Both speech and gesture play a vital role in human communication. Gesture itself provides an external support to a spoken message. As a consequence, when presented together with speech, gesture has the ability to benefit learning across a variety of tasks, including narrative comprehension. However, the exact mechanisms underlying how the observation of gestures benefits learning are yet to be well understood and cannot be understood without further investigation into the types of gesture that benefit learning. Specifically, gestures themselves are not a homogeneous set, with different kinds of gestures having varying effects on learning. In the current study, we examined the effects of observing iconic gestures that either reinforce (i.e., reinforcing gestures) or contradict (i.e., contradictory gestures) the content of accompanying speech on narrative comprehension in preschool-aged children. Children were presented with a short video narrative that contained either reinforcing gestures, contradictory gestures, or no gestures accompanying the verbal narrative. Results indicated that observing reinforcing gestures significantly benefited narrative comprehension beyond when no gestures were observed. However, observing contradictory gestures was neither significantly beneficial nor significantly detrimental to narrative comprehension beyond observing reinforcing or no gestures. The results from the current study provide valuable insight into the benefits of observing different kinds of iconic gestures on narrative comprehension in preschool-aged children.

Getting to the elephants: Gesture and preschoolers' comprehension of route direction information.

During early childhood, children find spatial tasks such as following novel route directions challenging. Spatial tasks place demands on multiple cognitive processes, including language comprehension and memory, at a time in development when resources are limited. As such, gestures accompanying route directions may aid comprehension and facilitate task performance by scaffolding cognitive processes, including language and memory processing. This study examined the effect of presenting gesture during encoding on spatial task performance during early childhood. Three- to five-year-olds were presented with verbal route directions through a zoo-themed spatial array and, depending on assigned condition (no gesture, beat gesture, or iconic/deictic gesture), accompanying gestures. Children presented with verbal route directions accompanied by a combination of iconic (pantomime) and deictic (pointing) gestures verbally recalled more than children presented with beat gestures (rhythmic hand movements) or no gestures accompanying the route directions. The presence of gesture accompanying route directions similarly influenced physical route navigation, such that children presented with gesture (beat, pantomime, and pointing) navigated the route more accurately than children presented with no gestures. Across all gesture conditions, location information (e.g., the penguin pond) was recalled more than movement information (e.g., go around) and descriptive information (e.g., bright red). These findings suggest that speakers' gestures accompanying spatial task information influence listeners' recall and task performance.

Friendship Satisfaction in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Nominated Friends.

The current study examined the level of friendship satisfaction of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their nominated friends (with and without diagnosis of ASD). A total of 77 target children with ASD and friends from 49 nominated friendships participated in the study. Relatively high levels of friendship satisfaction were reported by both target children and their nominated friends with no overall difference between dyads involving typically developing friends and friends with ASD. Analysis at the individual dyad level showed a high level of agreement on the reported level of satisfaction across the target participants and their friends. Limitations and directions for future research are presented.