More than meets the gut: a prototype analysis of the lay conceptions of intuition and analysis.

Using a prototype approach, we assessed people's lay conceptions of intuition and analysis. Open-ended descriptions of intuition and analysis were generated by participants (Study 1) and resulting exemplars were sorted into features subsequently rated in centrality by independent participants (Study 2). Feature centrality was validated by showing that participants were quicker and more accurate in classifying central (as compared to peripheral) features (Study 3). Centrality ratings suggested a single-factor structure describing analysis but revealed that participants held lay conceptions of intuition as involving two different types of processes: (1) as an automatic, affective, and non-logical processing, and (2) as a holistic processing that can assist in problem-solving. Additional analyses showed that the centrality ratings of intuition's facets were predicted by participants' self-reported intuitive style, suggesting intuition is differently perceived by intuitive and non-intuitive people. We discuss the implications of these results for the study of intuition and analysis.

Deontic signs increase control monitoring: evidence from a modified traffic flanker task.

Deontic norms are expected to impose individuals' control over their behavior. In this paper, we address such norms presented in traffic signs and test their influence over executive control functions. For Experiment 1, we develop a traffic flanker task in which the typical neutral arrows are replaced with traffic prohibition/obligation signs. Experiment 2 isolated the deontic aspect of the signs using simple arrows on red, blue, and green backgrounds and either primed them to be interpreted as traffic signs or as elements of a gaming console controller. Results in both studies show evidence of controlling context interferences more efficiently when dealing with deontic (traffic) signs than with simple arrows (Experiment 1) or with similar perceptive targets when primed with a deontic context than with a gaming context (Experiment 2). In both studies, obligation/blue signs mitigate flanker effects less than prohibition/red signs. Stimuli color affects the alertness of the cognitive system, with the color red being, by itself, a cue for increased control. Based on temporal analysis, we further discuss these results as evidence of an increase in proactive control that aims to prevent the occurrence of undesirable influence.

A standardised set of images for judgements of proportion.

In the present work, we present normative data for a set of 39 original clipart-style images that can be used as material in studies involving judgements of proportion. The original images are drawings that depict different day-to-day scenarios (e.g., lighted windows in a building; books on a shelf) and each has seven variants of different proportions (from 20% to 80%) belonging to different categories (discrete vs continuous; social vs non-social; natural vs artificial; stimuli physical dimensions; number of referents). Normative data for these images are presented in an interactive database (available at https://judgment-images-and-norms.shinyapps.io/estimates_interactive/ ), corresponding to the means of proportion estimates (in percentage form), the perceived ease of making such estimates, the perceived level of familiarity and liking for each image, and the relationships between these variables. In the paper, we analyse the data at an individual level, addressing how the latter judgements are related to the proportion estimates, how those estimates are related to objective proportions, and how these relationships are moderated by image category. The analyses presented in this paper aim to aid readers in selecting images that enable them to better address specific influences on proportional estimates or to control for those influences in their studies.

Bad after bad is good: previous trial disfluency reduces interference promoted by incongruence.

Conflict and perceptual disfluency have been shown to lead to adaptive, sequential, control adjustments. Here, we propose that these effects can be additive, suggesting their integration into a general feeling of disfluent information processing. This hypothesis was tested using an interference task that dynamically mixed trials varying in legibility and/or congruence. Moreover, the manipulation of the proportion of congruent trials within the task allowed differentiating conditions in which these experiences of fluency may vary. Results showed that progressive increases in processing disfluency elicited a matching decrease in the interference of incongruent fluent trials. This linear effect was significant for all proportion of congruence conditions, although lower when incongruent trials were more frequent. These results highlight the role of feelings in the initiation of control and suggest that the monitoring system could be using changes in information processing fluency as a need-for-control signal.

The effect of facial occlusion on facial impressions of trustworthiness and dominance.

Recognizing the role that facial appearance plays in guiding social interactions, here we investigated how occlusions of the bottom-face region affect facial impressions of trustworthiness and dominance. Previous studies suggesting that different facial features impact inferences on these traits sustain the hypothesis that wearing a face mask will differently affect each trait inference. And specifically, that trustworthiness impressions will be more disrupted by this type of face occlusion than dominance impressions. In two studies, we addressed this possibility by occluding the bottom face region of faces that were previously shown to convey different levels of dominance and trustworthiness, and tested differences in the ability to discriminate between these trait levels across occlusion conditions. In Study 1 faces were occluded by a mask, and in Study 2 by a square image. In both studies, results showed that although facial occlusions generally reduced participants' confidence on their trait judgments, the ability to discriminate facial trustworthiness was more strongly affected than the ability to discriminate facial dominance. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Post-traumatic cyst-like lesion of cortical bone in children.

Post-traumatic cyst-like lesions are an infrequent complication of fractures in children. To our knowledge, no more than 30 cases have been reported in the English-language literature. They most commonly affect the distal radius following a greenstick or torus fracture. These cortical defects are often asymptomatic, non-expansile, and typically resolve spontaneously in 1-3 years. They appear proximal to the compression site and are usually identified 2-4 months after a minor fracture. These lesions have a distinct appearance on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with intralesional fatty marrow, which may help to differentiate it from other bone lesions. We review the literature and present 3 more cases studied with plain radiographs, computed tomography (CT), and MRI. Post-traumatic cyst-like lesions require no treatment, and therefore recognition of its typical features is crucial to prevent unnecessary invasive procedures.

Emergence of High-Level Colistin Resistance in an Acinetobacter baumannii Clinical Isolate Mediated by Inactivation of the Global Regulator H-NS.

Colistin is a crucial last-line drug used for the treatment of life-threatening infections caused by multidrug-resistant strains of the Gram-negative bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii However, colistin-resistant A. baumannii isolates can still be isolated following failed colistin therapy. Resistance is most often mediated by the addition of phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) to lipid A by PmrC, following missense mutations in the pmrCAB operon encoding PmrC and the two-component signal transduction system PmrA/PmrB. We recovered a pair of A. baumannii isolates from a single patient before (6009-1) and after (6009-2) failed colistin treatment. These strains displayed low and very high levels of colistin resistance (MICs, 8 to 16 µg/ml and 128 µg/ml), respectively. To understand how increased colistin resistance arose, we sequenced the genome of each isolate, which revealed that 6009-2 had an extra copy of the insertion sequence element ISAba125 within a gene encoding an H-NS family transcriptional regulator. To confirm the role of H-NS in colistin resistance, we generated an hns deletion mutant in 6009-1 and showed that colistin resistance increased upon the deletion of hns We also provided 6009-2 with an intact copy of hns and showed that the strain was no longer resistant to high concentrations of colistin. Transcriptomic analysis of the clinical isolates identified more than 150 genes as being differentially expressed in the colistin-resistant hns mutant 6009-2. Importantly, the expression of eptA, encoding a second lipid A-specific pEtN transferase but not pmrC, was increased in the hns mutant. This is the first time an H-NS family transcriptional regulator has been associated with a pEtN transferase and colistin resistance.

Examining the Mechanisms of Therapeutic Change in a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Anxious Children: The Role of Interpretation Bias, Perceived Control, and Coping Strategies.

This study examined the role of theoretically meaningful mediators of therapeutic change-interpretation bias, perceived control, and coping strategies-in a cognitive-behavioral intervention for anxious youth. This is one of the few studies that examined the change in potential mediator and outcome variables by means of a longitudinal design that included four assessment points: pretreatment, in-treatment, post-treatment, and at 4-months follow-up. Forty-seven 8- to 12-year-old children with a principal DSM-IV diagnosis of anxiety disorder participated in the study. On each assessment point, questionnaires assessing the mediator variables and a standardized anxiety scale were administered to the children. The results showed that perceived control and interpretation bias (but not coping strategies) accounted for a significant proportion in the variability of various types of anxiety symptoms, providing a preliminary support for the notion that these cognitive dimensions' act as mechanisms of therapeutic change in cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxious children.

The informative value of type of repetition: Perceptual and conceptual fluency influences on judgments of truth.

We contrast the effects of conceptual and perceptual fluency resulting from repetition in the truth effect. In Experiment 1, participants judged either verbatim or paraphrased repetitions, which reduce perceptual similarity to original statements. Judgments were made either immediately after the first exposure to the statements or after one week. Illusions of truth emerged for both types of repetition, with delay reducing both effects. In Experiment 2, participants judged verbatim and paraphrased repetitions with either the same or a contradictory meaning of original statements. In immediate judgments, illusions of truth emerged for repetitions with the same meaning and illusions of falseness for contradictory repetitions. In the delayed session, the illusion of falseness disappeared for contradictory statements. Results are discussed in terms of the contributions of recollection of stimulus details and of perceptual and conceptual fluency to illusions of truth at different time intervals and judgmental context conditions.

International child abuse prevention: insights from ACT Raising Safe Kids.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based practices are often viewed as lofty goals endorsed by wealthy academics in developed nations, but impossible to implement in other contexts. This article will provide evidence suggesting that, to the contrary, we can indeed scale up western-developed parenting interventions that can be both effective and warmly received by parents in diverse cultural and economic contexts. METHODS/RESULTS: This paper gives a brief overview of the ACT Raising Safe Kids Program and summarizes the results of evaluation studies done with parents around the world. It discusses specific strategies facilitators use to modify the program as necessary to fit cultural contexts while also maintaining fidelity, implementing the manualized curriculum under varied, and complex circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: It is hoped that the lessons learned from our work will inspire practitioners to adapt ACT or other programs to diverse contexts, evaluate those programs, and thereby improve the mental health and life trajectories of children and families around the world.

The differential effects of fluency due to repetition and fluency due to color contrast on judgments of truth.

Two experiments contrast the effects of fluency due to repetition and fluency due to color contrast on judgments of truth, after participants learn to associate high levels of fluency with falseness (i.e., a reversal of the fluency-truth link). Experiment 1 shows that the interpretation of fluency as a sign of truth is harder to reverse when learning is promoted with repetition rather than with perceptual fluency. Experiment 2 shows that when color contrast and repetition are manipulated orthogonally, the reversal of the truth effect learned with color contrast does not generalize to repetition. These results suggest specificities in the processing experiences generated by different sources of fluency, and that their influences can be separated in contexts that allow the contrast of their distinctive features. We interpret and discuss these results in light of the research addressing the convergence vs. dissociation of the effects elicited by different fluency sources.

Parental Involvement in Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for Anxious Children: Parents' In-Session and Out-Session Activities and Their Relationship with Treatment Outcome.

The present study explored the role of parents' in-session and out-session involvement in CBT for anxious children. Fifty 8- to 12-year-old children with a principal DSM-IV anxiety disorder participated in a group CBT program. Parental involvement in the therapy was assessed by the clinician and the children and parents completed a standardized anxiety scale as the main therapy outcome measure, at pre- and post-intervention. In addition, the parents completed questionnaires to evaluate a number of possible correlates of parental involvement, namely, child's anxiety symptoms intensity and interference, parental beliefs about anxiety, expectancies regarding the efficacy of the intervention, and parental anxiety. The results indicated that the parents were moderately involved in the therapy and that socio-economic status and parental beliefs about anxiety were significant correlates of parental involvement. Finally, partial support was found for the idea that parents' involvement in the therapy might have a positive impact on therapy outcome.

Agreement and discrepancy between mother and child in the evaluation of children's anxiety symptoms and anxiety life interference.

This study explored the agreement and discrepancy between mother and child reports of children's anxiety symptoms and anxiety life interference. A large community sample of 1,065 Portuguese children aged between 7 and 14 years and their mothers completed a DSM-based anxiety symptoms scale. For a subsample of 135 children with an anxiety disorder, additional data on children's anxiety life interference and maternal anxiety and depression symptoms were collected. The results showed that children generally reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms than their mothers. Overall, most correlations between mother and child reports of anxiety symptoms were significant but in the low to moderate range, with the strongest associations for symptoms of specific phobias and school phobia. In the subsample of children with an anxiety disorder, mothers reported higher levels of anxiety life interference than children, and the correlation between mother and child reports of anxiety life interference was significant but again modest in magnitude. Lastly, maternal anxiety was positively associated with the discrepancy between mother and child reports of anxiety symptoms. Together, the results of this study further underline the importance of a multi-informant approach in the evaluation of children's anxiety problems.

Improving influenza surveillance in Portuguese preschool children by parents' report.

UNLABELLED: Influenza surveillance is usually based on nationally organized sentinel networks of physicians and on hospital reports. This study aimed to test a different report system, based on parents' phone contact to the research team and in home collection of samples by a dedicated team. The identification of influenza and other respiratory viruses in children who attended a Hospital Emergency Department was also recorded. Real-time PCR and reverse transcription PCR were performed for influenza A and B, parainfluenza 1-4, adenovirus, human metapneumovirus, respiratory syncytial virus A and B, rhinovirus, enterovirus, group 1 coronaviruses, group 2 coronaviruses, and human bocavirus. One hundred children were included, 64 from the day care centers and 36 from the Hospital. Overall, 79 samples were positive for at least one respiratory virus. Influenza A (H3) was the virus most frequently detected: 25 cases, 20 of these in children under 5 years of age (ten from day care centers and ten who went to the hospital) which was higher than those reported by the National Influenza Surveillance Programme for this age. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study suggest that a surveillance system based on parents' reports could complement the implanted system of the National Influenza Surveillance Programme.

Meta-Analysis of Social Presence Effects on Stroop Task Performance.

In this paper, we conducted a meta-analytic review to examine the impact of social presence on individuals' performance on the Stroop task, shedding light on the cognitive processes underlying social facilitation. We followed PRISMA guidelines to identify and include 33 relevant studies in a multivariate random-effects meta-analysis. Our results show that social presence reliably modulates Stroop interference (a measure of cognitive control); specifically, participants exhibit lower Stroop interference when performing the task in the presence of others compared to performing it in isolation. We also found that the strength of the effect varies depending on the type of social presence: it is stronger with an attentive audience compared to an inattentive one, and null with an evaluative audience. Additionally, different features of the Stroop task itself moderate the effect; the effect is stronger for the classic version of the task compared to the semantic version, and for experiments that use mixed within-block trials compared to those with homogenous blocks. We also observed a negative relationship between the number of trials and the magnitude of the effect. Overall, these findings provide insights into the mechanisms by which the presence of others affects performance on the Stroop task, and how they align with social facilitation theories.

Cognitive vulnerability profiles of highly anxious and non-anxious children.

Current theoretical notions emphasise the role of cognitive variables in the development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. The purpose of this study was to explore whether there are different types of cognitive vulnerability to anxiety among children. The participants were 118 children between the ages of 7 and 13 who completed a set of questionnaires to measure cognitive errors, threat-related interpretation bias, and anxiety-related control. Cluster analysis identified three relevant clusters: (1) a High Cognitive Vulnerability cluster, characterised by high levels of cognitive errors and threat interpretation and low levels of control; (2) a Low Cognitive Vulnerability cluster, characterised by low levels of cognitive errors and threat interpretation and high levels of control; and (3) an Inconsistent Cognitive Vulnerability cluster, characterised by low levels of cognitive errors and threat interpretation and low levels of control. Differences between the clusters were found in terms of anxiety symptoms, coping strategies, and gender. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

How Does the Presence of Others Influence Control Inhibition? Contradictory Evidence Using an Antisaccade and Stop Signal Task.

Inhibitory control (IC) is defined as the (in)ability to change, suppress, or delay a response that is no longer required under the current circumstances. This ability was previously argued to increase in social contexts, based on Stroop's performance, showing that participants performed the Stroop task better in others' presence than alone. In this paper, we extend the testing of this same hypothesis to the use of two other tasks that Mitake et al. (2000) show to grasp the same IC ability; the Antisaccade and Stop signal tasks. If Stroop's performance was capturing the impact of the presence of others on CI abilities, the effect would generalize to performance on these tasks. This hypothesis was only generally supported by stop signal task performance; those in the presence condition were significantly more efficient than those in the alone conditions. For the Antisaccade tasks, evidence shows that higher levels of interference occurs in the presence of others condition for participants' fastest responses We discuss how this evidence contributes to the literature suggesting that the two tasks may index different constructs.

Perceptual anchoring effects: Evidence of response bias and a change in estimates sensitivity.

INTRODUCTION: People's estimates of perceptual quantities are commonly biased by the contextual presence of other quantities (like numbers). In this study, we address assimilation anchoring effects (approximation of real quantities to contextual quantities) that occur for visually displayed proportions, defining a new methodological setting for the effect. METHOD: Similar to classic approaches, we asked participants across several trials whether the display contained a feature in a proportion higher or lower than "a randomly selected value" (relative judgments), and then estimated the feature proportions (absolute judgments). Across all trials, we presented seven anchors ranging from .20 to .80, each with a visually displayed representation of the same seven proportions (49 judgments in total). This allowed for a psychophysical approach to individual estimates and signal detection indexes, providing new insights into how the anchoring effect is generated in this setting. RESULTS: Our findings suggest that anchoring effects occur both as a bias (changes in response criteria) and as a change in the ability to discriminate stimuli (affecting sensitivity indexes). Moreover, anchors modulate the level of stimuli features for which estimates were more uncertain. Finally, our results indicate that anchor effects occur immediately in the first phase of the two-phase paradigm, leading to the availability of values for supporting absolute estimates. CONCLUSION: By using a psychophysical approach to the anchoring effects, for the first time, we could clarify that this effect is the result of both bias and changes in the ability to discriminate quantity.

Easy to process, hard to control: Transient and sustained processing fluency impairs cognitive control adjustments to conflict.

Recent research suggests that the cognitive monitoring system of control could be using negative affective cues intrinsic to changes in information processing to initiate top-down regulatory mechanisms. Here, we propose that positive feelings of ease-of-processing could be picked up by the monitoring system as a cue indicating that control is not necessary, leading to maladaptive control adjustments. We simultaneously target control adjustments driven by task context and on a trial-by-trial level, macro-, and micro-adjustments. This hypothesis was tested using a Stroop-like task comprised trials varying in congruence and perceptual fluency. A pseudo randomisation procedure within different proportion of congruence conditions was used to maximise discrepancy and fluency effects. Results suggest that in a mostly congruent context participants committed more fast errors when incongruent trials were easy-to-read. Moreover, within the mostly incongruent condition, we also found more errors on incongruent trials after experiencing the facilitation effect of repeated congruent trials. These results suggest that transient and sustained feelings of processing fluency can downregulate control mechanisms, leading to failed adaptive adjustments to conflict.

A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study of Paediatric Coeliac Disease in Catalonia Showed a Downward Trend in Prevalence Compared to the Previous Decade.

(1) Background: Previous studies showed an increased prevalence and incidence of coeliac disease (CD) over time. The objective is to ascertain whether the CD prevalence in Catalonia (a region of Southern Europe) among children aged 1-5 is as high as previously found in 2004-2009; (2) Methods: From 2013 to 2019, 3659 subjects aged 1-5 years were recruited following the previously used methodology. Factors with a potential impact on CD prevalence were investigated; (3) Results: In 2013-2019, 43/3659 subjects had positive serology, giving a standardised seroprevalence of 12.55/1000 (95% CI: 8.92; 17.40), compared to 23.62 (13.21; 39.40) in 2004-2007. The biopsy-proven crude prevalence was 7.92/1000 (95% CI: 5.50; 11.30), and the crude prevalence based on ESPGHAN criteria was 8.74/1000 (95% CI: 6.20-12.30). In contrast to 2004-2009, we did not find differences in the seroprevalence rates between 1 and 2 years vs. 3 and 4 years of age (age percentage of change -7.0 (-29.5; 22.8) vs. -45.3 (-67.5; -8.0)). Rotavirus vaccination was the most remarkable potential protective factor (48% vs. 9% in 2004-2009; p < 0.0001), but not the time of gluten introduction. (4) Conclusion: The present study did not confirm a worldwide CD prevalence increase and emphasizes the need to perform prevalence studies over time using the same methodology in the same geographical areas.