The propositional nature of human associative learning

The past 50 years have seen an accumulation of evidence suggesting that associative learning depends oil high-level cognitive processes that give rise to propositional knowledge. Yet, many learning theorists maintain a belief in a learning mechanism in which links between mental representations are formed automatically. We characterize and highlight the differences between the propositional and link approaches, and review the relevant empirical evidence. We conclude that learning is the consequence of propositional reasoning processes that cooperate with the unconscious processes involved in memory retrieval and perception. We argue that this new conceptual framework allows many of the important recent advances in associative learning research to be retained, but recast in a model that provides a firmer foundation for both immediate application and future research

Development and Psychometric Properties of the DASS-Youth (DASS-Y): An Extension of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) to Adolescents and Children

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS; Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995b) is a set of psychometrically sound scales that is widely used to assess negative emotional states in adults. In this project, we developed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales for Youth (DASS-Y) and tested its psychometric properties. Data were collected from 2,121 Australian children and adolescents aged 7–18 (61% female). This sample was split randomly into a calibration group (n = 1075, 61% female) and a cross-validation group (n = 1046, 60% female). First, we used Confirmatory Factor Analysis on the calibration group to test the 3-factor DASS model on 40 items we had developed in previous exploratory studies. We then selected the best-performing 21 items based on both statistical and theoretical considerations, guided by the structure and item content of the adult DASS. We cross-validated this new 21-item model in the second half of the sample. Results indicated good fit for the final 21-item 3-factor DASS model in both groups of children and adolescents. Multiple regression analyses showed that when scores on the other DASS-Y scales were held constant, the DASS-Y Depression scale had a strong negative relationship with positive affect and life satisfaction, the DASS-Y Anxiety scale was strongly associated with physiological hyperarousal, and the DASS-Y Stress scale was associated with excessive worrying. However, the relationship between Stress and worrying was only evident from age 10 onwards. Our results show that the core symptoms that define depression, anxiety and stress in children and adolescents are similar to those previously found in adults. The DASS-Y is a public domain instrument that we hope will prove useful in both research and clinical contexts

Using Unobserved Causes to Explain Unexpected Outcomes: The Effect of Existing Causal Knowledge on Protection From Extinction by a Hidden Cause

People often rely on the covariation between events to infer causality. However, covariation between cues and outcomes may change over time. In the associative learning literature, extinction provides a model to study updating of causal beliefs when a previously established relationship no longer holds. Prediction error theories can explain both extinction and protection from extinction when an inhibitory (preventive) cue is present during extinction. In three experiments using the allergist causal learning task, we found that protection could also be achieved by a hidden cause that was inferred but not physically present, so long as that cause was a plausible preventer of the outcome. We additionally showed complete protection by a physically presented cue that was neutral rather than inhibitory at the outset of extinction. Both findings are difficult to reconcile with dominant prediction error theories. However, they are compatible with the idea of theory protection, where the learner attributes the absence of the outcome to the added cue (when present) or to a hidden cause, and therefore does not need to revise causal beliefs about A. Our results suggest that prediction error encourages changes in causal beliefs, but the nature of the change is determined by reasoning processes that incorporate existing knowledge of causal mechanisms and may be biased toward preservation of existing beliefs

Outcome predictability biases learning.

Much of contemporary associative learning research is focused on understanding how and when the associative history of cues affects later learning about those cues. Very little work has investigated the effects of the associative history of outcomes on human learning. Three experiments extended the "learned irrelevance" paradigm from the animal conditioning literature to examine the influence of an outcome's prior predictability on subsequent learning of relationships between cues and that outcome. All 3 experiments found evidence for the idea that learning is biased by the prior predictability of the outcome. Previously predictable outcomes were readily associated with novel predictive cues, whereas previously unpredictable outcomes were more readily associated with novel nonpredictive cues. This finding highlights the importance of considering the associative history of outcomes, as well as cues, when interpreting multistage designs. Associative and cognitive explanations of this certainty matching effect are discussed

Traumatic life experiences and religiosity in eight countries

We present two datasets from a project about the relationship between traumatic life experiences and religiosity. These include data from 1,754 individuals in the United States (n = 322), Brazil (n = 205), China (n = 202), India (n = 205), Indonesia (n = 205), Russia (n = 205), Thailand (n = 205), and Turkey (n = 205). Surveys were consistent across samples: they include measures of traumatic life experiences, negative affective traits, existential security, life satisfaction, death anxiety, and various religious beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours. Psychometric evaluations of measures of supernatural belief and death anxiety were conducted

A mixed-methods study using a nonclinical sample to measure feasibility of ostrich community : a web-based cognitive behavioral therapy program for individuals with debt and associated stress

Background: There are increasing concerns about the health and well-being of individuals facing financial troubles. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the relationship between debt and mental health difficulties is becoming more evident due to the economic downturn and welfare reform. Access to debt counseling services is limited and individuals may be reluctant to access services due to stigma. In addition, most of these services may not be appropriately resourced to address the psychological impact of debt. This study describes outcomes from an Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) program, Ostrich Community (OC), which was developed to provide support to those struggling with debt and associated psychological distress. Objective: The aim of this feasibility study was to assess the suitability and acceptability of the OC program in a nonclinical sample and examine mental health and well-being outcomes from using the program. Methods: A total of 15 participants (who were not suffering from severe financial difficulty) were assisted in working through the 8-week ICBT program. Participants rated usability and satisfaction with the program, and after completion 7 participants took part in a semistructured interview to provide further feedback. Before the first session and after the final session all participants completed questionnaires to measure well-being and levels of depression, stress, and anxiety and pre- and postscores were compared. Results: Satisfaction was high and themes emerging from the interviews indicate that the program has the potential to promote effective financial behaviors and improve financial and global psychosocial well-being. When postcompletion scores were compared with those taken before the program, significant improvements were identified on psychometric measures of well-being, stress, and anxiety. Conclusions: The OC program is the first ICBT program that targets poor mental health associated with financial difficulty. This feasibility study indicates that OC may be an effective intervention for increasing financial resilience, supporting individuals to become financially independent, and promoting positive financial and global well-being. Further work with individuals suffering from debt and associated emotional difficulties will help to examine clinical effectiveness more closely

Impact of a mobile phone and web program on symptom and functional outcomes for people with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress: a randomised controlled trial.

Background Mobile phone-based psychological interventions enable real time self-monitoring and self-management, and large-scale dissemination. However, few studies have focused on mild-to-moderate symptoms where public health need is greatest, and none have targeted work and social functioning. This study reports outcomes of a CONSORT-compliant randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the efficacy of myCompass, a self-guided psychological treatment delivered via mobile phone and computer, designed to reduce mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and stress, and improve work and social functioning. Method Community-based volunteers with mild-to-moderate depression, anxiety and/or stress (N= 720) were randomly assigned to the myCompass program, an attention control intervention, or to a waitlist condition for seven weeks. The interventions were fully automated, without any human input or guidance. Participants’ symptoms and functioning were assessed at baseline, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up, using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and the Work and Social Adjustment Scale. Results Retention rates at post-intervention and follow-up for the study sample were 72.1% (n= 449) and 48.6% (n= 350) respectively. The myCompass group showed significantly greater improvement in symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress and in work and social functioning relative to both control conditions at the end of the 7-week intervention phase (between-group effect sizes ranged from d= .22 to d= .55 based on the observed means). Symptom scores remained at near normal levels at 3-month follow-up. Participants in the attention control condition showed gradual symptom improvement during the post-intervention phase and their scores did not differ from the myCompass group at 3-month follow-up. Conclusions The myCompass program is an effective public health program, facilitating rapid improvements in symptoms and in work and social functioning for individuals with mild-to-moderate mental health problems

Fear Conditioning to Subliminal Fear Relevant and Non Fear Relevant Stimuli

A growing body of evidence suggests that conscious visual awareness is not a prerequisite for human fear learning. For instance, humans can learn to be fearful of subliminal fear relevant images – images depicting stimuli thought to have been fear relevant in our evolutionary context, such as snakes, spiders, and angry human faces. Such stimuli could have a privileged status in relation to manipulations used to suppress usually salient images from awareness, possibly due to the existence of a designated sub-cortical ‘fear module’. Here we assess this proposition, and find it wanting. We use binocular masking to suppress awareness of images of snakes and wallabies (particularly cute, non-threatening marsupials). We find that subliminal presentations of both classes of image can induce differential fear conditioning. These data show that learning, as indexed by fear conditioning, is neither contingent on conscious visual awareness nor on subliminal conditional stimuli being fear relevant

Validation of the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire-8 in an Australian pain clinic sample

Background: Recently, an 8-item short-form version of the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ-8) was developed predominantly in an internet sample. Further investigation of the factor structure in a multidisciplinary pain clinic sample is required. Investigation of the concurrent validity of the CPAQ-8 after accounting for the effects of variables commonly measured in the pain clinic setting is also necessary. Purpose: This study examines the factor structure and concurrent validity of the CPAQ-8 in a sample of treatmentseeking patients who attended a multidisciplinary pain clinic. Methods: Participants were 334 patients who attended an Australian multidisciplinary pain service. Participants completed the CPAQ, a demographic questionnaire, and measures of patient adjustment and functioning. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis identified a two-factor 8-item model consisting of Activity Engagement and Pain Willingness factors (SRMR=0.039, RMSEA=0.063, CFI=0.973, TLI=0.960) was superior to both the CPAQ and CPAQ with an item removed. The CPAQ and CPAQ-8 total scores were highly correlated (r=0.93). After accounting for pain intensity, the CPAQ-8 was a significant predictor of depression, anxiety, stress, and disability. The subscales of the CPAQ-8 were both unique contributors to depression and disability in regression analyses, after accounting for pain intensity and kinesiophobia, and after accounting for pain intensity and catastrophizing. Conclusions: The CPAQ-8 has a sound factor structure and similar psychometric properties to the CPAQ; it may have clinical utility as a measure of pain acceptance in treatmentseeking, chronic pain patients

Burden, coping, physical symptoms and psychological morbidity in caregivers of functionally dependent family members

Objectives: this study assessed burden, coping, physical symptoms and psychological morbidity in caregivers of functionally dependent family members. Methods: fifty family caregivers completed self-reported measures of burden, physical symptoms, psychological morbidity and coping strategies. Results: there was a significant negative correlation between coping strategies and the different clinical variables, as well as a significant positive correlation between coping strategies and duration of care. It appears that the stronger bond between caregiver and family member leads to a poorer use of adaptive coping strategies. It also appears that the deterioration of the relationship between them and the lower perceived self-efficacy are more prominente in caregivers of family members with cognitive impairment, indicating that caregivers with family members without cognitive impairment face fewer difficulties. Conclusion: these results emphasize the need for interventions to include coping strategies, since they are important in reducing caregivers’ burden, psychological morbidity and physical symptoms