Three experiments explored the transference of visual scanning behaviour between two unrelated tasks. Participants first viewed letters presented horizontally, vertically, or as a random array. They then viewed still images (experiments 1 and 2) or video clips (experiment 3) of driving scenes, under varying task conditions. Despite having no relevance to the driving images, layout of stimuli in the letter task influenced scanning behaviour in this subsequent task. In the still images, a vertical letter search increased vertical scanning, and in the dynamic clips, a horizontal letter search decreased vertical scanning. This indicated that (i) models of scanning behaviour should account for the influence of a preceding unrelated task; (ii) carry-over is modulated by demand in the current task; and (iii) in situations where particular scanning strategies are important for primary task performance (eg driving safety), secondary task information should be displayed in a manner likely to produce a congruent scanning strategy.

Research has shown that the use of maladaptive coping strategies and difficulties in regulating mood are linked to increasing risk of suicide. This study measured the impact of coping and emotion regulation on suicidal behavior in a sample of Asian students. The aim was to determine whether different coping strategies and methods of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal would be associated with suicidal behavior. One hundred and twenty undergraduate students were recruited from The Open University in Hong Kong and all completed questionnaires that measured coping, emotional regulation, and suicidal behavior. The results showed that increased avoidance coping was associated with increased suicidal behavior, whereas increased cognitive reappraisal was associated with reduced risk of suicidal behavior. Specifically, in an Asian student population, avoidance coping appears to be a risk factor for suicide, while cognitive reappraisal may be seen as a positive, protecting strategy.

During the past two decades there has been a pronounced increase in the number of published research studies that have employed near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure neural activation. The technique is now an accepted neuroimaging tool adopted by cognitive neuroscientists to investigate a number of fields, one of which is the study of emotional processing. Crucially, one brain region that is important to the processing of emotional information is the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and NIRS is ideally suited to measuring activity in this region. Compared to other methods used to record neural activation, NIRS reduces the discomfort to participants, makes data collection from larger sample sizes more achievable, and allows measurement of activation during tasks involving physical movement. However, the use of NIRS to investigate the links between emotion and cognition has revealed mixed findings. For instance, whilst some studies report increased PFC activity associated with the processing of negative information, others show increased activity in relation to positive information. Research shows differences in PFC activity between different cognitive tasks, yet findings also vary within similar tasks. This work reviews a selection of recent studies that have adopted NIRS to study PFC activity during emotional processing in both healthy individuals and patient populations. It highlights the key differences between research findings and argues that variations in experimental design could be a contributing factor to the mixed results. Guidance is provided for future work in this area in order to improve consistency within this growing field.

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A multiple-baseline design study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of strategy instruction in persuasive writing with eighth-grade students who attended a public day school for students with severe emotional and behavior disabilities. Students were taught to plan and write persuasive essays using the Self-Regulated Strategy Development model. Following mastery of the strategy, students were taught to apply the learned strategy to write fluently in 10 min. After more than 4 months of instruction, findings indicated that all students had mastered the components of effective persuasive essay writing and increased from baseline to postinstruction and fluency phases in length and quality of essays. Effects were also noted on maintenance and generalization essay probes administered over 11.5 weeks after fluency testing. Observed on-task behavior was significantly correlated with a number of fluency, maintenance, and generalization outcomes. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.