Cortical responses to sport-specific stimuli in a standing stop signal task

Executive functions (EF) and especially inhibition have been shown to play an essential role in team sports. However, the underlying cortical mechanisms of EF in real game situations are barely understood, since previous studies predominantly used tests with simplified stimuli in seated positions. Consequently, the aim of the current study was to explore cortical responses to sport-specific stimuli in a standing stop signal task (SST). Cortical activity was investigated in 17 adult amateur soccer players using mobile electroencephalography (EEG) in a standard- (Std) and a sport-specific (Sp) SST. Whereas mean reaction times were significantly longer in the Sp-SST, stop error-rates demonstrated no significant difference. Further, analysis of event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) in a frontal cluster also showed no significant differences between Std- and Sp-SST for go and stop conditions. Thus, sport-specific stimuli in a standing SST may exhibit similar inhibitory cortical processes as the standard SST, although requiring longer processing times with regards to the more complex visual stimulation. Future studies are needed to further develop realistic paradigms for evaluating sport-specific cognitive performance.     

Individual stopping times and cognitive control: Converging evidence for the stop signal task from a continuous tracking paradigm

The present study introduces a continuous tracking procedure to investigate cognitive stopping in individual trials. Our measure of stopping performance had a mean similar to mean stopping times estimated in the stop signal paradigm, suggesting a common underlying process. Additional findings indicate that stopping performance and tracking performance were dissociable. First, while stopping times were primarily affected by stop signal modality, tracking performance was primarily affected by tracking difficulty. Second, tracking performance influenced tracking but not stopping in immediately following trials. Stopping influenced neither tracking performance nor stopping in immediately following trials. Finally, there was no correlation between tracking performance and stopping performance, or any dependency between them as found in the conditional means.     

Can't stop believing: inhibitory control and resistance to misleading testimony

Why are some young children consistently willing to believe what they are told even when it conflicts with first‐hand experience? In this study, we investigated the possibility that this deference reflects an inability to inhibit a prepotent response. Over the course of several trials, 2.5‐ to 3.5‐year‐olds (N = 58) heard an adult contradict their report of a simple event they had both witnessed, and children were asked to resolve this discrepancy. Those who repeatedly deferred to the adult's misleading testimony had more difficulty on an inhibitory control task involving spatial conflict than those who responded more skeptically. These results suggest that responding skeptically to testimony that conflicts with first‐hand experience may be challenging for some young children because it requires inhibiting a normally appropriate bias to believe testimony.     

Effects of stop signal modality, stop signal intensity and tracking method on inhibitory performance as determined by use of the stop signal paradigm

In Experiment 1, the effects of stop signal modality on the speed and efficiency of the inhibition process were examined. Stop signal reaction time (SSRT) and inhibition function slope in an auditory stop signal condition were compared to SSRT and inhibition function slope in a visual stop signal condition. It was found that auditory stop signals compared to visual stop signals enhanced both the speed and efficiency of stopping. The modality effects were attributed to differences in the neurophysiological processes underlying perception. However, Experiment 2 demonstrated that the modality difference was larger for 80 dB(A) auditory stop signals than 60 dB(A) auditory stop signals. This effect was reconciled with the suggestion that loud tones are more capable of eliciting immediate arousing effects on motor processes than weak tones and visual stimuli. The second purpose of the present investigation was to explore the utility (and potential advantages) of an alternative way of setting stop signal delay relative to mean reaction time (MRT). The method that was suggested compensates for inter-individual differences in primary task reaction speed by setting stop signal delays as proportions of the subjects' MRT.     

Living on the edge: strategic and instructed slowing in the stop signal task

The stop signal task is widely adopted to assess motor inhibition performance in both clinical and non-clinical populations. Several recent studies explored the influence of strategic approaches to the task. In particular, response slowing seems to be a strategic approach commonly adopted to perform the task. In the present study, we compared a standard version with a strategic version of the task, in which participants were explicitly instructed to slow down responses. Results showed that the instructed slowing did not affect the main inhibition measure, thus confirming the robustness of the stop signal index. On the other hand, it apparently changed the nature of the task, as shown by the lack of correlation between the standard and the strategic versions. In addition, we found a specific influence of individual characteristics on slowing strategies. In the standard version, adherence to task instructions was positively correlated with compliant traits of personality. Despite instructions to maximize response speed, non-compliant participants preferred to adopt a slowing strategy in the standard version of the task, up to a speed level similar to the strategic version, where slowing was required by task instructions. Understanding the role of individual approach to the task seems to be crucial to properly identify how participants cope with task instructions.     

The interaction between stop signal inhibition and distractor interference in the flanker and Stroop task

In the present study, two experiments were conducted to investigate the interaction between the behavioral inhibition, measured by the stop signal task, and distractor interference, measured by the flanker task and the Stroop task. In the first experiment, the stop signal task was combined with a flanker task. Analysis revealed that participants responded faster when the distractors were congruent to the target. Also, the data suggest that it is more difficult to suppress a reaction when the distractors were incongruent. Whether the incongruent distractor was part of the response set (i.e. the distractor could also be a target) or not, had no influence on stopping reactions. In the second experiment, the stop signal task was combined with a manual version of the Stroop task and the degree of compatibility was varied. Even though in the second experiment of the present study interference control is differently operationalized, similar results as in the first experiment were found, indicating that inhibition of motor responses is influenced by the presentation of distracting information that is not part of the response set.     

The effect of interference in the early processing stages on response inhibition in the stop signal task

In the present study, the relation between interference at the early processing stages and response inhibition was investigated. In previous studies, response stopping appeared to be slowed down when irrelevant distracting information was presented. The purpose of the present study was to further explore the relationship between interference control and response inhibition. In Experiment 1, a stop signal paradigm was combined with a global/local task. The typical global-to-local interference effect is generally attributed to early processing stages, such as stimulus perception and identification. Results of this experiment demonstrated a congruency effect for both reaction time data and zstopping performance. In Experiment 2, these results were replicated with a flanker task that used stimulus-incongruent but response-congruent flankers. Results of both experiments suggest that response inhibition and interference at the early processing stages interact.     

The effect of interference in the early processing stages on response inhibition in the stop signal task

In the present study, the relation between interference at the early processing stages and response inhibition was investigated. In previous studies, response stopping appeared to be slowed down when irrelevant distracting information was presented. The purpose of the present study was to further explore the relationship between interference control and response inhibition. In Experiment 1, a stop signal paradigm was combined with a global/local task. The typical global-to-local interference effect is generally attributed to early processing stages, such as stimulus perception and identification. Results of this experiment demonstrated a congruency effect for both reaction time data and zstopping performance. In Experiment 2, these results were replicated with a flanker task that used stimulus-incongruent but response-congruent flankers. Results of both experiments suggest that response inhibition and interference at the early processing stages interact.     

The role of inhibitory control in children's cooperative behaviors during a structured puzzle task

This study examined the role of inhibitory control (measured by Stroop interference) in children’s cooperative behaviors during a structured puzzle task. The sample consisted of 250 8-, 10-, and 12-year-olds (117 girls and 133 boys) attending classrooms in three primary schools in Northern Italy. Children individually completed an elaborated Stroop task, were paired with classmates into 125 dyads, and were observed during a 10-min puzzle task. Results confirmed that interaction partners exhibited similar levels of cooperative behaviors, and the cooperative behaviors of children predicted changes in the cooperative behaviors of their partners throughout the puzzle task. Cooperative behaviors of each interaction partner were predicted by the child’s own inhibitory control as well as the inhibitory control of the partner. Findings are discussed within a developmental contextual framework.     

Assessing inference production in 5 to 7-year-olds: Benefits of using a pictorial task

IntroductionThis study focuses on the methodology used to assess children's inferential skills in a narrative comprehension context with children aged between 5 to 7 years.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to test the validity of a pictorial task based on children's literature to probe children's ability to make inferences at different times during the listening of fictional stories.MethodThe task involves selecting one of three vignettes which best illustrates what is currently happening in the story (i.e., inferential vs. literal vs. off-topic). The choices expressed here are compared to those made during a preference task performed by the same students, which consists of selecting the vignette they like the most among each series presented in the comprehension task.ResultsFirst, based on the analysis of the data collected in the comprehension task, children most often select inferential vignettes. Second, the choices expressed in the comprehension task differ from those expressed in the preference task.ConclusionThese results confirm the relevance of using children's literature associated with a pictorial task to test children's inferential skills, even with preschoolers.     

Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based approach

We developed a multidimensional coping inventory to assess the different ways in which people respond to stress. Five scales (of four items each) measure conceptually distinct aspects of problem-focused coping (active coping, planning, suppression of competing activities, restraint coping, seeking of instrumental social support); five scales measure aspects of what might be viewed as emotional-focused coping (seeking of emotional social support, positive reinterpretation, acceptance, denial, turning to religion); and three scales measure coping responses that arguably are less useful (focus on and venting of emotions, behavioral disengagement, mental disengagement). Study 1 reports the development of scale items. Study 2 reports correlations between the various coping scales and several theoretically relevant personality measures in an effort to provide preliminary information about the inventory's convergent and discriminant validity. Study 3 uses the inventory to assess coping responses among a group of undergraduates who were attempting to cope with a specific stressful episode. This study also allowed an initial examination of associations between dispositional and situational coping tendencies.     

Minuchin's psychosomatic family model revised: a concept-validation study using a multitrait-multimethod approach

The convergent and discriminant validity of three operationalizations of the psychosomatic family features--enmeshment, rigidity, overprotectiveness, and lack of conflict resolution, as described by Minuchin and colleagues--are tested in families that include patients with eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia. We redefined the family features as dimensions and measured them with two behavioral methods (direct observation and behavioral product) and a self-report method. The two behavioral methods showed convergent as well as discriminant validity for the intensity of intrafamilial boundaries, the degree of the family's adaptability, and the family's way of handling conflicts. The self-report method showed only convergent validity for the latter dimension and discriminant validity for none of them. Besides intrafamilial conflict, the self-report method seemed to measure other constructs. A factor analysis of the family questionnaire indeed yielded three more evaluative constructs: conflict, cohesion, and disorganization. We interpreted these findings according to two usually interwoven mechanisms: the different research context (insider/outsider evaluation) in self-report and behavioral observation, and the different level of specification (micro/global evaluation) of certain operationalizations. We draw some conclusions about the psychosomatic family model and discuss the clinical implications of our findings.     

Failure to acquire an inhibitory task following seizure-induced brain damage

Male rats that had displayed limbic seizures following a single pair of systemic injections of lithium and pilocarpine were trained 2 months later on an operant schedule that required differential low rates of responding (DRL). The seizured rats never acquired schedules that required either 6-sec. or 12-sec. inhibition of responses following a reward; these rats displayed more perseverative responding and shorter interresponse times than controls. Histomorphology indicated severe brain damage primarily within the entorhinal cortices (and adjacent amygdala) and dorsal thalamus.     

Assessing inhibitory control in early-stage Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease using the Hayling Sentence Completion Test

The ability to inhibit irrelevant information is essential for coping with the demands of everyday life. Inhibitory deficits are present in all stages of dementia and commonly observed in people with Parkinson's disease (PwPD). Inhibition is frequently tested with the Stroop test, but this may lack ecological validity. This study investigates inhibitory control in people with Alzheimer's disease dementia (PwD) and PwPD using the Hayling Sentence Completion Test (HSCT), which aspires to be a more ecologically valid task. A total of 117 people completed the HSCT, a test where participants have to complete a sentence with an unrelated word. The sample comprised 30 PwD, 33 PwPD, and 54 healthy older controls. We compared response times and the number and type of errors across the three groups. Completion time in Part B (Inhibition) did not distinguish between PwD, PwPD, and controls when controlling for the initiation speed, but a higher proportion of Category A errors (producing a word that fits the sentence when instructed otherwise) was a unique characteristic of inferior performance in PwD and PwPD. While not part of the standard test scoring protocol, controlling for the initiation speed and distinguishing between speed and accuracy in test performance appear to be essential for accurate evaluation of the inhibitory control in HSCT in older people. The findings suggest that the HSCT may be sensitive to verbal suppression deficits and may provide insight into inhibitory control in PwD and PwPD.     

The relationship between problem solving and inhibitory control: cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus) performance on a reversed contingency task

To explore the relationship between problem solving and inhibitory control, the authors present 4 experiments on cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) using a reverse-reward contingency task. In Experiment 1, 1 group of tamarins was given a choice between a small and a large quantity of food. Whichever quantity the tamarins reached for first, they received the alternative. The tamarins consistently picked the larger quantity, thereby receiving the smaller. A 2nd group of tamarins was given the same task, except that if they reached for the larger quantity of food, they received nothing. The tamarins continued to pick the larger quantity, even though this resulted in no food. In addition, most of the tamarins continued to pick the larger quantity even when the food payoff for choosing the smaller quantity was increased (Experiment 2) or when the visual salience of the food was reduced (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 was based on the finding that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) that have been trained on the concept of number can solve the reversed contingency task if the food is replaced by Arabic numerals. With the help of a color association, and a higher cost incurred by picking the color associated with 3 food items, the tamarins learned to pick the color associated with 1 food item. These results are compared with those obtained from studies of other primate species, highlighting the importance of comparative studies of problem solving that use comparable methods.     

Operator behavior in a dynamic visual signal detection task

The effects of changes in signal-to-noise ratio (SIN) and feedback state on the operator’s detection behavior, particularly derived operator thresholds, were investigated using a discrete visual signal. It was found that: (1) the operator behaves as if he has established different thresholds as a function of S/N; (2) his decision thresholds are relatively independent of the presence or absence of feedback; and (3) the operator will change his threshold accordingly for a change from one S/N to another. A model of the operator’s behavior, which introduced the concept of “operator” noise. yielded predictions of detection and false alarm probabilities which were extremely close to the observed values.