Attention, exposure duration, and gaze shifting in naming performance

Two experiments are reported in which the role of attribute exposure duration in naming performance was examined by tracking eye movements. Participants were presented with color-word Stroop stimuli and left- or right-pointing arrows on different sides of a computer screen. They named the color attribute and shifted their gaze to the arrow to manually indicate its direction. The color attribute (Experiment 1) or the complete color-word stimulus (Experiment 2) was removed from the screen 100 ms after stimulus onset. Compared with presentation until trial offset, removing the color attribute diminished Stroop interference, as well as facilitation effects in color naming latencies, whereas removing the complete stimulus diminished interference only. Attribute and stimulus removal reduced the latency of gaze shifting, which suggests decreased rather than increased attentional demand. These results provide evidence that limiting exposure duration contributes to attribute naming performance by diminishing the extent to which irrelevant attributes are processed, which reduces attentional demand.     

Toward a functional classification of naming impairments

Three experiments involving confrontation naming and nonverbal classification tasks establish that impaired naming is relatively common in elderly cardiac patients, but that it can be distinguished functionally from aphasic dysnoia. The results suggest that while the aphasics' failures often reflected failure to retrieve the verbal labels of objects which were appropriately perceived, naming failures in cardiac patients were frequently precipitated by failure to éstablish the semantic identity of the target and were more sentitive to reductions in visual quality of the target picture.     

Attention, temporal predictability, and the time course of context effects in naming performance

Models of attention and context effects in naming performance should be able to account for the time course of color-word Stroop interference revealed by manipulations of the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between color and word. Prominent models of Stroop task performance ( [Cohen et al., 1990], [Cohen and Huston, 1994] and [Phaf et al., 1990]) fail to account for the fact that response time (RT) and Stroop interference peak at zero SOA and diminish with word preexposure. The models may be saved by assuming that the time course of interference is determined by a strategic orienting of attention to color onsets when SOA is predictable. To test this temporal predictability hypothesis, SOA was blocked or randomly mixed in Experiment 1. In addition, the time interval between color onsets was randomly variable in Experiment 2. Although RTs were affected, none of the randomization manipulations influenced the typical shape of the time course of Stroop effects. These findings provide evidence against the temporal predictability hypothesis and thereby against prominent models of the Stroop task.     

Gesturing and naming: the use of functional knowledge in object identification

Studies using functional imaging show reliable activation of premotor cortex when observers view manipulable objects. This result has led to the view that knowledge of object function, particularly the actions associated with the typical use of objects, may play a causal role in object identification. To obtain relevant evidence regarding this causal role, we asked subjects to learn gesture-color associations and then attempt to identify objects presented in colors denoting functional gestures that were congruent or incongruent with the objects' use. A strong congruency effect was observed when subjects gestured the use of an object, but not when they named an object. We conclude that our procedure constitutes a sensitive measure of the recruitment and causal role of functional knowledge and that this recruitment is not present during object naming. Preliminary evidence, however, indicates that gestures evoked by the volumetric shape of an object do contribute to object naming.     

The role of functional and perceptual attributes: evidence from picture naming in dementia

We examined the performance of a group of people with moderately severe Alzheimer's type dementia on a naming task. We found that functional information plays an important role in determining naming performance on both living and non-living things. Perceptual information may play some role in naming living things. We also found some evidence that the semantic category to which an item belongs may also have some effect on naming performance. We argue that both the sensory-functional and domain-specific knowledge hypotheses may be correct: the brain is to some organized on taxonomic grounds, while the semantic representations of living and non-living things depend differentially on perceptual and functional information. These representations can be differentially disrupted by damage to modality-specific stores. At a moderate level of severity, dementia causes global damage that has the effect of disrupting both the localized taxonomic and the modality-specific stores. We discuss the nature of functional information.     

Equivalence relations between visual stimuli: the functional role of naming

The functionality of verbal behavior in equivalence class formation was demonstrated by training 30 verbally able adults using different combinations of the same easily nameable, yet formally unrelated, pictorial stimuli. Match-to-sample baselines for four four-member classes were established sequentially (i.e., AB-BC-CD), with participants in the rhyme condition trained to select comparisons whose normative names rhymed with those of the samples. For the orthogonal condition, class rearrangement was such that on every trial all available comparisons' names rhymed with each other, but not with the name of the sample. In the diagonal condition, stimuli were allocated pseudorandomly as samples and comparisons. Although all participants maintained baseline discriminations prior to emergent testing, equivalence was confined almost exclusively to the rhyme condition, in which it was ubiquitous. These participants also required less training than those in the control conditions, among whom effects of nodal distance were observed most strongly. Subsequent testing presented participants with no-reinforcement trials involving novel pictorial stimuli, in which one of the available comparisons' names always rhymed with that of the sample. All rhyme participants consistently selected these comparisons. Results indicate that visual stimuli are named, that the phonological properties of those names can influence equivalence class formation, and that the emergence of untrained discriminations may, under certain circumstances, be rule governed.     

Child and family correlates of toddlers' emotional and behavioral responses to a mishap

This study evaluated the unique and joint contributions of internal state language, externalizing behavior, and maternal talk about emotions to the prediction of toddlers' empathy‐related responsiveness. The empathy‐based guilt reactions of 47 toddlers (27 boys) were observed in response to distress that they thought they had caused. In addition, mothers reported on the children's internal state language, externalizing behavior, and empathy‐based guilt. In a separate observation, the mothers discussed emotional expressions with their children, and the functional significance of their emotional discourse was considered. Results revealed that toddlers' internal state language ability was positively related to their attempts to comprehend another's affective state and to maternal reports of children's sympathy reactions. There was also an unexpected inverse relation between externalizing behavior and arousal level. In terms of the parent measures, maternal explanations of emotions were positively related to children's attempts to comprehend another's affective state, whereas mothers' directives for children to label emotions were positively related to children's expressed emotional concern for others. The implications of these findings for understanding empathy and guilt development in young children are discussed. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers' effortful control to children's adjustment and social competence

The authors examined the relations of maternal supportive parenting to effortful control and internalizing problems (i.e., separation distress, inhibition to novelty), externalizing problems, and social competence when toddlers were 18 months old (n = 256) and a year later (n = 230). Mothers completed the Coping With Toddlers' Negative Emotions Scale, and their sensitivity and warmth were observed. Toddlers' effortful control was measured with a delay task and adults' reports (Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire). Toddlers' social functioning was assessed with the Infant/Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment. Within each age, children's regulation significantly mediated the relation between supportive parenting and low levels of externalizing problems and separation distress, and high social competence. When using stronger tests of mediation, controlling for stability over time, the authors found only partial evidence for mediation. The findings suggest these relations may be set at an early age.     

Drawing: its contribution to naming in aphasia

Drawing in aphasia therapy has been used predominately as a substitution for speech or to augment communication when other modalities are non-functional. The value of drawing as a route for facilitating verbal expression has not been a focus of prior research. We compared the usefulness of drawing and writing as compensatory strategies for improving naming in individuals with aphasia. Activation patterns of writing and drawing in healthy adults were examined using fMRI. Clinical results suggest that drawing facilitated naming whereas writing diminished accurate naming responses, and that drawing quality is not relevant to this facilitatory effect. Functional MRI findings revealed strong bi-hemispheric activation of semantic and phonological networks while drawing that may support our clinical findings.     

Object boundaries influence toddlers' performance in a search task

Previous research has shown that young children have difficulty searching for a hidden object whose location depends on the position of a partly visible physical barrier. Across four experiments, we tested whether children's search errors are affected by two variables that influence adults' object-directed attention: object boundaries and proximity relations. Toddlers searched for a car that rolled down a ramp behind an occluding panel and stopped on contact with a barrier. The car's location on each trial depended on the placement of the barrier behind one of two doors in the panel. In Experiment 1, when a part of the car (a pompom on an antenna) was visible at the same distance from the object as the barrier wall in past research, search performance was above chance but below ceiling. In Experiments 2 and 3, when the visible part was close to the hidden body of the car and could be seen through one of two windows in the doors of the occluding panel, performance was near ceiling. In Experiment 4, when only the barrier was visible through one of the same windows, performance was at chance. Toddlers' search for a hidden object therefore is affected by the proximity of a visible part of the object, though not by the proximity of a separate visible landmark. These findings suggest a parallel between the object representations of young children and those of adults, whose attention is directed to objects and spreads in a gradient-like fashion within an object.     

Parental personality,parenting and toddlers' externalising behaviours

This study examined the mediating role of parenting on the relation between parental personality and toddlers' externalising behaviours. Participants were 112 boys and their parents. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling and moderated mediation analyses. Several associations were found between parental personality and parenting dimensions. Additionally, several parenting dimensions were associated with children's externalising behaviours. Emotional stability was the only parental personality trait that was related to children's externalising behaviours. The effect of maternal emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours appeared to be mediated by maternal support. For fathers, there appeared to be a direct effect of emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours. In addition, for both mothers and fathers, emotional stability was directly related to children's attention problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Applying problem-solving approaches to school psychological reports

School psychological reports continue to be an important part of the school psychologist's work. The value of reports as a communication tool has been questioned, a criticism that may be the result of the varying objectives by which it is judged. Recently, the literature in school psychology has seen a resurgence of articles on psychological report writing. Some writers are questioning current report-writing practices but at the same time proposing alternative report formats. Empirical support is lacking for these alternative report formats compared to traditional report organization in terms of consumer preferences and the report's ability to meet its intended objectives. Simultaneously, a considerable amount of attention is being given to scientific problem solving as it pertains to school psychology practice. This study examined the preferences of school psychologists and school staff for reports varied in respect to organization as reflected in expert vs. novice problem-solving strategies. The results indicate a preference across all professional groups for the traditionally organized school psychological report. Similarly, the same result was found as to perceived expertise of the writer, readability, problem identification, and understandability of recommendations. The implications of these findings for report writing are discussed in the context of the methodological challenges involved in this research area.     

The development of functional and equivalence classes in high-functioning autistic children: the role of naming.

The development of functional and equivalence classes was studied in four high-functioning, preschool-aged autistic children. Initially, all subjects failed to demonstrate match-to-sample relations indicative of stimulus equivalence among two three-member classes of visual stimuli. Then, 2 subjects showed emergence of those relations after they were taught to assign the same name to all members in each class. Next, subjects were taught names for new stimuli outside the match-to-sample format. On subsequent match-to-sample tests, 2 subjects demonstrated untrained conditional relations among the stimuli given a common name. New, unnamed stimuli were then related via match-to-sample training to stimuli from sets of named stimuli. Tests for emergent conditional relations between the new unnamed stimuli and the named stimuli yielded positive results for 1 subject and somewhat mixed results for 3 subjects. Finally, without naming, 2 subjects developed stimulus equivalence among two new three-member classes of visual stimuli. These data suggest that naming may remediate failures to develop untrained conditional relations, some of which are indicative of stimulus equivalence.