Does maintaining bindings in visual working memory require more attention than maintaining features?

ABSTRACT

Whether more attention is required for maintaining bindings than maintaining features in visual working memory (VWM) remains an open question. If maintaining bindings in VWM does not require more attention than maintaining features, is it related to the stability of binding representations? In this study, we explored whether maintaining bindings requires more attention than maintaining features for similar and dissimilar objects by inserting a feature report task into the maintenance phase of VWM in Experiments 1 and 2. We also investigated whether the effect of similarity on the attentional requirement for maintaining bindings and features is due to the stability of VWM representations by inserting a suffix during the maintenance phase of VWM in Experiment 3. The results showed that when object-based attention was consumed, bindings were more impaired than features for dissimilar objects but not for similar objects. We also found that the bindings of similar objects were less interfered by the suffix than those of dissimilar objects. Our findings suggest that maintaining bindings does not require more attention than maintaining features when the binding representations are stable in VWM and similarity improves the stability of binding representations.     

Encounters with Boundary Challenges: A Preliminary Model of Experienced Psychotherapists’ Working Strategies

Five experienced clinical psychologists were interviewed about their strategies for maintaining boundaries in psychotherapy. The interviews were subjected to qualitative analysis using grounded theory techniques to develop a preliminary model of boundary maintenance. The central principle exhibited by the interviewees was maintaining a therapeutic relationship to facilitate client self care. Overall, the central principle was comprised of three main working strategies: (1) maintaining client boundaries to ensure a clear focus on client needs; (2) maintaining psychotherapist boundaries to protect effective practice; and (3) maintaining psychotherapy boundaries to facilitate client reflection, awareness, and assumption of responsibility. Each strategy included two or three distinct meaning categories, explicated in the paper. Implications for clinical work and future research are discussed.     

Effective Ways to Develop and Maintain Robust Sport-Confidence: Strategies Advocated by Sport Psychology Consultants

Based on recent evidence, this study identified 10 strategies advocated by sport psychology consultants as effective at developing and maintaining robust sport-confidence in athletes. Due to the study's exploratory nature, qualitative interviews were conducted and content analyzed. Six themes emerged for developing robust sport-confidence and 4 emerged for maintaining robust sport-confidence. Findings reveal a need to develop an athlete's signature strengths, increase pressure experienced in training, and identify broad stable sources of confidence to develop robust sport-confidence. Consultants reported that maintaining robust sport-confidence occurs through constant development. Theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed.     

NONCONTINGENT DELIVERY OF ARBITRARY REINFORCERS AS TREATMENT FOR SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

Results of recent research have shown that noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) can be effective in reducing the frequency of behavior problems. In typical NCR applications, the reinforcer that is responsible for behavioral maintenance (as demonstrated through a functional analysis) no longer follows occurrences of the target behavior but instead is delivered according to a time-based schedule. Thus, it is unclear if NCR would be effective if the target behavior continued to be reinforced or if arbitrary reinforcers (i.e., those irrelevant to behavioral maintenance) were substituted for the maintaining reinforcers in the NCR procedure. In this study, 2 individuals whose self-injurious behavior (SIB) was maintained by positive reinforcement were exposed to conditions in which arbitrary and maintaining reinforcers were withheld and were delivered either contingently or noncontingently. Results indicated that noncontingent delivery of arbitrary reinforcers was effective in reducing SIB even though occurrences of SIB produced access to the maintaining reinforcer. These results suggest that (a) arbitrary reinforcers may sometimes be substituted for maintaining reinforcers, (b) an important component of NCR procedures is alteration of a behavior's establishing operation, and (c) NCR with arbitrary reinforcers might therefore be effective when maintaining reinforcers cannot be identified or withheld during the course of treatment.     

A BRIEF FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF AGGRESSIVE AND ALTERNATIVE BEHAVIOR IN AN OUTCLINIC SETTING

We conducted a brief functional analysis to identify maintaining variables for aggressive behavior and an alternative replacement response during a 90-min outpatient evaluation of 3 individuals with severe handicaps. During the initial analogue assessment, which focused on identifying maintaining contingencies for aggressive behavior, each participant displayed a substantially greater frequency of aggressive behavior during one condition than during any other. The contingency that produced the highest percentage of aggressive behavior was then presented for the occurrence of a specific alternative behavior (a mand). During this contingency reversal phase, each participant displayed a substantial reduction in aggressive behavior and a substantial increase in alternative behavior, thus providing a direct analysis of the equivalency of the contingency for maintaining either behavior.     

初中生社会交往策略的发展及其与同伴接纳的关系

采用自编初中生社会交往策略问卷考察了北京市两所普通中学314名初中生的社会交往策略。研究表明:自编初中生社会交往策略问卷具有较好的信度与效度,均达到心理测量学要求;初中生开始交往情境的消极表现策略,冲突解决情境的回避性、求助第三者和消极表现三种策略,维持交往情境的消极表现、求助第三者以及被动等待三种策略存在显著的年级差异;初中生开始交往情境的消极表现和回避策略,冲突解决情境的消极表现和妥协顺从两种策略,维持交往情境中的消极表现策略存在显著的性别差异;同伴接纳水平不同的初中生在开始交往情境的消极表现策略,冲突解决情境的沟通协商、消极表现和妥协顺从三种策略以及维持交往情境的消极表现、回避性和积极沟通三种策略上存在显著差异。     

Cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders: a "transdiagnostic" theory and treatment

This paper is concerned with the psychopathological processes that account for the persistence of severe eating disorders. Two separate but interrelated lines of argument are developed. One is that the leading evidence-based theory of the maintenance of eating disorders, the cognitive behavioural theory of bulimia nervosa, should be extended in its focus to embrace four additional maintaining mechanisms. Specifically, we propose that in certain patients one or more of four additional maintaining processes interact with the core eating disorder maintaining mechanisms and that when this occurs it is an obstacle to change. The additional maintaining processes concern the influence of clinical perfectionism, core low self-esteem, mood intolerance and interpersonal difficulties. The second line of argument is that in the case of eating disorders shared, but distinctive, clinical features tend to be maintained by similar psychopathological processes. Accordingly, we suggest that common mechanisms are involved in the persistence of bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and the atypical eating disorders. Together, these two lines of argument lead us to propose a new transdiagnostic theory of the maintenance of the full range of eating disorders, a theory which embraces a broader range of maintaining mechanisms than the current theory concerning bulimia nervosa. In the final sections of the paper we describe a transdiagnostic treatment derived from the new theory, and we consider in principle the broader relevance of transdiagnostic theories of maintenance.     

Culture-specific patterns in the prediction of life satisfaction: roles of emotion, relationship quality, and self-esteem

This study was conducted to explore the culture-specific roles of emotion, relationship quality, and self-esteem in determining life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that maintaining good interpersonal relationships would make individuals in collectivistic cultures not only feel good about their lives but also feel better about themselves. Furthermore, two emotion variables--emotional expression and emotion differentiation--were proposed as possible determinants of relationship quality. It was hypothesized that emotional expressiveness would be more important for maintaining good interpersonal relationships in individualistic societies but emotion differentiation would be more important in collectivistic cultures. These hypotheses were tested with Euro-American, Asian American, Korean, and Chinese groups using multigroup analyses in a structural equation model. Results supported all proposed hypotheses and indicated that emotion differentiation contributes to maintaining good interpersonal relationships in collectivistic cultures, which contributes to self-esteem and satisfaction with life.     

Role of centrifugal projections to the olfactory bulb in olfactory processing

While there is evidence that feedback projections from cortical and neuromodulatory structures to the olfactory bulb are crucial for maintaining the oscillatory dynamics of olfactory bulb processing, it is not clear how changes in dynamics are related to odor perception. Using electrical lesions of the olfactory peduncle, sparing output from the olfactory bulb while decreasing feedback inputs to the olfactory bulb, we demonstrate here a role for feedback inputs to the olfactory bulb in the formation of odor-reward associations, but not for maintaining primary bulbar odor representations, as reflected by spontaneous odor discrimination.     

FIXED-TIME SCHEDULES ATTENUATE EXTINCTION-INDUCED PHENOMENA IN THE TREATMENT OF SEVERE ABERRANT BEHAVIOR

We compared the effects of extinction (EXT) and fixed-time (FT) schedules as treatment for severe problem behavior displayed by 3 individuals with developmental disabilities. First, functional analyses identified the reinforcers maintaining aberrant behavior for all 3 individuals. Next, EXT and FT schedules were compared using a multielement design. During EXT, the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior was withheld. During FT, the reinforcers were presented response independently at preset intervals. Results showed that FT schedules were generally more effective than EXT schedules in reducing aberrant behavior. FT schedules may be used in situations when extinction-induced phenomena are problematic.     

Spatial short-term memory assists in maintaining occluded objects

We examined the role of spatial short-term memory (SSTM) in maintaining the hidden portions of occluded objects. We measured the degree of maintenance by asking participants to perform an object-based attention task on occluded objects while maintaining four locations in SSTM. SSTM did not interfere with object-based selection generally. Maintenance of occluded portions of objects was prevented when four locations were held in SSTM and these locations did not overlap with the locations of occluded objects. Importantly, when the observers remembered locations that overlapped with the occluded regions of objects, the occluded objects were maintained behind the occluder. These results suggest that SSTM participates in maintaining the occluded sections of objects.     

Mechanisms underlying working memory for novel information

In this Opinion article we describe a theory that the brain mechanisms underlying working memory for novel information include a buffer in parahippocampal cortices. Computational modeling indicates that mechanisms for maintaining novel information in working memory could differ from mechanisms for maintaining familiar information. Electrophysiological data suggest that the buffer for novel information depends on acetylcholine. Acetylcholine activates single-cell mechanisms that underlie persistent spiking of neurons in the absence of synaptic transmission, allowing maintenance of information without prior synaptic modification. fMRI studies and lesion studies suggest that parahippocampal regions mediate working memory for novel stimuli, and the effects of cholinergic blockade impair this function. These intrinsic mechanisms in parahippocampal cortices provide an important alternative to theories of working memory based on recurrent synaptic excitation.     

Characteristics that help mothers maintain their infants'' focus of attention

Disadvantaged mothers' use of interactive strategies which maintained their infants' focus of attention were examined at 6, 12, and 24 months to evaluate for patterns in this interactive strategy and determine if patterns could be predicted from early infant and maternal characteristics. Four distinct clusters were identified with mothers in each cluster increasing in their use of maintaining over time but differing in the age at which the increase occurred. While infants' biologic risk was unrelated to cluster membership, more positive scores on mothers' perceptions of child rearing history, child rearing attitudes, self-esteem, and social support when the infants were 6 months old were reported by mothers who displayed a pattern of high levels and steady increase in maintaining. More negative scores on these characteristics were reported by mothers who displayed low levels of maintaining and delays in increasing this interactive strategy. Results are discussed in light of disadvantaged mothers' ability to adapt to their infants' changing needs and early identification of mothers' who may have greater difficulty in the adaptational process.     

Communication in social networks: Effects of kinship,network size,and emotional closeness

Communication is important in preventing social relationships from decaying over time. This study examined the effects of social network size, emotional closeness, and type of relationship (kinship vs. friendship) on communication patterns in the social networks of 251 women. Participants with large kin networks had longer times to last contact to both kin and friends. Participants with high levels of emotional closeness in their networks had shorter times to last contact. The effect of emotional closeness on time to last contact was greater for kin than for friends. These results demonstrate that time to last contact is closely tied to emotional closeness and suggest that the costs of maintaining kin relationships are lower than the costs of maintaining friendships.     

Creative idea generation: harmony versus stimulation

The literature on maintaining versus changing membership of groups has generally favored stable membership, not only for more cohesion and morale but for better performance via comfort and shared experiences. On the other hand, research on the stimulating properties of dissent, debate and diversity would argue for a change in membership in that it would provide access to differing views and stimulate more divergent and creative thought. The present study investigated idea generation when membership was maintained versus completely changed. We predicted and found that maintaining membership increases comfort and also the perception of creativity but not actual creative behavior whereas changing membership results in a less comfortable experience but also an increase in the number and creativity of the ideas generated. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficacy of a program to encourage walking in VA elderly primary care patients: the role of pain

Pain may be a barrier or a negative outcome of initiating and maintaining an exercise program in elderly patients. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of pain in a program designed to increase walking for exercise in 181 veteran primary care patients (60 - 80 years). Self-reported physical activity (min-walked per week) and pain were assessed at baseline, 6, and 12 months. Walking for exercise increased over time without significant changes in pain. Analyses suggested that baseline pain was not a barrier to initiating or maintaining a walking exercise program, nor did increased walking influence reports of pain. These results suggest that patients can be encouraged to engage in physical activity, even if they are currently suffering from pain.     

Maintaining readiness for mental rotation interferes with perceptual processes in children but with response selection in adults

Previous work revealed that mental rotation is not purely inserted into a same-different discrimination task. Instead, response time (RT) is slowed to upright stimuli in blocks containing rotated stimuli compared to RT to the same upright stimuli in pure upright blocks. This interference effect is a result of maintaining readiness for mental rotation. In two experiments we investigated previous evidence that these costs depend upon distinct sub-processes for children and for adults. In Experiment 1, the maintaining costs turned out to be independent of the visual quality of the stimulus for adults but not so for children. Experiment 2 revealed that the maintaining costs were greatly reduced for adults when they performed mental rotation as a go-no-go task, but not so for children. Taken together, both experiments provide evidence that whereas perceptual processes seem to be important for school-age children to maintain readiness for mental rotation, response selection is relevant for adults.     

USE OF NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF SELF-INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

Behavioral assessment procedures were used to determine the maintaining conditions of self-injury exhibited by 2 children with severe multiple handicaps. For both children, negative reinforcement (escape from grooming activities) was determined to be the maintaining reinforcer for self-injury (hand/arm biting) within an alternating treatments design. The treatment packages involved the use of negative reinforcement (brief escape from grooming activities) contingent upon a behavior that was incompatible with self-injury (reaching and pressing a microswitch that activated a prerecorded message of “stop”). Treatment was evaluated with a reversal design for 1 child and with a multiple baseline across grooming activities for the 2nd child. The treatment led to a marked decrease in self-injury for both children. At follow-up, high rates of self-injury were reported for the 1st child, but low rates of self-injury and an increase in task-related appropriate behavior were observed for the 2nd child.     

Contribution of temporal preparation and processing speed to simple reaction time in persons with Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment

Temporal preparation was assessed in 15 Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, 20 persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 28 healthy older adults. Participants completed a simple reaction time task in which the preparatory interval duration varied randomly within two blocks (short versus long temporal window). Results indicated that AD and MCI patients had difficulty preparing for the shortest preparatory interval of the short temporal window. AD and MCI patients also had difficulty maintaining an optimal level of preparation up to 5 s within the short temporal window. These results suggest that AD and MCI patients might show difficulty preparing for rapidly occurring events and maintaining preparation over time. This phenomenon should be considered when using reaction time measures with such patients.