Effects of three types of noncontingent auditory stimulation on vocal stereotypy in children with autism

We evaluated the effects of 3 types of noncontingent auditory stimulation (music, white noise, recordings of vocal stereotypy) on 2 children with autism who engaged in high rates of vocal stereotypy. For both participants, the music condition was the most effective in decreasing vocal stereotypy to near-zero levels, resulted in the highest parent social validity ratings, and was selected as most preferred in treatment preference evaluations.     

Benefits of recreational dance and behavior analysis for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders: A literature review

Dance can be an entertaining experience that offers multiple benefits for those who participate. Unlike typically developing populations, studies examining benefits of recreational dance for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders are limited. In this review, we conducted a literature search, where “dance” was cross‐listed with all neurodevelopmental disorders across five databases, yielding 19 articles. Twelve studies involved children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders aged 3–19 years, two studies included both adolescents and adults aged 14–22 years, and five studies included adults aged 20–65 years. Given the effectiveness of applied behavior analysis in enhancing skill development, it is encouraging that eight studies explicitly identified behavioral components. Results suggest potential benefits of recreational dance across studies using self‐report and objective measures, but limited research with sound methodology exists. There is a need for controlled research with measurable outcomes to evaluate programs tailored to these populations to improve core challenges and secondary outcomes such as quality of life.     

Getting a grasp on action-specific scaling: A response to Witt (2017)

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Can higher level cognition directly influence visual spatial perception? Many recent studies have claimed so, on the basis that manipulating cognitive factors...     

Comparing response blocking and response interruption/redirection on levels of motor stereotypy: Effects of data analysis procedures

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is marked by deficits in social communication and the presence of restrictive and/or repetitive behaviors or interests. Motor stereotypy is a form of repetitive behavior that is common in ASD. Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) and response blocking (RB) are two interventions found to be efficacious in reducing motor stereotypy. However, the current literature presents with inconsistencies regarding the relative efficacy of these two procedures. Thus, we sought to replicate and extend previous literature by evaluating the efficacy of both interventions on reducing motor stereotypy among 3 individuals with ASD. We also sought to evaluate how variations in data analysis affected the interpretation of treatment outcomes. Results indicated that both interventions were equally efficacious at reducing stereotypy when analyzing data exclusive of treatment‐implementation time. However, when analyzing total session time data, RB produced greater and more sustained reductions in stereotypy across all participants. These results emphasize the importance of data analysis decision‐making in evaluating intervention outcomes.     

More on words, hemifields, and hemispheres: A reply to Schwartz and Kirsner

This paper critically examines the theoretical and empirical basis for two claims made by Schwartz and Kirsner (1986, Brain and Cognition, 5, 354-361): (1) that acuity gradients can account for most visual field effects/interactions reported for horizontally presented words, and (2) the acuity gradients should be considered the "default" explanation for such findings. It is argued here that the acuity gradient account of higher order laterality effects is based on a questionable theory of lexical access, has no empirical support, and cannot explain, even in principle, many lateralization results. It is concluded that acuity gradients make little or no contribution to laterality effects when the stimuli consist of short monomorphemic words, and that theoretical explanations for such effects ought not be accepted by default.     

A psychobiographical analysis of Brian Douglas Wilson: Creativity, drugs, and models of schizophrenic and affective disorders

The suggestion of a relationship between creativity and mental disorder has existed for centuries, and has been advocated by many psychological researchers. The present analysis offers a consideration of the nature of mental disorder present in Brian Wilson, an individual recognised as one of the most creative figures in 20th century popular music. Using converging biographical evidence, and the diagnostic program Opcrit, Wilson’s diagnosis is concluded to be schizoaffective. Employing details of his drug abuse, various models of schizoaffective spectra are examined, in particular a reconsideration of the LSD model of schizophrenia. The model is shown to be useful for positive schizophrenic symptoms including overinclusion, a potentially key element of creativity. In doing so, this psychobiographical analysis allows examination of potential relationships between mental disorder and creativity, the effects of various narcotics on creativity and various elements of mental disorder, the efficacy of various drug models of psychotic disorders, and the overlap between psychotic and affective disorders.     

Effects of suppression and acceptance on emotional responses of individuals with anxiety and mood disorders

The present investigation compared the subjective and physiological effects of emotional suppression and acceptance in a sample of individuals with anxiety and mood disorders. Sixty participants diagnosed with anxiety and mood disorders were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group listened to a rationale for suppressing emotions, and the other group listened to a rationale for accepting emotions. Participants then watched an emotion-provoking film and applied the instructions. Subjective distress, heart rate, skin conductance level, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were measured before, during, and after the film. Although both groups reported similar levels of subjective distress during the film, the acceptance group displayed less negative affect during the post-film recovery period. Furthermore, the suppression group showed increased heart rate and the acceptance group decreased heart rate in response to the film. There were no differences between the two groups in skin conductance or respiratory sinus arrhythmia. These findings are discussed in the context of the existing body of research on emotion regulation and current treatment approaches for anxiety and mood disorders.     

Effects of imposed delay of response and item complexity on auditory comprehension by aphasics

Ten aphasic and five control subjects were administered an auditory comprehension task similar to Levels I-IV of the Revised Token Test under conditions of 0, 5, 10, and 20 sec of imposed response delay. Responses were evaluated in terms of performance accuracy and response time. Aphasic subjects' response accuracy was significantly effected by an interaction between the length of delay imposed and the complexity of the stimulus. The aphasic group also demonstrated a significant main effect for item complexity. Control subjects' accuracy was not influenced by the treatment conditions. Latency measures indicated the aphasic subjects were slower to respond across all treatment conditions. Both groups' latency scores were significantly effected by item complexity. A comparison of mean latencies by condition did, however, suggest different patterns of response for the two groups. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical and clinical implications for the auditory comprehension deficits of aphasia.     

Effects of threat cues on attentional shifting, disengagement and response slowing in anxious individuals

According to cognitive models of anxiety, attentional biases for threat may cause or maintain anxiety states. Previous research using spatial cueing tasks has been interpreted in terms of difficulty in disengaging attention from threat in anxious individuals, as indicated by contrasts of response times (RTs) from threat cue versus neutral cue trials. However, on spatial cueing tasks, differences in RT between threat cue and neutral cue trials may stem from a slowing effect of threat on RT, as well as effects on allocation of visuospatial attention. The present study examined the effects of threat cues on both attentional cueing and response slowing. High and low anxious individuals completed a central cue task, which assessed threat-related response slowing, and a spatial cueing task, which assessed attentional biases for angry, happy and neutral faces. Results indicated that interpretation of the anxiety-related bias for threat depended on whether the effect of response slowing was taken into account. The study illustrates an important problem in using the modified spatial cueing task to assess components of threat-related attentional bias. As this experimental method may reflect both threat-related attentional cueing and response slowing effects, it cannot be assumed to provide pure measures of shift or disengagement components of attention bias.     

Words, hemispheres, and processing mechanisms: A response to Marsolek and Deason (2007)

Ellis, Ansorge and Lavidor (2007) [Ellis, A.W., Ansorge, L., & Lavidor, M. (2007). Words, hemispheres, and dissociable subsystems: The effects of exposure duration, case alternation, priming and continuity of form on word recognition in the left and right visual fields. Brain and Language, 103, 292–303.] presented three experiments investigating the effects of exposure duration and format (normal vs mixed or alternating case) on the recognition of words presented in the left and right visual fields. The experiments were conducted within the framework of ‘dissociable neural subsystems theory’ developed by Marsolek and colleagues. Marsolek and Deason (2007) [Marsolek, C.J. & Deason, R.G. (2007). Hemispheric asymmetries in visual word-form processing: Progress, conflict, and evaluating theories. Brain and Language, 103, 304–307.] offer some reflections on our paper, including alternative interpretations of some of our findings. We respond to those reflections in this reply.     

Concomitant short-term changes in the auditory evoked response, the EEG, and reaction-time performance in relation to the temporal parameters of stimulation

Abstract.— Two experiments are described in which short-term "habituation" of the auditory evoked response (AER) was examined using discrete trains of click stimuli and averaging across trains. In the first study, the stimuli consisted of randomly interspersed trains of regular clicks, at 3 or 10 sec interstimulus interval (ISI). In the second study, the ISIs were also short or long but were irregular varying between 2.4 and 3.6 sec in the former case and 6 to 12 sec in the latter. The N₁-P₂ component of the AER diminished within the 3 sec trains especially for the regular stimulation; no such development occurred with the longer ISI. The total voltage in the background EEG and the reaction-times to the stimuli showed essentially similar changes. The possible mechanisms governing the response decrement are discussed and it is concluded that the data may be interpreted in terms of the Groves and Thompson dual-process theory of habituation.     

Effects of spatial response coding on distractor processing: Evidence from auditory spatial negative priming tasks with keypress,joystick, and head movement responses

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Prior studies of spatial negative priming indicate that distractor-assigned keypress responses are inhibited as part of visual, but not auditory,...     

Resolving conflict: A response to Martin and Cheng (2006)

Martin and Cheng (2006) report the results of an experiment aimed at disentangling the effects of association strength from those of competition on performance on a verb generation task. Their experiment is situated at the center of a putative debate regarding the function of the left inferior frontal gyrus in language processing (see, e.g., Wagner, Paré-Blagoev, Clark, & Poldrack, 2001). Following in this tradition, Martin and Cheng purport to contrast two processes—selection between competing representations and controlled retrieval of weak associates—that we argue can be reduced to the same mechanism. We contend that the distinction between competition and association strength is a false dichotomy, and we attempt to recast this discussion within a Bayesian framework in an attempt to guide research in this area in a more fruitful direction.     

Religiosity and social desirability: A response to Eysenck (1999)

Recent studies have shown that delusion-like experiences (DLEs) are common among general populations. This study investigates whether the prevalence of these experiences are linked to the embracing of New Age thought. Logistic regression analyses were performed using data derived from a large community sample of young adults (N = 3777). Belief in a spiritual or higher power other than God was found to be significantly associated with endorsement of 16 of 19 items from Peters et al. (1999b Peters, ER, Joseph, SA and Garety, PA. 1999b. Measurement of delusional ideation in the normal population: Introducing the PDI (Peters et al. Delusions Inventory). Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25(3): 553–576. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) Delusional Inventory following adjustment for a range of potential confounders, while belief in God was associated with endorsement of four items. A New Age conception of the divine appears to be strongly associated with a wide range of DLEs. Further research is needed to determine a causal link between New Age philosophy and DLEs (e.g. thought disturbance, suspiciousness, and delusions of grandeur).     

Education and conspiracy beliefs: A replication of van Prooijen (2017)

The main aim of the study was to replicate and extend van Prooijen's findings on how education and its outcomes (cognitive complexity, subjective social standing, self-esteem, a feeling of control and powerlessness, cognitive reflection, epistemic curiosity and scientific reasoning) predict conspiracy beliefs. In two studies (Study 1: N = 497, M_age = 49.06, SD_age = 14.92; Study 2: N = 482, M_age = 47.45, SD_age = 15.87), subjective socioeconomic status and cognitive reflection (Study 1) and a feeling of powerlessness and scientific reasoning (Study 2) contributed to the negative relationship between education level and belief in conspiracy theories. These results showed the connection of education to socioeconomic status, a feeling of control and analytic thinking (cognitive reflection, scientific reasoning) and their power to reduce conspiracy beliefs.