In Search of the Language Switch: An fMRI Study of Picture Naming in Spanish–English Bilinguals

For many years, researchers investigating the brain bases of bilingualism have concentrated on two basic questions. The first concerns the nature of language representation. That is, are a bilinguals' two languages represented in distinct or overlapping areas of the brain. The second basic question in the neuropsychology of bilingualism concerns the neural correlates of language switching, that is, the areas that are active when bilinguals switch from one language to the other. Performance between single-language and dual-language picture naming was compared in a group of six Spanish–English bilinguals using behavioral measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants showed slower reaction times and increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the mixed language condition relative to single language condition. There was no evidence that each language was represented in different areas of the brain. Results are consistent with the view that language switching is a part of a general executive attentional system and that languages are represented in overlapping areas of the brain in early bilinguals.     

Residual reading capability in a patient with alexia without agraphia

A case of pure alexia due to an ischemic lesion of the occipital temporal region is described. Written words could be matched but not read. Immediate memory span for graphemes was defective. The reading defect probably depends on the inability to modify the written word “globally”; the phonological process was intact, but the memory disturbance impeded reading. The dissociation is explained by the preservation of word forms, which are linked to the semantic stage. Nonwritten stimuli trigger a “meaning” which evokes the word form and so the written word is recognized even though it cannot be read.     

Forced migration and resettlement: Its impact on families and individuals

An increasing number of families are forced to migrate as a result of political turmoil, civil wars, and ethnic cleansing. This paper describes the impact of forced migration on individuals and their families. We suggest that forced migrants reject the new culture while their children are likely to embrace it. This discrepancy between the old values of the migrants and the values to the new culture espoused by their children is a frequent source of intrafamilial tension. We also describe a second acculturation process that takes place when forced migrants return to their country of origin. Families who migrate back to the country of origin realize, often to their surprise, that both they and their country of origin have changed significantly.     

Ethical Orientations and Attitudes of Hispanic Business Students

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attitudes and orientations of Hispanic business students regarding ethical and unethical actions as well as what rewards or punishments are considered appropriate for specific scenarios. A survey was developed using a 2 × 2 randomized experimental design to measure students’ ethical orientations and 38 items were developed to measure students’ attitudes regarding factors that can influence the decision to cheat or not to cheat. The results suggest that Hispanic business students are predominantly concerned with the ethical dimension of an act relative to the outcome of the act. Also, contrary to previous studies findings, some Hispanic business students are likely to cheat on any type of graded work based on the reason for cheating rather than the type of graded work. The paper utilizes an established framework for measuring ethical attitudes and orientations. The study offers a preliminary inductive path towards a more in depth understanding of Hispanic business students which is a rapidly growing population segment whose influence will become more widespread in the coming decades. Some of the findings are not consistent with previous research that examined student bodies as a whole. This might suggest that student ethics researchers may be missing valuable information regarding differences between student body segments that can further inform our understanding of students’ ethical views. Further, this insight may provide an avenue for a more effective approach to guiding the ethical development of students.     

An 8q21 deletion in a patient with comorbid psychosis and mental retardation

Systematic investigations indicate that some of the recognized psychiatric disorders can be identified among those with mental retardation due to chromosomal abnormalities. We report a psychotic patient with mild mental retardation (intelligence quotient: 68) and minor anomalies that had a chromosomal aberration not previously described in a psychotic patient. Our patient highlights the importance of the cytogenetic study in psychiatric patients with comorbid mental retardation or minor anomalies. In addition, her psychosis symptoms may be helpful to propose a new candidate gene for psychosis.     

Life,cognition and metabiology

At the biological level, what is innate is the result of an evolutionary process and is “programed” by natural selection. Natural selection is the “coder” (once linked to the emergence of meaning). This coupled process is indissolubly correlated with the continuous construction of new formats in accordance with the unfolding of ever-new mathematics, a mathematics that necessarily moulds coder’s activity. Hence, the necessity of articulating and inventing a mathematics capable of engraving itself in an evolutionary landscape in accordance with the opening up of meaning. In this sense, for instance, the realms of non-standard models and non-standard analysis represent, today, a fruitful perspective in order to point out, in mathematical terms, some of the basic concepts concerning the articulation of an adequate intentional information theory.     

How Do Artificial Neural Networks Classify Musical Triads? A Case Study in Eluding Bonini's Paradox

How might artificial neural networks (ANNs) inform cognitive science? Often cognitive scientists use ANNs but do not examine their internal structures. In this paper, we use ANNs to explore how cognition might represent musical properties. We train ANNs to classify musical chords, and we interpret network structure to determine what representations ANNs discover and use. We find connection weights between input units and hidden units can be described using Fourier phase spaces, a representation studied in musical set theory. We find the total signal coming through these weighted connection weights is a measure of the similarity between two Fourier structures: the structure of the hidden unit's weights and the structure of the stimulus. This is surprising because neither of these Fourier structures is computed by the hidden unit. We then show how output units use such similarity measures to classify chords. However, we also find different types of units—units that use different activation functions—use this similarity measure very differently. This result, combined with other findings, indicates that while our networks are related to the Fourier analysis of musical sets, they do not perform Fourier analyses of the kind usually described in musical set theory. Our results show Fourier representations of music are not limited to musical set theory. Our results also suggest how cognitive psychologists might explore Fourier representations in musical cognition. Critically, such theoretical and empirical implications require researchers to understand how network structure converts stimuli into responses.     

THE TOTALITARIAN STATE OF MIND

The paper describes the development of Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy for use with complex depression (DITCC), and a pilot study testing DITCC’s effectiveness. The pilot found large pre-post improvements in well-being and distress; moderate rates of reliable improvement and clinically significant change; and curvilinear declines in depression and anxiety. Treatment completers and near-completers (N= 19) showed a significant curvilinear decline in symptoms of depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7). The results provide preliminary evidence that DITCC can be used as an effective treatment approach for complex depression. However, further research is needed to test its effectiveness in different settings with a larger sample size, using appropriate comparison groups under controlled conditions to further elaborate the short-term and long-term effects.