Vocational guidance during the depression: Phrenology versus applied psychology

The paper describes the design and use of a machine, the “Psychograph,” which automatically measured the size and shape of the skull and provided evaluations of mental traits according to phrenological principles. Developed in 1930, the psychograph was billed as a diagnostic tool capable of providing suitable vocational guidance to the thousands of unemployed as a result of the Depression. Its appearance prompted a vigorous opposition from the Psychology Department at the University of Minnesota, especially in the person of Donald L. Paterson. Subsequently, the psychograph was merely exploited for its entertainment value and disappeared after the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago.     

Post-retrieval effects of icv infusions of hemicholinium in mice are dependent on the age of the original memory

CF-1 male mice were trained in an inhibitory avoidance task using a high footshock (1,2 mA, 50 Hz, 1 sec) in order to reduce the influence of extinction on retention performance. At 2, 7, 14, or 30 d after training, the first retention test was performed and hemicholinium (HC-3, 1.0 microg/mice), a specific inhibitor of high-affinity choline uptake in brain cholinergic neurons, was given intracerebroventricularly immediately after. Twenty four hours after treatment, mice were tested in an inhibitory avoidance task during five consecutive days, each 24 h apart. Retention performance was impaired by HC-3 when the first re-exposure took place at 2, 7, or 14 d, but the effect was no longer seen when re-exposure occurred 30 d after training. We did not find spontaneous recovery 21 d after training, when memory was retrieved 2 d after training and HC-3 was given immediately after. Although we cannot definitively discard a retrieval deficit, this lack of spontaneous recovery is in accordance with the storage-deficit interpretation. These results confirm and extend previous ones, suggesting that central cholinergic mechanisms are involved in the hypothetical reconsolidation memory processes of an inhibitory avoidance task in mice and also suggest that this participation depends on the "age" of the original memory trace. This implies that the vulnerability of a reactivated memory to a specific treatment, as the one used in this study, inversely correlates with the age of the original memory, and it is likely to determine memory reconsolidation processes.     

Life before and after quitting smoking: an electronic diary study

This article describes a multidimensional, multivariate, and multilevel approach to the assessment of nicotine withdrawal. In this prospective study, 70 adult smokers assigned to an active or placebo nicotine patch condition completed multiple daily assessments using an electronic diary. Average and individual growth curves were estimated for affective and nonaffective withdrawal symptoms. All symptoms but hunger increased significantly on the quit day and remained elevated for three weeks. Variability in symptom experiences across individuals increased from pre- to post-quit. Relations between symptom reports (e.g., negative affect or craving) and episodic events (e.g., stressful events or seeing someone smoke) changed from pre-quit to post-quit. Pre-quit increases in negative affect and quit-day increases in craving were inversely related to abstinence three months after the quit day, suggesting that anticipatory and immediate reactions to quitting influence success.     

The prepared mind: neural activity prior to problem presentation predicts subsequent solution by sudden insight

Insight occurs when problem solutions arise suddenly and seem obviously correct, and is associated with an "Aha!" experience. Prior theorizing concerning preparation that facilitates insight focused on solvers' problem-specific knowledge. We hypothesized that a distinct type of mental preparation, manifested in a distinct brain state, would facilitate insight problem solving independently of problem-specific knowledge. Consistent with this hypothesis, neural activity during a preparatory interval before subjects saw verbal problems predicted which problems they would subsequently solve with, versus without, self-reported insight. Specifically, electroencephalographic topography and frequency (Experiment 1) and functional magnetic resonance imaging signal (Experiment 2) both suggest that mental preparation leading to insight involves heightened activity in medial frontal areas associated with cognitive control and in temporal areas associated with semantic processing. The results for electroencephalographic topography suggest that noninsight preparation, in contrast, involves increased occipital activity consistent with an increase in externally directed visual attention. Thus, general preparatory mechanisms modulate problem-solving strategy.     

Enabling a man with multiple disabilities and limited motor behavior to perform a functional task with help of microswitch technology

This study evaluated the extent to which two microswitches used as interfaces would enable a man with multiple disabilities and limited motor behavior to operate an electric door opener at the entrance of the day center that he attended. Analysis showed the man (a) learned to use the two microswitches, (b) preferred the microswitch placed at his wheelchair's footrest (which also allowed more effective responding) over the microswitch placed at his wheelchair's armrest, and (c) maintained his positive performance at the 1- and 2-mo. postintervention checks. The results were discussed from a technical and practical standpoint and in terms of implications for the quality of life of persons with disabilities.     

Self-regulation and personality: how interventions increase regulatory success, and how depletion moderates the effects of traits on behavior

Self-regulation is a highly adaptive, distinctively human trait that enables people to override and alter their responses, including changing themselves so as to live up to social and other standards. Recent evidence indicates that self-regulation often consumes a limited resource, akin to energy or strength, thereby creating a temporary state of ego depletion. This article summarizes recent evidence indicating that regular exercises in self-regulation can produce broad improvements in self-regulation (like strengthening a muscle), making people less vulnerable to ego depletion. Furthermore, it shows that ego depletion moderates the effects of many traits on behavior, particularly such that wide differences in socially disapproved motivations produce greater differences in behavior when ego depletion weakens the customary inner restraints.     

Hypo-egoic self-regulation: exercising self-control by diminishing the influence of the self

Theory and research dealing with self-regulation have focused primarily on instances of self-regulation that involve high levels of self-reflection and effortful self-control. However, intentionally trying to control one's behavior sometimes reduces the likelihood of achieving one's goals. This article examines the process of hypo-egoic self-regulation in which people relinquish deliberate, conscious control over their own behavior so that they will respond more naturally, spontaneously, or automatically. An examination of spontaneously occurring hypo-egoic states (such as flow, deindividuation, and transcendence) suggests that hypo-egoic states are characterized by lowered self-awareness and/or an increase in concrete and present-focused self-thoughts. In light of this, people may intentionally foster hypo-egoism via two pathways-(a) taking steps to reduce the proportion of time that they are self-aware (such as repeating a behavior until it is automatic or practicing meditation) or (b) increasing the concreteness of their self-thoughts (such as inducing a concrete mindset or practicing mindfulness). In this way, people may deliberately choose to regulate hypo-egoically when effortful control might be detrimental to their performance.