The SNARC effect is not a unitary phenomenon

Models of the spatial–numerical association of response codes (SNARC) effect—faster responses to small numbers using left effectors, and the converse for large numbers—diverge substantially in localizing the root cause of this effect along the numbers’ processing chain. One class of models ascribes the cause of the SNARC effect to the inherently spatial nature of the semantic representation of numerical magnitude. A different class of models ascribes the effect’s cause to the processing dynamics taking place during response selection. To disentangle these opposing views, we devised a paradigm combining magnitude comparison and stimulus–response switching in order to monitor modulations of the SNARC effect while concurrently tapping both semantic and response-related processing stages. We observed that the SNARC effect varied nonlinearly as a function of both manipulated factors, a result that can hardly be reconciled with a unitary cause of the SNARC effect.     

Distinguishing bipolar depression, major depression, and schizophrenia with the MMPI-2 clinical and content scales

Clinical and content scales from the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen, & Kaemmer, 1989) were used to examine the capacity of these scales to assist in the differential diagnosis of a sample of 212 psychiatric patients-137 with major depression; 43 with schizophrenia; and 32 with bipolar disorder, depressed state. Consistent with the previous literature, the clinical scales Depression (D), and Schizophrenia (Sc), and the content scales Depression (DEP), and Low Self-Esteem (LSE) best distinguished major depression from schizophrenia; the content scale DEP proved to be the most powerful predictor in distinguishing bipolar depression from schizophrenia. No clinical or content scale proved to be effective in distinguishing patients with bipolar depression from patients with major depression. In general, the content scales outperformed the clinical scales.     

Acquisition of new "words" in normal subjects: a suggestion for the treatment of anomia

The study explores the efficacy of three learning methods in normal controls. Thirty subjects, randomly assigned to the repetition, reading aloud, or orthographic cueing method, were asked to learn 30 new "words" (legal nonwords arbitrarily assigned to 30 different pictures); 30 further new "words" were used as controls. Number of trials to criterion was significantly lower, and number of words remembered at follow-up was significantly higher for the orthographic cueing method. Two aphasic patients with damage to the output lexicons were also rehabilitated with the same three methods. In both patients the orthographic cueing method was significantly more efficacious. The differences in learning efficacy of the three methods are discussed.     

A Primer Of Closed Head Injury Sequelae In Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

By definition, an individual diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been exposed to a serious threat of physical harm that engenders concomitant feelings of fear, helplessness, or horror (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). According to the current diagnostic taxonomy, PTSD may develop when the person witnesses harm against someone else or learns of harm occurring to an intimate other. Yet, all too often, PTSD is associated with the direct experience of physical injury through assault, accident, or other violence. As such, individuals with PTSD are at increased risk of having sustained a head injury, particularly during the traumatic events that elicited the PTSD symptoms (Knight, 1996). Consistent with this assertion, there are indications that individuals who sustain a head injury are increasingly likely to develop subsequent PTSD (Bryant & Harvey, 1998; Chemtob et al., 1998), with the prevalence of PTSD in this population estimated to be as high as 30% (Bryant & Harvey, 1996). Moreover, among people with PTSD, those who have sustained head injuries are apt to have more severe symptoms than those who have not (Chemtob et al., 1998).     

Processing of negative stimuli facilitates event-based prospective memory only under low memory load

Event-based prospective memory (PM) is related to the ability to execute a previously planned action at the appropriate situation. Previous literature showed enhanced performance when emotional stimuli are used as PM targets. However, it was entirely unexplored whether this effect is susceptible to prospective memory load (PML), related to the number of target events that are relevant for the pending PM task. Here we presented participants with angry or neutral faces for an identity judgment (ongoing task). A different number of faces, depending on low vs. high levels of PML, served as PM targets. The results showed better PM performance following negative than neutral targets, but only under low levels of PML. This indicates that the bottom-up facilitation driven by negative stimuli serving as PM targets dramatically depends on the available attention resources allocated for monitoring the incoming information.     

Cerebral lateralization in simultaneous interpretation

Cerebral asymmetries for L1 (Italian), L2 (English), and L3 (French, German, Spanish, or Russian) were studied, by using a verbal-manual interference paradigm, in a group of Italian right-handed polyglot female students at the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori (SSLM-School for Interpreters and Translators) of the University of Trieste and in a control group of right-handed monolingual female students at the Medical School of the University of Trieste. In an automatic speech production task no significant cerebral lateralization was found for the mother tongue (L1) either in the interpreting students or in the control group; the interpreting students were not significantly lateralized for the third language (L3), while weak left hemispheric lateralization was shown for L2. A significantly higher degree of verbal-manual interference was found for L1 than for L2 and L3. A significantly higher disruption rate occurred in the meaning-based mode of simultaneous interpretation (from L2 into L1 and vice versa) than in the word-for-word mode (from L2 into L1 and vice versa). No significant overall or hemispheric differences were found during simultaneous interpretation from L1 into L2 or from L2 into L1.     

The effects of curvature on haptic judgments of extent in sighted and blind people

A series of experiments was carried out to examine the effect of curvature on haptic judgments of extent in sighted and blind individuals. Experiment 1 showed that diameters connecting the endpoints of semicircular lines were underestimated with respect to straight lines, but failed to show an effect of visual experience on length judgments. In experiment 2 we tested are lengths. The effects of curvature on perceived path length were weaker, but were still present in this experiment. Visual experience had no effect on path length judgments. Another experiment was performed to examine the effect of repeated tracing (1, 5, 9, or unlimited number of traces) on judgments of the lengths of straight lines and diameters of semicircles. Judgments of extent were more accurate when subjects engaged in larger numbers of traces. There was no effect of number of traces on curve-height judgments, suggesting that subjects were not using height estimates to judge diameters of semicircles. In a further experiment we tested the effect of number of traces on curves that varied in height. Restricting subjects to a single trace magnified the effect of path length on judgments of the distance between the endpoints of curves. Additional experiments showed that curvature effects on diameter judgments were not eliminated when stimuli were in the frontal plane or when the curves were explored with the use of two hands. Arm support had no effect on judged length in experiment 7. A final experiment showed a robust horizontal vertical illusion in haptic perception of convex curves, with overestimation of the heights of the curves compared with their widths. The practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.     

Planning times during traveling salesman's problem: differences between closed head injury and normal subjects

We studied planning behavior in a group of normal subjects and a group of closed head injury patients (CHI). A computerized version of the traveling salesman's problem was used as a visuospatial planning ability task. The program collected measurements of partial times, number of moves, and number of skipped subgoals. These measures allow us to calculate a "planning index" of subjects' planning ability. Results show that CHI patients present limitations in the planning process due to the lack of ongoing planning.     

On pacing trials while scanning brain hemodynamics: The case of the SNARC effect

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Experimental designs used to describe psychological effects on overt human behavior are seldom suited to localize their corresponding neural substrates based on...     

Therapy efficacy in chronic aphasia

There is good evidence that aphasia therapy is effective if sufficiently prolonged or intensive and that chronic aphasic individuals can also benefit from therapy, but data on chronic aphasia are scanty. The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate whether chronic aphasia benefits from a very intensive therapeutic regimen. We revised the files (January 2000 to December 2008) of the chronic subjects whom we suggested have periodic sessions in our Unit (generally once a week) and 2-3 hours daily of homework with the help of a family member, supervised and controlled by the speech-therapist. Treatment would go on as long as amelioration is evident. Results for 23 chronic aphasic subjects are reported. All subjects had undergone previous therapy and 10 had been dismissed because no further recovery was expected. Recovery was significant in oral and written nouns and actions naming, oral and written sentence production and Token Test scores. Only 4 subjects did not improve. Severity of the disorder did not predict success or failure. We conclude that recovery was due to the intense work done. Further, we believe such a regimen could be successful in a number of patients for whom a less intensive regimen would not be effective.