Young infants' perception of the trajectories of two- and three-dimensional objects

We investigated oculomotor anticipations in 4-month-old infants as they viewed center-occluded object trajectories. In two experiments, we examined performance in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) dynamic occlusion displays and in an additional 3D condition with a smiley face as the moving target stimulus. Rates of anticipatory eye movements were not facilitated by 3D displays or by the (presumably) more salient smiley face relative to the 2D condition. However, latencies of anticipations were reduced, implying that 3D visual information may have supported formation of more robust mental representations of the moving object. Results are interpreted in a context of perceptual constraints on developing cognitive capacities during early infancy.     

A Behavior Analytically Modified Implicit Association Test for Measuring Sexual Categorization of Children

The Psychological Record - The current study assessed the sexual categorization of children among a random sample of adults from the general population. Twenty-seven males and 27 females (N = 54)...     

Myosin II motor activity in the lateral amygdala is required for fear memory consolidation

Learning induces dynamic changes to the actin cytoskeleton that are required to support memory formation. However, the molecular mechanisms that mediate filamentous actin (F-actin) dynamics during learning and memory are poorly understood. Myosin II motors are highly expressed in actin-rich growth structures including dendritic spines, and we have recently shown that these molecular machines mobilize F-actin in response to synaptic stimulation and learning in the hippocampus. In this study, we report that Myosin II motors in the rat lateral amygdala (LA) are essential for fear memory formation. Pretraining infusions of the Myosin II inhibitor, blebbistatin (blebb), disrupted long term memory, while short term memory was unaffected. Interestingly, both post-training and pretesting infusions had no effect on memory formation, indicating that Myosin II motors operate during or shortly after learning to promote memory consolidation. These data support the idea that Myosin II motor-force generation is a general mechanism that supports memory consolidation in the mammalian CNS.     

Associations between heart rate,perceived heart rate,and anxiety during acute psychological stress

ABSTRACT

Background: Acute psychological stress elicits increases in heart rate (HR) and anxiety. Theories propose associations between HR, perceived HR, and anxiety during stress. However, anxiety is often measured as a unidimensional construct which limits a comprehensive understanding of these relationships.

Objectives: This research explored whether HR reactivity or perceived HR change was more closely associated with cognitive and somatic anxiety during acute psychological stress.

Design: Two laboratory-based studies were conducted.

Methods: In a single laboratory session, healthy male (N?=?71; study 1) and female (N?=?70; study 2) university students completed three laboratory psychological stress tasks (counterbalanced), each with a preceding baseline. Heart rate, perceived HR change, and cognitive and somatic anxiety intensity and interpretation of anxiety symptoms were assessed immediately following each task. Data were aggregated across tasks.

Results: Actual HR change was unrelated to anxiety intensity, but was associated with more debilitative interpretations of anxiety (study 2). Perceptions of HR change were consistently associated with greater intensity of cognitive (study 1) and somatic (study 1 and 2) anxiety.

Conclusions: Perceived HR rather than actual HR is more closely associated with anxiety intensity during psychological stress. The findings have implications for stress management and the clinical treatment of anxiety symptoms.     

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones: The Effects of Emotional Abuse

The relationship between psychological maltreatment in childhood and adult well-being has previously been established via the statistical modeling of psychometric data. This study examines a set of statistical data regarding abuse alongside personal accounts. A group of 165 participants completed several psychometric scales, including a measure of childhood emotional abuse. Several participants were then invited to participate in interviews exploring issues in more depth. Statistical analysis supported previous findings, but the interviews exposed themes pertinent to the examination of long-term effects of emotional abuse, such as acknowledgment of abuse. The findings support the use of a mixed methodology, as statistical measurements alone did not reveal some detail. The implications of this finding for psychological research and practice are discussed.     

Early Verb Learning: How Do Children Learn How to Compare Events?

An important problem verb learners must solve is how to extend verbs. Children could use cross-situational information to guide their extensions; however, comparing events is difficult. In 2 studies, researchers tested whether children benefit from initially seeing a pair of similar events (“progressive alignment”) while learning new verbs and whether this influence changes with age. In Study 1, 2.5- and 3.5-year-old children participated in an interactive task. Children who saw a pair of similar events and then varied events were able to extend verbs at test and differed from a control group; children who saw 2 pairs of varied events did not differ from the control group. In Study 2, events were presented on a monitor. Following the initial pair of events that varied by condition, a Tobii x120 eye tracker recorded 2.5-, 3.5-, and 4.5-year-olds’ fixations to specific elements of events (areas of interest) during the 2nd pair of events, which were the same across conditions. After seeing the pair of events that were highly similar, 2.5-year-olds showed significantly longer fixation durations to agents and to affected objects as compared with the all-varied condition. At test, 3.5-year-olds were able to extend the verb, but only in the progressive alignment condition. These results are important because they show children’s visual attention to relevant elements in dynamic events is influenced by their prior comparison experience, and they show that young children benefit from seeing similar events as they learn to compare events to each other.     

Book notes

The Divine Matrix: Creativity as Link between East and West Joseph A. Bracken, S. J., 1995 Maryknoll, NY: Orbis 177 pp., US$21.00 (pb) ISBN 1–57075–004–1

Glaubenswelt Islam: Eine Einführung Series: Religionswissenschaftliche Texte und Studien, Vol. 7 UDO SCHAEFER, 1996 Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag 149 pp, DM 24.80 ISBN 3–487–10159–9

Islam: The View from the Edge Richard Bulliet, 1995 New York: Columbia University Press 236 pp., US$16.95, £11.95 ISBN 0–231–08219–3

Living Faiths in South Africa Martin Prozesky & John De Gruchy, eds, 1995 London: Hurst & Company 241 pp., £35.00 (hb), £12.95 (pb) ISBN 1–85065–249‐X (hb), ISBN 1–85065–244–9 (pb)

Signs of the Times: The New Religious Movements in Theological Perspective John A. Sauba, 1996 Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada: Librairie Médiaspaul 119 pp., CDN$13.95, US$10.00 ISBN 2–89420–326–8

The Body and Society: Explorations in Social Theory Bryan S. Turner, Sage 1996, 2nd edition London 254 pp., £13.95 (pb) ISBN 0–8039–8809–5

Revolutionary Brotherhood: Freemasonry and the Transformation of the American Social Order, 1730–1840 Steven C Bullock, 1996 Chapel Hill, London: University of North Carolina Press. Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia 421 pp., US$49.95 (hb) ISBN 0–8078–2282–5

Two Masters: The Buddha and Jesus J. D. M. Derrett, 1995 Yelvertoft Manor, Northamptonshire: Pilkington Press 143 pp., £17.50 ISBN 1–899044–09–4

Autobiography of an Aspiring Saint Cecilia Ferrazzi, 1996 Transcribed, translated & edited by Anne Jacobson Schutte Chicago, El., London: The University of Chicago Press 101 pp., US$30.00 (hb), US$14.95 (pb) ISBN 0–226–24447–4 (pb)

Sacred World: A Guide to Shambhala Waniorship in Daily Life Jeremy Hayward with Karen Hayward, 1995 London: Rider 262 pp., £10.99 (pb) ISBN 0–7126–7240–0     

Herzen and James: Freedom as radical

The similarities and differences between Herzen and James as humanist theoreticians are very interesting in view of the roles which they played in their respective countries. Radical freedom was important to the theories of each.