Linguistic meaning related differences in evoked potential topography: English, Swiss-German, and imagined

Functionally different neural populations for processing different categories of word meaníng are suggested by the topography of event-related EEG scale-field distributions. Noun and verb meanings of English and Swiss-German homophones produced differences in anterior-posterior topography during the first 300 to 350 msec of the response. Similar results were found for a degraded-speech stimulus when subjects imagined noun and verb meanings. Anterior—posterior scalp-field differences appeared both in an analysis of the positions of field maximal and minimal values; and in principal component analysis of ERPs.     

Listening as Religious Practice (Part One): Exploring Quantitative Data from an Empirical Study of the Cultural Habits of Music Fans

This article explores and reflects upon the role that music consumption may be playing in the flexible field of cultural expression, identity formation, and meaning-making activity in the West, as overt commitment to organised religion continues to decline and prove fragile. Using quantitative data from a 2009–2010 study of 231 music users, the authors locate and analyse the respondents’ declarations about their listening practices in relation to their other socio-cultural habits and life-commitments. The article explores the genres and themes of music listened to, the means by which the music is accessed, the frequency of listening, and the scale and nature of non-musical commitments. The significance of differences between replies of male and female respondents and between replies of self-identified religious and non-religious respondents is also considered. The article concludes that, while listening habits differ only slightly between religious and non-religious respondents, there are differences in three significant respects: music use with respect to political self-expression; access of ‘life-worlds’/the narratives that people live by; the frequency and technological format of listening.     

Orangutans (Pongo abelii) "play the odds": information-seeking strategies in relation to cost, risk, and benefit

Recent research has examined whether animals possess metacognition, or the ability to monitor their knowledge states. However, the extent to which animals actively control their knowledge states is still not well delineated. Although organisms might be capable of seeking information when it is lacking, it does not mean that it is always adaptive to do so. In the present set of experiments, we examined the flexibility of this behavior in captive orangutans (Pongo abelii; two adults and one juvenile) in a foraging task, by varying the necessity of information-seeking, the cost associated with it, the likelihood of error, and the value of the reward. In Experiment 1, subjects searched for information most often when it was "cheapest" energetically. In Experiment 2, subjects searched for information most often when the odds of making an error were the greatest. In Experiment 3, subjects searched for information more when the reward was doubled in value. In Experiment 4, adult subjects adapted to risk/benefit trade-offs in their searching behavior. In every experiment, subjects sought information more often when they needed it than when they already knew the solution to the problem. Therefore, the current research suggests that information-seeking behavior in orangutans shows a sophisticated level of flexibility, comparable to that seen in human children, as they appear to "play the odds" when making the decision to seek information or not.     

Identification with deficient rank loading matrices in confirmatory factor analysis: Multitrait-multimethod models

This paper presents some results on identification in multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models. Some MTMM models are not identified when the (factorial-patterned) loadings matrix is of deficient column rank. For at least one other MTMM model, identification does exist despite such deficiency. It is also shown that for some MTMM CFA models, Howe's (1955) conditions sufficient for rotational uniqueness can fail, yet the model may well be identified and rotationally unique. Implications of these results for CFA models in general are discussed.     

The hypercorrection effect persists over a week, but high-confidence errors return

People’s knowledge about the world often contains misconceptions that are well-learned and firmly believed. Although such misconceptions seem hard to correct, recent research has demonstrated that errors made with higher confidence are more likely to be corrected with feedback, a finding called the hypercorrection effect. We investigated whether this effect persists over a 1-week delay. Subjects answered general-knowledge questions about science, rated their confidence in each response, and received correct answer feedback. Half of the subjects reanswered the same questions immediately, while the other half reanswered them after a 1-week delay. The hypercorrection effect occurred on both the immediate and delayed final tests, but error correction decreased on the delayed test. When subjects failed to correct an error on the delayed test, they sometimes reproduced the same error from the initial test. Interestingly, high-confidence errors were more likely than low-confidence errors to be reproduced on the delayed test. These findings help to contextualize the hypercorrection effect within the broader memory literature by showing that high-confidence errors are more likely to be corrected, but they are also more likely to be reproduced if the correct answer is forgotten.     

Using verification feedback to correct errors made on a multiple-choice test

A key educational challenge is how to correct students' errors and misconceptions so that they do not persist. Simply labelling an answer as correct or incorrect on a short-answer test (verification feedback) does not improve performance on later tests; error correction requires receiving answer feedback. We explored the generality of this conclusion and whether the effectiveness of verification feedback depends on the type of test with which it is paired. We argue that, unlike for short-answer tests, learning whether one's multiple-choice selection is correct or incorrect should help participants narrow down the possible answers and identify specific lures as false. To test this proposition we asked participants to answer a series of general knowledge multiple-choice questions. They received no feedback, answer feedback, or verification feedback, and then took a short-answer test immediately and two days later. Verification feedback was just as effective as answer feedback for maintaining correct answers. Importantly, verification feedback allowed learners to correct more of their errors than did no feedback, although it was not as effective as answer feedback. Overall, verification feedback conveyed information to the learner, which has both practical and theoretical implications.     

Rocking to the beat: effects of music and partner's movements on spontaneous interpersonal coordination

People move to music and coordinate their movements with others spontaneously. Does music enhance spontaneous coordination? We compared the influence of visual information (seeing or not seeing another person) and auditory information (hearing movement or music or hearing no sound) on spontaneous coordination. Pairs of participants were seated side by side in rocking chairs, told a cover story, and asked to rock at a comfortable rate. Both seeing and hearing the other person rock elicited spontaneous coordination, and effects of hearing amplified those of seeing. Coupling with the music was weaker than with the partner, and the music competed with the partner's influence, reducing coordination. Music did, however, function as a kind of social glue: participants who synchronized more with the music felt more connected.     

Assessment of self and others during treatment for anorexia nervosa

Abstract

Repertory grids were used to compare a group of anorexic women (n = 12) with normal-weight (n = 12) and dieting (n = 10) control groups. Anorexics differed from both control groups in their perceptions of themselves and others. The constructs used were more meaningful to anorexics than to either control group. The way in which anorexics saw themselves differed from the way in which clinicians have indicated in the literature that they see their anorexic patients. Some constructs adopted a differential meaning and relevance for observer and observed when applied to the anorexic condition. The discrepancies between internally defined and externally imposed interpretations of construct meaning may help to explain why resistance to treatment and high relapse rates are encountered in anorexic women.