AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF FACILITATED COMMUNICATION

We evaluated the authorship of messages produced through facilitated communication by 7 adults with moderate or severe mental retardation and their facilitators. The clients had been reported to be communicating fluently through facilitated communication. We controlled the facilitators' access to information to be communicated in two evaluation formats, naming pictures and describing activities. In both formats we conducted three conditions: (a) the facilitator and client had access to the same information, (b) the facilitator did not have access to the picture or activity, and (c) the facilitator was given false information about the picture or activity. The results showed that the clients typed the correct answer only when the facilitator had access to the same information, never typed the correct answer when the facilitator had no information or false information, and typed the picture or activity presented to the facilitator when it was different from the one experienced by the client. These results provide unequivocal evidence for facilitator control of typing during facilitated communication.     

Agenda Cueing Effects of News and Social Media

Agenda cues, in which individuals perceive that media has frequently covered a problem regardless of actual exposure to that coverage, have initially been shown to produce powerful agenda setting effects (Pingree and Stoycheff, 2013). This study uses two experiments to test the presence and prominence cueing effects across a variety of issues and whether the cue originates from traditional news or Twitter users. Agenda cues produced significant effects on five of six issues studied for news and four of six for Twitter. For one issue (gun control/rights), both types of agenda cues produced effect sizes rivaling those of the strongest effects found in Iyengar and Kinder’s (News That Matters: Television and American Opinion, University of Chicago Press, 1987) classic agenda setting experiments. On average, news agenda cues were stronger than Twitter agenda cues, and were about 78% as strong as classic news agenda setting effects, suggesting that cueing may be the dominant mechanism driving agenda setting effects. The role of gatekeeping trust as a moderator of agenda cueing was only inconsistently replicated.s     

Differential involvement of left prefrontal cortex in inductive and deductive reasoning

While inductive and deductive reasoning are considered distinct logical and psychological processes, little is known about their respective neural basis. To address this issue we scanned 16 subjects with fMRI, using an event-related design, while they engaged in inductive and deductive reasoning tasks. Both types of reasoning were characterized by activation of left lateral prefrontal and bilateral dorsal frontal, parietal, and occipital cortices. Neural responses unique to each type of reasoning determined from the Reasoning Type (deduction and induction) by Task (reasoning and baseline) interaction indicated greater involvement of left inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44) in deduction than induction, while left dorsolateral (BA 8/9) prefrontal gyrus showed greater activity during induction than deduction. This pattern suggests a dissociation within prefrontal cortex for deductive and inductive reasoning.     

Bilingualism, aging, and cognitive control: evidence from the Simon task

Previous work has shown that bilingualism is associated with more effective controlled processing in children; the assumption is that the constant management of 2 competing languages enhances executive functions (E. Bialystok, 2001). The present research attempted to determine whether this bilingual advantage persists for adults and whether bilingualism attenuates the negative effects of aging on cognitive control in older adults. Three studies are reported that compared the performance of monolingual and bilingual middle-aged and older adults on the Simon task. Bilingualism was associated with smaller Simon effect costs for both age groups; bilingual participants also responded more rapidly to conditions that placed greater demands on working memory. In all cases the bilingual advantage was greater for older participants. It appears, therefore, that controlled processing is carried out more effectively by bilinguals and that bilingualism helps to offset age-related losses in certain executive processes.     

内表型方法在精神疾病研究中的应用

精神疾病在很大程度上受到遗传的影响,而对疾病的遗传学研究却没有得到一致的结论,内表型正是在这一背景下提出。内表型是可以通过生化测试或显微镜检查发现的内在的表现型,即内表型不是很明显的、外在的而是微观的、内在的,内表型比疾病的外在表现更接近疾病的生物学基础,更少受到外在因素的影响,因而通过内表型来研究疾病的遗传基因有着显著的优势。现有的精神疾病诊断和分类标准都是以临床症状和行为描述为基础的,缺少生物学基础,基于内表型的分析对建立疾病的诊断和分类的生物学基础是非常重要的。内表型可以是神经生理的,生物化学的,神经解剖的,认知的,神经心理学的测量。作为内表型需要满足与疾病共同存在,可遗传,状态独立,在家庭中和疾病共分离,在病人未发病亲属中比一般人群的比率要高等标准。该文在介绍了内表型的概念,说明了内表型的原理,优点与用处,以及作为内表型需要满足的标准之后,进而以几种常见的精神疾病（多动症、精神分裂症、抑郁症）为例说明了目前认知内表型研究的进展,其中反应抑制和工作记忆可以作为多动症的内表型,注意、言语记忆和工作记忆可以作为精神分裂症和抑郁症的内表型,文章回顾了它们作为内表型所满足的标准的相关文献。最后对内表型的研究做出了展望     

The posterior parietal cortex and long-term memory representation of spatial information

The hypothesis to be explored in this chapter is based on the assumption that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) is directly involved in representing a subset of the spatial features associated with spatial information processing and plays an important role in perceptual memory as well as long-term memory encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of spatial information. After presentation of the anatomical location of the PPC in rats, the nature of PPC representation based on single spatial features, binding of visual features associated with visual spatial attention, binding of object-place associations associated with acquisition and storage of associations where one of the elements is a spatial component, and binding of ideothetic and allothetic information in long-term memory is discussed. Additional evidence for a PPC role in mediation of spatial information in long-term storage is offered. Finally, the relationship between the PPC and the hippocampus from a systems and dynamic point view is presented.     

The development of the Body Morph Assessment version 2.0 (BMA 2.0): Tests of reliability and validity

This study tested the psychometric characteristics of the Body Morph Assessment version 2.0 (BMA 2.0). A sample of 563 adults composed of four groups classified by gender and ethnicity (Caucasian men and women and African-American men and women) were studied. Support for the internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the BMA 2.0 was found for both men and women. A study of convergent validity was conducted. The BMA 2.0 was found to have adequate reliability and validity. Norms were established for the BMA 2.0 estimates of current body size (CBS), ideal body size (IBS), and acceptable body size (ABS) for Caucasian and African-American men and women. In summary, the BMA 2.0 is a reliable and valid computerized measure of CBS, IBS, ABS, the CBS–IBS discrepancy (body dissatisfaction), and provides an estimate of over/underestimation of body size as compared to individuals of the same sex and body mass index.     

TAOISM AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Abstract. The seemingly disparate systems of philosophical Taoism and modern biological science are compared. A surprising degree of similarity is found in their views on death, reversion (cyclicity of phenomena), complementary interactions of dichotomous systems, and the place of humans in the universe. The thesis is advanced that these similarities arise quite naturally, since both systems base their knowledge upon objective observation of natural phenomena. Substantial differences between the two systems are recognized and examined regarding verbal argument, machinery, and experimentation. The Taoists' relationship to Chinese alchemy and the biologists' to technology are claimed to mitigate their attitudes toward experimentation.     

The Good Behavior Game: A brief review

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a group contingency that reduces disruption and increases engagement in various contexts. In recent years, researchers have extended the GBG in at least 3 ways: (a) demonstrating its efficacy with novel populations, settings, and behaviors, (b) examining procedural variations that improve contextual fit, and (c) using more comprehensive data collection methods to explore the behavior of individual students and indirect effects. The purpose of the current review is to summarize recent advances, discuss implications of recent studies and potential mechanisms for the general efficacy of the GBG, and suggest future directions.