Unpacking the cognitive architecture of emotion processes

The results of 2 electroencephalographic studies confirm Component Process Model (CPM) predictions that different appraisal checks have specific brain state correlates, occur rapidly in a brief time window after stimulation, and produce results that occur in sequential rather than parallel fashion. The data are compatible with the assumption that early checks (novelty and intrinsic pleasantness) occur in an automatic, unconscious mode of processing, whereas later checks, specifically goal conduciveness, require more extensive, effortful, and controlled processing. Overall, this work, combined with growing evidence for the CPM's response patterning predictions concerning autonomic physiological signatures, facial muscle movements, and vocalization changes, suggests that this model provides an appropriate basis for the unpacking of the cognitive architecture of emotion and its computational modeling.     

Fractal analyses for ‘short’ time series: A re-assessment of classical methods

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performances of some classical methods of fractal analysis with short time series. We simulated exact fractal series to test how well methods estimate the Hurst exponent. We successively tested power spectral density analysis, detrended fluctuation analysis, rescaled range analysis, dispersional analysis, maximum likelihood estimation, and two versions of scaled windowed variance methods. All methods presented different advantages and disadvantages, in terms of biases and variability. We propose in conclusion a systematic step-by-step procedure of analysis, based on the performances of each method and their appropriateness regarding the scientific aims that could motivate fractal analysis.     

A Practical Approach to Revising Prioritized Knowledge Bases

This paper investigates simple syntactic methods for revising prioritized belief bases, that are semantically meaningful in the frameworks of possibility theory and of Spohn's ordinal conditional functions. Here, revising prioritized belief bases amounts to conditioning a distribution function on interpretations. The input information leading to the revision of a knowledge base can be sure or uncertain. Different types of scales for priorities are allowed: finite vs. infinite, numerical vs. ordinal. Syntactic revision is envisaged here as a process which transforms a prioritized belief bases into a new prioritized belief base, and thus allows a subsequent iteration.     

Do attributions change over time when the actor's behavior is hedonically relevant to the perceiver?

The tendency for observers to overattribute others' behavior to dispositional variables and, correspondingly, to underestimate the importance of situational variables has been well documented. Yet, the strength of this so-called fundamental attribution error has been challenged by J. M. Burger (1991), who showed that this bias disappeared over time. But does time cause an attribution shift when the other's behavior is negative and hedonically relevant to the observer (e.g., the former is attacked by the latter)? In an exploratory study, the authors showed that even in this case, attributions to dispositional variables tended to diminish overtime.     

Development of executive functioning in school-age Tunisian children

Research regarding executive functioning (EF) in children rarely focuses on populations in African or Middle-Eastern Arabic-speaking countries. The current study used a cross-sectional design to examine the developmental trajectories of school-age Tunisian children in three domains of executive control (inhibition of prepotent responses, cognitive flexibility, and working memory) as well as their mutual interactions and the effects of gender and parents’ education level. Inhibitory processes, cognitive flexibility, and working memory were assessed using the Stroop test, a version of the Hayling test adapted for children, simple and alternating tasks of verbal fluency, and verbal and visuospatial span tasks (forward and backward spans). The study population included 120 7- to 12-year-old Tunisian children (60 girls, 60 boys) who were grouped and matched for age, gender, and parents’ education level. The results revealed an overall effect of age on executive performance, whereas gender and parents’ education level showed non-significant effects. In addition, executive indices were significantly associated with fluid intelligence level. Partial correlation analyses (controlled for age) found significant links between indices that assessed the same executive process, except for inhibitory processes; the temporal indices for inhibitory processes showed relative independence. The correlations between indices that assessed distinct executive processes were weaker (but significant). Overall, the results suggest that executive components in school-age Tunisian children operate according to relatively homogeneous developmental trajectories, marked by peaks of maturity that differ according to the assessed index. A transcultural approach to EF is discussed in terms of the unity and diversity of its components.     

The Effect of the Balance of Orthographic Neighborhood Distribution in Visual Word Recognition

The present study investigated whether the balance of neighborhood distribution (i.e., the way orthographic neighbors are spread across letter positions) influences visual word recognition. Three word conditions were compared. Word neighbors were either concentrated on one letter position (e.g.,nasse/basse-lasse-tasse-masse) or were unequally spread across two letter positions (e.g.,pelle/celle-selle-telle-perle), or were equally spread across two letter positions (e.g.,litre/titre-vitre-libre-livre). Predictions based on the interactive activation model [McClelland & Rumelhart (1981). Psychological Review, 88, 375–401] were generated by running simulations and were confirmed in the lexical decision task. Data showed that words were more rapidly identified when they had spread neighbors rather than concentrated neighbors. Furthermore, within the set of spread neighbors, words were more rapidly recognized when they had equally rather than unequally spread neighbors. The findings are explained in terms of activation and inhibition processes in the interactive activation framework.     

The nature of the transition between novice and skilled coordination during learning to swing

The purpose of this study was to analyze the nature of the coordination evolution during the process of learning a gross motor skill. Participants had to learn to oscillate as smoothly as possible on an experimental swing during 10 sessions of 10 trials. Using tools and methods of dynamical systems theory, two qualitatively different coordination modes were observed during learning. The change from the novice behavior (characterized by a single forcing) to the skilled behavior (characterized by a dual forcing) was characterized by a period during which the two behaviors were used in alternation. In accordance with Newell's [Newell, K. M. (1991). Motor skill acquisition. Annual Review of Psychology, 42, 213-237] ideas, motor learning appears a non-linear process, and this non-linearity seems to have the form of a prolonged phase transition (like in a saddle-node bifurcation) which permits access to the skilled behavior.     

Orientation in the cuttlefish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sepia officinalis</Emphasis>: response <Emphasis Type="Italic">versus</Emphasis> place learning

Several studies have demonstrated that mammals, birds and fish use comparable spatial learning strategies. Unfortunately, except in insects, few studies have investigated spatial learning mechanisms in invertebrates. Our study aimed to identify the strategies used by cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) to solve a spatial task commonly used with vertebrates. A new spatial learning procedure using a T-maze was designed. In this maze, the cuttlefish learned how to enter a dark and sandy compartment. A preliminary test confirmed that individual cuttlefish showed an untrained side-turning preference (preference for turning right or left) in the T-maze. This preference could be reliably detected in a single probe trial. In the following two experiments, each individual was trained to enter the compartment opposite to its side-turning preference. In Experiment 1, distal visual cues were provided around the maze. In Experiment 2, the T-maze was surrounded by curtains and two proximal visual cues were provided above the apparatus. In both experiments, after acquisition, strategies used by cuttlefish to orient in the T-maze were tested by creating a conflict between the formerly rewarded algorithmic behaviour (turn, response learning) and the visual cues identifying the goal (place learning). Most cuttlefish relied on response learning in Experiment 1; the two strategies were used equally often in Experiment 2. In these experiments, the salience of cues provided during the experiment determined whether cuttlefish used response or place learning to solve this spatial task. Our study demonstrates for the first time the presence of multiple spatial strategies in cuttlefish that appear to closely parallel those described in vertebrates.     

Relationships between executive function,working memory,and decision-making on the Iowa Gambling Task: Evidence from ventromedial patients,dorsolateral patients,and normal subjects

The results of previous studies are inconsistent in regard to the relationship between the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), working-memory (WM), and executive tasks, and whether these cognitive processes could be considered as mechanisms underlying a decision-making deficit. Moreover, the relationship between the IGT and executive measures is examined based on a limited number of executive tasks, within different populations showing diffuse damage. In addition, there are fewer studies carried out within control participants, with those studies also being inconclusive. It is also suggested that the association of the IGT performance with executive tasks depends on whether the IGT was running under ambiguity or under risk. In this work, all of these issues are studied. Results showed that both patients with ventromedial (VMPFC, N = 10) and dorsolateral (DLPFC, N = 10) prefrontal cortex lesions are significantly impaired on almost all executive tasks, WM tasks, and the IGT. Furthermore, when the IGT is run under risk, there are significant correlations between executive measures and the IGT for the DLPFC patients and the control participants (N = 34) but not the VMPFC patients. No correlation was found between WM tasks and the IGT for both frontal subgroups and control participants. These findings suggested that the mechanisms underlying the IGT deficit differ according to the lesion locations.