Ignorance reflects preference: the influence of selective ignoring on evaluative conditioning

In the current experiment, we investigated the mechanism underlying the modulation of evaluative conditioning (EC) due to selective attention. Conditioned stimulus–unconditioned stimulus (CS–US) pairs were presented in a just recently introduced adapted Flanker paradigm [Blask, K., Walther, E., & Frings, C. (2016). When congruence breeds preference: The influence of selective attention processes on evaluative conditioning. Cognition and Emotion. doi:10.1080/02699931.2016.1197100] with CSs as targets and USs as task-irrelevant distracters. In order to disentangle stimulus congruency and response compatibility and in order to observe a possible impact of response compatibility, EC in an incongruent/incompatible condition was compared to EC in an incongruent/neutral condition. Results show that EC and contingency memorywere significantly reduced in the incongruent/incompatible condition relative to the incongruent/neutral condition. These findings support the notion that the modulation of EC due to selective attention can be based on the selective ignoring of the US at the level of response compatibility.     

A role for ERK MAP kinase in physiologic temporal integration in hippocampal area CA1

Recent studies demonstrate a requirement for the Extracellular signal Regulated Kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade in both the induction of long-lasting forms of hippocampal synaptic plasticity and in hippocampus-dependent associative and spatial learning. In the present studies, we investigated mechanisms by which ERK might contribute to synaptic plasticity at Schaffer collateral synapses in hippocampal slices. We found that long-term potentiation (LTP) induced with a pair of 100-Hz tetani does not require ERK activation in mice whereas it does in rats. However, in mice, inhibition of ERK activation blocked LTP induced by two LTP induction paradigms that mimicked the endogenous θ rhythm. In an additional series of studies, we found that mice specifically deficient in the ERK1 isoform of MAPK showed no impairments in tests of hippocampal physiology. To investigate ERK-dependent mechanisms operating during LTP-inducing stimulation paradigms, we monitored spike production in the cell body layer of the hippocampus during the period of θ-like LTP-inducing stimulation. θ-burst stimulation (TBS) produced a significant amount of postsynaptic spiking, and the likelihood of spike production increased progressively over the course of the three trains of TBS independent of any apparent increase in Excitatory Post-Synaptic Potential (EPSP) magnitude. Inhibition of ERK activation dampened this TBS-associated increase in spiking. These data indicate that, for specific patterns of stimulation, ERK may function in the regulation of neuronal excitability in hippocampal area CA1. Overall, our data indicate that the progressive increase in spiking observed during TBS represents a form of physiologic temporal integration that is dependent on ERK MAPK activity.     

Hoarding in a compulsive buying sample

Previous research has indicated that many compulsive buyers also suffer from compulsive hoarding. The present work specifically examined hoarding in a compulsive buying sample. Sixty-six treatment-seeking compulsive buyers were assessed prior to entering a group therapy for compulsive buying using the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS)-Shopping Version, the Compulsive Acquisition Scale (CAS), the German-CBS, the Saving Inventory-Revised (SI-R), the Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I (SCID). Inclusion criteria were current problems with compulsive buying according to the proposed diagnostic criteria for compulsive buying by McElroy, Keck, Pope, Smith, and Strakowski [(1994). Compulsive buying: A report of 20 cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 55, 242-248]. Our results support the assumption that many but not all compulsive buyers suffer from compulsive hoarding. A significant association between the SI-R and the compulsive buying measures CBS, Y-BOCS-SV, German-CBS, and the CAS-Buy subscale was found, which is mostly caused by the SI-R subscale acquisition. The SI-R subscales clutter and difficulty discarding were more closely associated with the CAS-Free subscale and with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Hoarding compulsive buyers reported more severe buying symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptoms and presented with a higher psychiatric co-morbidity, especially any current affective, anxiety and eating disorder. Specific therapeutic interventions for compulsive buyers who also report compulsive hoarding appear indicated.     

Behavioral performances in participants with phonological dyslexia and different patterns on the N170 component

Adults with phonological dyslexia and controls performed a lexical decision task while ERPs were recorded in the occipitotemporal pathway. Based on N170 durations, two subgroups were formed: dysl1 showing longer N170 durations and dysl2 showing normal N170 durations. While the dysl1 subgroup had poorer accuracy for infrequent words and pseudo-words, the dysl2 group responded more slowly than controls to pseudo-words. N170 amplitudes were larger in the left hemisphere for controls irrespective of items. In the dysl1 subgroup, N170 amplitudes were larger in the left hemisphere than the right for words but not for pseudo-words, a sign of hemispheric compensation, while in the dysl2 subgroup signs of bilateralization were observed. Moreover, in the dysl1 subgroup, P100 amplitudes were smaller than controls. These results indicate different behavioral profiles of dyslexics with different patterns of P100 and N170 components. The ERP changes may be due to different behavioral strategies employed by each subgroup, logographic in dysl2 and phonological in dysl1.     

Looking, language, and memory: Bridging research from the visual world and visual search paradigms

In the visual world paradigm as used in psycholinguistics, eye gaze (i.e. visual orienting) is measured in order to draw conclusions about linguistic processing. However, current theories are underspecified with respect to how visual attention is guided on the basis of linguistic representations. In the visual search paradigm as used within the area of visual attention research, investigators have become more and more interested in how visual orienting is affected by higher order representations, such as those involved in memory and language. Within this area more specific models of orienting on the basis of visual information exist, but they need to be extended with mechanisms that allow for language-mediated orienting. In the present paper we review the evidence from these two different – but highly related – research areas. We arrive at a model in which working memory serves as the nexus in which long-term visual as well as linguistic representations (i.e. types) are bound to specific locations (i.e. tokens or indices). The model predicts that the interaction between language and visual attention is subject to a number of conditions, such as the presence of the guiding representation in working memory, capacity limitations, and cognitive control mechanisms.     

How to switch on and switch off semantic priming effects for natural and artifactual categories: activation processes in category memory depend on focusing specific feature dimensions

"Semantic priming" refers to the phenomenon that people react faster to target words preceded by semantically related rather than semantically unrelated words. We wondered whether momentary mind sets modulate semantic priming for natural versus artifactual categories. We interspersed a category priming task with a second task that required participants to react to either the perceptual or action features of simple geometric shapes. Focusing on perceptual features enhanced semantic priming effects for natural categories, whereas focusing on action features enhanced semantic priming effects for artifactual categories. In fact, significant priming effects emerged only for those categories thought to rely on the features activated by the second task. This result suggests that (a) priming effects depend on momentary mind set and (b) features can be weighted flexibly in concept representations; it is also further evidence for sensory-functional accounts of concept and category representation.