Preservation of mouth region processing in two cases of prosopagnosia

Although most adults are considered experts in face recognition, brain trauma can produce a selective loss in this ability, a condition referred to as prosopagnosia. This study examined the processing strategies of prosopagnosic patients LR and HH using the Face Dimensions Test. In this test, featural and configural information in the upper and lower halves of the face was parametrically varied and sensitivity to these changes measured. We found that relative to age‐matched control participants, LR and HH exhibited an impaired ability to discriminate differences in the eye region, but a preserved ability to detect featural and configural differences in the mouth region. This pattern of impairment and sparing was demonstrated in tests of direct perception and immediate memory. The obtained findings demonstrate that prosopagnosia does not necessarily cause a global impairment to face perception, but a selective impairment to the perception of information in the upper half of the face.     

Action‐Based Model of Dissonance: A Review of Behavioral,Anterior Cingulate,and Prefrontal Cortical Mechanisms

Research and theoretical developments on the theory of cognitive dissonance are reviewed. After this critical review, we present the action‐based model of dissonance, which accepts the original theory's proposal that a sufficient cognitive inconsistency causes dissonance and extends the original theory by proposing why cognitive inconsistency prompts dissonance. Finally, we present results from behavioral and physiological experiments examining predictions derived from the action‐based model. In particular, this evidence converges with recent neuroscience evidence in suggesting that the anterior cingulate cortex and left prefrontal cortical region are involved in conflict detection and resolution, respectively.     

Exploring cognitive effects of self reported mild stroke in older adults: selective but robust effects on story memory

Relatively little systematic information is available regarding patterns of cognitive effects of mild stroke in older adults. We explored this problem with a series of two independent samples from the Victoria Longitudinal Study data archives. In Study 1, self-reported mild stroke and neurologically intact matched controls were (a) confirmed as similar on a set of neurocognitive speed, basic cognition, and awareness indicators, and (b) compared for differences on a set of episodic, semantic, and working memory tasks. The mild stroke group was selectively worse on the language intensive story memory task. This effect was partially attributable to a deficit in remembering the most thematic information. Study 2 closely replicated these procedures and results. In addition, Study 2 follow-up analyses, comparing provisional right-hemisphere damaged and left-hemisphere damaged (LHD) participants, revealed that the thematic story memory deficit for mild stroke participants could be due to the selective impairment of LHD participants.     

The Effects of Adult Suggestion and Child Consistency on Young Children's Reports1

The purpose of the present study was to contrast the effects of children's response consistency and adult leading questions in a structured memory interview. Children (N = 70) who viewed a 2‐min video clip were asked 3 questions (leading, misleading, and neutral) related to the video. Children's responses (assent vs. deny) were predicted by the type of question asked by the adult (neutral, leading, and misleading), but not by the previous response given by the child or the child's age in months. Specifically, children assented the least often to misleading questions. Accuracy was predicted by both question type and in the last question–answer pair, children's previous response accuracy. These findings are discussed with relation to interview dynamics.     

Comparing expert and novice understanding of a complex system from the perspective of structures, behaviors, and functions

Complex systems are pervasive in the world around us. Making sense of a complex system should require that a person construct a network of concepts and principles about some domain that represents key (often dynamic) phenomena and their interrelationships. This raises the question of how expert understanding of complex systems differs from novice understanding. In this study we examined individuals’ representations of an aquatic system from the perspective of structural (elements of a system), behavioral (mechanisms), and functional aspects of a system. Structure-Behavior-Function (SBF) theory was used as a framework for analysis. The study included participants from middle school children to preservice teachers to aquarium experts. Individual interviews were conducted to elicit participants’ mental models of aquaria. Their verbal responses and pictorial representations were analyzed using an SBF-based coding scheme. The results indicated that representations ranged from focusing on structures with minimal understanding of behaviors and functions to representations that included behaviors and functions. Novices’ representations focused on perceptually available, static components of the system, whereas experts integrated structural, functional, and behavioral elements. This study suggests that the SBF framework can be one useful formalism for understanding complex systems.     

Helping Children and Caregivers Cope with Repeated Invasive Procedures: How Are We Doing?

This paper discusses recent developments in the medical and psychological management of child behavioral distress during invasive (i.e., needle stick) procedures for diagnosis and treatment of chronic pediatric disorders. Along with a review of relevant studies from the medical, pediatric psychology and behavior analysis literatures, representative data are presented from recent research on pediatric procedural pain management. The impact of increasing use of implanted subcutaneous intravenous catheters (ports) and decreased reliance on intravenous cannulation is discussed. Similarly, the effects (and limitations) of more frequent use of topical anesthesia to prepare needle sites also are presented. The continuing need for adjunctive, nonpharmacological (i.e., cognitive and behavioral) interventions for procedural pain is emphasized, and recent studies on distraction and counter-conditioning-based treatments are described. Future research is encouraged on (1) behavioral interventions in relation to day-to-day contextual variables that modulate treatment effects and (2) the development of efficient screening measures to identify children and families who are least likely to cope effectively with repeated procedures, allowing them to be given greater priority for allocation of limited resources for psychosocial intervention.     

Preschoolers’ nonsymbolic arithmetic with large sets: Is addition more accurate than subtraction?

Adult and developing humans share with other animals analog magnitude representations of number that support nonsymbolic arithmetic with large sets. This experiment tested the hypothesis that such representations may be more accurate for addition than for subtraction in children as young as 3½ years of age. In these tasks, the experimenter hid two equal sets of cookies, visibly added to or subtracted from the sets, and then asked 3½-year-olds which set had more cookies. Initial set size was either large (7 or 9) or very large (18 or 30), and the final sets differed by either a high proportion (ratio of 1:2) or a low proportion (difference of 1 cookie). Children’s addition performance exceeded chance, as well as their subtraction performance, across set sizes and proportions, whereas subtraction performance did not exceed chance. Arithmetic performance was also independent of counting ability. Addition performance was remarkably accurate when ratios between outcomes were close to 1, in contrast to previous findings. Interpretations for the asymmetry between addition and subtraction are discussed with respect to the nature of representations for nonsymbolic arithmetic with large sets.     

Symbolic self‐completion in academia: evidence from department web pages and email signature files

Symbolic self‐completion theory proposes that individuals use symbols of attainment to define themselves as accomplished in self‐defining areas and to communicate their accomplishments to others. The goal of the present research was to examine whether individual professors and academic departments strive for symbolic self‐completion when communicating through the Internet. We hypothesized that publications, citations, and departmental rankings by the National Research Council (NRC) represent important indicators of attainment for professors, whereas professional titles (i.e., “doctor,” “professor,” or “Ph.D.”) may serve as alternate symbols of attainment. We predicted that a lack of important indicators of attainment would motivate the display of professional titles in web pages and email signature files. In Study 1, academic departments with less prestigious NRC rankings listed more professional titles on their departmental web pages compared to departments with more prestigious rankings. In Studies 2 and 3, professors with lower annual rates of publications and citations displayed more professional titles in their email signatures compared to professors with higher publication and citation rates. These results suggest that self‐completion motives help to shape naturalistic Internet communications. The results further suggest that analyses of Internet communications can provide externally valid tests of theories concerned with motivation and self‐processes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Context influences holistic processing of nonface objects in the composite task

We explored whether holistic-like effects can be observed for nonface objects in novices as a result of the task context. We measured contextually induced congruency effects for novel objects (Greebles) in a sequential matching selective attention task (composite task). When format at study was blocked, congruency effects were observed for study-misaligned, but not study-aligned, conditions (Experiment 1). However, congruency effects were observed in all conditions when study formats were randomized (Experiment 2), revealing that the presence of certain trial types (study-misaligned) in an experiment can induce congruency effects. In a dual task, a congruency effect for Greebles was induced in trials in which a face was first encoded, but only when it was aligned (Experiment 3). Thus, congruency effects can be induced by context that operates at the scale of the entire experiment or within a single trial. Implications for using the composite task to measure holistic processing are discussed.