Right hemisphere appreciation of prosodic and linguistic indications of implicit attitude

Appreciation of attitudes conveyed through prosodic cues and lexical content was examined in subjects with temporal lobe seizure foci. One task involved auditory judgments of the consistency of verbal and intonational meaning of sentences. Errors on judgments of consistent verbal and prosodic stimuli were not only more frequent in the right temporal group than in left temporals or controls but were strongly related to neuropsychological indices associated with extent of right temporal involvement. Answering questions based on written narratives in which multiple attitude markers were either redundant or conflicting comprised the second task. Right temporal patients as a group had difficulty in answering inferential questions about paragraphs with inconsistent indicators of attitude. Even low-scoring right temporals were able, however, to answer inferential and factual questions when the verbal context markers consistently reinforced a particular attitude.     

Counselling of alcohol-dependents based on a model of change to abstinence

A model of change to abstinence in alcohol-dependents is presented based on the theory of reasoned action of Ajzen & Fishbein. The model includes attitudes, defence mechanisms and norms about aspects of alcohol consumption. An empirical study supports elements of the model. Conclusions pertinent to the counselling process are drawn.     

The short-term storage as a buffer memory between long-term storage and the motor system: A simultaneous-processing model

It is assumed that in a free-recall task the short-term store serves as a memory buffer between the long-term store and a final motor stage of word production. Because of this the retrieval process in long-term store is not hindered by the final motor stage of word production since continued output from the long-term store queues in the buffer for motoric processing. Otherwise a time consuming communication between the two processes would be necessary. A stochastic model of this conceptualization is provided to predict the temporal course of free recall as well as a paradigm in which the contribution of the short-term store in free recall can be studied. The experimental results from this paradigm were used to test the model and to estimate short-term storage capacity on the basis of the time course of free recall. The model predictions were in good agreement with the data and the capacity estimate coincides well with estimates found by totally different methods reported in the literature.     

Long-range regressions to previously read words are guided by spatial and verbal memory

To examine the nature of the information that guides eye movements to previously read text during reading (regressions), we used a relatively novel technique to request a regression to a particular target word when the eyes reached a predefined location during sentence reading. A regression was to be directed to a close or a distant target when either the first or the second line of a complex two-line sentence was read. In addition, conditions were created that pitted effects of spatial and linguistic distance against each other. Initial regressions were more accurate when the target was spatially near, and effects of spatial distance dominated effects of verbal distance. Initial regressions rarely moved the eyes onto the target, however, and subsequent "corrective" regressions that homed in on the target were subject to general linguistic processing demands, being more accurate during first-line reading than during second-line reading. The results suggest that spatial and verbal memory guide regressions in reading. Initial regressions are primarily guided by fixation-centered spatial memory, and corrective regressions are primarily guided by linguistic knowledge.