Object retrieval in the 1st year of life: learning effects of task exposure and box transparency

Before 12 months of age, infants have difficulties coordinating and sequencing their movements to retrieve an object concealed in a box. This study examined (a) whether young infants can discover effective retrieval solutions and consolidate movement coordination earlier if exposed regularly to such a task and (b) whether different environments, indexed by box transparency, would impact the rate of learning and time of discovery of these solutions. Infants (N=12) were presented with an object retrieval task every week from 6 1/2 months of age until they were able to retrieve the toy from the box using coordinated two-handed patterns for 3 weeks. To reach that criterion, infants tested with an opaque box took 2 1/2 months and infants tested with a semitransparent box took 1 1/2 months. Both groups outperformed age-matched controls who received a one-time exposure to the task. Repeated exposure to the task and vision of the toy significantly enhanced this process of solution discovery.     

Acting and planning on the basis of a false belief: its effects on 3-year-old children's reasoning about their own false beliefs

This study examined 3-year-olds' explanations for actions of theirs that were premised on a false belief. In Experiment 1, children stated what they thought was inside a crayon box. After stating "crayons," they went to retrieve some paper to draw on. Children were then shown that the box contained candles and were asked to (a) state their initial belief and (b) explain their action of getting paper. Children who were unable to retrieve their false belief were unable to correctly explain their action. Experiments 2 and 3 ruled out several alternative interpretations for these findings. In Experiment 4, children planned and acted on their false belief. Again, children who were unable to retrieve their false belief were unable to correctly explain their action.     

Activation of midbrain structures by associative novelty and the formation of explicit memory in humans

Recent evidence suggests a close functional relationship between memory formation in the hippocampus and dopaminergic neuromodulation originating in the ventral tegmental area and medial substantia nigra of the midbrain. Here we report midbrain activation in two functional MRI studies of visual memory in healthy young adults. In the first study, participants distinguished between familiar and novel configurations of pairs of items which had been studied together by either learning the location or the identity of the items. In the second study, participants studied words by either rating the words' pleasantness or counting syllables. The ventral tegmental area and medial substantia nigra showed increased activation by associative novelty (first study) and subsequent free recall performance (second study). In both studies, this activation accompanied hippocampal activation, but was unaffected by the study task. Thus midbrain regions seem to participate selectively in hippocampus-dependent processes of associative novelty and explicit memory formation, but appear to be unaffected by other task-relevant aspects.     

Contrasting activity patterns of two related octopus species, Octopus macropus and Octopus vulgaris

Octopus macropus and Octopus vulgaris have overlapping habitats and are exposed to similar temporal changes. Whereas the former species is described as nocturnal in the field, there are conflicting reports about the activity time of the latter one. To compare activity patterns, the authors tested both species in the laboratory. Octopuses were exposed to a light-dark cycle and held under constant dim light for 7 days each. O. macropus showed nocturnal and light-cued activity. According to casual observations, O. vulgaris started out nocturnal but had switched to mostly diurnal when the experiment began. Individual variation of its activity was found. The different activity patterns of O. macropus and O. vulgaris might reflect their lifestyles, the latter species being more generalist.     

Modulation of working, short- and long-term memory by nicotinic receptors in the basolateral amygdala in rats

Male Wistar rats were exposed to one-trial step-down inhibitory avoidance training using a 0.5 mA footshock. Through bilaterally implanted indwelling cannulae, they received bilateral 0.5 microL infusions of saline, mecamylamine (1.0 or 10.0 microg/side), or nicotine (0.6 or 3.0 microg/side) into the basolateral complex of the amygdaloid nucleus (BLA). Infusions were either 10 min before training (Experiment 1) or 4 min after training (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, the animals were tested three times: first for working memory (WM) 5 s after training, then for short-term memory (STM) 90 min later, and finally for long-term memory (LTM) 24 h later. Mecamylamine depressed and nicotine enhanced WM, STM, and LTM. In Experiment 2, the treatments were given after WM was presumably over. Again, mecamylamine inhibited and nicotine enhanced STM and LTM. The results indicate that nAChRs in BLA participate in the regulation of WM formation and STM and LTM acquisition and consolidation.     

The neural basis of language talent in bilinguals

In a recent paper, Chee et al. report differences in the patterns of brain activation and deactivation in bilinguals with different levels of proficiency in their second language. Most intriguingly, this research addressed the issue of the neural basis of phonological working memory (PWM), which is crucial in language acquisition, in subjects who were under comparable social pressure to be bilinguals. The results led the authors to suggest that a more readily available working memory system might correlate with the attainment of superior proficiency in a second language.     

Mother-child separations among homeless and housed families receiving public assistance in New York City

We examined the incidence, characteristics, and predictors of separations of children from mothers in 543 poor families receiving public assistance, 251 of whom had experienced homelessness during the previous 5 years. Forty-four percent of the homeless mothers and 8% of housed mothers were separated from one or more children. A total of 249 children were separated from 110 homeless families and 34 children from 23 housed families. Children were placed with relatives and in foster care but were rarely returned to their mothers. Maternal drug dependence, domestic violence, and institutionalization predicted separations, but homelessness was the most important predictor, equivalent in size to 1.9 other risk factors. We infer that policies regarding child welfare and substance abuse treatment should be changed to reduce unnecessary placements. Studies of homeless children who remain with families may be biased if separated children are excluded.     

Why mood affects help giving,but not moral courage: Comparing two types of prosocial behaviour

A long tradition in the help giving literature assumes that mood states determine the level of prosocial behaviour shown by individuals. Most research in this area has been conducted in the context of low cost prosocial behaviour, whereas research has been neglected in which participants were confronted with situations involving potential severe and dangerous negative consequences (i.e., high cost situations) with the help‐giver risking his moral integrity and social disapproval (i.e., moral courage). To address this gap in the literature, the present studies investigate differential effects of positive and negative compared with neutral mood states on help giving versus moral courage. Study 1 shows that in situations requiring low cost helping, participants were more likely to help in positive and negative moods than those in a neutral mood, whereas in situations requiring moral courage (high cost), participants were comparably likely to help in each of the three mood conditions. In Study 2, we find that salience of moral norms mediates the interaction between type of prosocial behaviour and mood. Finally, Study 3 investigates whether the apparent discrepancy between help giving and moral courage as established by the differential impact of mood states can be determined still differently. It reveals that justice sensibility, civil disobedience, resistance to group pressure, moral mandates, and anger lead to moral courage, but not to help giving. Differences between these two types of prosocial behaviour are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are Psychiatric Residents Still Interested in Psychoanalysis? A Brief Report

In spite of the efficacy of the psychodynamic psychotherapies, the number of young psychiatric residents interested in psychodynamic therapies is decreasing. Our psychoanalytical group, Genden (Genève-Denver), explored the possible reasons for psychiatric residents' hesitation to get psychoanalytic training. Five psychoanalytical psychotherapists met weekly for a year in order to debate that question, focusing on personal feedbacks from all of our 100 residents in psychiatry working with us for at least 4 years. Following the residents' responses, our focus group proposed ten commonsense feedbacks for psychoanalysts regarding stimulating young psychiatric residents' interest in psychoanalytic approaches.     

Asymmetrical clustering by sex in free-forming groups: an observational field study

464 observations were carried out in public places of 3- or 4-person, mixed sex, free-forming groups who spontaneously divided into subgroups. An analysis of sex composition of the subgroups showed that significantly more single-sex subgroups were formed than expected by chance. This was significantly more pronounced among women than among men. Several explanations were considered.