Valence and vertical space: Saccade trajectory deviations reveal metaphorical spatial activation

Concepts of positive and negative valence are metaphorically structured in space (e.g., happy is up, sad is down). In fact, coupling a conceptual task (e.g., evaluating words as positive or negative) with a visuospatial task (e.g., identifying stimuli above or below fixation) often gives rise to metaphorical congruency effects. For instance, after reading a positive concept, visual target processing is facilitated above fixation. However, it is possible that tasks requiring upwards and downwards attentional orienting artificially strengthen the link between vertical space and semantic valence. For this reason, in the present study the vertical axis was uncoupled from the response axis. Participants made eye movements along the horizontal axis after reading positive or negative affect words, while their saccade movement trajectories were recorded. Based on previous research on saccade trajectory deviation, we predicted that fast saccade trajectories curve towards the salient segment of space, whereas slow saccade trajectories would curve away from the salient segment. Examining saccadic trajectories revealed a pattern of deviations along the vertical axis consistent with the metaphorical congruency account, although this pattern was mainly driven by positive concepts. These results suggest that semantic processing of valence can automatically recruit spatial features along the vertical axis.     

The role of the gap effect in the orienting of attention: Evidence for express attentional shifts

The “gap effect” refers to the finding that saccadic latencies are typically reduced when the fixation point is removed just prior to the presentation of a target. One explanation for this effect is that the removal of the fixation point causes the disengagement of covert attention and allows for extremely rapid movements of attention (express attentional shifts). However, previous research regarding express attentional shifts has yielded equivocal results. The present study used a variation of a peripheral cueing paradigm with a discrimination task (Experiment 1) and a detection task (Experiment 2) to further examine this issue. The results from eye movement and keypress latencies indicated that there were express attentional shifts with the discrimination task but not in the detection task. This pattern of results may have been due to differences in how attention was allocated between the two tasks. Thus, evidence for express attentional shifts was found, but only under certain conditions.     

You can't stop new motion: Attentional capture despite a control set for colour

When a stationary object begins to move, visual spatial attention is reflexively deployed to the location of that object. We tested whether this capture of attention by new motion is entirely stimulus driven, or whether it is contingent on an observer's goals. Participants monitored a visual display for a colour change, inducing an attentional control set (ACS) for colour. Across the three performed experiments, irrelevant new-motion cues always captured visual spatial attention, despite the ACS for colour. This persistence of the attentional cueing effect demonstrates that ACSs, in particular an ACS for colour, cannot prevent new motion from capturing attention. Unlike other stimulus types, such as luminance changes, colour singletons, and new objects, new motion may always capture attention regardless of an observer's goals. This conclusion entails that new motion is an important determinant of when, and to where, visual spatial attention is deployed.     

A Preliminary Evaluation of Functional Communication Training Effectiveness and Language Preference When Spanish and English are Manipulated

We evaluated whether differences in treatment effectiveness or preference between languages emerged across Spanish and English during functional communication training (FCT) for young children with developmental disabilities exposed to Spanish and English in the home environment. Participants were 2 young children with developmental disabilities who displayed destructive behavior maintained by social contingencies and whose families spoke Spanish and English at home. All procedures were conducted in the participants’ homes by their mothers with coaching from the investigator. The effectiveness of FCT was evaluated within a reversal design across baseline, FCT, and extinction conditions. A multielement design across language type (Spanish and English) was embedded within the reversal design during the extinction and FCT conditions to evaluate differences in treatment effectiveness across type of language. Finally, during all FCT sessions, a concurrent schedules design was used to evaluate participant preference for type of language. Results suggested that FCT was effective in reducing destructive behavior, increasing manding, and/or increasing task completion for these 2 participants across Spanish and English treatment conditions. Preference for the type of language did not emerge for either participant during FCT. Results are discussed in terms of the merits of systematically evaluating language variables when working with culturally and linguistically diverse families and children.     

Breast and Ovarian Cancer: The Forgotten Paternal Contribution

Five to 10% of all cases of breast and ovarian cancer are attributed to a heritable genetic predisposition. Transmission of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations is equally likely through maternal or paternal lineage; however, fewer referrals to cancer genetics clinics appear to be made for a paternal, than maternal, family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer. To examine this potential bias, a retrospective review of 315 patient and family charts was conducted by one familial cancer clinic in Toronto, Canada. Referral letters, risk estimates, and family histories were analyzed to identify significant differences between patients referred with maternal and paternal family histories. It was determined that patients are approximately five times more likely to be referred with a maternal family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer as compared to those with a paternal family history (p = <.0001). Individuals with a paternal family history were found to have a different, and higher, pattern of risk estimates (p = .00064). No significant difference was seen between the type of referrals sent by general practitioners, oncologists, and gynecologists. Recommendations to increase the awareness of paternal family history in assessing cancer risk are provided.     

Meaning in Life and Volunteerism in Older Adults

Researchers explored predictors of meaning in life such as physical and mental health and volunteerism in a representative sample of older adults. Measures included the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Life Regard Index. Implications for counseling older adults are discussed.     

Modulating Fitts's Law: perceiving targets at the last placeholder

Fitts's Law predicts increasing movement times (MTs) with increasing movement amplitudes; however, when targets are placed in a structured perceptual array containing placeholders, MTs to targets in the last position are shorter than predicted. We conducted three experiments to determine if this modulation has a perceptual cause. Experiment 1, which used extremely diminished (three pixel) placeholders, showed that the modulation is not due to perceptual interference from neighboring placeholders. Experiment 2, which measured reaction times using a target detection task, showed that the modulation does not result from speeded perceptual processing at the last position of the array. Experiment 3, which measured accuracy using a masked letter-discrimination task, showed that the modulation does not result from the increased quality of perceptual representation at the last position of the array. Overall, these findings suggest that the changes in effectiveness of visual processing (less interference, speeded processing, and increased quality) at the last position in the perceptual array do not drive the modulation. Thus, while the locus of the Fitts's Law modulation appears to be in the movement planning stage, it is likely not due to perceptual mechanisms.     

Building team adaptive capacity: the roles of sensegiving and team composition

The current study draws on motivated information processing in groups theory to propose that leadership functions and composition characteristics provide teams with the epistemic and social motivation needed for collective information processing and strategy adaptation. Three-person teams performed a city management decision-making simulation (N=74 teams; 222 individuals). Teams first managed a simulated city that was newly formed and required growth strategies and were then abruptly switched to a second simulated city that was established and required revitalization strategies. Consistent with hypotheses, external sensegiving and team composition enabled distinct aspects of collective information processing. Sensegiving prompted the emergence of team strategy mental models (i.e., cognitive information processing); psychological collectivism facilitated information sharing (i.e., behavioral information processing); and cognitive ability provided the capacity for both the cognitive and behavioral aspects of collective information processing. In turn, team mental models and information sharing enabled reactive strategy adaptation.     

Integrating working memory capacity and context-processing views of cognitive control

Individuals low in working memory capacity (WMC) exhibit impaired performance on a variety of cognitive control tasks. The executive-attention theory of WMC (Engle & Kane, 2004) accounts for these findings as failures of goal maintenance and response conflict resolution. Similarly, the context-processing view (Braver et al., 2001) provides an explanation of cognitive control deficits observed in schizophrenia patients and older adults that is based on the ability to maintain context information. Instead of maintenance deficits, the inhibition view (Hasher, Lustig, & Zacks, 2007) states that older adults and individuals low in WMC primarily have an impairment in the ability to inhibit information. In the current experiment, we explored the relationships among these theories. Individuals differing in performance on complex span measures of WMC performed the AX-Continuous Performance Test to measure context-processing performance. High-WMC individuals were predicted to maintain the context afforded by the cue, whereas low-WMC individuals were predicted to fail to maintain the context information. Low-WMC individuals made more errors on AX and BX trials and were slower to respond correctly on AX, BX, and BY trials. The overall pattern of results is most consistent with both the executive-attention and context-processing theories of cognitive control.