Subject–Aux Inversion in Children with SLI

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - An elicited production study investigated subject–aux inversion in 5-year-old children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 2 control groups,...     

Entstehung und Verlauf der Panikstörung

Zusammenfassung Das Konzept der Panikstörung ging ursprünglich auf neurobiologische Modellvorstellungen zurück, die rasch von verhaltenstherapeutischen Ansätzen aufgegriffen und differenziert wurden, während die Rezeption durch psychoanalytische Ansätze zurückhaltend erfolgte. In dieser Übersicht werden aktuelle neurobiologische, verhaltenstherapeutische und psychodynamische Modelle dargestellt. Neurobiologische Ansätze beschreiben die zentrale und periphere Fehlsteuerung des Stresshormonsystems. Verhaltenstherapeutische Modelle erklären die Aufrechterhaltung der Störung durch konditionierte Furchtreaktionen, Fehlinterpretation körperlicher Sensationen bzw. dispositionale Angstsensitivität. Neuere psychodynamische Konzepte beschreiben mangelnde Toleranz für intensive Affekte und Trennungserfahrungen aufgrund unsicherer Objektbeziehungsrepäsentanzen als Ursachenfaktoren für Panik. Sie schaffen damit Verbindungen zu tierexperimentellen und neurobiologischen Studien, die die Bedeutung vorzeitiger Trennungserfahrungen für lebenslang erhöhte Stressreagibilität und Furchtsamkeit herausgearbeitet haben. Neurobiologische, verhaltenstherapeutische und psychodynamische Ansätze ergänzen sich beim Verständnis dieses heterogenen Krankheitsbildes.     

Hand dominance influences the processing of observed bodies

In motor tasks, subgroups of lefthanders have been shown to differ in the distribution of attention about their own bodies. The present experiment examined whether similar attentional biases also apply when processing observed bodies. Sixteen right handers (RHs), 22 consistent left handers (CLHs) and 11 relatively ambidextrous inconsistent left handers (ILHs) performed an own body transformation task in which they were instructed to make speeded left–right judgements about a schematic human figure. Attentional biases associated with handedness were found to extend to observed bodies: CLHs’ judgements were faster to the figure’s left side, while ILHs, like RHs, showed facilitated performance to the figure’s right side. These results demonstrate a novel embodiment effect whereby the processing of a static schematic human figure is modulated by an individual’s personal motor capabilities. This finding suggests that motor simulation may contribute to whole body perception in the absence of actual or implied actions.     

Analogical insight: toward unifying categorization and analogy

The purpose of this paper is to present two kinds of analogical representational change, both occurring early in the analogy-making process, and then, using these two kinds of change, to present a model unifying one sort of analogy-making and categorization. The proposed unification rests on three key claims: (1) a certain type of rapid representational abstraction is crucial to making the relevant analogies (this is the first kind of representational change; a computer model is presented that demonstrates this kind of abstraction), (2) rapid abstractions are induced by retrieval across large psychological distances, and (3) both categorizations and analogies supply understandings of perceptual input via construing, which is a proposed type of categorization (this is the second kind of representational change). It is construing that finalizes the unification.     

A formal framework for modelling the developmental course of competence and performance in the distance,speed, and time domain

The developmental course in the distance–speed–time domain is still a matter of debate. Traditional stage models are contested by theories of continuous development and adaptive thinking. In the present work, we introduce a formal framework for modelling the developmental course in this domain, grounding on Competence-based Knowledge Space Theory. This framework, as a more general case, widely includes assumptions and facets of previous models and covers empirical findings collected based on different experimental paradigms. By a distinction of latent competences and observable performance, model validation is not bound to a certain experimental paradigm and no one-to-one correspondence between competences and tasks is required. Therefore, the framework has the potential to bridge the gap between stage models and models of continuous development. The approach also precisely defines misconceptions, for example overgeneralization, and empirically investigates their occurrence. In the present work, we established a prototypical model for the development of understanding the distance–speed–time system. We extended this model with definitions based on different perspectives of overgeneralization. The assumptions of the model and its extensions were examined on the basis of the results of two empirical investigations using six judgment task types. The results yielded a reasonably good fit of model and data. No evidence was found for the occurrence of overgeneralization in this domain. The theoretical model and empirical results are discussed with respect to their relationship to other developmental models and theories.     

Social environment and reproduction in female European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus): benefits of the presence of litter sisters

The authors investigated in an observational study the consequences of the presence of litter sisters on the social interactions and on reproductive performance of young female European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) from a population living under seminatural conditions. In early winter, when all young females were settled in a social group, they were characterized by the presence or absence of litter sisters in their groups. Females with litter sisters in their groups displayed significantly more positive social interaction with females of their social group compared to females without sisters, whereas this difference was mainly due to the high frequency of positive social interactions among the respective sisters. Such differences between the females of both categories were already apparent during the animals' juvenile phase, before the females integrated into a particular group: females which later had litter sisters in their group showed more positive social behavior than females which later no longer had litter sisters. During their first breeding season, females with litter sisters present generally started to breed earlier by an average of 14 days. A more favorable social environment might have possibly facilitated the earlier onset of breeding in females with present litter sisters by attenuating the negative consequences of stress.     

Does a fitness factor contribute to the association between intelligence and health outcomes? Evidence from medical abnormality counts among 3654 US Veterans

We suggest that an over-arching ‘fitness factor’ (an index of general genetic quality that predicts survival and reproductive success) partially explains the observed associations between health outcomes and intelligence. As a proof of concept, we tested this idea in a sample of 3654 US Vietnam veterans aged 31–49 who completed five cognitive tests (from which we extracted a g factor), a detailed medical examination, and self-reports concerning lifestyle health risks (such as smoking and drinking). As indices of physical health, we aggregated ‘abnormality counts’ of physician-assessed neurological, morphological, and physiological abnormalities in eight categories: cranial nerves, motor nerves, peripheral sensory nerves, reflexes, head, body, skin condition, and urine tests. Since each abnormality was rare, the abnormality counts showed highly skewed, Poisson-like distributions. The correlation matrix amongst these eight abnormality counts formed only a weak positive manifold and thus yielded only a weak common factor. However, Poisson regressions showed that intelligence was a significant positive predictor of six of the eight abnormality counts, even controlling for diverse lifestyle covariates (age, obesity, combat and toxin exposure owing to service in Vietnam, and use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs). These results give preliminary support for the notion of a superordinate fitness factor above intelligence and physical health, which could be further investigated with direct genetic assessments of mutation load across individuals.     

Essentieller Tremor – tatsächlich gutartig?

Mit einer Pr?valenz von bis zu 5,6 Prozent in der Bev?lkerung stellt der Essentielle Tremor (ET) eine der h?ufigsten Bewegungsst?rungen in der Neurologie dar. Wenngleich ET weiterhin als „gutartiger famili?rer Tremor“ bezeichnet wird, zeigen rezente Studien über tremor-assoziierte Symptome wie cerebell?re, kognitive oder psychiatrische Auff?lligkeiten ebenso wie die Beobachtung von signifikanten Beeintr?chtigungen bei Aktivit?ten des t?glichen Lebens bei bis zu 75 Prozent der ET-Patienten, dass das Attribut „gutartig“ bei ET zunehmend in Frage gestellt werden sollte. In den letzten Jahren wurde auch gezeigt, dass ET mit charakteristischen neuropathologischen Ver?nderungen einhergeht, die vorwiegend das Cerebellum, mit einem Verlust an Purkinje-Zellen sowie axonalen Schwellungen („Torpedo-Zellen“), betreffen. Diese Beobachtungen sowie die Ergebnisse aus gro? angelegten epidemiologischen Studien über die famili?re H?ufung von ET und der Parkinson-Erkrankung geben Anlass zur Diskussion über einen potentiellen neurodegenerativen Prozess als pathophysiologisches Korrelat von ET. Die erste genomweite Assoziationsstudie bei ET identifizierte eine mit ET assoziierte genetische Variante im LINGO1-Gen, dessen Protein für axonale Integrit?t relevant ist und im zentralen Nervensystem exprimiert wird. Propranolol und Primodin sind weiterhin die erste Therapieempfehlung. Mit Topiramat steht nun eine dritte Substanz zur Verfügung, die sich als eindeutig effektiv in der ET-Behandlung erwiesen hat.