The Multilevel Modality-Switch Effect: What Happens When We See the Bees Buzzing and Hear the Diamonds Glistening

Previous studies demonstrated that the sequential verification of different sensory modality properties for concepts (e.g., BLENDER-loud; BANANA-yellow) brings about a processing cost, known as the modality-switch effect. We report an experiment designed to assess the influence of the mode of presentation (i.e., visual, aural) of stimuli on the modality-switch effect in a property verification and lexical decision priming paradigm. Participants were required to perform a property verification or a lexical decision task on a target sentence (e.g., “a BEE buzzes”, “a DIAMOND glistens”) presented either visually or aurally after having been presented with a prime sentence (e.g., “the LIGHT is flickering”, “the SOUND is echoing”) that could either share both, one or none of the target’s mode of presentation and content modality. Results show that the mode of presentation of stimuli affects the conceptual modality-switch effect. Furthermore, the depth of processing required by the task modulates the complex interplay of perceptual and semantic information. We conclude that the MSE is a task-related, multilevel effect which can occur on two different levels of information processing (i.e., perceptual and semantic).     

Vague Objects Without Ontically Indeterminate Identity

The supporter of vague objects has been long challenged by the following ‘Argument from Identity’: 1) if there are vague objects, then there is ontically indeterminate identity; 2) there is no ontically indeterminate identity; therefore, 3) there are no vague objects. Some supporters of vague objects have argued that 1) is false. Noonan (Analysis 68: 174–176, 2008) grants that 1) does not hold in general, but claims that ontically indeterminate identity is indeed implied by the assumption that there are vague objects of a certain special kind (i.e. vague objects*). One can therefore formulate a ‘New Argument from Identity’: 1′) if there are vague objects*, then there is ontically indeterminate identity; 2) there is no ontically indeterminate identity; therefore, 3′) there are no vague objects*. Noonan’s strategy is to argue that premiss 1′) is inescapable, and, as a consequence, that Evans’s alleged defence of 2) is a real challenge for any supporter of vague objects. I object that a supporter of vague objects who grants the validity of Evans’s argument allegedly in favour of 2) should reject premiss 1′). The threat of the New Argument from Identity is thus avoided.     

Is the face-perception system human-specific at birth?

The present study investigates the human-specificity of the orienting system that allows neonates to look preferentially at faces. Three experiments were carried out to determine whether the face-perception system that is present at birth is broad enough to include both human and nonhuman primate faces. The results demonstrate that the newborns did not show any spontaneous visual preference for the human face when presented simultaneously with a monkey face that shared the same features, configuration, and low-level perceptual properties (Experiment 1). The newborns were, however, able to discriminate between the 2 faces belonging to the 2 different species (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, the newborns were found to prefer looking at an upright, compared with an inverted, monkey face, as they do for human faces. Overall, the results demonstrate that newborns perceive monkey and human faces in a similar way. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the system underlying face preference at birth is broad enough to bias newborns' attention toward both human and nonhuman primate faces.     

War trauma lingers on: Associations between maternal posttraumatic stress disorder,parent–child interaction,and child development

Maternal traumatization has been proposed as a risk factor for child development, but the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. This study analyzed the interrelations among maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms, parent–child interaction (emotional availability), and infants' psychosocial functioning and development among 49 asylum‐seeker and refugee mothers and their children (18–42 months). Measures included assessment of mothers' trauma and comorbid symptoms (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire: R.F. Mollica et al., 1992 ; Hopkins Symptom Checklist: L. Derogatis, R. Lipman, K. Rickels, E. Uhlenhuth, & L. Covi, 1974 ), emotional availability within parent–child interaction (Emotional Availability Scales: Z. Biringen, 2008 ), and infants' psychosocial functioning (Child Behavior Checklist: T.M. Achenbach & L.A. Rescorla, 2000 ) and development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development: B.F. van der Meulen, S.A.J. Ruiter, H.C. Spelberg, & M. Smrkovsky, 2000 ). The results show that higher levels of maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms are associated with a higher level of psychosocial problems of infants, but not with delays in their mental or psychomotor development. The results also show that higher levels of maternal posttraumatic stress symptoms are associated with higher levels of insensitive, unstructuring, or hostile, but not intrusive, parent–child interactions. Infants show lower levels of responsiveness and involvement to their traumatized mothers. Parent–child interaction did not function as a mediator between maternal trauma symptoms and infants' psychosocial functioning. Results are discussed in relation to the dyad's regulation of emotions. Results implicate a need to reestablish attunement between traumatized mothers and their nontraumatized children.     

Cognitive contributions of the ventral parietal cortex: an integrative theoretical account

Although ventral parietal cortex (VPC) activations can be found in a variety of cognitive domains, these activations have been typically attributed to cognitive operations specific to each domain. In this article, we propose a hypothesis that can account for VPC activations across all the cognitive domains reviewed. We first review VPC activations in the domains of perceptual and motor reorienting, episodic memory retrieval, language and number processing, theory of mind, and episodic memory encoding. Then, we consider the localization of VPC activations across domains and conclude that they are largely overlapping with some differences around the edges. Finally, we assess how well four different hypotheses of VPC function can explain findings in various domains and conclude that a bottom-up attention hypothesis provides the most complete and parsimonious account.     

Stability and Change of Social Goals in Adolescence

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of continuity and change in social goals using the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) model across adolescence (ages 11–16). Five complementary definitions of stability were examined: structural, rank‐order, absolute, individual, and ipsative. Data were taken from a longitudinal study of early adolescent problem behavior. Social goals were assessed during each wave, with data collection occurring at three annual intervals (Wave 1, ages 10–12). A community sample of adolescents (N = 387) was recruited. Adolescents were evenly split on gender, and a majority (82.7%) was White. Results suggest a modest increase in stability across social goals, yet significant interindividual heterogeneity. Although levels of Agentic and Communal factors increase over time, these patterns were driven by decreases in the Submissive and Separate octants. This offers evidence for the utility of examining lower‐order facets of interpersonal dispositions, as it provides a nuanced picture of adolescent personality development. Furthermore, findings suggest that change and continuity in social goals may both be relevant in this developmental period. The difficulty is accounting for trait stability as well as change, and the IPC model may be particularly useful for meeting this challenge.     

Psychological Distress and Associated Factors Among a Sample of Pregnant Women in South Africa

We sought to identify the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among pregnant women who were patients at antenatal primary care clinics in a South Africa district. A cross-sectional study using systematic sampling was conducted among 1497 pregnant women (age range=18 to 47 years; mean age=26.6 years, SD=6.1; Black African=98%), with a mean gestational age of 6.5 months (SD=1.6). They completed the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, a measure of psychological distress. Results showed high rates of severe psychological distress (26.5%). Increased distress was in multivariate analysis associated with having had an STI (other than HIV), being unhappy about current pregnancy, and HIV positive. Identification of pregnant women with psychological distress in public health clinics is crucial for effective and appropriate targeted interventions.     

Some Remarks on For-me-ness and Empathy

Abstract

My discussion of Self and Other takes issue with two distinct theses defended by Zahavi. The first concerns Zahavi's argument for the first-personal character of experience and its related thought experiment. My second remark is about Zahavi’s restriction of empathy to direct perception.