A comparison of laboratory and clinical working memory tests and their prediction of fluid intelligence

The working memory (WM) construct is conceptualized similarly across domains of psychology, yet the methods used to measure WM function vary widely. The present study examined the relationship between WM measures used in the laboratory and those used in applied settings. A large sample of undergraduates completed three laboratory-based WM measures (operation span, listening span, and n-back), as well as the WM subtests from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III and the Wechsler Memory Scale-III. Performance on all of the WM subtests of the clinical batteries shared positive correlations with the lab measures; however, the Arithmetic and Spatial Span subtests shared lower correlations than the other WM tests. Factor analyses revealed that a factor comprising scores from the three lab WM measures and the clinical subtest, Letter-Number Sequencing (LNS), provided the best measurement of WM. Additionally, a latent variable approach was taken using fluid intelligence as a criterion construct to further discriminate between the WM tests. The results revealed that the lab measures, along with the LNS task, were the best predictors of fluid abilities.     

Trans-parency in the workplace: How the experiences of transsexual employees can be improved

Very little research has focused exclusively on the workplace experiences of transsexual employees. Studies that have been done are either qualitative case studies (e.g., Budge, Tebbe, & Howard; 2010; Schilt & Connell, 2007), or aggregate transsexual individuals with lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees (e.g., Irwin, 2002). The current study focuses on this underexamined population and examines general workplace experiences, and both individual and organizational characteristics that influence transsexual employees' job attitudes. Results reveal that organizational supportiveness, transsexual identity centrality, and the degree to which they disclose to individuals outside of work all predict transsexual employees' disclosure behaviors in the workplace. These disclosure behaviors are positively related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and negatively related to job anxiety. These relations are mediated by coworker reactions. This research expands knowledge about diverse employee populations and offers both theory and some of the first large-scale empirical data collected on the workplace experiences of transsexual employees.     

Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Family Accommodation Scale-Parent-Report (FAS-PR)

Growing research has examined parental accommodation among the families of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, these studies have utilized a parent-report (PR) version of a measure, the Family Accommodation Scale (FAS) that has never received proper psychometric validation. In turn, previously derived subscales have been developed via clinical rather than empirical evidence. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive psychometric analysis of the FAS-PR utilizing data collected from 96 youths with OCD. Exploratory factors analysis was conducted and revealed a 12-item scale yielding two separate, yet related subscales, Avoidance of Triggers (AT) and Involvement in Compulsions (IC). Subsequent analyses revealed good internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity. These findings suggest that future research should seek to examine factors that may impact various facets to accommodation as well as the role these facets plays in predicting treatment outcome. Limitations are discussed.     

The Relationship Quality Interview: evidence of reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and incremental utility

Relationship satisfaction and adjustment have been the target outcome variables for almost all couple research and therapies. In contrast, far less attention has been paid to the assessment of relationship quality. The present study introduces the Relationship Quality Interview (RQI), a semistructured, behaviorally anchored individual interview. The RQI was designed to provide a more objective assessment of relationship quality as a dynamic, dyadic construct across 5 dimensions: (a) quality of emotional intimacy in the relationship, (b) quality of the couple's sexual relationship, (c) quality of support transactions in the relationship, (d) quality of the couple's ability to share power in the relationship, and (e) quality of conflict/problem-solving interactions in the relationship. Psychometric properties of RQI ratings were examined through scores obtained from self-report questionnaires and behavioral observation data collected cross-sectionally from a sample of 91 dating participants and longitudinally from a sample of 101 married couples. RQI ratings demonstrated strong reliability (internal consistency, interrater agreement, interpartner agreement, and correlations among scales), convergent validity (correlations between RQI scale ratings and questionnaire scores assessing similar domains of relationship quality), and divergent validity (correlations between RQI scale ratings and (a) behavioral observation codes assessing related constructs, (b) global relationship satisfaction scores, and (c) scores on individual difference measures of related constructs). Clinical implications of the RQI for improving couple assessment and interventions are discussed.     

Dissociable neural systems support retrieval of how and why action knowledge

In everyday discourse, people typically represent actions in one of two ways: how they are performed or why they are performed. In the present study, we determined the neural systems that support these natural modes of representing actions. Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while identifying how and why people perform various familiar actions. Identifying how actions are performed produced activity in premotor areas that support the execution of actions and in higher-order visual areas that support the perception of action-related objects; this finding supports an embodied view of action knowledge. However, identifying why actions are performed preferentially engaged areas of the brain associated with representing and reasoning about mental states; these areas were right temporoparietal junction, precuneus, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and posterior superior temporal sulcus. Our results suggest that why action knowledge is not sufficiently constituted by information in motor and visual systems, but requires a system for representing states of mind, which do not have reliable motor correlates or visual appearance.     

Ventral lateral geniculate input to the medial pons is necessary for visual eyeblink conditioning in rats

The conditioned stimulus (CS) pathway that is necessary for visual delay eyeblink conditioning was investigated in the current study. Rats were initially given eyeblink conditioning with stimulation of the ventral nucleus of the lateral geniculate (LGNv) as the CS followed by conditioning with light and tone CSs in separate training phases. Muscimol was infused into the medial pontine nuclei (MPN) after each training phase to examine conditioned response (CR) retention to each CS. The spread of muscimol infusions targeting the MPN was examined with fluorescent muscimol. Muscimol infusions into the MPN resulted in a severe impairment in retention of CRs with the LGNv stimulation and light CSs. A less severe impairment was observed with the tone CS. The results suggest that CS information from the LGNv and light CSs is relayed to the cerebellum through the MPN. Retrograde tracing with fluoro-gold (FG) showed that the LGNv and nucleus of the optic tract have ipsilateral projections to the MPN. Unilateral inputs to the MPN from the LGNv and nucleus of the optic tract may be part of the visual CS pathway that is necessary for visual eyeblink conditioning.The neural substrates of associative motor learning have been studied extensively using eyeblink conditioning (Christian and Thompson 2003; Thompson 2005). Eyeblink conditioning is typically established by pairing a tone or light conditioned stimulus (CS) with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that elicits the eyeblink reflex. An eyeblink conditioned response (CR) emerges over the course of paired training, and the peak of eyelid closure occurs at the onset time of the US. Results from experiments using temporary lesions of the cerebellar deep nuclei or cerebellar cortex indicate that the anterior interpositus nucleus and cerebellar cortex are necessary for acquisition, expression, and extinction of eyeblink conditioning (Krupa et al. 1993; Hardiman et al. 1996; Krupa and Thompson 1997; Garcia and Mauk 1998; Medina et al. 2001; Bao et al. 2002; Freeman et al. 2005a). Blocking cerebellar output with inactivation of the superior cerebellar peduncle, red nucleus, or brainstem motor nuclei selectively blocks CR expression but not acquisition, providing further evidence that learning occurs in the cerebellum (Chapman et al. 1990; Krupa et al. 1993, 1996; Krupa and Thompson 1995).Sensory stimuli from every modality are sent to the pontine nuclei (PN), which receive projections from the lower brainstem, thalamus, and cerebral cortex (Glickstein et al. 1980; Brodal 1981; Mihailoff et al. 1989; Schmahmann and Pandya 1989; Wells et al. 1989; Knowlton et al. 1993; Campolattaro et al. 2007). Neurons in the PN project CS information to the cerebellum via mossy fibers in the middle cerebellar peduncle that synapse on granule cells in the cerebellar cortex and on neurons in the interpositus nucleus (Bloedel and Courville 1981; Brodal 1981; Steinmetz and Sengelaub 1992; Mihailoff 1993). Lesions of the middle cerebellar peduncle impair eyeblink conditioning with auditory, somatosensory, and visual CSs (Lewis et al. 1987). Bilateral electrolytic lesions of the dorsolateral and lateral pontine nuclei (LPN) block retention of CRs to an auditory CS but have no effect on light-elicited CRs (Steinmetz et al. 1987). Inactivation of the contralateral LPN blocks CRs to a tone CS but not to lateral reticular nucleus stimulation in rabbits (Bao et al. 2000). Moreover, stimulation of the LPN or middle cerebellar peduncle is a sufficient CS for eyeblink conditioning (Steinmetz et al. 1986, 1987; Tracy et al. 1998; Bao et al. 2000; Freeman and Rabinak 2004; Freeman et al. 2005b; Campolattaro and Freeman 2008). The findings from the lesion, inactivation, and stimulation studies provide evidence that the PN is the proximal part of the CS pathway for cerebellar learning. These studies also indicate that the LPN is the primary source of auditory CS input to the cerebellum.Only a few studies have examined the visual CS pathway necessary for eyeblink conditioning. The dorsal and ventral divisions of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (LGNd, LGNv), pretectal nuclei, visual cortex (VCTX), and superior colliculus (SC) comprise a hypothesized parallel visual CS pathway for eyeblink conditioning (Koutalidis et al. 1988). Combined lesions of all of these visual areas completely block acquisition, lesions of two visual areas produce a partial impairment, and lesions in one visual area do not impair CR acquisition (Koutalidis et al. 1988). Stimulation of the VCTX, SC, and LGNv support eyeblink conditioning, and each of these structures has a direct unilateral projection to the PN that could be important for eyeblink conditioning (Halverson et al. 2009). The lesion and stimulation studies provide evidence that structures in the hypothesized visual CS pathway are independently capable of supporting conditioning. An important aspect of the visual CS pathway proposed in the Koutalidis et al. (1988) study is distributed projections of each visual area to different regions of the PN. The important projections were hypothesized to be from the VCTX to the rostral portion of the PN, from both the SC and pretectal nuclei to the dorsolateral PN, and the LGNv projection to the medial pontine nuclei (MPN) (Koutalidis et al. 1988). Lesions of the VCTX were substituted for LGN lesions in the Koutalidis et al. (1988) study due to technical problems with animal survival. The LGNv projection to the MPN was therefore not examined in their combined lesion group. Stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus is not a sufficient CS to support eyeblink conditioning (Campolattaro et al. 2007). The direct PN projection from the VCTX is not necessary for CR retention to a light CS, as lesions do not prevent eyeblink conditioning to a light CS in dogs or monkeys (Hilgard and Marquis 1935, 1936). Moreover, lesions of the entire cerebral cortex do not prevent acquisition or retention of delay eyeblink conditioning to a tone or light CS in rabbits (Oakley and Russell 1972, 1977). The LGNv and SC, therefore, are likely sources of visual input to the PN that is necessary for eyeblink conditioning.The current experiment investigated whether information from the LGNv and a visual CS (light) share similar inputs into the MPN and whether those inputs are different from an auditory CS. The visual projections to the MPN were also investigated with the retrograde tracer fluoro-gold (FG) to identify structures that may be involved with the relay of CS information during eyeblink conditioning. In the conditioning experiment, rats received three phases of training, with each phase consisting of three acquisition sessions followed by a muscimol infusion into the MPN, and then a saline recovery session. Each rat received unilateral stimulation of the LGNv (contralateral to the trained eye) during phase 1 of training followed by either a tone or light CS in phases 2 and 3 (order of stimulus presentation was counterbalanced). One group received LGNv stimulation in phase 1 followed by a light CS in phase 2, and a tone CS in phase 3 (SLT). The other group received the tone CS in phase 2, and light CS in phase 3 (STL).     

Dyadic Models for the Study of Health

Dyadic designs have been used in health research to investigate intra‐ and inter‐personal mechanisms of health and well‐being in various types of dyads, including parent–child dyads, siblings, friends, and romantic partners. Although a growing number of researchers are designing studies that capture the interdependent complexities of relationships, many still need more information on how to analyze the data in a way that maximizes its value. Therefore, the purpose of this review paper is twofold: (1) to address some of the ways in which dyadic data analysis is being used in current health research, with an emphasis on research that has employed the Actor‐Partner Interdependence Model, and (2) to propose and explain various methodological and substantive considerations that researchers should consider when using dyadic data analysis in their own research.     

Neuroethics,confidentiality, and a cultural imperative in early onset Alzheimer disease: a case study with a First Nation population

The meaningful consideration of cultural practices, values and beliefs is a necessary component in the effective translation of advancements in neuroscience to clinical practice and public discourse. Society’s immense investment in biomedical science and technology, in conjunction with an increasingly diverse socio-cultural landscape, necessitates the study of how potential discoveries in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease are perceived and utilized across cultures. Building on the work of neuroscientists, ethicists and philosophers, we argue that the growing field of neuroethics provides a pragmatic and constructive pathway to guide advancements in neuroscience in a manner that is culturally nuanced and relevant. Here we review a case study of one issue in culturally oriented neuroscience research where it is evident that traditional research ethics must be broadened and the values and needs of diverse populations considered for meaningful and relevant research practices. A global approach to neuroethics has the potential to furnish critical engagement with cultural considerations of advancements in neuroscience.