Selective Interference During the Retrieval of Spatial and Verbal Information from Episodic Long-term Memory

Recent studies have shown that the retrieval of spatial versus verbal information is dissociated by the topography of cortical activation despite the fact that response times did not differ. We investigated whether the topographical dissociation will become apparent in a behavioural dissociation if subjects repeatedly have to switch between the retrieval task and one of two tasks which differ in the amount of load they put on the respective representational system. Therefore, retrieval of both spatial and verbal information was combined with no switching task, a mental rotation task, and a gender classification task. In the no-switching condition response times were identical for spatial and verbal information. In contrast, a more pronounced difficulty effect for spatial information was observed with mental rotation as the switching task, whereas the reverse pattern was found with gender classification. The results support the assumption of localized neural networks specialized for distinct aspects of information processing.     

Detection and discrimination of optical flow components

Observers viewed animation sequences consisting of random dots, some of which moved coherently in a given direction (signal dots) and the rest of which moved randomly (noise dots). Using forced-choice procedures, detectability of weak signals within noise was measured for translation, rotation, and expansion/contraction. Sensitivity to all motion types was approximately equal, with practiced observers reliably detecting coherent motion at signal levels as low as 4%. Observers were able to identify the motion structure presented on a given trial at signal levels corresponding to the detection threshold, implying that the neural signals supporting detection are labeled for motion type. Results are discussed in the context of hierarchical analysis of optic flow in which all motion types are registered as patterns of activity among neurons comprising a single mechanism.     

Traumatherapy 2001, Part II: The Multiphase-Oriented Approach and the Future

This article is the second part of a two-part contribution that incorporates the author's learning-from-the-trauma patient originally reported in a paper, The Reparation of the Self some 17 years ago. The article discusses the most likely trends in trauma theory and practice, and the multiphase-oriented approach to treatment of biopsychic trauma. Because crystal ball-gazing is not a viable approach to predicting the future of traumatherapy, the present article instead approaches the task of prediction through first understanding historical and contemporary treatment conventions spanning several decades in this century, and describes the principles and processes of the multiphase-oriented treatment model, a system of treating psychological trauma beginning with Pierre Janet.     

Traumatic Stress Personality Disorder (TrSPD), Part III: Mental/Physical Trauma Representations—From Focus on PTSD Symptoms to Inquiry into Who the Victim Has Now Become

Many trauma patients are unwittingly led to believe that once their traumatic memory, dreams, irritability, sleep disorder, and intrusive ideation are under greater control that the work of integration is complete. The point of view here is that victims' biopsychobehavioral trauma symptoms contain the nucleus of a damaged identity system that distorts the self-image and relational functioning. This nucleus is linked to a dissociated representational memory system. It is this memory system which is implicated in some incest survivors' profoundly negative self-perception, as seen in the assertion, I am a tragic, soul-destroyer: look at what I've become! Or in a veteran's belief that I am the Devil for what happened in combat. One crime victim described his dissociated identifications and emotional volatility in terms of a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde tendency. Cyclical relational pathology seen so pervasively in the lives of victims are related to these self- and other-representational distortions. Though cognitive and behavioral techniques address the narrative trauma memory system and ameliorate associated distress, these may be less useful in integrating the patient's representational memory system. This article argues that in order to foster post-traumatic integration, the representational memory system may require specialized direct therapeutic action, a focus on mutual relational dynamics between patient and therapist.     

The effects of bilingual language proficiency on recall accuracy and semantic clustering in free recall output: evidence for shared semantic associations across languages

Two experiments investigated how well bilinguals utilise long-standing semantic associations to encode and retrieve semantic clusters in verbal episodic memory. In Experiment 1, Spanish-English bilinguals (N?=?128) studied and recalled word and picture sets. Word recall was equivalent in L1 and L2, picture recall was better in L1 than in L2, and the picture superiority effect was stronger in L1 than in L2. Semantic clustering in word and picture recall was equivalent in L1 and L2. In Experiment 2, Spanish-English bilinguals (N?=?128) and English-speaking monolinguals (N?=?128) studied and recalled word sequences that contained semantically related pairs. Data were analyzed using a multinomial processing tree approach, the pair-clustering model. Cluster formation was more likely for semantically organised than for randomly ordered word sequences. Probabilities of cluster formation, cluster retrieval, and retrieval of unclustered items did not differ across languages or language groups. Language proficiency has little if any impact on the utilisation of long-standing semantic associations, which are language-general.     

The Impact of Spirituality on Wellness for Appalachian Older Adults

The authors examined the role spirituality can play as a protective factor in the wellness of older adults residing in the Appalachian region of the United States. Analysis of participants' interviews identified 4 themes. These themes and implications for counselors working with Appalachian older adults are discussed.     

Early risk pathways to physical versus relational peer aggression: The interplay of externalizing behavior and corporal punishment varies by child sex

Children who aggress against their peers may use physical or relational forms, yet little research has looked at early childhood risk factors and characteristics that uniquely predict high levels of relational versus physical aggression in preadolescence. Accordingly, the main aim of our study was to link early corporal punishment and externalizing behavior to children's physical and relational peer aggression during preadolescence and to examine how these pathways differed by sex. Participants were 193, 3‐year‐old boys (39%) and girls who were reassessed following the transition to kindergarten (5.5 years) and preadolescence (10.5 years). A series of autoregressive, cross‐lagged path analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between child externalizing problems and corporal punishment at ages 3 and 5.5 years, and their association with physical and relational aggression at age 10.5. Multiple group analysis was used to determine whether pathways differed by sex. Three developmental pathways were identified: (i) direct associations between stable childhood externalizing problems and later physical aggression; (ii) a direct pathway from early corporal punishment to preadolescent relational and physical peer aggression; and (iii) an indirect pathway from early corporal punishment to later physical aggression via continuing externalizing problems in middle childhood. Child sex moderated the nature of these pathways, as well as the direction of association between risk and outcome variables. These data advance our understanding of the etiology of distinct forms of peer aggression and highlight the potential for more efficacious prevention and intervention efforts in the early childhood years.