Multisensory integration in multiple reference frames in the posterior parietal cortex

Spatial information processing takes place in different brain regions that receive converging inputs from several sensory modalities. Because of our own movements—for example, changes in eye position, head rotations, and so forth—unimodal sensory representations move continuously relative to one another. It is generally assumed that for multisensory integration to be an orderly process, it should take place between stimuli at congruent spatial locations. In the monkey posterior parietal cortex, the ventral intraparietal (VIP) area is specialized for the analysis of movement information using visual, somatosensory, vestibular, and auditory signals. Focusing on the visual and tactile modalities, we found that in area VIP, like in the superior colliculus, multisensory signals interact at the single neuron level, suggesting that this area participates in multisensory integration. Curiously, VIP does not use a single, invariant coordinate system to encode locations within and across sensory modalities. Visual stimuli can be encoded with respect to the eye, the head, or halfway between the two reference frames, whereas tactile stimuli seem to be prevalently encoded relative to the body. Hence, while some multisensory neurons in VIP could encode spatially congruent tactile and visual stimuli independently of current posture, in other neurons this would not be the case. Future work will need to evaluate the implications of these observations for theories of optimal multisensory integration.Edited by: Marie-Hélène Giard and Mark Wallace     

Estimates of lay views about reversal multiple intelligences for self and others: Sex and cross‐cultural comparisons

This study focuses on lay conceptions of intelligence. It examined sex and cross‐cultural similarities and differences in estimated intelligences and beliefs about intelligence in two countries, Angola and East Timor, within the reversal theory framework. A total of 209 Angolan (109 women and 100 men) and 183 Timorese (89 women and 94 men) students were participated in this study. Participants completed a questionnaire in order to estimate their parents', partners' and own overall intelligence and the 8 reversal multiple intelligences (telic, paratelic, conformist, negativistic, autic mastery, autic sympathy, alloic mastery and alloic sympathy intelligence). Respondents also rated 6 questions about intelligence. Men rated their overall, conformist and autic mastery higher than women. Angolans rated their overall, telic, paratelic, conformist, negativistic, autic mastery, autic sympathy, alloic mastery and alloic sympathy intelligence higher than Timorese. In both countries, fathers have been perceived as more intelligent than mothers, and telic intelligence emerged as a significant predictor of overall intelligence. Principal component analysis of the 8 reversal multiple intelligences yielded one factor. Angolan participants revealed more IQ test experience than Timorese participants. Most of respondents in both countries did not believe in sex differences in intelligence. These findings are discussed by means of cross‐cultural literature.     

Delay-dependent involvement of the rat entorhinal cortex in habituation to a novel environment

Evidence has accumulated that the entorhinal cortex (EC) is involved in memory operations underlying formation of a long-term memory. Because entorhinal-lesioned rats are impaired for long delays in delayed matching and non-matching to sample tasks, it has been proposed that EC contributes to the maintenance of information in short-term memory. In the present study, we asked whether such a time-limited role applies also when learning complex spatial information in a novel environment. We therefore examined the effects of EC lesions on habituation in an object exploration task in which a delay of either 4 min or 10 min is imposed between successive sessions. EC-lesioned rats exhibited a deficit in habituation at 10 min but not 4 min delays. Following habituation, reactions to spatial change (object configuration) and non-spatial change (novel object) were also examined. EC-lesioned rats were impaired in detecting the spatial change but were able to detect a non-spatial change, irrespective of the delay. Overall, the results suggest that EC is involved in maintaining a large amount of novel, multidimensional information in short-term memory therefore enabling formation of long-term memory. Switching to a novelty detection mode would then allow the animal to rapidly adapt to environmental changes. In this mode, EC would preferentially process spatial information rather than non-spatial information.     

Employment and Family as Determinants of Anticipated Life Satisfaction: Contrasting Young Adults’ and Elderly People’s Viewpoints

The objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between life satisfaction, personal employment, spouse employment, and family responsibilities as perceived by lay people and, in particular, to study the extent to which the additive threshold model evidenced by Macri and Mullet (2002) in a Greek sample of respondents can be generalized to other samples. One hundred young French adults and 100 elderly French people were presented with several vignettes depicting family conditions in terms of the three variables. Their task was to rate each vignette in terms of anticipated life satisfaction. The rule, which best accounted for anticipated satisfaction with life judgments was the hypothesized additive threshold rule. It may be expressed as anticipated satisfaction = proximity to optimal personal employment level + proximity to spouse optimal employment level + proximity to optimal family size, as long as acceptable personal and spouse employment levels are considered. This rule was common to young and elderly participants and largely independent of educational level.     

Effects of Limitations on the Use of Some Visual and Kinaesthetic Information in Spatial Mapping during Exploration in the Rat

The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of limiting visual and/or locomotor access to a part of the environment in the building up of a spatial representation of the whole space. During five sessions, rats were allowed to explore separately and successively the two halves (subspaces) of a circular open field containing four objects. During exploration of each half, continuous or discontinuous locomotor and/or visual access to the other half was provided by using opaque or transparent partitions, with or without doors. Once habituation was complete, the partition was removed for some subjects but remained for others. The locomotor and exploratory reactions to this removal were recorded. Whatever their locomotor experience (continuous or discontinuous), rats that had a discontinuous visual experience between the subspaces displayed a renewal of exploratory activity, whereas the rats that had received a continuous visual experience did not re-explore the objects. This result suggests that continuous visual access to the whole space is necessary for the construction of an overall representation. Furthermore, continuous locomotor activity does not seem to compensate for the discontinuity of visual information.     

Understanding the family in multiple cultural contexts: Avoiding therapeutic traps

Developing a balanced picture of a family's functioning is difficult when the family is culturally different from the therapist. Open-minded family therapists often translate culturally different traits and behaviors as culturally appropriate and exclude them from clinical judgment, which can limit therapeutic range and effectiveness. The following case study about an Indian family with a mentally retarded child is especially illustrative of the dilemmas facing the therapist working with families of different backgrounds. Therapeutic traps were avoided by having the family assess its own differences, while the therapist held steadfast to social interconnectedness as essential to healthy family functioning.An earlier and somewhat different version of this material appeared under a different title in Families, published by the Family Institute of Philadelphia.     

Future Time Perspective according to women's age and social role during adulthood

The purpose of the present research was to describe the kind of transformation Future Time Perspective (FTP) undergoes during adulthood and to investigate the differences that may occur in the extension and the content of goals of women according to their age groups and social roles (homemakers, students, and careerwomen). With a sentence completion technique, 622 Caucasian French-Canadian women (20 to 64 years of age) expressed their aspirations. These goals were classified into specific categories according to their temporal extension and their motivational content. Results indicate that the extension and the content of FTP undergo numerous changes during adulthood, revealing different goal profiles according to women's age and social role. Results are discussed in relation with current research.The authors are most grateful to the psychology students of the University of Sherbrooke for their contribution during the data gathering.