Effects of depth-of-processing and ageing on word-stem and word-fragment implicit memory tasks: Test of the lexical-processing hypothesis

The joint effects of depth-of-processing and age on repetition priming in implicit memory tests of word-fragment completion (WFC) and word-stem completion (WSC) were investigated. The experiment consisted of three study tasks (perceptual, lexical, and semantic) and four memory conditions: implicit (WSC and WFC) and explicit (WS cued recall and WF cued recall). In the WSC condition, semantic and lexical study processing produced equal priming, both superior to the perceptual study processing, whereas the WFC test showed equal priming for these three study conditions. This finding provides clear evidence, consistent with the lexical-processing hypothesis, that depth-of-processing in WSC priming reflects a lexical rather than a semantic process. It also provides support for the view that WSC and WFC involve different processes. However, there was no evidence of an age effect on either of these two implicit tasks. The data also revealed an overall significant effect of age and depth-of-processing, and an interaction between these variables on explicit cued recall tasks, indicating that older adults benefited less than younger ones from a deep encoding condition.     

Is Spirituality Detrimental to Generativity?

This article examines the relations between religiousness, spirituality, and generativity (concern for the welfare of future generations) in late adulthood using longitudinal life-course data. Religiousness and spirituality were operationalized as distinct but overlapping dimensions of individual difference measuring involvement in traditional and nontraditional religious practices, respectively. In late adulthood, both religiousness and spirituality correlated positively with overall scores on self-report and observer-based measures of generativity. However, whereas religiousness was significantly related to the communal facets of generativity, spirituality was significantly related to its self-expanding aspects. These differences were more pronounced after gender, cohort, social class, and the overlap between religiousness and spirituality were controlled. The respective relations among religiousness, spirituality, and generativity in late adulthood were also observed using religiousness scored in early, and spirituality scored in late-middle, adulthood.     

Group discussion as interactive dialogue or as serial monologue: the influence of group size

Current models draw a broad distinction between communication as dialogue and communication as monologue. The two kinds of models have different implications for who influences whom in a group discussion. If the discussion is like interactive dialogue, group members should be influenced most by those with whom they interact in the discussion; if it is like serial monologue, they should be influenced most by the dominant speaker. The experiments reported here show that in small, 5-person groups, the communication is like dialogue and members are influenced most by those with whom they interact in the discussion. However, in large, 10-person groups, the communication is like monologue and members are influenced most by the dominant speaker. The difference in mode of communication is explained in terms of how speakers in the two sizes of groups design their utterances for different audiences.     

When being included is being excluded: A note on complement set focus and the inclusion relation

Some negative quantifiers lead to pronominal reference patterns that are different from those obtained with positive quantifiers (Moxey & Sanford, 1993). This has been interpreted as meaning that the negatives give rise to a focus on the complement set (Moxey & Sanford, 1987); so, given few of the children enjoyed the trip, focus is on those who did not enjoy the trip. To date, this interpretation has depended on subjective judgments as to which set an anaphoric plural pronoun is referring to, allowing other interpretations of the data to be given by discourse semanticists. In two studies, we use the attachment patterns associated with the expression including, thereby circumventing the judgment problem. We show that a case like not many people enjoyed the race, including John leads to a representation in which John maps into the set of individuals who did not enjoy the race. We test and support the earlier claim that complement set focus is driven by denials associated with some negative quantifiers.     

La pratique répétée du Trail Making Test réduit les différences liées à l’âge sur la performance à ce test

Age-related impairment in executive functioning has been found to explain partially the decrease of cognitive performance with aging. However, the practice of an executive test can improve performance to this test. In the present study, we investigated first how the practice of the Trail Making Test (TMT, flexibility test) may influence the age-related deficit to the performance in this test and then how the performance tended to improve, and at which pace, through the practice of this executive test. Two age groups of participants (young and older adults) practiced the TMT and were compared to two control groups (i.e., no practice between pre- and post-test). The practice groups’ scores were obtained at the end of each session. Globally, the results showed an improvement of performance (1) greater in the practice groups than in the control groups and (2) in practice groups, greater in older adults than in younger ones. Both younger and older adults progressed during the early practice sessions but the younger ones reached their optimal level earlier than the older adults who continued to improve over the sessions. These results could have a major impact on adapting cognitive stimulation programs to individual's characteristics such as age.     

Trusting Relationships and the Ethics of Interpersonal Action

Abstract

Trust has generally been understood as an intentional mental phenomenon that one party (the truster) has towards another party (the trusted) with respect to some object of value for the truster. In the landmark work of Annette Baier, this trust is described as a three-place predicate: A entrusts B with the care of C, such that B has discretionary powers in caring for C. In this paper we propose that, within the context of thick interpersonal relationships, trust manifests in a different way: as a property of the relationship itself. We argue that this conceptualization has important implications for the debate over the ethics of interpersonal interventions. In particular, when trust is understood in this way, actions that would otherwise be deemed morally troubling may be permissible, or even morally desirable, on account of their role in strengthening trusting relationships.     

How to Create Shared Symbols

Human cognition and behavior are dominated by symbol use. This paper examines the social learning strategies that give rise to symbolic communication. Experiment 1 contrasts an individual‐level account, based on observational learning and cognitive bias, with an inter‐individual account, based on social coordinative learning. Participants played a referential communication game in which they tried to communicate a range of recurring meanings to a partner by drawing, but without using their conventional language. Individual‐level learning, via observation and cognitive bias, was sufficient to produce signs that became increasingly effective, efficient, and shared over games. However, breaking a referential precedent eliminated these benefits. The most effective, most efficient, and most shared signs arose when participants could directly interact with their partner, indicating that social coordinative learning is important to the creation of shared symbols. Experiment 2 investigated the contribution of two distinct aspects of social interaction: behavior alignment and concurrent partner feedback. Each played a complementary role in the creation of shared symbols: Behavior alignment primarily drove communication effectiveness, and partner feedback primarily drove the efficiency of the evolved signs. In conclusion, inter‐individual social coordinative learning is important to the evolution of effective, efficient, and shared symbols.     

The effects of implicit and explicit affiliation motives on vagal activity in motive-relevant situations

We investigated the independent and interactive effects of the implicit need for affiliation (nAFF) and the explicit self-attributed need for affiliation (sanAFF) on parasympathetic vagal activity (indexed via heart rate variability) in three motive-relevant situations: in a socioevaluative stress situation (N = 49), in a socially ambiguous situation (N = 50), and during socially supported recovery from stress (both subsamples). Vagal activity has been linked with self-regulation and social engagement. Vagal withdrawal has been found to accompany stress responses, whereas vagal advance has been found to accompany attenuated stress and affiliative behavior. Response surface analyses in the current study revealed additive but opposite effects on vagal activity for nAFF (vagal advance) and sanAFF (vagal withdrawal) during the socioevaluative stress situation, high nAFF and low sanAFF incongruence predicted vagal withdrawal in the socially ambiguous situation, and sanAFF predicted vagal advance during socially supported recovery from stress. We suggest that assessing reactions to motive-relevant stress situations represents a profitable approach for investigating the differential effects of implicit and explicit motives.     

Foundations of Representation: Where Might Graphical Symbol Systems Come From?

It has been suggested that iconic graphical signs evolve into symbolic graphical signs through repeated usage. This article reports a series of interactive graphical communication experiments using a 'pictionary' task to establish the conditions under which the evolution might occur. Experiment 1 rules out a simple repetition based account in favor of an account that requires feedback and interaction between communicators. Experiment 2 shows how the degree of interaction affects the evolution of signs according to a process of grounding. Experiment 3 confirms the prediction that those not involved directly in the interaction have trouble interpreting the graphical signs produced in Experiment 1. On the basis of these results, this article argues that icons evolve into symbols as a consequence of the systematic shift in the locus of information from the sign to the users' memory of the sign's usage supported by an interactive grounding process.     

Risk Assessment and Genetic Counseling for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

These cancer genetic counseling recommendations describe the medical, psychosocial and ethical implications of identifying at-risk individuals for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) through cancer risk assessment, with or without genetic susceptibility testing. They were developed by members of the Practice Issues Subcommittee of the National Society of Genetic Counselors’ Familial Cancer Risk Counseling Special Interest Group. The information contained in this document is derived from extensive review of the current literature on cancer genetic risk assessment as well as the professional expertise of genetic counselors with significant experience in education and counseling regarding hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Critical components of the process include the ascertainment of medical and family histories, determination and communication of cancer risk, assessment of risk perception, education regarding the genetics of HBOC, discussion of molecular testing for HBOC if appropriate (including benefits, risks and limitations) and any necessary follow-up. These recommendations do not dictate an exclusive course of management or guarantee a specific outcome. Moreover, they do not replace the professional judgment of a health care provider based on the clinical situation of a client.