Critical stages in mental development: Childhood breath holding spells (BHS)

The authors present the first part of a study on children with BHS (Breath Holding Spells) syndrome. These children were chosen in order to examine a “pathological” situation in infancy that was as close as possible to a “normal” one, and in which obvious somatic symptoms were associated with emotional states. Children with BHSS are not considered to have serious psychological disturbances, even if they are constantly referred to as intolerant of separation, stubborn, oppositional, or easy to temper tantrum. A reduced ability to tolerate frustration is evident in these children both from the patients' history and clinical observation. Parents usually relate BHS to situations in which the child is denied something or gets scolded. The children were observed during three sessions, both with and without the mother, according to a grid used at our Center. Patients are presented to illustrate certain recurrent features in play and interaction with mother. The data suggest that these children stagnate in an area of incomplete mental representation; something makes them oscillate between two states; in one of them, the mental representation of the object and of the bond with it is possible; in the other, the mental representation of the separation, which entails the recognition of the object, is felt as dangerous.     

Lesions in the Central Nucleus of the Amygdala: Discriminative Avoidance Learning, Discriminative Approach Learning, and Cingulothalamic Training-Induced Neuronal Activity

The amygdala is critically involved in discriminative avoidance learning. Large lesions of the amygdala block discriminative avoidance learning and abolish cingulothalamic training-induced neuronal activity. These results indicated that amygdalar processing is critical for cingulothalamic plasticity. The larger lesions did not allow differentiation of the specific functioning of various amygdalar nuclei. Anatomical analysis showed that damage in the central (CE) nucleus of the amygdala was correlated with the severity of the behavioral deficit. The present study was carried out to determine whether smaller lesions, centered in the CE nucleus, would impair discriminative avoidance learning and block cingulothalamic plasticity. In addition, the possible role of the CE nucleus in appetitively motivated discriminative approach learning was examined for the first time. New Zealand White rabbits with CE nuclear lesions were first trained in the discriminative approach task. After attaining asymptotic performance, discriminative avoidance training sessions were alternated with continuing approach training sessions, one session each day. The rabbits with lesions were severely impaired in avoidance learning but showed no impairment of approach learning. Surprisingly, the attenuating effects of the lesions on cingulothalamic training-induced neuronal activity were more prevalent during approach learning than during avoidance learning. These results indicated that avoidance learning can be impaired by lesions centered in the CE nucleus that leave cingulothalamic plasticity largely intact and that the CE nucleus is involved in extra-cingulothalamic learning processes.     

Memory for intention-related material presented in a to-be-ignored channel

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the fate of intention-related material processed in a to-be-ignored channel. Participants were given an intention to respond to cues in a visual-processing stream while simultaneously trying to ignore information being presented in an auditory stream. Subsequent to the ongoing activity, a surprise recognition test for information presented in the to-be-ignored auditory modality was administered. As compared with comparable neutral information, corrected recognition memory for intention-related material was significantly better, depending on the type of event-based prospective memory task. These results suggest that holding certain kinds of intentions can bias attentional processes in a manner consistent with a perceptual readiness for uptake of intention-related material.     

Source monitoring is not always enhanced for valenced material

Source monitoring for valenced materials has received very little attention from researchers interested in the residual effects that emotion can have on memory. The three previous studies that examined memory for valenced material found a source-monitoring enhancement effect. By contrast, we used two different combinations of sources and found a novel, consistent source-monitoring deficit for valenced words as compared with neutral ones. In addition, this memory deficit for contextual details did not consistently covary with item memory. We assert that it is possible to obtain an effect in which heightened attention toward valenced material reduces the binding of contextual details into memory.     

Comparing older and younger adults in an event-based prospective memory paradigm containing an output monitoring component

Two experiments with younger and older adults were conducted to investigate the output-monitoring component of event-based prospective memory. In the standard form of the task, participants must remember to press a key when a certain class of items is encountered. To evaluate output monitoring, event-based cues were repeated and participants were asked to press a different key if they could remember that an earlier response was made to a particular cue. Younger adults forgot fewer of their successful responses, but displayed a distinct bias to claim that they had responded earlier when actually they had forgotten to respond. By contrast, older adults displayed this bias much less frequently. Elaborated responding to cues had the effect of improving the performance of younger, but not older adults. The results are discussed in terms of natural repetitions and omission errors that might be made in everyday prospective memory tasks.     

EyeRIS: A general-purpose system for eye-movement-contingent display control

In experimental studies of visual performance, the need often emerges to modify the stimulus according to the eye movements performed by the subject. The eye-movement-contingent display (EMCD) methodology enables accurate control of the position and motion of the stimulus on the retina. EMCD procedures have been used successfully in many areas of vision science, including studies of visual attention or eye movements and physiological characterization of neuronal response properties. Unfortunately, the difficulty of real-time programming and the unavailability of flexible and economical systems that can be easily adapted to the diversity of experimental needs and laboratory setups have prevented the widespread use of EMCD control. This article describes EyeRIS, a general-purpose system for performing EMCD experiments on a Windows computer. Based on a digital signal processor with analog and digital interfaces, this integrated hardware and software system is responsible for sampling and processing oculomotor signals and subject responses and for modifying the stimulus displayed on a CRT according to a gaze-contingent procedure specified by the experimenter. EyeRIS is designed to update the stimulus with a delay of only 10 msec. To thoroughly evaluate EyeRIS's performance, this study was designed to (1) examine the response of the system in a number of EMCD procedures and computational benchmarking tests; (2) compare the accuracy of implementation of one particular EMCD procedure, retinal stabilization, with that produced by a standard tool used for this task; and (3) examine EyeRIS's performance in one of the many EMCD procedures that cannot be executed by means of any other currently available device.     

Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Depression Among Orthodox Jews

Several clinical papers have provided clinical recommendations for how to provide cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for obsessive-compulsive symptoms among Orthodox Jewish individuals. However, no published studies have described culturally adapted CBT for anxiety or depression in this population or quantified the effectiveness of such approaches. We evaluated the effectiveness of CBT for symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression in a sample of Orthodox Jews (n = 65) and a comparison sample (n = 42) presenting to the Center for Anxiety, a private outpatient clinic with three offices in the New York area (www.centerforanxiety.org). A chart review revealed that all patients received CBT-based interventions with appropriate religious-cultural adaptations of treatment, which we present in two case studies. We observed statistically and clinically significant treatment gains from pretreatment to midtreatment (anxiety: t = 8.56, p < .001; depression: t = 8.01, p < .001), and again from midtreatment through termination (anxiety: t = 3.68, p < .001; depression: t = 3.62, p < .001). No significant differences in anxiety or depression were observed between Orthodox Jewish patients and controls at any time point or for treatment effects (anxiety: Wilks’ Lambda = .950, F = 2.65, p = .076, η_p² = .050; depression: Wilks’ Lambda = .99, F = 2.00,p = .49, η_p² = .014). This paper offers clinical insight into delivery of CBT to Orthodox Jewish patients, as well as preliminary support for the effectiveness of CBT in treating symptoms of generalized anxiety and depression within this population.     

Multi‐group acculturation orientations in a changing context: Palestinian Christian Arab adolescents in Israel after the lost decade

Grounded in a contextual approach to acculturation of minorities, this study examines changes in acculturation orientations among Palestinian Christian Arab adolescents in Israel following the “lost decade of Arab–Jewish coexistence.” Multi‐group acculturation orientations among 237 respondents were assessed vis‐à‐vis two majorities—Muslim Arabs and Israeli Jews—and compared to 1998 data. Separation was the strongest endorsed orientation towards both majority groups. Comparisons with the 1998 data also show a weakening of the Integration attitude towards Israeli Jews, and also distancing from Muslim Arabs. For the examination of the “Westernisation” hypothesis, multi‐dimensional scaling (MDS) analyses of perceptions of Self and group values clearly showed that, after 10 years, Palestinian Christian Arabs perceive Israeli Jewish culture as less close to Western culture, and that Self and the Christian Arab group have become much closer, suggesting an increasing identification of Palestinian Christian Arab adolescents with their ethnoreligious culture. We discuss the value of a multi‐group, multi‐method, and multi‐wave approach to the examination of the role of the political context in acculturation processes.