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.     

The Dynamic Relationships of Work Affect and Job Satisfaction with Perceptions of Fit

This study assessed the longitudinal relationship between perceived fit (i.e., person–organization fit, person–job fit) and affect‐based variables (i.e., job satisfaction, negative affect, positive affect) using momentary (i.e., within‐person level) and stable (i.e., between‐person level) assessments of both sets of variables. In doing so, we tested 3 theoretical models of the perceived fit and work affect relationship (i.e., fit preceding affect; affect preceding fit; reciprocal fit–affect relations) to determine (a) the antecedents and consequences of fit perceptions, (b) whether fit perceptions exhibit meaningful within‐person variability, and (c) if direct fit perceptions are simply the result of affect/job satisfaction at work or can influence such work experiences. In addition, we examined whether the relationships between affect/job satisfaction and fit perceptions were homologous (i.e., similar) across the 2 levels of analysis (i.e., within‐person and between‐person). Results indicated that fit primarily preceded affect and job satisfaction at both levels of analysis, though some specific relationships exhibited reciprocal causality and others supported affect as an antecedent of fit perceptions. Our findings paint a complex picture of the causal relationship between perceived fit and work affect.     

Cognitive components of a mathematical processing network in 9‐year‐old children

We determined how various cognitive abilities, including several measures of a proposed domain‐specific number sense, relate to mathematical competence in nearly 100 9‐year‐old children with normal reading skill. Results are consistent with an extended number processing network and suggest that important processing nodes of this network are phonological processing, verbal knowledge, visuo‐spatial short‐term and working memory, spatial ability and general executive functioning. The model was highly specific to predicting arithmetic performance. There were no strong relations between mathematical achievement and verbal short‐term and working memory, sustained attention, response inhibition, finger knowledge and symbolic number comparison performance. Non‐verbal intelligence measures were also non‐significant predictors when added to our model. Number sense variables were non‐significant predictors in the model and they were also non‐significant predictors when entered into regression analysis with only a single visuo‐spatial WM measure. Number sense variables were predicted by sustained attention. Results support a network theory of mathematical competence in primary school children and falsify the importance of a proposed modular ‘number sense’. We suggest an ‘executive memory function centric’ model of mathematical processing. Mapping a complex processing network requires that studies consider the complex predictor space of mathematics rather than just focusing on a single or a few explanatory factors.     

The contribution of private and public information in foraging by Australasian gannets

Predators that forage on foods with temporally and spatially patchy distributions may rely on private or public sources of information to enhance their chances of foraging success. Using GPS tracking, field observations, and videography, we examined potential sites and mechanisms of information acquisition in departures for foraging trips by colonially breeding Australasian gannets (Morus serrator). Analyses of the bill-fencing ceremony between mated pairs of breeding gannets did not detect correlations between parameters of this reciprocal behavior and foraging trips, as would have been predicted if gannets used this behavior as a source of private information. Instead, 60 % of the departing birds flew directly to join water rafts of other conspecific en route to the feeding grounds. The departure of solitary birds from the water rafts was synchronized (within 60 s) with the arrival of incoming foragers and also among departing birds. Furthermore, solitary departing birds from the rafts left in the same directional quadrant (90º slices) as the prior arriving (67 %) and also prior departing forager (79 %). When associated plunge dives of conspecific were visible from the colony, providing a public source of information, gannets more often departed from the water rafts in groups. Our study thus provides evidence for the use of water rafts, but not the nest site, as locations of information transfer, and also confirms the use of local enhancement as a strategy for foraging flights by Australasian gannets.