Comparing music- and food-evoked autobiographical memories in young and older adults: A diary study

Previous research has found that music brings back more vivid and emotional autobiographical memories than various other retrieval cues. However, such studies have often been low in ecological validity and constrained by relatively limited cue selection and predominantly young adult samples. Here, we compared music to food as cues for autobiographical memories in everyday life in young and older adults. In two separate four-day periods, 39 younger (ages 18–34) and 39 older (ages 60–77) adults recorded their music- and food-evoked autobiographical memories in paper diaries. Across both age groups, music triggered more frequent autobiographical memories, a greater proportion of involuntary memories, and memories rated as more personally important in comparison to food cues. Age differences impacted music- and food-evoked memories similarly, with older adults consistently recalling older and less specific memories, which they rated as more positive, vivid, and rehearsed. However, young and older adults did not differ in the number or involuntary nature of their recorded memories. This work represents an important step in understanding the phenomenology of naturally occurring music-evoked autobiographical memories across adulthood and provides new insights into how and why music may be a more effective trigger for personally valued memories than certain other everyday cues.     

A Response to Steve Bruce's "Praying Alone?"

This article argues that neither Steve Bruce's theory of secularisation nor Grace Davie's theory of voluntary organisations are needed to explain British attitudes to religious belief and practice.     

‘I didn’t realise I was such a sausage’: men’s accounts of whole-body scanning,body image,and expected changes in health-related behaviours

Objective: Whole-body scanning is now available in stores to assist buyers in choosing well-fitting clothes. This study was designed to investigate men’s accounts of scanning, body image and expectations of behaviour change. Design: Ten men aged 18–39 years without histories of eating disorders or previous experience of whole-body scanning, took part in semi-structured interviews before and after scanning. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Pre-scan, men’s body ideals were tall, slender and relatively muscular. Post-scan, seven reported looking shorter, fatter, thinner and/or less symmetrical than they hoped; three were pleasantly surprised by the images. Men were interested in scans as an objective view of their bodies and as a ‘wake-up call’ to motivate healthy behaviours. Five men intended to change their behaviour as a result of scanning, and repeat scanning was seen as a good way to monitor behavioural changes. Participants suggested that scanning may raise body concerns in other men, though downplayed impacts on their own body image. Conclusion: Whole-body scanning may encourage men to exercise and eat more healthily. However, men became more negative about their bodies as a result of seeing their body scans, so scanning needs to be carried out with supervision and support.     

M-stream deficits and reading-related visual processes in developmental dyslexia

Some visual processing deficits in developmental dyslexia have been attributed to abnormalities in the subcortical M stream and/or the cortical dorsal stream of the visual pathways. The nature of the relationship between these visual deficits and reading is unknown. The purpose of the present article was to characterize reading-related perceptual processes that may link the visual deficits to reading problems. We identified contrast sensitivity, position encoding, oculomotor control, visual attention, parafoveal/foveal interactions, and saccadic suppression as potential reading-related dorsal stream processes. We then evaluated the role of each process in reading and the status of each process in dyslexia. In theory, a number of dorsal stream processes (e.g., oculomotor control and visual attention) might contribute to reading problems in developmental dyslexia. More work is needed to demonstrate the connection empirically.     

What is a Leather Iron or a Bird Phone? Using Conceptual Combinations to Generate and Understand New Product Concepts

This article introduces the framework of conceptual combinations, which underlies the creative ability to combine existing concepts to create new ones. Using this framework, two creative processes are identified, namely, (a) property mapping (PM), which entails combining concepts by transferring a property from one concept to another (e.g., shape in the case of notebook computers); and (b) relation linking (RL), which entails linking the two combining concepts by a thematic relation (e.g., the “locative” relation in desktop computers). The effect of these processes on the comprehension of new product concepts is investigated in two experimental studies. In Study 1 it is shown that novel products created by RL are easier to interpret than the ones created by PM. In Study 2 it is found that new products combining concepts from different super‐ordinate categories are more likely interpreted by RL, and are easier to comprehend than the ones from the same super‐ordinate category, which use PM. The theoretical and managerial implications of using conceptual combinations in the context of new product ideation are discussed.     

The next exclusion debate: assessing technology, ethics, and intellectual disability after the Human Genome Project

Recent scientific discoveries have made it much easier to test prenatally for various genetic disabilities, such as Down syndrome. However, while many observers have heralded such "advances" for their effectiveness in detecting certain conditions, others have argued that they perpetuate discrimination by preventing the birth of children with disabilities. This article examines the ethical and social implications of the Human Genome Project for individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. It details the critique of prenatal testing articulated by many disability rights activists as well as scholarly and professional responses to that critique. A review of the pertinent research literature includes perspectives of genetic professionals, ethicists, disability studies scholars, parents of children with disabilities, and disabled individuals themselves. Finally, the article explores how future research endeavors, policies, and practices may more effectively integrate and respect the positions of these various stakeholders.     

The influence of mirror reversals on male and female performance in spatial tasks: A componential look

O'Boyle and Hoff (Neuropsychologia, 25, 977–982, 1987) reported that females were faster and more accurate than males at mirror-tracing the outline of random shapes. To account for this differential performance, the authors advanced two alternative explanations. The first was a ‘Spatial Stroop’ effect which suggested that, because of their enhanced spatial ability, males are especially disadvantaged in escaping the misleading visual feedback provided by the mirror, resulting in slower and less accurate tracings. The second was a ‘manipulospatial’ hypothesis which suggested that the tracing advantage was related to female superiority in fine-detailed motor control, and perhaps, differential practice at performing skilled motor tasks in mirror-reversed contexts. In the present study, two experiments were conducted to assess the relative viability of these explanations. In Experiment 1, the WAIS-R Block Design task was performed within and outside the context of a mirror. This was done to determine if the observed female advantage was restricted to mirror-tracing per se, or generalizable to other manipulospatial tasks. In Experiment 2, a mental rotation task was performed within and outside the context of a mirror. The latter was designed to reveal if the removal of the motor component would affect the obtained sex difference. The present findings suggest that as long as some form of precision motor manipulation is required, females are superior to males at mirror-reversed spatial tasks. However, when the motor component is eliminated, a male performance advantage emerges in both normal and mirror-reversed contexts, suggesting that the manipulospatial hypothesis is the more viable explanation.     

Parallel processing across neural systems: implications for a multiple memory system hypothesis

A common conceptualization of the organization of memory systems in brain is that different types of memory are mediated by distinct neural systems. Strong support for this view comes from studies that show double (or triple) dissociations between spatial, response, and emotional memories following selective lesions of hippocampus, striatum, and the amygdala. Here, we examine the extent to which hippocampal and striatal neural activity patterns support the multiple memory systems view. A comparison is made between hippocampal and striatal neural correlates with behavior during asymptotic performance of spatial and response maze tasks. Location- (or place), movement, and reward-specific firing patterns were found in both structures regardless of the task demands. Many, but not all, place fields of hippocampal and striatal neurons were similarly affected by changes in the visual and reward context regardless of the cognitive demands. Also, many, but not all, hippocampal and striatal movement-sensitive neurons showed significant changes in their behavioral correlates after a change in visual context, irrespective of cognitive strategy. Similar partial reorganization was observed following manipulations of the reward condition for cells recorded from both structures, again regardless of task. Assuming that representations that persist across context changes reflect learned information, we make the following conclusions. First, the consistent pattern of partial reorganization supports a view that the analysis of spatial, response, and reinforcement information is accomplished via an error-driven, or match-mismatch, algorithm across neural systems. Second, task-relevant processing occurs continuously within hippocampus and striatum regardless of the cognitive demands of the task. Third, given the high degree of parallel processing across allegedly different memory systems, we propose that different neural systems may effectively compete for control of a behavioral expression system. The strength of the influence of any one neural system on behavioral output is likely modulated by factors such as motivation, experience, or hormone status.     

Emotional correlates of the different dimensions of schizotypal personality disorder

Two studies explored which different dimensions of schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) were associated with negative affect, attention to emotions, clarity of emotions, and emotional intensity/instability. Study 1 included 247 college students, and questionnaires were used to measure SPD. Study 2 included 225 community residents, oversampling for individuals with elevated levels of SPD, and semistructured diagnostic interviews were used to measure SPD. In both studies (a) higher levels of negative affect were associated with higher levels of both cognitive-perceptual and interpersonal symptoms, (b) cognitive-perceptual disturbances were associated with greater attention to emotion, whereas interpersonal disturbances were associated with less attention to emotion, and (c) lower levels of emotional clarity were associated with higher levels of suspiciousness.     

Generating an image from an ambiguous visual input: an electroencephalographic (EEG) investigation

Fourteen right-handed males were shown slides of common objects (e.g., wristwatch), familiar situations (e.g., two people shaking hands), and inkblots from a popular projective test (Holtzman, 1986) and then asked to name the object, assess the situation, or describe the most salient image emerging from the inkblot. Alpha power suppression was monitored over the left and right frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes to determine the brain circuitry responsible for the processing of each type of stimulus. When processing common objects and familiar situations there was bilateral activation of the parietal and occipital lobes; when processing inkblots, bilateral activation of the parietal and occipital lobes was again obtained, but complemented by selective activation of the right frontal lobe. The later suggests that anterior regions of the right cerebral hemisphere contribute to the generation of dynamic images like those evoked by visually ambiguous inkblots.