Control of gait initiation

The initiation of gait from a standing posture by 6 subjects, who took controlled-length steps, was analyzed. Using an inverted pendulum model, we found that the duration of gait initiation was independent of gait velocity. This finding suggests that subjects' biomechanical constants are the determining factors for initiating movement. Both the instantaneous velocity of the center of gravity at the end of the first step (resulting in the propulsive forces measured on the ground) and the steady-state velocity (resulting in the step length and frequency) varied with step length, whereas step frequency did not. But step frequency and progression velocity were linked, for step frequency always increased in parallel with increased progression velocity. We interpret the correlation between velocity and frequency variations to be a peripheral expression of the posturodynamic control of the step parameters by the progression forces.     

Meaning before grammar: A review of ERP experiments on the neurodevelopmental origins of semantic processing

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - According to traditional linguistic theories, the construction of complex meanings relies firmly on syntactic structure-building operations. Recently, however,...     

Validation of a shortened assessment of physical self in adults

The purpose was to adapt a brief tool, the Physical Self Inventory-Version b, for the assessment of physical self in adults. The inventory is a refined version of the previously validated version, which was derived from the Physical Self Inventory (25 items). This French validation of the Physical Self-Perception Profile of Fox and Corbin includes a global self-esteem scale. As in the earlier version the current one has 6 single items to assess dimensions of global self-esteem, physical selfworth, sport competence, physical condition, attractive body, and physical strength. Rating is performed on a visual analog scale. Items in the new inventory were stated in the first person and in more general terms to be acceptable to a wider range of subjects. An item of measurement error was added. Analysis of responses of 185 men and 148 women to the new version supported the hierarchical structure. Significant correlations between the scores and constructs like masculinity, neuroticism, and depression indicated external validity. The new inventory showed acceptable psychometric properties for use in idiographic studies.     

Balint After Lacan ... and After

This paper examines Balint and Lacan's views about regression and symbolism, language, and transference. The author points out their similarities, their differences, and then proposes a synthesis through his approach of history, genealogy, trauma, and crisis. Freud's notions of masochism, of fixation (innate or phylogenetic) may thus be renewed, leading to the analyst's capacity to cope with deep regression and borderline (Balint) psychosis and perversion (Lacan) or to psychosomatics, including epilepsy.     

The "style scheme" grounds perception of paintings

We studied the formation of style scheme (identification of the style that characterizes an artist) presenting 100 participants aesthetic visual stimuli. Participants were Spanish university students who volunteered: 72 women, 28 men of mean age 22.8 yr. Among those 50 were enrolled in History of Art and 50 students in Psychology. Stimuli belonged to different categories--High Art (pictures of well-known artists, like Van Gogh)/Popular Art (decorative pictures like Christmas postcards) and Representational (pictures with explicit meaning content, like a landscape)/Abstract (pictures without explicit meaning content, like Pollock's colored stains). Analysis using Signal Detection Theory techniques focused on how participants discriminate representational and abstract pictures. With High Art stimuli, participants can better discriminate representational paintings than abstract ones. However, the difference in discrimination between representational and abstract pictures diminishes among participants studying History of Art. It seems that prior education in art favors forming style schemes and to some extent enables the participant to detect the "meaning" in High Art abstract paintings.     

Feature-based attention across saccades: Pop-out in color search is spatiotopic

Our perception of the world remains stable despite the retinal shifts that occur with each saccade. The role of spatial attention in matching pre- to postsaccadic visual information has been well established, but the role of feature-based attention remains unclear. In this study, we examined the transsaccadic processing of a color pop-out target. Participants made a saccade towards a neutral target and performed a search task on a peripheral array presented once the saccade landed. A similar array was presented just before the saccade and we analyzed what aspect of this preview benefitted the postsaccadic search task. We assessed the preview effect in the spatiotopic and retinotopic reference frames, and the potential transfer of feature selectivity across the saccade. In the first experiment, the target and distractor colors remained identical for the preview and the postsaccadic array and performance improved. The largest benefit was observed at the spatiotopic location. In the second experiment, the target and distractor colors were swapped across the saccade. All responses were slowed but the cost was least at the spatiotopic location. Our results show that the preview attracted spatial attention to the target location, which was then remapped, and suggest that previewed features, specifically colors, were transferred across the saccade. Furthermore, the preview induced a spatiotopic advantage regardless of whether the target switched color or not, suggesting that spatiotopy was established independently of feature processing. Our results support independent priming effects of features versus location and underline the role of feature-based selection in visual stability.     

Lack of autonomy and self-control: Performance contingent rewards lead to greater depletion

Exerting self-control appears to deplete a needed resource, which leads to poorer self-control subsequently. However, the amount of depletion may vary, based on how controlling versus autonomy supportive the situation is. In particular, feeling compelled to exert self-control may deplete more strength than having more freedom when exerting self-control. In three experiments, participants who were given performance contingent rewards to exert self-control performed more poorly on a subsequent test of self-control than participants who were non-contingent rewards. There were no differences in mood, arousal, or anxiety between the groups; however, feelings of autonomy were related to self-control performance. The results have implications for understanding self-control depletion, as well as the impact of autonomous motivation on self-control performance.

The level and nature of autistic intelligence

Autistics are presumed to be characterized by cognitive impairment, and their cognitive strengths (e.g., in Block Design performance) are frequently interpreted as low-level by-products of high-level deficits, not as direct manifestations of intelligence. Recent attempts to identify the neuroanatomical and neurofunctional signature of autism have been positioned on this universal, but untested, assumption. We therefore assessed a broad sample of 38 autistic children on the preeminent test of fluid intelligence, Raven's Progressive Matrices. Their scores were, on average, 30 percentile points, and in some cases more than 70 percentile points, higher than their scores on the Wechsler scales of intelligence. Typically developing control children showed no such discrepancy, and a similar contrast was observed when a sample of autistic adults was compared with a sample of nonautistic adults. We conclude that intelligence has been underestimated in autistics.