The role of spurious feature familiarity in recognition memory

In two experiments, we investigated the role of perceptual information in spurious recognition judgments. Participants viewed lists of words in various unusual fonts. The frequency with which each font was presented was manipulated at study: Each font was presented with 1 or 12 different words in Experiment 1 and with 1 or 20 words in Experiment 2. Although the participants were instructed in a word recognition test to judge only on the basis of the word, regardless of font, there were significantly more false alarms for new words seen in a previously presented font than for new words presented in a novel (not seen at study) font in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, the participants were significantly more likely to make a false alarm to a new word seen in a font that had been used to present 20 words during study than to a font that had been used to present only 1 word during study. The data show a mirror effect, in which words tested in low-frequency fonts produced more hits and fewer false alarms than did words tested in high-frequency fonts. These results show that irrelevant perceptual information plays a role in recognition judgments by providing spurious sources of familiarity and, thus, provide evidence that perceptual information is represented and processed in the same way as semantic information.     

Do women with fragile X syndrome have problems in switching attention: preliminary findings from ERP and fMRI

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that represents the most common known cause of developmental delay. Recent neuropsychological findings indicate that females with FXS present with a specific pattern of cognitive deficits and that these difficulties primarily involve skills requiring executive control. The present study is the first to examine the extent to which neural activity of females with FXS can be observed on a task that specifically taps two core deficits, namely switching and response inhibition. Brain activity was measured using both event-related electrical potentials (ERPs) and event-related functional MRI (fMRI) neuroimaging in separate studies using the same cognitive paradigm. Compared to controls, females with FXS were significantly slower and made more errors on trials that required an immediate response (Go) to stimulus onset but were comparable on trials that required a delayed response (Wait) to stimulus onset. At the brain level, several areas showed significantly greater activation for females with FXS compared with controls, including the cingulate cortex and left and right ventral prefrontal areas. In contrast, no areas were found to show significantly greater activation for controls compared with females with FXS.     

The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3): reliability and normative comparisons of eating disordered patients

The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3) is a measure of one’s endorsement of societal appearance ideals. The measure has received extensive evaluation in normative samples, but only minimal evaluation in clinical groups. In this study, 440 patients with eating disorders completed the SATAQ-3. Internal consistencies were excellent for the four SATAQ-3 subscales. Groups did not differ by diagnosis on the Information subscale, however, individuals with bulimia nervosa scored higher than individuals with both subtypes of anorexia nervosa (restricting and binge eating/purging) on levels of Internalization-General and Internalization-Athlete. The findings provide informative normative data, along with preliminary results indicative of the potentially greater role of media messages and images in the formation and/or maintenance of bulimia nervosa than anorexia nervosa.     

A naturalistic study of autobiographical memories evoked by olfactory and visual cues: testing the Proustian hypothesis

The emotional and evocative qualities of autobiographical memories evoked by odors and visual cues were compared using a new repeated-measures paradigm in which the sensory cue was presented after the memory had been retrieved by its verbal label. Memory cues were chosen to be able to elicit salient memories. Results revealed that memories recalled in the context of odors were significantly more emotional than those recalled in the context of the same cue presented visually and by the verbal label for the cue. Odor-evoked memories also tended to make participants feel more "brought back" to the original event. This work is the first unequivocal demonstration that naturalistic memories evoked by odors are more emotional than memories evoked by other cues.     

The association between axis I and II psychiatric symptoms and high-risk sexual behavior during adolescence

This study was conducted to investigate the association between psychiatric disorders and high-risk sexual behavior among adolescent primary care patients. Interviews assessing anxiety, conduct, depressive, eating, substance use, and personality disorders (PDs), as well as histories of sexual behavior were administered to 119 male and 284 female adolescent primary care patients. Results indicated that, after co-occurring psychiatric disorders were controlled statistically, adolescents with elevated PD symptom levels were more likely than adolescents without elevated PD symptom levels to report a high number of sexual partners during the past year and during their lifetime. Adolescents with a history of conduct disorder were more likely than adolescents without such a history to report a high number of lifetime unsafe sexual partners. Elevated antisocial, dependent, and paranoid PD symptom levels were associated with high-risk sexual behavior after co-occurring psychiatric disorders were controlled. Further, certain specific antisocial, borderline, dependent, histrionic, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, paranoid, and schizotypal PD symptoms were independently associated with high-risk sexual behavior after co-occurring psychiatric disorders and overall PD symptom levels were controlled. The association between overall PD symptom levels and the number of sexual partners was significantly stronger among the females than among the males in the sample. Increased recognition and treatment of PDs, coupled with increased recognition of high-risk sexual behavior may facilitate the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy among adolescents.     

Young adult outcome of children with "situational" hyperactivity: a prospective,controlled follow-up study

To examine the importance of symptom pervasiveness in ADHD, we conducted a prospective, 12-year follow-up study of boys (ages 6–12) considered hyperactive at school and home (Pervasive ADHD), boys considered hyperactive by teachers but not parents (School Only ADHD), boys considered hyperactive by parents but not teachers (Home Only ADHD), and nonhyperactive comparisons. Follow-up was completed on 82–94% participants. Clinicians interviewed participants and their parents, blind to childhood status. At follow-up, antisocial disorder was significantly more prevalent among Pervasive and School Only ADHD (29% for both) than Home Only ADHD (0%) and comparisons (8%). In a similar manner, severity of behavioral problems distinguished groups (Pervasive, School > Home, comparisons), as did educational attainment and academic performance (poorest for Pervasive and School). These findings stress the validity of teacher reports in the diagnosis of ADHD.     

Verbal coding in olfactory versus nonolfactory cognition

Two paired-associate memory experiments were conducted to investigate verbal coding in olfactory versus nonolfactory cognition. Experiment 1 examined the effects of switching/not switching odors and visual items to words between encoding and test sessions. Experiment 2 examined switching/not switching perceptual odors and verbal-imagine versions of odors with each other. Experiment 1 showed that memory was impaired for odors but not visual cues when they were switched to their verbal form at test. Experiment 2 revealed that memory was impaired for both odors and verbal-imagine cues when they were switched in format at test and that odor sensory imagery was not accessed by the instruction to imagine a smell. Together, these findings suggest that olfaction is distinguished from other sensory systems by the degree of verbal coding involved in associated cognitive processing.     

Relative efficacy of methylphenidate and behavior modification in hyperkinetic children: An interim report

Children reported to be hyperactive in school and with behavior difficulties at home were randomly assigned to methylphenidate, behavior therapy and placebo, or behavior therapy with methylphenidate for an 8-week period. Rating scales were obtained from teachers and parents. Independent blind observers rated childrens' classroom behavior on a weekly basis. A behavior therapy program was implemented in the home and at school. Methylphenidate dosage was individualized. Ratings of behavior deviance were significantly reduced by all treatments. However, a significant advantage for the groups receiving methylphenidate was found over the group receiving behavior therapy and placebo. No significant differences between methylphenidate alone and methylphenidate combined with behavior therapy were obtained. Global ratings of improvement done by teachers favored the combined treatment of behavior therapy and methylphenidate over behavior therapy and placebo. No differences among treatments were found in the mothers' global ratings of improvement. The results indicate that though all three treatments were effective, methylphenidate was significantly superior to behavior therapy alone.This study was supported in part by grant MH 18579, and by grant No. 3-621 from the Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center. The authors wish to thank the behavior therapists, Drs. Jeffrey Felixbrod and Marion Pheterson, as well as Ms. Patricia Ramsey, who was responsible for data analysis.     

Approval of violence by males in western Canada

Violent and defensive attitudes were surveyed in a sample of 1,010 males in western Canada.     

The effect of verbal context on olfactory perception

Three experiments were conducted to examine how verbal context and sensory stimulation interact to influence odor hedonic perception. Eight common odors were presented in their natural and synthetic forms, and verbal labels designating name and source (natural, synthetic) information were either explicitly given, self-generated, falsely provided, or not provided. Results revealed that verbal information about source influenced hedonic ratings whether or not the odorant itself was also present. When odorants were presented without verbal labels, olfactory evaluations were based in sensation. Name and source information contributed different levels of meaning and influence to perceptual evaluations. The findings are discussed with reference to an experiential-collocation model for odor-label interactions and a dual-coding hypothesis for olfactory perception.