No Self Without Salience: Affective and Self-relevance Ratings of 552 Emotionally Valenced and Neutral Dutch Words

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - It is unknown how self-relevance is dependent on emotional salience. Emotional salience encompasses an individual's degree of attraction or aversion to...     

Age differences in recollection: three patterns of enhanced encoding

Memory encoding conditions can be manipulated in a variety of ways, and many of these methods result in improved recollection for both younger and older adults relative to baseline conditions. Previous results have shown differential age-related patterns of improvement, however, with some manipulations giving equal improvement to young and old participants, some benefiting older adults more, and others benefiting younger adults more. In 2 experiments, the authors show that presenting pictures with words benefited older more than younger participants, word generation benefited both groups equally, and an encoding condition requiring novel integrative processing benefited younger more than older adults. The authors discuss these results in terms of the enhanced elaboration afforded and processing demanded by differential combinations of age groups and encoding conditions.     

Lateralization of auditory rhythm length in temporal lobe lesions

In the visual modality, short rhythmic stimuli have been proven to be better processed (sequentially) by the left hemisphere, while longer rhythms appear to be better (holistically) processed by the right hemisphere. This study was set up to see if the same holds in the auditory modality. The rhythm task as originally designed by Seashore was computerized and is part of the Fepsy Neuropsychological battery. This task was performed by 85 patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy (left TLE = 32; right TLE = 53) enrolled in the Dutch Collaborative Epilepsy Surgery Program. They performed the task before and 6 months after surgery. The task consists of 30 pairs of rhythmic patterns in 3 series of 10 items. The series contains patterns of 5, 6, or 7 notes. The purpose is to indicate whether the two patterns are the same or different. Reaction times are also measured. If the hypothesis is true, the short-item sequence will be better processed by patients with right temporal lobe epilepsy (nonimpaired left temporal lobe), the longer sequence will be better processed by the left temporal epilepsy group (nonimpaired right temporal lobe). No overall laterality effect on rhythm perception could be found and no difference was found between both test moments. IQ did not correlate with rhythm performance. However, there was an interaction effect of laterality and rhythm length on performance and reaction time. This effect can be explained by the increase after the operation of the score of the left focus group and a decrease in the right focus group on the longer rhythms. This effect was somewhat less strong in the reaction times: a clear tendency for faster reaction times after surgery in the left and longer reaction times in the right focus group. The effect could not be explained for by the difference in extent of resection in either temporal lobe. This study showed that memory for and discrimination of auditory rhythm is dependent on which hemisphere is used in processing. The effect could be demonstrated for the right hemisphere, which uses a holistic processing of stimuli, which outperforms the left in rhythms consisting of a long sequence. In left temporal resections an improvement occurs on the longer rhythms and in right temporal resections the performance on the longest rhythms decreases.     

When do trauma experts choose exposure therapy for PTSD patients? A controlled study of therapist and patient factors

To investigate when and why therapists opt for or rule out imaginal exposure (IE) for patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 255 trauma experts were randomized to two conditions in which they were presented with four cases in which the patients' comorbidity and treatment preferences were manipulated. The results confirmed IE to be an underutilized approach, with the majority of professionals being undertrained in the technique. As predicted, the patient factors influenced the expert's choice of therapy: in case of a comorbid depression, IE was significantly less preferred than medication. Also, IE was significantly more likely to be offered when patients expressed a preference for trauma-focused treatment. The therapist factors were also found to be importantly related to treatment preferences, with high credibility in the technique being positively related to the therapists' preference for IE. Perceived barriers to IE, such as a fear of symptom exacerbation and dropout, were negatively related to the perceived suitability of the treatment when patients had suffered multiple traumas in childhood. The results are discussed in the light of clinical implications and the need of exposure training for trauma professionals.     

The Interaction Between Pubertal Timing and Peer Popularity for Boys and Girls: An Integration of Biological and Interpersonal Perspectives on Adolescent Depression

The transition to adolescence marks a time of sharply increased vulnerability to the development of depression, particularly among girls. Past research has examined isolated risk factors from individual theoretical models (e.g., biological, interpersonal, and cognitive) of depression, but few have examined integrative models. This study investigated the conjoint effects of early pubertal timing and popularity in the longitudinal prediction of depressive symptoms. A total of 319 girls and 294 boys (ages 11–14) provided information on their pubertal status, depressive symptoms, and the social status (i.e., popularity) of their peers. Adolescents completed a second measure of depressive symptoms 11 months after the initial time point. Findings supported an integrated biological-interpersonal model in explaining the development of depressive symptoms during adolescence. Early pubertal development was associated with increase in depressive symptoms only when accompanied by low levels of popularity. High levels of popularity buffered the association between early pubertal development and later depressive symptoms. Unexpectedly, these results were significant both for girls and boys. Results are discussed in terms of dynamic systems theories.     

Modeling Rule-Based Item Generation

An application of a hierarchical IRT model for items in families generated through the application of different combinations of design rules is discussed. Within the families, the items are assumed to differ only in surface features. The parameters of the model are estimated in a Bayesian framework, using a data-augmented Gibbs sampler. An obvious application of the model is computerized algorithmic item generation. Such algorithms have the potential to increase the cost-effectiveness of item generation as well as the flexibility of item administration. The model is applied to data from a non-verbal intelligence test created using design rules. In addition, results from a simulation study conducted to evaluate parameter recovery are presented.