How Distinctive are ADHD and RD? Results of a Double Dissociation Study

The nature of the comorbidity between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Reading Disability (RD) was examined using a double dissociation design. Children were between 8 and 12 years of age and entered into four groups: ADHD only (n = 24), ADHD+RD (n = 29), RD only (n = 41) and normal controls (n = 26). In total, 120 children participated in the study; 38 girls and 82 boys. Both ADHD and RD were associated with impairments in inhibition and lexical decision, although inhibition and lexical decision were more severely impaired in RD than in ADHD. Visuospatial working memory deficits were specific to children with only ADHD. It is concluded that there was overlap on lexical decision and to a lesser extent on inhibition between ADHD and RD. In ADHD, impairments were dependent on IQ, which suggest that the overlap in lexical decision and inhibition is different in origin for ADHD and RD. The ADHD only group was specifically characterized by deficits in visuospatial working memory. Hence, no double dissociation between ADHD and RD was found on executive functioning and lexical decision.     

Goal-directed access to mental objects in working memory: The role of task-specific feature retrieval

In the present study, we examined the hypothesis of task-specific access to mental objects from verbal working memory. It is currently assumed that a mental object is brought into the focus of attention in working memory by a process of object selection, which provides this object for any upcoming mental operation (Oberauer, 2002). We argue that this view must be extended, since the selection of information for processing is always guided by current intentions and task goals. In our experiments, it was required that two kinds of comparison tasks be executed on digits selected from a set of three digits held in working memory. The tasks differed in regard to the object features the comparison was based on. Access to a new mental object (object switch) took consistently longer on the semantic comparison task than on the recognition task. This difference is not attributable to object selection difficulty and cannot be fully accounted for by task difficulty or differences in rehearsal processes. The results support our assumptions that (1) mental objects are selected for a given specific task and, so, are accessed with their specific task-relevant object features; (2) verbal mental objects outside the focus of attention are usually not maintained at a full feature level but are refreshed phonologically by subvocal rehearsal; and (3) if more than phonological information is required, access to mental objects involves feature retrieval processes in addition to object selection.     

Pathologisch autodestruktives Verhalten und Verhaltenstherapie

The literature on pathological self-destructive behaviour (apart from psychotic, substance-induced or brain disorders) and behaviour therapy is reviewed. An introduction on definition, classification, current typological approaches, occurrence, pathogenesis, and psychopathology is given. From a behavioural theoretic perspective, functional aspects of self-destructive behaviour are emphasised. Basic treatment problems are outlined. They particularly concern covert self-destructive behaviour (artificial disease, Munchhausen-syndrome) that is typically met in a medical hospital setting. Recommendations from the literature are resumed. Most of the relevant publications are psychoanalytically based. Case reports on self-destructive patients predominate even in behaviour therapy publications. These are briefly reviewed. So far, the most elaborate approach is considered to be M. Linehan's Dialectic-Behavioral-Therapy which has been developed for the treatment of borderline personality disorders. A considerable overlap between overtly self-destructive patients and borderline patients underlines the usefulness of this approach. Nonetheless, a further development of behavioural therapeutic methods with regard to different types of self-destructive behaviour is considered to be indicated.     

Phonological Regularities and Grammatical Gender Retrieval in Spoken Word Recognition and Word Production

Two experiments investigate whether native speakers of French can use a noun’s phonological ending to retrieve its gender and that of a gender-marked element. In Experiment 1, participants performed a gender decision task on the noun’s gender-marked determiner for auditorily presented nouns. Noun endings with high predictive values were selected. The noun stimuli could either belong to the gender class predicted by their ending (congruent) or they could belong to the gender class that was different from the predicted gender (incongruent). Gender decisions were made significantly faster for congruent nouns than for incongruent nouns, relative to a (lexical decision) baseline task. In Experiment 2, participants named pictures of the same materials as used in Experiment 1 with noun phrases consisting of a gender-marked determiner, a gender-marked adjective and a noun. In this Experiment, no effect of congruency, relative to a (bare noun naming) baseline task, was observed. Thus, the results show an effect of phonological information on the retrieval of gender-marked elements in spoken word recognition, but not in word production.     

Reciprocal effects between academic self-concept, self-esteem, achievement, and attainment over seven adolescent years: unidimensional and multidimensional perspectives of self-concept

In their influential review, Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, and Vohs (2003) concluded that self-esteem--the global component of self-concept--has no effect on subsequent academic performance. In contrast, Marsh and Craven's (2006) review of reciprocal effects models from an explicitly multidimensional perspective demonstrated that academic self-concept and achievement are both a cause and an effect of each other. Ironically, both reviews cited classic Youth in Transition studies in support of their respective claims. In definitive tests of these counter claims, the authors reanalyze these data-including self-esteem (emphasized by Baumeister et al.), academic self-concept (emphasized by Marsh & Craven), and postsecondary educational attainment-using stronger statistical methods based on five waves of data (grade 10 through 5 years after graduation; N=2,213). Integrating apparently discrepant findings under a common theoretical framework based on a multidimensional perspective, academic self-concept had consistent reciprocal effects with both achievement and educational attainment, whereas self-esteem had almost none.     

Conceptual coherence affects phonological activation of context objects during object naming

In 4 picture-word interference experiments, speakers named a target object that was presented with a context object. Using auditory distractors that were phonologically related or unrelated either to the target object or the context object, the authors assessed whether phonological processing was confined to the target object or not. Phonological activation of the context objects was reliably observed if the target and context objects were embedded in a conceptually coherent scene (e.g., if the picture showed a mouse eating some cheese), regardless of whether the target was cued by its thematic role (agent vs. patient) or by color. However, this activation dissipated if the two objects were presented in an arbitrary object array (e.g., if the cheese was presented along with a finger). These findings suggest that conceptual coherence among multiple objects affects the information flow in the conceptual-lexical system during speech planning.     

结构方程模型中调节效应的标准化估计

回归分析和结构方程分析中,标准化估计对解释模型和比较效应大小有重要作用。对于调节效应模型（或交互效应模型）,通常的标准化估计没有意义。虽然显变量的调节效应模型标准化估计问题已经解决,但潜变量的调节效应模型标准化估计问题复杂得多。本文先介绍回归分析中显变量调节效应模型的标准化估计,然后提出了一种通过参数的原始估计和通常标准化估计来计算潜变量调节效应模型的“标准化”估计的方法,得到的“标准化”估计是尺度不变的,说明可以用“标准化”估计来解释和比较主效应和调节效应     

Free Choice

In everyday language, the central question raised by “free choice” is not causation but whether I do what I want. We can, however, grant that our wants are caused. We commonly fail to appreciate this because there is no consciousness of these causal processes. Nevertheless a question about the causation of my want may on occasion become relevant to the freedom of my choice. Thus one may ask if my want is caused by my knowledge and values, or by causes alien to these. This is not a question about the truth, or implications, of the theory of universal determinism.     

Cathodal tDCS of the Left Posterior Parietal Cortex Increases Proprioceptive Drift

In aiming movements the limb position drifts away from the defined target after some trials without visual feedback, a phenomenon defined as proprioceptive drift (PD). There are no studies investigating the association between the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and PD in aiming movements. Therefore, cathodal and sham transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) were applied to the left PPC concomitantly with the performance of movements with or without vision. Cathodal tDCS applied without vision produced a higher level of PD and higher rates of drift accumulation while it decreased peak velocity and maintained the number of error corrections, not affecting movement amplitude. The proprioceptive information seems to produce an effective reference to movement, but with PPC stimulation it causes a negative impact on position.