Emotional processing following cortical and subcortical brain damage: contribution of the fronto-striatal circuitry

The present study examined the differential contribution of cortical and subcortical brain structures in emotional processing by comparing patients with focal cortical lesions (n = 32) to those with primarily subcortical dysregulation of the basal ganglia (Parkinson's disease n = 14). A standardized measure of emotional perception (Tübingen Affect Battery) was used. Only patients in the more advanced stages of Parkinson's disease and patients with focal damage to the (right) frontal lobe differed significantly from controls in both facial expression and affective prosody recognition. The findings imply involvement of the fronto-striatal circuitry in emotional processing.     

Attentional tracking and inhibition of return in dynamic displays

Seven experiments were conducted to replicate, and extend, a finding by Tipper, Driver, and Weaver (1991). They reported evidence for dynamic, object-centered inhibition of return (IOR)—that is, coding of inhibition following a peripheral cue in coordinates that move with the previously cued object, providing a dynamic bias against reattending to that object. The present experiments used a variation of Posner and Cohen’s (1984) spatial cuing paradigm. Subjects responded manually (simple reaction time) to a luminance increment in one of two peripheral boxes, one of which had previously been cued (brightened). Experiments 1, 2, and 5 replicated the standard (environmental) IOR effect when the display was stationary. IOR was more marked for right-side targets than for left-side targets and tended to be affected by the compatibility between response hand and (cued) target position. However, when the boxes moved around the display center (Experiments 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7), contrary to Tipper et al., there was no evidence of dynamic, object-centered IOR. Rather, there was strong evidence of attentive tracking of whatever box happened to move from left to right, irrespective of the direction of its motion (clockwise or counterclockwise) and whether it was more likely to contain the target than the other (right-to-left moving) box. There was a tendency for left-to-right tracking to be more marked with right-hand responses, pointing to the existence of a dynamic stimulus-response compatibility effect. The implications of the present findings for the role of attentive tracking and IOR in dynamic scenes are discussed.     

Logical probability,mathematical statistics,and the problem of induction

Summary In this paper I want to discuss some basic problems of inductive logic, i.e. of the attempt to solve the problem of induction by means of a calculus of logical probability. I shall try to throw some light upon these problems by contrasting inductive logic, based on logical probability, and working with undefined samples of observations, with mathematical statistics, based on statistical probability, and working with representative random samples.     

Philosophie Als Aufkl?rung

Summary It cannot be stated with certainty that the process of enlightenment (Aufklärung) is irreversible. In many systems the tendency to dogmatize the ideologies by means of which political systems define their identity, invariably dominates the emancipatory tendencies of the intelligentsia. In recent years it has become clear that one has to add to this the fact that in the context of the international student youth movement, part of the intelligentsia is unmistakably fascinated by what dogmatism has been able to achieve as far as integration and orientation are concerned; and thus actively ideological and political movements have been developed which are contrary to the process of enlightening clarification. It is obvious that philosophy plays an important part here.The present essay on the other hand stresses by way of compensation the traditional enlightening function of philosophy. The term enlightening clarification is understood here to mean that process in which the stock of assumptions in regard to reality about which one does not allow for discussion, and which thus, correspondingly, in its claim of validity, is morally and politically controlled and protected group-specifically, is reduced to a minimum. The process of clarification, thus, is a process by means of which our socially secured interestedness, namely that reality is in this way and not in any other way, gradually disintegrates. The institutional character of universally accepted truths as well as the hermeneutic and rhetorical technologies of man's enlightening clarification, whose function it is to dissolve this universal acceptance, are described in this essay in great detail.

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This paper is a reprint from M. Riedel (ed.),Rehabilitierung der praktischen Philosophie. Geschichte — Probleme — Aufgaben. Freiburg: Verlag Rombach & Co., 1972.     

Cross-trial priming of element positions in visual pop-out search is dependent on stimulus arrangement

Two experiments examined cross-trial positional priming (V. Maljkovic & K. Nakayama, 1994, 1996, 2000) in visual pop-out search. Experiment 1 used regularly arranged target and distractor displays, as in previous studies. Reaction times were expedited when the target appeared at a previous target location (facilitation relative to neutral baseline) and slowed when the target appeared at a previous distractor location (inhibition). In contrast to facilitation, inhibition emerged only after extended practice. Experiment 2 revealed reduced facilitatory and no inhibitory priming when the elements' spatial arrangement was made irregular, indicating that positional--in particular, inhibitory--priming critically depends on the configuration of the display elements across sequences of trials. These results are discussed with respect to the role of the context for cross-trial priming in visual pop-out search.     

Electrophysiological correlates of flicker-induced color hallucinations

In a recent study, Becker and Elliott [Becker, C., & Elliott, M. A. (2006). Flicker induced color and form: Interdependencies and relation to stimulation frequency and phase. Consciousness & Cognition, 15(1), 175-196] described the appearance of subjective experiences of color and form induced by stimulation with intermittent light. While there have been electroencephalographic studies of similar hallucinatory forms, brain activity accompanying the appearance of hallucinatory colors was never measured. Using a priming procedure where observers were required to indicate the presence of one of eight target colors we compared electrophysiological correlates of hallucinatory color with brain states associated with other visual phenomena. Different target colors were accompanied by different patterns of EEG activation. However, in general, we found that the appearance of hallucinatory colors is preceded by a power decrease in the lower alpha band alongside an increase in gamma band frequencies. We argue that decreasing activity in the lower alpha band acts as a gating mechanism, inducing a switch in perception between different colors. The increasing gamma activation may correlate with the formation of a coherent conscious percept.     

The Relationship Between Premenstrual Distress and Anxiety Sensitivity: The Mediating Role of Rumination

Given that premenstrual distress is reported by large numbers of women, research has focused on the identification of biological and psychological factors that influence its severity. Previous research suggests that women who are high in anxiety sensitivity also report greater levels of premenstrual distress and negative affect. According to the menstrual reactivity hypothesis, women who have a tendency to self-focus and catastrophize about physical sensations are more likely to report greater levels of premenstrual distress. Cognitive schemas surrounding the menstrual cycle develop that are influenced by gender roles, cultural stereotypes, and expectations about bodily sensations. Another cognitive process, rumination, may also be linked to increased reports of premenstrual distress. Conceptually, the constructs of anxiety sensitivity and rumination share the tendency to self-focus on internal states. The goal of this study was to investigate how these two constructs relate to the prediction of premenstrual distress in a large sample of healthy undergraduate women (N = 478). Using mediational modeling, support was found for a mediational model; women who reported high levels of rumination and anxiety sensitivity reported the greatest premenstrual distress. These results are discussed within the framework of the menstrual reactivity hypothesis, a diathesis-stress model of premenstrual distress.     

Dimensional weighting of primary and secondary target-defining dimensions in visual search for singleton conjunction targets

Two experiments investigated dimension-based attentional processing in a complex singleton conjunction search task. In Experiment 1, observers had to discern the presence of a singleton target defined by a conjunction of size (fixed primary dimension) with either color or motion direction (secondary dimension). Similar to findings in singleton feature search, changes (vs. repetitions) of the secondary dimension across trials resulted in reaction time (RT) costs—which were, however, increased by a factor of 3–5 compared to singleton feature search. In Experiment 2, the coding of search-critical, dimensional saliency signals was investigated by additionally presenting targets redundantly defined in both secondary dimensions, with redundant-target signals being either spatially coincident or separate (i.e., one vs. two target items). Redundant-target RTs significantly violated Miller’s (Cognit Psychol 14:247–279, 1982) race model inequality only when redundant signals were spatially coincident (i.e., bound to a single object), indicating coactive processing of target information in the two secondary dimensions. These findings suggest that the coding and combining of signals from different visual dimensions operates in parallel. Increased change costs in singleton conjunction search are likely to reflect a reduced amount of weight available for processing the secondary target-defining dimensions, due to a large amount of weight being bound by the primary dimension.

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Inhibitory and facilitatory location priming in patients with left-sided visual hemi-neglect

In visual search for pop-out targets, reaction times are facilitated when the target on the current trial appears at a previous target location, and inhibited when it appears at a previous distractor location, relative to when it appears at a previously empty (neutral) location (Maljkovic and Nakayama, Perception and Psychophysics 58:977–991, 1996). However, while normal subjects are able to positively/negatively tag selected target/rejected distractor locations to guide search on the next trial, patients with visual hemi-neglect may have a (uni- or bilateral) deficit in these functions that may contribute to their disturbed visual scanning behavior. To examine this, using a pop-out search task, the present study assessed cross-trial facilitatory and inhibitory priming in 14 patients with left-sided visual hemi-neglect and in 14 age-, education-, and IQ-matched control subjects. The group of neglect patients did show significant facilitatory and inhibitory priming. However, while control subjects exhibited balanced effects of facilitation and inhibition, inhibition was relatively reduced in magnitude in neglect patients. In particular, inhibition was virtually absent in two patients with lesions affecting superior regions of the frontal cortex, putatively encroaching on the frontal eye field of the right hemisphere. These findings provide neuropsychological evidence that facilitatory and inhibitory priming effects are based on dissociable mechanisms, consistent with Geyer et al. (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 33:788–797, 2007).