Functional imaging of working memory and peripheral endothelial function in middle-aged adults

The current study examined the relationship between a prognostic indicator of vascular health, flow-mediated dilation (FMD), and working memory-related brain activation in healthy middle-aged adults. Forty-two participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while completing a 2-Back working memory task. Brachial artery endothelial-dependent flow-mediated dilation (FMD) was assessed using B-mode ultrasound. The relationship between FMD and task-related brain activation in a priori regions of interest was modeled using hierarchical linear regression. Brachial FMD, was significantly related to reduced working memory-related activation in the right superior parietal lobule (β = 0.338, p = 0.027), independent of age, sex, systolic blood pressure, and full scale IQ (F(5, 36) = 2.66, p = 0.038). These data provide preliminary support for the association between a preclinical marker of endothelial dysfunction and cerebral hemodynamic alterations in healthy middle-aged adults. Considering the modifiable nature of endothelial function, additional investigations on the prognostic significance of FMD on future cognitive impairment are warranted.     

The effects of thematic relations on picture naming abilities across the lifespan

A picture–word interference paradigm tracked patterns of activation during picture naming in 87 individuals (age range 17–80 years old). Distractor words were presented at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of ?200, ?100, and 0 ms bearing a has a-, location, or no relationship to the picture. Analyses of group naming reaction times revealed significant facilitation effects for both semantic relation types for all age groups. Analyses of temporal patterns of activation revealed significant effects primarily at SOAs of ?200 and ?100 ms. These findings provide evidence that both thematic relations are particularly salient in how semantic knowledge is organized, and that the patterns of effects from these semantic relations remain the same as one ages.     

Mothers with Depressive Symptoms Touching Newborns

Previous research has demonstrated the positive effects of early contact on mother–infant touching behaviours. The present study investigated whether the type of maternal touching, shortly after birth, is also determined by the mother's mood state. Mothers with depressive symptoms were compared to non-depressive mothers 1 day after delivery on how they touched their newborns following an initial feeding. The results were counter-intuitive in that no differences were found between mothers with depressive symptoms and non-depressive mothers in type of maternal touching. However, mothers with depressive symptoms talked to their infants less often and talked on the phone more often. In addition, mothers with depressive symptoms showed more neutral and negative facial expressions and fewer positive and more neutral vocal expressions.     

First interactions between hydrogen and stress-induced reverse transformation of Ni–Ti superelastic alloy

The first dynamic interactions between hydrogen and the stress-induced reverse transformation have been investigated by performing an unloading test on a Ni–Ti superelastic alloy subjected to hydrogen charging under a constant applied strain in the elastic deformation region of the martensite phase. Upon unloading the specimen, charged with a small amount of hydrogen, no change in the behaviour of the stress-induced reverse transformation is observed in the stress-strain curve, although the behaviour of the stress-induced martensite transformation changes. With increasing amount of hydrogen charging, the critical stress for the reverse transformation markedly decreases. Eventually, for a larger amount of hydrogen charging, the reverse transformation does not occur, i.e. there is no recovery of the superelastic strain. The residual martensite phase on the side surface of the unloaded specimen is confirmed by X-ray diffraction. Upon training before the unloading test, the properties of the reverse transformation slightly recover after ageing in air at room temperature. The present study indicates that to change the behaviour of the reverse transformation a larger amount of hydrogen than that for the martensite transformation is necessary. In addition, it is likely that a substantial amount of hydrogen in solid solution more strongly suppresses the reverse transformation than hydrogen trapped at defects, thereby stabilising the martensite phase.     

Preferences versus strategies as explanations for culture-specific behavior

In this article, we present a new framework for interpreting cultural differences in behavior -- what we call the institutional approach. In this framework, individuals' behaviors are conceptualized as strategies adapted to various incentive structures. Cultural differences in behavior are thus viewed as differences in the default adaptive strategies that individuals come to rely on in unclear situations. Through two studies, we demonstrate that the East Asian "preference" for conformity is actually a default strategy to avoid accrual of negative reputation. When the possibility for negative evaluations in a given situation was clearly defined, cultural differences in the tendency for uniqueness disappeared. This approach carries important implications to psychologists who interpret cultural differences in behavior in terms of preferences, and can serve as a common framework branching out toward other disciplines in the social sciences.     

Feature binding in visual working memory evaluated by type identification paradigm

Memory for feature binding comprises a key ingredient in coherent object representations. Previous studies have been equivocal about human capacity for objects in the visual working memory. To evaluate memory for feature binding, a type identification paradigm was devised and used with a multiple-object permanence tracking task. Using objects defined by shape and color, observers identified types of changes in feature combinations across an occlusion event, and the effects of object motion and number of switches were investigated. With only one switch, task performance was impaired even under stationary conditions, suggesting highly limited capacity of binding memory. Second switch improved performance only in the stationary condition, suggesting that object motion strongly disrupts feature binding. Further analyses and experiments suggest that improvement by the second switch reflects transition of binding memory by selective attention.     

Lexical decomposition of complex Kanji characters in Japanese readers

Summary The study investigates the question whether during recognition of a complex Kanji character readers also access the meaning of opaque components of the character. The experiment used a speeded semantic-categorization task of two characters, in which readers were requested to decide whether two characters represented words related in meaning or not. The control pairs consisted of (a) graphically similar, but semantically unrelated, characters, and (b) a simple character and a complex character, of which the simple character was a component (part-whole relation), the two characters being again semantically unrelated. The critical pairs consisted of two characters unrelated in meaning, one of which contained an opaque component element related in meaning to the other character. A corresponding trial with English and its alphabetic system would be to ask a subject to decide whether boycott is related in meaning to girl or not. In this condition the subject is expected to give a No response, but if the pseudocomponent boy is activated, interference could occur. (If boy is recovered during recognition of the pseudocompound boycott, the appropriate No response for boycott-girl could become more difficult to take.) The result of the experiment indicated interference in all three conditions (graphically similar characters, part-whole related characters, and opaque-component related characters. Thus, in an analogous task with alphabetic material, it would be more difficult to say No about the existence of a semantic relation between (a) tree and free, (b) boy and boycott, and (c) boycott and girl. The last result can be interpreted as offering evidence for the activation of the opaque component upon recognition of the complex character.This account is somewhat oversimplified. It is not always easy to determine which is a radical in a complex character. A higher radical can in fact be a combination of a lower radical with the addition of one or more strokes.     

Testing response-stimulus equivalence relations using differential responses as a sample

This study tested the notion that an equivalence relation may include a response when differential responses are paired with stimuli presented during training. Eight normal adults learned three kinds of computer mouse movements as differential response topographies (R1, R2, and R3). Next, in matching-to-sample training, one of the response topographies was used to select a comparison stimulus B (B1, B2, or B3) conditionally upon presentation of sample stimulus A (A1, A2, or A3), and to select stimulus D (D1, D2, or D3) conditionally upon presentation of stimulus C (C1, C2, or C3). After two sample-comparison-response relations (ABR and CDR) were established, 18 sample-comparison relations were tested (BA, DC, RA, RB, RC, RD, AC, CA, AD, DA, BC, CB, BD, DB, AA, BB, CC, and DD). In the RA, RB, RC, and RD tests, the differential responses (R1, R2, and R3) were used as sample stimuli. All subjects made class-consistent comparison selections in the tests. This study provides evidence that responses may become members of an equivalence class.     

Modesty in self‐presentation: A comparison between the USA and Japan

Japanese participants in Study 1 exhibited a self‐effacing tendency when no reason for their self‐evaluation was provided. However, they exhibited a self‐enhancing tendency when they were offered a monetary reward for the correct evaluation. In Study 2, Americans, especially American men, exhibited a self‐enhancing tendency whereas Japanese exhibited a self‐effacing tendency when no reason for making the evaluation was presented. This cultural difference disappeared when participants were provided with a monetary reward for correctly evaluating their performance level. These results support the view that the modesty observed in self‐evaluation among Japanese participants is a ‘default strategy’ to avoid offending others.     

Culture,morality, and the effect of prosocial behavior motivation on positive affect

We investigated the effect of culture, moral discourse, and motivation to engage in prosocial behavior on benefactors’ positive affect. Participants from three cultures (Japan, Romania, and the United States) responded to scenarios in which they could perform small acts of kindness for different targets. A stronger relationship between agentic and obligated motivation to perform acts of kindness, as well as between obligated motivation and positive affect, was observed for participants from Japan, and for individuals with higher endorsement of the Community Ethic. Agentic motivation to engage in prosocial behavior was related to benefactors’ positive affect, regardless of relationship type.