Individual differences in white matter microstructure predict semantic control

In everyday conversation, we make many rapid choices between competing concepts and words in order to convey our intent. This process is termed semantic control, and it is thought to rely on information transmission between a distributed semantic store in the temporal lobes and a more discrete region, optimized for retrieval and selection, in the left inferior frontal gyrus. Here, we used diffusion tensor imaging in a group of neurologically normal young adults to investigate the relationship between semantic control and white matter tracts that have been implicated in semantic memory retrieval. Participants completed a verb generation task that taps semantic control (Snyder & Munakata, 2008; Snyder et al., 2010) and underwent a diffusion imaging scan. Deterministic tractography was performed to compute indices representing the microstructural properties of the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), the uncinate fasciculus (UF), and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF). Microstructural measures of the UF failed to predict semantic control performance. However, there was a significant relationship between microstructure of the left IFOF and ILF and individual differences in semantic control. Our findings support the view put forth by Duffau (2013) that the IFOF is a key structural pathway in semantic retrieval.     

DIAGNOSTIC EXPLOITATION OF VISUAL AFTEREFFECT MEASURES IN A MODERATELY DEPRESSIVE PATIENT GROUP

SMITH, G. J. W., FRIES, I., ANDERSSON, A. L. & RIED, J. Diagnostic exploitation of visual aftereffect measures in a moderately depressive patient group. Scand. J. Psychol. , 1971, 12, 68–79.–A group of 39 moderately depressive patients were tested before and after therapy with two serial aftereffect tests. One of them concerned size, intensity, and color of projected afterimages (AI), the other the duration of spiral aftereffects (SAE). AI and SAE data correlated highly with psychiatric ratings of depressive retardation, anxiety, and compulsion. These correlations formed the nucleus of three independent dimensions in a factorial space.     

CATECHOLAMINE EXCRETION IN YOUNG CHILDREN AND THEIR PARENTS AS RELATED TO BEHAVIOR

L ambert , W. W., J ohansson , G., F rankenhaeuser , M. & K lackenberg -L arsson , I. Catecholamine excretion in young children and their parents as related to behavior. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1969, 10, 306–318. — Catecholamine excretion in 100 children and their parents was examined in relation to the children's behavior and to data on the parents' disciplinary procedures: ( a ) children's adrenaline excretion was positively correlated with their intellectual level, ( b ) their noradrenaline excretion was positively correlated with that of their mothers, as well as with both parents' age at the birth of the child, ( c ) mothers' adrenaline excretion was positively correlated with the frequency at which the fathers punished their children by smacking, and ( d ) fathers' noradrenaline excretion was negatively correlated with their own as well as with their wives' frequency of smacking their children.     

FROM THE SENSES TO SENSE: THE HERMENEUTICS OF LOVE

Abstract. Drawing on philosophy, theology, comparative religion, spirituality, Holocaust studies, physics, biology, psychology, and personal experience, I argue that continued human existence depends on our willingness to reject nihilism–not as an expedient "noble lie" but because faith in a meaningful cosmos and the power of love is at least as validly grounded in human experience as insistence on cosmic indifference and ultimate futility. I maintain that hope will free us to develop nonimperialistic methods of bridging cultural differences by forming a mutually intelligible vocabulary that celebrates diversity, enters the worlds of others in respectful dialogue, and fosters a postmechanistic, organic, ecological, holistic, dynamic, interactive, open-ended model of reality. I lay the foundation for a "hermeneutics of love" to complement Paul Ricoeur's "hermeneutics of suspicion" and invite speculation on the ways science, technology, and society would be transformed if those "glasses of friendship" were widely applied.     

Predicting Compliance in Group CBT Using the Group Therapy Questionnaire

This study examined the clinical applicability of the Group Therapy Questionnaire (GTQ) for identifying individuals at risk of poor attendance in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) groups for depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Participants (n = 80) completed the GTQ prior to their involvement in one of five types of CBT groups. Participants’ attendance was recorded by the group therapists. Findings revealed that patients’ expectations of group were associated with attendance. Level of interpersonal difficulty, health issues, and drug and alcohol use—as assessed by the GTQ—were not associated with attendance. A shorter version of the GTQ with questions tapping expectations of group participation would provide a valuable screening tool to aid clinicians in identifying clients at risk for low attendance.     

Perceptual learning of noise vocoded words: effects of feedback and lexicality

Speech comprehension is resistant to acoustic distortion in the input, reflecting listeners' ability to adjust perceptual processes to match the speech input. This adjustment is reflected in improved comprehension of distorted speech with experience. For noise vocoding, a manipulation that removes spectral detail from speech, listeners' word report showed a significantly greater improvement over trials for listeners that heard clear speech presentations before rather than after hearing distorted speech (clear-then-distorted compared with distorted-then-clear feedback, in Experiment 1). This perceptual learning generalized to untrained words suggesting a sublexical locus for learning and was equivalent for word and nonword training stimuli (Experiment 2). These findings point to the crucial involvement of phonological short-term memory and top-down processes in the perceptual learning of noise-vocoded speech. Similar processes may facilitate comprehension of speech in an unfamiliar accent or following cochlear implantation.     

Retrieval‐induced forgetting in normal ageing

The retrieval‐induced forgetting (RIF) paradigm was used to assess the integrity of unintentional inhibitory functioning in normal ageing. The paradigm was adapted to explore the RIF effect under conditions that allow us to differentiate the contribution of intentional and automatic retrieval processes to performance. The results showed the presence of equivalent and significant RIF effects in young and older adults, for both the intentional and automatic retrieval performance. These results suggest that unintentional inhibitory processes are spared in normal ageing and confirm that RIF effect is independent of the kind of memory processes involved in task performance.     

Children's false memories: easier to elicit for a negative than for a neutral event

The present study examined the role of valence in the development of children's implanted false memories. Seventy-six 7-year-old children listened to two true and one false narrative. The false narrative was either neutral ("moving to another classroom") or emotional negative ("being accused by the teacher for copying off your neighbor"). In addition, half of the children were presented with their class photograph while listening to the narratives. During two interviews, children recalled as many details as possible from the true and false events. Results showed that the negative event elicited more false memories than the neutral event. The presentation of a true photograph did not promote the development of false memories.     

Naturalistic Decision-Making Task Processes in Multiprofessional Assessment of Disability

Evaluation of preschool children with complex disabilities is regarded as a group decision-making process. This process was studied in two tertiary-level multiprofessional groups in London, UK: one based in a neurodisability center and one organized by a school psychological service. The assessment discussions about two preschool children at each site were audio recorded. Each assessment was carried out over half a day by all the professionals simultaneously with the family. Postassessment interviews were held with each professional and family. Verbal protocol analysis captured the structure of each assessment through six TASK decision-making processes applied at three levels of reasoning and decision making. Sequential application of processes was found to be influenced by the occurrence of a series of three cycles of decision making within each assessment and the decomposition of the assessment task into distinct subproblems.