The role of specificity in the lexical encoding of participants

In addition to information about phonology, morphology and syntax, lexical entries contain semantic information about participants (e.g., Agent). However, the traditional criteria for determining how much participant information is lexically encoded have proved unreliable. We have proposed two semantic criteria (obligatoriness and selectivity) that jointly identify the participants that are lexically encoded in verbs. We tested whether one of these criteria, semantic selectivity, makes psychologically real distinctions between participant information that is lexically encoded and participant information that is not. We examined how readers integrated syntactically optional WH-constituents in filler-gap sentences when the participant information conveyed by the WH-filler was specific to a restricted class of verbs (i.e., source locations) and when it was not (i.e., event locations). Our results provide support for the role of specificity in the lexical encoding of participant information of syntactically optional constituents.     

Assessing and interpreting personality change and continuity in patients treated for major depression

Structural, mean- and individual-level, differential, and ipsative personality continuity were examined in 599 patients treated for major depression assigned to 1 of 6 forms of a 6-month pharmaco-psychotherapy program. Covariation among traits from the Five Factor model remained invariant across treatment, and patients described themselves as slightly more extraverted, open to experience, agreeable and conscientious, and substantially more emotional stable after treatment. Trait changes were only to a small extent explained by changes in depression severity. There was evidence for differential, individual-level, and ipsative stability, with stable personality profiles in terms of shape and to a lesser extent in terms of scatter and elevation. Traits remain relatively stable, except for emotional stability, despite the depressive state and the psychopharmacological interventions.     

Letter position information and printed word perception: the relative-position priming constraint

Six experiments apply the masked priming paradigm to investigate how letter position information is computed during printed word perception. Primes formed by a subset of the target's letters facilitated target recognition as long as the relative position of letters was respected across prime and target (e.g., "arict" vs. "acirt" as primes for the target "apricot"). Priming effects were not influenced by whether or not absolute, length-dependent position was respected (e.g., "a-ric-t" vs. "arict"/"ar-i-ct"). Position of overlap of relative-position primes (e.g., apric-apricot; ricot-apricot; arict-apricot) was found to have little influence on the size of priming effects, particularly in conditions (i.e., 33 ms prime durations) where there was no evidence for phonological priming. The results constrain possible schemes for letter position coding.     

Conscious, preconscious, and subliminal processing: a testable taxonomy

Of the many brain events evoked by a visual stimulus, which are specifically associated with conscious perception, and which merely reflect non-conscious processing? Several recent neuroimaging studies have contrasted conscious and non-conscious visual processing, but their results appear inconsistent. Some support a correlation of conscious perception with early occipital events, others with late parieto-frontal activity. Here we attempt to make sense of these dissenting results. On the basis of the global neuronal workspace hypothesis, we propose a taxonomy that distinguishes between vigilance and access to conscious report, as well as between subliminal, preconscious and conscious processing. We suggest that these distinctions map onto different neural mechanisms, and that conscious perception is systematically associated with surges of parieto-frontal activity causing top-down amplification.     

Class specificity and the lexical encoding of participant information

It is commonly assumed across the language sciences that some semantic participant information is lexically encoded and some is not. In this article, we propose that semantic obligatoriness and verb class specificity are criteria which influence whether semantic information is lexically encoded. We present a comprehensive survey of the English verbal lexicon and two continuation studies which confirm that both factors play a role in the lexical encoding of participant information.     

A European perspective on depression in the community: the DEPRES study

Depression is one of the most prevalent disorders in the general population, causing personal and social disability and impairment. Major studies assessing the diagnosis and management of depression have shown that it is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. A pan-European study aimed at assessing the extent and consequences of depression in six different countries is reported in this article. Different types of depressive profiles are analyzed and their respective management has been compared. The importance of improving diagnosis and treatment of depression is underlined. Appropriate management of depression depends on the recognition of depressive symptoms by patients, their possibility of seeking care, and the ability of the primary care physician to recognize the disorder and prescribe the appropriate medicines. Improvement in all of these fields is necessary.     

Word Meaning Frequencies Affect Negative Compatibility Effects In Masked Priming

Negative compatibility effects (NCEs)—that is, slower responses to targets in related than unrelated prime-target pairs, have been observed in studies using stimulus-response (S-R) priming with stimuli like arrows and plus signs. Although there is no consensus on the underlying mechanism, explanations tend to locate NCEs within the motor-response system. A characteristic property of perceptuo-motor NCEs is a biphasic pattern of activation: A brief period in which very briefly presented (typically) masked primes facilitate processing of related targets is followed by a phase of target processing impairment. In this paper, we present data that suggest that NCEs are not restricted to S-R priming with low-level visual stimuli: The brief (50 ms), backward masked (250 ms) presentation of ambiguous words (bank) leads to slower responses than baseline to words related to the more frequent (rob) but not less frequent meaning (swim). Importantly, we found that slowed responses are preceded by a short phase of response facilitation, replicating the biphasic pattern reported for arrows and plus signs. The biphasic pattern of priming and the fact that the NCEs were found only for target words that are related to their prime word’s more frequent meaning has strong implications for any theory of NCEs that locate these effects exclusively within the motor-response system.     

Correlates of Depressive Disorders in the Quebec General Population 6 to 14 Years of Age

There are relatively few community-based epidemiological studies in which correlates of depressive disorders were identified through multivariate analyses in children and adolescents aged 6--14 years. Moreover, several family characteristics (e.g., parent-child relationship) have never been explored in this regard. The purpose of this study was twofold. Using data from the Quebec Child Mental Health Survey, it sought: (1) to identify psychosocial correlates associated with depressive disorder in two age-groups (6--11 and 12-14 years) according to informant (child/adolescent, parent); and (2) to interpret the relative importance of correlates by ranking variables according to strength and consistency of association across age-groups. Logistic regression models show correlates to be inconsistent across informants. The ranking of correlates indicates a major contribution of only-child status/ordinal position, parent's major depressive disorder, stressful family events, and parent-child relationship, thereby supporting the hypothesis of the relevance of family context in the development of depression.     

Measurement of readiness to reduce driving speed: a pilot study

Speeding is a preventable risky behavior that contributes to risk of accident. Readiness to change reflects an individual's recognition of and desire to change behavior. No measure to identify readiness to change has yet been validated for speeding. The Readiness to Change Questionnaire appraises readiness to change drinking behavior. The questionnaire was adapted to speeding and its psychometric properties examined. Participants (N = 112) completed the questionnaire and reported their usual driving speed. A clear component structure and acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability were found. Convergent validity was indicated by an association between higher readiness to change and lower driving speed. Results support the questionnaire's potential as a measure of readiness to change speeding, and advance research into the role of motivation in speeding behavior.