Taking a new look at looking at nothing

A crucial question in cognitive science is how linguistic and visual information are integrated. Previous research has shown that eye movements to objects in the visual environment are locked to linguistic input. More surprisingly, listeners fixate on now-empty regions that had previously been occupied by relevant objects. This 'looking at nothing' phenomenon has been linked to the claim that the visual system constructs sparse representations of the external world and relies on saccades and fixations to extract information in a just-in-time manner. Our model provides a different explanation: based on recent work in visual cognition and memory, it assumes that the visual system creates and stores detailed internal memory representations, and that looking at nothing facilitates retrieval of those representations.     

Effects of Transactional and Transformational Leadership of Pastors

Over the last 20 years, researchers and practitioners have become increasingly interested in the transactional–transformational leadership paradigm. However, only a few studies have tested the validity of this approach to leadership concerning Christian pastors. Thus, two studies were conducted in Germany that explored the effect of transactional and transformational leadership of pastors on several outcome criteria. The results revealed that transformational leadership was positively associated with followers’ satisfaction with their pastor, their extra effort, their effectiveness, and their job satisfaction. In addition to this effect on followers, transformational leadership showed positive effects on worshipers’ satisfaction with the worship service. Implications of these results for theory and practice are discussed.

Implicit person theories influence memory judgments: the circumstances under which metacognitive knowledge is used

This work focuses on the influence of implicit theories on recognition judgments. We argue that to understand how a recognition task is solved, it is necessary to study inferential processes because individuals might use their metamnestic knowledge (‘I would have known that!’) as a basis for replacing missing recollective experiences with inferential processes (Strack & Bless, 1994 ). In the present study, individuals' preexisting implicit personality theory (Dweck, 1996 ) was measured and was identified as a moderating variable for the use of metamnestic knowledge. After participants had studied word lists their metamnestic knowledge concerning these lists was manipulated. The results of a subsequent recognition task revealed that individuals used these metacognitively based inferences only when they assumed personal stability (‘entity theory’). Participants who believed in personal variability (‘incremental theory’) did not draw similar inferences when recollective experiences were missing. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Constituted Simples?

Many philosophers maintain that artworks, such as statues, are constituted by other material objects, such as lumps of marble. I give an argument against this view, an argument which appeals to mereological simples.

Multicomponent theory of perception

Summary In a complete identification experiment the three sides of an equilateral triangle were briefly presented as stimuli either singly or in pairs. The resulting 6×6 confusion matrices obtained with three subjects were analyzed according to Rumelhart's (1970, 1971) multicomponent theory of perception (MCTP) in order to test assumptions about feature extraction and decision processes. In agreement with MCTP the detection of a line segment occurring within a pair was stochastically independent of the detection of the other line segment. Two predictions of MCTP were however not confirmed: different line segments are not detected with equal probability, and the probability of detecting a line segment depends on the presence or absence of others. Several decision assumptions of MCTP were tested. The results are the following: If at most one line segment has been detected, then several responses (the candidate set) are compatible with this sensory state. It was argued that response selection from the candidate set is better described by the choice model (Luce, 1959) than by the matching Bayesian rule assumed by MCTP. For a given sensory state the size of the candidate set appears to vary over trials, whereas MCTP assumes it to be constant. In general, the confusion matrices could be predicted quite accurately by MCTP modified according to the above assumptions. However, more accurate predictions were achieved by assuming holistic perceptual processes as well as single feature extraction.This study was supported by a grant from the Universität Konstanz, Forschungsprojekt 32/72 Visuelle Reize, and the experiment to this study was performed in the laboratory of the Arbeitseinheit Mathematische Psychologie im Fachbereich Psychologie/Soziologie der Universität Konstanz.     

Validation of distinct amnesic and executive type memory deficit in a psychiatric sample based on retrieval performance

Studies of localized brain dysfunctions have revealed connections between patterns of cognitive dysfunction and specific profiles of memory impairment. The amnesic type of memory impairment is defined by deficits in both free recall and recognition memory, whereas the dysexecutive memory impairment is characterized by retrieval deficits, i.e. a disproportional impairment in free recall relative to recognition memory. The present study tests whether classifications of psychiatric patients into recall impaired only (= RO group) and Recall and Recognition impaired (= RR group) correspond to the executive type and amnesic type of memory impairment. The alternative hypothesis is that the two groups merely differ in degree of neuropsychological and psychiatric disturbance. Forty-four subjects impaired on California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) were selected from a larger database of 103 impaired and non-impaired subjects with schizophrenia or recurrent major depression. Subjects were classified into RO and RR groups and compared on measures of memory strategy (recency effect and interference on CVLT), overall neuropsychological function (Stroop Test and WAIS-R similarity) and psychiatric symptom load (positive and negative symptoms). Repeated measures ANOVA showed no effects of group, i.e. the RR group did not perform consistently below the RO group with regard to memory strategy, neuropsychological function or psychiatric symptom load. Two out of three analyses showed group x test interaction, supporting the dissociation of distinct executive and amnesic profiles among psychiatric patients. The RO group was more susceptible to interference but had better recency score than the RR group. The RO had higher negative symptoms while the RR group had higher positive symptoms.     

Modulation of anxiety circuits by serotonergic systems

Anxiety is a complex emotional state associated with sustained heightened autonomic and behavioral arousal and an increase in avoidance behavior. Anxiety-related behavior is a form of risk assessment behavior that is associated with a level of uncertainty or unpredictability regarding the outcome of emotionally salient events, often when both rewarding and aversive outcomes are possible. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of the neural circuits regulating anxiety states and anxiety-related behavior with an emphasis on the role of brainstem serotonergic systems in modulating anxiety-related circuits. In particular, we explore the possibility that the regulation of anxiety states and anxiety-related behavior by serotonergic systems is dependent on a specific, topographically organized mesolimbocortical serotonergic system that originates in the mid-rostrocaudal and caudal parts of the dorsal raphe nucleus.