Cross-modal links in exogenous covert spatial orienting between touch, audition, and vision

Three experiments investigated cross-modal links between touch, audition, and vision in the control of covert exogenous orienting. In the first two experiments, participants made speeded discrimination responses (continuous vs. pulsed) for tactile targets presented randomly to the index finger of either hand. Targets were preceded at a variable stimulus onset asynchrony (150,200, or 300 msec) by a spatially uninformative cue that was either auditory (Experiment 1) or visual (Experiment 2) on the same or opposite side as the tactile target. Tactile discriminations were more rapid and accurate when cue and target occurred on the same side, revealing cross-modal covert orienting. In Experiment 3, spatially uninformative tactile cues were presented prior to randomly intermingled auditory and visual targets requiring an elevation discrimination response (up vs. down). Responses were significantly faster for targets in both modalities when presented ipsilateral to the tactile cue. These findings demonstrate that the peripheral presentation of spatially uninforrnative auditory and visual cues produces cross-modal orienting that affects touch, and that tactile cues can also produce cross-modal covert orienting that affects audition and vision.     

STUDIES OF PERCEPTION AND REASONING IN ZAMBIAN CHILDREN

Perception et raisonnement chez les enfants zambiens. — l'A. présente une série de recherches expérimentales qui ont été réalisées ou récemment entreprises par l'Unité de Recherche sur le Développement humain de l'Université de Zambie, dans les domaines de la perception et du raisonnement. II attire l'attention sur ce qu'impliquent, pour tout travail expérimental dans ces deux domaines, les limites qui interviennent du fait de la culture et de la langue, dans la communication qui est faite au sujet du stimulus ou de la tâche requise, et ceci particulièrement quand il s'agit d'enfants qui ont ou vont avoir l'âge de commencer l'école. Dans la mesure où ces difficultés peuvent être réellement surmontées, ce qui a été réalisé jusqu'à maintenant montre quel défi et quelle occasion représente pour la psychologie expérimentale le travail dans des pays en voie de développement. II s'avère également qu'il faut s'attendre à un important décalage temporel avant qu'un changement à large échelle ne puisse prendre place dans les stimuli et les motivations du milieu traditionnel.     

Evidence of complementary afterimages in the pigeon

Key pecking of pigeons was reinforced on a variable-interval schedule when ambient illumination came from a green light, but not when it came from a red, yellow, or white light. The different hues were randomly presented for periods of 30 sec each, with the restriction that white never followed red. After discriminative control was established, the pigeons were tested with the same procedure used during training, except that white sometimes followed red. Significantly more responses were made during white-following-red than during white following either green or yellow. These findings indicate that, in changing from red to white, complementary afterimages can be induced in pigeons for a brief period of time. By providing behavioral evidence for afterimages in the pigeon, this technique may be useful to research in comparative neurophysiology, animal discrimination learning, and theories of color vision.     

AGE DIFFERENCES IN CUMULATIVE LEARNING OF MEANINGFUL AND MEANINGLESS MATERIAL

Age differences in cumulative learning were explored using a technique developed by Hebb. In the first experiment Finnish subjects recalled messages of English digits and in two subsequent experiments English subjects recalled messages of Finnish and of English digits. The finding from the first experiment was that young subjects exhibited cumulative learning while old subjects did not but it was concluded on the basis of the two further experiments that both age groups could show cumulative learning under the conditions used. An age difference in immediate memory for meaningful and meaningless material is noted and the possibility of increasing vulnerability with age to different forms of interference is discussed.     

Immediate memory in dialling performance with and without simple rehearsal

This experiment was designed to explore the effects of simple rehearsal on immediate memory in telephone dialling performance in a sample of 36 men aged 45 to 60 for whom data on intelligence, vocabulary, emotional stability and occupation were available.

The eight-digit messages were the same as those previously used by Conrad in a study of telephone operators which compared performance on dialling and keysender equipment. Using a Latin square design, subjects were required to dial 10 eight-digit messages in each of six conditions (three with auditory and three with visual presentation). Dialling was carried out (1) immediately the message had been presented; (2) after it had been once vocally rehearsed by the subject; (3) after it had been written down while being vocally rehearsed. A complete record was obtained of all performances, at rehearsal and at dialling.

It was found that with auditory serial presentation, immediate vocal rehearsal and immediate dialling are equally good and both superior to dialling which followed vocal rehearsal. With visual simultaneous presentation, immediate vocal rehearsal is clearly superior to dialling with or without rehearsal, which do not differ. Performance after written-down rehearsal was the worst in both modes of presentation.

A non-linear relationship between intelligence and performance was found, and acute individual differences in performance were observed among the subjects of the highest intelligence.     

Inpatient Therapeutic Assessment With Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Growing evidence supporting the effectiveness of Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment (C/TA) has led clinicians and researchers to apply C/TA to a variety of clinical populations and treatment settings. This case example presents a C/TA inpatient adaptation illustrated with narcissistic personality disorder. After a brief overview of salient concepts, I provide a detailed account of the clinical interview, test interpretation paired with diagnostic considerations specific to narcissism, planned intervention, and discussion of assessment results. Throughout the case study, I attempt to demonstrate defining features of C/TA, inpatient adaptations, and clinical techniques that encourage meaningful engagement with a “hard to reach” personality.     

‘There’s the record,closed and final’: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rough for Theatre II</Emphasis> as Psychiatric Encounter

A co-authored collaboration between a theatre practitioner and a clinical psychiatrist, this paper will examine Rough for Theatre II (RFTII) and Beckett’s demonstration of the way records are used to understand the human subject. Using Beckett’s play to explore interdisciplinary issues of embodiment and diagnosis, the authors will present a dialogue that makes use of the ‘best sources’ in precisely the same manner as the play’s protagonists. One of those sources will be Beckett himself, as Heron will locate the play in its theatrical context through reflections upon his own practice (with Fail Better Productions, UK) as well as recent studies such as Beckett, Technology and the Body (Maude 2009) and Performing Embodiment in Samuel Beckett’s Drama (McMullan 2010); another source will be the philosopher Wilhelm Windleband, whose 1901 History of Philosophy was read and noted upon by Beckett in the 1930s, as Broome will introduce a philosophical and psychiatric context to the exchange. Windelband is now a neglected figure in philosophy; but as one of the key figures of Neo-Kantianism in the late 19^th century, his work was an important impetus to that of Rickert, Weber and Heidegger. Specifically, Windelband gives us the distinction between idiographic and nomothetic understanding of individuals, an approach that is of relevance to the psychiatric encounter. This academic dialogue will consider tensions between subjectivity and objectivity in clinical and performance practice, while examining Beckett’s analysis of the use of case notes and relating them back to Windelband’s ideas on the understanding of others. The dialogue took place in 2011 at the University of Warwick, and has since been edited by the authors.     

Behaviorism and Society

A probable list of causes for the limited acceptance of behaviorism in our society is identified. This is followed by a summary review of the proposed solutions identified in other papers in this special issue of The Behavior Analyst, most of which relate to either better marketing of either the behavior analytic process or the results achieved as a consequence. One paper proposes a more broad conception of behavior analysis. This paper endorses the solutions identified in previous papers and then goes on to propose an even more broad conception of behavior analysis and makes the point that behavior analysis is unlikely to flourish unless behavior analysts understand a good deal more about the cultural and other contextual features of the environments in which they work.     

Exploring the associations shared by mood,pain-related attention and pain outcomes related to sleep disturbance in a chronic pain sample

Objective: Sleep disturbance in chronic pain is common, occurring in two-thirds of patients. There is a complex relationship between chronic pain and sleep; pain can disrupt sleep and poor sleep can exaggerate pain intensity. This may have an impact on both depressive symptoms and attention to pain. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between chronic pain and sleep, and the role of mood and attention.

Methods: Chronic pain patients, recruited from a secondary care outpatient clinic, completed self-report measures of pain, sleep, depressive symptoms and attention to pain. Hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling were used to explore the relationships between these measures. Participants (n = 221) were aged between 20 and 84 (mean = 52) years.

Results: The majority of participants were found to be ‘poor sleepers’ (86%) with increased pain severity, depressive symptoms and attention to pain. Both analytical approaches indicated that sleep disturbance is indirectly associated with increased pain severity Instead the relationship shared by sleep disturbance and pain severity was further associated with depressive symptoms and attention to pain.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that sleep disturbance may contribute to clinical pain severity indirectly though changes in mood and attention. Prospective studies exploring lagged associations between these constructs could have critical information relevant to the treatment of chronic pain.