Covert shifts of attention can account for the functional role of “eye movements to nothing”

When trying to remember verbal information from memory, people look at spatial locations that have been associated with visual stimuli during encoding, even when the visual stimuli are no longer present. It has been shown that such “eye movements to nothing” can influence retrieval performance for verbal information, but the mechanism underlying this functional relationship is unclear. More precisely, covert in comparison to overt shifts of attention could be sufficient to elicit the observed differences in retrieval performance. To test if covert shifts of attention explain the functional role of the looking-at-nothing phenomenon, we asked participants to remember verbal information that had been associated with a spatial location during an encoding phase. Additionally, during the retrieval phase, all participants solved an unrelated visual tracking task that appeared in either an associated (congruent) or an incongruent spatial location. Half the participants were instructed to look at the tracking task, half to shift their attention covertly (while keeping the eyes fixed). In two experiments, we found that memory retrieval depended on the location to which participants shifted their attention covertly. Thus, covert shifts of attention seem to be sufficient to cause differences in retrieval performance. The results extend the literature on the relationship between visuospatial attention, eye movements, and verbal memory retrieval and provide deep insights into the nature of the looking-at-nothing phenomenon.     

On the origin of worries about modern health hazards: Experimental evidence for a conjoint influence of media reports and personality traits

Objective: Worries about health threatening effects of potential health hazards of modern life (e.g. electric devices and pollution) represent a growing phenomenon in Western countries. Yet, little is known about the causes of this growing special case of affective risk perceptions termed Modern Health Worries (MHW). The purpose of this study is to examine a possible role of biased media reports in the formation of MHW.

Design: In two experiments, we investigated whether typical television reports affect MHW. In Study 1, 130 participants were randomly assigned to a film on idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI) or a control film about cystic fibrosis. In Study 2, 82 participants were randomly assigned to either a film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields or a control condition.

Main outcome measures: Increases in MHW after sensational media reports.

Results: In Study 1, only participants high on the personality trait of absorption revealed increased MHW after watching the IEI film. In Study 2, specifically worries about radiation were found to be elevated after watching the film on the dangers of electromagnetic fields compared to the control film.

Conclusion: The results of both studies reveal a significant and specific influence of sensational short mass media reports on MHW. The influence of potential moderators such as absorption remains to be clarified.     

Somatic symptom reporting has a dimensional latent structure: Results from taxometric analyses

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are one of the key features of somatoform disorders. Although MUS are currently treated as both categorical (in terms of the diagnosis of somatoform disorders) and dimensional (in terms of quantitative measures of somatization/somatic symptom reporting), little is known about the empirical latent structure of MUS. Using taxometric analyses, the latent structure of somatic symptom reporting was analyzed with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-15 in two student samples (N = 782 and N = 2,577) and a primary care sample (N = 519). We applied three popular taxometric methods: Maximum Eigenvalue (MAXEIG), Mean Above Minus Below a Cut (MAMBAC) and Latent-Mode (L-Mode). Simulation data were created to evaluate the appropriateness of the data for our analyses and to create the comparison curve fit index (CCFI) as an objective outcome measure. The results of all taxometric methods in any of the three data sets were in favor of a dimensional solution (CCFI < .50). Simulated taxonic and dimensional datasets differed substantially and the samples were appropriate for taxometric analysis. Accordingly, the latent structure of somatization/somatic symptom reporting as assessed by the PHQ-15 is dimensional in both primary care and student samples. Implications regarding the practical application as well as models of etiology and pathogenesis of somatic symptom reporting are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Emotional signals in nonverbal interaction: dyadic facilitation and convergence in expressions, appraisals, and feelings

We examined social facilitation and emotional convergence in amusement, sadness, and fear in dynamic interactions. Dyads of friends or strangers jointly watched emotion-eliciting films while they either could or could not communicate nonverbally. We assessed three components of each emotion (expressions, appraisals, and feelings), as well as attention to and social motives toward the co-participant. In Study 1, participants interacted through a mute videoconference. In Study 2, they sat next to each other and either were or were not separated by a partition. Results revealed that facilitation and convergence are not uniform across different emotions and emotion components. Particularly strong supporting patterns emerged for the facilitation of and convergence in smiling. When direct interaction was possible (Study 2), friends showed a general tendency for strong convergence, with the exception of fear-related appraisals. This suggests that underlying processes of emotional contagion and social appraisal are differentially relevant for different emotions.     

Partizipationsverhalten schizophren erkrankter Patienten in Psychoedukationsgruppen

Background

The effectiveness of psychoeducation groups for people with schizophrenia is well documented; however, there are no studies which examined patient participation behavior although this behavior might be critical for accomplishment of the therapeutic goals. This article presents newly developed 4-point Likert scale, the participation quality rating scale (PQRS), together with initial results on practicability, validity, change sensitivity, sociodemographic and clinical correlates and on the question whether participation quality might be a significant predictor of the short and long-term outcome of psychoeducation.

Patient and methods

Within the framework of the Munich Study “Cognitive Determinants of Psychoeducation and Information in Schizophrenic Psychoses” (COGPIP) the individual participation behavior of 97 patients with schizophrenia was examined after each psychoeducational group session (4 weeks). Individual mean PQRS scores were correlated with sociodemographic, anamnestic and clinical variables. In addition to change sensitivity the ability of the scale to predict the acquisition of illness knowledge during psychoeducation was examined as well as readmission during a 9-month follow-up period and the psychopathological endpoint (positive and negative syndrome scale, PANSS).

Results

Practicability and change sensitivity of the PQRS were found to be sufficient. Significant correlations with independently rated illness insight and medication compliance indicated a construct validity of the scale. Higher age, female sex and less pronounced psychopathological symptoms (PANSS) were associated with better participation behavior. Even patients with clearly impaired participation behavior profited from psychoeducation in that they were able to catch up with the delay with regard to illness knowledge. However, the PQRS was not a predictor of readmission during the 9-month follow-up period or of psychopathological endpoints.

Conclusions

The PQRS is qualified as a new tool for the standardized assessment of participation behavior in people with schizophrenia attending psychoeducation groups. The scale can be applied in research as well as clinical contexts in order to further improve understanding of how psychoeducation works and how this kind of supplementary therapy could become even more effective.     

Entwicklung und Evaluation eines interaktiven Films für Jugendliche zur Vermittlung von Gerichtswissen

An interactive movie for juvenile witnesses produced by the author was evaluated in terms of its effectiveness to convey court relevant knowledge to 16-year-old and 17-year-old students. A control group design was used. Controls received a brochure containing information comparable to the movie which was also developed by the author. The aim of the study was to empirically evaluate the movie in order to make it available to juvenile witnesses as an instrument for court preparation in the future. A total of 52 students aged 16 and 17 years at a training college were investigated and court knowledge was measured prior to testing. Participants in the treatment group then viewed the movie, which was produced by the author. The control group received a brochure containing information very similar to the contents of the movie. Approximately 2 weeks later, court relevant knowledge was again assessed and both treatment and control groups showed a strong and significant increase in court relevant knowledge. Comparing the groups showed that the effects tended to be stronger for the treatment group than for the control group. It was also investigated if legal misconceptions could be reduced by the interventions. Analyses indicated that effects were not significant and there was no significant difference between the groups. A significant increase of court relevant knowledge could be found for both treatment conditions. The weak effects concerning the reduction of legal misconceptions could be due to the fact that they were not explicitly presented in the movie but were treated more indirectly by presenting correct knowledge only.     

Improving Discrimination and Face Matching with Caricature

Identification of faces from photographs is a common security measure, but matching unfamiliar faces produces high rates of error. Caricatures of familiar people are highly identifiable because they exaggerate distinctive features. We investigated whether exaggerating unfamiliar faces through caricaturing could also improve face‐matching accuracy. In Experiment 1, face‐matching arrays were caricatured relative to an average by 30%, 50% and 70%. Correct rejection of the target‐absent arrays was improved at all levels. Accurate matches increased at 30%, but at 70%, the transformation was too extreme, and all of the arrays were more likely to be rejected. In Experiment 2, photographic identification (ID) images were caricatured by 30% and 50% and matched to life‐size photographs. Rejection of foils improved, but the ID of matching images was impaired. Modest levels of caricature may improve discrimination in unfamiliar face matching, but at stronger levels, a conservative response bias may inhibit accurate ID. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Top-down selective visual attention: A neurodynamical approach

We propose a system of interconnected modules consisting of populations of neurons for modelling the underlying mechanisms involved in selective visual attention. We demonstrate that it is plausible to build a neural system for visual search, which works across the visual field in parallel, but, due to the intrinsic dynamics of the system, resembles apparent modes of visual attention, namely the serial focal and the parallel spread over the space mode. Thus, neither explicit serial focal search nor saliency maps need to be assumed. A focal attentional spotlight is not included in the system but rather focal attention emerges due to the convergence of the dynamic behaviour of the neural networks. The dynamics of the system can be interpreted as a mechanism for routing information from the sensory input.     

Mirror reading of words and numbers: Practice and transfer effects

It remains unknown whether mirror reading represents a genuine text processing skill or is based on recognition of visual patterns. The present study attempts to determine whether (1) systematic practice with a particular mirrored typography also improves reading performance for other mirrored typographies, and whether (2) this transfer extends from lexical to numerical material and vice versa. The results show that short-term intensive practice with mirror-reversed words significantly improves reading performance not only for the trained typography but also for other mirrored typographies and mirror-reversed Arabic digits. Practice with mirror-reversed Arabic digits showed a mixed pattern of transfer effects with regard to other digit transformations and there were no transfer effects to lexical material. Hence, for lexical material, at least, improvement after training seems to be based on generalized skill with transfer effects beyond lexical material, rather than on mere improvement of visual recognition of the material used in training.