Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of Patterns of Cerebral Language Dominance : An Amobarbital Study

As a part of presurgical evaluation, 173 patients received bilateral intracarotid amobarbital tests for determination of cerebral language dominance. Language testing during intracarotid amobarbital procedures (IAP) consisted of the following tasks: automatic speech, sentence comprehension, body commands, naming, repetition, reading, and spontaneous speech. Patterns of cerebral language dominance were evaluated and discussed on five levels of analysis: (1) quantification of language dominance on the basis of a lateralization index derived from the total language scores in each IAP; (2) determination of five dominance subpatterns (left or right dominant, strongly bilateral, and incomplete left or right dominant) according to quantification performed on level (I) and clinical judgment; (3) qualitative differentiation of three kinds of bilaterality (positive, negative, and general) according to total language performance in left and right IAP; (4) analysis of grouped linguistic subfunctions extracted from performance in specific IAP subtests; (5) extraordinary individual case histories. The distribution of lateralization indices revealed only partially continuous degrees of lateralization, especially between the left-dominant and bilateral subgroups. As for the clinically oriented classification, incomplete left dominance is frequent (16.2%), while incomplete right dominance does not occur at all. Atypical dominance patterns are mostly correlated to bilateral and/or extratemporal foci. Concerning grouped subfunctions, a rotated factor matrix statistic yields an analysis of clusters of IAP subtests, where functions involving expressive language capacities are separated from those that are purely receptive. Further analyses of bilaterality subpatterns suggest that there are mainly four bilaterality phenomena, namely interhemispheric dissociation, double representation, unilateal representation of subfunctions, and partial representation of subfunctions in either hemisphere. Application of these differentiations to individual cases yields additional evidence that can be used in patient selection for operation in order to avoid postoperative neuropsychological deficits, especially in candidates for extratemporal surgery. In conclusion, a multilevel analysis of LAP language data is recommended since it permits a detailed account of varieties of language dominance patterns and contributes to more adequate presurgical decision-making in planned operations in cognitively relevant brain areas.     

A Comparison of ML,WLSMV, and Bayesian Methods for Multilevel Structural Equation Models in Small Samples: A Simulation Study

Multilevel structural equation models are increasingly applied in psychological research. With increasing model complexity, estimation becomes computationally demanding, and small sample sizes pose further challenges on estimation methods relying on asymptotic theory. Recent developments of Bayesian estimation techniques may help to overcome the shortcomings of classical estimation techniques. The use of potentially inaccurate prior information may, however, have detrimental effects, especially in small samples. The present Monte Carlo simulation study compares the statistical performance of classical estimation techniques with Bayesian estimation using different prior specifications for a two-level SEM with either continuous or ordinal indicators. Using two software programs (Mplus and Stan), differential effects of between- and within-level sample sizes on estimation accuracy were investigated. Moreover, it was tested to which extent inaccurate priors may have detrimental effects on parameter estimates in categorical indicator models. For continuous indicators, Bayesian estimation did not show performance advantages over ML. For categorical indicators, Bayesian estimation outperformed WLSMV solely in case of strongly informative accurate priors. Weakly informative inaccurate priors did not deteriorate performance of the Bayesian approach, while strong informative inaccurate priors led to severely biased estimates even with large sample sizes. With diffuse priors, Stan yielded better results than Mplus in terms of parameter estimates.     

The Virtuous Arguer: One Person,Four Roles

When evaluating the arguer instead of the argument, we soon find ourselves confronted with a puzzling situation: what seems to be a virtue in one argumentative situation could very well be called a vice in another. This paper will present the idea that there are in fact two sets of virtues an arguer has to master—and with them four sometimes very different roles.     

Age differences in prospective memory for everyday life intentions: A diary approach

The age benefit found in many naturalistic prospective memory (PM) tasks has been taken as evidence that PM performance in real life may be spared from aging. However, this conclusion lacks empirical confirmation. Hence, the aim of the present study was to examine possible age differences in the content of everyday PM intentions and their performance. Everyday PM was assessed in young and older adults using a diary approach. Results confirmed a general age benefit for real-life PM tasks. Importantly, this finding was qualified by revealing that the benefit only held true for specific types of intentions such as health and social intentions. Further, moderation analyses showed that the relationships between cognitive functioning and everyday PM were different for young and older adults. While better inhibition, short-term and long-term memory were related with successful PM performance in the young, this was not the case in the older adults. The present findings suggest that the age benefit found in naturalistic experimenter-given tasks extends to real-life PM performance, but may differ depending on the type of intention. Furthermore, cognitive functioning predicts performance in the young, but not in the older adults.     

Quantifying Inner Experience?—Kant's Mathematical Principles in the Context of Empirical Psychology

This paper shows why Kant's critique of empirical psychology should not be read as a scathing criticism of quantitative scientific psychology, but has valuable lessons to teach in support of it. By analysing Kant's alleged objections in the light of his critical theory of cognition, it provides a fresh look at the problem of quantifying first‐person experiences, such as emotions and sense‐perceptions. An in‐depth discussion of applying the mathematical principles, which are defined in the Critique of Pure Reason as the constitutive conditions for mathematical‐numerical experience in general, to inner sense will demonstrate why it is in principle possible to justify a quantitative structure of psychological judgments on the grounds of Kant's critical thinking. In conclusion, it will propose how Kant's critique could be used in a constructive way to develop first steps towards a transcendental foundation of psychological knowledge.     

How are employees at different levels affected by privatization? A longitudinal study of two Swedish hospitals

Despite the amount of privatizations around the world in recent decades, only limited research attention has been paid to how privatization affects the employees. The effects are likely to vary depending on the individual's position in the organization. The aim of this study was to investigate how employees' work‐related attitudes and strain changed after privatization of a Swedish acute care hospital, and to analyze whether the effects of privatization differed between employees at various hierarchic levels. Questionnaire data collected at a hospital 1 year before and 2 years after privatization, as well as at a hospital which remained a public administration unit, suggest only limited effects of privatization on a general level, but that employees at various hierarchic levels may be affected differently. While employees at a high level (physicians) and low level (assistant nurses) reported only marginal differences over time in work attitudes and strain, also in comparison with their colleagues at the comparison hospital, work attitudes of employees at the intermediate level (registered nurses) decreased after privatization. These results emphasize the importance of taking hierarchic level into account when a privatization is implemented and analyzed.     

Foot Without Achilles’ Heel

Philosophia - It is often assumed that neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics postulates an obligation to be a good human being and that it derives further obligations from this idea. The paper argues that...     

Distributing mathematical practice of third and seventh graders: Applicability of the spacing effect in the classroom

We examined the effect of distributed practice on the mathematical performance of third and seventh graders (N = 213) in school. Students first received an introduction to a mathematical topic, derived from their curriculum. Thereafter, they practiced in one of two conditions. In the massed condition, they worked on three practice sets in 1 day. In the distributed condition, they worked on one practice set per day for 3 consecutive days. Bayesian analyses of the performance in two follow‐up tests 1 and 6 weeks after the last practice set revealed a positive effect of distributed practice as compared with massed practice in Grade 7. In Grade 3, a positive effect of distributed practice was supported by the data only in the test 1 week after the last practice set. The results suggest that distributed practice is a powerful learning tool for both elementary and secondary school students in the classroom.     

How Fragile Is Conditional Cooperation? A Field Experiment with Smartphones during the 2014 Soccer World Cup

We conducted an experiment in a highly cooperative environment to find out how a disruption, similar to a broken window, affects behavior. A centipede game was framed as a game of soccer and run with smartphones during a soccer public viewing event, that is, a Bavarian beer garden with a large screen displaying a soccer game. We provided some subjects with information that was supportive to cooperation and others with disruptive information, aimed at inducing a broken window effect. The disruption reduced the willingness to cooperate at the final stage of the game. But expectations regarding teammates remained unaffected such that cooperation at earlier stages remained high. Cooperation is thus not as fragile as one might fear. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anticipation of interoceptive threat in highly anxiety sensitive persons

Anticipatory anxiety plays a major role in the etiology of panic disorder. Although anticipatory anxiety elicited by expectation of interoceptive cues is specifically relevant for panic patients, it has rarely been studied. Using a population analogue in high fear of such interoceptive arousal sensations (highly anxiety sensitive persons) we evaluated a new experimental paradigm to assess anticipatory anxiety during anticipation of interoceptive (somatic sensations evoked by hyperventilation) and exteroceptive (electric shock) threat. Symptom reports, autonomic arousal, and defensive response mobilization (startle eyeblink response) were monitored during threat and matched safe conditions in 26 highly anxiety sensitive persons and 22 controls. The anticipation of exteroceptive threat led to a defensive and autonomic mobilization as indexed by a potentiation of the startle response and an increase in skin conductance level in both experimental groups. During interoceptive threat, however, only highly anxiety sensitive persons but not the controls exhibited a startle response potentiation as well as autonomic activation. The anticipation of a hyperventilation procedure thus seems a valid paradigm to investigate anticipatory anxiety elicited by interoceptive cues in the clinical context.