Visual discrimination and response programming

Summary Choice reaction time (RT) depends on the relationship between responses, and these dependencies are usually interpreted in terms of the advance-specification assumption. According to this assumption characteristics that are the same for the choice responses can be specified in advance of the response signal, thus allowing faster RTs. Since the advance-specification assumption is called into question by some of the available data, an alternative interpretation is suggested and formalized in terms of an accumulator model. According to the programming-interactions assumption, stimulus processing is tightly linked to response programming, so that both the possible responses are programmed as long as there is uncertainty with regard to stimulus identity. This gives rise to interactions between simultaneous processes of motor programming. Predictions of this assumption for the joint effects of signal similarity and the relationship between responses are tested and confirmed.This research was supported by grant no. He 1187/3–1 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft     

Action relevance induces an attentional weighting of representations in visual working memory

Information maintained in visual working memory (VWM) can be strategically weighted according to its task-relevance. This is typically studied by presenting cues during the maintenance interval, but under natural conditions, the importance of certain aspects of our visual environment is mostly determined by intended actions. We investigated whether representations in VWM are also weighted with respect to their potential action relevance. In a combined memory and movement task, participants memorized a number of items and performed a pointing movement during the maintenance interval. The test item in the memory task was subsequently presented either at the movement goal or at another location. We found that performance was better for test items presented at a location that corresponded to the movement goal than for test items presented at action-irrelevant locations. This effect was sensitive to the number of maintained items, suggesting that preferential maintenance of action relevant information becomes particularly important when the demand on VWM is high. We argue that weighting according to action relevance is mediated by the deployment of spatial attention to action goals, with representations spatially corresponding to the action goal benefitting from this attentional engagement. Performance was also better at locations next to the action goal than at locations farther away, indicating an attentional gradient spreading out from the action goal. We conclude that our actions continue to influence visual processing at the mnemonic level, ensuring preferential maintenance of information that is relevant for current behavioral goals.     

Investigating the effectiveness of brief cognitive reappraisal training to reduce fear in adolescents

As adolescent anxiety is common and costly, identifying effective strategies to reduce symptoms is a priority. This study tested whether adolescents could learn to use cognitive reappraisal strategies to attenuate fear during extinction learning. Fifty-seven participants (12–15 years) viewed images of two neutral faces, one which was paired with a fearful expression and shrieking scream (conditioned threat stimulus) and the other that was never paired with the aversive outcome (conditioned safety stimulus) during fear acquisition. Before extinction, participants either received cognitive appraisal training, which explored alternative, benign meanings associated with the scream or a control activity. Self-reported fear ratings in the cognitive reappraisal group were significantly lower to both the conditioned threat and safety stimuli after extinction than the control group. These findings did not characterise fear-potentiated startle data. Potential reasons for the lack of consistency between measures are considered.     

Brain regions involved in subprocesses of small-space episodic object-location memory: a systematic review of lesion and functional neuroimaging studies

Object-location memory (OLM) enables us to keep track of the locations of objects in our environment. The neurocognitive model of OLM (Postma, A., Kessels, R. P. C., & Van Asselen, M. (2004). The neuropsychology of object-location memory. In G. L. Allen (Ed.), Human spatial memory: Remembering where (pp. 143–160). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, Postma, A., Kessels, R. P. C., & Van Asselen, M. (2008). How the brain remembers and forgets where things are: The neurocognition of object-location memory. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32, 1339–1345. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.05.001) proposes that distinct brain regions are specialised for different subprocesses of OLM (object processing, location processing, and object-location binding; categorical and coordinate OLM; egocentric and allocentric OLM). It was based mainly on findings from lesion studies. However, recent episodic memory studies point to a contribution of additional or different brain regions to object and location processing within episodic OLM. To evaluate and update the neurocognitive model of OLM, we therefore conducted a systematic literature search for lesion as well as functional neuroimaging studies contrasting small-space episodic OLM with object memory or location memory. We identified 10 relevant lesion studies and 8 relevant functional neuroimaging studies. We could confirm some of the proposals of the neurocognitive model of OLM, but also differing hypotheses from episodic memory research, about which brain regions are involved in the different subprocesses of small-space episodic OLM. In addition, we were able to identify new brain regions as well as important research gaps.     

The relative role of nicotine dependence and smoking-related cognitions in adolescents' process of smoking cessation

The present study evaluates the role of distinct components of nicotine dependence (craving, withdrawal, behavioural dependence) in comparison to smoking-related cognitions (attitudes, perceived social approval, self-efficacy) in adolescent smoking cessation. In the process towards smoking cessation, we distinguish between distinct behavioural transitions, respectively, short-term abstinence, reduction in smoking behaviour and prolonged cessation, to evaluate differences in cessation-related antecedents as a function of varying behavioural outcomes. A total of 850 adolescent smokers (age 14-16) participated in the present study. Smoking behaviour was assessed 1 year after baseline. Results showed that all dependence components had a distinct role in the prediction of behavioural change towards cessation. Furthermore, each behavioural transition was predicted by a distinct set of variables, indicating that contributions of cessation-related factors vary across the course towards cessation. Overall, our findings suggest that smoking-related cognitions are particularly relevant in the initiation of behavioural change, such as short-term abstinence, whereas nicotine dependence, craving in particular, becomes increasingly important in the prediction of maintained behavioural change, such as prolonged cessation. Implications encompass enhanced attention to the multidimensional nature of nicotine dependence and the value of comparing different behavioural outcomes in a comprehensive understanding of cessation-related factors.     

Station?re Psychotherapie und Medien

Background

According to several studies the application of different media in inpatient psychotherapy and psychiatry has proven to be a useful and effective addition to conventional methods of intervention. This study is the first to catalogue the current spread of media in inpatient treatment as well as the evaluations of media-supported interventions by therapists and patients.

Sample and method

In a representative survey conducted in all psychiatric and psychosomatic clinics in North-Rhine/Westphalia (response: 40 psychologists/doctors and 289 patients from 39 clinics) media equipment, usage of media in different areas, evaluation of and satisfaction with the media usage were measured by a questionnaire which was constructed especially for this purpose.

Results

A widespread usage and acceptance of media could only be found in some areas. The study identified large differences in equipment standards and media usage depending on the type of media, the area of usage and the specific clinic.

Conclusion

Recommendations for the further development and optimization of media usage in inpatient psychotherapy are derived from the results of this study.     

Disentangling the adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder endophenotype: parametric measurement of attention

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persists frequently into adulthood. The decomposition of endophenotypes by means of experimental neuro-cognitive assessment has the potential to improve diagnostic assessment, evaluation of treatment response, and disentanglement of genetic and environmental influences. We assessed four parameters of attentional capacity and selectivity derived from simple psychophysical tasks (verbal report of briefly presented letter displays) and based on a "theory of visual attention." These parameters are mathematically independent, quantitative measures, and previous studies have shown that they are highly sensitive for subtle attention deficits. Potential reductions of attentional capacity, that is, of perceptual processing speed and working memory storage capacity, were assessed with a whole report paradigm. Furthermore, possible pathologies of attentional selectivity, that is, selection of task-relevant information and bias in the spatial distribution of attention, were measured with a partial report paradigm. A group of 30 unmedicated adult ADHD patients and a group of 30 demographically matched healthy controls were tested. ADHD patients showed significant reductions of working memory storage capacity of a moderate to large effect size. Perceptual processing speed, task-based, and spatial selection were unaffected. The results imply a working memory deficit as an important source of behavioral impairments. The theory of visual attention parameter working memory storage capacity might constitute a quantifiable and testable endophenotype of ADHD.     

Adaptation to visuomotor rotations in younger and older adults

Adaptation to a visuomotor rotation is known to be impaired at older adult age. The authors examined whether the impairment is present already at preretirement age and whether it depends on the difficulty of the adaptation task. Moreover, the authors tested predictions of the hypothesis that the age-related impairment pertains primarily to strategic corrections and the explicit knowledge on which they are based but not to the acquisition of an (implicit) internal model of the novel visuomotor transformation. The authors found an age-related impairment of adaptation and explicit knowledge already at preretirement age but no age-related change of aftereffects. With an incremental simplification of the adaptation task, age-related changes were able to be eliminated. Individual differences of the quality of explicit knowledge were associated with differences of adaptation, but not of aftereffects. When age groups were matched by explicit knowledge, age-related impairments of adaptation largely disappeared. However, a reliable difference remained in one of the experiments, suggesting that other processes of adjustment to a visuomotor rotation might be affected by aging as well.     

Using the MMPI-2 to Predict Symptom Reduction During Psychotherapy in a Sample of Community Outpatients

In the present study, potential MMPI-2 predictors of psychotherapy outcome were examined in a community clinical sample of 51 patients seeking treatment at a university training clinic. Results indicated that particular MMPI-2 scales (L, F, Pd, Pa, Sc, Trt) were the most predictive of initial levels of patient distress, whereas three other clinical scales (Hs, D, Hy) were significantly associated with actual symptom reduction over time. The clinical implications of these data include the use of the MMPI-2 in clinical practice as a means to frame the provision of direct feedback to patients regarding the likelihood of treatment response, which in turn, might actually have therapeutic benefits. The limitations of the study are reviewed and suggestions for future research are offered, including the potential use of widely known and utilized instruments in helping to predict response to psychotherapy.