Increased levels of conditioned fear and avoidance behavior coincide with changes in phosphorylation of the protein kinase B (AKT) within the amygdala in a mouse model of extremes in trait anxiety

Patients diagnosed for anxiety disorders often display faster acquisition and slower extinction of learned fear. To gain further insights into the mechanisms underlying these phenomenona, we studied conditioned fear in mice originating form a bi-directional selective breeding approach, which is based on elevated plus-maze behavior and results in CD1-derived high (HAB), normal (NAB), and low (LAB) anxiety-related behavior mice. HAB mice displayed pronounced cued-conditioned fear compared to NAB/CD1 and LAB mice that coincided with increased phosphorylation of the protein kinase B (AKT) in the basolateral amygdala 45 min after conditioning. No similar changes were observed after non-associative immediate shock presentations. Fear extinction of recent but not older fear memories was preserved. However, HAB mice were more prone to relapse of conditioned fear with the passage of time. HAB mice also displayed higher levels of contextual fear compared to NAB and LAB mice and exaggerated avoidance following step-down avoidance training. Interestingly, HAB mice showed lower and LAB mice higher levels of acoustic startle responses compared to NAB controls. The increase in arousal observed in LAB mice coincided with the general absence of conditioned freezing. Taken together, our results suggest that the genetic predisposition to high anxiety-related behavior may increase the risk of forming traumatic memories, phobic-like fear and avoidance behavior following aversive encounters, with a clear bias towards passive coping styles. In contrast, genetic predisposition to low anxiety-related and high risk-taking behavior seems to be associated with an increase in active coping styles. Our data imply changes in AKT phosphorylation as a therapeutic target for the prevention of exaggerated fear memories.     

Evidence for a Spatial–Numerical Association in Kindergartners Using a Number Line Task

In Western cultures, small numbers are often associated with the left and large with the right space. We investigated whether this association is already present in kindergartners and second graders. Children (N = 59) estimated the position of numbers on a number line that was labeled either with a small number on the left side and a large number on the right side (i.e., left-to-right orientation) or vice versa (i.e., right-to-left orientation). The estimations were less accurate if the number line was oriented from right to left and if the children started with this condition. The results suggest that already kindergartners possess a culture-typical spatial–numerical association that develops before the acquisition of reading and writing skills and significantly affects the accuracy of numerical estimations. The performance of second graders, too, was affected by the orientation of the number line, but to a smaller degree than that of kindergartners.     

Mental rotation and the motor system: Embodiment head over heels

We examined whether body parts attached to abstract stimuli automatically force embodiment in a mental rotation task. In Experiment 1, standard cube combinations reflecting a human pose were added with (1) body parts on anatomically possible locations, (2) body parts on anatomically impossible locations, (3) colored end cubes, and (4) simple end cubes. Participants (N = 30) had to decide whether two simultaneously presented stimuli, rotated in the picture plane, were identical or not. They were fastest and made less errors in the possible-body condition, but were slowest and least accurate in the impossible-body condition. A second experiment (N = 32) replicated the results and ruled out that the poor performance in the impossible-body condition was due to the specific stimulus material. The findings of both experiments suggest that body parts automatically trigger embodiment, even when it is counterproductive and dramatically impairs performance, as in the impossible-body condition. It can furthermore be concluded that body parts cannot be used flexibly for spatial orientation in mental rotation tasks, compared to colored end cubes. Thus, embodiment appears to be a strong and inflexible mechanism that may, under certain conditions, even impede performance.     

The Test for Creative Thinking–Drawing Production Test in Preschool Children with Predominantly Migration Background—Psychometrics of the German TCT-DP

The study examined the psychometric properties of the German version of the Creative Thinking – Drawing Production Test (TCT-DP). This test evaluates creative potential with 14 content-related criteria, constituting a total score. Age norms exist for children from 4–16 years. A total of 269 children with predominantly migrant background, aged 36–71 months, from German preschools participated. Total scores of 4- and 5-year-old children were significantly below the German age norms published in the test manual, but did not differ with the degree of the migrant background (both vs. one or none migrant parents). In contrast to boys, scores from girls were slightly higher. Discriminant validity could be confirmed: Total scores did correlate neither with intelligence, nor with gender, fine motor skill, educational, or socio-economic status of the parents. The German TCT-DP respectively revealed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .69–.73). For the first time, cumulative percentages for 3-year-olds are provided as a kind of preliminary age norm. The German TCT-DP proved to be applicable in 3-year-old children with migrant background, albeit not all content-related criteria can be interpreted. Its psychometric properties support its use for research rather than for clinical purposes.     

The feasibility,reliability and validity of the EORTC QLQ-C30 in assessing the quality of life of patients with a symptomatic HIV infection or AIDS (CDC IV)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, reliability and validity of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (the QLQ-C30) in a longitudinal study of the quality of life (QoL) of patients with a symptomatic HIV infection or AIDS. The OLQ-C30 is a 30-item questionnaire composed of five functional subscales. 3 symptom subscales, an overall QoL subscale, and a number of additional single item symptom measures. The questionnaire was administered serially to a sample of 156 Dutch patients. The average time to complete the questionnaire was less than 11 minutes, with most patients requiring no assistance. With one exception (role functioning subscale), the data supported the hypothesized scale structure of the questionnaire. Eight of the 9 subscales met or approached the minimal criterion for reliability (Cronbach's alpha ≤ .70) at baseline and/or follow-up. The validity of the QLQ-C30 was supported by 3 findings: (1) the correlations observed among the subscales. while statistically significant, were of only a moderate magnitude, indicating that distinct components of QoL are being assessed; (2) a number of the subscales could discriminate clearly between patients differing in stage of disease and in Karnofsky Performance Status; and (3) significant changes in QLQ-C30 scores in the expected direction, were observed over time. These results lend support to the QLQ-C30 as a reasonably reliable and valid instrument for assessing the QoL of patients with HIV infection. Additional research is needed to improve the role functioning subscale. to evaluate the QLQ-C30's concurrent validity by comparing it with other available QoL instruments, and to examine more thoroughly its responsiveness to clinically important changes in patients' health status over the entire disease and treatment trajectory.     

Semantic context effects in the comprehension of reduced pronunciation variants

Listeners require context to understand the highly reduced words that occur in casual speech. The present study reports four auditory lexical decision experiments in which the role of semantic context in the comprehension of reduced versus unreduced speech was investigated. Experiments 1 and 2 showed semantic priming for combinations of unreduced, but not reduced, primes and low-frequency targets. In Experiment 3, we crossed the reduction of the prime with the reduction of the target. Results showed no semantic priming from reduced primes, regardless of the reduction of the targets. Finally, Experiment 4 showed that reduced and unreduced primes facilitate upcoming low-frequency related words equally if the interstimulus interval is extended. These results suggest that semantically related words need more time to be recognized after reduced primes, but once reduced primes have been fully (semantically) processed, these primes can facilitate the recognition of upcoming words as well as do unreduced primes.     

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.     

Analogical effects in reading Dutch verb forms

Previous research has shown that the production of morphologically complex words in isolation is affected by the properties of morphologically, phonologically, or semantically similar words stored in the mental lexicon. We report five experiments with Dutch speakers that show that reading an inflectional word form in its linguistic context is also affected by analogical sets of formally similar words. Using the self-paced reading technique, we show in Experiments 1-3 that an incorrectly spelled suffix delays readers less if the incorrect spelling is in line with the spelling of verbal suffixes in other inflectional forms of the same verb. In Experiments 4 and 5, our use of the self-paced reading technique shows that formally similar words with different stems affect the reading of incorrect suffixal allomorphs on a given stem. These intra- and interparadigmatic effects in reading may be due to online processes or to the storage of incorrect forms resulting from analogical effects in production.     

How to overcome the detrimental effects of noise in social interaction: the benefits of generosity

Interpersonal misunderstanding is often rooted in noise, or discrepancies between intended and actual outcomes for an interaction partner due to unintended errors (e.g., not being able to respond to an E-mail because of a local network breakdown). How can one effectively cope with noise in social dilemmas, situations in which self-interest and collective interests are conflicting? Consistent with hypotheses, the present research revealed that incidents of noise exert a detrimental effect on level of cooperation when a partner follows strict reciprocity (i.e., tit for tat) but that this effect can be overcome if a partner behaves somewhat more cooperatively than the actor did in the previous interaction (i.e., tit for tat plus 1). Also, when noise was present, tit for tat plus 1 elicited greater levels of cooperation than did tit for tat, thereby underscoring the benefits of adding generosity to reciprocity in coping with noise in social dilemmas. The Discussion outlines implications of the present work for theories focusing on self-presentation and attribution, communication, and trust and prorelationship behavior.