Components of high-level vision: a cognitive neuroscience analysis and accounts of neurological syndromes

Neuroanatomical, neurophysiological, and computational constraints are used to motivate a set of hypotheses about the functional organization of high-level vision. A set of processing subsystems is posited that underlies the later stages of visual object recognition and identification; these subsystems have been implemented in a running computer simulation model. The model is damaged in a variety of ways, and its performance on a set of tasks is observed. Dysfunctions arise from disruptions of the subsystems, disruptions of their interconnections, compensations by intact subsystems, and diminished activational capacity. The most common dysfunctions of high-level vision following brain damage are then reviewed, and accounts are offered by reference to the stimulation model. According to the theory and model, each type of dysfunction can arise from numerous underlying causes, all of which are potentially distinguishable by empirical methods.     

Black Americans reduce the racial IQ gap: evidence from standardization samples

It is often asserted that Black Americans have made no IQ gains on White Americans. Until recently, there have been no adequate data to measure trends in Black IQ. We analyzed data from nine standardization samples for four major tests of cognitive ability. These data suggest that Blacks gained 4 to 7 IQ points on non-Hispanic Whites between 1972 and 2002. Gains have been fairly uniform across the entire range of Black cognitive ability.     

A SELF-EVALUATION TOKEN SYSTEM versus AN EXTERNAL EVALUATION TOKEN SYSTEM ALONE IN A RESIDENTIAL SETTING WITH PREDELINQUENT YOUTH1

This study compared the effects of self-evaluation and adult-dispensed tokens on room-cleaning behavior of six predelinquent youths in a residential token-economy setting. The self-evaluation token system proved to be as effective as the external adult-administered system in increasing room-cleaning behavior and was more effective in maintaining performance after contingencies were withdrawn. The self-evaluation token system increased resistance to extinction, compared to the external token system, and appeared to be a useful component for a traditional token-economy system.     

Alteration of shock aversion thresholds during the menstrual cycle

Aversion thresholds for electrical shock were obtained from 5 males, 6 females who were taking oral contraceptives, and 12 females who were not. All subjects were volunteers from introductorylevel psychology courses. Measures were repeated 3 times per week for 5 weeks. Males and females taking oral contraceptives showed no cyclic fluctuations in threshold. The other female group had significant (p < .025) fluctuations in threshold, from a maximum at ovulation to a minimum 1 week after the onset of the menses.     

MCMI-II diagnosis of borderline personality disorder: base rates versus prototypic items.

The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) profiles of 26 psychiatric inpatients diagnosed as having borderline personality disorders were compared with profiles of 42 patients with no personality disorders. The borderline group scored significantly higher on the following scales: Disclosure (X), Debasement (Z), Passive-Aggressive (8A), Self-Defeating (8B), Borderline (C), and Major Depression (CC). Differences approaching significance were also found on substance abuse measures: the Alcohol Dependence (B) scale and Drug Dependence (T) scale. These findings are consistent with criteria established in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) and the results of other studies utilizing the MCMI-II. In addition, diagnostic efficiency of Scale C was assessed at various cutoff points defined by either base rate (BR) scores or the number of prototypic items endorsed. The greatest efficiency was found when a cutoff of seven or more prototypic items was utilized, with nearly 80% of the patients correctly classified. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance for further research.     

Having an open mind: the impact of openness to experience on interracial attitudes and impression formation

This article considers how Openness to Experience may mitigate the negative stereotyping of Black people by White perceivers. As expected, White individuals who scored relatively high on Openness to Experience exhibited less prejudice according to self-report measures of explicit racial attitudes. Further, White participants who rated themselves higher on Openness to Experience formed more favorable impressions of a fictitious Black individual. Finally, after observing informal interviews of White and Black targets, White participants who were more open formed more positive impressions of Black interviewees, particularly on dimensions that correspond to negative racial stereotypes. The effect of Openness to Experience was relatively stronger for judgments of Black interviewees than for judgments of White interviewees. Taken together these findings suggest that explicit racial attitudes and impression formation may depend on the individual characteristics of the perceiver, particularly whether she or he is predisposed to consider stereotype-disconfirming information.     

Students who self-harm: Coping style,Rumination and Alexithymia

Counsellors working with students or other young adults may encounter individuals who have self-harmed, either with suicidal or non-suicidal intent. Recent US studies reported rates of self-injury of up to 37% of the student population, but studies in the UK have focussed primarily on younger adolescents. This study examined reported self-harm incidents (scratching, cutting, poisoning, overdose etc) from a sample of 617 university students. A total of 27% reported at least one incident of self-harm, with almost 10% having harmed themselves while at university. Gender differences were not significant but psychology students reported significantly more self-harm than other students. Participants reporting self-harm scored significantly higher on maladaptive coping styles, rumination, and alexithymia (specifically difficulty in identifying emotions) and these differences were most marked for students reporting repetitive and recent self-harm. Rumination and Alexithymia factor 1 (difficulty identifying feelings) emerged as the most robust factors predicting self-harm status. Comments from students who self-harmed at university highlighted the importance of accessible services and academic staff support. The implications of these findings for counselling interventions are discussed, including challenging negative rumination tendencies and developing mindfulness skills.     

Parenting stress and depressive symptoms in postpartum mothers: Bidirectional or unidirectional effects?

Despite the consistent link between parenting stress and postpartum depressive symptoms, few studies have explored the relationships longitudinally. The purpose of this study was to test bidirectional and unidirectional models of depressive symptoms and parenting stress. Uniquely, three specific domains of parenting stress were examined: parental distress, difficult child stress, and parent–child dysfunctional interaction (PCDI). One hundred and five women completed the Beck Depression Inventory and the Parenting Stress Index – Short Form at 3, 7, and 14 months after giving birth. Structural equation modeling revealed that total parenting stress predicted later depressive symptoms, however, there were different patterns between postpartum depressive symptoms and different types of parenting stress. A unidirectional model of parental distress predicting depressive symptoms best fit the data, with significant stability paths but non-significant cross-lagged paths. A unidirectional model of depressive symptoms predicted significant later difficult child stress. No model fit well with PCDI. Future research should continue to explore the specific nature of the associations of postpartum depression and different types of parenting stress on infant development and the infant–mother relationship.     

The role of age and inhibitory efficiency in working memory processing and storage components

In this study, we examined the extent to which inhibitory efficiency accounted for age-related decline in the processing and storage components of working memory. Older and younger adults performed a sequential task, which served as an index of deletion-type inhibition (the ability to suppress no-longer-relevant information). The reading span task was used to measure working memory components by examining processing accuracy, processing time, and end-word recall of sentences presented. Reduced inhibitory efficiency, which was poorer in older adults, predicted age-related decline in recall, over and above the effects of processing speed. Similar results were observed for processing accuracy, although the age effect in this component was marginal. These results highlight the important role of deletion-type inhibition in explaining age-related decline in working memory performance, particularly in the storage component, and extend previous research by examining this relationship at a componential level.     

Do you two know each other? Transitivity, homophily, and the need for (network) closure

The authors investigate whether need for closure affects how people seek order in judging social relations. In Study 1, the authors find that people who have a high need for closure (NFC) were more likely to assume their social contacts were connected to each other (i.e., transitivity) when this was not the case. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors examine another form of order in network relations--racial homophily--and find that high-NFC participants were more inclined to believe that 2 individuals from the same racial category (e.g., African American) were friends than two racially dissimilar individuals. Furthermore, high-NFC individuals were more likely to make errors when judging a racially mixed group of people; specifically, they recalled more racial homophily (racially similar people sitting closer together) than had actually appeared.