Comparing performance by parents and offspring on a rapid tapping task

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationships between 42 parents' and their offsprings' performance on a rapid tapping task. It was expected that genetic predispositions would gradually limit children's performance on a tapping task as they matured chronologically. Four different age groups of children and their parents performed the tapping task on different sizes of boards. Repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated that, while parents' mean performance was generally higher than that of their children (F = 32.89, p < .001), the difference was affected by the children's age, which hand was used, and the board size. Spearman rank correlation scores between parents' and children's overall performances gradually increased across age groups (p = -.29, -.10, .47, and .40, respectively, from younger to older age groups). This finding suggests that the potential of youngsters' future performance may be predicted with greater certainty by observing their parents' present performance. This may improve the predictive power of planned programs.     

Influence of multiple categories on the prediction of unknown properties

Knowing an item's category helps us predict its unknown properties. Previous studies suggest that when asked to evaluate the probability of an unknown property, people tend to consider only an item's most likely category, ignoring alternative categories. In the present study, property prediction took the form of either a probability rating or a speeded binary-choice judgment. In keeping with past findings, the subjects ignored alternative categories in their probability ratings. However, their binary-choice judgments were influenced by alternative categories. This novel finding suggests that the way in which category knowledge is used in prediction depends critically on the form of the prediction.     

Premovement activity of the pre-supplementary motor area and the readiness for action: studies of time-resolved event-related functional MRI

The supplementary motor area (SMA) is thought to play in important role in the preparation and organisation of voluntary movement. It has long been known that cortical activity begins to increase up to 2s prior to voluntary self-initiated movement. This increasing premovement activity measured in EEG is known as the Bereitschaftspotential or readiness potential. Modern functional brain imaging methods, using event-related and time-resolved functional MRI techniques, are beginning to reveal the role of the SMA, and in particular the more anterior pre-SMA, in premovement activity associated with the readiness for action. In this paper we review recent studies using event-related time-resolved fMRI methods to examine the time-course of activation changes within the SMA throughout the preparation, readiness and execution of action. These studies suggest that the pre-SMA plays a common role in encoding or representing actions prior to our own voluntary self-initiated movements, during motor imagery, and from the observation of others' actions. We suggest that the pre-SMA generates and encodes motor representations which are then maintained in readiness for action.     

Recognition by humans and pigeons of novel views of 3-D objects and their photographs

Humans and pigeons were trained to discriminate between 2 views of actual 3-D objects or their photographs. They were tested on novel views that were either within the closest rotational distance between the training views (interpolated) or outside of that range (extrapolated). When training views were 60 degrees apart, pigeons, but not humans, recognized novel views of actual objects better than their pictures. Further, both species recognized interpolated views of both stimulus types better than extrapolated views, but a single distinctive geon enhanced recognition of novel views only for humans. When training views were 90 degrees apart, pigeons recognized interpolated views better than extrapolated views with actual objects but not with photographs. Thus, pigeons may represent actual objects differently than their pictures.     

Processing demands in belief‐desire reasoning: inhibition or general difficulty?

Most 4-year-olds can predict the behavior of a person who wants an object but is mistaken about its location. More difficult is predicting behavior when the person is mistaken about location and wants to avoid the object. We tested between two explanations for children's difficulties with avoidance false belief: the Selection Processing model of inhibitory processing and a General Difficulty account. Children were presented with a false belief task and a control task, in which belief attribution was as difficult as in the false belief task. Predicting behavior in light of the character's desire to avoid the object added more difficulty in the false belief task. This finding is consistent with the Selection Processing model, but not with the General Difficulty account.     

Core mechanisms in "theory of mind"

Our ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of other people does not initially develop as a theory but as a mechanism. The "theory of mind" mechanism (ToMM) is part of the core architecture of the human brain, and is specialized for learning about mental states. Impaired development of this mechanism can have drastic effects on social learning, seen most strikingly in the autistic spectrum disorders. ToMM kick-starts belief-desire attribution but effective reasoning about belief contents depends on a process of selection by inhibition. This selection process (SP) develops slowly through the preschool period and well beyond. By modeling the ToMM-SP as mechanisms of selective attention, we have uncovered new empirical phenomena. We propose that early "theory of mind" is a modular-heuristic process of domain-specific learning.     

Potential noradrenergic targets for cognitive enhancement in schizophrenia

Substantial evidence suggests that alterations in noradrenergic function contribute to the cognitive impairments of schizophrenia. Activation of post-junctional alpha 2a-adrenergic receptors in the prefrontal cortex by the alpha 2a-selective agonist guanfacine has demonstrated some preliminary benefit in subjects with schizophrenia treated with atypical antipsychotics. alpha 1-adrenergic receptor activity may be less important in mediating the cognitive impairments of schizophrenia. beta-adrenergic receptors may serve as another potential target for cognitive remediation in schizophrenia. However, the potential increase in memory consolidation in schizophrenia patients produced by beta-adrenergic agonists may be outweighed by the impairment in cognitive flexibility and executive functioning produced by beta-adrenergic agonists. Finally, norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, such as atomoxetine, hold promise as potential cognitive enhancers in schizophrenia because of their ability to indirectly but selectively increase extracellular dopamine concentrations in the prefrontal cortex.