Catching a glimpse of working memory: top-down capture as a tool for measuring the content of the mind

This article outlines a methodology for probing working memory (WM) content in high-level cognitive tasks (e.g., decision making, problem solving, and memory retrieval) by capitalizing on attentional and oculomotor biases evidenced in top-down capture paradigms. This method would be of great use, as it could measure the information resident in WM at any point in a task and, hence, track information use over time as tasks dynamically evolve. Above and beyond providing a measure of information occupancy in WM, such a method would benefit from sensitivity to the specific activation levels of individual items in WM. This article additionally forwards a novel fusion of standard free recall and visual search paradigms in an effort to assess the sensitivity of eye movements in top-down capture, on which this new measurement technique relies, to item-specific memory activation (ISMA). The results demonstrate eye movement sensitivity to ISMA in some, but not all, cases.     

The effects of virtual nature exposure on pro-environmental behaviour

Exposure to (virtual) natural environments may encourage people to care about environmental protection and to engage in pro-environmental behaviour. Previous research on this effect produced inconsistent results, suggesting that it may depend on the type of nature and behaviour under study. In the present study (N = 266), we investigated nature exposure effects on effortful pro-environmental behaviour in an online experiment. After watching pictures of either intact or destroyed natural environments, participants could exert voluntary extra efforts to generate real donations to an environmental organisation. In comparison to the intact nature condition, participants exerted significantly more effort for environmental protection after being exposed to pictures of destroyed nature. No clear differences were observed between the nature exposure conditions and a no-picture control condition. These findings illustrate the complexity of nature exposure effects and suggest that different types of nature exposure may differentially affect people's pro-environmental behaviour.     

Using the memory activation capture (MAC) procedure to investigate the temporal dynamics of hypothesis generation

Research investigating top-down capture has demonstrated a coupling of working memory content with attention and eye movements. By capitalizing on this relationship, we have developed a novel methodology, called the memory activation capture (MAC) procedure, for measuring the dynamics of working memory content supporting complex cognitive tasks (e.g., decision making, problem solving). The MAC procedure employs briefly presented visual arrays containing task-relevant information at critical points in a task. By observing which items are preferentially fixated, we gain a measure of working memory content as the task evolves through time. The efficacy of the MAC procedure was demonstrated in a dynamic hypothesis generation task in which some of its advantages over existing methods for measuring changes in the contents of working memory over time are highlighted. In two experiments, the MAC procedure was able to detect the hypothesis that was retrieved and placed into working memory. Moreover, the results from Experiment 2 suggest a two-stage process following hypothesis retrieval, whereby the hypothesis undergoes a brief period of heightened activation before entering a lower activation state in which it is maintained for output. The results of both experiments are of additional general interest, as they represent the first demonstrations of top-down capture driven by participant-established WM content retrieved from long-term memory.     

Short-Term Psychoanalytic Supportive Psychotherapy for Depressed Patients

Short-Term Psychoanalytic Supportive Psychotherapy (SPSP) is a face-to-face, individual psychotherapy, consisting of sixteen sessions in six months (first eight weekly, then eight fortnightly sessions). It is rooted in psychoanalytic theory. Its primary aim is to cure depression. A secondary goal is to reduce a patient's vulnerability to depression. The emphasis is on supportive techniques that counter regression and foster psychological growth. The putative process consists in experiencing a relational dissonance, i.e., feeling two contradictory relationships in the therapeutic situation simultaneously, one determined by the past, the other by the present. We assume an important curative factor is to experience, mostly unconsciously, an adequate gratification of developmental needs inadequately met in early infancy and, therefore, manifesting themselves in the archaic aspects of the therapeutic relationship. SPSP unfolds as a discourse in which we distinguish nine levels. Each regards a specific subject, which at that level is the focus of the interaction between patient and therapist. The efficacy of SPSP in ambulatory patients presenting a DSM-IV defined, mild to moderate major depressive disorder has been tested in five randomized clinical trials. The results have been aggregated in a mega-analysis. They suggest that, in the treatment of outpatients with mild to moderate major depressive disorder, SPSP and pharmacotherapy are equally efficacious and that the combination of SPSP and pharmacotherapy is more efficacious than pharmacotherapy alone but not than SPSP alone. We, therefore, consider SPSP a valuable extension to the existing options for the treatment of depressed patients.     

Reply to Ellis and to Handfield on essentialism,laws, and counterfactuals

Peter Singer has argued that there are good utilitarian reasons for rejecting the prospect of superlongevity: developing technology to double (or more) the average human lifespan. I argue against Singer's view on two fronts. First, empirical research on happiness indicates that the later years of life are (on average) the happiest, and there is no reason to suppose that this trend would not continue if superlongevity were realized. Second, it is argued that there are good reasons to suppose that there will be a certain amount of self-selection: the happiest are more likely to adopt superlongevity technology. This means that the adoption of superlongevity technology will have the effect of raising the level of aggregate utility.     

Working memory dynamics bias the generation of beliefs: The influence of data presentation rate on hypothesis generation

Although temporal dynamics are inherent aspects of diagnostic tasks, few studies have investigated how various aspects of time course influence hypothesis generation. An experiment is reported that demonstrates that working memory dynamics operating during serial data acquisition bias hypothesis generation. The presentation rate (and order) of a sequence of serially presented symptoms was manipulated to be either fast (180 ms per symptom) or slow (1,500 ms per symptom) in a simulated medical diagnosis task. When the presentation rate was slow, participants chose the disease hypothesis consistent with the symptoms appearing later in the sequence. When the presentation rate was fast, however, participants chose the disease hypothesis consistent with the symptoms appearing earlier in the sequence, therefore representing a novel primacy effect. We predicted and account for this effect through competitive working memory dynamics governing information acquisition and the contribution of maintained information to the retrieval of hypotheses from long-term memory.     

Robust patterns and individual variations: Stability and predictors of infant behavior in the still-face paradigm

In the present study we examined key issues regarding infant behavior in the still-face paradigm (SFP) in terms of individual variations, stability, and predictors. The sample consisted of 115 mothers and infants, with assessments at ages 3 and 6 months, including observations of maternal and infant behavior in the SFP, and parent reports of infant temperament. Both robust patterns and individual variations in infant SFP behaviors were found, with only a minority of infants showing the expected patterns for negative affect and gaze. Infant behavior patterns showed no stability from age 3 to 6 months, and infant gaze was related to more pronounced behavior changes across the SFP. Maternal sensitivity in the SFP baseline was related to some aspects of infant SFP behavior. Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, in infants with a more difficult temperament maternal sensitivity predicted a more pronounced expected pattern of changes in infant positive affect across the SFP, whereas this was not the case for infants with a more easy temperament.     

It-Scale for Children and Draw-A-Person Test: 30 Feminine vs. 25 Masculine Boys

Thirty feminine and twenty-five masculine boys, aged 4-10, were administered the It-Scale for Children and the Draw-a-Person Test. A feminine boy was defined by his preference for the dress, games, toys, role, and companionship of girls, and the stated wish to be a girl.

Results on both tests differed significantly for the two groups. Feminine boys scored similarly to published norms for girls, while masculine boys scored similarly to published norms for boys.     

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.