Rotating objects to determine orientation, not identity: evidence from a backward-masking/dual-task procedure

The effects of picture-plane rotations on times taken to name familiar objects (RTs) may reflect a process of mental rotation to stored viewpoint-specific representations: the rotate-to-recognize hypothesis. Alternatively, mental rotation might be used after stored object representations are activated by a misoriented stimulus in order to verify a weak or distorted shape percept: the double-checking hypothesis. We tested these two accounts of rotation effects in object recognition by having subjects verify the orientations (to within 90 degrees) and basic-level names of 14-msec, backward-masked depictions of common objects. The stimulus-mask interval (SOA) varied from 14 to 41 msec, permitting interpolation of the SOA required for 75% accuracy (SOAc). Whereas the SOAc to verify orientation increased with rotation up to 180 degrees, the SOAc to verify identity was briefer and asymptoted at approximately 60 degrees. We therefore reject the rotate-to-recognize hypothesis, which implies that SOAc should increase steadily with rotation in both tasks. Instead, we suggest that upright and near-upright stimuli are matched by a fast direct process and that misoriented stimuli are matched at a featural level by a slightly slower view-independent process. We also suggest that rotation effects on RTs reflect a postrecognition stage of orientation verification: the rotate-to-orient hypothesis, a version of double-checking that also explains the well-known reduction in orientation effects on RTs when naming repeated objects.     

Evaluative conditioning in the picture-picture paradigm with random assignment of conditioned stimuli to unconditioned stimuli

Human participants were allocated to 1 of 3 groups. In the conditioning group, each conditioned stimulus (CS)-unconditioned stimulus (US) pair was presented 7 times during the acquisition phase. Participants who were assigned to the extinction group saw 5 additional presentations of each CS in isolation after the 7 presentations of each CS-US pair. In the latent inhibition group, the CS-only trials were presented before the CS-US trials. Overall, a significant evaluative conditioning effect was observed. This effect cannot be dismissed on the basis of the arguments developed by A. P. Field and G. C. L. Davey (1997, 1998, 1999), and the results thus provide strong evidence for the associative nature of evaluative conditioning. The results are also in line with other findings, which showed that evaluative conditioning is resistant to extinction.     

Transsaccadic memory for position and orientation of saccade source and target

Participants made a saccade from one biological-motion figure to another and had to detect saccadecontingent changes in either the walker to which the eyes were sent (the target) or the walker that served as launch site (the source). Intrasaccadic displacements in both source and target were relatively hard to detect, whereas changes in the walkers' depth orientation were readily noticed, indicating that previous findings on within-object saccades generalize to between-objects saccades. Contrary to predictions derived from theories that assign a privileged status to the saccade target, transsaccadic memory for the target's position and orientation was not more accurate than memory for the source. Displacements or rotations of one object toward the other object were more detectable than the same changes away from each other, suggesting that relational coding plays a prominent role in the integration of information across saccades.     

Concordance Between Parent Reports of Children's Mental Health Services and Service Records: The Services Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA)

The concordance between parent reports of children's mental health services and medical and administrative service records were assessed in a field test of the Services Assessment for Children and Adolescents (SACA) interview instrument. Service use reports from primary caregivers, usually mothers, for their child's emotional or behavioral problems were compared against inpatient, outpatient, and school records in St. Louis, one of the pilot sites for the Multi-Site Study of Service Use, Need, Outcomes and Costs in Child and Adolescent Populations (UNOCCAP). A global any use service variable, comprised of inpatient, outpatient, and school reports, yielded an overall service use concordance kappa of .76 between parent reports and records. Parent reports of inpatient hospitalization services using the SACA yielded the highest agreement with medical records, with kappa statistics of 1.00 for use of any inpatient hospital care and for medication use. Parent reports of specific inpatient services concurred with medical records more moderately, yielding kappas from .50 to .66. Reports of any outpatient mental health services yielded variable rates of agreement, with kappas ranging from .67 for any use of outpatient care, to .66 for medication use, to negligible kappas for specific treatments. Parent reports of school services were weakly related to records for most services, except for moderate agreement (.48) on placement in special classrooms for emotional or behavioral problems. Family burden or impact discriminated more powerfully than other variables between respondents who concurred with records and those who did not.     

Critical issues in psychological autopsy studies

This paper reviews research based on the psychological autopsy (PA) method applied to the study of suicide. It evidences the presence of a number of methodological problems. Shortcomings concern sampling biases in the selection of control subjects, confounding influences of extraneous variables, and reliability of the assessment instruments. The absence of homogeneity among studies in the procedure employed, as well as the lack of defined guidelines for performing this type of inquiry are emphasized. Questions needing empirical investigation in the future are pointed out. It is concluded that the validity and reliability of findings emerging from the use of this method of investigation would benefit from a standardization of its application.     

Remembering the past and imagining the future: a role for nonvisual imagery in the everyday cognition of blind and sighted people

Images can be generated in all sensory modalities. Nevertheless, research on the everyday use of mental imagery, for example in autobiographical memory tasks, has suggested that it is only visual images that facilitate memory retrieval (e.g., Williams, Healy, & Ellis, 1999). If this is the case, individuals born without sight may be forced to rely more on verbal encoding (Goddard & Pring, 2001). This paper explores the presence and everyday role of nonvisual sensory imagery in 16 individuals with and 16 without sight. Using a cue word paradigm, contrary to previous research, Experiment 1 suggested that for both blind and sighted people, nonvisual imageries have a significant role to play in the generation of autobiographical memories. These results were reinforced by similar findings in Experiment 2, which used the same cue word method to explore the role of visual and nonvisual (auditory) imagery when generating future events. The results refute the claim that "useful" imagery in everyday tasks is exclusively visual.     

What people believe about memory

Two representative samples of adult Norwegians (n=2000) were asked a set of general and specific questions regarding their beliefs and opinions about human memory. The results indicate that on many questions, such as time of the earliest memories, inhibiting effects of collaboration, and memory for dramatic versus ordinary events, the views of the general public concurred with current research findings, and people in general had realistic views about their own memory performance. On other questions, such as the reliability of olfactory as compared with visual and auditory memory, the memory of small children in comparison with that of adults, the likelihood of repression of adult traumatic memories, and on more general questions such as the possibility of training memory and the capacity limitations of long-term memory, a large proportion of the participants expressed views that are less supported by scientific evidence. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.     

Posing for success: Clenching a fist facilitates approach

A clenched fist is a gesture often seen both within and outside sports that seems to communicate success or to function in self-encouragement or the encouragement of others. This “encouragement gesture” involves the contraction of forearm flexors, similar to the grasping action that is part of acquisitive approach actions. This gesture may be part of a physiological feedback mechanism that functions to increase or sustain levels of approach in challenging situations by signaling the sufficiency of resources (muscle strength). Here we show that for pleasant but not unpleasant words, subjects were faster in categorizing words while contracting their forearm flexors rather than their forearm tensors. This effect dissipated during the first minute of performance, which may reflect habituation of interoceptive feedback. The data further suggest that the effect is larger when experimenter and subject are of opposite sexes. The facilitated responding to pleasant stimuli suggests that contraction of the forearm flexors promotes approach.     

Narrow-band 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64, and 96 cycles/360 degrees angular frequency filters

We measured human frequency response functions for eleven angular frequency filters using a forced-choice procedure in a supra-threshold summation paradigm. Each of the eleven functions of 17 experimental conditions was measured 4-9 times among 12 observers. Results show that, for the arbitrarily selected filter phases, maximum summation effect occurred at test frequency for all filters. These results lead to the conclusion that there are narrow-band angular frequency filters operating in human visual system mostly through summation surrounded by inhibition at the specific test frequency ranges. Our previous suggestion (Simas and Santos, 2002), arguing that summation for the higher angular frequency filters should occur if background angular frequency contrast were set to a maximum of 5 times the test frequency threshold, was supported.     

Adherence to HAART: perspectives from clients in treatment support programs

The development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has resulted in dramatic decreases in morbidity and mortality for HIV-infected individuals. Because the long-term efficacy of HAART is dependent on near perfect adherence, many providers offer services to support adherence, including education, regimen review, counseling, and reminder tools. Little is known regarding the utilization or efficacy of these services. In this paper, we report on data collected during 32 open-ended interviews conducted with individuals receiving services through the New York State Treatment Adherence Demonstration Project. Participants in the project reported deriving benefits from a broad range of project activities. Educational efforts helped clients to recognize HIV as a manageable, rather than terminal, illness. Information and tools focused on specific regimens provided clients with concrete knowledge and skills. Effective communication with medical providers and pharmacists was facilitated by adherence staff who proactively advocated for client needs. Program-based social support was particularly valuable for many participants, helping them to retain needed motivation and strength. Educational, practical, and supportive services were all considered valuable to clients participating in adherence support programs. A mix of services may best meet the range of needs found among persons taking HAART.