Processing of temporal information: Evidence from eye movements

In two experiments, we recorded eye movements to study how readers monitor temporal order information contained in narrative texts. Participants read short texts containing critical temporal information in the sixth sentence, which could be either consistent or inconsistent with temporal order information given in the second sentence. In Experiment 1, inconsistent sentences yielded more regressions to the second sentence and longer refixations of it. In Experiment 2, this pattern of eye movements was shown only by readers who noticed the inconsistency and were able to report it. Theoretical and methodological implications of the results for research on text comprehension are discussed.     

Influence of prime-target relationship on semantic priming effects from words in a lexical-decision task

The present research examines the influence of prime-target relationship (associative and categorical versus categorical only) on priming effects from attended and ignored parafoveal words. Participants performed a lexical-decision task on a single central target, which was preceded by two parafoveal prime words, one of which (the attended prime) was spatially precued. The results showed reliable positive and negative priming effects from attended and ignored words, respectively. However, this priming pattern was observed only for the "associative and categorical", but not for the "categorical only" relationship condition. These results suggest that the lack of semantic priming effects from words in some prior studies may be attributed to the kind of material used (i.e. weakly-associated word pairs).     

Discrimination and Puerto Rican children's and adolescents' mental health

Two studies of Puerto Rican youths' development on the U.S. mainland examined the consequences of perceived racial/ethnic discrimination on mental health. In Study I, children were found to have a low likelihood of perceiving discrimination, whereas in Study 2, nearly half of the adolescent sample reported perceiving racial/ethnic discrimination. Although both groups scored high on multiple indicators of mental health, perceiving discrimination and worrying about discrimination were negatively associated with some dimensions of self-esteem and positively associated with depression and stress. Adolescents were aware of negative stereotypes about Puerto Ricans, and nearly half of them related discriminatory instances. Results suggest that both perceiving discrimination and anxiety regarding discrimination can serve as risk factors for the mental health of this population.     

Illness representation of arterial hypertension in a sample of health professionals and the general public

This work studies the illness representation of high blood pressure in a sample of primary health care professionals and the general public in order to identify possible differences. The examination of illness representation was carried out using a Spanish adaptation of Turk et al.'s ( 1986 ) Implicit Model of Illness Questionnaire. This questionnaire assesses nine components: identity, cause, incapacity, cure, personal responsibility, controllability, changeability and chance. The results showed statistically significant differences between the general public and doctors in all the components except controllability. Results also show that nurses' responses are closer to those of the general public in the social and psychological aspects, but not in the technical knowledge of hypertension.     

Psychoanalysis: the transformation of the subject by the spoken word

Psychoanalysis recruits the power of the spoken word to modify the subject's relationship with his or her own unconscious psychic processes. It helps the analysand to reclaim for his or her words the psychic integrity that was lost or never achieved due to the power of defensive dissociation and repression. The psychoanalytic dialogue and the working through mediated by it lead to the elaboration of self-narratives and interpretive understandings, which contribute to the transformation of the subject's self-experience. Such transformation is conditioned by earlier integration of experiences of satisfaction in the context of bodily dialogues and speech with primary objects.     

Non-ligand activation of estrous behavior in rodents: cross-talk at the progesterone receptor

Estrous behavior in rodents is triggered by the binding of progesterone (P) to its intracellular receptor (PR). Non-steroidal agents (i.e., gonadotropin-releasing hormone, noradrenaline, dopamine and others), acting at the membrane, can facilitate estrous behavior in estrogen-primed rats. This action is mediated through the generation of second messengers (cyclic AMP, cyclic GMP, calcium) which, in turn, phosphorylate through diverse kinase systems (protein kinases A, G or C) either the PR or associated effector proteins linking the PR to the trans-activation machinery. P or its metabolites also activate cyclic AMP-signaling pathways by acting directly on the membrane or by modulating neurotransmitter release. Molecular processes resulting from second messenger signaling pathways and those from the progesterone-RP interaction synergize to elicit a full behavioral response.     

Effect-size indices for dichotomized outcomes in meta-analysis

It is very common to find meta-analyses in which some of the studies compare 2 groups on continuous dependent variables and others compare groups on dichotomized variables. Integrating all of them in a meta-analysis requires an effect-size index in the same metric that can be applied to both types of outcomes. In this article, the performance in terms of bias and sampling variance of 7 different effect-size indices for estimating the population standardized mean difference from a 2 x 2 table is examined by Monte Carlo simulation, assuming normal and nonnormal distributions. The results show good performance for 2 indices, one based on the probit transformation and the other based on the logistic distribution.     

Concurrent-schedule performance in transition: changeover delays and signaled reinforcer ratios

Six pigeons were trained in experimental sessions that arranged six or seven components with various concurrent-schedule reinforcer ratios associated with each. The order of the components was determined randomly without replacement. Components lasted until the pigeons had received 10 reinforcers, and were separated by 10-s blackout periods. The component reinforcer ratios arranged in most conditions were 27:1, 9:1, 3:1, 1:1, 1:3, 1:9 and 1:27; in others, there were only six components, three of 27:1 and three of 1:27. In some conditions, each reinforcement ratio was signaled by a different red-yellow flash frequency, with the frequency perfectly correlated with the reinforcer ratio. Additionally, a changeover delay was arranged in some conditions, and no changeover delay in others. When component reinforcer ratios were signaled, sensitivity to reinforcement values increased from around 0.40 before the first reinforcer in a component to around 0.80 before the 10th reinforcer. When reinforcer ratios were not signaled, sensitivities typically increased from zero to around 0.40. Sensitivity to reinforcement was around 0.20 lower in no-changeover-delay conditions than in changeover-delay conditions, but increased in the former after exposure to changeover delays. Local analyses showed that preference was extreme towards the reinforced alternative for the first 25 s after reinforcement in changeover-delay conditions regardless of whether components were signaled or not. In no-changeover-delay conditions, preference following reinforcers was either absent, or, following exposure to changeover delays, small. Reinforcers have both local and long-term effects on preference. The former, but not the latter, is strongly affected by the presence of a changeover delay. Stimulus control may be more closely associated with longer-term, more molar, reinforcer effects.     

Present mood states in Brazilian night nurses

Variations in the state of momentary emotions of Brazilian hospital nurses on day and night shifts were recorded. Ten graduate nurses working on day and night shifts in the clinical ward of hospitals completed the Present Mood States List of Engelmann at the beginning and end of the first and last days of each shift. Analysis indicated (a) nurses had a stable emotional profile, present at the working shift, and (b) variations in present mood states related to specific effects of shift work were observed when comparisons were made between the present mood states at the beginning and end of each shift duty.