The change probability effect: incidental learning, adaptability, and shared visual working memory resources

Statistical properties in the visual environment can be used to improve performance on visual working memory (VWM) tasks. The current study examined the ability to incidentally learn that a change is more likely to occur to a particular feature dimension (shape, color, or location) and use this information to improve change detection performance for that dimension (the change probability effect). Participants completed a change detection task in which one change type was more probable than others. Change probability effects were found for color and shape changes, but not location changes, and intentional strategies did not improve the effect. Furthermore, the change probability effect developed and adapted to new probability information quickly. Finally, in some conditions, an improvement in change detection performance for a probable change led to an impairment in change detection for improbable changes.     

Early growth response gene 1 (Egr-1) is required for new and reactivated fear memories in the lateral amygdala

The immediate-early gene early growth response gene-1 (EGR-1, zif-268) has been extensively studied in synaptic plasticity and memory formation in a variety of memory systems. However, a convincing role for EGR-1 in amygdala-dependent memory consolidation processes has yet to emerge. In the present study, we have examined the role of EGR-1 in the consolidation and reconsolidation of amygdala-dependent auditory Pavlovian fear conditioning. In our first series of experiments, we show that EGR-1 is regulated following auditory fear conditioning in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA). Next, we use antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) knockdown of EGR-1 in the LA to show that training-induced expression of EGR-1 is required for memory consolidation of auditory fear conditioning; that is, long-term memory (LTM) is significantly impaired while acquisition and short-term memory (STM) are intact. In a second set of experiments, we show that EGR-1 is regulated in the LA by retrieval of an auditory fear memory. We then show that retrieval-induced expression of EGR-1 in the LA is required for memory reconsolidation of auditory fear conditioning; that is, post-retrieval (PR)-LTM is significantly impaired while memory retrieval and PR-STM are intact. Additional experiments show these effects to be restricted to the LA, to be temporally graded, and unlikely to be due to nonspecific toxicity within the LA. Collectively, our findings strongly implicate a role for EGR-1 in both the initial consolidation and in the reconsolidation of auditory fear memories in the LA.     

Evidence for syntactic alignment in children with autism

We report an experiment that examined whether children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) spontaneously converge, or align, syntactic structure with a conversational partner. Children with ASD were more likely to produce a passive structure to describe a picture after hearing their interlocutor use a passive structure to describe an unrelated picture when playing a card game. Furthermore, they converged syntactic structure with their interlocutor to the same extent as did both chronological and verbal age-matched controls. These results suggest that the linguistic impairment that is characteristic of children with ASD, and in particular their difficulty with interactive language usage, cannot be explained in terms of a general deficit in linguistic imitation.     

Cognitive fatigue defined in the context of attention networks

We examined the effect of cognitive fatigue on the Attention Networks Test (ANT). Participants were 228 non-demented older adults. Cognitive fatigue was operationally defined as decline in alerting, orienting, and executive attention performance over the course of the ANT. Anchored in a theoretical model implicating the frontal basal ganglia circuitry as the core substrate of fatigue, we hypothesized that cognitive fatigue would be observed only in executive attention. Consistent with our prediction, significant cognitive fatigue effect was observed in executive attention but not in alerting or orienting. In contrast, orienting improved over the course of the ANT and alerting showed a trend, though insignificant, that was consistent with learning. Cognitive fatigue is conceptualized as an executive failure to maintain and optimize performance over acute but sustained cognitive effort resulting in performance that is lower and more variable than the individual's optimal ability.     

Multisensory perceptual learning reshapes both fast and slow mechanisms of crossmodal processing

Previous research has shown that sounds facilitate perception of visual patterns appearing immediately after the sound but impair perception of patterns appearing after some delay. Here we examined the spatial gradient of the fast crossmodal facilitation effect and the slow inhibition effect in order to test whether they reflect separate mechanisms. We found that crossmodal facilitation is only observed at visual field locations overlapping with the sound, whereas crossmodal inhibition affects the whole hemifield. Furthermore, we tested whether multisensory perceptual learning with misaligned audio-visual stimuli reshapes crossmodal facilitation and inhibition. We found that training shifts crossmodal facilitation towards the trained location without changing its range. By contrast, training narrows the range of inhibition without shifting its position. Our results suggest that crossmodal facilitation and inhibition reflect separate mechanisms that can both be reshaped by multisensory experience even in adult humans. Multisensory links seem to be more plastic than previously thought.     

Influences on employee perceptions of organizational work–life support: Signals and resources

This study examined predictors of employee perceptions of organizational work–life support. Using organizational support theory and conservation of resources theory, we reasoned that workplace demands and resources shape employees' perceptions of work–life support through two mechanisms: signaling that the organization cares about their work–life balance and helping them develop and conserve resources needed to meet work and nonwork responsibilities. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that higher demands (work hours and work overload) were associated with reduced perceptions that the organization was supportive of work–life integration. Resources (job security, fit between employees' needs and the flexible work options available to them, supervisor support and work group support) were positively associated with perceptions of organizational work–life support. The results of this study urge further scholarly attention to work-based demands and resources as predictors of perceived organizational work–life support and yield implications for managerial practice.     

Memory for sound, with an ear toward hearing in complex auditory scenes

An area of research that has experienced recent growth is the study of memory during perception of simple and complex auditory scenes. These studies have provided important information about how well auditory objects are encoded in memory and how well listeners can notice changes in auditory scenes. These are significant developments because they present an opportunity to better understand how we hear in realistic situations, how higher-level aspects of hearing such as semantics and prior exposure affect perception, and the similarities and differences between auditory perception and perception in other modalities, such as vision and touch. The research also poses exciting challenges for behavioral and neural models of how auditory perception and memory work.     

Can I trust you? Negative affective priming influences social judgments in schizophrenia

Successful social interactions rely on the ability to make accurate judgments based on social cues as well as the ability to control the influence of internal or external affective information on those judgments. Prior research suggests that individuals with schizophrenia misinterpret social stimuli and this misinterpretation contributes to impaired social functioning. We tested the hypothesis that for people with schizophrenia, social judgments are abnormally influenced by affective information. Twenty-three patients with schizophrenia and 35 healthy control participants rated the trustworthiness of faces following the presentation of neutral, negative (threat-related), or positive affective primes. Results showed that all participants rated faces following negative affective primes as less trustworthy than faces following neutral or positive primes. Importantly, this effect was significantly more pronounced for participants with schizophrenia, suggesting that schizophrenia may be characterized by an exaggerated influence of negative affective information on social judgment. Furthermore, the extent that the negative affective prime influenced trustworthiness judgments was significantly associated with patients' severity of positive symptoms, particularly feelings of persecution. These findings suggest that for people with schizophrenia, negative affective information contributes to an interpretive bias, consistent with paranoid ideation, when judging the trustworthiness of others. This bias may contribute to social impairments in schizophrenia.     

The structure of PTSD among two cohorts of returning soldiers: before, during, and following deployment to Iraq

Evidence suggests either a four-factor emotional numbing or dysphoria model likely reflects the underlying structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Questions remain as to which of these structures best represents PTSD, how the structure changes with time, the applicability of models to returning veterans, and the validity of the symptom clusters. The present study addresses these questions among two longitudinal samples of National Guard soldiers assessed prior to, during, and following a combat deployment to Iraq. Findings support a four-factor intercorrelated dysphoria model of PTSD that remains stable across samples and time points. Differential associations were observed among PTSD symptom clusters over time and between symptom clusters and both depression and combat exposure, supporting important distinctions between symptom clusters.     

The role of psychopathic personality disorder in violence risk assessments using the HCR-20

Antisocial and psychopathic traits are essential to evaluate when assessing risk for violence using the HCR-20. The role of the PCL-R on the HCR-20 was investigated using a series of meta-analytic tests. Across 34 samples in which both tools were rated, AUCs for violence were similar (～.69), and exclusion of the psychopathy item (H7) did not reduce the HCR-20's accuracy. Quantitative synthesis of results from multivariate analyses conducted in 7 raw datasets that used both tools demonstrated that the average probability of observing violence for every point increase on the HCR-20 (without H7), while controlling for the PCL-R, was 23%, whereas for the PCL-R it was -1%. The HCR-20 (without H7) added incremental validity to the PCL-R, whereas the converse was not true, and only the HCR-20 (without H7) possessed unique predictive validity. Results suggest the HCR-20's predictive validity was not negatively impacted by excluding the PCL-R. Areas for future study are discussed, including research on various ways to assess and incorporate into risk assessment personality traits related to violence.