How parallel is visual processing in the ventral pathway?

Visual object perception is usually studied by presenting one object at a time at the fovea. However, the world around us is composed of multiple objects. The way our visual system deals with this complexity has remained controversial in the literature. Some models claim that the ventral pathway, a set of visual cortical areas responsible for object recognition, can process only one or very few objects at a time without ambiguity. Other models argue in favor of a massively parallel processing of objects in a scene. Recent experiments in monkeys have provided important data about this issue. The ventral pathway seems to be able to perform complex analyses on several objects simultaneously, but only during a short time period. Subsequently only one or very few objects are explicitly selected and consciously perceived. Here, we survey the implications of these new findings for our understanding of object processing.     

Taking the MAX from neuronal responses

By taking the MAX from their inputs, neurons in the ventral visual pathway might preserve their selectivity even when stimulated with natural scenes. This computational hypothesis has received recent direct physiological evidence from recordings of V4 neuronal responses, in a recent study by Gawne and Martin (2002). Object vision might rely more heavily on parallel processing than generally thought.     

“Discredited” Versus “Discreditable”: Understanding How Shared and Unique Stigma Mechanisms Affect Psychological and Physical Health Disparities

One of the few studies to examine judgments of personal control in a contingency situation found that participants did not overestimate their control on a task where actual control was possible. However, that study used a design that confounded control and reinforcement. In this study, control (none, medium, high) and reinforcement (low, high) were independently manipulated. College students (N = 100) participated in a computer task in which they pressed or did not press the space bar, after which a target or nontarget screen appeared. Participants rated their control over the appearance of the target screen. Support was found for the idea that in some situations of actual control, illusions of control are found: high-control participants with high reinforcement overestimated their control. Results also indicated that underestimators, accurate estimators, and overestimators used different information when estimating their levels of control. Causes and implications are discussed.     

Control, denial, and heightened sensitivity reactions to personal threat: testing the generalizability of the threat orientation approach

The threat orientation model proposes three dispositional responses to threats: control, heightened sensitivity, and denial. Two studies explored the psychometric properties of the previously developed threat orientation scales and the relationship between the orientations and the responses to a variety of threats. Study 1 found that the control-based and heightened sensitivity-based scales are reliable and were related to perceptions of health, financial, and terrorist threats with a nationally representative sample. Findings held across gender, age, and ethnic groups. Furthermore, Study 1 suggested two types of denial processes: optimistic denial and avoidance denial. Study 2 used a diverse sample to gain additional evidence for two processes of denial and developed measures of each type.     

The effect of laughter expression modulation on emotional experience in 4 to 10 year-old children

According to the literature, in adulthood, facial expression control unconsciously generates a congruent change in emotional experience (facial feedback). Although only a few studies have been conducted on this phenomenon with children, it is to be expected that the strength of the link between facial expression and emotional experience will diminish with age, and consequently, that the facial feedback effect will decrease with age. In order to test this hypothesis, we used an emotional induction paradigm (based on funny video-clips) with an expressive change paradigm (i.e., free expression vs. laughter restriction vs. laughter exaggeration). The emotional experience of 4–10-year-old children was assessed a posteriori based on analyses of their narratives about the video-clips. Results indicated that the children benefited from a facial feedback effect on their emotional experiences without an age effect. They are discussed in the light of the literature on emotional regulation and emotional development.     

Complicity and Criminal Liability in Rwanda: A Situationist Critique

In Complicity and the Rwandan Genocide (2010b), Larry May argues that complicity can be the basis for criminal liability if two conditions are met: First, the person’s actions or inactions must contribute to the harm in question, and secondly, the person must know that his actions or inactions risk contributing to this harm. May also states that the threshold for guilt for criminal liability is higher than for moral responsibility. I agree with this latter claim, but I think that it casts doubt on May’s account of criminal liability, particular in so-called performance cases in which low-level participants merely fail to help. This is because it is far from clear that passive non-helpers are morally responsible for their participation in widespread harms. Situationism purports to show that passive bystanders typically are not morally responsible for their role in such harms, because they were behaving reasonably subject to the constraints they faced. In this paper, I assess this claim, and defend it on the basis of O. W. Holmes’ standard of the reasonable person as a guide to judging criminal complicity. Finally, I provide a situationist account of the Rwandan genocide, which focuses on the systemic causes and primary perpetrators of the genocide, rather than low-level participants.     

Bien-être à la retraite selon le genre et l’âge : lien avec la perception du travail ancien

We focused on the direct relationship between job satisfaction experienced during working life and life-satisfaction after retirement. Also we wonder on differences about aspects of the former work evoked as pleasant. These questions are treated by differentiating women and men perceptions, and the perceptions according to age. Data on 396 French subjects, 182 men and 214 women (age range 66 to 98) were used to examine how life-satisfaction in retirement is linked to the perception of former job satisfaction. Other indications of adaptation are retained, as self-esteem or conversely boredom. Results show a) that job satisfaction is a predictable variable for life-satisfaction after retirement, b) that this impact is weaker for youngest, c) a strong similarity between men and women, whatever is their age. We discuss observed links.     

Completed suicides among Quebec adolescents involved with juvenile justice and child welfare services

In the Province of Quebec (Canada), adolescents involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems committed at least one third of all completed suicides in their age group in 1995 and 1996. Their risk of suicide, standardized for age and sex, was five times that of the general adolescent population, and female juvenile delinquents had the highest relative risk of suicide (36.1). Cumulated risk factors may explain those results. Since 40% of those suicides did occur when subjects were still actively involved with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, those agencies should revise their suicide prevention strategies.     

Conduct Problems and Adherence to COVID-19 Guidelines: A Developmental Psychopathology-Informed Approach

COVID-19 underscores the importance of understanding variation in adherence to rules concerning health behaviors. Children with conduct problems have difficulty with rule adherence, and linking early conduct problems with later adherence to COVID-19 guidelines can provide new insight into public health. The current study employed a sample (N = 744) designed to examine the longitudinal consequences of childhood conduct problems (Mean age at study entry = 8.39). The first objective was to link early conduct problems with later adherence to both general and specific COVID-19 guidelines during emerging adulthood (M age = 19.07). The second objective was to prospectively examine how interactional (i.e., callous unemotional traits, impulsivity) and cumulative (i.e., educational attainment, work status, substance use) continuity factors mediated this association. The third objective was to examine differences in sex assigned at birth in these models. Direct associations were observed between childhood conduct problems and lower general, but not specific COVID-19 guideline adherence. Conduct problems were indirectly associated with both general and specific adherence via higher levels of callous unemotional traits, and with specific adherence via higher problematic substance use. No differences in the models were observed across sex assigned at birth. Findings provide insight into both how developmental psychopathology constructs are useful for understanding COVID-19 guideline adherence, and the ways in which conduct problems may shape health outcomes.

     

Infant feeding and internalized stigma: The role of guilt and shame

Globally the rates of breastfeeding duration are extremely low and postnatal mental health issues are common. As a result, it is important to examine the emotions that underlie these matters. Across two studies (one correlational study N = 160 and one experimental study N = 118), we examined participants’ experiences of shame and guilt when feeding their baby, and the relationship between these emotions with breastfeeding behaviors and internalized stigma. We also examined the psychosocial factors that predict internalized stigma, and whether shame and guilt mediate these relationships. We focused on three factors that have been shown to be associated with internalized stigma in other domains: self-esteem and social support (Study 1), as well as self-efficacy (Study 2). Multiple regression revealed that experienced guilt uniquely predicted a shorter duration of exclusive breastfeeding (Study 1). Higher self-efficacy (Study 2), self-esteem, and perceived social support (Study 1) predicted lower internalized stigma of feeding choice. We found that shame was a mediator for the self-esteem and internalized stigma relationship (Study 1), while guilt was a mediator for the self-efficacy and internalized stigma relationship (Study 2). Our findings highlight the importance of experienced shame and guilt in mothers’ infant feeding experiences. The current results can inform future research and the design of interventions to improve breastfeeding rates and reduce feelings of stigma.