The tell-tale tasks: a review of saccadic research in psychiatric patient populations

This review focuses on saccade research with adult psychiatric patients. It begins with an introduction of the various types of saccades and the tasks used to evoke them. The functional significance of the different types of eye movements is briefly discussed. Research findings regarding the saccadic performance of different adult psychiatric patient populations are discussed in detail, with particular emphasis on findings regarding error rates, response latencies, and any specific task parameters that might affect those variables. Findings regarding the symptom, neurocognitive, and neural correlates of saccadic performance and the functional significance of patients’ saccadic deficits are also discussed. We also discuss the saccadic deficits displayed by various patient groups in terms of circuitry (e.g. cortical/basal ganglia circuits) that may be implicated in the underlying pathophysiology of several of these disorders. Future directions for research in this growing area are offered.     

The multi-level approach: a road map for couples therapy

This paper presents a multi-level framework and road map to guide the therapeutic process. Starting with the couple's reactive pattern, the multi-level approach first orients the therapist on how to create a "holding environment." It then suggests how the therapist, in collaboration with the couple, can proceed to explore interactional, sociocultural/ organizational, intrapsychic, and intergenerational processes that might be fueling the couple's dynamics. Central to this approach is the construct of the vulnerability cycle, a nexus of integration that helps the therapist stay anchored while moving through the many layers of therapeutic work. The overall goal is to help the partners move from reactivity to responsibility for their own feelings and behavior; from impasse to a greater ability to reflect, express feelings, listen, negotiate, and make choices about how to be in the relationship. This paper describes a range of concepts and interventions from basic to complex; it is intended as an organizational tool for practice and clinical training.     

Functional analyses and treatment of precursor behavior

Functional analysis has been demonstrated to be an effective method to identify environmental variables that maintain problem behavior. However, there are cases when conducting functional analyses of severe problem behavior may be contraindicated. The current study applied functional analysis procedures to a class of behavior that preceded severe problem behavior (precursor behavior) and evaluated treatments based on the outcomes of the functional analyses of precursor behavior. Responding for all participants was differentiated during the functional analyses, and individualized treatments eliminated precursor behavior. These results suggest that functional analysis of precursor behavior may offer an alternative, indirect method to assess the operant function of severe problem behavior.     

The Impact of a Derogatory Remark on Prejudice Toward a Gay Male Leader1

A laboratory experiment examined the impact of a derogatory remark on expressions of prejudice toward a gay male leader. Students participated in same‐sex groups with a male confederate who was obviously gay or presumably straight. Half of the participants in the gay condition heard a derogatory remark about the confederate. This resulted in 3 experimental conditions: gay/remark, gay/no remark, and straight/no remark. Participants evaluated the leader's abilities less favorably and evidenced more negative nonverbal behaviors toward him in the gay/remark condition than in the gay/no remark or straight/no remark conditions. These findings extend research on derogatory remarks to a nonracial minority and highlight the powerful effect of immediate social context on expressions of prejudice.     

Strategies in the information search process: interaction among task structure, knowledge, and source

The authors explored the information search strategies of 145 individuals in the predecisional stage. Decision-making participants selected pieces of information from a list including relevant and irrelevant data. The authors investigated the influence of the individual's knowledge and information source. In Experiment 1, the authors experimentally manipulated the information source reliability. The results revealed that participants tended to use a sequential strategy when the authors presented information as supplied by a reliable source. In Experiment 2, the authors analyzed the interaction between information source and the individuals' knowledge. When participants believed the source to be reliable, even knowledgeable participants adopted a strategy as sequential as that chosen by naive individuals. In Experiment 3, a mediational model corroborated the hypothesis that the search strategy affects the final judgment. The results were consistent with the constructivist framework, which emphasizes the role of individual, task, and context in the decision-making process.     

Measurement by subjective estimation: Testing for separable representations

Studying how individuals compare two given quantitative stimuli, say d₁ and d₂, is a fundamental problem. One very common way to address it is through ratio estimation, that is to ask individuals not to give values to d₁ and d₂, but rather to give their estimates of the ratio p=d₁/d₂. Several psychophysical theories (the best known being Stevens’ power-law) claim that this ratio cannot be known directly and that there are cognitive distortions on the apprehension of the different quantities. These theories result in the so-called separable representations [Luce, R. D. (2002). A psychophysical theory of intensity proportions, joint presentations, and matches. Psychological Review, 109, 520–532; Narens, L. (1996). A theory of ratio magnitude estimation. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 40, 109–788], which include Stevens’ model as a special case. In this paper we propose a general statistical framework that allows for testing in a rigorous way whether the separable representation theory is grounded or not. We conclude in favor of it, but reject Stevens’ model. As a byproduct, we provide estimates of the psychophysical functions of interest.     

Influence of aesthetic perception on visual event-related potentials

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of visual aesthetic perception on event-related potentials (ERPs). Eight subjects assigned an aesthetic judgment (beautiful, neutral, or ugly) and a 10-step beauty estimation to the target stimuli, consisting of famous artistic pictures and geometric shapes. In a further task, the subjects performed a motor response to the previously judged pictures and geometric shapes. ERPs were recorded through 54 scalp electrodes during both tasks. The P3b amplitude was increased during the categorization of the geometric shapes compared to the artistic figures and during the vision of the beautiful targets preceding the motor response. The categorization of the aesthetic qualities of geometrical shapes seems to induce a higher level of attention, while a higher arousal variation was elicited by the recognition of beauty, in any form that was presented.     

Aesthetic value of paintings affects pain thresholds

Pain is modulated by cognitive factors, including attention and emotions. In this study we evaluated the distractive effect of aesthetic appreciation on subjectively rated pain (visual analogue scale;VAS) and multi-channel evoked potentials induced by CO₂ laser stimulation of the left hand in twelve healthy volunteers. Subjects were stimulated by laser in the absence of other external stimulation (baseline condition) and while looking at different paintings they had previously rated as beautiful, neutral or ugly. The view of paintings previously appreciated as beautiful produced lower pain scores and a clear inhibition of the P2 wave amplitude, localized in the anterior cingulate cortex; the inhibition of P2 wave amplitude was lesser or not significant during the presentation of the ugly or neutral paintings, respectively. Dipole source localization analysis of the LEP peaks showed significant changes during different conditions, with a shift from the posterior to the anterior right cingulated cortex while looking at paintings previously rated as beautiful.Our results provide evidence that pain may be modulated at cortical level by the aesthetic content of the distracting stimuli.