Retrosplenial cortex lesion affected segregation of spatial information in place avoidance task in the rat

Retrosplenial cortex (RSC) together with the hippocampus is a component of the spatial memory circuit. To elucidate the role of the RSC in spatial memory formation in the immediate presence of both relevant and irrelevant spatial stimuli, we used a new place avoidance task, in which rats learn to avoid shock in an unmarked place. In the present study, we manipulated the relevance of distal "Room" stimuli and local "Arena" stimuli for place avoidance. Rats with ibotenate lesions of RSC, control sham lesions (Csl) and intact control rats (Cint) initially learned the (Room&Arena)+ task variant in which both Room and Arena stimuli are relevant for defining the shock sector. Afterwards, different subsets of rats from each group were trained in the following task variants: (i) Room+Arena-, in which the arena continuously rotated so that Room stimuli were relevant and Arena stimuli were irrelevant for avoiding shock; (ii) Arena+, in which the arena and shock sector rotated in a dark room so that Arena stimuli were relevant and Room stimuli were irrelevant for avoiding shock; (iii) Room+, in which the arena was covered in shallow water so that only Room stimuli were relevant for avoiding the shock sector whether the arena was stationary or rotating. We found that damage of RSC impaired the Room+Arena- variant that required relevant and irrelevant stimuli to be segregated. Importantly, the same lesions spared task variants that did not require segregation. Our results suggest an involvement of retrosplenial cortex in the segregation of spatial information.     

Measures of spatial memory and routes of learning

Spatial memory was investigated in two experiments by direct methods. Methods included scaling of distances, estimation of bearings, and positioning of objects. Participants learned small-scale configurations under different orders of presentation. In Exp. 1, routes included a shortest path, i.e., a traveling salesman solution, a random sequence, and a path that maximized distances. In Exp. 2, spatial and temporal distances varied independently. It was analyzed whether the different methods yielded the same information. For bearing estimates a new scaling procedure was developed. Computations resulted in two-dimensional Euclidean solutions in close correspondence with the stimulus configuration. In addition, solutions showed an effect of temporal conditions of learning.     

Minority influence and musical preference: Innovation by conversion not coercion

Studied the effect of social categorization, strength of influence and predisposition to influence on social influence concerning musical preferences. One-hundred and sixty-eight French adolescents (age 15 years) were assigned to the eight conditions of a 2 (social categorization: majority/minority) × 2 (strength of influence: strong/weak) × 2 (predisposition to influence: pervious/impervious) design. Influence source was an opinion poll based on pupils from two types of secondary school. Direct influence was exerted from ‘hard-rock’ to ‘new wave’ music; indirect influence was measured by subjects' preferences for hard-rock versus ‘contemporary’ music. Ratings of the source were also elicited. Analyses of variance revealed indirect influence to be significantly greater with the minority than the majority source (p < 0.02). Indirect influence was especially high for subjects with a clear predisposition to influence and when the influence was weak (p < 0.0005). Further analyses confirmed the effect to be due to the actual numbers of subjects influenced. The study thus demonstrated the generalizability of the ‘conversion’ notion (minority influence on an indirect level) from numerical to social minorities.     

An empirical classification of non-violent offenders using the MMPI

MMPI protocols of 87 non-violent male offenders were cluster analysed on eight experimental scales. Four clusters emerged. These were compared with the findings from 105 prisoners with convictions for violence. Clusters tended to be similar across the two samples with the exception of the ‘Inhibited’ offender. This non-violent group tended to be less psychiatrically disturbed, as well as less introverted, anxious and hostile than its corresponding violent cluster.     

Refining computerized test interpretations: an in-depth approach

Comprehensive individual psychological evaluations of a small sample of subjects were used to identify shortcomings and suggest improvements in a computerized system for interpreting 16PF and CAQ scores. This approach is offered as a supplement, rather than an alternative, to the usual large sample correlational method. It is argued that such procedures mask desirable refinements by substituting a large number of subjects for detailed and accurate assessment of individual cases. Results of this analysis supported the general accuracy of the computerized system, but revealed gaps in the information provided and suggested alternatives for perfecting the system.     

Rapid facial reactions to emotional facial expressions

This study explored how rapidly emotion specific facial muscle reactions were elicited when subjects were exposed to pictures of angry and happy facial expressions. In three separate experiments, it was found that distinctive facial electromyographic reactions, i.e., greater Zygomaticus major muscle activity in response to happy than to angry stimuli and greater Corrugator supercilii muscle activity in response to angry stimuli, were detectable after only 300–400 ms of exposure. These findings demonstrate that facial reactions are quickly elicited, indicating that expressive emotional reactions can be very rapidly manifested and are perhaps controlled by fast operating facial affect programs.     

Relational information processing of novel unrelated actions by infants

Declarative memory in infants is often assessed via deferred imitation. Not much is known about the information processing basis of the memory effect found in these experiments. While in the typical deferred imitation study the order of actions remains the same during demonstration and retrieval, in two experiments with n=30 respective n=25, 10- and 11-month-old infants, the order of novel unrelated actions in demonstration and retrieval was varied (same, reversed, mixed). This allowed a separation of item-specific from item-relational information processing. In both experiments best memory performance was found when the order of target actions remained the same during encoding and recall, demonstrating that infants seem to rely on item-specific as well as item-relational information which has to be ad hoc constructed while encoding.     

Deliberate real-time mood regulation in adulthood: the importance of age, fixation and attentional functioning

While previous research has linked executive attention to emotion regulation, the current study investigated the role of attentional alerting (i.e., efficient use of external warning cues) on younger (N=39) and older (N=44) adults' use of gaze to regulate their mood in real time. Participants viewed highly arousing unpleasant images while reporting their mood and were instructed to deliberately manage how they felt and to minimise the effect of those stimuli on their mood. Fixations toward the most negative areas of the images were recorded with eye tracking. We examined whether looking less at the most negative regions, compared to each individual's own tendency, was a beneficial mood regulatory strategy and how it interacted with age and alerting ability. High alerting older adults, who rely more on external cues to guide their attention, experienced a smaller decline in mood over time by activating a less-negative-looking approach (compared to their own average tendency), effectively looking away from the most negative areas of the images. More negative gaze patterns predicted better mood for younger adults, though this effect decreased over time. Alerting did not moderate gaze-mood links in younger adults. Successful mood regulation may thus depend on particular combinations of age, fixation, and attention.