Fast pairs: a visual word recognition paradigm for measuring entrenchment, top-down effects, and subjective phenomenology

When word pairs having a familiar order are sequentially flashed on a computer in their non-familiar order, (code zip), observers have a strong phenomenology of seeing them in familiar order (zip code). Reversal errors remained frequent even when participants obtained perceptual experience of reverse-display items by beginning with a block of longer-duration trials. A forced-choice order-detection procedure reduced but did not eliminate reversal errors, showing that "fast pairs" is a robust perceptual illusion. Even adjective + noun pairs (green skirt) showed reversal errors, and reversal errors increased with the log frequency of the word pair, consistent with a strong role for statistical processing at the level of multi-word units.     

Coping with Exposure to Violence: Relations to Emotional Symptoms and Aggression in Three Urban Samples

Relations among exposure to violence, coping, and adjustment were examined in three urban samples. In study 1, which took place in a southeastern city, children ages 6–16 (N = 35; M age = 10.7 years) completed measures of adjustment, exposure to violence, and coping with violence. In study 2, which took place in one southern Midwestern city and one Northeastern city, children ages 8–15 (N = 70; M age = 11.3 years) completed similar measures with the addition of a measure assessing normative beliefs about aggression. Results are in line with the pathologic adaptation model and provide preliminary evidence for two hypothesized pathways explaining the effects of exposure to violence on adjustment: a normalization pathway in which exposure leads to more aggression-supporting beliefs and in turn to greater aggression, and a distress pathway in which exposure leads to avoidant coping and in turn to emotional symptoms.     

Emotional Reaction to Fragile X Premutation Carrier Tests Among Infertile Women

Female fragile X premutation carriers are at ∼10-fold increased risk of premature ovarian failure (follicle stimulating hormone >40 mIU/mL, amenorrhea, age <40). A milder degree of premature ovarian aging (diminished ovarian reserve, where follicle stimulating hormone levels are typically 10–20 mIU/mL) results in infertility. Approximately 10% of fertility clinic patients have this diagnosis. A cohort of 20 women diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve provided a blood specimen (confidential results), and completed structured questionnaires that assessed emotional reactions to potentially being a premutation carrier (pretest questionnaire, n = 20) and the posttest known carrier status (3 month follow-up questionnaire, n = 18 non-carriers). Responses were measured using 9-point scales, and analyzed with Fisher exact and Wilcoxon exact tests. While most participants did not view fragile X premutations as a serious medical condition, perceptions of seriousness were positively correlated with anger and regret about not knowing sooner of the potential association of these premutations with infertility. Overall, when women (pretest) imagined themselves as carriers, their self-esteem and Health Orientation Scale responses were unchanged with the exception of feeling more afraid (p = 0.004). Despite strongly wishing for negative test results, they were glad to know there might be a medical explanation for their infertility. Financial Support: This work was financially supported by a University of Virginia School of Medicine Research & Development Award.     

An analysis of autobiographical tools in written reflection: implications for teaching critical thinking and goal-setting

This paper analyzes the results of an 18 month study of a variety of participants involved in written reflection on their learning, both in classes at two universities in the Southern US or in voluntary focus groups. The purpose of the study was to analyze the effects of including autobiographical tools in written reflection. Participants used three tools from the genre of autobiography as they reflected on their learning inside either course content, internship experiences, experiential learning, or goal-setting. Over 500 samples were gathered, offering a large data set for analysis of what kinds of best practice produce quality reflective writing. Through analysis of the data and student surveys and interviews, results show increased attention to critical thinking and metacognition; expressed flexibility, adaptability, and ability to handle ambiguity; and value in connection to others/empathy-building as a result of incorporating autobiographical tools in reflective prompts. The study indicated that reflections using the same autobiographical tool over the course of several sessions seemed to produce deeper levels of reflection and more engagement with the autobiographical tool. Of the three autobiographical tools used in the study, the tool that seemed most helpful to participants was reflection as storytelling that revealed aspects of the self.     

5HT antagonists attenuate MK801-impaired radial arm maze performance in rats

Glutamatergic hypofunction occurs in Alzheimer's disease (AD). MK801, a noncompetitive blocker of glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, was used to disrupt the cognitive performance of rats trained on a delayed nonmatching to sample radial maze task. Drugs which act by blocking serotonin (5-HT) receptors were evaluated for their ability to reduce the cognitive impairment produced by MK801. Specifically, WAY-100635, a selective 5-HT1A receptor antagonist, buspirone, a 5-HT1A partial agonist, ritanserin, a 5-HT2 antagonist, and ondansetron, a 5-HT3 antagonist, were assessed. In addition, the muscarinic agonist arecoline was evaluated for its potential cognitive benefit in this model. It was found that WAY-100635 significantly reduced the cognitive impairment induced by MK801. Treatment with single doses of ritanserin, ondansetron, or arecoline in combination with MK801 did not result in a cognitive impairment, indicating that these drugs attenuated the MK801 impairment. The combination of buspirone and MK801 resulted in an inability of the animals to complete the task. These results suggest that interactions between 5-HT and glutamate may mediate the beneficial effects of reducing cognitive impairment and that 5-HT antagonists, especially selective 5-HT1A antagonists, may be useful in treating AD. Further, it is indicated that the MK801 model of cognitive impairment may add to the armamentarium of tools available to predict treatment efficacy in AD.     

Angry, disgusted, or afraid? Studies on the malleability of emotion perception

ABSTRACT— Current theories of emotion perception posit that basic facial expressions signal categorically discrete emotions or affective dimensions of valence and arousal. In both cases, the information is thought to be directly "read out" from the face in a way that is largely immune to context. In contrast, the three studies reported here demonstrated that identical facial configurations convey strikingly different emotions and dimensional values depending on the affective context in which they are embedded. This effect is modulated by the similarity between the target facial expression and the facial expression typically associated with the context. Moreover, by monitoring eye movements, we demonstrated that characteristic fixation patterns previously thought to be determined solely by the facial expression are systematically modulated by emotional context already at very early stages of visual processing, even by the first time the face is fixated. Our results indicate that the perception of basic facial expressions is not context invariant and can be categorically altered by context at early perceptual levels.     

Trends in Women's Participation at the Meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis: 1975-2005

We examined women's participation, relative to men's, at the annual meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) between 1975 and 2005. Among our findings are upward trends in female presenters across formats (e.g., posters), types of authorship (e.g., first authors), and specialty areas (e.g., autism). Where women have attained parity, however, they are still often underrepresented, given their percentage of membership. Women also participate less than men as sole and invited authors and discussants and in the domains of basic research and conceptual analysis, but participate more than men in the applied domain. Data from the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis show parallel but delayed trends toward parity in basic and applied research, whereas data from The Behavior Analyst show only modest gains in the conceptual domain. We discuss the gender disparities in ABA's more prestigious categories of participation (e.g., invited addresses) and across its content domains, as well as in science in general, and the role of social and cultural factors in producing the disparities and how behavior analysts might aid in correcting them.     

Internal and external imagery perspective measurement and use in imagining open and closed sports skills: an exploratory study

This study explored the measurement and use of internal and external imagery perspectives during imagery of open and closed sports skills. Participants (N=41; male=23; female=18), ages 14 to 28 (M = 19.4 yr.; SD = 3.1), who were recruited from undergraduate classes in human movement and physical education, and local sporting teams, completed the Imagery Use Questionnaire and then imagined performing eight common sports skills, four open skills and four closed skills, in a random order. Participants provided concurrent verbalisation during their imagery. Immediately after imagining each skill, participants completed a rating scale and retrospective verbalisation of imagery perspective use. Analysis indicated that the questionnaire gave a general imagery perspective preference but was not a strong predictor of imagery used on specific occasions. The three measures of imagery perspective were equivalent in imagining performing particular skills. Participants experienced more internal imagery than external imagery while imagining the eight sports skills, but there was no significant difference between perspective use on the open and closed skills.     

Semantic interference and associative facilitation from words presented in rapid serial visual presentation

Semantic interference in picture naming is readily obtained when categorically related distractor words are displayed with picture targets; however, this is not typically the case when both primes and targets are words. Researchers have argued that to obtain semantic interference for word primes and targets, the prime must be shown for a sufficient duration, prime processing must be made difficult, and participants must attend to the primes. In this article, we used a novel procedure for prime presentation to investigate semantic interference in word naming. Primes were presented as the last word of a rapid serial visual presentation stream, with the target following 600-1,200 msec later. Semantic interference was observed for categorically related targets, whereas facilitation was found for associatively related targets.