Top-down predictions in the cognitive brain

The human brain is not a passive organ simply waiting to be activated by external stimuli. Instead, we propose that the brain continuously employs memory of past experiences to interpret sensory information and predict the immediately relevant future. The basic elements of this proposal include analogical mapping, associative representations and the generation of predictions. This review concentrates on visual recognition as the model system for developing and testing ideas about the role and mechanisms of top-down predictions in the brain. We cover relevant behavioral, computational and neural aspects, explore links to emotion and action preparation, and consider clinical implications for schizophrenia and dyslexia. We then discuss the extension of the general principles of this proposal to other cognitive domains.     

Focus Groups: A Practical and Applied Research Approach for Counselors

Focus groups are becoming a popular research approach that counselors can use as an efficient, practical, and applied method of gathering information to better serve clients. In this article, the authors describe focus groups and their potential usefulness to professional counselors and researchers. Practical implications related to the use of focus groups in counseling practice are discussed, and case examples are provided demonstrating how focus groups can be useful to counselors.     

Age-related differences in immediate serial recall: Dissociating chunk formation and capacity

We assessed the contribution of two hypothesized mechanisms to impaired memory performance of older adults in an immediate serial recall task: decreased temporary information storage in a capacity-limited mechanism, such as the focus of attention, and a deficit in binding together different components into cohesive chunks. Using a method in which paired associations between words were taught at varying levels to allow an identification of multiword chunks (Cowan, Chen, & Rouder, 2004), we found that older adults recalled considerably fewer chunks and, on average, smaller chunks than did young adults. Their performance was fairly well simulated by dividing attention in younger adults, unlike what has been found for long-term associative learning. Paired-associate knowledge may be used in an implicit manner in serial recall, given that younger adults under divided attention and older adults use it well despite the relatively small chunk capacities displayed by these groups.     

The proactive brain: using analogies and associations to generate predictions

Rather than passively 'waiting' to be activated by sensations, it is proposed that the human brain is continuously busy generating predictions that approximate the relevant future. Building on previous work, this proposal posits that rudimentary information is extracted rapidly from the input to derive analogies linking that input with representations in memory. The linked stored representations then activate the associations that are relevant in the specific context, which provides focused predictions. These predictions facilitate perception and cognition by pre-sensitizing relevant representations. Predictions regarding complex information, such as those required in social interactions, integrate multiple analogies. This cognitive neuroscience framework can help explain a variety of phenomena, ranging from recognition to first impressions, and from the brain's 'default mode' to a host of mental disorders.     

Effects of Attachment Style on Preferences for and Satisfaction with Different Employment Contracts: An Exploratory Study

Based on the characteristics of three attachment styles—secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidance—hypotheses were derived for differences between them with regard to preferences for three employment relationships differing in whether employees are internal—hired and paid by an organization or external—employed through software houses. In addition, hypotheses were also drawn for differences in overall and facet work satisfaction. The sample consisted of computer science students of whom a large proportion have also been working in that field, and individuals employed as software engineers. Anxious/ambivalents were relatively higher in preference for the external contract and lower in preference for the internal contract, as compared to the two other styles. Contrary to the hypotheses, the avoidants did not differ from the secure style in expressing the highest preference to the internal permanent contract and the lowest to the external contract. Work satisfaction was highest among the secure style but contrary to hypotheses, the anxious/ambivalent group did not differ significantly from that group concerning overall, intrinsic, and extrinsic satisfaction. The avoidants were lowest on those measures. Findings are discussed in light of the different attachment styles and the unique features of the high-tech industry.     

Aging neuromodulation impairs associative binding: a neurocomputational account

Relative to young adults, older adults are particularly impaired in episodic memory tasks requiring associative binding of separate components into compound episodes, such as tasks requiring item-context and item-item binding. This associative-binding deficit has been attributed to senescent changes in frontal-hippocampal circuitry but has not been formally linked to impaired neuromodulation involving this circuitry. Previous neurocomputational work showed that impaired neuromodulation could result in less distinct neurocognitive representations. Here we extend this computational principle to simulate aging-related deficits in associative binding. As expected, networks with simulated deficiency in neuromodulation resulted in less distinct internal representations than did networks simulating the processing and performance of young adults, and were also more impaired under task conditions that required associative binding. The findings suggest that senescent changes in neuromodulatory mechanisms may play a basic role in aging-related impairment in associative binding by reducing the efficacy of distributed conjunctive coding.     

Quality of life of men and women with borderline intelligence and attention deficit disorders living in community residences: a comparative study

The research studies the quality of life (QOL) of 127 men and women diagnosed as having a borderline IQ and ADHD living in two major residential programs of the Sharon region in central Israel in respect to their personal, disability, and social ecological variables. Core findings indicate that men and women differ significantly according to their educational background. Among those who studied in a regular educational environment, the main predictor of men's QOL is their monthly income, whereas the main predictor for women is their level of attention deficit symptoms. The only predictor of QOL among men who studied in a special education program is the quality of contact with their mothers, whereas no significant predictor is observed among women.     

Effects of decisional control on state anxiety and achievement

This study examines the effects of decisional control on state anxiety and cognitive performance in a true-to-life evaluative situation. The analyses were based on the mathematics achievement and state anxiety scores of a sample of 74 eighth grade students randomly assigned to either a Decisional Choice or No Choice experimental condition. Students in the Decisional Choice Condition were given a short mathematics quiz consisting of 5 items of homogeneous difficulty level and instructed to respond to any 3 out of the 5 items. The No Choice condition was essentially the same, except that the students were given only the first three problems and instructed to answer all three. Upon completion of the quiz, students were asked to respond to the Hebrew version of Spielberger's State Anxiety Scale. The findings show that both male and female students tested under Decisional Choice conditions are less anxious and attain higher mathematics scores, on average, than those tested under No Choice conditions. The data support the notion that the provision of decisional choice in an evaluative situation enhances the examinee's perceived feeling of control over the source of the threat (i.e. the mathematics examination). This, in turn, allows more favorable psychological adjustments of one's ‘interior mileau’ to outside stimuli, thereby lowering state anxiety and concomitantly raising levels of test attainment.     

Neuroticism, extraversion and meaning of life: A comparative study of criminals and non-criminals

This study attempts to examine possible connections between neuroticism, extraversion and the meaning of life. A population consisting of 446 subjects, 140 incarcerated criminals and 306 non-criminals, was examined. A negative correlation was found between the meaning of life and neuroticism. No connection was found between extraversion and the meaning of life. It was found that only in specific cases can criminal solutions be a substitute for the meaning of life.     

Preventing Vicarious Trauma: What Counselors Should Know When Working With Trauma Survivors

Counselors in all settings work with clients who are survivors of trauma. Vicarious trauma, or counselors developing trauma reactions secondary to exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, is not uncommon. The purpose of this article is to describe vicarious trauma and summarize the recent research literature related to this construct. The Constructivist Self‐Development Theory (CSDT) is applied to vicarious trauma, and the implications CSDT has for counselors in preventing and managing vicarious trauma are explored.