Neural dynamics of perceptual order and context effects for variable-rate speech syllables

How does the brain extract invariant properties of variable-rate speech? A neural model, called PHONET, is developed to explain aspects of this process and, along the way, data about perceptual context effects. For example, in consonant-vowel (CV) syllables, such as /ba/ and /wa/, an increase in the duration of the vowel can cause a switch in the percept of the preceding consonant from /w/ to /b/ (J.L. Miller & Liberman, 1979). The frequency extent of the initial formant transitions of fixed duration also influences the percept (Schwab, Sawusch, & Nusbaum, 1981). PHONET quantitatively simulates over 98% of the variance in these data, using a single set of parameters. The model also qualitatively explains many data about other perceptual context effects. In the model, C and V inputs are filtered by parallel auditory streams that respond preferentially to the transient and sustained properties of the acoustic signal before being stored in parallel working memories. A lateral inhibitory network of onset- and rate-sensitive cells in the transient channel extracts measures of frequency transition rate and extent. Greater activation of the transient stream can increase the processing rate in the sustained stream via a cross-stream automatic gain control interaction. The stored activities across these gain-controlled working memories provide a basis for rate-invariant perception, since the transient-to-sustained gain control tends to preserve the relative activities across the transient and sustained working memories as speech rate changes. Comparisons with alternative models tested suggest that the fit cannot be attributed to the simplicity of the data. Brain analogues of model cell types are described.     

Actions speak louder

Case material is presented from three analyses in which dramatic, unexpected movements by patients on the couch dominated the analytic hours for long periods of time. The psychoanalytic literature pertinent to this area of acting in is reviewed, and some formulations regarding the shift from verbalization to motor behavior are presented. These center on the proposition that the patients had identified with aggressor parents who regarded actions, not words, as the ultimate conveyers of reality. The analyst's use of countertransference responses as clues to the understanding of the actions is discussed.     

Psychophysiological reactivity to mental arithmetic stress in black and white normotensive men

Racial differences in physiological responses to a behavioral stressor were examined. Thirty-four Black and 42 White male normotensives 34 to 55 years old (mean age = 43.01 years) performed a mental arithmetic task while blood pressure, heart rate, and skin conductance were recorded. Compared to Whites, Blacks had significantly higher baseline diastolic blood pressure (77.93 mm Hg vs. 73.11 mm Hg) and lower skin conductance levels (11.08 microS vs. 12.25 microS). These effects persisted during performance of the mental arithmetic task. However, when baseline differences were covaried, there were no significant physiological effects associated with the task. Analysis of changes in response levels from baseline revealed a nonsignificant trend for Whites to show greater increases in systolic blood pressure than Blacks. There were no significant race or family history effects. Further, task performance did not influence the outcome. Failure to demonstrate greater cardiovascular reactivity in Blacks and all men with a positive family history of hypertension is discussed with regard to possible "survivor effects" and methodologic limitations.     

Elaborative inferences during reading: do they occur on-line?

Four experiments were conducted to examine the extent to which readers construct elaborative inferences on-line during reading. In Experiment 1, gaze durations were measured while subjects read anaphors to target antecedents that referenced a particular category member either explicitly or implicitly. When the context strongly suggested a particular category member, gaze durations on an anaphor were the same following either an implicit or an explicit antecedent. When the context did not suggest any particular category member, gaze durations were significantly longer following an implicit antecedent. The results confirmed that, with sufficient context, readers will generate a simple elaborative inference on-line. These results were replicated in Experiment 2 in which the materials did not strongly signal the inference but a sentence designed to encourage subjects to infer was included. In Experiment 3, this "demand sentence" was not included, and readers did not appear to construct the targeted inference. The results of Experiment 4 confirmed that once generated, elaborative inferences are stored as part of the long-term-memory representation of a passage.     

Diagnostic judgments as a function of client and therapist race

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the process of differential evaluation of clients as a function of client and therapist race. It was hypothesized that race of client and therapist would interact, influencing the judgments of client psychopathology, appropriateness for therapy, verbal facility, and likelihood of treatment success despite standardization of the clinical stimuli. Graduate students in clinical psychology and with varying levels of training (i.e., 1 to 5 years) were asked to rate videotaped interviews of clients in which race of the client and level of psychopathology (i.e., normal, neurotic, and psychotic) were systematically varied. There were significant differences in ratings as a function of race of client, race of therapist, and level of psychopathology observed. Black clients were not rated differently on degree of psychopathology but were rated as less verbally skilled and less appropriate for treatment but more likely to benefit from treatment than white clients. Contrary to expectations, white therapists tended to underrate the pathology of black clients. On the other hand, black therapists tended to overrate the pathology of white clients and made mixed judgments of black clients. The implications of these findings are discussed.This study was supported in part by NIMH Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Grant G12RR03206-2.     

The five functions of psychological type

From the mid‐1930s to the end of his life, Jung complained that most readers misunderstood the main point of his book Psychological Types. He viewed being a type as one‐sided and problematic for a variety of reasons. His symbol‐based solution to the ‘type problem’ involved developing a transcendent function to become the new dominant function of consciousness. However, this function has not featured in the popular use of his typology and Isabel Briggs Myers believed that the one‐sidedness of Jung's eight types could be balanced by the auxiliary function. This has led to the transcendent function being widely ignored, and to a developmental philosophy that encourages a degree of one‐sidedness. This divergence of popular type theory and analytical psychology is the result of various factors, such as Jung describing typology as containing four functions, and a letter in 1950 where Jung apparently supported Myers’ version of type theory. This hinders the application of analytical psychology to normal psychology, and particularly individual and cultural development. If we refer to Jung's typology as containing five functions not four, this more accurately represents both the content of the book Psychological Types and the primary value Jung saw in typology.     

Myers‐Briggs typology and Jungian individuation

Myers‐Briggs typology is widely seen as equivalent to and representative of Jungian theory by the users of the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and similar questionnaires. However, the omission of the transcendent function from the theory, and the use of typological functions as its foundation, has resulted in an inadvertent reframing of the process of individuation. This is despite some attempts to integrate individuation and typology, and reintroduce the transcendent function into Myers‐Briggs theory. This paper examines the differing views of individuation in Myers‐Briggs and Jungian theory, and some of the challenges of reconciling those differences, particularly in the context of normality. It proposes eight principles, drawn mainly from Jungian and classical post‐Jungian work, that show how individuation as a process can be integrated with contemporary Myers‐Briggs typology. These principles show individuation as being a natural process that can be encouraged outside of the analytic process. They make use of a wide range of opposites as well as typological functions, whilst being centred on the transcendent function. Central to the process is the alchemical image of the caduceus and a practical interpretation of the axiom of Maria, both of which Jung used to illustrate the process of individuation.     

Parental and family risk factors for substance use in inner-city African-American children and adolescents

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a multidimensional model of parental and family influences on risk for substance use in inner-city African-American primary grade children and their adolescent siblings. The risk factors investigated were conceptually grouped into three broad domains of family influences and the respective indices computed: parental risk attributes, family risk attributes, and parenting styles. Parenting styles were captured as indicators of a latent construct, poor parenting. In study 1, we hypothesized that the parental and family risk variables would be mediated through parenting styles to predict intentions to use drugs, actual drug use, positive drug attitudes, and negative drug attitudes in a sample of 455 inner-city African-American families and their primary-grade children. In study 2, the substance use risk model was tested on a sample of 59 adolescent sibilings to determine whether the pattern of parental and family factors that contributed to early high-risk attitudes and behaviors in children would predict drug attitudes and behaviors in teen siblings. The results confirmed our expectations that parental and family risks were important predictors of childrens' negative drug attitudes and intentions to use drugs in the future and that positive parental and family characteristics would protect against future risk by enhancing negative drug attitudes. Also, substance use attitudes and behaviors in the teen siblings were predicted primarily by family risk characteristics. The family risk index also predicted frequency of use of hard drugs, but only when mediated through poor parenting. The implications of these results for future research are discussed.     

Cluttering: A matter of perspective

The evolution of a discipline such as speech-language pathology pivots around three points: theoretical underpinnings, research questions and methodologies, and clinical acumen. Moreover, the advancement of a given discipline rests on the extent to which these three elements are integrated. Cluttering, however, has attracted little interest in the United States until rather recent times, having experienced a long hiatus of relative neglect by speech-language pathologists. This hiatus was preceded by an initial spurt of clinical insights from phoniatrists and logopedists originally trained in Europe during the early decades of this century.