Learning from others in 9‐18‐month‐old infants

The use of an adult as a resource for help and instruction in a problem solving situation was examined in 9, 14, and 18‐month‐old infants. Infants were placed in various situations ranging from a simple means‐end task where a toy was placed beyond infants' prehensile space on a mat, to instances where an attractive toy was placed inside closed transparent boxes that were more or less difficult for the child to open. The experimenter gave hints and modelled the solution each time the infant made a request (pointing, reaching, or showing a box to the experimenter), or if the infant was unable to solve the problem. Infants' success on the problems, sensitivity to the experimenter's modelling, and communicative gestures (requests, co‐occurrence of looking behaviour and requests) were analysed. Results show that older infants had better success in solving problems although they exhibited difficulties in solving the simple means‐end task compared to the younger infants. Moreover, 14‐ and 18‐month‐olds were sensitive to the experimenter's modelling and used her demonstration cues to solve problems. By contrast, 9‐month‐olds did not show such sensitivity. Finally, 9‐month‐old infants displayed significantly fewer communicative gestures toward the adult compared to the other age groups, although in general, all infants tended to increase their frequency of requests as a function of problem difficulty. These observations support the idea that during the first half of the second year infants develop a new collaborative stance toward others. The stance is interpreted as foundational to teaching and instruction, two mechanisms of social learning that are sometime considered as specifically human. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Testing the developmental distinctiveness of male proactive and reactive aggression with a nested longitudinal experimental intervention

An experimental preventive intervention nested into a longitudinal study was used to test the developmental distinctiveness of proactive and reactive aggression. The randomized multimodal preventive intervention targeted a subsample of boys rated disruptive by their teachers. These boys were initially part of a sample of 895 boys, followed from kindergarten to 17 years of age. Semiparametric analyses of developmental trajectories for self‐reported proactive and reactive aggression (between 13 and 17 years of age) indicated three trajectories for each type of aggression that varied in size and shape (Low, Moderate, and High Peaking). Intent‐to‐treat comparisons between the boys in the prevention group and the control group confirmed that the preventive intervention between 7 and 9 years of age, which included parenting skills and social skills training, could impact the development of reactive more than proactive aggression. The intervention effect identified in reactive aggression was related to a reduction in self‐reported coercive parenting. The importance of these results for the distinction between subtypes of aggressive behaviors and the value of longitudinal‐experimental studies from early childhood onward is discussed. Aggr. Behav. 36:127–140, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Having to identify a target reduces latencies in prosaccades but not in antisaccades

In a princeps study, Trottier and Pratt (2005) showed that saccadic latencies were dramatically reduced when subjects were instructed to not simply look at a peripheral target (reflexive saccade) but to identify some of its properties. According to the authors, the shortening of saccadic reactions times may arise from a top-down disinhibition of the superior colliculus (SC), potentially mediated by the direct pathway connecting frontal/prefrontal cortex structures to the SC. Using a “cue paradigm” (a cue preceded the appearance of the target), the present study tests if the task instruction (Identify vs. Glance) also reduces the latencies of antisaccades (AS), which involve prefrontal structures. We show that instruction reduces latencies for prosaccade but not for AS. An AS requires two processes: the inhibition of a reflexive saccade and the generation of a voluntary saccade. To separate these processes and to better understand the task effect we also test the effect of the task instruction only on voluntary saccades. The effect still exists but it is much weaker than for reflexive saccades. The instruction effect closely depends on task demands in executive resources.     

The relation between consciousness and attention: An empirical study using the priming paradigm

Dehaene et al., 2006, Koch and Tsuchiya, 2007 recently proposed taxonomies that distinguish between four processing states, based on bottom-up stimulus strength and top-down attentional amplification. The aim of the present study was to empirically test these processing states using the priming paradigm. Our results showed that attention (prime attended or not) and stimulus strength (prime presented subliminally or not) significantly modulated priming effects: either receiving top-down attention or possessing sufficient bottom-up strength was a prerequisite for a stimulus to elicit priming. When both top-down attention and sufficient bottom-up strength were present, the priming effect was boosted. The origins of the observed priming effects also varied between different processing states. We can conclude that our empirical study using the priming paradigm confirmed the presence of four processing states, which displayed a differential pattern of response priming effects and differential origins of the response priming effects.     

Regret and the negative evaluation of decision outcomes in major depression

Disruption of normal emotional experience is central to the phenomenology of depression. Twenty-three depressed outpatients and 23 control subjects performed a computerized decision-making task, during which affective ratings were assessed online to identify various dimensions of emotional experience. We sought to contrast regret (the comparison of the outcomes of selected and nonselected options) with the general negative appraisal of task events. The experience of regret was reduced in depressed patients, an effect that was particularly related to self-reported apathy scores. In an exploratory analysis, we observed that females had a general downward shift in their ratings, as compared with males, but disappointment and regret effects were of similar magnitude. The possible contribution of the orbitofrontal cortex to the phenomenology of regret is discussed. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http://cabn.psychonomic-journals.org/content/ supplemental.     

Deficit in phonological processes: a characteristic of the neuropsychological profile of children with NF1

Learning disabilities are one of the most frequent complications of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) in children. Studies of the effects of the neurocognitive deficit on academic performance are relatively rare, owing to the small size of the populations concerned. However, research is needed to develop effective rehabilitation programs. In the present study, we explored the impact of a possible phonological deficit on the reading abilities of children with NF1. A multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted in France on two groups of 75 children with or without NF1 aged 8–12 years, matched for age, sex, handedness, and reading level. All participants underwent a neuropsychological evaluation to assess their general cognitive level, reading skills, phonological processes, visuoperceptual abilities, and attentional capacity. Phonological skills were assessed by means of two phonological awareness tasks and one short-term memory task. In the group of children with NF1, 41% had reading difficulties. Phonological processes were impaired in this group, compared with the children without NF1. Similar differences were found for a phoneme deletion task after adjustment for reading difficulties, IQ level, and visuoperceptual abilities. Phonological awareness, but not phonological short-term memory, was impaired in children with NF1, and not just those whose reading was impaired. Results suggest that children with NF1 have a phonological awareness deficit, whatever their reading level. Identification of reduced phonological skills may warrant the implementation of a specific rehabilitation program before early reading difficulties emerge.     

Spirituality,quality of life,and depression in older people with dementia

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to observe dementia’s role in the relationship between spirituality, quality of life, and depression in aging. The sample included 61 participants between 65 and 98 years old, separated into two groups: participants diagnosed with dementia (N = 31) and control participants (N = 30). There was no significant difference in spirituality between demented and control participants; however, different patterns of correlation were observed between spirituality, depression, and quality of life in these groups. Although the level of spirituality did not differ despite dementia, this pathology would appear to play a role in the relationship between spirituality, quality of life, and depression.