Prospective memory training in older adults and its relevance for successful aging

In research on cognitive plasticity, two training approaches have been established: (1) training of strategies to improve performance in a given task (e.g., encoding strategies to improve episodic memory performance) and (2) training of basic cognitive processes (e.g., working memory, inhibition) that underlie a range of more complex cognitive tasks (e.g., planning) to improve both the training target and the complex transfer tasks. Strategy training aims to compensate or circumvent limitations in underlying processes, while process training attempts to augment or to restore these processes. Although research on both approaches has produced some promising findings, results are still heterogeneous and the impact of most training regimes for everyday life is unknown. We, therefore, discuss recent proposals of training regimes aiming to improve prospective memory (i.e., forming and realizing delayed intentions) as this type of complex cognition is highly relevant for independent living. Furthermore, prospective memory is associated with working memory and executive functions and age-related decline is widely reported. We review initial evidence suggesting that both training regimes (i.e., strategy and/or process training) can successfully be applied to improve prospective memory. Conceptual and methodological implications of the findings for research on age-related prospective memory and for training research in general are discussed.     

A Longitudinal Examination of Overgeneral Memory and Psychopathology in Children Following Recent Trauma Exposure

This study represents the first longitudinal examination of the trajectory of overgeneral memory (OGM) in children and how this relates to psychopathology immediately after trauma exposure. We recruited fifty 7‐ to 17‐year‐olds who had experienced an accidental injury that resulted in hospital admission. Assessment of psychological symptoms, OGM and cognitive processes proposed to drive OGM was completed at three points over a 6‐month period post‐trauma. We found that OGM was not related to depressive symptoms and that time since trauma exposure moderated the relationship between post‐traumatic stress disorder symptoms and OGM. Although no relationship was found in the first 3 months following trauma, OGM was protective against post‐traumatic stress disorder symptoms at 6 months post‐trauma. Despite models of OGM (e.g. Williams et al., 2007 ) emphasising the role of rumination and executive control in explaining OGM, we found no evidence that they were related to OGM. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanisms of motivation–cognition interaction: challenges and opportunities

Recent years have seen a rejuvenation of interest in studies of motivation–cognition interactions arising from many different areas of psychology and neuroscience. The present issue of Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience provides a sampling of some of the latest research from a number of these different areas. In this introductory article, we provide an overview of the current state of the field, in terms of key research developments and candidate neural mechanisms receiving focused investigation as potential sources of motivation–cognition interaction. However, our primary goal is conceptual: to highlight the distinct perspectives taken by different research areas, in terms of how motivation is defined, the relevant dimensions and dissociations that are emphasized, and the theoretical questions being targeted. Together, these distinctions present both challenges and opportunities for efforts aiming toward a more unified and cross-disciplinary approach. We identify a set of pressing research questions calling for this sort of cross-disciplinary approach, with the explicit goal of encouraging integrative and collaborative investigations directed toward them.     

A Cross-Lagged Panel Approach to Understanding Social Support and Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Veterans: Assessment Modality Matters

Although there is a strong and consistent association between social support and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the directionality of this association has been debated, with some research indicating that social support protects against PTSD symptoms, whereas other research suggests that PTSD symptoms erode social support. The majority of studies in the literature have been cross-sectional, rendering directionality impossible to determine. Cross-lagged panel models overcome many previous limitations; however, findings from the few studies employing these designs have been mixed, possibly due to methodological differences including self-report versus clinician-administered assessment. The current study used a cross-lagged panel structural equation model to explore the relationship between social support and chronic PTSD symptoms over a 1-year period in a sample of 264 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans assessed several years after trauma exposure. Approximately a third of the sample met criteria for PTSD at the baseline assessment, with veterans’ trauma occurring an average of 6 years prior to baseline. Two separate models were run, with one using PTSD symptoms assessed via self-report and the other using clinician-assessed PTSD symptoms. Excellent model fit was found for both models. Results indicated that the relationship between social support and PTSD symptoms was affected by assessment modality. Whereas the self-report model indicated a bidirectional relationship between social support and PTSD symptoms over time, the clinician-assessed model indicated only that baseline PTSD symptoms predicted social support 1 year later. Results highlight that assessment modality is one factor that likely impacts disparate findings across previous studies. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed, with suggestions for the growing body of literature utilizing these designs to dismantle this complex association.     

“In the Face,a Right Is There”: Arendt,Levinas and the Phenomenology of the Rights of Man

This paper examines the differences between the thought of Hannah Arendt and Emmanuel Levinas concerning the “Rights of Man”, in relation to stateless persons. In The Origins of Totalitarianism, Arendt evinces a profound scepticism towards this ideal, which for her was powerless without being tethered to citizenship. But Arendt’s own idea of the “Right to have Rights” is critiqued here as being inadequate to the ethical demand placed upon states by refugees, in failing to articulate just what states might be responsible for. I argue that the ethical philosophy of Levinas meets this lacuna in Arendt’s thought, via his concept of the Face as the locus of human dignity and to which states can be recalled to responsibility. Levinas wrote several papers on what he called “the phenomenology of the Rights of Man”, and in his phrase, which provides a summation of precisely what is lacking in Arendt’s arguments: “In the face – a right is there”.     

Stereotype Threat Effects on Learning From a Cognitively Demanding Mathematics Lesson

Stereotype threat—a situational context in which individuals are concerned about confirming a negative stereotype—is often shown to impact test performance, with one hypothesized mechanism being that cognitive resources are temporarily co‐opted by intrusive thoughts and worries, leading individuals to underperform despite high content knowledge and ability (see Schmader & Beilock, 2012 ). We test here whether stereotype threat may also impact initial student learning and knowledge formation when experienced prior to instruction. Predominantly African American fifth‐grade students provided either their race or the date before a videotaped, conceptually demanding mathematics lesson. Students who gave their race retained less learning over time, enjoyed the lesson less, reported a diminished desire to learn more, and were less likely to choose to engage in an optional math activity. The detrimental impact was greatest among students with high baseline cognitive resources. While stereotype threat has been well documented to harm test performance, the finding that effects extend to initial learning suggests that stereotype threat's contribution to achievement gaps may be greatly underestimated.     

Personality correlates of revenge‐seeking: Multidimensional links to physical aggression,impulsivity, and aggressive pleasure

People differ in how much they seek retribution for interpersonal insults, slights, rejections, and other antagonistic actions. Identifying individuals who are most prone towards such revenge‐seeking is a theoretically‐informative and potentially violence‐reducing endeavor. However, we have yet to understand the extent to which revenge‐seeking individuals exhibit specific features of aggressiveness, impulsivity, and what motivates their hunt for retribution. Toward this end, we conducted three studies (total N = 673), in which revenge‐seeking was measured alongside these other constructs. Analyses repeatedly demonstrated that revenge‐seeking was associated with greater physical (but not verbal) aggressiveness, anger, and hostility. Revenge‐seeking's link to physical aggression was partially accounted for by impulses toward enjoying aggression and the tendency to use aggression to improve mood. Dominance analyses revealed that sadism explained the most variance in revenge‐seeking. Revenge‐seeking was associated with greater impulsive responses to negative and positive affect, as well as greater premeditation of behavior. These findings paint a picture of revenge‐seekers as physically aggressive curators of anger, whose retributive acts are performed with planned malice and motivated by the act's entertaining and therapeutic qualities.

     

Object-Tool-Actor Interaction: Object Information Drives Intended Action

Tool use is typically explored via actor-tool interactions. However, the target-object (that which is being acted on) may influence perceived action possibilities and thereby guide action. Three different tool-target-object pairings were tested (Experiment 1). The hammering action demonstrated the greatest sensitivity and therefore subsequently used to further investigate target-object pairings. The hammer was removed as an option and instructions were provided using pictorial (Experiment 2), written (Experiment 3), and both pictorial and written formats (Experiment 4). The designed tool is chosen when available (Experiment 1) and when removed as a choice (i.e., the hammer), participants perform the same action associated with the designed tool (i.e., hammering) regardless of instruction method (Experiments 2, 3, and 4).