Feature-based attention across saccades: Pop-out in color search is spatiotopic

Our perception of the world remains stable despite the retinal shifts that occur with each saccade. The role of spatial attention in matching pre- to postsaccadic visual information has been well established, but the role of feature-based attention remains unclear. In this study, we examined the transsaccadic processing of a color pop-out target. Participants made a saccade towards a neutral target and performed a search task on a peripheral array presented once the saccade landed. A similar array was presented just before the saccade and we analyzed what aspect of this preview benefitted the postsaccadic search task. We assessed the preview effect in the spatiotopic and retinotopic reference frames, and the potential transfer of feature selectivity across the saccade. In the first experiment, the target and distractor colors remained identical for the preview and the postsaccadic array and performance improved. The largest benefit was observed at the spatiotopic location. In the second experiment, the target and distractor colors were swapped across the saccade. All responses were slowed but the cost was least at the spatiotopic location. Our results show that the preview attracted spatial attention to the target location, which was then remapped, and suggest that previewed features, specifically colors, were transferred across the saccade. Furthermore, the preview induced a spatiotopic advantage regardless of whether the target switched color or not, suggesting that spatiotopy was established independently of feature processing. Our results support independent priming effects of features versus location and underline the role of feature-based selection in visual stability.     

Using segmented linear regression models with unknown change points to analyze strategy shifts in cognitive tasks

Some years ago, Beem (1993, 1995) described a program for fitting two regression lines with an unknown change point (Segcurve). He suggested that such models are useful for the analysis of a variety of phenomena and gave an example of an application to the study of strategy shifts in a mental rotation task. This technique has also proven to be very fruitful for investigating strategy use and strategy shifts in other cognitive tasks. Recently, Beem (1999) developed SegcurvN, which fitsn regression lines with (n - 1) unknown change points. In the present article we present this new technique and demonstrate the usefulness of a three-phase segmented linear regression model for the identification of strategies and strategy shifts in cognitive tasks by applying it to data from a numerosity judgment experiment. The advantages and shortcomings of this technique are evaluated.     

ANALYZING THE INFLUENCE OF TIC‐RELATED TALK ON VOCAL AND MOTOR TICS IN CHILDREN WITH TOURETTE'S SYNDROME

This study examined the effect of tic‐related talk on the vocal and motor tics of 2 boys with Tourette's syndrome. Using ABAB withdrawal designs, the boys were alternately exposed to conditions with and without talk of their tics. For both boys, vocal tics markedly increased when talk pertained to tics and decreased when talk did not pertain to tics, but motor tic covariance was less consistent.     

Derrida's Worldly Responsibility: The Opening between “Faith” and the “Sacred”

This article will theorize how Derrida's deconstruction signifies a fundamental ontological alterity. We will examine the use of both the tropes of “sacred” and “faith” as tropes to express this possibility. We will articulate how deconstruction, as a development of phenomenology, provides a theoretical nexus where the alterity of things and persons may be thought. We will arrive at the paradoxical formulation of “ontological alterity” as a key moment in deconstructive thinking. Essentially we will argue that deconstruction offers the resources to think the relation between other person and things in the world as motivated by a firm radicalization of Heideggerean worldliness and Levinasian alterity.     

Linguistic focus and memory: An eye movement study

We report an eyetracking study investigating the effects of linguistic focus on eye movements and memory during two readings of a text. Across two presentations of the text, a critical word either changed to a semantically related word or remained unchanged. Focus on the critical word was manipulated using context. Eye movements were monitored during reading, and there was a secondary task of detecting the word change. Results indicated that when a word changed, participants were more successful at detecting it when it was in focus. In the second display, there were more fixations and longer viewing times on a changed than on an unchanged word, but only when the critical word was in focus; eye movement data for changed and unchanged words did not differ when the word was not in focus. We suggest that linguistic focus leads to more detailed lexical semantic representations but not more effortful initial encoding of information.     

Maternal and Paternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Maladjustment: The Mediating Role of Parental Behavior

This study examined parental behaviors as mediators in links between depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers and child adjustment problems. Participants were 4,184 parents and 6,048 10- to 15-year-olds enrolled in the 1998 and 2000 cycles of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. Mothers and fathers self-reported symptoms of depression at Times 1 and 2 and their children assessed parental nurturance, rejection, and monitoring and self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems and prosocial behavior at Time 2. Hierarchical linear modeling showed evidence of mediation involving all three domains of parental behavior. Findings supported the hypothesis that the quality of the child's rearing environment is one mechanism that carries risk to children of depressed parents. Interventions for parents whose symptoms of depression interfere with parenting responsibilities could help reduce the risk of some childhood disorders.     

Goal shifts following reminders of mortality: reconciling posttraumatic growth and terror management theory

Research findings within posttraumatic growth (PTG) and terror management theory (TMT) currently appear contradictory. Following confrontations with mortality, PTG research demonstrates intrinsic goal shifts, whereas TMT suggests extrinsic shifts. The current studies examine factors contributing to these inconsistent results. Study 1 demonstrates that perceived death threat is associated with PTG effects. Study 2 illuminates the importance of duration of death processing. Study 3 demonstrates that existing goal values and duration and type of processing all interact in determining ultimate goal structure, with a match between level of goals and processing producing the most psychologically advantageous outcomes. Although previous research suggests that short-term confrontations with death may lead to defensiveness, the current studies suggest that encountering death over a longer period or in a manner consistent with goal structure may lead individuals to transcend defensiveness and maintain intrinsic goals or become more intrinsically oriented.     

Model stability of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale across cognitive impairment and severe depression

The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is used in a wide variety of clinical and research settings. The study's purpose was to further establish the validity of the 15-item GDS by exploring the underlying factor structure in a healthy, nondemented sample of older adults and then analyzing whether this factor structure remained stable across a sample of demented individuals and a sample of individuals with a history of depression 6 months after discharge from an inpatient psychiatric setting. A 2-factor model fit the data best in the exploratory analyses. The 2 factors, Life Satisfaction and General Depressive Affect, found in the nondemented sample (r = .39) remained stable across cognitive impairment (r = .12) but merged into a 1-factor model in the psychiatric sample (r = .93). The results indicate that nondepressed older adults with poor life satisfaction may be identified as depressed on screening instruments such as the 15-item GDS.     

The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS): Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure

In Behavioral Activation (BA) for depression (Martell, C. R., Addis, M. E., & Jacobson, N. S. (2001)), which has recently received empirical support in a large randomized trial, therapists pay close attention to the function of behavior and the role of aversive controlling stimuli and escape and avoidance behavior in depression. A key variable to measure in studies of BA is when and how clients become more activated over the course of treatment. This study sought to develop an initial set of items for the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS), submit these items to an exploratory factor analysis in an initial administration (Study 1, N = 391), and submit the resulting scale to a confirmatory factor analysis in a second administration (Study 2, N = 319). Results indicated four factors (Activation, Avoidance/Rumination, Work/School Impairment, and Social Impairment) with good factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Evidence for construct and predictive validity is presented.