Theories of spatial representations and reference frames: What can configuration errors tell us?

The issue of reference frame is central to theories of spatial representations. Various classifications have been made for different types of reference frames, along with prototypical research paradigms to distinguish between them. This article focuses on the configuration error paradigm proposed by Wang and Spelke (Cognition 77:215-250, 2000) that has been used to examine the nature of the spatial representations underlying object localization during self-movement. Three basic models of spatial memory and spatial updating are discussed, as well as the assumptions behind the configuration error paradigm, to distinguish between static representations, such as the traditional allocentric cognitive map and the egocentric snapshots, and dynamic representations, such as the egocentric updating system. Recent experimental findings are reexamined and shown to be consistent with multiple models, among which the egocentric-updating-and-reload model with an enduring egocentric component provides the simplest interpretations.     

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Crossover Comparison of MK-0929 and Placebo in the Treatment of Adults With ADHD

Objective: Preclinical models, receptor localization, and genetic linkage data support the role of D4 receptors in the etiology of ADHD. This proof-of-concept study was designed to evaluate MK-0929, a selective D4 receptor antagonist as treatment for adult ADHD. Method: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study was conducted in adults with primary ADHD. The primary end point was changed from baseline in total score on the Adult ADHD Investigator Symptom Rating Scale following a 4-week treatment regimen. Additional measures included Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Brown Attention Deficit Disorder Scale and D4 genotype analysis. Results: No statistically significant treatment differences were found between MK-0929 and placebo in any of the primary or secondary assessments. Conclusion: Results from this study suggest that blockade of the D4 receptor alone is not efficacious in the treatment of adult ADHD.     

A latent profile analysis of Asian American men's and women's adherence to cultural values

The goal of this study was to identify diverse profiles of Asian American women's and men's adherence to values that are salient in Asian cultures (i.e., conformity to norms, family recognition through achievement, emotional self-control, collectivism, and humility). To this end, the authors conducted a latent profile analysis using the 5 subscales of the Asian American Values Scale-Multidimensional in a sample of 214 Asian Americans. The analysis uncovered a four-cluster solution. In general, Clusters 1 and 2 were characterized by relatively low and moderate levels of adherence to the 5 dimensions of cultural values, respectively. Cluster 3 was characterized by the highest level of adherence to the cultural value of family recognition through achievement, whereas Cluster 4 was typified by the highest levels of adherence to collectivism, emotional self-control, and humility. Clusters 3 and 4 were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms than Cluster 1. Furthermore, Asian American women and Asian American men had lower odds of being in Cluster 4 and Cluster 3, respectively. These findings attest to the importance of identifying specific patterns of adherence to cultural values when examining the relationship between Asian Americans' cultural orientation and mental health status.     

Chinese college students' general and relationship‐specific representations of adult attachment: Variable‐centred and person‐centred analysis

Formerly, researchers often treated adult attachment as a trait‐like construct with consistency across relationship contexts. However, recent studies have shown that people possess multiple relationship‐specific attachment representations, and inter‐correlations among them are only in a small‐to‐medium range. The aim of this study is to test whether these variable‐centred results could be replicated in China and further supplement them with a person‐centred analysis focusing on identifying prototypical patterns of multiple working models across relationships. We administrated measurements of general and four relationship‐specific (mother/father/best friend/romantic partner) working models and indicators of psychological adjustment upon 302 Chinese college students. Results from variable‐centred analysis demonstrated the cross‐relationship variability in working models. Furthermore, global indicators of psychological adjustment were better predicted by general models, while relationship‐specific indicators were better predicted by corresponding relationship‐specific models. These results largely replicate previous Western studies, supporting the existence of multiple attachment representations in China. In person‐centred analysis, a latent profile analysis identified four typical classes of working model profiles: all‐average, all‐secure, romantic‐insecure and peer‐secure. These classes differed not only in the cross‐relationship variability of their working models, but also in their levels of psychological adjustment. These interesting patterns may have theoretical implications and are worthy of further examination.     

Bridging Borders in the Global City: Negotiating Sameness and Difference in Hong Kong’s Skilled Immigrants from Mainland China

Immigration labor in global cities is often framed in a dichotomy of skilled and nonskilled and explained from different perspective. Based on narratives of skilled immigrants from mainland China in postcolonial Hong Kong, this study shifts the focus of attention from generalized dissimilarities between migrant groups determined by the level of skills to commonalities of experience shaped by the broader social and cultural forces of their spatial, economic and political environments. It points to the importance of ??border?? in shaping the mode of incorporation of skilled migrants to localities in global city. It shows that skilled mainland immigrants in Hong Kong are deeply embedded in an overarching xin yimin (new immigrants) discourse according to which the Hong Kong?CChina border distinguishes all mainland immigrants from Hong Kong citizens regardless of the level of skills they possess. This discourse is associated with and defined by the cultural meaning of border between Hong Kong and China produced in the colonial past and reproduced in the postcolonial present. Despite being highly educated and skilled, mainland Chinese professionals experienced countless negotiation of sameness and difference in their everyday encountering localities and making place. The stories presented here ask us to rethink the assumptions informing the analytical distinctions between skilled and non-skilled and call for ??unifying?? skilled and non-skilled migration in global cities methodologically and theoretically.     

Distinct processing for pictures of animals and objects: evidence from eye movements

Many studies have suggested that emotional stimuli orient and engage attention. There is also evidence that animate stimuli, such as those from humans and animals, cause attentional bias. However, categorical and emotional factors are usually mixed, and it is unclear to what extent human context influences attentional allocation. To address this issue, we tracked participants' eye movements while they viewed pictures with animals and inanimate images (i.e., category) as focal objects. These pictures had either negative or neutral emotional valence, and either human body parts or nonhuman parts were near the focal objects (i.e., context). The picture's valence, arousal, position, size, and most of the low-level visual features were matched across categories. The results showed that nonhuman animals were more likely to be attended to and to be attended to for longer times than inanimate objects. The same pattern held for the human contexts (vs. nonhuman contexts). The effects of emotional valence, category, and context interacted. Specifically, in images with a negative valence, focal animals and objects with human context had comparable numbers of gaze fixations and gaze duration. These results highlighted the attentional bias to animate parts of a picture and clarified that the effects of category, valence, and picture context interacted to influence attentional allocation.     

Spatial orienting in the visual field: a unified perceptual space?

Visual attention can be oriented toward a spatial location in the visual field exogenously by an abrupt onset of a peripheral cue. In a series of behavioral studies on exogenous orienting of attention with a double-cue paradigm, we demonstrated a functional subdivision of perceptual space in the visual field. Specifically, inhibition of return (IOR) is much stronger at periphery relative to perifoveal visual field up to approximately 15° eccentricity, suggesting two dissociable functional areas in the visual field. To further investigate the generality of this functional subdivision of the visual field, we measured IOR effects with another single-cue paradigm and applied a very short cue-target interval that was typically anticipated not to observe any inhibitory effect at all. Consistent with this expectation, no IOR effects at the eccentricities up to 15° were observed. However, significant IOR effects beyond 15° eccentricities were consistently demonstrated. These results not only revealed an early onset of IOR for more peripheral stimuli, but also confirmed that the perceptual space in the visual field is not homogeneous but underlies a functional subdivision with a border of ca. 15° eccentricity.     

fMRI correlates of inhibition of return in perifoveal and peripheral visual field

When a target appears in the same peripheral location as a previous cue, responding is typically delayed if the cue-target interval is relatively long. This phenomenon is termed inhibition of return (IOR) and has been suggested to reflect an attentional bias in favour of novel visual space. It has been demonstrated recently that IOR is much stronger in the far periphery than in the perifoveal visual field. The present study further investigated the neural mechanisms underlying this eccentricity effect of IOR with an event-related fMRI technique. The results demonstrated a stronger activation in visual cortex for perifoveal processing and a broader activation in multiple brain areas for peripheral processing. When IOR effects were compared between these two areas, a stronger activation of the fronto-parietal network was evidenced for perifoveal versus peripheral IOR, while the prefrontal cortex was more strongly involved in the peripheral IOR versus perifoveal IOR. These results suggest that different neural mechanisms are mediating the dissociable inhibitory functions between the perifoveal and peripheral visual field.     

Non-target language processing in Chinese-English bilinguals: a study of event-related potential

The event-related brain potential (ERP) technique was used to investigate the neural mechanism of non-target language processing in Chinese-English bilinguals. Participants were presented with a mixed list of Chinese and English words and required to make conceptual decisions for words in one language and ignore words in the other non-target language. Regardless of whether the nontarget word was in Chinese or English, the ERPs they elicited were modulated by word frequency, suggesting that their meaning had been accessed. The N400 peak was delayed in the English as the non-target language condition, probably because participants were less proficient in English. The results suggest that the non-target language can be processed during conceptual tasks with participants' proficiency in this language being a critical factor.     

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of a short-form of the EMBU among Chinese adolescents

The present study used a sample of Chinese adolescents and validated a short-form of the Egna Minnen Betr?ffande Uppfostran: One's Memories of Upbringing (s-EMBU) assessing perceived parental rearing styles. A Chinese revision of the s-EMBU by the authors was administered to a total of 779 high school students, ages 11 to 19 years. Exploratory factor analysis with half of the sample yielded a three-factor solution of Rejection, Emotional Warmth, and Overprotection, accounting for 47.1% of the total variance onthe father form and 48.8% of the total variance on the mother form. Then, confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit of the three-factor model to the data in the other half of the sample. The three subscales consisted of 6, 6, and 7 items, respectively. Scores on these subscales had Cronbach alphas ranging from .71 to .81, indicating adequate internal consistency. These psychometric properties suggest its applicability for research with Chinese adolescents.