The role of integration in recognition failure and action memory

In three experiments, we studied memory for action events with respect to exceptions from the Tulving-Wiseman function demonstrated in experiments on recognition failure of recallable words. In Experiment 1, we examined exceptions of poor integration in a regular recognition failure condition (i.e., recognition of targets without contextual cues, followed by recall of targets in the presence of contextual cues). In Experiment 2, we examined exceptions of cue overlap in which subjects also had access to the information of contextual cues at recognition test. In Experiment 3, we attempted to equate the levels of recognition across the action and verbal encoding. In addition, the cue overlap and no-cue overlap conditions were studied in a within-subjects design. Results from the three experiments indicated that encoding enactment (episodic integration) and conceptual integration (semantic integration) are related to each other. As a consequence of this relationship, there is a larger independence between recognition and recall of well-integrated items with encoding enactment. On the other hand, for the poorly integrated items without encoding enactment, there is a larger dependence between recognition and recall. Even in the cue overlap condition, where there is a case of large dependence between recognition and recall, the same pattern of data was observed. The results are discussed in terms of an episodic integration view of encoding enactment.     

The effect of retrieval enactment on recall of subject-performed tasks and verbal tasks

The effect of retrieval enactment on memory for nouns (objects) or verbal phrases describing simple actions (e.g., “lift the box”) was addressed in two experiments. In Experiment 1, the type of object involved in the actions was manipulated, with three different types of object being used (body parts, laboratory-related objects, and external objects). In Experiment 2, the integration between the verb-noun pairs was manipulated (well-integrated vs. poorly integrated). Results from both experiments showed that whereas encoding enactment (motor encoding and verbal test) substantially improved the memory performance compared with a verbal condition (verbal encoding and verbal test), retrieval enactment (verbal encoding and motor test) had no major impact on the number of recalled nouns or phrases. Moreover, there was no additional effect of dual enactment (motor encoding and motor test). The overall pattern of the results suggests that there is a fundamental difference between motor processing at encoding and motor processing at retrieval, and the lack of encoding specificity advantage for the motor modality contradicts the view that encoding enactment of verbal commands results in storage of motor representations.     

Spiritual Health and Outcomes in Muslim ICU Patients: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of the present study is to describe how religiosity and spirituality affect the psychiatric morbidity of Muslim intensive care unit (ICU) patients. We conducted a prospective nationwide cross-sectional study of ICU patients discharged from 45 medical centers spanning 31 proivinces in Iran. Adults (age ≥ 18 years) admitted to the ICU and treated with invasive mechanical ventilation were eligible. Nine validated survey tools were administered to detect direct and indirect associations between spiritual health (SH) and depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic disorder. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Impact of Event Scale—Revised (IES-R), Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome 14 question (PTSS-14) quality-of-life (QoL), and quality of patient to physician or nurse communication (PP-QoC and PN-QoC) scales were modeled through two mediators by structural equation modeling (SEM). Sex, ICU type, LOS, and APACHE II score were added in the independent variable list. 338 eligible patients were discharged from the ICUs during the study period. 56 were excluded (clinical status), and 282 were administered the survey. 278 returned it, with 272 complete and 6 partial responses. SH displayed no direct or indirect association to QoL. SH was indirectly associated with decreased depression and anxiety (B = ? 0.081, p < 0.05) via PP-QoC mediator. Both direct and indirect positive associations were observed between SH and IES-R (B = 0.293, p < 0.05; via PP-QoC) and PTSS-14 scores (B = 0.267, p < 0.001; via PP-QoC). Medical ICU location was associated with decreased PTSS-14 scores via the same mediator. In this survey of Muslim ICU patients treated with invasive mechanical ventilation, SH correlated with decreased depression and anxiety, but paradoxically increased post-traumatic stress. The most influential mediator was patient–physician quality-of-communication.     

Effectiveness of Acceptance–Commitment Therapy on Craving Beliefs in Patients on Methadone Maintenance Therapy: A Pilot Study

The present study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of acceptance–commitment therapy (ACT) on craving beliefs in opioid dependent patients on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Twenty-eight opioid dependent participants, aged 18–50 years, who were on MMT based on Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education published protocol, were evaluated in Mashhad during 2011–2012. The treatment group comprised fourteen participants, who received eight sessions of individual ACT alongside MMT while fourteen participants of the control group received just MMT. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed by the craving beliefs questionnaire (CBQ), the action and acceptance questionnaire (AAQ-I) and the mean dosage of methadone the participants consumed in the last 3 days. Assessment was performed three times; the first was before the initiation of ACT (as pretest), the second was 2 weeks after ACT was terminated (as posttest), and the third one was 12 weeks after the termination of ACT (as follow-up). The extracted data were analyzed by two way ANOVA and ANCOVA using SPSS-20. While there was no significant difference in the mean methadone dosage between the treatment and the control group at pretest (p = 0.067), patients in the treatment group had a significantly lower methadone dosage at posttest (p < 0.001) and follow-up (p < 0.001) compared to the control group. There was a significant reduction in the CBQ scores between treatment and control groups at posttest (p = 0.047) and follow-up (p = 0.014). There was also a significant difference in AAQ-I score between treatment and control at posttest (p < 0.001) and follow-up (p < 0.001). It seems that short-term individual ACT is associated with a significant decline in craving beliefs in substance-dependent patients, which lasts for at least 12 weeks after the termination of ACT.     

Effects of reversible inactivation of locus coeruleus on long-term potentiation in perforant path-DG synapses in rats

The locus coeruleus (LC) is the main source of noradrenergic innervations to the forebrain and the hippocampal formation but does not receive noradrenergic projections itself. Previous studies have suggested that hippocampal neural response is modulated by the noradrenergic pathway and that the experimental activation of the LC can potentiate hippocampal responses. Most studies have suggested that the noradrenergic system has controversial effects on long-term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampal neurons, because its influence on synaptic plasticity in perforant path-DG synapses is ambiguous. The aim of this article was to study the LC's role in baseline activity and LTP in perforant path-DG cells of hippocampus by in vivo LC inactivation. Rats were anesthetized with urethane, and LC was temporarily suppressed by intra-LC injection of lidocaine. Population spike (PS) amplitude and excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) slope in DG were recorded 10 min before and 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, and 120 min after tetanization (400 Hz). Saline or lidocaine was injected during the baseline recording (experiment 1), 5 min before tetanus (experiment 2), and 5 min after tetanus (experiment 3). The results from this study indicated that the LC inactivation has no effect on baseline activity of granular cells or maintenance of LTP after tetanization. Moreover, LC inactivation before tetanus had no effect on LTP induction but decreased PS-LTP amplitude 60 and 120 min after tetanization. Taken together, the LC noradrenergic system likely influences LTP induction in later time periods while it has no effect on LTP in earlier time periods.     

Reliability and validity of the Oxford Happiness Inventory among university students in Iran

The aim of the present study was to examine the internal reliability, content validity, construct validity, and concurrent validity of the Persian translation/Farsi version of the Oxford Happiness Inventory. The Oxford Happiness Inventory and Fordyce Happiness Inventory were completed by a sample of 727 Iranian university students. Findings confirmed the internal reliability, construct, and concurrent validity of the Oxford Happiness Inventory. Thus, it can be recommended for use as a trait-measure of happiness among Iranian samples.     

Context As a Critical Dimension of Multicultural Counseling: Articulating Personal,Professional, and Institutional Competence

Multicultural counseling standards and competencies (D. W. Sue, P. Arredondo, & R. J. McDavis, 1992) were established to provide consistency and ethical guidelines for practitioners, educators, and organizations. Although there has been general acceptance of this model, the current conceptualization risks superficial interpretation and limited implementation. This article describes a model that addresses the complexity of multicultural competence. The Multicultural Counseling Competency Assessment and Planning Model (MCCAP) enhances the D. W. Sue et al. model by integrating personal, professional, and institutional contexts as critical elements in multicultural competence. The MCCAP model suggests that the complexity of change includes three domains: affective, cognitive, and behavioral learning and competence. The resulting framework integrates self‐assessment and strategic planning to assist counselors, psychologists, and educators in a more complete application of multicultural counseling standards. Las normas de competencia multicultural en la consejería (D. W. Sue, P. Arredondo, & R. J. McDavis, 1992) fueron establecidas para proveer consistencia y guías éticas para consejeros, educadores, y organizaciones. Aunque ha habido aceptación de este modelo por lo general, la conceptualización presente corre el riesgo de ser interpretada superficialmente y de ser implementada incompletamente. Este artículo describe un modelo que trata la complexidad de la competencia multicultural. El Modelo de Evaluación y Planeación de Competencia de Consejería Multicultural (Multicultural Counseling Competency Assessment and Planning Model ‐MCCAP) aumenta sobre el modelo de D. W. Sue et al., al integrar los contextos personales, e institucionales como elementos críticos en la competencia multicultural. Además, el modelo (MCCAP) sugiere que el cambio es complejo y ocurre en très dominios: el afectivo, cognitivo, y de comportamiento, en el aprendizaje de las competencias. El resultato es una estructura que intégra la evaluación personal, planes y estrategias para ayudar a consejeros, psicólogos y educadores en una aplicación mas completa de las normas de consejería multicultural.     

ALTERING THE NEAR‐MISS EFFECT IN SLOT MACHINE GAMBLERS

This study investigated the potential for recreational gamblers to respond as if certain types of losing slot machine outcomes were actually closer to a win than others (termed the near‐miss effect). Exposure to conditional discrimination training and testing disrupted this effect for 10 of the 16 participants. These 10 participants demonstrated high percentages of conditional discrimination testing performance, and the remaining 6 participants failed the discrimination tests. The implications for a verbally based behavioral explanation of gambling are presented.     

Self-Rating of religiosity (SRR) in Iran: validity,reliability, and associations with the Big Five

ABSTRACT

The present research aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Self-Rating of Religiosity (SRR) in Iran. In addition, the associations between the Persian version of this single-item measure of religiosity and the Big Five personality dimensions were investigated. Study 1 (n?=?51) suggested that the Persian translation of the SRR had adequate test-retest reliability over a three-week period. Study 2 (n?=?228) provided evidence for good convergent validity of the SRR, indexed by strong positive associations with scores on the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL). The Big Five dimensions of personality were measured using the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI). Moreover, the scores on the SRR were positively associated with Agreeableness (r?=?.23, p?<?.01) and Conscientiousness (r?=?.16, p?<?.05), while negatively associated with Openness to Experience (r?=??.25, p?<?.01). These findings are in line with cross-cultural findings on personality correlates of intrinsic religiosity. Limitations and future directions are discussed.