A study of syntactic processing in aphasia I: behavioral (psycholinguistic) aspects

This paper presents the results of a study of syntactically based comprehension in aphasic patients. We studied 42 patients with aphasia secondary to left hemisphere strokes and 25 control participants. We measured off-line, end-of-sentence, performance (accuracy and reaction time) in two tasks that require comprehension--enactment and sentence-picture matching--and in grammaticality judgment, with whole sentence auditory presentation. We also used sentence-picture matching and grammaticality judgment as tasks in two self-paced listening studies with the same patients to measure on-line performance. In each task and presentation format, we presented sentences that tested the ability to assign and interpret three structural contrasts chosen to examine different basic syntactic operations: actives and passives, subject and object extracted relative clauses, and reflexive pronouns and matched sentences without these elements. We examined these behavioral data to determine patterns of impairment in individual patients and in groups of patients, using correlational analyses, factor analyses, and analyses of variance. The results showed that almost no individual patients had stable deficits referable to the ability to interpret individual syntactic structures, that a variety of structural features contributed to sentence processing complexity both on-line and off-line, that correct responses were associated with normal on-line and errors with abnormal performance, and that the major determinant of performance is a factor that affected performance on all sentence types. The results indicate that the major cause of aphasic impairments of syntactically based comprehension are intermittent reductions in the processing capacity available for syntactic, interpretive, and task-related operations.     

A study of syntactic processing in aphasia II: neurological aspects

This paper presents the results of a study of the effects of left hemisphere strokes on syntactically-based comprehension in aphasic patients. We studied 42 patients with aphasia secondary to left hemisphere strokes and 25 control subjects for the ability to assign and interpret three syntactic structures (passives, object extracted relative clauses, and reflexive pronouns) in enactment, sentence-picture matching and grammaticality judgment tasks. We measured accuracy, RT and self-paced listening times in SPM and GJ. We obtained magnetic resonance (MR) and 5-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) data on 31 patients and 12 controls. The percent of selected regions of interest (ROIs) that was lesioned on MR and the mean normalized PET counts per voxel in ROIs were calculated. In regression analyses, lesion measures in both perisylvian and non-perisylvian ROIs predicted performance. Patients who performed at similar levels behaviorally had lesions of very different sizes, and patients with equivalent lesion sizes varied greatly in their level of performance. The data are consistent with a model in which the neural tissue that is responsible for the operations underlying sentence comprehension and syntactic processing is localized in different neural regions in different individuals.     

Relationship between inner dialog and ideas of reference and the mediating role of dissociation

Recent lines of research have begun to concentrate on internal dialogue and its relationship to a diversity of psychopathological phenomena present in psychotic disorders. This study was intended as a preliminary exploration of the relationship of internal dialogue, dissociation and ideas of reference. To do this, a sample of 318 students filled in an internal dialogue scale (the VISQ, McCarthy‐Jones & Fernyhough), one for dissociation (DES‐II, Carlson & Putnam) and another for ideas of reference (REF, Lenzenweger, Bennett & Lilenfeld). The results confirm the hypothesis posed in the sense that internal dialogue was positively associated with dissociation and with ideas of reference. A partial mediation effect of dissociation was also found between inner speech and ideas of reference. Lines of future research this study opens and its possible integration in a model on ideas of reference are discussed.     

Italian developmental dyslexic and proficient readers: where are the differences?

Italian dyslexic children are characterized by a pervasive reading speed deficit, with relatively preserved accuracy. This pattern has been associated with predominant use of the nonlexical reading procedure. However, there is no evidence of a deficit in the lexical route of Italian dyslexics. We investigated both lexical and nonlexical reading procedures in dyslexic children through two marker effects, namely, the word frequency effect and the effect of contextual grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules. Although dyslexics were slower and less accurate than controls, they were affected by word frequency, grapheme contextuality, and their interaction in a similar manner as average readers. These results show the use of lexical reading in Italian dyslexics, and refute the claim of a deficit in whole-word processing with consequent over-reliance on the nonlexical route.     

The Assessment of Preterm Infants' Behavior (APIB): furthering the understanding and measurement of neurodevelopmental competence in preterm and full-term infants

The Assessment of Preterm Infants' Behavior (APIB) is a newborn neurobehavioral assessment appropriate for preterm, at risk, and full-term newborns, from birth to 1 month after expected due date. The APIB is based in ethological-evolutionary thought and focuses on the assessment of mutually interacting behavioral subsystems in simultaneous interaction with the environment. The subsystems of functioning assessed include the autonomic (respiration, digestion, color), motor (tone, movement, postures), state organization (range, robustness, transition patterns), attention (robustness, transitions), and self-regulation (effort, success) systems as well as the degree of facilitation required to support reorganization and subsystem balance. The environment is represented by a sequence of distal, proximal, tactile, and vestibular challenges, derived from the BNBAS. The APIB conceptualizes infant competence as the degree of differentiation of subsystem function and degree of modulation of subsystem balance at any stage in infant development. Infants are understood as actively seeking their next differentiation, while counting on good enough environments to assure progressing developmental competence. In the case of interference such as premature birth, the mismatch of expectation and actual experience causes misalignment, which may become developmentally costly. The assessment is a finely tuned dialogue between examiner and infant, which requires training, skill and self-knowledge. The APIB has well established inter-rater-reliability, concurrent and construct validity, and is clinically relevant for behavioral intervention and individually appropriate and supportive care.     

Interracial interactions at racially diverse university campuses

The present research was an observational study of casual interracial and intraracial public-group interactions among African American, Asian American, Latino, and White students at 6 southern California State University campuses. Results indicated (a) that at these racially diverse public-university campuses, there was no difference between the percentages of interracial and intraracial groups; (b) specifically, that at the campus with the second largest percentage of non-White students, there were more interracial than intraracial interactions; and (c) that for each of the 4 ethnic groups, at the campuses with the largest percentages of the specific group, interactions were more likely to be intraracial than they were at campuses that had smaller percentages of the specific group. Despite reports of self-segregation, these findings suggest that when Whites are not the majority of students, interracial interactions are common.     

The Effect of Life-Course Transitions on Delinquent Behavior among Youth in Social Withdrawal Situation

This study investigates whether young people in social withdrawal situations pass through life-course transitional events, and examines the relationship among their life-course transitions, quality of life, and delinquent behavior. To achieve these aims, quantitative analysis was used. A total of 588 young people in social withdrawal situations took part in this study. Results suggest that these people do pass through life-course transitions; their life-course events affect whether they will engage in delinquent behavior. Also, the effect of life-course transitions of these young people on their involvement in delinquent behavior is partly impacted by their quality of life.     

Mental Health Research in Correctional Settings: Perceptions of Risk and Vulnerabilities

With more than half of individuals incarcerated having serious mental health concerns, correctional settings offer excellent opportunities for epidemiological, prevention, and intervention research. However, due to unique ethical and structural challenges, these settings create risks and vulnerabilities for participants not typically encountered in research populations. We surveyed 1,224 researchers, Institutional Review Board (IRB) members, and IRB prisoner representatives to assess their perceptions of risks and vulnerabilities associated with mental health research conducted in correctional settings. Highest ranked risks were related to privacy, stigma, and confidentiality; lowest ranked risks were related to prisoners’ loss of privileges or becoming targets of violence due to having participated in research. Cognitive impairment, mental illness, lack of autonomy, and limited access to services emerged as the greatest sources of vulnerability; being male, being female, being older than age 60, being a minority, and being pregnant were the lowest ranked sources of vulnerability. Researchers with corrections experience perceived lower risks and vulnerabilities than all other groups, raising the question whether these researchers accurately appraise risk and vulnerability based on experience, or if their lower risk and vulnerability perceptions reflect potential bias due to their vested interests. By identifying areas of particular risk and vulnerability, this study provides important information for researchers and research reviewers alike.     

Exploration and learning in capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.): the role of action–outcome contingencies

Animals have a strong propensity to explore the environment. Spontaneous exploration has a great biological significance since it allows animals to discover and learn the relation between specific behaviours and their consequences. The role of the contingency between action and outcome for learning has been mainly investigated in instrumental learning settings and much less in free exploration contexts. We tested 16 capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) with a mechatronic platform that allowed complex modules to be manipulated and to produce different outcomes. Experimental subjects could manipulate the modules and discover the contingencies between their own specific actions and the outcomes produced (i.e., the opening and lighting of a box). By contrast, Control subjects could operate on the modules, but the outcomes experienced were those performed by their paired Experimental subjects (“yoked-control” paradigm). In the exploration phase, in which no food reward was present, Experimental subjects spent more time on the board and manipulated the modules more than Yoked subjects. Experimental subjects outperformed Yoked subjects in the following test phase, where success required recalling the effective action so to open the box, now baited with food. These findings demonstrate that the opportunity to experience action–outcome contingencies in the absence of extrinsic rewards promotes capuchins’ exploration and facilitates learning processes. Thus, this intrinsically motivated learning represents a powerful mechanism allowing the acquisition of skills and cognitive competence that the individual can later exploit for adaptive purposes.