Lexical processes and eye movements in neglect dyslexia

Neglect dyslexia is a disturbance in the allocation of spatial attention over a letter string following unilateral brain damage. Patients with this condition may fail to read letters on the contralesional side of an orthographic string. In some of these cases, reading is better with words than with non-words. This word superiority effect has received a variety of explanations that differ, among other things, with regard to the spatial distribution of attention across the letter string during reading. The primary goal of the present study was to explore the interaction between attention and lexical processes by recording eye movements in a patient (F.C.) with severe left neglect dyslexia who was required to read isolated word and non-word stimuli of various length. F.C.'s ocular exploration of orthographic stimuli was highly sensitive to the lexical status of the letter string. We found that: (1) the location to which F.C. directed his initial saccade (obtained approximately 230 ms post-stimulus onset) differed between word and non-word stimuli; (2) the patient spent a greater amount of time fixating the contralesional side of word than non-word strings. Moreover, we also found that F.C. failed to identify the left letters of a string despite having fixated them, thus showing a clear dissociation between eye movement responses and conscious access to orthographic stimuli. Our data suggest the existence of multiple interactions between lexical, attentional and eye movement systems that occur from very initial stages of visual word recognition.     

Do laterality measures relate to speed of response in central vision?

This study was aimed at determining whether an efficiency index (speed of response in central vision) related to a laterality index (difference in speed of response between right and left field presentations). In Experiment 1 female subjects were required to discriminate facial emotional expressions shown in either central vision or the periphery. In Experiment 2 male and female subjects had to classify as same or different pairs of letters printed in different typefaces. It was found that the efficiency index related (negatively) to the laterality index only in Experiment 1 so that slower responses indicate larger visual field differences. The results are discussed in terms of current models of hemispheric specialization.     

Brain oscillatory activity associated with task switching and feedback processing

In this study, we sought to dissociate event-related potentials (ERPs) and the oscillatory activity associated with signals indicating feedback about performance (outcome-based behavioral adjustment) and the signals indicating the need to change or maintain a task set (rule-based behavioral adjustment). With this purpose in mind, we noninvasively recorded electroencephalographic signals, using a modified version of the Wisconsin card sorting task, in which feedback processing and task switching could be studied separately. A similar late positive component was observed for the switch and correct feedback signals on the first trials of a series, but feedback-related negativity was observed only for incorrect feedback. Moreover, whereas theta power showed a significant increase after a switch cue and after the first positive feedback of a new series, a selective frontal beta–gamma increase was observed exclusively in the first positive feedback (i.e., after the selection of the new rule). Importantly, for the switch cue, beta–alpha activity was suppressed rather than increased. This clear dissociation between the cue and feedback stimuli in task switching emphasizes the need to accurately study brain oscillatory activity to disentangle the role of different cognitive control processes.     

Expression and processing of emotions: Relationships with cd4+ levels in 42 hiv-positive asymptomatic individuals

Abstract

Background: The study investigated the relationship between CD4+ levels and two emotion-related measures, one of expressed emotion (Hostility directed Inwards, Hdl) and one of capacity for emotional processing (Referential Activity, RA).

Method42 HIV-1 positive asymptomatic subjects, under AZT treatment, underwent CD4+ assessment immediately after a brief interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using the Gottschalk-Gleser and Referential Activity scales. Of the Gottschalk-Gleser scales, only Hdl was considered.

ResultsAs hypothesized, the regression of emotion-related scores on CD4 + levels showed a curvilinearrelationship with Hdl scores, and a linearrelationship with RA scores. Subjects with the best immune status therefore showed intermediate levels of expressed emotion and a high capacity for emotional processing.

ConclusionThe findings support the usefulness of working through, rather than releasing emotion. Previous negative findings in the field might be explained by the unjustified assumption of linear relationships between expressed emotion and health.     

Differentiating sexual preference in men: Using dual task rapid serial visual presentation task

Cognition research suggests that allocating attention resources to evolutionarily relevant stimuli is facilitated suggesting that sexual stimuli interfere with human information processing. In a group of gay (n = 13) and straight men (n = 13) recruited in Finland, Germany and Italy, we investigated if and how sexually relevant visual stimuli affect information processing of both a target one (T1) and a subsequent target two (T2) in a dual target rapid serial visual presentation procedure. We hypothesized that: (1) due to the attentional blink (AB) phenomenon, the accuracy of reporting of T2 would decrease when following accurately identified sexually preferred T1 compared to accurately identified non‐sexually preferred T1; 2) due to the pop out effect, the accuracy of reporting of T1 and T2 would be relatively increased when T1 and T2 were sexually preferred by the participants compared to when they were not. Our findings did not support hypothesis 1 but supported hypothesis 2. We further found that the pop out effect had a good capacity to differentiate sexual preference between the groups of gay and straight men. We conclude that dual target rapid serial visual presentation can be used as an attention‐based measurement to differentiate sexual preference in men. Limitations and the applicability in the field of measuring sexual preference were discussed.     

Influence of Mass Media on Body Image and Eating Disordered Attitudes and Behaviors in Females: A Review of Effects and Processes

This article reviews research on the effects of television and magazines on body image and on disordered eating attitudes and behaviors in females. Evidence from different types of studies in the fields of eating disorders, media psychology, health psychology, and mass communication indicates that mass media are an extremely important source of information and reinforcement in relation to the nature of the thin beauty ideal, its importance, and how to attain it. Although considerable research remains to be done, evidence is accumulating that repeated exposure to media and to both direct and indirect (via media's effects on peers, parents, coaches, physicians, etc.) pressures from media to be thin constitute risk factors for body dissatisfaction, concerns over weight and disordered eating behaviors in adolescent girls and young women. To guide further research, as well as the prevention and treatment of disordered eating, we present a figural summary of media effects that integrates moderating and mediating factors such as internalization of the thin beauty ideal, social comparison, and activation of the thinness schema. We argue that risk factor research, prevention, and treatment will benefit from systematic research designed to clarify how the impact of various mass media is shaped by source and receiver/perceiver factors.     

Questioning the preparatory function of counterfactual thinking

Why do individuals mentally modify reality (e.g., “If it hadn’t rained, we would have won the game”)? According to the dominant view, counterfactuals primarily serve to prepare future performance. In fact, individuals who have just failed a task tend to modify the uncontrollable features of their attempt (e.g., “If the rules of the game were different, I would have won it”), generating counterfactuals that are unlikely to play any preparatory role. By contrast, they generate prefactuals that focus on the controllable features of their ensuing behavior (e.g., “If I concentrate more, I will win the next game”). Here, we test whether this tendency is robust and general. Studies 1a and 1b replicate this tendency and show that it occurs regardless of whether individuals think about their failures or their successes. Study 2 shows that individuals generate relatively few controllable counterfactuals, unless explicitly prompted to do so. These results raise some questions regarding the generality of the dominant view according to which counterfactuals mainly serve a preparatory function.