A unified framework for inhibitory control

Inhibiting unwanted thoughts, actions and emotions figures centrally in daily life, and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) is widely viewed as a source of this inhibitory control. We argue that the function of the PFC is best understood in terms of representing and actively maintaining abstract information, such as goals, which produces two types of inhibitory effects on other brain regions. Inhibition of some subcortical regions takes a directed global form, with prefrontal regions providing contextual information relevant to when to inhibit all processing in a region. Inhibition within neocortical (and some subcortical) regions takes an indirect competitive form, with prefrontal regions providing excitation of goal-relevant options. These distinctions are crucial for understanding the mechanisms of inhibition and how they can be impaired or improved.     

Dimensions of acculturation: associations with health risk behaviors among college students from immigrant families

In the present study, we examined a bidimensional model of acculturation (which includes both heritage and U.S. practices, values, and identifications) in relation to hazardous alcohol use, illicit drug use, unsafe sexual behavior, and impaired driving. A sample of 3,251 first- and second-generation immigrant students from 30 U.S. colleges and universities completed measures of behavioral acculturation; cultural values (individualism, collectivism, and self-construal); ethnic and U.S. identity; and patterns of alcohol and drug use, engagement in potentially unsafe sexual activities, and driving while (or riding with a driver who was) intoxicated. Results indicate that heritage practices and collectivist values were generally protective against health risk behaviors, with collectivist values most strongly and consistently protective. Nonetheless, heritage identifications were positively associated with sexual risk taking for Hispanics. U.S. practices, values, and identifications were not consistently related to risk behavior participation. Results are discussed in terms of bidimensional approaches to acculturation, the immigrant paradox, and implications for counseling practice.     

"I know what I like": stability of aesthetic preference in Alzheimer's patients

Two studies explored the stability of art preference in patients with Alzheimer's disease and age-matched control participants. Preferences for three different styles of paintings, displayed on art postcards, were examined over two sessions. Preference for specific paintings differed among individuals but AD and non-AD groups maintained about the same stability in terms of preference judgments across two weeks, even though the AD patients did not have explicit memory for the paintings. We conclude that aesthetic responses can be preserved in the face of cognitive decline. This should encourage caregivers and family to engage in arts appreciation activities with patients, and reinforces the validity of a preference response as a dependent measure in testing paradigms.     

Stress management interventions for HIV+ adults: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, 1989 to 2006.

OBJECTIVE: Numerous studies document that stress accelerates disease processes in a variety of diseases including HIV. As a result, investigators have developed and evaluated interventions to reduce stress as a means to improve health among persons living with HIV. Therefore, the current meta-analysis examines the impact of stress-management interventions at improving psychological, immunological, hormonal, and other behavioral health outcomes among HIV+ adults. DESIGN: This meta-analytic review integrated the results of 35 randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of 46 separate stress management interventions for HIV+ adults (N=3,077). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Effect sizes were calculated for stress processes (coping and social support), psychological/psychosocial (anxiety, depression, distress, and quality of life), immunological (CD4+ counts and viral load), hormonal (cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate [DHEA-S], cortisol/DHEA-S ratio, and testosterone) and other behavioral health outcomes (fatigue). RESULTS: Compared to controls, stress-management interventions reduce anxiety, depression, distress, and fatigue and improve quality of life (d+s=0.16 to 0.38). Stress-management interventions do not appear to improve CD4+ counts, viral load, or hormonal outcomes compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Overall, stress-management interventions for HIV+ adults significantly improve mental health and quality of life but do not alter immunological or hormonal processes. The absence of immunological or hormonal benefits may reflect the studies' limited assessment period (measured typically within 1-week postintervention), participants' advanced stage of HIV (HIV+ status known for an average of 5 years), and/or sample characteristics (predominately male and White participants). Future research might test these hypotheses and refine our understanding of stress processes and their amelioration.     

It’s not just what you say but when you say it: Self-presentation and temporal construal

Three experiments demonstrated that the use and effectiveness of self-presentation strategies are affected by time. In Experiment 1, participants used more indirect self-presentation statements for the distant than near future, but used more direct self-presentation statements for the near than distant future. In Experiment 2, participants for whom indirect self-presentation strategies were made accessible rated a future interview as more temporally distant than those for whom direct self-presentation strategies were made accessible. In Experiment 3, participants rated their self-presentation attempts as more effective if they used direct strategies for the near future and indirect strategies for the distant future. Implications for studying the timing of self-presentation and its relation to temporal construal levels are discussed.     

Repeat HIV Testing and HIV Transmission Risk Behaviors Among Sexually Transmitted Infection Clinic Patients

HIV testing and counseling expends considerable HIV prevention resources and offers great opportunities for HIV risk reduction. Individuals who are at risk for HIV and have not been HIV tested are the focus of current targeted testing campaigns and yet persons who are repeatedly tested for HIV often continue engaging in high-risk practices. This study examined HIV testing, risk behaviors, and other medical diagnostic testing practices of men (N = 231) and women (N = 86) attending an inner-city sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic. Results showed that 75 (23%) participants had not yet been tested for HIV, 45 (14%) had been tested once, and 197 (63%) had been tested two or more times. Patients that had not been tested and those who were repeatedly tested were similar in their risk behaviors; both demonstrated significantly greater risks for HIV than persons tested just once, although repeat testers were more likely to have had a past STI. HIV testing history was minimally associated with other medical testing and health protective practices, such as testicular self-examination, mammography, and having had PAP tests. Results support targeting high-risk untested persons for HIV testing and suggest an urgent need for interventions to reduce risk behaviors among STI clinic patients who repeatedly test for HIV.     

Changing interests: A longitudinal study of intrinsic motivation for personally salient activities

The present longitudinal study extends the findings of earlier cross-sectional studies (Waterman, Schwartz, Green, Miller, & Philip, 2003) on the subjective experience of intrinsic motivation. University students generated lists of personally salient (identity-related) activities at the beginning of an academic semester and were asked to evaluate these activities at three points during the semester. Drawing on theories of intrinsic motivation, three subjective indices of intrinsic motivation (interest, flow experiences, and feelings of personal expressiveness) and three theoretically derived predictor variables (self-determination, the balance of challenges and skills, and self-realization values) were used in the present study. Cross-sectional relationships between the predictors and subjective experience indices at each timepoint replicated those observed in previous research. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to demonstrate that, as hypothesized, increases or decreases in the predictor variables between timepoints were associated with corresponding increases or decreases in the subjective experience indices. Implications for the study of intrinsic motivation are discussed.     

Affect is a form of cognition: A neurobiological analysis

In this paper, we suggest that affect meets the traditional definition of "cognition" such that the affect-cognition distinction is phenomenological, rather than ontological. We review how the affect-cognition distinction is not respected in the human brain, and discuss the neural mechanisms by which affect influences sensory processing. As a result of this sensory modulation, affect performs several basic "cognitive" functions. Affect appears to be necessary for normal conscious experience, language fluency, and memory. Finally, we suggest that understanding the differences between affect and cognition will require systematic study of how the phenomenological distinction characterising the two comes about, and why such a distinction is functional.     

Looking Beyond Darśaṇa: A Philosophical Exploration of the Guru's Pedagogy in the Yoga Vāsishṭha

This paper investigates the concept of the guru within this important work of the Vedantic tradition. I identify some of the apparent problems involved with the very idea of spiritual teaching within the ontological and soteriological parameters of this tradition in general, and the work in particular. First, the emphasis on ‘self-effort’ on the part of the seeker of liberation seems to preclude the idea of a spiritual teacher of liberation. Second, it is difficult to see how teaching even proceeds given what is being taught and the lack of desire on the part of the supposedly enlightened teacher to impart liberation. Finally, there appears to be no meaningful possibility of teaching here, at least in the ordinary sense of the term. I then consider some of the ways of thinking about the concept of the guru in this work that avoid some of these pitfalls.     

Memories affect mood: evidence from covert experimental assignment to positive, neutral, and negative memory recall

Memory recall has been proposed as a common and effective mood regulation strategy. Although several studies have presented results suggesting that recalling valenced memories affects subsequent mood, their designs allow for alternative interpretations of the observed effects. Two such alternatives include the reverse effect (mood effects on memory due to non-experimental assignment to memory recall condition) and demand characteristics of the experiment. We used covert experimental assignment to memory condition, asking subjects (N=314; 56% female) to recall memories that were primarily positive, neutral, or negative. Results showed the expected effect on mood (p<.002), with reported mood worst in the negative memory condition, better in the neutral condition, and best in the positive condition. These results suggest that valenced memory recall does indeed exert an effect on mood, and may do so even without the individual's awareness.