Recall of words heard in noise

The aim of the study was to explore if recall of words and recognition of sentences orally presented was affected by a background noise. A further aim was to investigate the role of working memory capacity in performance in these conditions. Thirty‐two subjects performed a word recall and a sentence recognition test. They repeated each word to ensure that they had heard them. A reading span test measured their working memory capacity. Performance on the word recall task was impaired by the background noise. A high reading span score was associated with a smaller noise effect, especially on recall of the last part of the word list. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of short-term memory capacity and task experience for overconfidence in judgment under uncertainty

Research with general knowledge items demonstrates extreme overconfidence when people estimate confidence intervals for unknown quantities, but close to zero overconfidence when the same intervals are assessed by probability judgment. In 3 experiments, the authors investigated if the overconfidence specific to confidence intervals derives from limited task experience or from short-term memory limitations. As predicted by the naive sampling model (P. Juslin, A. Winman, & P. Hansson, 2007), overconfidence with probability judgment is rapidly reduced by additional task experience, whereas overconfidence with intuitive confidence intervals is minimally affected even by extensive task experience. In contrast to the minor bias with probability judgment, the extreme overconfidence bias with intuitive confidence intervals is correlated with short-term memory capacity. The proposed interpretation is that increased task experience is not sufficient to cure the overconfidence with confidence intervals because it stems from short-term memory limitations.     

An ERP investigation on the temporal dynamics of emotional prosody and emotional semantics in pseudo- and lexical-sentence context

Previous evidence supports differential event-related brain potential (ERP) responses for emotional prosodic processing and integrative emotional prosodic/semantic processing. While latter process elicits a negativity similar to the well-known N400 component, transitions in emotional prosodic processing elicit a positivity. To further substantiate this evidence, the current investigation utilized lexical-sentences and sentences without lexical content (pseudo-sentences) spoken in six basic emotions by a female and a male speaker. Results indicate that emotional prosodic expectancy violations elicit a right-lateralized positive-going ERP component independent of basic emotional prosodies and speaker voice. In addition, expectancy violations of integrative emotional prosody/semantics elicit a negativity with a whole-head distribution. The current results nicely complement previous evidence, and extend the results by showing the respective effects for a wider range of emotional prosodies independent of lexical content and speaker voice.     

Rumination, distraction, and mindful self-focus in depressed patients

Rumination has been proposed as a cognitive risk factor for the onset and maintenance of depression. In parallel, mindfulness interventions have shown to reduce the risk for recurrence of depressive episodes. This study aimed to investigate effects of short periods of induced rumination, distraction, and mindful self-focus on sad mood in depressed patients and to assess possible moderator effects of habitual variables on respective mood changes. Seventy-six depressed patients 3.5 years after discharge from inpatient treatment were subjected to negative mood induction and subsequently randomly assigned to a rumination, distraction, or mindful self-focus induction. Habitual aspects of rumination, distraction, and mindfulness were assessed by questionnaires. Compared to rumination, the induction of a mindful self-focus and of distraction showed clear beneficial effects on the course of negative mood. While habitual distraction predicted better mood outcomes across all conditions, patients high in habitual mindfulness tended to show stronger negative mood reduction specifically after the induction of a mindful self-focus. This study indicates that - similar to distraction - an experimentally induced mindful self-focus is able to reduce negative mood in depressed patients. Implications regarding possible subgroups of patients who might particularly benefit from mindfulness-based interventions are discussed.     

Subjectivity in parent-infant relationships: A discussion of internal working models

Bowlby (1969/1982, 1973, 1980) has proposed that internal working models of self and other are psychic structures that guide an individual's subjective experience of and responses to others in important relationships. They are termed “working” models because they are believed to be dynamic mental representations that are modifiable, although they are presumed to become more resistant to change after the early years. This paper reviews Bowlby's construct of internal working models, including some recent empirical evidence usefully explained by the construct. The authors apply the construct of working models to parents' subjective experiences of their infants and review some preliminary evidence that suggests that parental working models of their infants are present even prior to the infants' birth and influence the parents' perception and interpretation of the infants' characteristics and behaviors. The authors then consider the development of infants' working models of self and other in the context of parental attributions. They conclude that subjectivity in parent-infant relationships is an exciting and promising area for investigation, although, at present, future progress is limited by problems of measurement. A brief discussion of directions for future research is included.     

Die Bindungstheorie und ihre Relevanz für die Psychotherapie

Zusammenfassung W?hrend im ersten Teil der übersicht über die Relevanz der Bindungstheorie Grundlagen und Methoden der Bindungsforschung skizziert wurden, werden nun die m?glichen Implikationen der Theorie für die Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik er?rtert. überlegungen zur allgemeinen klinischen Relevanz und zum Verh?ltnis der Bindungstheorie zur Psychoanalyse bilden die Basis für die Darstellung konkreter Anwendungen von Ergebnissen der Bindungsforschung in der therapeutischen Praxis. Es folgen zusammenfassende Darstellungen von Untersuchungen, die sich mit der Bedeutung von Bindungscharakteristika für die Entwicklung psychosomatischer St?rungen und die Krankheits- bzw. Stre?verarbeitung befassen sowie von Studien, in denen Bindungscharakteristika psychischen St?rungen zugeordnet wurden. Schlie?lich wird die Bedeutung der Theorie für die Psychotherapie und die Psychotherapieforschung dargestellt.      

Pro-Environmental Habits: Propensity Levels in Behavioral Change1

A proposed model for behavioral change is described as a process in several steps from habitual nonenvironmentally friendly behavior to environmentally friendly behavior. Every step is linked to factors promoting or impeding further progress. Data from a questionnaire addressed to a random sample of 500 Swedish adults supported the hypothesis that general factors such as environmental values and a sense of responsibility for the environment will be more influential in an early phase rather than in a later phase of changing established habits regarding purchases of washing and washing-up detergents, respectively. Furthermore, in a later phase of transition, specific beliefs about particular products will affect the testing and evaluation of a new behavior.     

Simultaneous factor analysis of dichotomous variables in several groups

A new method is proposed for a simultaneous factor analysis of dichotomous responses from several groups of individuals. The method makes it possible to compare factor loading pattern, factor variances and covariances, and factor means over groups. The method uses information from first and second order proportions and estimates the model by generalized least-squares. Hypotheses regarding different degrees of invariance over groups may be evaluated by a large-sample chi-square test.The research of the first author was supported partly by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation under project Structural Equation Models in the Social Sciences, project director Karl G. Jöreskog, and partly by the Swedish Research Council in the Humanistic and Social Sciences under project Analysis of Contingency Tables, project director Bengt Muthén.     

On the Way to a Postmodern Curriculum Theory -- Moving from the Question of Unity to the Question of Difference

This article will examine the consequences of highlighting subject and difference in one of the curriculum theories that has been inspired by postmodernism. The term postmodernism is here first and foremost meant to signify the attempt to combine politics and morality with epistemology in accordance with Levinas, Lyotard and Bauman. The article will highlight some themes that need to be developed further for a postmodernism-inspired curriculum theory. A starting-point is a critique of the type of curriculum theory which has its base in the new sociology of education. From this critique, focused on universal claims, the Habermasian-inspired universalism is quickly and critically dropped and left behind, and another form of reasoning is embarked upon. The latter is inspired by a minotarian politics concept and tries to dissolve universalism as a prerequisite for critical conversations. With this background and with the help of Levinas, the article sets out to talk about difference without reduction to the Same and finally suggest a direction for a postmodern curriculum theory with a normative focus on knowledge.     

Validation of distinct amnesic and executive type memory deficit in a psychiatric sample based on retrieval performance

Studies of localized brain dysfunctions have revealed connections between patterns of cognitive dysfunction and specific profiles of memory impairment. The amnesic type of memory impairment is defined by deficits in both free recall and recognition memory, whereas the dysexecutive memory impairment is characterized by retrieval deficits, i.e. a disproportional impairment in free recall relative to recognition memory. The present study tests whether classifications of psychiatric patients into recall impaired only (= RO group) and Recall and Recognition impaired (= RR group) correspond to the executive type and amnesic type of memory impairment. The alternative hypothesis is that the two groups merely differ in degree of neuropsychological and psychiatric disturbance. Forty-four subjects impaired on California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) were selected from a larger database of 103 impaired and non-impaired subjects with schizophrenia or recurrent major depression. Subjects were classified into RO and RR groups and compared on measures of memory strategy (recency effect and interference on CVLT), overall neuropsychological function (Stroop Test and WAIS-R similarity) and psychiatric symptom load (positive and negative symptoms). Repeated measures ANOVA showed no effects of group, i.e. the RR group did not perform consistently below the RO group with regard to memory strategy, neuropsychological function or psychiatric symptom load. Two out of three analyses showed group x test interaction, supporting the dissociation of distinct executive and amnesic profiles among psychiatric patients. The RO group was more susceptible to interference but had better recency score than the RR group. The RO had higher negative symptoms while the RR group had higher positive symptoms.