Word recognition and face recognition following posterior cerebral artery stroke: Overlapping networks and selective contributions

It has been suggested that word- and face recognition rely on a common cerebral network for perceptual processing. To further explore this hypothesis, face- and word recognition were assessed in seven patients with focal lesions after stroke of the posterior cerebral artery in either hemisphere. The aim was to investigate if problems in face- and word recognition would co-occur, if testing was sensitive and patients were not pre-selected based on behavioural symptoms. Patients and matched controls were given a reading test and a delayed matching paradigm with faces, objects, and words. Interestingly, all patients with word recognition difficulties had problems in face recognition, independently of the affected hemisphere, supporting the existence of a bilateral perceptual network for faces and words. However, two patients showed selective face recognition problems after unilateral damage to either hemisphere, suggesting that parts of this network may be more critical for face than for word recognition.     

Props,not pictures,are worth a thousand words: verbal accessibility of early memories under different conditions of contextual support

When they are tested nonverbally, even young children demonstrate long-term recall. There have been few studies of whether early memories later are verbally accessible; the results of those that exist are mixed. Inconsistencies may be due to differences in the contextual cues provided at the time of recall. In two experiments, children 13–20 months were exposed to multi-step sequences and tested for nonverbal recall after 3–6 months. At age 3 years, they were tested verbally, under varying conditions of contextual support: in the original laboratory with event-related props versus at home with photographs of the props (Experiment 1), and at home with props (Experiment 2). Children younger than 20 months at initial experience of the events did not demonstrate verbal recall. Children who were 20 months at the initial exposure recalled verbally, as long as they had physical props as cues, regardless of whether testing took place at home or in the laboratory. This research informs the conditions under which memories from very early childhood later can be recalled verbally. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Not practicing what they preached! Exploring negative spillover effects of news about ex-politicians’ hypocrisy on party attitudes,voting intentions,and political trust

ABSTRACT

Political hypocrisy – a frequent feature of contemporary politics – oftentimes occurs when politicians resign from office and then engage in behavior that is in fundamental opposition to the standpoints they originally campaigned for as incumbents. Previous research has neglected to examine negative spillover effects of news about ex-politicians’ hypocritical behavior. Drawing from the inclusion/exclusion model and the feelings-as-information model, we conducted two experiments in two different countries and used different stimuli to increase external validity. Results suggest a dual process account of scandal spillover effects (an attitudinal and emotional mechanism) revealing that hypocrisy negatively affected both attitudes and emotions toward an ex-politician. Mediation analysis further showed that evaluations in turn negatively affected attitudes and voting intentions for the party the hypocritical politician used to belong to (attitudinal spillover process). No effects on general political trust emerged. In contrast, negative emotions had no effect on party attitudes and voting intentions but decreased political trust toward politicians in general (emotional spillover process). In line with the inclusion/exclusion model, the results help to explain inconsistent findings in previous studies that did not account for the suggested dual process account of spillover effects and underline the eroding effects of hypocrisy.     

Does self-compassion protect adolescents who are victimized or suffer from academic difficulties from depression?

ABSTRACT

Adolescents face many social and academic difficulties which, if not managed properly, can lead to depression. Self-compassion, a kind and caring orientation towards oneself, has emerged as a possible resilience factor alleviating depression. Self-compassion comprises two factors: self-compassion and self-coldness. The present study set out to investigate whether self-compassion weakens or self-coldness strengthens the association between depression and two difficult circumstances: victimization and academic difficulties (ADs). The sample consisted of 2383 students who had recently made the transition to upper secondary education. The study was cross-sectional and employed a hierarchical regression analysis approach. Strongest interactions were followed up with simple slope analysis. Self-compassion (inversely), self-coldness, ADs, and victimization were statistically significant predictors of depression. Self-compassion weakened the association between ADs and depression. The results suggest encountering difficulties in adolescence and depression are related and that self-compassion may moderate the association.     

Highs and Lows in Motor Control Development

Abstract

Motor control is classically described as relying on two components: anticipatory control (feedforward processing) and online control (feedback processing). Here we aimed to unveil the developmental steps of both feedback and feedforward control in 5–10 years old children, using a simple and ecological task. We manipulated object’s weight in a reach-to-displace paradigm. When the weight was known before lifting it, anticipatory processes were quantifiable during the reaching phase. Conversely, an unknown weight triggered online corrections during the displacing phase. Movement kinematics revealed that children anticipate this objet property as young as 5 y-o. This anticipation becomes adequate around 7 y-o and is paralleled by poor online corrections. This simple yet relevant paradigm should allow quantifying deviations from neurotypical patterns in disorders of motor control.     

When Times Get Tough: Savoring and Relationship Satisfaction in Couples Coping with a Stressful Life Event

Background and Objectives: When couples face a stressful life event, this can adversely impact relationship satisfaction. Because savoring positive experiences is thought to enhance intimate relationships and there is evidence that savoring buffers the negative effects of stress at the intrapersonal level, this study examined savoring as an interpersonal resource for couples who experienced a stressful life event.

Methods: One hundred and twenty-eight opposite-sex couples completed measures of impact of event, savoring, positive affect, and relationship satisfaction.

Results: Results from actor-partner interdependence models found that: (1) For couple members who reported a relatively low impact of event, their own savoring was positively predicted by their partner’s impact of event; (2) For women, their own savoring the moment predicted their own and their partner’s greater relationship satisfaction; (3) The relationship between one’s own impact of event and relationship satisfaction was buffered by one’s partner’s savoring the moment; and (4) The relationship between one’s own savoring and relationship satisfaction was mediated by one’s own positive affect.

Conclusions: The findings support the study of savoring as an interpersonal resource in times of stress and have implications for couples-based interventions.     

Form-Specific Visual Priming in the Left and Right Hemispheres

Word fragment completion performance was examined for items that were presented in the same or different letter case at study and test. During the study phase words and nonwords were presented at central fixation, then during the test phase a divided visual field technique was used in which word fragments were presented briefly to the right hemisphere (left visual field) or the left hemisphere (right visual field). Previous research using the word stem completion task indicated that only the right hemisphere was sensitive to case changes in words from study to test. In contrast, the current results indicate that in the fragment completion task the priming effects for the test items presented to either hemisphere were greater when the fragments were in the same compared to different letter case at study and test. These results indicate that both hemispheres are capable of supporting form-specific visual implicit memory.