Differential mastication kinematics of the rabbit in response to food and water: Implications for conditioned movement

Analysis of naturalistic chewing patterns may provide insight into mapping the neural substrates of jaw movement control systems, including their adaptive modification during the classically conditioned jaw movement (CJM) paradigm. Here, New Zealand White rabbits were administered food and water stimuli orally to evaluate the influence of stimulus consistency on masticatory pattern. Chewing patterns were recorded via video camera and movements were analyzed by computerized image analysis. The mandibular kinematics, specifically the extent of dorsal/ventral, medial/lateral, and rostral/caudal movement, were significantly larger in food-evoked than water-evoked chewing. Water-evoked chewing frequency, however, was significantly higher than that of food-evoked movements. In light of known cortical mastication modulatory centers, our findings implicate different neural substrates for the responses to food and water stimuli in the rabbit. A detailed delineation of jaw movement patterns and circuitry is essential to characterize the neural substrates of CJM.     

Reducing the drop-out rates of at-risk high school students: the Effective Learning Program (ELP)

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Effective Learning Program (ELP) with students who are at high risk for dropping out of high school. The intervention sought to change external control expectancies to more internal ones, improve students' skills in building relationships with peers and adults, and increase graduation rates. Thirty-eight students considered at risk for dropping out of high school received the intervention. In addition, ELP-eligible students who did not receive the ELP intervention (n = 36) and regular education students (n = 50) from the same high school were compared with the students who received the ELP. A significantly greater percentage of ELP students graduated, became more internally controlled, achieved more as shown by standardized tests, and developed greater social skills and better relationships than their ELP-eligible but nonparticipating peers. The authors suggest that researchers identify which aspects of the ELP are responsible for the improvement in retention, achievement, and personal attributes.     

A test of the ability to identify emotion in human standing and sitting postures: the diagnostic analysis of nonverbal accuracy-2 posture test (DANVA2-POS)

The purpose of the present study was to introduce the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy for Postures (DANVA2-POS), a test that measures an individual's ability to identify emotion in human standing and sitting postures. The authors describe the construction and selection of the test items. Types of standing and sitting postures were generated from a set of dimensions gleaned from a review of relevant theoretical and empirical literature. Two men and 2 women portraying standing and sitting postures were photographed. An empirical norming procedure was used to select 32 high- and low-intensity standing and sitting postures representing happiness, sadness, anger, and fear. Three hypotheses guided the collection of construct validity evidence. Consistent with the hypotheses, data from 243 participants showed that DANVA2-POS scores increased in accuracy with age, were internally consistent and reliable over time, and were related to self-reported loneliness, fear of negative evaluation, and locus of control. The authors report construct validity evidence from 6 additional studies. Future applications of the DANVA2-POS test are described.     

Developing a treatment manual for attention management in chronic pain

This article reports the development of a protocol for the therapeutic application of "attention control" for chronic pain. Attention control is the limitation of the impact of pain by switching or retunning attention. An expert systems approach was used to develop the protocol. In the first stage an extensive literature search retrieved published and unpublished accounts of attention control strategies and a draft treatment manual was prepared. In the second stage 6 experts were recruited and they independently read and reviewed the draft manual. They were interviewed using a semi-structured protocol to elicit their views on the draft manual. The manual was then revised to accommodate the information and expertise. In addition to providing expert opinion on the manual the experts also raised issues about the process of change in psychological treatment for chronic pain. These issues were organized into a process model of change in chronic pain.     

Contour grouping inside and outside of facial contexts

We examine how contours group in isolation compared with when they are embedded in face-like contexts. As previously shown, contours that seem to group by phenomenological observation also show powerful effects on task performance: with contours that group, selective attention to one while ignoring another is poor (as indexed by Garner Interference (GI), but not Stroop Interference), whereas divided attention across contours is good. With contours that do not group, however, the reverse happens. Here we test pairs of curved lines (parentheses) displayed either in isolation or within contexts including cartoon faces, where these curves may serve as mouths or eyebrows. The results with isolated contours replicate previous findings of poor selective attention, but within face-like contexts the same contours showed nearly perfect selective attention (i.e., zero GI). Thus, contour grouping was weaker inside than outside of faces, a finding that contrasts with the widely-held belief that faces are processed configurally, not by local features.     

A critique of Lilienfeld et al.'s (2000) "The scientific status of projective techniques"

Lilienfeld, Wood, and Garb (2000) published a largely negative critique of the validity and reliability of projective methods, concentrating on the Comprehensive System for the Rorschach (Exner, 1993), 3 systems for coding the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) cards, and human figure drawings. This article is an effort to document and correct what I perceive as errors of omission and commission in the Lilienfeld et al. article. When projective measures are viewed in the light of these corrections, the evidence for the validity and clinical usefulness of the Rorschach and TAT methods is more robust than Lilienfeld et al. represented.     

When is early visual cortex activated during visual mental imagery?

Although many neuroimaging studies of visual mental imagery have revealed activation in early visual cortex (Areas 17 or 18), many others have not. The authors review this literature and compare how well 3 models explain the disparate results. Each study was coded 1 or 0, indicating whether activation in early visual cortex was observed, and sets of variables associated with each model were fit to the observed results using logistic regression analysis. Three variables predicted all of the systematic differences in the probability of activation across studies. Two of these variables were identified with a perceptual anticipation theory, and the other was identified with a methodological factors theory. Thus, the variability in the literature is not random.     

Task-set reconfiguration with predictable and unpredictable task switches

Participants switched frequently between high/low and odd/even classification of a digit. The interval between a task cue and the next digit varied between blocks. In Experiment 1, the task switched predictably every two, four, or eight trials. In Experiment 2, switching predictably every four trials was compared with random switching. With predictable switching, the cost was limited to the first trial of a run. Random switching produced a more gradual approach to asymptotic performance. After one performance, control processes attenuate the resulting change in task-set bias if a further switch is likely, but this strategic modulation is soon overwhelmed by task-set priming through further performances. Preparation reduced switch costs but not interference from the irrelevant attribute: Control of interference appears to be reactive, not proactive. Switch costs did not increase with run length, suggesting that retrieval of the task set last associated with the stimulus did not contribute to switch costs.     

Postrecognition of interleaved melodies as an indirect measure of auditory stream formation

Primitive processes involved in auditory stream formation are measured with indirect, objective method. A target melody interleaved with a distractor sequence is followed by a probe melody that was identical to the target or differed by 2 notes. Listeners decided whether the probe melody was present or not in the composite sequence. Interleaved melody recognition is not possible when distractor sequences have the same mean frequency and maximum contour crossover with target melodies. Performance increases with mean frequency separation and timbral dissimilarity and is unaffected by the duration of the silent interval between composite sequence and probe melody. The relation between this indirect task measuring the interleaved melody recognition boundary and direct judgments measuring the fission boundary is discussed.     

Switching between tasks of unequal familiarity: the role of stimulus-attribute and response-set selection

It has been reported that it is harder to switch to a strong, well-practiced task from a weaker, less-practiced task than vice versa. Three experiments replicated this surprising asymmetry and investigated how it is affected by a reduction in interference between tasks. Experiment 1 progressively delayed the onset of the stimulus attribute associated with the stronger task. Experiments 2 and 3 separated the response sets of the tasks. Both manipulations reduced, without eliminating, interference of the stronger with the weaker task but reversed the asymmetry of switch costs, resulting in a larger cost of switching to the weaker task. The results are interpreted in terms of a model of the interactions between control input, task strength, and task priming.