Visual consciousness revisited: magnocellular and parvocellular contributions to conscious and nonconscious vision

Current theoretical approaches to consciousness and vision associate the dorsal cortical pathway, in which magnocellular (M) input is dominant, with nonconscious visual processing and the ventral cortical pathway, in which parvocellular (P) input is dominant, with conscious visual processing. We explored the known differences between M and P contrast-response functions to investigate the roles of these channels in vision. Simulations of contrast-dependent priming revealed that priming effects obtained with unmasked, visible primes were best modeled by equations characteristic of M channel responses, whereas priming effects obtained with masked, invisible primes were best modeled by equations characteristic of P channel responses. In the context of current theoretical approaches to conscious and nonconscious processing, our results indicate a surprisingly significant role of M channels in conscious vision. In a broader discussion of the role of M channels in vision, we propose a neurophysiologically plausible interpretation of the present results: M channels indirectly contribute to conscious object vision via top-down modulation of reentrant activity in the ventral object-recognition stream.     

A Comparison Between Mexican American Youth Who Are in Gangs and Those Who Are Not

This exploratory study compares the differences between 43 Mexican American gang members and 43 Mexican American adolescents who are not members of a gang on several demographic, educational, familial, cultural, and psychological variables. Differences were analyzed using t tests and chi‐square analyses. Discussion focuses on implications for counseling. Este estudio de exploración compara las diferencias entre 43 Mexicoamericanos pertenecientes a alguna pandilla y 43 adolescentes Mexicoamericanos que no son miembros de una pandilla según distintas variables demográficas, educativas, familiares, culturales y psicológicas. Las diferencias se analizaron usando pruebas t y análisis de ji‐cuadrado. La discusión se centra en las implicaciones para la consejería.     

Ageing, remembering, and executive function

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between executive functions and the age-related decline in episodic memory through the states-of-awareness approach. Following the presentation of a word list, a group of younger adults and a group of older adults undertook a recognition test in which they classified their responses according to the Remember-Know-Guess procedure (Gardiner & Richardson-Klavehn, 2000). In order to operationalise the executive function hypothesis, we investigated three specific executive functions (updating, shifting, and inhibition of a prepotent response) described in Miyake et al.'s (2000) theoretical model, and a complex executive task. The results revealed that fewer "R" responses were made during the recognition test by the older than the younger group, whereas there was no difference between the groups in the number of "K" responses. In addition, correlations indicated that remembering depended on executive function measures, whereas knowing did not. The hierarchical regression analyses showed that controlling for executive function, and particularly for the 2-back test, largely removed the age-related variance in remembering. These findings support the notion that executive dysfunction, and specifically updating decline, plays a central role in age-related memory loss.     

An exploratory study of differences in emotional intelligence in U.S. and Norwegian undergraduate students

The present study explored sex and cultural differences in Emotional Intelligence scores in samples from Norway (n = 297) and the United States (n = 234). Significant main effects for sex were found in overall Emotional Intelligence scores and the Empathy factor. In addition, results revealed a small but significant effect for culture in the Self-control factor, as well as support for an interaction between sex and culture in the Handling Relationships factor. The results are discussed in light of cultural differences between U.S. and Norwegian societies.     

Youthful Arrest and Parental Support: Gendered Effects in Straining the Parent–Child Relationship

Much research confirms the importance of the quality of the parent–child relationship on youth involvement in delinquency. Yet, few have examined this in reverse order, that is, how an arrest for delinquency impacts the parent–child relationship. This article explores the effects of arrest on the child’s perceived level of parental support using youth survey data for the nation. Among non-arrested youth, parental support experiences a gradual decline during the early teen years, and a considerable rebound in the late teen years. Among arrested youth, support shows sharper drops and recoveries over the teen years. Controlling for a set of social, legal, and demographic items, we examine the effects of the number of arrests on parental support with multinomial logistic regression, noting several gender effects. First, we find that arrests predict lower levels of support for mothers, but not for fathers. An equally noteworthy finding is that boys report more parental support than girls do, regardless of parent gender.     

Identification of risk factors for suffering fear of hypoglycemia in type 1 Diabetes Mellitus patients

Hypoglycemia is one of the main burdens for type I Diabetes Mellitus (DM I) patients. The consequences of hypoglycemia can be quite unpleasant due to the variety of disagreeable physical and psychological symptoms it triggers. The patient's previous experience with hypoglycemia episodes will condition his psychological reaction to future episodes, promoting behavioral modifications that associate with poor glycemic control and worse prognosis, and even with developing psychological disorders, leading to fear of hypoglycemia (FH). To be able to provide tailored prevention and treatment of patients with FH it is necessary to identify the risk factors in DM I patients. We developed and validated the FH‐15 scale, a novel instrument to assess FH, which showed good concurrent and predictive validity in DM I patients. In this work we aim to identify the risk factors for suffering FH by detecting DM I patients with FH using the FH‐15 scale and then analyzing the association of clinical and sociodemographic variables. We found that age, needing help to resolve an episode of hypoglycemia, and a perceived lack of social support are risk factors for suffering FH.     

Inhibitory control of threat remembering in PTSD

ABSTRACT

Intrusive traumatic recollections suggest an inability in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to control and notably to inhibit memories for trauma-related information. Supported by inhibitory deficits found on experimental settings in PTSD, memory functioning and memory biases in the disorder were usually explained through inhibitory and control deficits in the processing of trauma-related information. The present study aimed to directly assess this hypothesis by investigating memory control abilities for emotional information in PTSD. For this purpose, 34 patients diagnosed with PTSD were compared to 37 non-PTSD controls on an item-cued directed forgetting paradigm for emotional words combined with a Remember/Know recognition procedure. Results revealed enhanced amounts of Remember recognitions for trauma-related words in PTSD. Moreover, we replicated findings of memory control impairments in the disorder. However, such impairments only occurred for non-trauma-related words. Accordingly, it appeared that PTSD patients presented preserved memory control abilities for trauma-related words, at the expenses of other emotional valences. Surprisingly, PTSD patients presented a preserved ability to control and notably to inhibit their memory functioning for trauma-related material. In addition to potential theoretical and clinical relevance, these results are discussed in the light of resource reallocation hypotheses and vigilant-avoidant theories of information processing in PTSD.     

PTSD psychiatric patients exhibit a deficit in remembering

This study investigated the effects of PTSD on levels of awareness in a recognition memory task. A group of PTSD psychiatric patients and a control group without any traumatic experience were compared in remembering (R) versus knowing (K) recognition using non-trauma-related words. Results showed that overall recognition did not differ between the two groups, but in the PTSD group a significantly different pattern of Remember and Know responses was produced, indicating a shift from remembering to knowing. However, this shift from remembering to knowing in individuals with PTSD is associated with modifications in the trait anxiety level. These results are interpreted within theoretical frameworks in which R responses could be associated with distinctiveness (Rajaram, 1996) and conceptual processing (Ehlers & Clark, 2000). These collective findings would suggest the possibility that a poor general ability in the formation of source memory may eventually be a common characteristic across different types of PTSD.