Listeners feel the beat: Entrainment to English and French speech rhythms

Can listeners entrain to speech rhythms? Monolingual speakers of English and French and balanced English–French bilinguals tapped along with the beat they perceived in sentences spoken in a stress-timed language, English, and a syllable-timed language, French. All groups of participants tapped more regularly to English than to French utterances. Tapping performance was also influenced by the participants’ native language: English-speaking participants and bilinguals tapped more regularly and at higher metrical levels than did French-speaking participants, suggesting that long-term linguistic experience with a stress-timed language can differentiate speakers’ entrainment to speech rhythm.     

The neural cell adhesion molecule-derived peptide FGL facilitates long-term plasticity in the dentate gyrus in vivo

The neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) is known to play a role in developmental and structural processes but also in synaptic plasticity and memory of the adult animal. Recently, FGL, a NCAM mimetic peptide that binds to the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 1 (FGFR-1), has been shown to have a beneficial impact on normal memory functioning, as well as to rescue some pathological cognitive impairments. Whether its facilitating impact may be mediated through promoting neuronal plasticity is not known. The present study was therefore designed to test whether FGL modulates the induction and maintenance of synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus (DG) in vivo. For this, we first assessed the effect of the FGL peptide on synaptic functions at perforant path-dentate gyrus synapses in the anesthetized rat. FGL, or its control inactive peptide, was injected locally 60 min before applying high-frequency stimulation (HFS) to the medial perforant path. The results suggest that although FGL did not alter basal synaptic transmission, it facilitated both the induction and maintenance of LTP. Interestingly, FGL also modified the heterosynaptic plasticity observed at the neighboring lateral perforant path synapses. The second series of experiments, using FGL intracerebroventricular infusion in the awake animal, confirmed its facilitating effect on LTP for up to 24 h. Our data also suggest that FGL could alter neurogenesis associated with LTP. In sum, these results show for the first time that enhancing NCAM functions by mimicking its heterophilic interaction with FGFR facilitates hippocampal synaptic plasticity in the awake, freely moving animal.     

Équité, Solidarité et Justice Perçue des Décisions de Recrutement Professionnel : Effets du Point de Vue de l'Observateur,de la Valence de la Décision et du Caractère contrôlable de la Cause du Besoin

The experience tested the effects of the observer’s point of view, of the valence of the decision, and of the controllable causality of the need on the consideration of the contributions and of the needs in the fairness perceptions from a decision of recruitment. Some recruiters and job- seekers judged the fairness of decisions of the recruitment of applicants which were described by their performance during a work sample test and by their professional position. The results showed that both variables had an effect on the judgments. Nevertheless the recruiters attached more importance to the performance and less to the professional position and to the hiring decision than the job seekers. Some implications in terms of affirmative action policies and communication were discussed.     

Concurrency benefits in the attentional blink: Attentional flexibility and shifts of decision criteria

Fundamental limitations in performing multiple tasks concurrently are well illustrated by the attentional blink (AB) deficit, which refers to the difficulty in reporting a second target (T2) when it is presented shortly after a first target (T1). Surprisingly, recent studies have shown that the AB, which is often thought of as a manifestation of capacity limitations in central processing, can be reduced when the AB task is performed simultaneously with concurrent distracting activities. In the present study, we sought to investigate whether such concurrency benefits would also be observed when the AB task was performed concurrently with a central demanding timing task. The AB was reduced under concurrent-task conditions, as compared with single-AB-task conditions, even though T1 performance was unaffected by the concurrent task. Moreover, shifts in decision criteria were found to be associated with the concurrency benefit effect.     

The role of awareness in anticipation and recall performance in the Hebb repetition paradigm: implications for sequence learning

Sequence learning has notably been studied using the Hebb repetition paradigm (Hebb, 1961) and the serial reaction time (SRT) task (Nissen & Bullemer, Cognitive Psychology 19:1–32, 1987). These two paradigms produce robust learning effects but differ with regard to the role of awareness: Awareness does not affect learning a repeated sequence in the Hebb repetition paradigm, as is evidenced by recall performance, whereas in the SRT task, awareness helps to anticipate the location of the next stimulus. In this study, we examined the role of awareness in anticipation and recall performance, using the Hebb repetition paradigm. Eye movements were monitored during a spatial reconstruction task where participants had to memorize sequences of dot locations. One sequence was repeated every four trials. Results showed that recall performance for the repeated sequence improved across repetitions for all participants but that anticipation increased only for participants aware of the repetition.     

Presentation modality effect on false memories in younger and older adults: the use of an inference paradigm

Classically, false memories are studied using the DRM paradigm (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995), involving use of words lists. The words of each list are linked to a critical word not presented. Participants create a false memory in recognising and/or recalling this critical word. In most cases older adults have more false memories than younger adults in this paradigm. To use less strategy-dependent material, we compared predictive inferences activated during text reading in young and healthy older participants. For example, in the sentence "The fragile porcelain vase was thrown against the wall" the predictive inference was that the vase is broken. After reading or hearing the texts, the participants had false memories in recalling and/or recognising the predictive inferences. Older adults had more false recognitions than younger adults when they read or heard the text. However, the difference did not reach significance with the cued recalled task. It is concluded that, in more ecological situations such as text reading, abilities in older adults can be preserved.     

Gender differences in perception of self-orientation: software or hardware?

We evaluated the contribution of attentional strategy to the perception of self-orientation with and without a body tilt in the median plane. Reinking et al (1974 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 30 807-811) found that the frame dependence of females on the rod-and-frame test could be mediated by instructions prompting them to focus on internal cues (ie arising from inside of the body). Here, we measured the influence of attentional instructions on the perception of the morphological horizon. Eleven females and thirteen males estimated their morphological horizon in an upright and a 45 degrees body tilt in the median plane under three instruction conditions. All participants first performed without attentional instructions. Then, participants performed under both internal and external attentional instructions. For females, but not for males, perception of morphological horizon was more footward in the supine than in the upright orientation. Although instructions did not eliminate gender differences, internal instructions allowed females to reduce their perceptual bias in the supine orientation.     

Phonological processing of words in right- and left-handers

It is commonly accepted that phonology is the exclusive domain of the left hemisphere. However, this pattern of lateralization, which posits a right visual field advantage, has been questioned by several studies. In fact, certain factors such as characteristics of the stimuli and subjects' handedness can modulate the right visual field advantage. Thus, the goal of this study was to compare the hemispheric dynamics of right-handers and left-handers during a divided visual field presentation of words that varied in terms of their phonological transparency. For non-transparent words, the left hemisphere seems more competent in both handedness groups. With regard to transparent words, the right hemisphere of both groups also appears competent. Surprisingly, left-handers achieved optimal processing with a functionally isolated left hemisphere, whereas right-handers needed the participation of both hemispheres. The pattern of performance cannot be fully explained by either the callosal or the direct access model.     

Does auditory streaming require attention? Evidence from attentional selectivity in short-term memory

R. P. Carlyon, R. Cusack, J. M. Foxton, and I. H. Robertson (2001) have argued that attention is crucial for auditory streaming. The authors review R. P. Carlyon et al.'s (2001) arguments and suggest that a pertinent literature, the irrelevant sound paradigm--demonstrating preattentive auditory streaming--has been overlooked. In illustration of this alternative approach, the authors include a novel single experiment demonstrating the impact of preattentive auditory streaming on short-term serial memory. It is concluded that R. P. Carlyon et al.'s (2001) results do not definitively demonstrate that auditory streaming processes are dependent on attention; indeed, they are compatible with alternative accounts of the relationship between perceptual organization and attention.     

Break expectancy in duration discrimination

Effects of break expectancy, observed previously in time production, were examined in 3 experiments using a discrimination paradigm. Participants classified a tone as being short or long. Location and duration of breaks in tone presentation were varied. Proportion of short responses increased as the break occurred later in the duration to be estimated in all experiments. With a higher number of break locations covering a wider range of location values, functions relating proportion of short responses to location were sigmoid and tended to flatten at extreme values of location. The authors conclude that attentional time-sharing elicited by break expectancy induces loss in accumulation of temporal information, but its effect on discrimination depends on the accumulation outcome relative to a decisional criterion.