Emotion-based learning on a simplified card game: the Iowa and Bangor Gambling Tasks

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has been widely used in the assessment of neurological patients with frontal lesions. Emphasis has been placed on the complexity of the task (i.e., four decks of varying contingency pattern) with the suggestion that the participant must use emotion-based learning to deal with a complex decision-making process. The present study used a single deck card game (the Bangor Gambling Task, BGT), matched in many respects with the Iowa Gambling Task, in which the contingencies varied over time (gradually becoming worse for the participant) rather than across deck (as in the IGT). Forty participants performed both tasks. Performance on the tasks showed many similarities, with participants showing a comparable pattern of incremental learning on both tasks, reaching an analogous final level of performance. More importantly, there was a high correlation (r(2) = .93) in performance between the two tasks, the most salient feature of which was that virtually every participant who fell below categorisation of impaired IGT performance, also did very poorly on the BGT. These findings bear on the question of whether arguments about the 'complexity' of the Iowa Gambling Task necessarily explain why it appears to require emotion-based learning. The Bangor Gambling Task might also be a useful tool for clinical neuropsychologists, in the assessment of patients with executive dysfunction-given that the task is easier and quicker to administer than the Iowa Gambling Task, but appears to share the same performance features.     

Central executive secondary tasks in object recognition: an analogue of the unusual views deficit in the neurologically normal?

The particular problem of recognition from unusual viewpoints, may well involve a substantial problem-solving component and employ frontal/central executive resources. The present study investigates this question using a dual-task technique. In Experiment 1, the reliability of an unusual views effect was demonstrated. Experiment 2 showed that a central executive secondary task selectively disrupts unusual views recognition. These results are discussed in the context of existing lesion and functional imaging findings.     

Direct versus indirect emotional consequences on the Iowa Gambling Task

The Iowa Gambling Task has been widely used in the assessment of neurological patients with ventro-mesial frontal lesions. The Iowa Group has claimed that the Gambling Task is too complex for participants to follow using cognition alone, so that participants must rely on emotion-based learning systems (somatic markers). The present study investigates whether similar tasks can be performed without direct somatic markers. In a 'Firefighter' task closely matched to the classic Gambling Task, participants evaluate the performance of others--so that they experience reward and punishment indirectly. In contrast to the gradual improvement in performance seen on the classic Iowa Gambling Task, participants on the Firefighter Task showed no learning effect, mirroring the performance of patients with ventro-mesial frontal lesions, and suggesting that the task is very difficult to perform without direct somatic marker information. The use of this task as empirical measure of 'empathy' are discussed.     

The analysis of drawing from memory performance in brain-damaged patients

The drawing from memory task is frequently used in cognitive neuropsychology to investigate visual processing impairments. However, in surprising contrast to most other neuropsychological tests, the analyses of results on this task are most often based solely on qualitative judgements about the normality of a patient's performance. In most case reports, these judgements are not made with reference to normative data and are not made by individuals who are impartial with respect to the study (that is, using a blind rating procedure). There are several grounds for arguing that such analyses are inadequate. First, seemingly abnormal drawings made by a patient may well be within the range of performance shown by control subjects. Second, judgments that are not based on a blind rating procedure are likely to be influenced by knowledge about the patient's performance on other tasks. We describe an alternative assessment procedure that addresses both of these concerns.     

Sustained attention and related perceptuomotor functions

The present study examined the relationship between two measures of sustained attention on the Continuous Performance Test (reaction time and omission errors) and several performance measures on neuropsychological tests. Analysis suggests that sustained attention as measured by processing speed predicts performance on neuropsychological measures of relatively greater complexity and that the Stroop test, which requires maintaining steady focus on a changing stimulus field, may be more sensitive to lapses in attention than other neuropsychological tests.     

On what there is: Representation and history

Premise: our representational system has had a relatively invariant core throughout human history (cf. Sellars's manifest image). Major theses: (i) When philosophical argument establishes the existence of an entity, that entity is a representing, not a represented. (ii) Most of the documents in the history of philosophy are on a par (as dialogical resources) with current philosophical literature for establishing or controverting such existence claims. (iii) The use of mathematics (initially the mathematized neo-Platonism of classical mechanics) allowed modern physical science to break with the perennial system of representation; in consequence, a portion of the representings of modern physical scientists do not belong to the historically invariant core. This limits the dialogical resources of physical science and the applicability of arguments from perennial philosophy to science. It also explains the relative irrelevance of pre-17th century science to contemporary physical scientists in contrast to the relevance of pre-17th century philosophy to contemporary philosophers. It also supports thesis (iv), that logic (broadly conceived) in central to all serious philosophical enterprises, since logic is the central tool for exhibiting and criticizing the rationale(s) of our representational system(s). Support for these theses will be found in the paper.     

Perfectionism and multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI) indices of personality disorder

The present research tested the hypothesis that personal and social aspects of the perfectionism construct are related differentially to indices of personality disorders. A sample of 90 psychiatric patients was examined with respect to their scores on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and the personality disorder subscales (PDS) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. The MPS provides measures of self-oriented, other-oriented, and socially prescribed perfectionism, whereas the PDS assess levels of various personality disorder symptoms. Zero-order and partial correlations indicated that the perfectionism dimensions of the MPS were related to various subscales of the PDS and, perhaps more importantly, that the findings vary as a function of the perfectionism dimension in question. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of perfectionism in personality disorder symptom patterns.     

How big is big? Relative and absolute properties in memory

Previous studies of semantic memory have overlooked an important distinction among so-called “property statements”. Statements with relative adjectives (e.g., Flamingos are big) imply a comparison to a standard or reference point associated with an immediate superordinate category (a flamingo is big for a bird), while the truth of statements with absolute adjectives (e.g., Flamingos are pink) is generally independent of such a standard. To examine the psychological consequences of this distinction, we asked subjects in Experiment 1 to verify sentences containing either relative or absolute adjectives embedded in either predicate-adjective (PA) constructions (e.g., A flamingo is big (pink)) or predicate-noun (PN) constructions (e.g. A flamingo is a big (pink) bird), where the predicate noun was the immediate superordinate. Reaction times (RTs) and errors for relative sentences decreased when the superordinate was specified, but remained constant for absolute sentences. These data also suggest that the truth value of relative sentences depends, not just on the superordinate, but also on a more global standard for everyday, human-oriented objects. Experiment 2 extends these results in showing that ratings of the truth of relative sentences are a function of the difference in size between an instance and its superordinate standard (e.g., between the size of a flamingo and that of an average bird) and the difference between the instance and the standard for everyday objects. Experiment 3 replicated these findings using reaction time as the dependent measure.     

Conceptualization and measurement of family outcomes associated with families of individuals with intellectual disabilities

The purpose of this review is to (a) document the current status of conceptualizing and measuring family outcomes related to having a member with an intellectual disability and (b) determine the extent to which family research focuses on internal family characteristics as contrasted to external family support. The reviewers collected 28 articles using the terms well-being, adaptation, family functioning, or family quality of life in the title. Results of our analyses are presented as a comparison between well-being, adaptation, and family functioning articles in one group and family quality of life articles in a second group. Both groups lacked explicit conceptual definitions, theory, and random/representative samples. The articles placed an undue emphasis on maternal participation, and tended to report a single family member score as representative of the whole family. Two major differences between the groups was a tendency for family quality of life studies to be grounded in conceptual frameworks and focus on new instrument development. Recommendations for future research directions are included.     

Federal family and disability policy: special relevance for developmental disabilities

The article reviews the federal statutes and relevant decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that constitute the core concepts of disability policy and their application to persons with disabilities (especially developmental disabilities) and their families.