The periscope box: A nonobtrusive method of providing an eye-to-eye video perspective

An apparatus is described that allows for the nonobtrusive recording, from a direct camera perspective, of a subject watching a video or computer display. The device follows the basic principles of a periscope and is useful in a variety of experimental paradigms, particularly those involving the assessment of nonverbal aspects of behavior.     

Representation of inflected signs from American Sign Language in short-term memory

In order to help illuminate general ways in which language users process inflected items, two groups of native signers of American Sign Language (ASL) were asked to recall lists of inflected and uninflected signs. Despite the simultaneous production of base and inflection in ASL, subjects transposed inflections across base forms, recalling the base forms in the correct serial positions, or transposed base forms, recalling the inflections in the correct serial positions. These rearrangements of morphological components within lists occurred significantly more often than did rearrangements of whole forms (base plus inflection). These and other patterns of errors converged to suggest that ASL signers remembered inflected signs componentially in terms of a base and an inflection, much as the available evidence suggests is true for users of spoken language. Componential processing of regularly inflected forms would thus seem to be independent of particular transmission systems and of particular mechanisms for combining lexical and inflectional material.     

Enhanced Hippocampal CA1 LTP but Normal Spatial Learning in Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase(A)-Deficient Mice

To define the physiological role of IP₃3-kinase(A) in vivo, we have generated a mouse strain with a null mutation of the IP₃3-kinase(A) locus by gene targeting. Homozygous mutant mice were fully viable, fertile, apparently normal, and did not show any morphological anomaly in brain sections. In the mutant brain, the IP₄ level was significantly decreased whereas the IP₃ level did not change, demonstrating a major role of IP₃3-kinase(A) in the generation of IP₄. Nevertheless, no significant difference was detected in the hippocampal neuronal cells of the wild-type and the mutant mice in the kinetics of Ca²⁺ regulation after glutamate stimulation. Electrophysiological analyses carried out in hippocampal slices showed that the mutation significantly enhanced the LTP in the hippocampal CA1 region, but had no effect on the LTP in dentate gyrus (DG). No difference was noted, however, between the mutant and the wild-type mice in the Morris water maze task. Our results indicate that IP₃3-kinase(A) may play an important role in the regulation of LTP in hippocampal CA1 region through the generation of IP₄, but the enhanced LTP in the hippocampal CA1 does not affect spatial learning and memory.     

Wisdom and Psychosocial Functioning in Later Life

We investigated the connection between wisdom‐related performance, personality, and generativity to further the understanding of how they are interrelated. Our sample consisted of 163 men and women 68–77 years of age, mostly White, and predominantly middle class. Wisdom was assessed with the performance‐based Berlin Wisdom Paradigm, with the remaining measures being mostly self‐report. As hypothesized, on the zero‐order level, wisdom‐related performance (WRP) was positively associated with (a) growth, a personality component indexed by Openness to Experience, psychological mindedness, and a sense of well‐being derived from growth, purpose in life, and autonomy; (b) adjustment, a personality component associated with life satisfaction, high levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, low Neuroticism, a sense of well‐being derived from positive relations with others, self‐acceptance, and environmental mastery; and (c) a generative concern for the welfare of others. Latent path analysis indicated that the bivariate associations between adjustment and wisdom and between generativity and wisdom were mediated by growth. Wise individuals are characterized by their ability to balance different personal strengths and interests, an integration that occurs, however, within the context of a dominant personality style marked by the pursuit of maturity through personal growth.     

Rumination and self-defining memories in the context of health concerns

Individuals with health anxiety report experiencing a strong sense of vulnerability to illness. Such beliefs may be driven by the biased recollection of past illness-related events. However, little research has explored the role of memory in health anxiety. In other disorders, rumination has also been identified as a process that leads individuals to recall memories dominated by the content of their concerns. This study examined the proposition that rumination might impact the content of “self-defining” autobiographical memories among 60 college students with varying health anxiety (35% with clinical-level health anxiety). Participants were randomised to experiential/ruminative self-focus conditions, and then they completed the Self-Defining Memory Task. Responses were coded for valence and illness-relatedness. Results indicated that rumination led participants to retrieve more illness-related self-defining memories, while higher health anxiety scores were associated with more negative, but not more illness-focused memories. Ruminative thinking appears to activate health concerns, and may play a role in maintaining ongoing health anxiety.     

Training the equidistant principle of number line spacing

The characteristics of effective numerical trainings are still under scientific debate. Given the importance of number line estimation due to the strong relation between task performance and arithmetic abilities, the current study aimed at training one important number line characteristic: the equidistant spacing of adjacent numbers. Following an embodied training approach, second-graders were trained using a randomized crossover design to divide a presented line into different numbers of equal segments by walking the line with equally spaced steps. Performance was recorded, and feedback as to the correct equidistant spacing was provided using the Kinect sensor system. Training effects were compared to a control training with no involvement of task-specific whole-body movements. Results indicated more pronounced specific training effects after the embodied training. Moreover, transfer effects to number line estimation and arithmetic performance were partially observed. In particular, differential training effects for bounded versus unbounded number line estimation corroborate the assumption that not only bodily experiences but also the need for a flexible adaption of the perspective on the training material might influence training success. Hence, more pronounced training effects of the embodied training might stem from different cognitive processes involved.