Cross-modal working memory binding and learning of visual-phonological associations in children with reading difficulties

Reading decoding requires the association of a visual input (the printed word) with a verbal output (the spoken word), and the learning of visual-phonological associations via repeated exposure occurs both explicitly (by instruction and training) and implicitly (by exposure to written material). However, a general ability to implicitly learn visual-phonological associations (or cross-modal bindings) in children with reading difficulties (RD) has not been deeply explored. The present paper examined this issue in two studies comparing groups of children with RD with matched groups of control children in a working memory binding task involving sequences of variable combinations of nonsense shapes and nonwords (odd trials), as well as fixed combinations (even trials). Stimuli presentation was followed by a recognition test in which the nonwords were given one at a time and the children were required to mouse click on their respective shapes. In Study 1, fixed bindings were presented in random sequences across even trials, and the recognition test presented the nonwords at random. In Study 2, fixed bindings were presented in the same order across even trials, and the recognition test presented the nonwords following the same sequence order. In both studies, a consistent and strong learning effect of fixed bindings was observed for the control groups, with significantly better performance than the groups with RD. Such results suggest that poor cross-modal binding learning is associated with reading difficulties. Implications for the study and treatment of dyslexia are discussed.     

Training Addiction Counselors to Implement an Evidence-Based Intervention: Strategies for Increasing Organizational and Provider Acceptance

One barrier to widespread public access to empirically supported treatments (ESTs) is the limited availability and high cost of professionals trained to deliver them. Our earlier work from 2 clinical trials demonstrated that front-line addiction counselors could be trained to deliver a manualized, group-based cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) for depression, a prototypic example of an EST, with a high level of adherence and competence. This follow-up article provides specific recommendations for the selection and initial training of counselors, and for the structure and process of their ongoing clinical supervision. We highlight unique challenges in working with counselors unaccustomed to traditional clinical supervision. The recommendations are based on comprehensive feedback derived from clinician notes taken throughout the clinical trials, a focus group with counselors conducted 1 year following implementation, and interviews with key organization executives and administrators.     

We should screen for major depression

This article is a response to Coyne, Thompson, Palmer, Kagee, and Maunsell's (2000) article, “Should We Screen for Depression? Caveats and Potential Pitfalls.” We address four points that we view as central to their argument: (1) current screening measures are inadequate; (2) correct identification of depressed patients does not result in improved clinical outcomes; (3) screening is too expensive; and (4) screening may have harmful negative effects. We discuss the following important issues: (1) screening and prevention are still in the research and development phase; (2) the kindling phenomenon is an important reason to screen; (3) there is a need to focus screening and prevention efforts on ethnic minorities; and (4) high depressive symptoms have a substantial public health impact. Finally, we present reasons why screening is advisable, both for prevention and treatment purposes, and provide our recommendations. Our stance is that, in order for screening and prevention to become practical, they need to be implemented in both research and practice contexts. Therefore, we should make screening for major depression a priority.     

On the perception of a class of bilaterally symmetric forms

Two experiments were performed to determine the manner in which people perceive a class of bilaterally symmetric forms. In the first experiment, paired, comparison dissimilarity judgments and unidimensional single stimulus ratings were collected from the Ss. The second experiment involved the collecting of semantic differential and paired comparison dissimilarity judgments from two groups of Ss. The judgments and ratings from both experiments were compared to each other and to a set of objective measures of the forms by a series of multivariate statistical techniques. It was found that three primary attributes, orientation, convexity-concavity, and curvature, accounted for the perceptual reports, but the manner in which the attributes were used differed for different response procedures and for the same response on different occasions.     

Punishment of Schedule-Induced Drinking by Lick-Dependent Delays in Food Presented at Different Frequencies

The Psychological Record - Three food-deprived rats (80% of their free-feeding weights) developed schedule-induced drinking after being exposed to a multiple fixed-time schedule (FT 60-s FT 18-s)...     

Relationships between factors of intelligence and brain volume

The recent explosion of studies aimed at determining the biological basis of intelligence has revealed that cognitive ability has a strong biological substrate. This study expands on this literature by examining the relation between cognitive ability and MRI-measured brain volume and head size in a sample of adult male siblings recruited from the London, Ontario community in Canada. It was found that brain volume correlated with IQ at 0.35 (P<0.01), thus replicating the results of past studies. Corrections for restriction of range and attenuation in both this and past studies suggest that the population value of the brain volume-IQ correlation is closer to 0.50. Head size variables, with one exception, also showed the expected positive correlations with IQ. The results of a vector analysis on factor scores indicated that the more highly g-loaded a test was the more highly it correlated with brain volume (r=0.59, P<0.01). The sum of the data suggested that although brain volume (and to a lesser extent, head size) is predictive of g, fluid ability, and memory, it does not predict crystallized ability. Unexpectedly, the higher the spatial imaging loading of a test, the less its correlation with brain volume (vector correlation=−0.84, P<0.001).