Evidence for a specific cross-modal association deficit in dyslexia: an electrophysiological study of letter-speech sound processing

The phonological deficit theory of dyslexia assumes that degraded speech sound representations might hamper the acquisition of stable letter-speech sound associations necessary for learning to read. However, there is only scarce and mainly indirect evidence for this assumed letter-speech sound association problem. The present study aimed at clarifying the nature and the role of letter-speech sound association problems in dyslexia by analysing event-related potentials (ERP) of 11-year-old dyslexic children to speech sounds in isolation or combined with letters, which were presented either simultaneously with or 200 ms before the speech sounds. Recent studies with normal readers revealed that letters systematically modulated speech sound processing in an early (mismatch negativity or MMN) and late (Late Discriminatory Negativity or LDN) time-window. The amplitude of the MMN and LDN to speech sounds was enhanced when speech sounds were presented with letters. The dyslexic readers in the present study, however, did not exhibit any early influences of letters on speech sounds even after 4 years of reading instruction, indicating no automatic integration of letters and speech sounds. Interestingly, they revealed a systematic late effect of letters on speech sound processing, probably reflecting the mere association of letters and speech sounds. This pattern is strongly divergent from that observed in age-matched normal readers, who showed both early and late effects, but reminiscent of that observed in beginner normal readers in a previous study (Froyen, Bonte, van Atteveldt & Blomert, 2009). The finding that the quality of letter-speech sound processing is directly related to reading fluency urges further research into the role of audiovisual integration in the development of reading failure in dyslexia.     

Are Collective Efficacy,Disorder and Social Support Associated with One’s Quality of Life? Evidence from the Multilevel SWING Study in Belgium

The current study assesses the evidence for the association between several neighborhood social processes (collective efficacy and social disorder) and two important individual-level quality of life indicators, which are avoidance behaviour and mental health. In addition to these neighborhood characteristics, the study also assesses the impact of an individual’s social support network on these two outcomes. Hypotheses are derived from a theoretical framework that integrates insights from social capital theory, collective efficacy theory and broken windows theory. Hypotheses about both neighborhood- and individual-level effects are tested by applying multilevel analyses to data from the ‘Social capital and Well-being In Neighborhoods in Ghent’ (SWING) survey of 2011, which consists of face-to-face interviews among the adult population in the second largest municipality of Belgium. Results suggest that individuals living in neighborhoods with lower levels of social trust and higher levels of disorder report more avoidance behaviour. Neighborhood effects on mental health are rather negligible. Individuals who experience more social support report both a better mental health and fewer avoidance behaviour.     

Cerebral asymmetries in sleep-dependent processes of memory consolidation

Preference for previously seen, unfamiliar objects reflects a memory bias on affective judgment, known as the “mere exposure effect” (MEE). Here, we investigated the effect of time, post-exposure sleep, and the brain hemisphere solicited on preference generalization toward objects viewed in different perspectives. When presented in the right visual field (RVF), which promotes preferential processing in the left hemisphere, same and mirrored exemplars were preferred immediately after exposure. MEE generalized to much dissimilar views after three nights of sleep. Conversely, object presentation in the left visual field (LVF), promoting right hemisphere processing, elicited a MEE for same views immediately after exposure, then for mirror views after sleep. Most importantly, sleep deprivation during the first post-exposure night, although followed by two recovery nights, extinguished MEE for all views in the LVF but not in the RVF. Besides demonstrating that post-exposure time and sleep facilitate the generalization process by which we integrate various representations of an object, our results suggest that mostly in the right hemisphere, sleep may be mandatory to consolidate the memory bias underlying affective preference. These interhemispheric differences tentatively call for a reappraisal of the role of cerebral asymmetries in wake- and sleep-dependent processes of memory consolidation.     

On the relative role of inhibition in age-related working memory decline

In this cross-sectional study, the mediating role of inhibition relative to speed in age-related working memory decline on different tasks was investigated. It was hypothesized that the role of inhibition is marginal or absent in a relatively "passive" or simple working memory task, but present in a relatively "active" or complex task in which the processing, rather than the storage capacity of working memory, is addressed. This hypothesis was tested with a structural equation model that was fitted on a subsample (N = 213) of the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS). The first trial of the Verbal Learning Test (VLT) served as the passive test and the Self-Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (SPASAT) as the active test. Results showed that the role of inhibition was absent in predicting VLT performance, whereas it was comparable to the role of speed in predicting SPASAT performance. These findings suggest a relative, task-dependent role of inhibition in explaining age-related memory decline.     

Development of an Organizational Diversity Needs Analysis (ODNA) Instrument

Researchers have suggested that diversity is beneficial in organizational settings under conditions in which managers can manage it effectively. The goal of the current paper was to develop a general, theoretically anchored measure of diversity needs. Such an instrument could be used to evaluate the existing diversity climate in an organization. Once the climate is assessed, managers can, if necessary, develop, implement, and assess a customized training program to improve their institution's diversity-management practices. A two-study approach is used to examine, determine, and test an eight-dimension instrument, designated the Organizational Diversity Needs Analysis survey.     

Why ‘punk’? Religion,anarchism and feminism in Pussy Riot’s Punk Prayer

Pussy Riot became world famous after their Punk Prayer in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. This paper looks at the religious and political statements of some Pussy Riot members against the background of their Russian context and explains why the politically radical left-wing, anarchist and feminist group used the form of a punk prayer to express protest. Elaborating the connection of punk, religion and politics, I argue that punk is a sub-culturally established medium to express leftist, anarchist and feminist political convictions and to offend the religious and political hierarchy, especially when performed in the country’s most prominent cathedral; and also that the religiosity of at least some of the Pussy Riot members is not an obstacle to using a punk performance as their form to express protest; by contrast, punk is an adequate medium for ‘liminoid’ anti-authoritarian forms of religion like that of Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. In Russia, a punk prayer is not only a way for young anarchistically orientated feminists to celebrate their lifestyle, but also one of the very few ways to get attention for their concerns.     

Feeling the ease: How the use of oral motor fluency changes in amnesia

The present study examined the evolution observed in amnesic patients’ use of motor fluency when making recognition memory decisions. In this experiment, 9 patients with amnesia and 18 matched controls were presented with two recognition memory tasks composed of 3 types of items: (1) natural words, (2) nonwords difficult to pronounce, and (3) nonwords easy to pronounce, the latter having been shown to be processed in a surprisingly fluent manner as long as participants can articulate them at a subvocal level (i.e., oral motor fluency). Our results provide evidence that the motor-movement manipulation was successful to induce a fluency effect. More specifically, data revealed that both amnesic patients and control participants showed a pattern of response consistent with the use of fluency as a cue to memory for studied items. However, only control participants relied on fluency to increase their rate of “yes” responses for unstudied items. These results suggest that patients with amnesia set a more conservative response criterion before relying on oral motor fluency, showing a pattern consistent with the idea that fluency is only used as a cue to memory when it exceeds a certain threshold. These findings are discussed in terms of adaptative metacognition strategies implemented by amnesic patients to reduce fluency-based memory errors as well as in terms of the variations that seem to occur in these strategies depending on the type of fluency that is experienced.     

Shift toward risk and heterogeneity of groups

Groups that were homogeneous and heterogeneous in terms of risk preferences were varied orthogonally across conditions of information exchange and discussion. The shift toward risk for heterogeneous group members was significantly larger than for homogeneous group members, who did not differ from a control condition. Further analyses showed that two possible alternative hypotheses, time differentials for discussion and regression toward the mean, were not tenable. The data support (a) the “at least as willing” interpretation of Brown's risk-as-value hypothesis, and (b) the necessity of constituting groups for heterogeneity and homogeneity with great care.     

BEHAVIORAL TECHNOLOGY AND BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY1

Applied behavior analysis, as a special case of behavioral technology, is discussed from the standpoint of behavioral ecology. The ecological orientation and its emphasis upon system-like interdependencies among environment, organism, and behavior are presented. The widespread possibilities for unintended effects of simple interventions provide the context for evaluating effective behavioral technology and calling for cooperation between the technologist and ecologist. Such cooperation, in the form of mutual and cooperative research efforts, should come naturally for the technologist and ecologist, because they share some fundamental values and assumptions, and each has much to offer the other. Several areas of such cooperative effort are spelled out.