Hemispheric differences in strong versus weak semantic priming: evidence from event-related brain potentials

GOALS: Research with lateralized word presentation has suggested that strong ("close") and weak ("remote") semantic associates are processed differently in the left and right cerebral hemispheres [e.g., Beeman, M. j., & Chiarello, C. (1998). Complementary right- and left-hemisphere language comprehension. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 7(1), 2-8]. Recently, this hypothesis has been challenged [Coney, J. (2002). The effect of associative strength on priming in the cerebral hemispheres. Brain and Cognition, 50(2), 234-241]. We predicted that foveal presentation of strong and weak associates would elicit different patterns of hemispheric activity, as indexed by high-density event-related brain potentials (ERPs), and that source localization of the scalp potentials would help clarify the nature of hemispheric contributions to semantic organization. METHODS: 128-channel ERPs were recorded in two experiments as subjects performed a lexical decision task. Word trials were equally divided into strongly related, weakly related, and unrelated word pairs. All words were foveally presented. SOA was 800 ms in Experiment 1, and 200 ms in Experiment 2. RESULTS: Topographic analyses revealed medial frontal (MFN) and parietal (N400/LPC) effects for both strong and weak associates. Between approximately 450 and 550 ms, the magnitude of the N400/LPC effect indicated priming for both strong and weak associates over left parietal sites, while priming over right parietal sites was restricted to strongly related word pairs. During this interval, spatiotemporal source modeling showed that these scalp effects were best accounted for by ipsilateral sources in the medial temporal lobe. The observed pattern of asymmetries for strong versus weak associates is not consistent with certain proposals regarding the complementarity of right- and left-hemisphere contributions to semantics. It is, however, consistent with findings from visual half-field studies (Hasbrooke and Chiarello, 1998). We discuss the relevance of these results for theories of hemispheric asymmetry and meta-control in lexical semantic access.     

Right hemisphere metaphor processing? Characterizing the lateralization of semantic processes

Previous laterality studies have implicated the right hemisphere in the processing of metaphors, however it is not clear if this result is due to metaphoricity per se or another aspect of semantic processing. Three divided visual field experiments varied metaphorical and literal sentence familiarity. We found a right hemisphere advantage for unfamiliar sentences containing distant semantic relationships, and a left hemisphere advantage for familiar sentences containing close semantic relationships, regardless of whether sentences were metaphorical or literal. This pattern of results is consistent with theories postulating predominantly left hemisphere processing of close semantic relationships and predominantly right hemisphere processing of distant semantic relationships.     

Trait dissociation and commission errors in memory reports of emotional events

In 2 studies we examined whether trait dissociation is related to spontaneous commission errors (reports of events that did not occur) in free recall of emotional events. We also explored whether the functional locus of the dissociation-commission link is related to repeated retrieval or shallow encoding. In Experiment 1 participants were exposed to a staged incident and were repeatedly asked to add more information to their written accounts of the event. Dissociation levels were related to commission errors, indicating that people who report many dissociative experiences tend to make more commission errors. However, it was not the case that the overall increase in commission errors over successive retrieval attempts was typical for high dissociative participants. In Experiment 2 participants saw a video fragment of a severe car accident. During the video, half the participants performed a dual task, and the other half did not. Participants performing the dual task made more commission errors than controls, but this effect was not more pronounced in those with high trait dissociation scores. These studies show that there is a link between dissociation and spontaneous commission errors in memory reports of emotional events, but the functional locus of this link remains unclear.     

The Value of Achievements

This article gives an account of what makes achievements valuable. Although the natural thought is that achievements are valuable because of the product, such as a cure for cancer or a work of art, I argue that the value of the product of an achievement is not sufficient to account for its overall value. Rather, I argue that achievements are valuable in virtue of their difficulty. I propose a new perfectionist theory of value that acknowledges the will as a characteristic human capacity, and thus holds that the exercise of the will, and therefore difficulty, is intrinsically valuable.     

Examining social-cognitive determinants of intention and physical activity among black and white adolescent girls using structural equation modeling.

Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate components within the theories of reasoned action (TRA), planned behavior (TPB), and self-efficacy (SET) for understanding moderate and vigorous physical activity among 1,797 Black and White adolescent girls. Modest to strong support was provided for components of TPB and SET; weak support was provided for components of TRA. Perceived behavioral control was related to vigorous physical activity. Self-efficacy was related to moderate and vigorous physical activity, and it accounted for the effect of intention on physical activity. The observed relationships were similar between Black and White girls. Self-efficacy and perceived behavioral control are independent influences on physical activity among Black and White adolescent girls and warrant study as potential mediators in physical activity interventions.     

The association between gender scale measures and gender clustering in recall

Sex Roles - Following the study of gender clustering in recall by S. L. Bem [(1981), “Gender Schema Theory: A Cognitive Account of Sex-Typing,” Psychological Review,Vol. 88, pp....     

Comparison of two aggression inventories

Two recently developed questionnaire measures of aggression, the Aggression Questionnaire [Buss and Perry (1992; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 63:452–459]; and the Aggression Inventory [Gladue (1991a); Psychological Reports 68:675–684], were administered to a British sample (N=320) of men and women undergraduates. Both questionnaires contain subscales measuring physical and verbal aggression; the other scales of the Aggression Questionnaire measure anger and hostility, and those of the Aggression Inventory measure impulsiveness and avoidance of aggression. The factor structure of scales were assessed using confirmatory factor analysis. The interrelations of the subscales were calculated in both cases: anger was independently related to verbal and physical aggression and to hostility on the Aggression Questionnaire; impulsivity, and verbal and physical aggression were associated on the Aggression Inventory. Sex differences were largest on the two physical subscales, of lesser magnitude but still significantly different for the two verbal subscales, but absent for anger and hostility. This supports the hypothesis that sex differences in aggression are larger for more escalated forms of aggression. The physical and verbal subscales of the two questionnaires were each highly correlated with one another and the impulsive subscale of the Aggression Inventory highly correlated with the anger subscale of the Aggresion Questionnaire. Thus, two aggression questionnaires developed in the US not only produce similar associations between subscales and sex differences among a British undergraduate sample, but also show high correlations between their respective scales. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Retrograde Enhancement of Human Kinesthetic Memory by Alcohol: Consolidation or Protection against Interference?

Alcohol intake is known to impair memory in animals and humans. However, five studies reported that “medium” (0.05 ml/kg body weight) to “high” (1.0 ml/kg body weight) doses of alcohol improved memory when drunk immediately after initial learning of verbal or visual material. It was proposed that alcohol brought about this retroactive facilitation either through enhanced consolidation of memory traces or by protecting against retroactive interference. The present double blind study compared the performances of an alcohol and a placebo group on a kinesthetic memory task before alcohol or placebo intake and at retest 1 h after consumption. A second experiment was identical to the first except that all subjects carried out two trials on a T maze in the hour between testing and retesting. The alcohol group in the first experiment performed significantly better than the placebo group at retest (p< .05) but this was not the case in the second experiment. Alcohol therefore enhanced performance on the kinesthetic memory task in the first experiment but may not have protected against the moderate interference from the T maze in the second. The low levels of alcohol could have had a stimulant effect on trace consolidation, perhaps via raised blood glucose levels.     

Children's Participation in Genetic Prevalence Research: Influences on Enrollment and Reports of Parent Satisfaction1

The present studies were designed to evaluate methodological influences on the efficiency of genetic-screening studies, specifically when enrolling preschoolers in a prevalence study of the fragile X full mutation. The studies include replication of earlier findings with school-age children, which showed that (a) a higher enrollment rate occurred when the study was introduced to a parent by a physician (73.7%) versus by a research assistant (58.7%), and (b) parents initially undecided about participating were more likely to eventually enroll if they had completed enrollment forms at the time of recruitment, In-person recruitment led to higher enrollment rates (60%) than did recruitment by mail (36.8%). Feedback from parents indicated the importance of emphasizing the optional nature of participation in screening studies.     

benefits of the business college internship: a research review

The authors explore the research findings regarding the effectiveness of business internships on several issues: enhanced employment opportunities, realistic expectations of interns, satisfaction with the internship experience, internship prerequisites, and internship mentoring. Overall, the internship experience was found to be beneficial.