Computational Evidence That Frequency Trajectory Theory Does Not Oppose But Emerges From Age‐of‐Acquisition Theory

According to the age‐of‐acquisition hypothesis, words acquired early in life are processed faster and more accurately than words acquired later. Connectionist models have begun to explore the influence of the age/order of acquisition of items (and also their frequency of encounter). This study attempts to reconcile two different methodological and theoretical approaches (proposed by Lambon Ralph & Ehsan, 2006 and Zevin & Seidenberg, 2002 ) to age‐limited learning effects. The current simulations extend the findings reported by Zevin and Seidenberg (2002) that have shown that frequency trajectories (FTs) have limited and specific effects on word‐reading tasks. Using the methodological framework proposed by Lambon Ralph and Ehsan (2006) , which makes it possible to compare word‐reading and picture‐naming tasks in connectionist networks, we were able to show that FT has a considerable influence on age‐limited learning effects in a picture naming task. The findings show that when the input–output mappings are arbitrary (simulating picture naming tasks), the links formed by the network become entrenched as a result of early experience and that subsequent variations in frequency of exposure of the items have only a minor impact. In contrast, when the mappings between input‐output are quasi‐systematic or systematic (simulating word‐reading tasks), the training of new items was generalized and resulted in the suppression of age‐limited learning effects. At a theoretical level, we suggest that FT, which simultaneously takes account of time and the level of exposure across time, represents a more precise and modulated measure compared with the order of introduction of the items and may lead to innovative hypotheses in the field of age‐limited learning effects.     

Spiritual Maturity and Wholeness – A Concept Whose Time Has Come

SUMMARY

Legal advocates, clergy and politicians have all been challenged by the concept of the separation of church and state since the first European set foot on the American continent. Two schools of thought have been developed for this unique problem in the United States. Roger Williams took the position that there needs to be a separation of church and state in order to keep the church pure from the politics and every day work of the state. Thomas Jefferson, who is often attributed with developing this concept, took the position that the need for this separation was to protect the state from the church. Both positions often get articulated as if they are one concept in the United States. However, they are very different. This debate has carried itself in the current millennium into the work of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives as well as the legislation known as Charitable Choice.     

Refining the dual‐process theory of preference construction: A reply to Gawronski,Martin and Sloman,Stanovich, and Wegener and Chien

Our target article proposed a dual-system framework for understanding context and task effects in choice. In this summary, we address the major points made by each set of commentators and, building on their suggestions, define a more precise dual-system theory of preference construction. We also propose some avenues for future research on a broader dual-system approach to understanding choice.     

Sadness and consumption

Sadness influences consumption, leading individuals to pay more to acquire new goods and to eat more unhealthy food than they would otherwise. These undesirable consumption effects of sadness can occur without awareness, thus representing more than just conscious attempts at “retail therapy.” In an experiment with real food consumption, the present paper examines the hypothesis that sadness' impact on consumption could be attenuated if the choice context counteracted appraisals of helplessness and enhanced a sense of individual control. Results revealed that: (1) sadness elevates self-reports of helplessness in response to the emotion-inducing situation, (2) helplessness mediates the sadness–consumption effect, and (3) inducing a sense of control (via choice) attenuates sadness' effect.     

Personality,epistemology and psychotherapists' choice of theoretical model: a review and analysis

This article reviews a body of research, empirical and speculative, describing variables thought to determine a psychotherapist's choice of theoretical orientation. The review finds two types of variables (1) the influences of training, colleagues, supervisors, initial clinical experience and (2) the effects of personality traits and epistemological values, beliefs and philosophy. The weight of evidence from the reviewed studies of cognitive behavioural/behavioural and psychodynamic psychotherapists, and an analysis of the data, suggests that personality and epistemic traits are significantly involved in orientation choice. This has implications for training, practitioner and client outcome satisfaction, and understanding the poor communication that exists between these two major orientations.     

Music Sight-Reading Skill in Flute Players

This article reports an investigation of factors related to music sight-reading skill. Flute players (N = 30) performed six tasks: (a) sight-reading standard music, (b) sight-reading random music, (c) recall of music notation, (d) recall of letters, (e) eye-performance span, and (f) choice reaction time for playing individual notes. Sight-reading ability was significantly correlated with eye-performance span (.85), and music recall (.80), but not with letter recall (-.39), thus replicating results of previous work with pianists. Sight-reading skill was correlated with choice reaction time to notes (- .54), and there was a significant partial correlation between sight-reading skill and eye-performance span, with music-reading ability controlled. These results are consistent with the idea that increased skill involves both the speed-up of individual processing stages, and an increase in the degree to which these stages operate in parallel.     

Psychologically Distinct Classes of Motor Behavior Inferred from Individual Differences: Evidence from a Sequential Stacking Task

A number of studies have demonstrated regularities in how individuals select and perform single object manipulations, but little work has been concerned with the manipulation of multiple objects. To this end, the authors asked participants to stack a set of linearly spaced containers onto various goal locations. Our aim was to determine whether participants adopted specific strategies to complete this task. We focused on whether the distance between the objects, the goal location of the objects, or both, determined the classes of movement sequences that individuals used to perform the task. The results showed that some individuals tended to use one hand for lifting and releasing the containers whereas other individuals tended to use both hands for lifting and releasing the containers. Those participants who tended to use one hand varied which hand was used according to the goal location of the containers but not the distance between containers. The emergence of these individual differences provides a new basis for inferring psychologically distinct classes of motor behavior.     

Time Course of Tactile Gating in a Reach-to-Grasp and Lift Task

Humans’ sensory systems are bombarded by myriad events every moment of our lives. Thus, it is crucial for sensory systems to choose and process critical sensory events deemed important for a given task and, indeed, those that affect survival. Tactile gating is well known, and defined as a reduced ability to detect and discriminate tactile events before and during movement. Also, different locations of the effector exhibit different magnitudes of sensitivity changes. The authors examined that time course of tactile gating in a reaching and grasping movement to characterize its behavior. Tactile stimulators were attached to the right and left mid-forearms and the right index finger and fifth digit. When participants performed reach-to-grasp and lift targets, tactile acuity decreased at the right forearm before movement onset (F. L. Colino, G. Buckingham, D. T. Cheng, P. van Donkelaar, &; G. Binsted, 2014 Colino, F. L., Buckingham, G., Cheng, D. T., van Donkelaar, P., &; Binsted, G. (2014). Tactile Gating in a reaching and grasping task. Physiology Reports, 2(3), e00267.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). However, tactile sensitivity at the right index finger decreased by nearly 20% contrary to expectations. This result reflecting that there may be an additional source acting to reduce inhibition related to tactile gating. Additionally, sensitivity improved as movement end approached. Collectively, the present results indicate that predictive and postdictive mechanisms strongly influence tactile gating.     

An Outline of a Theory of Action Systems

It is argued that the traditional psychological construal of the distinction between central (“open loop”) and peripheral (“closed loop”) neural processes is no longer tenable. A review of the relevant psychobiological research on the control of movement shows that both the central-peripheral dichotomy and the distinction between sensory and motor systems derived from that dichotomy are incompatible with what is known about the processes underlying action. Based on experimental and comparative data, a new theory of action is proposed. The basic concept of this new theory is the action system: Unlike motor systems, action systems involve sensory as well as motor processes; action systems are not organized into response hierarchies, but rather in coalitional structures of adjustable movements and postures. The phylogeny of action systems is discussed, and the eight most important action systems are distinguished in terms of their evolved distinctive functions. The difficulties of developing a taxonomy of actions for functionally specific types of behavior made up of units that can be controlled is resolved by showing how kinds of action are differentiated by the kinds of affordances their components help to realize.