Spontaneous translation and language mixing in a polyglot aphasic

The literature on language mixing in polyglot aphasics is reviewed and a case report of a patient with spontaneous translation is presented. A microgenetic model of language processing provides an interpretive framework for language mixing and spontaneous translation as symptoms of polyglot aphasia. It is suggested that language mixing reflects a deficit at the linguistic level while spontaneous translation reflects a deficit at the prelinguistic level of language processing. A hypothesis about the organization of multiple languages in a single speaker is proposed.     

The effect of semantic plausibility on sentence comprehension in aphasia

Tested were 50 aphasic patients (16 Broca's, 15 Wernicke's, 10 global, and 9 amnesic), 13 nonaphasic brain damaged patients, and 13 normal adults to evaluate the effect of semantic plausibility on sentence comprehension in active affirmative declarative sentences with a sentence-picture matching task. A plate of two pictures was provided for each stimulus sentence, and the subject was required to choose the picture corresponding to the sentence presented auditorily. Two types of sentences in terms of plausibility were prepared, i.e., probable sentences (P) describing common events in our daily life and improbable sentences (I) describing rare events. There were four kinds of combinations of a picture with the other to make a correct/(distractor) set, i.e., P/(P), P/(I), I/(P), and I/(I) constructions. The results indicated that probable sentences were more comprehensible than improbable sentences, and that the effect of semantic plausibility did not differ among aphasic types.     

Heart rate variability and respiratory concomitants of visual and nonvisual “imagery” and cognitive style

Attention to visual and nonvisual imagery, elicited by an imagery questionnaire, was studied using both within and between subjects analyses of cardiac and respiratory parameters. Visual imagery was accompanied by more regular interbeat heart rate (HR) and shorter, more stable respiratory cycles than nonvisual imagery. “Visually-oriented” thinkers (visualizers), identified by a word association test, manifested less overall variability in HR than “verbally-oriented” thinkers (verbalizers), as well as less variable HR and respiratory period during visual imagery. Visual and nonvisual imagery differed in HR variability for verbalizers and in respiration period for visualizers. The results are discussed in terms of the concepts of attention deployment, “mental load”, cerebral asymmetry, and stylistic personality differences in cognitive functioning.     

Cardiac-somatic changes during a simple reaction time task: A developmental study

The relationship during a simple reaction time task between heart rate and four measures of task irrelevant somatic activity was evaluated in four age groups of children, i.e., 4-, 5-, 8-, and 10-year-olds and young adults, in order to evaluate further a hypothesized coupling of cardiac and somatic activity. At all age levels, phasic decreases in both heart rate and somatic activity coincident with performance were found with the magnitude of the effect increasing with age only on three somatic measures. However, tonic levels of both heart rate and somatic activity decreased with age. Performance on the reaction task was found to be inversely related to the age-related phasic somatic effects as well as age-related tonic heart rate and somatic activity.     

Cognitive tuning and receptivity to novel information

An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that cognitive tuning would cause receivers to be more receptive to novel than to familiar information, compared to transmitters. The information receptivity of transmitters and receivers was contrasted against a control group. The influence of the source and audience, possible limits on the influence of the tuning set, was also explored. Finally, amount of variance controlled by cognitive tuning, personality variables and information utility were examined.While the results strongly support the prediction that transmitters prefer familiar information, receivers and control group subjects did not significantly differ in preferences for novel information. The anticipated expertise of source or audience had no influence on information receptivity. Among the three sets of variables used, the greatest amount of variance was explained by information utility, followed by cognitive tuning and personality measures, though all three variables controlled a significant amount of variance.     

The efficacy of progressive relaxation in systematic desensitization and a proposal for an alternative competitive response--the relaxation response.

The theoretical basis of systematic desensitization is reciprocal inhibition in which an alternative, competitive response to anxiety is conditioned to arousal-producing, phobic stimuli. Abbreviated training in progressive relaxation is believed to serve as a competitive response to anxiety by decreasing autonomic nervous system activity. However, physiologic studies of progressive relaxation have not substantiated that its practice is associated with such decreased autonomic activity. Consequently, the use of progressive relaxation has been a confounding factor in the determination of the function of reciprocal inhibition in systematic desensitization. To confirm and refine the theoretical constructs of reciprocal inhibition, it is necessary to test the effects of a response which is competitive to the anxiety response. Such a response may be the relaxation response which is characterized by physiologic changes consistent with decreased autonomic nervous system activity. Derived from meditational practices, techniques which ehcit the relaxation response incorporate the element of focused attention which has been implicated as a critical factor in systematic desensitization. Thus, the use of the relaxation response should be a more appropriate method than progressive relaxation if the therapeutic usefulness of systematic desensitization is indeed due to reciprocal inhibition.     

Choice behavior of rats searching for food

The experiments reported here were designed to determine if several general principles drawn from appetitively motivated discrimination experiments in standard laboratory apparatus might also apply to food-searching behavior under more naturalistic conditions. Food-deprived rats searched for food in an open observation area. Choice behavior after finding food and after not finding food was analyzed. In all cases, not finding food in a possible food location was sufficient to direct subsequent search behavior away from that location for the remainder of the day's test. Finding food had variable effects on subsequent choice behavior, depending on the number of locations that actually contained food and the number of days food was in one location before being shifted to another. The results indicate that the rat's search strategy was influenced by food availability and distribution in ways that are predicted by discrimination learning experiments.