PROBLEMS OF INTERNALIZATION: A BUTTON IS A BUTTON IS—NOT

Analysts hope to help the patient internalize a relationship with the analyst that contrasts with the original archaic object relation. In this paper, the author describes particular difficulties in working with a patient whose defenses and anxieties were bulimic, her movement toward internalization inevitably undone. Several issues are considered: how does the nonsymbolizing patient come to internalize the analyst's understanding, and when this does not hold, what is the nature of the patient's subsequent methods of dispersal? When the patient can maintain connection to the analyst as a good object, even fleetingly, in the depressive position, the possibility of internalization and symbolic communication is increased.     

The effect of chronic low back pain on tactile suppression during back movements

The aim of the present study was to examine whether tactile suppression, the phenomenon whereby tactile perception is suppressed during movement, would occur in the context of back movements. Of particular interest, it was investigated if tactile suppression in the back would be attenuated in those suffering from chronic low back pain. Individuals with chronic low back pain (N = 30) and a matched control group (N = 24) detected tactile stimuli on three possible locations (back, arm, chest) while performing a back or arm movement, or no movement. We hypothesized that the movements would induce tactile suppression, and that this effect would be largest for low-intense stimuli on the moving body part. We further hypothesized that, during back movements, tactile suppression on the back would be less pronounced in the chronic low back pain group than in the control group. The results showed the expected general tactile suppression effects. The hypothesis of back-specific attenuation of tactile suppression in the chronic low back pain group was not supported. However, back-specific tactile suppression in the chronic low back pain group was less pronounced in those who performed the back movements more slowly.     

Auditory processing and sensory behaviours in children with autism spectrum disorders as revealed by mismatch negativity

Sensory dysfunctions may underlie key characteristics in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The current study aimed to investigate auditory change detection in children with ASD in order to determine event-related potentials to meaningless and meaningful speech stimuli. 11 high functioning boys with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (mean age = 13.0; SD = 1.08) and 11 typically developing boys (mean age = 13.7; SD = 1.5) participated in a mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm. Results revealed that compared to TD controls, the children with ASD showed significantly reduced MMN responses to both words and pseudowords in the frontal regions of the brain and also a significant reduction in their activation for words in the Central Parietal regions. In order to test the relationship between sensory processing and auditory processing, children completed the Adult and Adolescent Sensory Profile. As predicted, the children with ASD showed more extreme sensory behaviours and were significantly higher than their typically developing controls across three of the sensory quadrants (sensory sensitivity, low registration and sensory avoidance). Importantly, only auditory sensory sensitivity was able to account for the differences displayed for words in the frontal and central parietal regions when controlling for the effect of group, revealing an inverse relationship of the higher sensory sensitivity scores the less activation in response for words. We discuss how the expression of sensory behaviours in ASD may result in deficient neurophysiological mechanisms underlying automatic language processing.     

Variance misperception explains illusions of confidence in simple perceptual decisions

Confidence in a perceptual decision is a judgment about the quality of the sensory evidence. The quality of the evidence depends not only on its strength (‘signal’) but critically on its reliability (‘noise’), but the separate contribution of these quantities to the formation of confidence judgments has not been investigated before in the context of perceptual decisions. We studied subjective confidence reports in a multi-element perceptual task where evidence strength and reliability could be manipulated independently. Our results reveal a confidence paradox: confidence is higher for stimuli of lower reliability that are associated with a lower accuracy. We show that the subjects’ overconfidence in trials with unreliable evidence is caused by a reduced sensitivity to stimulus variability. Our results bridge between the investigation of miss-attributions of confidence in behavioral economics and the domain of simple perceptual decisions amenable to neuroscience research.     

The ecology of self-monitoring effects on memory of verbal productions: Does speaking to someone make a difference?

Experiments involving verbal self-monitoring show that memory for spoken words varies with types of sensory feedback: memory is better when words are spoken aloud than when they are lip-synched or covertly produced. Such effects can be explained by the Central Monitoring Theory (CMT) via a process that matches a forward model reflecting expected sensory effects of practiced forms and sensory information during speech. But CMT oversees factors of shared attention as achieved by speaker–listener gaze, and implies that sensory feedback may not affect the learning of unpracticed forms (non-words). These aspects of CMT were examined in two experiments of self-monitoring focusing on oro-sensory feedback. In Experiment 1 we show that varying feedback creates differential effects on memory for spoken words and that speaker–listener gaze alters these effects. Using non-words, Experiment 2 shows the absence of differential feedback effects. The results confirm CMT but suggest the need to refine the theory in terms of processes that mediate attention.     

Generalization of skills between operant control and discrimination of EEG alpha

While biofeedback is often said to increase self-control of physiological states by increasing awareness of their subjective correlates, relatively few studies have analyzed the relationship between control (standard biofeedback) and awareness (a discrimination paradigm). We hypothesized that the two skills would generalize and facilitate each other for 8–12 Hz EEG amplitude (alpha). Participants were given 7 sessions of training to either control or discriminate Pz alpha followed by 3 sessions of the other paradigm. Another group was given 7 sessions with time divided equally between the two types of training. The control-training first group showed significant generalization of skills to the discrimination task. However, the reverse was not true, and the combined task group did no better in either task than the other two groups. These results provide ambivalent support for the role of awareness in biofeedback, and suggest possible improvements in the discrimination paradigm.     

Reducing postural sway by concurrently performing challenging cognitive tasks

The present experiment varied cognitive complexity and sensory modality on postural control in young adults. Seventeen participants (23.71 ± 1.99 years) were instructed to stand feet together on a force platform while concurrently performing cognitive tasks of varying degrees of difficulty (easy, moderate and difficult). The cognitive tasks were presented both, auditorily and visually. Auditory tasks consisted of counting the occurrence of one or two letters and repeating a string of words. Visual tasks consisted of counting the occurrence of one or two numbers. With increasing cognitive demand, area of 95% confidence ellipse and ML sway variability was significantly reduced. The visual tasks reduced ML sway variability, whereas the auditory tasks increased COP irregularity. We suggest that these findings are primarily due to an increase in sensorimotor integration as a result of a shift in attentional focus.     

Crossmodal associations between flavoured milk solutions and musical notes

A number of crossmodal associations have now been described in the context of food evaluation, such as between tastes or flavours and musical notes (Crisinel & Spence, 2010b). Here we extend these findings by presenting flavoured milk solutions of varying fat contents. The participants in the present study matched a series of milk samples to musical notes. They chose both the pitch and the class of instrument that they felt was most appropriate for each sample. Participants also rated various features of the samples, such as their pleasantness, bitterness, or familiarity. Consistent associations between flavours and both pitch and instruments were confirmed. However, fat content did not influence either the pitch or instrument chosen, although it did have an effect on pleasantness and intensity ratings. These results demonstrate that flavour–sound associations are not restricted to basic tastes and flavours presented individually, but are still present in the context of more complex food stimuli. The present study opens the way for further investigations into the nature and characteristics of crossmodal associations (or correspondences) between more complex stimuli, both in the auditory and gustatory/olfactory modalities. This novel approach could lead to new insights into the representation of chemosensory stimuli in humans.     

Self-grounding visual,auditory and olfactory autobiographical memories

Given that autobiographical memory provides a cognitive foundation for the self, we investigated the relative importance of visual, auditory and olfactory autobiographical memories for the self. Thirty subjects, with a mean age of 35.4 years, participated in a study involving a three × three within-subject design containing nine different types of autobiographical memory cues: pictures, sounds and odors presented with neutral, positive and negative valences. It was shown that visual compared to auditory and olfactory autobiographical memories involved higher cognitive and emotional constituents for the self. Furthermore, there was a trend showing positive autobiographical memories to increase their proportion to both cognitive and emotional components of the self, from olfactory to auditory to visually cued autobiographical memories; but, yielding a reverse trend for negative autobiographical memories. Finally, and independently of modality, positive affective states were shown to be more involved in autobiographical memory than negative ones.