Exploring classical conditioning for strengthening the links between semantic and lexical representations in pure anomia: Preliminary findings from a single case study

The same language symptom might arise at different functional loci in people with aphasia. Therefore, it is plausible that different therapeutic interventions should be adopted to approach the same difficulties in different patients. Although this point of view is still widely accepted, recently the focus has shifted from the functional locus of a rehabilitative intervention to the mechanisms of action underlying the relearning process. We maintain that both aspects should be taken into account when programming a rehabilitative intervention; furthermore, investigating relearning mechanisms might shed new light on the functional architecture of the disrupted processes. Here, we investigated, in a single case study, whether classical conditioning was a suitable relearning paradigm for targeting word‐finding difficulties in pure anomia, that is in a patient with an impairment in accessing intact output lexical representations from a spared semantic system. Using a word‐repetition task on picture presentation, we contrasted a condition in which the stimulus onset asynchrony between word and picture stimuli was well suited to produce classical conditioning with a condition in which repetition training could not benefit from this learning mechanism. Only classical conditioning training exerted a significant, long‐lasting effect on our patient's naming skill. Tentative implications of our results for the functional architecture of single‐word processing are discussed.     

非平衡双语者Stroop效应的时间进程

运用Stroop任务的SOA范式,考察中-英双语者干扰和易化效应的时间进程及程度,比较双语者认知控制和词汇通达的差异。结果发现,在中文条件下,干扰效应的峰值发生在SOA为-200ms时,在英文条件下,最大的干扰效应发生在SOA为-300 ms时,由此可见,干扰效应时间出现了负转换。在英文条件下,-400ms SOA引发了最大的易化效应,而中文条件下最大的易化效应发生在-300ms SOA。该研究表明,双语者没有表现出认知优势,在Stroop任务中受到了词汇通达的影响。     

Mechanisms of Reference Frame Selection in Spatial Term Use: Computational and Empirical Studies

Previous studies have shown that multiple reference frames are available and compete for selection during the use of spatial terms such as “above.” However, the mechanisms that underlie the selection process are poorly understood. In the current paper we present two experiments and a comparison of three computational models of selection to shed further light on the nature of reference frame selection. The three models are drawn from different areas of human cognition, and we assess whether they may be applied to a reference frame selection by examining their ability to account for both existing and new empirical data comprising acceptance rates, response times, and response time distributions. These three models are the competitive shunting model (Schultheis, 2009 ), the leaky competing accumulator (LCA) model (Usher & McClelland, 2001 ), and a lexical selection model (Howard, Nickels, Coltheart, & Cole‐Virtue, 2006 ). Model simulations show that only the LCA model satisfactorily accounts for the empirical observations. The key properties of this model that seem to drive its success are its bounded linear activation function, its number and type of processing stages, and its use of decay. Uncovering these critical properties has important implications for our understanding not only of spatial term use, in particular, but also of conflict and selection in human cognition more generally.     

Comparing Job Applicants to Non‐applicants Using an Item‐level Bifactor Model on the HEXACO Personality Inventory

The present study evaluated the ability of item‐level bifactor models (a) to provide an alternative explanation to current theories of higher order factors of personality and (b) to explain socially desirable responding in both job applicant and non‐applicant contexts. Participants (46% male; mean age = 42 years, SD = 11) completed the 200‐item HEXACO Personality Inventory‐Revised either as part of a job application (n = 1613) or as part of low‐stakes research (n = 1613). A comprehensive set of invariance tests were performed. Applicants scored higher than non‐applicants on honesty‐humility (d = 0.86), extraversion (d = 0.73), agreeableness (d = 1.06), and conscientiousness (d = 0.77). The bifactor model provided improved model fit relative to a standard correlated factor model, and loadings on the evaluative factor of the bifactor model were highly correlated with other indicators of item social desirability. The bifactor model explained approximately two‐thirds of the differences between applicants and non‐applicants. Results suggest that rather than being a higher order construct, the general factor of personality may be caused by an item‐level evaluative process. Results highlight the importance of modelling data at the item‐level. Implications for conceptualizing social desirability, higher order structures in personality, test development, and job applicant faking are discussed. Copyright © 2017 European Association of Personality Psychology     

具身化空间四卡问题解决的内容效应

利用三个实验探讨了左右、前后(实验1,2)具身化空间四卡问题解决的内容效应,同时探讨了条件推理后件类型(二分变量与连续性变量)对具身化内容效应的影响(实验3)。结果发现:(1)三个实验均表现出在自我参照空间四卡问题解决中,肯定前件和否定后件同时被选择的比率(P-Q)显著高于在经典四卡问题或环境参照空间四卡问题中P-Q卡被选择的比率,从而表现出四卡问题解决存在具身化内容效应;(2)具身化内容效应仅限于后件类型是二分变量的四卡问题;(3)在三个实验中被试均表现出"证真偏向"。具身化空间四卡问题解决的内容效应支持了条件推理领域特异性理论。     

Do age-related word retrieval difficulties appear (or disappear) in connected speech?

We conducted a comprehensive literature review of studies of word retrieval in connected speech in healthy aging and reviewed relevant aphasia research that could shed light on the aging literature. Four main hypotheses guided the review: (1) Significant retrieval difficulties would lead to reduced output in connected speech. (2) Significant retrieval difficulties would lead to a more limited lexical variety in connected speech. (3) Significant retrieval difficulties would lead to an increase in word substitution errors and in pronoun use as well as to greater dysfluency and hesitation in connected speech. (4) Retrieval difficulties on tests of single-word production would be associated with measures of word retrieval in connected speech. Studies on aging did not confirm these four hypotheses, unlike studies on aphasia that generally did. The review suggests that future research should investigate how context facilitates word production in old age.     

Coordination of multiple memory systems

On the basis of lesions of different brain areas, several neural systems appear to be important for processing information regarding different types of learning and memory. This paper examines the development of pharmacological and neurochemical approaches to multiple memory systems from past studies of modulation of memory formation. The findings suggest that peripheral neuroendocrine mechanisms that regulate memory processing may target their actions toward those neural systems most engaged in the processing of learning and memory. In addition, measurements of acetylcholine release in different memory systems reveals extensive interactions between memory systems, some cooperative and some competitive. These results imply that many neural systems, often characterized as relatively independent, may in fact interact extensively, blurring the dependencies of different memory tasks on specific neural systems.     

Translating multiple assessment techniques into an intervention selection model for classrooms

Translating current research to school-based clinical practice highlights issues not often encountered in laboratory settings. With the assistance of a consultant, teachers conducted functional analyses, brief multielement treatment comparisons, and controlled treatment evaluations under naturalistic conditions in the classroom. Teachers also provided input on treatment selection. Treatment integrity data collected throughout the study suggested that teachers implemented analyses and treatments with high integrity. The functional analysis outcomes combined with effectiveness and acceptability data led to the selection of interventions that reduced problem behavior in the classrooms for each of 3 children.     

“Procrustean Psychotherapy” or Differential Therapeutics: Teaching Treatment Selection to Trainees

Most clinical training programs and treatment facilities offer a relatively narrow range of treatment alternatives to their interns and therefore produce procrustean psychotherapists. One way to remedy this unfortunate situation is to emphasize the importance of differential therapeutics and treatment selection at the outset of their training program. A suggestion on how to accomplish this on a minor scale is described in this paper.