Integrity of Literature on Expressed Emotion and Relapse in Patients with Schizophrenia Verified by a p‐Curve Analysis

There is growing concern that much published research may have questionable validity due to phenomena such as publication bias and p‐hacking. Within the psychiatric literature, the construct of expressed emotion (EE) is widely assumed to be a reliable predictor of relapse across a range of mental illnesses. EE is an index of the family climate, measuring how critical, hostile, and overinvolved a family member is toward a mentally ill patient. No study to date has examined the evidential value of this body of research as a whole. That is to say, although many studies have shown a link between EE and symptom relapse, the integrity of the literature from which this claim is derived has not been tested. In an effort to confirm the integrity of the literature of EE predicting psychiatric relapse in patients with schizophrenia, we conducted a p‐curve analysis on all known studies examining EE (using the Camberwell Family Interview) to predict psychiatric relapse over a 9‐ to 12‐month follow‐up period. Results suggest that the body of literature on EE is unbiased and has integrity, as there was a significant right skew of p‐values, a nonsignificant left skew of p‐values, and a nonsignificant test of flatness. We conclude that EE is a robust and valuable predictor of symptom relapse in schizophrenia.     

A family history of psychopathology modifies the decrement in cognitive control among patients with HIV/AIDS

The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of HIV/AIDS on cognitive control and to determine if the effect is modified by familial risk for either alcohol or mood disorders. Sixty HIV-1 seropositive and 75 seronegative volunteers were assigned to four subgroups defined by the crossing of a diagnosis of alcohol dependence in the biological father with diagnoses of either major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder in the biological mother. Cognitive control was evaluated during a task in which subjects were asked, on occasion, to inhibit the impulse to respond in the same physical direction as the stimulus and instead respond in the opposite direction. Event related brain potentials and measures of task performance were recorded. The task evoked a negative shift in a late slow potential (SP) as well as an increment in reaction time when cognitive control was challenged. An important finding was an interaction between trial type, HIV/AIDS, and family history: HIV/AIDS and family history each attenuated the negative shift in the SP to such a degree that no further attenuation could be accomplished by the other. The effects of familial risk for alcohol versus mood disorders were equivalent. In conclusion, the absence of change in a late slow potential following a challenge to cognitive control may represent a marker of familial risk for both externalizing and internalizing disorders. The effects of familial risk on this slow potential are sufficiently robust as to attenuate the effects of HIV/AIDS on the probable generators of the response: the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex.     

Electrophysiological Evidence of Different Interpretative Strategies in Irony Comprehension

We explore the hypothesis that induction of holistic or analytic strategies influences comprehension and processing of highly contextualized expressions of ordinary language, such as irony. Twenty undergraduate students were asked to categorize as coherent or incoherent a group of sentences. Each sentence completed a previous story, so that they could be ironical, literal or nonsensical endings. Participants were asked to evaluate whether each sentence was coherent or incoherent. Half of them were initially instructed to consider whether the sentences made sense (holistic condition); the other half were instructed to consider whether the sentences were congruent or incongruent (analytic condition). Behavioral responses and Event Related Potentials were registered during the experiment. Both behavioral and electrophysiological results allow clearly distinguishing between the holistic and the analytic strategies. The fact that the same set of stimuli elicits different ERP waveforms, depending on the strategy with which they are analyzed, suggests that different cognitive processes and different areas of the brain are operating in each case.     

How iconic gestures enhance communication: an ERP study

EEG was recorded as adults watched short segments of spontaneous discourse in which the speaker's gestures and utterances contained complementary information. Videos were followed by one of four types of picture probes: cross-modal related probes were congruent with both speech and gestures; speech-only related probes were congruent with information in the speech, but not the gesture; and two sorts of unrelated probes were created by pairing each related probe with a different discourse prime. Event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by picture probes were measured within the time windows of the N300 (250-350 ms post-stimulus) and N400 (350-550 ms post-stimulus). Cross-modal related probes elicited smaller N300 and N400 than speech-only related ones, indicating that pictures were easier to interpret when they corresponded with gestures. N300 and N400 effects were not due to differences in the visual complexity of each probe type, since the same cross-modal and speech-only picture probes elicited N300 and N400 with similar amplitudes when they appeared as unrelated items. These findings extend previous research on gesture comprehension by revealing how iconic co-speech gestures modulate conceptualization, enabling listeners to better represent visuo-spatial aspects of the speaker's meaning.     

正性情绪诱导下的自我参照加工：来自ERPs的证据

采用事件相关电位考察正性情绪对自我参照加工程度效应的影响。实验采用图片启动范式, 先呈现情绪图片, 然后再呈现自我参照刺激。实验发现, 在P2上, 中性情绪条件比正性情绪条件激发了更大的波幅, 高自我相关的刺激比其它刺激诱发了更短的P2潜伏期; 在N2上, 高自我相关名字比中等自我相关名字和非自我相关名字诱发了更小的N2的波幅和更长潜伏期; 在P3上, 高自我相关名字比中等自我相关名字和非自我相关名字诱发了更大的P3波幅, 中等自我相关名字比非自我相关名字诱发了更大的P3波幅。实验结果表明, 人类大脑对正性情绪刺激的加工可能是不敏感的。无论在正性情绪启动还是中性启动的影响下, 自我参照加工都能展现出稳定的特征, 而且高自我相关的刺激会得到更为深入和精细的加工, 表现出自我参照加工的程度效应。     

自恋人格调节信任博弈的结果评价

自恋人格个体表现出亲社会行为的减少和对他人的反馈敏感。信任是人类社会互动行为的基础,自恋人格特质可能影响他们的信任决策。为了探究自恋水平如何影响信任博弈中结果评价的大脑活动,本研究采用事件相关电位技术记录了38名被试完成单次信任博弈时的脑电波。行为结果发现相对高自恋者的信任选择率显著低于相对低自恋者的信任选择率。脑电结果表明,相对高自恋者信任损失反馈减互惠获利反馈所得的FRN差异波(d FRN)显著地大于相对低自恋者,并且相对高自恋者结果评价诱发的P300波幅显著地大于相对低自恋者。本研究提供了自恋人格个体信任博弈中结果评价的初步神经电生理学证据。     

儿童青少年大脑认知功能事件相关电位P_（300）的年龄特征

从发展心理学的角度．对幼儿到大学六个年龄组的儿童青少年进行了事件相关电位Ｐ_（３００）测定．结果发现：反映大脑认知功能的事件相关电位Ｐ_（３００）各成分随着年龄增长而发展的趋势十分明显,从而进一步说明了认知发展的特点与大脑高级神经系统活动功能发展特点的密切关系。     

从社会认知神经科学角度谈自尊研究

文章从社会认知神经科学的角度对自尊研究的发展进行简要述评。影像学的证据表明,自尊与海马的体积相关;电生理学的证据表明,自尊与P300成分的激活有关。文章最后提出,对自尊神经机制的研究要尊重自尊概念的复杂性,同时要达到提高个体自尊水平的最终目的。     

COMT多态性与连续3-back任务相关ERP的关联研究

不同COMT基因型被试者,进行连续3-back任务测试,以探讨被试者工作记忆能力的变化情况。抽取21名不同COMT基因型被试者,观测被试者在连续工作记忆任务中记忆能力和脑电生理的差异。结果表明,Val/Met基因型被试者P300波幅显著低于Val/Val型,Met/Met型被试者的P300波幅居中。Val/Met型被试者显示了最差记忆任务成绩,被试者的P300波幅和记忆能力相关。COMT基因多态性和3-back任务事件相关电位相关联,工作记忆任务的灵活性和稳定性及其交互作用受到遗传因素的调控。     

Students’ knowledge about the value of discussions for teaching and learning

We are particularly interested in looking at teaching and learning from students perspectives. Focussed interviews and written responses from a number of linked investigations with middle-school and tertiary students highlighted that students perceive discussion to be a valuable teaching -- learning technique. This paper provides text extracts, organised into six key themes, to illustrate students understandings about how discussion helps them to learn. We conclude that, across the whole participant group, knowledge about the various potentials of discussion for learning is wide ranging. However, at the individual level, some students perspectives appear limited. We propose that specific attention to enhancing students pedagogical knowledge about techniques such as discussion should accompany subject matter instruction.