Learning spatial sequences in unilateral neglect

Brain-damaged patients with unilateral spatial neglect ignore aspects of the world located on the side opposite their lesion. In the present study we examined the performance of unilateral neglect patients (UN) on an SRT task in which a hybrid repeating sequence (21313) was used. We analyzed the patients' performance for each location separately as a function of the target's location in the trial preceding the response. The UN patients were severely limited in their learning of the sequence when compared to normal controls. In particular, they appeared to learn unique associations (21 and 13) but not ambiguous ones (31 and 32). We discuss two possible explanations for this phenomenon. The first is that UN patients show a deficit similar to that of normal subjects in dual task situations. The second is that the learning deficit is unique to spatial processing impairments of UN patients and is not directly related to research with normal population. We outline future research that may distinguish between these two explanations.     

Online Gatekeepers of History: Yahoo! Answers Community Discussing Holocaust Denial

Scholarly attention has been directed to the spread and scope of online Q&A services, including the level of activity, types and messages and the social roles the members of these sites occupy. A content analysis was conducted of the answers supplied in response to questions aimed at identifying the reasons for Holocaust denial in Yahoo! Answers. The replies denoted the existence of two main opposing online socio-cultural roles adopted by these participants: online gatekeepers of history and online gatekeepers of pseudo-history. The activity levels of those filling these roles and the community’s approval of their answers were also assessed. Future avenues of research regarding these two roles are suggested.     

Transitioning from the Battlefield to Home: An Innovative Program for Israeli Soldiers

Soldiers moving from the army to civilian life encounter significant challenges during this time of transition, both in Israel and internationally. Identifying this period of time as a critical one, the Peace of Mind program is an innovative intervention designed specifically to address the issues occurring therein. This unique model focuses on mental health and normalization of responses, as well as on the processing of traumatic experiences. It is based on the considerable experience at the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma in the fields of resilience building and trauma treatment. After reviewing the literature on returning soldiers, the model is described and several vignettes are presented.     

The questions lay interviewers ask

Two studies were conducted to determine the kinds of questions people formulate for testing a hypothesis about another's personality. One group of subjects tested the hypothesis that the interviewee was an extrovert; another group tested the hypothesis that the interviewee was an introvert. Still another group was not provided with a hypothesis; instead, this group was asked to discriminate between an extroverted and an introverted interviewee. All subjects were free to formulate any kind of questions they wished. Analysis of the content of the questions performed by independent judges revealed that the great majority of the questions formulated by all of the groups either presented a choice between extroverted and introverted features or were open-ended. The percentage of questions about features that were consistent with the hypothesis was not significantly greater than the percentage of questions about features that were inconsistent with the hypothesis. Furthermore, in all of the groups there were virtually no biased questions–questions that already assume that the hypothesis is true. Finally, the questions asked by subjects who entertained either the extrovert hypothesis or the introvert hypothesis were as diagnostic (as rated by independent judges) as were the questions asked by subjects whose task was to discriminate between extroverts and introverts. The results were shown to be consistent with the diagnosing strategy but not with the confirmatory strategy of information-gathering.     

Automatic comparisons of artificial digits never compared: learning linear ordering relations

In 2 experiments, participants were trained to perform magnitude decisions, that is, decide which of 2 arbitrary symbols in a pair represented a larger magnitude. The symbols corresponded to locations on an implicit linear scale. Training resulted in a Stroop-like size congruity effect when the participants had to decide which symbol in a pair was physically larger. This effect, showing automaticity of the processing of magnitude relations, was also obtained for pairs never encountered during practice. The implications of these findings for processing of magnitude relations and for theories of automaticity are discussed.