Attentional control of the creation and retrieval of stimulus–response bindings

Two experiments studied the degree to which the creation and retrieval of episodic feature bindings is modulated by attentional control. Experiment 1 showed that the impact of bindings between stimulus and response features varies as a function of the current attentional set: only bindings involving stimulus features that match the current set affect behavior. Experiment 2 varied the time point at which new attentional sets were implemented—either before or after the processing of the to-be-integrated stimuli and responses. The time point did not matter, suggesting that the attentional set has no impact on feature integration proper but controls which features get access to and can thus trigger the retrieval of bindings.     

Intentional weighting: a basic principle in cognitive control

Human perception and action are tailored to the situation at hand, and thus reflect the current intentions of the perceiver/actor. We suggest that this is achieved by an “intentional-weighting” mechanism. It operates on the cognitive representations of the features of perceived events and produced event—perceptions and actions that is. Intention- or goal-related feature dimensions are weighted more strongly, so that feature values defined on the respective dimension have a stronger impact on information processing, and stimulus and response selection in particular. This article discusses what intentional weighting is, how such a mechanism may work, and how it relates to available research on attention, action planning, and executive control.     

Attention,instruction, and response representation

A two-dimensional Simon-type task was devised to investigate the impact of task requirements and explicit instructions on spatial action coding. Subjects performed actions that were defined on two spatial dimensions: horizontal (left-right) or vertical (top-bottom). The relevant stimulus feature was nonspatial but the stimuli varied on the horizontal and the vertical dimension, so that horizontal and vertical S-R compatibility effects could be measured separately. Implicit task requirements were manipulated by having the subjects perform an unrelated task before the Simon task—a task in which only one of the two spatial dimensions was relevant. Instructions were varied by describing the responses in the unrelated priming task and/or in the Simon task in spatial terms or by referring to nonspatial features of the response keys. Priming a particular dimension increased the Simon effect on that dimension, whereas instructions had no differential effect. These findings suggest that, first, drawing attention to a particular dimension leads to a stronger contribution to event representation of those features defined on that dimension (intentional weighting) and, second, that instructions do not affect action coding if the manipulation does not change the task goal.     

Amygdala–orbitofrontal connectivity predicts alcohol use two years later: a longitudinal neuroimaging study on alcohol use in adolescence

This study tested the relation between cortical–subcortical functional connectivity and alcohol consumption in adolescents using an accelerated longitudinal design, as well as normative developmental patterns for these measures. Participants between ages 8 and 27 completed resting‐state neuroimaging scans at two time points separated by two years (N = 274 at T1, N = 231 at T2). In addition, participants between ages 12 and 27 reported on recent and lifetime alcohol use (N = 193 at T1, N = 244 at T2). Resting‐state connectivity analyses focused on amygdala–orbitofrontal connectivity given prior research linking reduced coupling between these regions to alcohol use. Mixed model analyses revealed that age had a cubic relationship with alcohol use, with little to no use in childhood, steep increases in adolescence and leveling off in adulthood. No age effects were found for amygdala–OFC connectivity. Prediction analyses showed that left amygdala–orbitofrontal connectivity at the first time point predicted recent and lifetime alcohol use two years later. There was no evidence for the reversed relation, suggesting that brain connectivity measures precede explorative risk‐taking behavior in adolescence, possibly because decreased subcortical–frontal connectivity biases towards more explorative or risky behavior.     

Multiple-look effects on temporal discrimination within sound sequences

The multiple-look notion holds that the difference limen (DL) decreases with multiple observations. We investigated this notion for temporal discrimination in isochronous sound sequences. In Experiment 1, we established a multiple-look effect when sequences comprised nine standard time intervals (S) followed by an increasing number of comparison time intervals (C), but no multiple-look effect when one trailing C interval was preceded by an increasing number of S intervals. In Experiment 2, we extended the design. There were four sequential conditions: (a) 9 leading S intervals followed by 1, 2, …, or 9 C-intervals; (b) 9 leading C intervals followed by 1, 2, …, or 9 S intervals; (c) 9 trailing C-intervals preceded by 1, 2, …, or 9 S-intervals; and (d) 9 trailing S-intervals preceded by 1, 2, …, or 9 C-intervals. Both the interval accretions before and after the tempo change caused multiple-look effects, irrespective of the time order of S and C. Complete deconfounding of the number of intervals before and after the tempo change was accomplished in Experiment 3. The multiple-look effect of interval accretion before the tempo change was twice as big as that after the tempo change. The diminishing returns relation between the DL and interval accretion could be described well by a reciprocal function.     

Characteristics of adult day care participants who enter a nursing home

The authors sought to determine the characteristics of individuals enrolled in adult day care who are most likely to enter a nursing home. The status of 201 adult day care participants was assessed at baseline and at least 3 years after baseline evaluation. Risk factors for nursing home entry were identified on the basis of staff and family caregiver reports, participant testing, chart review, and physician evaluations. Cox regression analyses of baseline data such as medical diagnoses, affect, and demographic information were used to identify risk factors for institutionalization. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified depressed affect of the care recipient as an important predictor of institutionalization; other predictors were low frequency of socializing with relatives and friends, higher number of psychiatric diagnoses, and increased age. The findings highlight the importance of socialization and suggest that a focus on successful and reinforcing socialization should be an important component of adult day care programming. The results also suggest that addressing patient mental health variables may be important in delaying institutionalization in this population.     

The Role of Social Context During Television Viewing on Children’s Moral Judgments About Social Exclusion and Stigmatization of Others

Research has considered how exposure to prosocial television narratives influences children’s social inclusion behaviors (e.g., Mares & Acosta, 2010). In these experiments, children typically view a stimulus episode alone; however, we know that children often watch with others at home (Chandler, 1997). Thus, in this study we examined how children’s proximal social context during viewing influenced effects. Using data collected from a 3-condition experiment (control, view-alone, coview with close friend) with Dutch children ages 5 and 6 (N = 80), we found that exposure largely did not influence children’s inclusion judgments or stigmatization beliefs. There was, however, an age × condition interaction, such that 6-year-old children in the coview condition demonstrated greater stigmatization beliefs toward other children, compared to 5-year-olds in the same condition, or all children in the other conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings while considering previous work on learning inclusion from prosocial television shows, reality judgments, and the bystander effect.     

A genetic analysis of brain volumes and IQ in children

In a population-based sample of 112 nine-year old twin pairs, we investigated the association among total brain volume, gray matter and white matter volume, intelligence as assessed by the Raven IQ test, verbal comprehension, perceptual organization and perceptual speed as assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III. Phenotypic correlations between the brain volumes and intelligence traits ranged between .20 and .33. Processing speed and brain volume did not correlate. The relation between brain volume and intelligence was entirely explained by a common set of genes influencing both sets of phenotypes.     

Multilingualism and cognitive state in the oldest old

In this study, the authors examined whether the number of languages a person speaks predicts performance on 2 cognitive-screening tests. Data were drawn from a representative sample of the oldest Israeli Jewish population (N = 814, M age = 83.0 years; SD = 5.4) that was interviewed first in 1989 and then twice more within the following 12 years. Cognitive state differed significantly among groups of self-reported bilingual, trilingual, and multilingual individuals at each of the 3 interview waves. Regression analyses showed that the number of languages spoken contributed to the prediction of cognitive test scores beyond the effect of other demographic variables, such as age, gender, place of birth, age at immigration, or education. Multilingualism was also found to be a significant predictor of cognitive state in a group of individuals who acquired no formal education at all. Those who reported being most fluent in a language other than their mother tongue scored higher on average than did those whose mother tongue was their best language, but the effect of number of languages on cognitive state was significant in both groups, with no significant interaction. Results are discussed in the context of theories of cognitive reserve.     

Situated embodied cognition: Monitoring orientation cues affects product evaluation and choice

Consumers generally prefer products that are easy to interact with. In three studies, we show that this preference arises from the fit between product orientation and monitored situational constraints. Flexible right-handers, who monitor situational constraints, recall product orientations better and prefer products for which the handle is oriented in the direction of the hand used for grasping. When their ability to monitor situational constraints is impaired, the preference for easy-to-grasp products is attenuated. The findings highlight that motor fluency is a relevant cue for decision making when consumers assess how to interact with a product. The implications of these results for embodiment and fluency research are discussed.