Sentence encoding and implicitly activated memories

Some words have fewer direct associates than others, and, when words varying in set size are studied in a list-learning task, those with smaller sets are more likely to be recalled. This set-size effect is found in cued recall when the words are studied in the absence of related words, but not when studied in the presence of related words. Related words provide context and theoretically inhibit irrelevant associates. The present research determined that set-size effects are found when words are encoded in sentence contexts. In contrast to list-learning experiments, the results of three experiments found such effects even when lexically related words were present in the sentences. Other findings indicated that target-set-size effects were determined by the proximity of related words in the sentence and the nature of the test cue. The results are discussed in relation to a model for explaining set-size effects and to selective findings from the sentence-comprehension literature.     

Effects of agreement and disagreement in groups on recognition memory performance and confidence

Three dependent variables, derived from an extended Signal-Detection paradigma, were used in each of 3 experiments: memory performance, confidence-level, and response-bias. Each memory item was first judged by S and then fictitiously by 2 confederates providing different degrees of agreement and disagreement. As compared to agreement moderate disagreement yielded both better recognition performance and, if S's judgements were false, less confidence. Strong disagreement failed to repeat these findings. Balanced agreement/disagreement raised the level of both performance and confidence relative to a situation without information from the group. In all the experiments correct decisions yielded higher confidence than errors. Festinger's theory of social comparison processes accounts for all results in performance, but for explaining the confidence shifts assumptions on ‘internal cues’ should also be incorporated. The response-bias was not affected by social treatment differences, thus supporting the view of some Signal-Detection theorists. Proposals towards a general theory of stimulus processing in social context are outlined and some of its consequences are discussed by taking as examples some conformity experiments.     

Simple disturbance of the dam in the neonatal period can alter haloperidol-induced catalepsy in the adult offspring

Three experiments were performed to determine whether apparently minimal disturbances of dams and litters would influence haloperidol-induced akinesia. In Experiment I, Long-Evans hooded rats (a) were left unmanipulated, (b) received nestcage relocation and observation, (c) received nestcage relocation/observation and maternal separation, or (d) received nestcage relocation/observation and pup handling. The male adult offspring received open-field testing and later received forepaw-on-dowel catalepsy testing following saline, morphine (20 mg/kg), or haloperidol (2 mg/kg). In Experiment II, hooded rats received (a) no manipulation, (b) nestcage relocation, (c) maternal separation, or (d) pup handling. At weaning, dams were tested in the open-field. Activity wheel locomotion of the offspring was assessed following saline or haloperidol for 3 days/week for 3 weeks; then, 5 and 7 days later, rats received haloperidol (0.5 mg/kg) and catalepsy testing. In both experiments, manipulations involving the dam reduced the offsprings' haloperidol-induced catalepsy, but, in Experiment II, a history of haloperidol administration distinguished between the effects of nestcage relocation and maternal separation. In Experiment III, Swiss albino mice received (a) no treatment, (b) nestcage relocation and maternal separation, (c) relocation/separation and mild cold stress of pups, (d) relocation/separation and pup handling, or (e) relocation/separation and severe cold stress of pups. Adult male mice received saline or haloperidol (2.5 mg/kg) and inclined grid catalepsy testing. Mice receiving relocation/separation and mice receiving relocation/separation and severe cold stress showed enhanced catalepsy versus control mice. Thus, it was concluded that seemingly innocuous events in infancy can influence the intensity of extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptics in adulthood.     

A study of parents of violent children

This study based on in-depth interviews of 25 parents of violent children and a control group of 25 parents of nonviolent children concerned the parents' personalities. Parents were between 22 and 48 years of age and were from middle and lower middle socioeconomic backgrounds. Differences in classification by the nonblinded interviewers of parents into the two groups on six behavior characteristics were significant on chi2 tests. Some recommendations are made for further research.     

Injecting a Woman's Voice: Conservative Women's Organizations,Gender Consciousness,and the Expression of Women's Policy Preferences

Scholars have argued that gender consciousness may be the important link between gender identity and the expression of political interests. Ultimately, however, these studies explain feminist political behavior and leave the impression that only feminist women articulate a woman's perspective on policy issues. In this article I demonstrate the coherence between gender identity and policy preferences for two national conservative women's organizations, the Concerned Women for America and the Independent Women's Forum. I show that conservative women are also gender conscious public-policy advocates. Using data gathered from organizational literature, participant observation, and in-depth interviews with organizational leaders, I show how conservative women have collectively organized as women and framed their policy goals in terms of women's interests. As such, I demonstrate a clear and profound link between gender identity and politicization among conservative women activists, suggesting the need to reconsider how we understand and define gender consciousness and women's policy activism.     

"What else could he have done?" Creating false answers in child witnesses by inviting speculation.

In 2 experiments (N = 111 children), a suggestive technique for interviewing child witnesses called "inviting speculation" was examined. Children were presented with atypical actions for common objects in a clown show. One week later, the children were asked to speculate (e.g., "What else could he have done with the knife?") in a between-subjects design on all or none of the items (Experiment 1) and in a within-subjects design on part of the items (Experiment 2), thereby getting highly probable speculations (e.g., "to cut"). After a 3-week delay, the experimenters found more highly probable but not more other false answers for the experimental items (Experiment 2). After a 5-6-month delay, the rate of (unspecified) false answers increased compared with the baseline (Experiments 1 and 2). The short-term effect is explained by a speculation-as-misinformation assumption, whereas the long-term effect is explained by the use of a metastrategy.     

Alcohol intoxication and memory for events: A snapshot of alcohol myopia in a real-world drinking scenario

Alcohol typically has a detrimental impact on memory across a variety of encoding and retrieval conditions (e.g., Mintzer, 2007; Ray & Bates, 2006). No research has addressed alcohol's effect on memory for lengthy and interactive events and little has tested alcohol's effect on free recall. In this study 94 participants were randomly assigned to alcohol, placebo, or control groups and consumed drinks in a bar-lab setting while interacting with a “bartender”. Immediately afterwards all participants freely recalled the bar interaction. Consistent with alcohol myopia theory, intoxicated participants only differed from placebo and control groups when recalling peripheral information. Expanding on the original hypervigilance hypothesis, placebo participants showed more conservative reporting behaviour than the alcohol or control groups by providing more uncertain and “don't know” responses. Thus, alcohol intoxication had confined effects on memory for events, supporting and extending current theories.     

Endovaskuläre Therapie des akuten ischämischen Schlaganfalls

Endovascular therapy of acute ischemic stroke represents a supplementary or (in cases of contraindications to systemic lysis) alternative therapy option to intravenous thrombolysis for patients with severe clinical deficits and proximal vascular obstruction. Currently, (in cases with no contraindications to systemic lysis) the combination with mechanical thrombectomy in the form of so-called stent retrievers has proven to be effective and safe. Until superiority over intravenous thrombolysis alone has been proven in certain patient groups, patients who have received endovascular therapy should be carefully documented in register-based studies.     

Is Political Cognition Like Riding a Bicycle? How Cognitive Neuroscience Can Inform Research on Political Thinking

Our understanding of political phenomena, including political attitudes and sophistication, can be enriched by incorporating the theories and tools of cognitive neuroscience—in particular, the cognitive neuroscience of nonconscious habitual cognition (akin to bicycle riding). From this perspective, different types of informational "building blocks" can be construed from which different types of political attitudes may arise. A reflection-reflexion model is presented that describes how these blocks combine to produce a given political attitude as a function of goals, primes, expertise, and inherent conflict in considerations relevant to the attitude. The ways in which neuroimaging methods can be used to test hypotheses of political cognition are reviewed.