Deformation of the useful visual field with state of vigilance,task priority,and central task complexity

In a dual-task situation, peripheral perception can deteriorate due to different variables related to the experimental situation, such as central task complexity and the relative priority given to the two tasks. Recent studies have also shown that individual characteristics (such as the state of vigilance) can alter the useful visual field. The ability to perceive signals presented at different places in the visual field decreases in situations that lead to episodes of low vigilance. In Exp. 1, 27 subjects (18-29 years) had to perform a monotonous and prolonged dual-monitoring task involving central and peripheral vision. The test was carried out with two different sets of instructions regarding priority: the more important task was either the central task or the peripheral one. In Exp. 2, 18 subjects (18-30 years) performed the same test, but this time with two levels of complexity of the central task, either a simple monitoring activity or the same monitoring task coupled with a counting activity. Elliptical interpolation of the data enabled assessment of the deformation of the useful visual field in both experiments. The analysis of the parameters of the elliptical model indicated that the useful visual field mainly shrinks on the vertical axis, as the individual becomes drowsy. The useful visual field also shrinks on the horizontal axis when the peripheral task has priority and the monitoring activity is prolonged, or when the central task is complex.     

Clamped Corticosterone (B) Reveals the Effect of Endogenous B on Both Facilitated Responsivity to Acute Restraint and Metabolic Responses to Chronic Stress

To determine the effects of both corticosterone (B) and chronic stressors on acute ACTH responses to restraint, young male rats were exposed to streptozotocin-induced diabetes, cold (5-7 degreesC) or intracerebroventricular (icv) neuropeptide Y (NPY) for 5 d and then exposed to restraint within 2 h after lights on. Two groups of rats were studied: intact and adrenalectomized replaced with B pellets that maintained plasma B in the normal mean 24-h range of intact rats. In addition to ACTH and B responses to restraint on d 5, body weight, food intake, fat depots, glucose and other hormones were measured to determine the role of stress-induced elevations in B on energy balance. ACTH responses to restraint were normal in intact rats subjected to diabetes or cold. By contrast, there was no ACTH or B response to restraint in NPY-infused intact rats. All 3 groups of chronically stimulated adrenalectomized rats with clamped B had facilitated ACTH responses to restraint compared to their treatment controls. Overall food intake increased in all groups of stressed rats; however, augmented intake occurred only during the light in intact rats and equally in the light and dark in B-clamped rats. White adipose depot weights were decreased by both diabetes and cold and increased by NPY in intact rats; the decreases with cold and increases with NPY were both blunted and changes in fat stores were not significant in adrenalectomized, B-clamped rats. We conclude that: 1. diabetes- and cold-induced facilitation of restraint-induced afferent input to hypothalamic control of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is opposed in intact rats by the elevated feedback signal of B secretion; 2. NPY does not induce facilitation of afferent stress pathways; 3. chronic stimulation of the HPA axis induces acute hyperresponsiveness of hypothalamic neurons to restraint provided that the afferent input of this acute stimulus is not prevented by B feedback; 4. stimulus-induced elevations in B secretion result in day-time feeding; 5. insensitivity of both caloric efficiency and white fat stores to chronic stress in adrenalectomized, B-clamped rats results from loss of normally variable B levels.     

How does clients' method of payment influence psychologists' diagnostic decisions?

To what extent does payment method (managed care vs. out of pocket) influence the likelihood that an independent practitioner will assign a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) diagnosis to a client? When a practitioner does diagnose, how does payment method influence the specific choice of a diagnostic category? Independent practitioners responded to a vignette describing a fictitious client with symptoms of depression or anxiety. In half of the vignettes, the fictitious client intended to pay via managed care; in the other half, the fictitious client intended to pay out of pocket. Payment method had a very significant impact on diagnosis such that relative to out-of-pocket clients, managed care clients were much more likely to receive diagnoses and more likely to receive adjustment disorder diagnoses in particular. We discuss implications involving informed consent and other ethical issues.     

Sad and happy emotion discrimination in music by children with cochlear implants

Children using cochlear implants (CIs) develop speech perception but have difficulty perceiving complex acoustic signals. Mode and tempo are the two components used to recognize emotion in music. Based on CI limitations, we hypothesized children using CIs would have impaired perception of mode cues relative to their normal hearing peers and would rely more heavily on tempo cues to distinguish happy from sad music. Study participants were children with 13 right CIs and 3 left CIs (M = 12.7, SD = 2.6 years) and 16 normal hearing peers. Participants judged 96 brief piano excerpts from the classical genre as happy or sad in a forced-choice task. Music was randomly presented with alterations of transposed mode, tempo, or both. When music was presented in original form, children using CIs discriminated between happy and sad music with accuracy well above chance levels (87.5%) but significantly below those with normal hearing (98%). The CI group primarily used tempo cues, whereas normal hearing children relied more on mode cues. Transposing both mode and tempo cues in the same musical excerpt obliterated cues to emotion for both groups. Children using CIs showed significantly slower response times across all conditions. Children using CIs use tempo cues to discriminate happy versus sad music reflecting a very different hearing strategy than their normal hearing peers. Slower reaction times by children using CIs indicate that they found the task more difficult and support the possibility that they require different strategies to process emotion in music than normal.     

阅读预期对快速阅读理解的影响的实验研究

探讨阅读预期对快速阅读的理解水平与进程的影响。实验１探讨阅读预期对快速阅读理解水平的影响。阅读文章前分别给予被试正确、中性与误导的标题提示,结果表明,不同类型的标题提示对快速阅读的理解成绩有显著的影响,而对正常速度阅读的理解成绩影响效果不显著。实验２探讨阅读预期对快速阅读过程的词句加工程度的影响。结果表明,对优生来说,正确标题提示组发现文章中锗字的成绩显著低于误导标题提示组,差生的不同标题提示组发现错字的成绩差异不显著。两个实验的结果初步表明,快速阅读文章过程会更多地利用概念推动,较少地需要材料信息。     

Temporal properties of memory for speech in preschool children

The ability of four-year-old children to remember syllables was investigated, both to determine the temporal properties of memory for speech in subjects who do not use sophisticated retention strategies, and to determine what speech memory is available in the late preschool period. In Experiments 1 and 2, children were to remember pairs of nonsense syllables for 5, 10, 15, or 20 sec filled with a silent, manual task. In both experiments there was an apparent decay of one type of speech memory across 10-15 sec. In Experiment 2, strong interference was obtained when there was a final speech suffix item. An additional phase of this experiment verified that children cannot rehearse during the postlist period. However, in Experiments 3 and 4, suffix effects were not obtained with adult subjects in similar tasks. The results suggest that memory for speech persists for at least 10 sec even in preschool children, but that adults, unlike preschool children, engage in an additional type of speech coding that increases the resistance of memory to speech interference.     

What is First? Metaphysics as Prima Philosophia and Ultima Scientia in the Works of Thomas Aquinas

The article analyzes the status of metaphysics in relation to other sciences, especially the sense and reasons behind its priority in the system of sciences, as conveyed in the works of Thomas Aquinas. The question of what comes first in the system of sciences has led to an exploration and justification of the criteria behind this priority. According to Thomas Aquinas, metaphysics is justly considered to be the first philosophy: on the one hand it is occupied with what comes first in the ontological order – the first causes of being, on the other hand, other sciences rely on it for their first principles. The article critically analyzes both substantiations of the idea of being first. The substantive criterion is questioned by the introduction of revealed theology into the system of sciences accepted by Aquinas; revealed theology is also occupied with what comes first, and does so with greater authority than metaphysics. The article focuses on the analysis of main doubts concerning metaphysics’ methodological criterion of priority: the idea that metaphysics, in relation to other sciences, is in a sense first and functions as a determinant, while also being last and determined by these very sciences. Metaphysics is first, as other sciences draw from it their first principles, and last, as it utilizes facts established by other sciences which come first in the process of knowledge acquisition. Hence the charge that Aquinas’ argumentation concerning metaphysics’ priority is circular in nature. The article analyzes various aspects of this difficulty and offers suggestions on how to overcome them.     

Mental Disorders,Comorbidity, and Pre‐enlistment Suicidal Behavior Among New Soldiers in the U.S. Army: Results from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS)

We examined the associations between mental disorders and suicidal behavior (ideation, plans, and attempts) among new soldiers using data from the New Soldier Study (NSS) component of the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS; N = 38,507). Most new soldiers with a pre‐enlistment history of suicide attempt reported a prior mental disorder (59.0%). Each disorder examined was associated with increased odds of suicidal behavior (ORs = 2.6–8.6). Only PTSD and disorders characterized by irritability and impulsive/aggressive behavior (i.e., bipolar disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder) predicted unplanned attempts among ideators. Mental disorders are important predictors of pre‐enlistment suicidal behavior among new soldiers and should figure prominently in suicide screening and prevention efforts.