Neural markers of categorization in 6-month-old infants

Little is known of the neural processes that underlie concept-formation abilities in human infants. We investigated category-learning processes in infants both by using a common behavioral measure and by recording the brain's electrical activity (event-related potentials, or ERPs). ERPs were recorded while 6-month-olds viewed cat images during training, followed by novel cat images interspersed with novel dog images during test. The data indicate that distinct neural signals correspond with learning of a category presented during familiarization, preferential responding to a novel category, and representation of category exemplars at multiple levels of inclusiveness. The results suggest that fundamental components of the neural architecture supporting object categorization are functional within the first half-year of postnatal life, before infants acquire language and young children engage in formal learning of semantic categories. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for models of category learning and development.     

Preattentive bias for emotional information in panic disorder with agoraphobia.

A combined emotional Stroop and implicit memory (tachistoscopic identification) task with 3 types of words (panic-related, interpersonal threat, and neutral words) and 2 exposure conditions (subliminal, supraliminal) was administered to 35 patients with panic disorder and 35 age- and sex-matched controls. The patients showed Stroop interference for panic-related words both sub- and supraliminally and a similar but not equally robust effect on interpersonal threat words. On the tachistoscopic identification task, the patients identified more panic-related words than the controls did but showed no implicit memory bias effect. The patients' subliminal Stroop interference for panic-related words was found to correlate with trait anxiety and depression, although not with anxiety sensitivity.     

Adoption as Spiritual Praxis in Individualized Times

Abstract : This article reflects on the motive of child adoption as a counterpart to postmodern individualization. In western culture, where ideals like freedom of choice and self‐expression are almost self‐evident, a theological interpretation of child adoption is presented that questions the very foundation of individualization. It is argued that adoption as spiritual praxis reminds us of our dependence on the wider community and on God. The perception of children, parents, family, and human acting are further modified by the use of the adoption motive.     

The neural correlates of processing newborn and adult faces in 3‐year‐old children

The current study examines the processing of upright and inverted faces in 3‐year‐old children (n = 35). Event‐related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a passive looking paradigm including adult and newborn face stimuli. We observed three face‐sensitive components, the P1, the N170 and the P400. Inverted faces elicited shorter P1 latency and larger P400 amplitude. P1 and N170 amplitudes were larger for adult faces. To examine the role of experience in the development of face processing, the processing of adult and newborn faces was compared for children with a younger sibling (n = 23) and children without a younger sibling (n = 12). Age of sibling at test correlated negatively with P1 amplitude for adult and newborn faces. This may indicate more efficient processing of different face ages in children with a younger sibling and potentially reflects a more flexible face representation.     

Communicative skills in relation to gender, birth order, childcare and socioeconomic status in 18-month-old children

Variation in communicative skills, defined as gestures, vocabulary comprehension and vocabulary production, was examined as a function of gender, birth order, childcare and socioeconomic status (SES) in 1,019 18-month-old children. The children were recruited at their regular check-up at a number of randomly selected Child Health Care centers in a Swedish county. The participation rate was 88%. The children were assessed by their mothers using a short version of the Swedish Early Communicative Development Inventories. The results demonstrate significant effects of gender and birth order on vocabulary comprehension and vocabulary production. Girls scored higher than boys and first-born children scored higher than later-born children. Type of childcare (family care, care at home and day-care centers) interacted with gender and birth order on vocabulary production and indicated that family care is not as advantageous as care at home or at day-care centers. SES had no effect on children's communicative skills at this age.     

Shape, color and the other-race effect in the infant brain

The 'other-race' effect describes the phenomenon in which faces are difficult to distinguish from one another if they belong to an ethnic or racial group to which the observer has had little exposure. Adult observers typically display multiple forms of recognition error for other-race faces, and infants exhibit behavioral evidence of a developing other-race effect at about 9 months of age. The neural correlates of the adult other-race effect have been identified using ERPs and fMRI, but the effects of racial category on infants' neural response to face stimuli have to date not been described. We examine two distinct components of the infant ERP response to human faces and demonstrate through the use of computer-generated 'hybrid' faces that the observed other-race effect is not the result of low-level sensitivity to 3D shape and color differences between the stimuli. Rather, differential processing depends critically on the joint encoding of race-specific features.     

Neural correlates of facial emotion processing in infancy

In the present study we examined the neural correlates of facial emotion processing in the first year of life using ERP measures and cortical source analysis. EEG data were collected cross‐sectionally from 5‐ (N = 49), 7‐ (N = 50), and 12‐month‐old (N = 51) infants while they were viewing images of angry, fearful, and happy faces. The N290 component was found to be larger in amplitude in response to fearful and happy than angry faces in all posterior clusters and showed largest response to fear than the other two emotions only over the right occipital area. The P400 and Nc components were found to be larger in amplitude in response to angry than happy and fearful faces over central and frontal scalp. Cortical source analysis of the N290 component revealed greater cortical activation in the right fusiform face area in response to fearful faces. This effect started to emerge at 5 months and became well established at 7 months, but it disappeared at 12 months. The P400 and Nc components were primarily localized to the PCC/Precuneus where heightened responses to angry faces were observed. The current results suggest the detection of a fearful face in infants’ brain can happen shortly (~200–290 ms) after the stimulus onset, and this process may rely on the face network and develop substantially between 5 to 7 months of age. The current findings also suggest the differential processing of angry faces occurred later in the P400/Nc time window, which recruits the PCC/Precuneus and is associated with the allocation of infants’ attention.     

Preattentive bias for snake words in snake phobia?

Stroop interference and skin conductance responses (SCRs) for words related to snakes, spiders, flowers, and mushrooms were studied in a group of women (n=40) with snake phobia who were randomised to a stress or no-stress condition. The 21 low-stress snake phobics showed Stroop interference for unmasked (but not for masked) snake words, compared with 21 age- and sex-matched controls. Stroop interference was not significantly different between high-stress and low-stress snake phobics. No support for stronger SCRs for masked snake words was found in snake phobics in a lexical decision task with masked presentations of the same words. The lack of a masked Stroop interference in snake phobics suggests a possible difference in cognitive-emotional mechanisms underlying specific phobia vs. other anxiety disorders that deserves further investigation.     

Sensitivity to coincidences and paranormal belief

Often it is difficult to find a natural explanation as to why a surprising coincidence occurs. In attempting to find one, people may be inclined to accept paranormal explanations. The objective of this study was to investigate whether people with a lower threshold for being surprised by coincidences have a greater propensity to become believers compared to those with a higher threshold. Participants were exposed to artificial coincidences, which were formally defined as less or more probable, and were asked to provide remarkability ratings. Paranormal belief was measured by the Australian Sheep-Goat Scale. An analysis of the remarkability ratings revealed a significant interaction effect between Sheep-Goat score and type of coincidence, suggesting that people with lower thresholds of surprise, when experiencing coincidences, harbor higher paranormal belief than those with a higher threshold. The theoretical aspects of these findings were discussed.