Dissociating conflict adaptation from feature integration: A multiple regression approach.

Congruency effects are typically smaller after incongruent than after congruent trials. One explanation is in terms of higher levels of cognitive control after detection of conflict (conflict adaptation; e.g., M. M. Botvinick, T. S. Braver, D. M. Barch, C. S. Carter, & J. D. Cohen, 2001). An alternative explanation for these results is based on feature repetition and/or integration effects (e.g., B. Hommel, R. W. Proctor, & K.-P. Vu, 2004; U. Mayr, E. Awh, & P. Laurey, 2003). Previous attempts to dissociate feature integration from conflict adaptation focused on a particular subset of the data in which feature transitions were held constant (J. G. Kerns et al., 2004) or in which congruency transitions were held constant (C. Akcay & E. Hazeltine, in press), but this has a number of disadvantages. In this article, the authors present a multiple regression solution for this problem and discuss its possibilities and pitfalls. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distinctive features hold a privileged status in the computation of word meaning: Implications for theories of semantic memory.

The authors present data from 2 feature verification experiments designed to determine whether distinctive features have a privileged status in the computation of word meaning. They use an attractor-based connectionist model of semantic memory to derive predictions for the experiments. Contrary to central predictions of the conceptual structure account, but consistent with their own model, the authors present empirical evidence that distinctive features of both living and nonliving things do indeed have a privileged role in the computation of word meaning. The authors explain the mechanism through which these effects are produced in their model by presenting an analysis of the weight structure developed in the network during training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correction to Perruchet et al. (2006).

Reports an error in "Do We Need Algebraic-Like Computations? A Reply to Bonatti, Pena, Nespor, and Mehler (2004)" by Pierre Perruchet, Ronald Peereman, and Michael D. Tyler (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2006[May], 135(2), 322-326). The page numbers that Dr. Perruchet cited from Dr. Bonatti et al.'s article were printed incorrectly. These page numbers should appear as follows in the correction. (The following abstract of this article originally appeared in record 2006-06642-011.) L. L. Bonatti, M. Pena, M. Nespor, and J. Mehler (see record 2006-06642-010) argued that P. Perruchet, M. D. Tyler, N. Galland, and R. Peereman (see record 2004-21166-008) confused the notions of segmentation and generalization by ignoring the evidence for generalization in M. Pena, L. L. Bonatti, M. Nespor, and J. Mehler (see record 2002-06215-001). In this reply, the authors reformulate and complement their initial arguments, showing that their way of dealing with segmentation and generalization is not due to confusion or ignorance but rather to the fact that the tests used in Pena et al. make it likely that neither segmentation nor generalization were captured in their experiments. Finally, the authors address the challenge posed by Pena et al. of accounting for the whole pattern of their results without invoking rule-based, algebraic-like computations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correspondence in pictorial space

Brain damage sometimes impairs recognition of living things relative to nonliving things. One interpretation of this dissociation is that recognition of living things depends on specialized mechanisms not used for the recognition of nonliving things; another is that patients have damage to a general purpose system, and recognition of living things taxes this system more heavily. Farah et al., (Neuropsychologia, Vol. 29, pp. 185-193, 1991 [7]) found that a set of general factors did not account for patients' impaired recognition of living things; thus they favored the specialized mechanisms account. The current paper builds on Ref. [7] in two ways. First, other research suggests a number of additional factors that might account for the results in Ref. [7] but were not tested there. Second, statistical methods in Ref. [7] may have implicitly favored the conclusion obtained there, so we use more conservative methods. The current work accounts for all these things, and finds that recognition of living things is still disproportionately impaired.     

Do we need algebraic-like computations? A reply to Bonatti, Pe?a, Nespor, and Mehler (2006).

L. L. Bonatti, M. Pe?a, M. Nespor, and J. Mehler (see record 2006-06642-010) argued that P. Perruchet, M. D. Tyler, N. Galland, and R. Peereman (see record 2004-21166-008) confused the notions of segmentation and generalization by ignoring the evidence for generalization in M. Pe?a, L. L. Bonatti, M. Nespor, and J. Mehler (see record 2002-06215-001). In this reply, the authors reformulate and complement their initial arguments, showing that their way of dealing with segmentation and generalization is not due to confusion or ignorance but rather to the fact that the tests used in Pe?a et al. make it likely that neither segmentation nor generalization were captured in their experiments. Finally, the authors address the challenge posed by Pena et al. of accounting for the whole pattern of their results without invoking rule-based, algebraic-like computations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resource collaboration, feminist therapy, and models.

Comments on an article by F. B. Tyler et al (see record 1984-02406-001), arguing that in presenting a collaborative model for psychologists, Tyler et al are perhaps unaware that the essential characteristics of the model they propose were developed over 10 yrs ago as part of feminist therapy by A. M. Brodsky and R. T. Hare-Mustin (1980). The feminist therapy model, which is based on the qualities Tyler et al promote (such as being more self-help oriented, more self-sustaining, more prosocial, and more egalitarian), has influenced other therapeutic approaches concerned with client's rights. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alerting and orienting in Alzheimer's disease: Are they interdependent? Reply to Festa et al. (2006).

The area of contention between E. Festa-Martino, B. R. Ott, and W. C. Heindel (2004; see record 2004-12990-007) and A. Tales and colleagues (A. Tales, J. L. Muir, A. Bayer, R. Jones, & R. J. Snowden, 2002; A. Tales, J. L. Muir, A. Bayer, & R. J. Snowden, 2002; see record 2002-06031-015) is whether the Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related increased spatial orienting effect is attributable directly to the decreased phasic alerting effect or whether they are two separate effects. In a subsequent study, A. Tales, R. J. Snowden, M. Brown, and G. Wilcock (2006; see record 2006-20657-014) have provided evidence to suggest that the increased spatial orienting effect in AD is not necessarily the result of a decreased phasic alerting effect, as an AD-related increase in spatial orienting effect occurred under conditions in which the phasic alerting effect was the same for both groups. In a commentary to this article, E. K. Festa, B. R. Ott, and W. C. Heindel (2006; see record 2006-20657-015) discuss what they suggest may be potential confounding factors within the authors' study. In this reply, further data in support of the authors' interpretation are provided, and the authors address the points highlighted by Festa et al. (2006). In addition, the authors request that if Festa et al. (2006) are to account for the changes in spatial orienting effects in AD in terms of the shifts in the phasic alerting effects, then how do they postulate how so small a change in one can produce so large a change in the other? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How to hit scylla without avoiding charybdis: Comment on Perruchet, Tyler, Galland, and Peereman (2004).

M. Pe?a, L. L. Bonatti, M. Nespor, and J. Mehler (see record 2002-06215-001) argued that humans compute nonadjacent statistical relations among syllables in a continuous artificial speech stream to extract words, but they use other computations to determine the structural properties of words. Instead, when participants are familiarized with a segmented stream, structural generalizations about words are quickly established. P. Perruchet, M. D. Tyler, N. Galland, and R. Peereman (see record 2004-21166-008) criticized M. Pe?a et al.'s work and dismissed their results. In this article, the authors show that P. Perruchet et al.'s criticisms are groundless. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do smokers know what we're talking about? The construct validity of nicotine dependence questionnaire measures.

Few studies have examined whether nicotine dependence self-report questionnaires can predict specific behaviors and symptoms at specific points in time. The present study used data from a randomized clinical trial (N = 608; M. E. Piper et al., 2007) to assess the construct validity of scales and items from 3 nicotine dependence measures: the Fagerstr?m Test for Nicotine Dependence (T. F. Heatherton, L. T. Kozlowski, R. C. Frecker & K.-O. Fagerstr?m, 1991), the Nicotine Dependence Syndrome Scale (S. Shiffman, A. J. Waters, & M. Hickcox, 2004), and the Wisconsin Inventory of Smoking Dependence Motives (M. E. Piper et al., 2004). Scales from these measures were used to predict participants' reports on real-time measures of withdrawal symptoms and smoking behavior and retrospective self-report questionnaires to assess convergent and discriminative validity. The nicotine dependence measures' scales and items generally predicted the real-time measures of similar constructs, but the percent of variance accounted for was low. The nicotine dependence measures did, however, show evidence of discriminative validity. Thus, this study provides modest support for the construct validity of these nicotine dependence scales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Traumatic Stress, Perceived Global Stress, and Life Events: Prospectively Predicting Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients.

The authors investigated the relationship between stress at initial cancer diagnosis and treatment and subsequent quality of life (QoL). Women (n = 112) randomized to the assessment-only arm of a clinical trial were initially assessed after breast cancer diagnosis and surgery and then reassessed at 4 months (during adjuvant treatment) and 12 months (postadjuvant treatment). There were 3 types of stress measured: number of stressful life events (K. A. Matthews et al., 1997), cancer-related traumatic stress symptoms (M. J. Horowitz, N. Wilner, & W. Alvarez, 1979), and perceived global stress (S. Cohen, T. Kamarck, & R. Mermelstein, 1983). Using hierarchical multiple regressions, the authors found that stress predicted both psychological and physical QoL (J. E. Ware, K. K. Snow, & M. Kosinski, 2000) at the follow-ups (all ps     

Validity of the salience asymmetry account of the Implicit Association Test: Reply to Greenwald, Nosek, Banaji, and Klauer (2005).

In their comment on K. Rothermund and D. Wentura (see record 2004-14313-001), A. G. Greenwald, B. A. Nosek, M. R. Banaji, and K. C. Klauer (see record 2005-09704-008) agreed that salience asymmetries can be a source of Implicit Association Test (IAT) effects. The authors applaud this conclusion but point to problems with the other points that Greenwald et al. made. The authors have difficulties understanding the nominal feature account that Greenwald et al. put forward and have doubts about the usefulness of their broad conception of the concept association. The authors also argue that existing evidence concerning the construct validity of the IAT does not allow one to discriminate between the association and the salience accounts. In addition, the new studies that were presented by Greenwald et al. do not provide insights into what the IAT measures because they are either irrelevant for a decision between the different accounts or contain methodological problems that prevent a meaningful interpretation in terms of the models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of white matter lesions, cerebrel atrophy, and APOE on cognition in older persons with and without dementia: The Cache County, Utah, study of memory and aging.

Neuropsychological, qualitative, and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging findings were examined in subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD), non-AD dementia or mixed neuropsychiatric disorder, subjects characterized as mild/ambiguous, and controls, all with known apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype. Neuropsychological tasks included an expanded Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (J. T. Tschanz et al., 2000; K. A. Welsh, J. M. Hoffman, N. L. Earl, & M. W. Hanson 1994) battery and the Mini-Mental Status Examination (M. F. Folstein, S. E. Folstein, & P. R. McHugh, 1975). Periventricular white matter lesions were the most clinically salient, and generalized measures of cerebral atrophy were the most significant quantitative indicators. APOE genotype was unrelated to imaging or neuropsychological performance. Neuropsychological relationships with neuroimaging findings depend on the quantitative method used. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analyzing the factors underlying the structure and computation of the meaning of chipmunk, cherry, chisel, cheese, and cello (and many other such concrete nouns).

Seven trends regarding the categories that tend to be impaired/preserved in category-specific semantic deficits were identified. The authors hypothesized that these trends arise despite the multiple sources of variation in patient testing because numerous factors that structure semantic memory probabilistically converge to make some categories of knowledge more susceptible to damage than others. Analysis of semantic feature norms and corpus data for 541 concepts revealed that differences in the distribution of knowledge types across categories are sufficient to explain 6 of the trends and are necessary to explain loss of knowledge about nonliving things. Feature informativeness, concept confusability, visual complexity, familiarity, and name frequency contributed to this patterning and provide insight into why knowledge about living things is most often impaired. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Category-specific semantic deficits: The role of familiarity and property type reexamined.

Category-specific deficits for living things have been explained variously as an artifact due to differences in the familiarity of concepts in different categories (E. Funnell & J. Sheridan, 1992) or as the result of an underlying impairment to sensory knowledge (E. K. Warrington & T. Shallice, 1984). Efforts to test these hypotheses empirically have been hindered by the shortcomings of currently available stimulus materials. A new set of stimuli are described that the authors developed to overcome the limitations of existing sets. The set consists of color photographs, matched across categories for familiarity and visual complexity. This set was used to test the semantic knowledge of a classic patient, J.B.R. (E. K. Warrington & T. Shallice, 1984). The results suggest that J.B.R.'s deficit for living things cannot be explained in terms of familiarity effects and that the most severely affected categories are those whose identification is most dependent on sensory information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An evaluation of cognitive processing therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder related to childhood sexual abuse.

This study compared the effectiveness of cognitive processing therapy for sexual abuse survivors (CPT-SA) with that of the minimal attention (MA) given to a wait-listed control group. Seventy-one women were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 groups. Participants were assessed at pretreatment and 3 times during posttreatment: immediately after treatment and at 3-month and 1-year follow-up, using the Clinician-Administered Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Scale (D. Blake et al., 1995), the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, R. A. Steer, & G. K. Brown, 1996), the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV (R. L. Spitzer, J. B. W. Williams, & M. Gibbon, 1995; M. B. First et al., 1995), the Dissociative Experiences Scale-II (E. M. Bernstein & F. W. Putnam, 1986), and the Modified PTSD Symptom Scale (S. A. Falsetti, H. S. Resnick, P. A. Resick, & D. G. Kilpatrick, 1993). Analyses suggested that CPT-SA is more effective for reducing trauma-related symptoms than is MA, and the results were maintained for at least 1 year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child-Related Disagreements, Verbal Aggression, and Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems.

Dual-income parents (N = 122 couples) with an oldest child 18-60 months of age completed the Child-Rearing Disagreements Scale (E. N. Jouriles et al., 1991), the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2000), and the Verbal Aggression subscale of the Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scale (P. K. Kerig, 1996). Replicating the results of E. N. Jouriles et al. (1991) and extending these findings to daughters and fathers, the authors found links between child-related disagreements and parental ratings of child behavior problems in this low-risk sample. There were no links between fathers' reports of verbal aggression and child behavior problems. Among mothers, however, use of verbal aggression mediated the link between child-related disagreements and ratings of sons' internalizing problems. Verbal aggression did not moderate the link between child-related disagreements and child behavior problems for either mothers or for fathers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Local anesthetic treatment significantly attenuates acute pain responding but does not prevent the neonatal injury-induced reduction in adult spinal behavioral plasticity.

Recent findings indicate that neonatal injury results in decreased spinal plasticity in adult subjects (E. E. Young, K. M. Baumbauer, A. E. Elliot, & R. L. Joynes, 2007). Previous research has shown that acute manipulations of pain processing (i.e., administration of formalin, carrageenan, capsaicin) result in a loss of spinal behavioral plasticity (A. R. Ferguson, E. D. Crown, & J. W. Grau, 2006). Moreover, neonatal injury results in a lasting reduction in adult spinally mediated plasticity resembling the deficit seen following acute manipulations in adults (E. E. Young et al., 2007). The present study was designed to determine whether the effects of neonatal injury could be prevented by lidocaine administration during the initial healing period. Subjects (injured or uninjured) received lidocaine or saline on 1 of 4 administration schedules (preinjury only, postinjury only, for 24 hr postsurgery, or for 72 hr postsurgery). Results demonstrated that lidocaine administration did not prevent the hypersensitivity and reduced spinal plasticity associated with neonatal injury. This suggests that (a) the mechanisms underlying neonatal injury are independent of peripheral input in the initial healing period and (b) lidocaine is ineffective at preventing long-term spinal plasticity changes following neonatal injury. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of new verocytotoxin type 2 variant B-subunit genes in human and animal Escherichia coli isolates

The sequence of a verocytotoxin 2 (VT2) variant gene that was untypeable by the B subunit PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PCR-RFLP) method described by Tyler et al. (S. D. Tyler, W. M. Johnson, H. Lior, G. Wang, and K. R. Rozee, J. Clin. Microbiol. 29:1339-1343, 1991) was determined and compared with published sequences. It was highly homologous to two recently reported VT2 variant sequences. The PCR-RFLP method described by Tyler et al. was extended to include these new sequences. New VT2 variants were identified in 65 of 359 VT-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) with newly designed primers (VT2-cm and VT2-f) and were characterized as well by restriction analysis of the amplification products obtained with another VT2-specific primer pair (VT2-e and VT2-f). The VT genes harbored by 64 of these isolates proved to be untypeable by Tyler's PCR-RFLP method because no amplification was obtained with the primers used with this method (VT2-c and VT2-d). The last isolate harbored the new variant gene in addition to VT2vh-a. None of the isolates harboring these new toxin genes belonged to serogroups O157, O26, O103, O111, and O145. All 65 isolates were negative for the eaeA gene and were significantly less frequently enterohemolytic or positive for the enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) virulence plasmid than non-O157 VTEC isolates harboring other VT2 genes. They were also less frequently isolated from patients with EHEC-associated symptoms. The extended PCR-RFLP typing method is a useful tool to identify less-virulent VTEC isolates and for VT genotyping in epidemiological studies with non-O157 strains.     

A static color discontinuity can capture spatial attention when the target is an abrupt-onset singleton.

C. L. Folk, R. W. Remington, and J. C. Johnston's (1992) contingent involuntary orienting hypothesis states that a salient visual feature will involuntarily capture attention only when the observer's attentional set includes similar features. In four experiments, when the target's relevant feature was its being an abruptly onset singleton, attentional capture occurred for a static discontinuity cue that was the boundary between a group of red Xs contiguously joined to a group of green Os within a single row. Such an attentional capture effect is novel and contrary to Folk et al.'s (1992) hypothesis, because the attentional set for the target should have included abrupt onset but not color discontinuity, which was the feature that captured attention. These capture effects were involuntary because they occurred even when the target never appeared in the same location as the cue, and color could not have been used as a cue to signal the appearance of the target array (cf. B. S. Gibson & E. M. Kelsey, 1998). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temporal overlap in the linguistic processing of successive words in reading: Reply to Pollatsek, Reichle, and Rayner (2006a).

A. Pollatsek, E. D. Reichle, and K. Rayner (see record 2006-22004-014) argue that the critical findings in A. W. Inhoff, B. M. Eiter, and R. Radach (see record 2005-13471-012) are in general agreement with core assumptions of sequential attention shift models if additional assumptions and facts are considered. The current authors critically discuss the hypothesized time line of processing and indicate that the success of Pollatsek et al.'s simulation is predicated on a gross underestimation of the pretarget word's viewing duration in Inhoff et al. and that the actual data are difficult to reconcile with the strictly serial attention shift assumption. The authors also discuss attention shifting and saccade programming assumptions in the E-Z Reader model and conclude that these are not in harmony with research in related domains of study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)