Self-actualization and cognitive processes.

Investigated the hypotheses that (a) the creation of new experience in cognitive functioning involves increased differentiation and integration of meaning and (b) self-actualization involves the tendency to engage in a mode of cognitive processing that creates new experience. Using protocols of 61 undergraduates describing their experiencing of emotions, it was found that differentiation and integration of meaning were related to the degree that vocal style indicated the creation of new experience. Also as predicted, both meaning and stylistic perspectives for assessing the creation of new experience were related to a separate measure of self-actualization (the Personal Orientation Inventory). Discussion includes possible implications for conceiving of client participation in psychotherapy in terms of the differentiation and integration of meaning and for understanding self-actualization in terms of differences in cognitive functioning. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eye movements in reading: Perceptual and cognitive processes.

This article discusses the variability of eye movement behavior. The variability exists between readers, so that the average fixation duration for sonic readers my be around 200 ms and for other readers it may be closer to 300 ms; the average saccade length for some readers may be 6 letter spaces, while for others it may be closer lo 10 letter spaces; and some readers rarely regress while others regress quite frequently. These eye movement characteristics can also be influenced by text difficulty; more difficult text leads to longer fixation durations, shorter saccades, and more regressions. More important than the between reader variability is the within reader variability that exists with each of these measures. The article also discusses research on eye movement during reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in cognitive processes.

Studied the effects of verbal ability and sex on performance in a simultaneous matching task. The 537 undergraduates who participated were administered the verbal battery of the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test. Ss with high-verbal ability (high verbals) were much faster than Ss with low-verbal ability (low verbals) in making taxonomic category identity matches and homophone identity matches. Results suggest that verbal ability is related to the speed of retrieval from long-term memory. In addition, high verbals were faster in making physical identity word matches, suggesting that either lexicographically coded information stored in long-term memory is used in such a task or that verbal ability is also related to the speed of retrieval from short-term memory. As expected, males did not differ from females in the time they required to perform any of the matching tasks, although males made slightly more errors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prefrontal cognitive processes: Working memory and inhibition in the antisaccade task.

Recent research suggests 2 principal processes are assessed in many neuropsychological tests of prefrontal functioning: the ability to keep transient information on-line (working memory) and the ability to inhibit prepotent, but incorrect, responses. The current studies examined the hypothesis that taxing working memory beyond some threshold can result in decreased inhibition, resembling the errors committed by patients with prefrontal dysfunctions. Across 3 studies, 70 nonpatient subjects were tested on the antisaccade (AS) task (D. Guitton et al, 1985)—a task sensitive to inhibitory deficits. Subjects were required to look in the opposite direction of a flashed cue, inhibiting the reflexive tendency to saccade to the cue. Subjects performed concurrent tasks that varied working-memory load. The results indicated that conditions with the highest working-memory load produced inhibitory errors comparable to patients with prefrontal dysfunctions. The findings are discussed in terms of the interaction between working memory and the inhibition of prepotent responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic habits and cognitive style processes in the deaf.

Several measures of associative patterns, cognitive styles, and attitudes toward self and others were obtained on 173 deaf adolescents and 178 normal controls. Results show reduced tendencies of the deaf to use evaluational concepts in association, but greater tendencies to devalue self and others. Deaf girls are much like deaf boys in associative and evaluational responses. Several possibilities for the study of implicit language processes in deaf and normal Ss are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multinomial modeling and the measurement of cognitive processes.

This article presents a detailed discussion and application of a methodology, called multinomial modeling, that can be used to measure and study cognitive processes. Multinomial modeling is a statistically based technique that involves estimating hypothetical parameters that represent the probabilities of unobservable cognitive events. Models in this class provide a statistical methodology that is compatible with computational theories of cognition. Multinomial models are relatively uncomplicated, do not require advanced mathematical techniques, and have certain advantages over other, more traditional methods for studying cognitive processes. The statistical methodology behind multinomial modeling is briefly discussed, including procedures for data collection, model development, parameter estimation, and hypothesis testing. Three substantive examples of multinomial modeling are presented. Each example, taken from a different area within the field of human memory, involves the development of a multinomial model and its application to a specific experiment. It is shown how multinomial models facilitate the interpretation of the experiments. The conclusion discusses the general advantages of multinomial models and their potential application as research tools for the study of cognitive processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unpacking the cognitive architecture of emotion processes.

The results of 2 electroencephalographic studies confirm Component Process Model (CPM) predictions that different appraisal checks have specific brain state correlates, occur rapidly in a brief time window after stimulation, and produce results that occur in sequential rather than parallel fashion. The data are compatible with the assumption that early checks (novelty and intrinsic pleasantness) occur in an automatic, unconscious mode of processing, whereas later checks, specifically goal conduciveness, require more extensive, effortful, and controlled processing. Overall, this work, combined with growing evidence for the CPM's response patterning predictions concerning autonomic physiological signatures, facial muscle movements, and vocalization changes, suggests that this model provides an appropriate basis for the unpacking of the cognitive architecture of emotion and its computational modeling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hierarchical control of cognitive processes: Switching tasks in sequences.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 136(2) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (see record 2007-06470-005). Two task transitions were classified incorrectly in Table 7 (p. 634). Two task transitions were classified incorrectly in Table 7 (p. 634). The task transition at Serial Position 1 for sequence switches of the AABB sequence should be TR instead of TS. The task transition at Serial Position 1 for sequence switches of the ABBA sequence should be TS instead of TR. Two sections of text in the Results and Discussion section of Experiment 4 were affected by the misclassifications. The corrected text is provided for the Error rate analysis section (pp. 634-635) and the RT analysis section (p.635). These corrections do not alter any of the conclusions drawn from the original text.] Hierarchical control of cognitive processes was studied by examining the relationship between sequence- and task-level processing in the performance of explicit, memorized task sequences. In 4 experiments, switch costs in task-switching performance were perturbed by sequence initiation times that varied with sequence complexity, preparation time, and type of sequence transition (repetition or switch). Hierarchical control was inferred from these sequence initiation time effects and the recurrent finding of no switch cost at the first serial position across sequences, the point at which sequence-level processes are likely active in maintaining or instantiating a hierarchical control structure in working memory. These findings resonate with past research on motor programs and serial memory and provide new insights into the concepts of task set and control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaching while calculating: Scheduling of cognitive and perceptual-motor processes.

To address the neglected question of how cognitive and perceptual-motor processes are coordinated, the authors asked participants to move a cursor from one target to another to reveal operators and operands for a running arithmetic task. In Experiment 1 performance on this task was compared with performance on tasks requiring only aiming or only arithmetic. Aiming was faster in the aiming-only task than in the combined task. More importantly, times for steps requiring calculation were equivalent in the combined and arithmetic-only tasks. The results from this and a second experiment suggest that participants slowed their aiming to allow calculations to be completed before subsequent targets were entered. As a whole, the results suggest that cognitive and perceptual-motor processes are coordinated through scheduling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counting the stitches that count: preventive intervention promises and public health

Continued public support for the design, implementation, and dissemination of preventive interventions depends on achievement of four major criteria: (a) Reductions in the incidence or prevalence rates of diagnosable emotional and behavioral disorders, (b) reductions in the need for mental health services through effective primary and secondary interventions, (c) enhancement of the effectiveness of obtained services as screening and early detection efforts are implemented, and (d) reductions in the nation's health care costs associated with emotional and behavioral dysfunctions. Strategies including risk reduction, risk avoidance, health promotion, empowerment, and resource development are preventive insofar as they contribute to achievement of the aforementioned outcomes.     

Symbolic play and its cognitive significance.

Explored the relationship between symbolic play training and conservation attainment. Ss were 30 middle-class nonconserving children, with a median age of 4.3 yrs. After extensive pretests on conservation of quantity, 15 nonconservers were assigned to the experimental condition, consisting of 3 sessions of symbolic play on consecutive days, and 15 Ss were assigned to the control condition, consisting of 3 daily play sessions with puzzles, mosaics, and drawing tasks. Subsequent to the play sessions, Ss were given conservation of quantity posttests. Results show that 13 of the experimental Ss manifested some change in solving conservation problems, with 4 Ss reaching the level of full conservation attainment. Only a single S from the control group showed a change toward conservation on the posttests. Data are interpreted as supporting a cognitive function of symbolic play. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of exercise on cognitive processes: A review.

In a review of the literature on the effect of physical exercise on information processing and cognition, the studies were classified according to the intensity and duration of the exercise intervention. The studies were evaluated on the basis of current theories of information processing. Although several studies suggest that exercise produces short-term facilitative effects on mental tasks, the relation remains problematic. It is concluded that inconsistencies among studies are due to the failure of researchers to use a theory-based parametric approach to the issue. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Boys with peer adjustment problems: Social cognitive processes.

30 4th-grade and 30 6th-grade males with positive (P) or negative (N) peer status were asked to generate alternative solutions to hypothetical problems, evaluate possible solutions, describe self-statements, and rate the likelihood of possible self-statements to investigate the hypothesis that maladjusted Ss (N peer status) would lack specific social cognitive skills. Hypothetical problems were presented in interviews that emphasized situations involving acts of aggression. Interviews were conducted in 2 parts, involving knowledge of interpersonal problem-solving strategies and attributional style assessment. Results indicate that N Ss generated fewer alternative solutions, proposed fewer assertive and mature solutions, generated more intense aggressive solutions, showed less adaptive planning, and evaluated physically aggressive responses more positively and positive responses more negatively than did P Ss. Data support the notion that boys with social adjustment problems are deficient in the cognitive problem-solving skill of generating multiple alternative solutions. Findings suggest that differences in knowledge and/or attitudes concerning normative social behavior may contribute to the more negative behavior patterns observed in socially maladjusted boys. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Event-related functional MRI: Implications for cognitive psychology.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has rapidly emerged as a powerful technique in cognitive neuroscience. We describe and critique a new class of imaging experimental designs called event-related fMRI that exploit the temporal resolution of fMRI by modeling fMRI signal changes associated with behavioral trials as opposed to blocks of behavioral trials. Advantages of this method over block designs include the ability to (a) randomize trial presentations, (b) test for functional correlates of behavioral measures with greater power, (c) directly examine the neural correlates of temporally dissociable components of behavioral trials (e.g., the delay period of a working memory task), and (d) test for differences in the onset time of neural activity evoked by different trial types. Consequently, event-related fMRI has the potential to address a number of cognitive psychology questions with a degree of inferential and statistical power not previously available. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

CCK in anxiety and cognitive processes

Extensive studies were carried out on the involvement of the CCKergic system in anxiety-, panic- and stress-related behaviour. The stimulation of CCK-A or CCK-B receptors is implicated in the physical and psychological responses of CCK to stress. Furthermore, several selective CCK-B agonists produce anxiogenic-like effects, while CCK-B antagonists induce anxiolytic-like responses in several models of anxiety. However, BC264 a highly selective CCK-B agonist, does not produce anxiogenic-like effects but increases attention and/or memory. These effects are dependent on the dopaminergic systems. Together with biochemical data, this led to the hypothesis of the existence of two CCK-B binding sites, CCK-B1 and CCK-B2, which could correspond to different activation states of a single molecular entity. Investigations into CCK-B1 and CCK-B2 systems might be of critical interest, since only one site, CCK-B1, appears to be responsible for the effects of anxiety. Furthermore, the improvement of attention and/or memory processes by CCK, through CCK-B2 receptors, could offer a new perspective in the treatment of attention and/or memory disorders.     

Herbert Simon's decision-making approach: Investigation of cognitive processes in experts.

Herbert Simon's research endeavor aimed to understand the processes that participate in human decision making. However, despite his effort to investigate this question, his work did not have the impact in the “decision making” community that it had in other fields. His rejection of the assumption of perfect rationality, made in mainstream economics, led him to develop the concept of bounded rationality. Simon's approach also emphasized the limitations of the cognitive system, the change of processes due to expertise, and the direct empirical study of cognitive processes involved in decision making. In this article, we argue that his subsequent research program in problem solving and expertise offered critical tools for studying decision-making processes that took into account his original notion of bounded rationality. Unfortunately, these tools were ignored by the main research paradigms in decision making, such as Tversky and Kahneman's biased rationality approach (also known as the heuristics and biases approach) and the ecological approach advanced by Gigerenzer and others. We make a proposal of how to integrate Simon's approach with the main current approaches to decision making. We argue that this would lead to better models of decision making that are more generalizable, have higher ecological validity, include specification of cognitive processes, and provide a better understanding of the interaction between the characteristics of the cognitive system and the contingencies of the environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introduction to the special section on cognitive processes and psychotherapy.

Theoretical models featuring cognitive processes have played a fundamental role in advancing knowledge of psychopathology and its treatment and have emphasized the importance of cognition in psychotherapy. Recognition of the importance of cognition in psychotherapy has led to a number of questions that are addressed by the articles in this special section of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Cognitive therapy is well represented in the articles in this special section, but therapeutic procedures that do not represent typical cognitive therapy are also examined. The articles in this special section focus on homework in the modification of cognition, cognition in the treatment of anxiety in adults and in children, change in depressive cognitions in children, cognition and rapid change in the treatment of depression, and the role of cognition in the treatment and prevention of depression that is recurrent. Examination of these types of questions holds the possibility of advances in existing treatments and the possibility of innovations in new treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The time-order error and its relatives: Mirrors of cognitive processes in comparing.

Presents a literature review of studies on the time-order error (TOE) and related perceptual and judgmental phenomena, concluding that the TOE should be classified as a perceptual phenomenon that can be understood and predicted with adaptation-level theory and the notion of sensation weighting. It is also concluded that sensation weighting underlies assimilation and contrast phenomena and is a manifestation of the utilization of generic information to supplement specific stimulus information. (148 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)