A neural network model of the McCollough effect

Recent federal legislation has contained the stipulation that participating health maintenance organizations (HMOs) include a quality assurance program which stresses health outcomes. This provision was ostensibly directed at correcting alleged abuses in HMOs serving the urban poor. One version of the outcome method was employed for an 18-month period at an urban HMO caring for 2,000 Medicaid subscribers. The program involved comparing diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic outcomes for clinical conditions relevant to the study population with ideal standards established by the HMO. Three conditions were selected: contraception, depression, and hypertension. The results revealed widespread underdiagnosis (44-74%) in each condition and unacceptable therapeutic outcomes in two. Data collection was hampered by shifts in geography and financial eligibility among the denominator population and low response rates (38-63%) to telephone and mail surveys. Applying the general project guidelines to specific conditions proved considerably more difficult than anticipated. Further refinement of this approach to quality assessment must occur before its widespread use is feasible. Its effectiveness in improving quality remains to be seen. This experience raises doubts regarding the wisdom of legislating a specific outcome approach to quality assessment before feasibility and effectiveness have been demonstrated in organized health settings.     

McCollough effect to "form": A local phenomenon.

S. Siegel et al (see record 1992-22207-001) recently reported a McCollough effect (ME) to "form" using a square and a tic-tac-toe grid. It is possible that the effect they reported could be the result of local adaptation to colored contours presented to different retinal areas, rather than a color aftereffect contingent on form. Three induction conditions (with the same 6 Ss) tested this hypothesis. In Condition 1, Ss fixated on the center of the pattern during testing and induction. In Condition 2, Ss fixated on a corner of the pattern during testing and in the center of the pattern during induction. The Ss fixated on the 4 corners of the pattern during induction in Condition 3. An ME was observed in Condition 1 but not in the other conditions. These results support the hypothesis that the ME to form is a product of local color and contour pairing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Probing unconscious visual processing with the McCollough effect

The McCollough effect, an orientation-contingent color aftereffect, has been known for over 30 years and, like other aftereffects, has been taken as a means of probing the brain's operations psychophysically. In this paper, we review psychophysical, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging studies of the McCollough effect. Much of the evidence suggests that the McCollough effect depends on neural mechanisms that are located early in the cortical visual pathways, probably in V1. We also review evidence showing that the aftereffect can be induced without conscious perception of the induction patterns. Based on these two lines of evidence, it is argued that our conscious visual experience of the world arises in the cortical visual system beyond V1.     

Learning and homeostasis: drug addiction and the McCollough effect

Increasing evidence suggests that the immune cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) plays a deleterious role in immune-mediated demyelinating disorders. To further understand the effects of IFN-gamma on oligodendrocytes, we have compared and quantitated the response of developing and mature oligodendrocytes in vitro to IFN-gamma and have observed several differences. Morphological changes and cell death occurred in developing cultures after 2 days in IFN-gamma, and in mature oligodendrocytes after 4-7 days. Developing oligodendrocytes underwent significantly increased apoptotic cell death in the presence of IFN-gamma, but mature oligodendrocytes exposed to IFN-gamma died of necrosis. Prior to morphological changes or cell death in mature oligodendrocytes exposed to IFN-gamma, steady-state levels of myelin-specific mRNAs and proteins were reduced. Thus, these results indicate that the sensitivity of oligodendrocytes to IFN-gamma is related to the developmental state of the cell. Such information is crucial for understanding the response of oligodendrocytes in immune-mediated demyelinating disorders and during remyelination in these diseases.     

Faces, vases, subjective contours, and the McCollough effect

A version of the face-vase pattern was constructed with the use of subject contours. The McCollough effect was viewed on this pattern and it was found that perceptual alteration (face to vase) does not weaken the strength of the effect's hues while a complete perceptual rearrangement (faces/vases to concentric rectangles) does.     

Leadership research and theory: A functional integration.

This historical overview of leadership theory and research with an eye for commonalities provides an opportunity for integration. Early unproductive research focused on personality traits and behaviors. A recognition of the more complex nature of the phenomenon resulted in the development of contingency theories that examined leader characteristics and behavior in the context of situational parameters. The 1970s brought an awareness that perceptions of leaders by followers and others, and perceptions of followers by leaders, were influenced by cognitive biases arising from prior expectations and information-processing schema. Ironically, attention was belatedly drawn to the study of female leaders, who were often the victim of cognitive biases and negative assumptions. Recent research has reflected on the role of cultural differences in leadership processes and has been drawn again into the search for outstanding leaders with universally effective characteristics. The article concludes with an integration of current knowledge in leadership effectiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The indirect McCollough effect: an examination of an associative account

The interaction between macrophages and oxidatively modified low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) appears to play a central role in the development of atherosclerosis, not only through foam cell formation but also via the induction of numerous cytokines and growth factors. The current study demonstrated that Ox-LDL upregulated vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA expression in RAW 264 cells, a monocytic cell line, in a time- and concentration-dependent manner and that Ox-LDL stimulated VEGF protein secretion from the cells. Lysophosphatidylcholine, a component of Ox-LDL, also enhanced VEGF mRNA expression in RAW 264 cells and VEGF secretion from RAW 264 cells, with a maximal effect at a concentration of 10 micromol/L lysophosphatidylcholine. Immunohistochemical studies showed that human early atherosclerotic lesions exhibited intense VEGF immunoreactivity in subendothelial macrophage-rich regions of the thickened intima. In atherosclerotic plaques, VEGF staining was also observed in foam cell-rich regions adjacent to the lipid core or the neovascularized basal regions of plaque consisting predominantly of smooth muscle cells. High-power-field observation revealed that VEGF was localized in the extracellular space as well as at the macrophage cell surface. These observations suggest the possible involvement of Ox-LDL in the development of human atherosclerosis through VEGF induction in macrophages.     

P. K. Anokhin--creator of the theory of the functional system

Memories about scientific activities of P. K. Anokhin cover "Gorbi" period of his work, pre-war work in VIEM in (All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine) Moscow, renew of researches the war (1944-1952), stress the losses, caused by scientific session, devoted to problems of I. P. Pavlov physiological doctrine in 1950. Indicated roots and ways of forming of functional system theory and system genesis conception. Overview of scientific works, belong to academics, headed by P. K. Anokhin.     

McCollough effects: Experimental findings and theoretical accounts.

Presents a review of the literature on McCullough effects, a group of visual contingent aftereffects involving color and contour. While a number of investigations have simply reported variations of the original phenomenon, others have closely examined characteristics of these effects and the conditions under which they can be optimally produced. Indications that their spatial specificity is similar to that of single cortical cells investigated electrophysiologically in animals have inspired several models; however, the extraordinary persistence of the effects is difficult to explain at a single-unit level. Findings which suggest that McCullough effects have characteristics like those of learned responses may help to resolve this paradox. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

McCollough effects as conditioned responses: Reply to Skowbo.

Replies to the conclusion of D. Skowbo (see record 1984-30511-001) that the available evidence does not support a classical conditioning interpretation of the McCollough effect and takes exception to her characterization of the relevant literature. It is indicated that studies from the animal learning and contingent aftereffect literatures strongly support a Pavlovian conditioning analysis of the McCollough effect. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol's effect on aggression identification: A two-channel theory.

Identification of ambiguous behaviors may be affected by alcohol first by the activation of associated mental representations and second by an increase in the imbiber's motivation of need for closure (NFC; A. Kruglanski, 1989), because cognitive effort is increased for epistemic activities. Combined, these effects should increase correspondence between mental representations of alcohol and the identification of others' behaviors. Three studies were conducted to test this hypothesis. The results were consistent with this hypothesis: Participants who associated alcohol with amiable concepts perceived less aggressive intent when blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) were high versus low. Alternatively, those who associated alcohol with aggressive concepts perceived the same or more aggressive intent when BACs were high versus low. Priming alcohol concepts and trait-level NFC were also sufficient to replicate these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A phenomenological theory for the Portevin-Le chatelier effect

Computer calculations were done to explain phenomenologically the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect. A model used for a simulation of tensile test was that a deformed zone connected in series with a spring which have a composed stiffness of the machine and the specimen, was pulled at a constant speed. The constitutive equation of the deformed zone was formulated based on the consideration that (1) the flow stress was a sum of effective stress and two kinds of internal stress, in which the one was dependent on strain and the other on strain rate, and (2) the stress mentioned last had a negative rate sensitivity and responded to a strain rate change not simultaneously but with a delay time. The calculated results agreed quantitatively with experimental results in regard to the effects of machine stiffness, work hardening rate and crosshead speed upon stress amplitude, Lüders strain and strain rate.     

Avoiding the approach trap: A response bias theory of the emotional Stroop effect.

In the laboratory, people classify the color of emotion-laden words slower than they do that of neutral words, the emotional Stroop effect. Outside the laboratory, people react to features of emotion-laden stimuli or threatening stimuli faster than they do to those of neutral stimuli. A possible resolution to the conundrum implicates the counternatural response demands imposed in the laboratory that do not, as a rule, provide for avoidance in the face of threat. In 2 experiments we show that when such an option is provided in the laboratory, the response latencies follow those observed in real life. These results challenge the dominant attention theory offered for the emotional Stroop effect because this theory is indifferent to the vital approach–avoidance distinction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Movement disorders in the context of P.K. Anokhin's theory of functional systems

The authors' own findings and the data available in the literature as to movement diseases (MD) in animals and man were reviewed in the context of P. K. Anokhin's theory of functional systems. The functional system of the human body's gravity center is detailed. There is evidence for that disintegration processes underlying MD first occur in the mnestic sphere since due to genetic and/or ontogenetic causes, memory has no preserved no motor programme required to achieve the end net efficiency of performance of this functional system,--to maintain the definite position of the gravity center of the body and its related vegetative status upon stress-induced vestibular exposures. Based on the above concepts of the pathogenesis of MD, its preventive measures have been proposed and tested, which include drug (nootropic agents) and non-drug (a special complex of physical exercises for children aged 2 to 7 years, which will form permanent motor programs in memory in definite periods of their ontogenesis) measures.     

Two-component theory of the suffix effect: Contrary findings.

The suffix effect is the reduction in the recall ability of the last few items of a just-spoken list caused by appending a nominally irrelevant item, or suffix. The effect is widely assumed to comprise a "structural" terminal component, affecting just the last item, and a strategy sensitive preterminal component. In a series of 8 experiments with college students, the authors fail to replicate any of a variety of findings widely cited as the empirical basis for this 2-component theory. The authors also question the support that earlier findings provide for the theory, even if they had proved replicable. They attribute the entire suffix effect to the grouping of the suffix with the list items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extending the functional cerebral systems theory of emotion to the vestibular modality: A systematic and integrative approach.

Throughout history, vestibular and emotional dysregulation have often manifested together in clinical settings, with little consideration that they may have a common basis. Regarding vestibular mechanisms, the role of brainstem and cerebellar structures has been emphasized in the neurological literature, whereas emotion processing in the cerebral hemispheres has been the focus in psychology. A conceptual model is proposed that links research in the 2 disparate fields by means of a functional cerebral systems framework. The claim is that frontal regions exert regulatory control over posterior systems for sensation and autonomic functions in a dense, interconnected network. Impairment at levels within the system is expected to influence vestibular and cognitive processes depending on the extent of frontal regulatory capacity. M. Kinsbourne's (1980) shared cerebral space model specifies the conditions under which dysfunction of the vestibular modality will influence higher cognitive levels. A position on laterality and associative relations within the right hemisphere is proposed to explain links among dizziness, nausea, and negative emotion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)