The role of processing strategies in the acquisition and transfer of a cognitive skill.

How the difficulty of initial training influences the acquisition and transfer of strategic processing skills and memory for processed stimuli was examined in 3 experiments. Participants were asked to discriminate between similar or dissimilar random polygon stimuli. Participants were asked to discriminate between novel transfer polygons; this was followed by a recognition memory task. Results suggest that the difficulty of initial training influences strategic skill acquisition. Strategies acquired during training are applied at transfer regardless of their effectiveness for processing transfer stimuli. This is true even when participants are given feedback indicating that their processing strategy is ineffective. It is argued that skill acquisition is influenced by the acquisition of both stimulus-specific knowledge and strategic skills, and that the strategic skills acquired serve to optimize processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The affective regulation of cognitive priming.

Semantic and affective priming are classic effects observed in cognitive and social psychology, respectively. The authors discovered that affect regulates such priming effects. In Experiment 1, positive and negative moods were induced before one of three priming tasks; evaluation, categorization, or lexical decision. As predicted, positive affect led to both affective priming (evaluation task) and semantic priming (category and lexical decision tasks). However, negative affect inhibited such effects. In Experiment 2, participants in their natural affective state completed the same priming tasks as in Experiment 1. As expected, affective priming (evaluation task) and category priming (categorization and lexical decision tasks) were observed in such resting affective states. Hence, the authors conclude that negative affect inhibits semantic and affective priming. These results support recent theoretical models, which suggest that positive affect promotes associations among strong and weak concepts, and that negative affect impairs such associations (Clore & Storbeck, 2006; Kuhl, 2000). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of homework in cognitive behavior therapy of depression.

Homework is particularly important in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of depression because the pervasive nature of the characteristic cognitive, affective, and motivational disturbances undercut the impact of didactic and supportive verbal interventions. Despite the importance of homework, a relatively small number of studies have quantified the causal relationship between homework completion and symptomatic outcome. Most of these studies have limited power to detect small-to-moderate effect sizes and rely on retrospective or incomplete measurements of homework that do not distinguish between the quantity and quality of the assigned tasks. Nevertheless, there is relatively consistent evidence from correlational studies to conclude that homework adherence is associated with significantly better outcomes. These findings point to new questions for research (i.e., does ongoing use of homework decrease the likelihood of relapse following termination of time-limited therapy?) and have implications for clinical practice. Examples of homework assignments are provided and strategies to improve homework adherence are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Uncertainty orientation: Implications for affective and cognitive views of achievement behavior.

Three studies, with 734 undergraduates, tested the hypothesis that differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are moderated by individuals' uncertainty orientation—the degree to which situations of certainty vs uncertainty are cognitively relevant. The validity of this hypothesis was investigated for 3 predictions derived from J. W. Atkinson and J. O. Raynor's (1974) theory of achievement motivation: (a) Differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are greatest in situations of intermediate difficulty; (b) differences in performance due to achievement-related motives are greatest on tasks that must be successfully completed in order to move on to further tasks (contingent path tasks); and (c) differences in course grades due to achievement-related motives are greatest among those individuals who perceive the course as instrumental to their future goals. All 3 predictions were confirmed for uncertainty-oriented Ss, but results were actually reversed for certainty-oriented Ss. It is argued that the present formulation subsumes and integrates the existing cognitive and motivational interpretations of achievement behavior. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of affective and cognitive focus on the attitude–behavior relation.

Previous research has produced contradictory findings regarding the effects of thought on the attitude–behavior relation. In an attempt to integrate these findings, the present authors proposed that thought may make either the affective or cognitive component of the attitude more salient and, thus, more important in the formation of the general evaluation and that behaviors may either be cognitively or affectively driven. It was hypothesized that a match between the attitude component emphasized by thought and the attitude component that drives behavior would increase the attitude–behavior relation, and alternatively, that a mismatch between the attitude components would decrease the relation. To test this hypothesis, 68 undergraduates focused either on the affective or cognitive component of their attitude before evaluating puzzles. The context of puzzle-playing behavior was varied to make the behavior either instrumental (cognitively driven) or consummatory (affectively driven), and Ss were given the opportunity to play with the puzzles. Correlations between the evaluations of the puzzles and the amount of time spent playing with the puzzles supported the hypothesis: Thought emphasizing the affective component produced evaluations that predicted consummatory behavior (affectively driven behaviors) but not instrumental behavior (cognitively driven). Alternatively, thought emphasizing the cognitive component produced evaluations that predicted instrumental behavior (cognitively driven) but not consummatory behavior. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pigmented uveal tumours in a transgenic mouse model

Lectins are sensitive probes which bind carbohydrate structures specifically. In this study, we modified the lectin staining procedure for sensitive detection of carbohydrate structures in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections of normal and heterologous serum-induced fibrotic livers. The liver sections were heated in hot distilled water at 100 degrees C for 10 min (thermo-treatment: TT), and then stained with 24 different lectins. In comparison with the results from sections without TT (nonTT), enhanced and/or alternated staining patterns of 19 lectins were demonstrated in sections with TT, and enhanced staining of Vicia villosa agglutinin seen in Kupffer cells was noted. Interestingly, no positive staining was seen with Dolichos biflorus agglutinin, peanut agglutinin or soybean agglutinin (SBA), which recognize O-linked carbohydrate chains, in Kupffer cells of non-TT sections, but strong positive staining was demonstrated in those of TT sections. SBA-positive staining in the cytoplasm of some scattered hepatocytes located in the periportal and perifibrous zones and central zone of pseudolobules was demonstrated only in the fibrotic liver sections with TT. Such findings indicate the heterogeneity of hepatocytes in the liver with fibrosis. Formalin fixation causes masking of lectin binding sites, especially O-linked carbohydrate chains, and TT may recover such masking reactions. TT improved the staining reactions for many lectins in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded liver sections, and new staining patterns appear after TT. Modified TT staining procedures may be useful for the diagnosis and prognosis of liver fibrosis.     

Studies in the self-regulation of behavior: Effects of contingent cognitive and affective events.

Performed 5 experiments with 232 4-yr-olds to test the hypothesis that the evaluations and affective responses which accompany ongoing behavior may operate as reinforcers and punishers, thus exercising control over the persistence of those behaviors. Results show that (a) children persisted longer when they labeled work at a motor task as fun rather than no fun, easy rather than difficult, or when they expressed pride in their ongoing work as opposed to being self-critical; (b) when children contingently reminded themselves of pleasant events unrelated to the task itself, they persisted longer than when they reminded themselves of unpleasant events; and (c) when children labeled a problem-solving task as easy, they persisted longer when they rendered this evaluation with neutral or negative affective intonation ("disparagement"), but under positive intonation ("enthusiasm"), children persisted longer when they contingently labeled the task as difficult. Results are discussed in terms of the effectiveness of self-evaluation and affective-responses for regulating ongoing behavior and the degree to which the contingency of such responses is truly necessary for their effectiveness. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using cognitive science methods to assess the role of social information processing in sexually coercive behavior.

74 undergraduate men completed cognitive performance tasks assessing perceptual organization, classification, and category learning, as well as self-report measures relevant to sexual coercion. The stimuli were slides of Caucasian women who varied along affect and physical exposure (i.e., sensuality) dimensions. Data were analyzed using a weighted multidimensional scaling model, signal-detection theory analyses, and a connectionist learning model (RASHNL; J. K. Kruschke and M. K. Johansen, 1999). Individual differences in performance on the classification and category-learning tasks were congruent with individual differences in perceptual organization. Additionally, participants who showed relatively more attention to exposure than to affect were less sensitive to women's negative responses to unwanted sexual advances. Overall, the study demonstrates the feasibility and utility of cognitive science methods for studying information processing in psychopathology, (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of situational demands and cognitive competencies in behavior organization and personality coherence.

Consistency in the natural organization of aggressive and prosocial (constructive) behavior, assessed repeatedly in vivo over a summer in a residential camp for children, was predicted from situational and personal characteristics. Similarity of situations in the types of competencies they demand in part predicted cross-situational consistency in individual differences in aggressive behaviors (Study 1). Study 2 examined the effect of cognitive competence on the discriminative patterning of behavior variation across situations. More cognitively competent Ss showed such discriminative patterning, which was reflected in greater Person?×?Situation interaction variance in their prosocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age-dependent phenotypic characteristics of a triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer disease.

The triple-transgenic mouse line (3×Tg-AD) harboring PS1M146V, APPSwe, and taup301L transgenes represents the only transgenic model for Alzheimer's disease (AD) to date capturing both β-amyloid and tau neuropathology. The present study provides an extensive behavioral characterization of the 3×Tg-AD mouse line, evaluating the emergence of noncognitive and cognitive AD-like symptoms at two ages corresponding to the early (6-7 months) and advanced (12-13 months) stages of AD-pathology. Enhanced responsiveness to aversive stimulation was detected in mutant mice at both ages: the 3×Tg-AD genotype enhanced acoustic startle response and facilitated performance in the cued-version of the water maze. These noncognitive phenotypes were accompanied by hyperactivity and reduced locomotor habituation in the open field at the older age. Signs of cognitive aberrations were also detected at both ages, but they were limited to associative learning. The present study suggests that this popular transgenic mouse model of AD has clear phenotypes beyond the cognitive domain, and their potential relationship to the cognitive phenotypes should be further explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool behavior and first-grade school achievement: The mediational role of cognitive self-control.

The purpose of this study was to test a model of school achievement that included children's intellectual abilities, preschool behavior, and cognitive self-control. It suggested that teacher-rated preschool behavior such as aggressive, anxious-withdrawn, and prosocial behaviors influence cognitive self-control, which in turn positively determines school achievement at the end of first grade (when controlling for intellectual abilities). Participants were 291 kindergarten children. Results from structural equation modeling demonstrated that all hypothesized path models were significant, except the one between anxious-withdrawn behavior and cognitive self-control. A second model was thus specified in which a path between anxious-withdrawn behavior and school achievement was estimated. The second model offered a better representation of the sample data (comparative fit index?=?.99, nonnormed fit index?=?.98), χ2(19, N?=?286)?=?29.43, p?>?.05, and the path between anxious-withdrawn behavior and school achievement was found significant. The role of preschool behavior and cognitive self-control in first-grade school achievement is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Altered differentiation of hepatocytes in a transgenic mouse model of hepatocarcinogenesis

Transgenic mice carrying the SV40 T antigen (TAg) gene, which develop hepatocellular and biliary cell tumors by 4 mo of age, show ductular structures in the neonatal liver. Coexpression of c-myc with TAg increases the extent and persistence of ductular lesions and also accelerates tumor development. To analyze possible links between altered gene expression and cell differentiation and to determine the relationship between the ductular structures and tumor development in these mice, ductular cells in single (TAg) and bitransgenic (TAg x c-myc) mice were characterized for biliary and hepatocellular differentiation, transgene expression, and proliferation activity. The results show that the ductular cells in these transgenic mice have characteristics of biliary cells, including basement membrane formation, positive laminin staining, and bile duct-specific lectin (Dolichos biflorus agglutinin and peanut agglutinin) binding, and characteristics of hepatocytes, including albumin expression and ultrastructural features such as round nuclei with 1 or 2 nucleoli and well-developed cytoplasmic organelles. However, differences in transgene expression and cell proliferation between the ductular cells and nonductular hepatocytes were not apparent. Thus, the ductular cells could not be defined as tumor progenitor cells in these mouse livers. However, this model suggests that manipulation of gene expression can alter differentiation of hepatic parenchymal cells.     

Strategic processing and episodic memory impairment in obsessive compulsive disorder.

There is evidence that nonverbal memory problems in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are mediated by impaired strategic processing. Although many studies have found verbal memory to be normal in OCD, these studies did not use tests designed to stress organizational strategies. This study examined verbal and nonverbal memory performance in 33 OCD patients and 30 normal control participants with the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test and the California Verbal Learning Test. OCD patients were impaired on verbal and nonverbal measures of organizational strategy and free recall. Multiple regression modeling indicated that free recall problems in OCD were mediated by impaired organizational strategies used during learning trials. Therefore, verbal and nonverbal episodic memory deficits in OCD are affected by impaired strategic processing. Results are consistent with neurobiological models proposing frontal-striatal system dysfunction in OCD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Limited impact of social isolation on Alzheimer-like symptoms in a triple transgenic mouse model.

Gene-environment interactions are known to play a major role in the ethiopathology of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study investigates whether environmental manipulations, that is, social isolation, may affect the genetic predisposition to develop AD-related traits in a triple transgenic mouse model (3 × Tg-AD), as suggested by our previous study employing physical exercise (Pietropaolo et al., 2008). Mutant and wild type mice of both sexes were housed singly or in groups from weaning, and evaluated behaviorally at 6 to 7 months of age. Independent of sex, the 3 × Tg-AD genotype was associated with enhanced acoustic startle response, improved performance in the cued version of the water maze and a clear impairment in the Y maze. Notably, the female (but not male) mutant mice showed increased anxiety. Although social isolation was effective in modifying several behaviors, it did not exacerbate any of the AD-like symptoms. Our findings demonstrated the differential susceptibility of the 3 × Tg-AD mouse line to environmental manipulations, showing that social isolation did not induce remarkable effects on the genetically determined AD-like symptoms, in contrast to what previously observed with physical exercise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Opsin localization and rhodopsin photochemistry in a transgenic mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa

In budding yeast, a protein kinase called Gin4 is specifically activated during mitosis and functions in a pathway initiated by the Clb2 cyclin to control bud growth. We have used genetics and biochemistry to identify additional proteins that function with Gin4 in this pathway, and both of these approaches have identified members of the septin family. Loss of septin function produces a phenotype that is very similar to the phenotype caused by loss of Gin4 function, and the septins are required early in mitosis to activate Gin4 kinase activity. Furthermore, septin mutants display a prolonged mitotic delay at the short spindle stage, consistent with a role for the septins in the control of mitotic events. Members of the septin family bind directly to Gin4, demonstrating that the functions of Gin4 and the septins must be closely linked within the cell. These results demonstrate that the septins in budding yeast play an integral role in the mitosis-specific regulation of the Gin4 kinase and that they carry out functions early in mitosis.     

Information processing and affective distress in osteoarthritis patients.

The relationship between affective distress and chronic illnesses is well recognized. Recent research has focused on depressive symptomatology among patients with chronic pain. The present study was conducted to (a) examine depressive information processing in osteoarthritis patients and (b) assess whether the presence of somatic items on a depression measure would affect the observed associations between information processing and affective distress in arthritis patients. A group of 40 osteoarthritis patients was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory, and a non-self-report measure of depressive self-schemas. Results suggest that observed depressive cognitive structures appear to be better differentiated by a nonsomatic measure of affective distress and that individuals selectively process information to fit the parameters of their currently active self-schema. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Receptor editing in a transgenic mouse model: site, efficiency, and role in B cell tolerance and antibody diversification

Mice carrying transgenic rearranged V region genes in their IgH and Igkappa loci to encode an autoreactive specificity direct the emerging autoreactive progenitors into a pre-B cell compartment, in which their receptors are edited by secondary Vkappa-Jkappa rearrangements and RS recombination. Editing is an efficient process, because the mutant mice generate normal numbers of B cells. In a similar nonautoreactive transgenic strain, neither a pre-B cell compartment nor receptor editing was seen. Thus, the pre-B cell compartment may have evolved to edit the receptors of autoreactive cells and later been generally exploited for efficient antibody diversification through the invention of the pre-B cell receptor, mimicking an autoreactive antibody to direct the bulk of the progenitors into that compartment.     

Progressive spatial processing deficits in a mouse model of the fragile X premutation.

Fragile X associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is the result of a CGG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the range of 55–200 in the 5′ UTR of the FMR1 gene. To better understand the progression of this disorder, a knock-in (CGG KI) mouse was developed by substituting the mouse CGG8 trinucleotide repeat with an expanded CGG98 repeat from human origin. It has been shown that this mouse shows deficits on the water maze at 52 weeks of age. In the present study, this CGG KI mouse model of FXTAS was tested on behavioral tasks that emphasize spatial information processing. The results demonstrate that at 12 and 24 weeks of age, CGG KI mice were unable to detect a change in the distance between two objects (metric task), but showed intact detection of a transposition of the objects (topological task). At 48 weeks of age, CGG KI mice were unable to detect either change in object location. These data indicate that hippocampal-dependent impairments in spatial processing may occur prior to parietal cortex-dependent impairments in FXTAS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The affective shift model of work engagement.

On the basis of self-regulation theories, the authors develop an affective shift model of work engagement according to which work engagement emerges from the dynamic interplay of positive and negative affect. The affective shift model posits that negative affect is positively related to work engagement if negative affect is followed by positive affect. The authors applied experience sampling methodology to test the model. Data on affective events, mood, and work engagement was collected twice a day over 9 working days among 55 software developers. In support of the affective shift model, negative mood and negative events experienced in the morning of a working day were positively related to work engagement in the afternoon if positive mood in the time interval between morning and afternoon was high. Individual differences in positive affectivity moderated within-person relationships. The authors discuss how work engagement can be fostered through affect regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and diethylstilbestrol-induced aneuploidy in male germ cells: a transgenic mouse model

The incidence of aneuploidy in male germ cells was evaluated by analyzing extra marker chromosome(s) signal(s) in round and/or hook spermatids of transgenic mice. Two types of transgenic mice were used as models. The inserted foreign DNA (lambda-gt10LacZ shuttle vector and/or pSVc-myc plasmid) was located at the middle of the long arms of chromosome 2 (lambda DNA) and/or chromosome 8 (c-myc). The number of marker chromosomes present could easily be detected after fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in testicular cells. The frequency of spontaneous aneuploidy of chromosome 2 was similar in round spermatids of lambda and lambda-myc mice. Differential involvement of chromosomes 2 and 8 was observed in both round and hook spermatids. The frequency of spontaneous aneuploidy in round spermatids was higher than that in hook spermatids. The frequency of aneuploidy of marker chromosomes was significantly higher in older mice (2 years old) than in younger ones. Diethylstilbestrol (DES)-induced aneuploidy was dose dependent, and was not influenced by the stage at which germ cells were treated with DES. These results demonstrate the usefulness of a transgenic mouse model for the study of aneuploidy in germ cells.