Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Disorganized Attachment In Adolescent Mother-Infant Dyads: Its Nature, Origins, And Developmental Consequences, Greg Moran, David Pederson

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Human Parietal "Reach Region" Primarily Encodes Intrinsic Visual Direction, Not Extrinsic Movement Direction, In A Visual Motor Dissociation Task., Juan Fernandez-Ruiz, Herbert C Goltz, Joseph F X Desouza, Tutis Vilis, J Douglas Crawford

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Posterior parietal cortex (PPC) participates in the planning of visuospatial behaviors, including reach movements, in gaze-centered coordinates. It is not known if these representations encode the visual goal in retinal coordinates, or the movement direction relative to gaze. Here, by dissociating the intrinsic retinal stimulus from the extrinsic direction of movement, we show that PPC employs a visual code. Using delayed pointing and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, we identified a cluster of PPC regions whose activity was topographically (contralaterally) related to the direction of the planned movement. We then switched the normal visual-motor spatial relationship by adapting subjects to …

Alcohol Slows Interhemispheric Transmission, Increases The Flash-Lag Effect, And Prolongs Masking: Evidence For A Slowing Of Neural Processing And Transmission., Sarah A Khan, Brian Timney

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

While the alcohol literature is extensive, relatively little addresses the relationship between physiological effects and behavioural changes. Using the visual system as a model, we examined alcohol's influence on neural temporal processing as a potential means for alcohol's effects. We did this by using tasks that provided a measure of processing speed: Poffenberger paradigm, flash-lag, and backward masking. After moderate alcohol, participants showed longer interhemispheric transmission times, larger flash-lags, and prolonged masking. Our data are consistent with the view that alcohol slows neural processing, and provide support for a reduction in processing efficiency underlying alcohol-induced changes in temporal visual processing.

Relevance To Self: A Brief Review And Framework Of Neural Systems Underlying Appraisal, Taylor W. Schmitz, Sterling C. Johnson

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

We argue that many similar findings observed in cognitive, affective, and social neuroimaging research may compose larger processes central to generating self-relevance. In support of this, recent findings from these research domains were reviewed to identify common systemic activation patterns. Superimposition of these patterns revealed evidence for large-scale supramodal processes, which are argued to mediate appraisal of self-relevant content irrespective of specific stimulus types (e.g. words, pictures) and task domains (e.g. induction of reward, fear, pain, etc.). Furthermore, we distinguish between two top-down sub-systems involved in appraisal of self-relevance, one that orients pre-attentive biasing information (e.g. anticipatory or mnemonic) to …

Stability Of Negative Self-Structures: A Longitudinal Comparison Of Depressed, Remitted, And Nonpsychiatric Controls., David J A Dozois

Psychology Publications

To be considered a vulnerability marker for depression, a variable should, in addition to demonstrating sensitivity and specificity, also show evidence of temporal stability (i.e., remain present in the absence of depressive symptomatology). Although many cognitive factors are associated with depression, the majority of them appear to be episode rather than vulnerability markers. This study examined cognitive organization of positive and negative interpersonal and achievement content in clinically depressed, remitted, and nonpsychiatric controls. At initial assessment, a sample of 54 clinically depressed individuals and 37 never-depressed controls completed self-report measures of positive and negative automatic thoughts and two cognitive organizational …

Perceptual Functions Of Perirhinal Cortex In Rats: Zero-Delay Object Recognition And Simultaneous Oddity Discriminations., Susan J Bartko, Boyer D Winters, Rosemary A Cowell, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The perirhinal cortex (PRh) is widely accepted as having an important role in object recognition memory in humans and animals. Contrary to claims that PRh mediates declarative memory exclusively, previous evidence suggests that PRh has a role in the perceptual processing of complex objects. In the present study, we conducted an examination of the possible role of PRh in perceptual function in rats. We examined whether bilateral excitotoxic lesions of PRh or PPRh (perirhinal plus postrhinal cortices) in the rat would cause deficits in a zero-delay object-recognition task and a simultaneous oddity discrimination task. Both of these tasks measured spontaneous …

Assessing Maternal Sensitivity From Videotaped Recordings: Validity And Practical Applications, Elspeth M. Evans, Greg Moran, Sandi Bento, David R. Pederson

Psychology Presentations

This study examined the use of short, videotaped, mother-infant laboratory interactions instead of longer home visits to assess maternal sensitivity. Scores generated when toddlers were 24-months were found to be correlated with assessments of maternal sensitivity and attachment security from previous home visits The results suggest that coding from appropriate samples of recorded interactions may provide valid assessments of maternal sensitivity and attachment security but a number of important caveats must still be resolved.

Disorganized Attachment And Mother-Toddler Interactive Behavior In A Problem-Solving Task, Lindsey M. Forbes, Carey Anne De Oliveira, Greg Moran, David R. Pederson

Psychology Presentations

PURPOSE: To examine emotional and behavioral regulation and Disorganized attachment at 24-months in a high-risk sample of adolescent mother-toddler dyads.

RESULTS: Disorganization was associated with 1)increased toddler negativity and a lower quality of experience and 2)decreased levels of maternal support and assistance during the problem-solving tasks.

CONCLUSION: These findings offer converging support for the suggestion that Disorganized dyads experience marked difficulties in emotional and behavioral regulation.

Can A Measure Of Disrupted Caregiver Behavior Discriminate Infant Disorganized Attachment From Insecure-Organized Attachment?, Sheri Madigan, Diane Benoit, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

Purpose: To examine if a measure of disrupted caregiver behavior is equally effective in differentiating children with disorganized attachment from children with secure and insecure-organized attachment.

Method: One hundred and eighty-four low-risk mother-infant dyads participated in this study. Mother-infant attachment relationships were assessed using the Strange Situation procedure and disrupted caregiver behavior was assessed at 12 and 18 months using the AMBIANCE measure.

Results: Disrupted caregiver behavior distinguished children with disorganized attachment from children with secure attachment but not from children with resistant attachment.

Anosognosia In Mild Cognitive Impairment: Relationship To Activation Of Cortical Midline Structures Involved In Self-Appraisal, Michele L. Ries, Britta M. Jabbar, Taylor W. Schmitz, Mehul A. Trivedi, Carey E. Gleason, Cynthia M. Carlsson, Howard A. Rowley, Sanjay Asthana, Sterling C. Johnson

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Awareness of cognitive dysfunction shown by individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a condition conferring risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), is variable. Anosognosia, or unawareness of loss of function, is beginning to be recognized as an important clinical symptom of MCI. However, little is known about the brain substrates underlying this symptom. We hypothesized that MCI participants' activation of cortical midline structures (CMS) during self-appraisal would covary with level of insight into cognitive difficulties (indexed by a discrepancy score between patient and informant ratings of cognitive decline in each MCI participant). To address this hypothesis, we first compared 16 MCI …

An Experimental Test Of Instrumental Transcommunication, Imants Barušs

Psychology

As a result of a previous study in which electronic voice phenomenon failed to be found, the author introduced two new elements in an experiment seeking to produce instrumental transcommunication: the creation of text using random text generators and the presence of a medium. There were 26 experimental sessions carried out from April 28,2003 to August 30,2003 in the Psychology Laboratory at King's University College. The random text generators were engaged a total of 715 times producing 23,281 discrete units of textual data. Only a yeslno generator produced anomalous results. Of the 49 times the yeslno generator was used, 11 …

Franklin Wolff's Mathematical Resolution Of Existential Issues, Imants Barušs

Psychology

Just like anyone else, scientists can be troubled by existential questions such as "What is the purpose of life?" and "Why is there something instead of nothing?" One strategy for approaching such questions has been to suggest that a latent cognitive faculty needs to be activated in order to answer them. In effect, this means that a questioner needs to undergo a process of self-transformation leading to a transcendent state of consciousness in which such an ability is awakened. Franklin Wolff has proposed that there is a way of doing so, namely "mathematical yoga," that is particularly suited for scientists. …