What does the object decision task measure? Reflections on the basis of evidence from semantic dementia

The authors investigated the impact of semantic knowledge on visual object analysis by assessing the performance of patients with semantic dementia on a different-views object matching test and on 2 object decision tests differing, for example, in whether the nonreal items were nonsense objects or chimeras of 2 real objects. On average, the patients scored normally on both the object matching and the object decision test including nonsense objects but were impaired on the object decision test including chimeras; this latter was also the only visual object test that correlated significantly with degree of semantic impairment. These findings demonstrate that object decision is not a single task or ability and that it is not necessarily independent of conceptual knowledge.     

What does the Toronto Alexithymia Scale TAS-R measure?

One hundred seventy four inpatients of a psychosomatic hospital were examined with the revised version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale TAS-R, as well as further measures of emotionality, somatization, psychopathology and personality. A significant association was found between TAS alexithymia and the number of somatoform symptoms. This association, however, disappeared when it was corrected for the possible impact of depression. The factor 1 of the TAS (ability to describe feelings to others) correlated significantly with the use of negative emotional words. Thus TAS alexithymics do not use less, but more emotional words, especially words describing negative feelings. The validity of factor 2 (externally oriented thinking) seems to be low. TAS alexithymia may measure specific aspects of depression or general distress. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

What does the MMPI dependency scale really measure?

Examined the mean DY score of various clinical and nonclinical groups (N = 855). It was significantly higher for females, whether patients or nonpatients; nonpatients with a high total score and high scores on several subscales of the Crown Crisp Experiential Index of neurotic symptomatology; psychiatric patients in general; patients and nonpatients with a high modified Zung depression score; neurotic as opposed to endogenous depressives; suicide attemptors, especially non-serious ones; Ss with early bereavement or separation particularly if followed by poor replacement care; Ss with poor quality marriages and husband dominant marriages as measured by the Ryle Marital Patterns Test. The DY Scale relates directly with the PT and D Scales and inversely with the Do Scale. Separation of the test items into those that were and were not predominantly depressive revealed that most, though not all, significant associations were due to the depressive component, which it was suggested should be markedly diminished.     

What is the best way to change self‐efficacy to promote lifestyle and recreational physical activity? A systematic review with meta‐analysis

Purpose. Increasing self‐efficacy is an effective method to increase physical activity. Despite this, the evidence concerning the most effective techniques to increase self‐efficacy in physical activity interventions has not been systematically reviewed. The aim of the present research is to systematically gather, and meta‐analyse, intervention studies which aimed to increase self‐efficacy for physical activity; to estimate the association between intervention techniques used, and change in self‐efficacy achieved. Methods. A systematic database search was conducted for papers reporting lifestyle or recreational physical activity interventions. Published intervention studies explicitly targeting self‐efficacy in order to change physical activity behaviour in ‘healthy’ adults were eligible for inclusion. Results. The search strategy identified 27 unique physical activity intervention studies, with a total of 5,501 participants. A significant, yet small, relationship between the interventions and changes in self‐efficacy was found (mean d =0.16, p <.001). Owing to significant heterogeneity, moderator analyses were conducted, examining the association of changes in self‐efficacy with whether or not specific intervention techniques were used. Interventions that included feedback on past or others' performance produced the highest levels of self‐efficacy found in this review. Vicarious experience was also associated with higher levels of self‐efficacy. Persuasion, graded mastery, and barrier identification were associated with lower levels of self‐efficacy. Conclusions. This meta‐analysis forms an evidence base for which psychological techniques are most effective in increasing self‐efficacy for physical activity. The results are presented in terms of recommendations for those developing interventions and directions for future research.     

Does the iowa gambling task measure executive function?

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is assumed to measure executive functioning, but this has not been empirically tested by means of both convergent and discriminant validity. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test whether the IGT is an executive function (EF) task (convergent validity) and whether it is not related to other neuropsychological domains (discriminant validity). Healthy community-dwelling participants (N = 214) completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. We analyzed the conventional IGT metric and three alternative metrics based on the overall difference of advantageous minus disadvantageous choices made during the last 60 IGT responses and advantageous minus disadvantageous choices based on two specific decks of cards (D minus A). An a priori six-factor hierarchical model of neuropsychological functioning was confirmed with SEM. Attention and processing speed were grouped as "non-associative" factors. Fluency, executive functioning, visual learning/memory, and verbal learning/memory were grouped as higher-level "associative" factors. Of the non-associative factors, attention, but not speed, predicted IGT performance. When each associative factor was entered along with attention, only EF improved the model fit and that was only for metrics based on trials 41-100. SEM indicates metrics based on trails 1-100 are influenced by attention, and metrics based on trails 41-100 are influenced by attention and EF. Its associative strength with attention is twice that of EF. Conceptually, the IGT is a multi-trait task involving novel problem-solving and attentional domains to a greater extent, and executive functioning to a lesser extent.     

What does the Chinese version of the Beck Depression Inventory measure in Chinese students--general psychopathology or depression?

The Chinese version of the Beck Depression Inventory (C-BDI) was administered to 2,150 Chinese secondary-school students, along with other measures of psychological well-being. While C-BDI scores were found to correlate significantly with all other measures of psychological well-being for the various samples, the results showed that they correlated most strongly with the Depression factor of the Chinese General Health Questionnaire. The Depression factor of the Chinese GHQ was observed to be most predictive of C-BDI scores. These data are generally consistent with the empirical data on the relationship between the BDI and other measures of psychological well-being; the claim that the BDI is more a measure of "general psychopathology" is not supported by the present findings.     

Single umbilical artery: What does it mean for the fetus? A case-control analysis of pathologically ascertained cases

Purpose: To ascertain the frequency of chromosomal and other anomalies in fetuses with single umbilical artery.Methods: Placentas with single umbilical artery were identified from hospital pathology laboratory records. For each identified case, the next consecutive placenta with two umbilical arteries served as a control. Pathology records, maternal histories, and prenatal ultrasounds when available were reviewed for congenital anomalies, pregnancy complications, and maternal characteristics. When indicated, placental specimens, amniocytes, or neonatal bloods were karyotyped.Results: Single umbilical artery existed in 2.0% (97/4846) of pathological specimens. Fetuses with single umbilical artery had significantly more chromosomal (10.3% vs. 1.0%) and other congenital anomalies (27% vs. 8%).Conclusions: The high incidence of major chromosomal and congenital anomalies justifies detailed fetal ultrasonography, echocardiography, and amniocentesis for karyotype when single umbilical artery is discovered during routine ultrasound.     

What is the Contribution of Counter‐Ions to the Absolute Molar Mass of Polyelectrolytes Determined by SEC‐MALLS?

In this work, the absolute molar mass of well‐defined cationic polyelectrolytes has been determined by size‐exclusion chromatography multiangle laser light scattering (SEC‐MALLS) using different eluents containing different counter‐ions (chloride, bromide or trifluoroacetate). Narrowly polydisperse poly‐l ‐lysines of different degrees of polymerization (from 20 up to ≈400) having a counter‐ion similar to the eluent are analyzed as model compounds. By comparing the average degree of polymerization obtained by SEC‐MALLS with those derived independently from NMR/viscosity experiments, it has been possible to investigate what is the average molar mass of the charged monomer that is measured in SEC‐MALLS experiments. The main result of this study is that the average molar mass of the charged monomer in a SEC‐MALLS experiment only takes into account the fraction of condensed counter‐ion associated to the monomer. This fundamental study is important in practice because the calculation of the degree of polymerization (instead of the molar mass) is often required for subsequent chemical reactions, for instance in the case of polymer functionalization.

     

Altering the primacy bias—How does a prior task affect mismatch negativity?

The role in which two tones are first encountered in an unattended oddball sequence affects how deviance detection, reflected by mismatch negativity, treats them later when the roles reverse: a “primacy bias.” We tested whether this effect is modulated by previous behavioral relevance assigned to the two tones. To this end, sequences in which the roles of the two tones alternated were preceded by a go/no‐go task in which tones were presented with equal probability. Half of the participants were asked to respond to the short sounds, the other half to long sounds. Primacy bias was initially abolished but returned dependent upon the go‐stimulus that the participant was assigned. Results demonstrate a long‐term impact of prior learning on deviance detection, and that even when prior importance/equivalence is learned, the bias ultimately returns. Results are discussed in terms of persistent go‐stimulus specific changes in responsiveness to sound.     

Share or compete? Load‐dependent recruitment of prefrontal cortex during dual‐task performance

Dual-task performance requires flexible attention allocation to two or more streams of information. Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is considered important for executive function, and recent modeling work proposes that attention control may arise from selective activation and inhibition of different processing units within this region. Here, we used a tone discrimination task and a visual letter memory task to examine whether this type of competition could be measurable using a neuroimaging technique, the event-related optical signal, with high spatial and temporal resolution. Left and right DLPFC structures were differentially affected by task priority and load, with the left middle frontal gyrus (MFG) being preferentially recruited by the visual memory task, whereas the two tasks competed for recruitment, in a spatially segregated manner, in right MFG. The data provide support for a competition view of dual-task processing.     

How does the inclination of the tibial component matter? A three-dimensional finite element analysis of medial mobile-bearing unicompartmental arthroplasty

Background

Medial unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) using Oxford mobile-bearing prosthesis is performed in the treatment of medial compartmental arthritis of the knee. However, little is known about the stress distributions for mobile-bearing UKA on the medial tibial plateau.