Saúde mental e atuação de psicólogos hospitalares brasileiros na pandemia da covid-19 / Health and works of brazilian hospital psychologists in the covid-19 pandemic / Salud mental y actuación de psicólogos en hospitales brasileños en la pandemia del covid-19

Em março de 2020 a situação causada pela covid-19 foi elevada à categoria de pandemia, impactando de inúmeras formas a vida em sociedade. O objetivo deste estudo foi compreender os impactos da pandemia na atuação e saúde mental do psicólogo hospitalar, profissional que atua nos espaços de saúde e tem experienciado mais de perto o sofrimento dos doentes e dos profissionais de saúde frente à covid-19. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório-descritivo com 131 psicólogos que atuam em hospitais. Os profissionais foram convidados a participar através de redes sociais e redes de contatos das pesquisadoras, utilizando-se a técnica Bola de Neve. Foram utilizados dois questionários, disponibilizados na plataforma Google Forms, um abordando os impactos da pandemia sentidos pelos profissionais e outro referente ao sofrimento psíquico. Os dados foram analisados a partir de estatísticas descritivas e inferenciais. Foram observados impactos na atuação de quase a totalidade dos participantes, constatada a necessidade de preparação dos profissionais para o novo cenário, a percepção de pouco apoio institucional e quase metade da população estudada referiu-se a sintomas de sofrimento psíquico considerável desde o início da pandemia. É fundamental dar atenção a sinais e sintomas de sofrimento psíquico, procurando evitar o adoecimento de uma categoria profissional que se encontra na linha de frente do combate aos danos psicológicos da pandemia e cuja própria saúde mental é pouco abordada na literatura.(AU)

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic breakout hugely impacted life in society. This study analyzes how the pandemic impacted hospital psychologists' mental health and performance, professional who more closely experienced the suffering of patients and health professionals in this period. An exploratory and descriptive study was conducted with 131 hospital psychologists. Professionals were invited to participate through the researchers' social and contact networks using the Snowball technique. Data were collected by two questionnaires available on the Google Forms platform, one addressing the impacts felt by professionals and the other regarding psychic suffering, and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that almost all participants had their performance affected by the need to prepare for the new scenario, the perceived little institutional support. Almost half of the study sample reported considerable psychological distress symptoms since the beginning of the pandemic. Paying attention to signs and symptoms of psychic suffering is fundamental to avoid compromising a professional category that is on the front line of combating the psychological damage caused by the pandemic and whose own mental health is little addressed by the literature.(AU)

En marzo de 2020, la situación provocada por el COVID-19 se caracterizó como pandemia e impactó el mundo de diversas maneras. El objetivo de este estudio fue comprender los impactos de la pandemia en la salud mental y la actuación del psicólogo en los hospitales, uno de los profesionales que trabaja en espacios sanitarios y que ha experimentado más de cerca el sufrimiento de pacientes y profesionales sanitarios frente al COVID-19. Este es un estudio exploratorio descriptivo, realizado con 131 psicólogos que trabajan en hospitales. Los profesionales recibieron la invitación a participar a través de las redes sociales y redes de contactos de las investigadoras, mediante la técnica snowball. Se utilizaron dos cuestionarios disponibles en la plataforma Google Forms: uno sobre los impactos de la pandemia en los profesionales y el otro sobre el sufrimiento psíquico. Los datos se analizaron a partir de estadísticas descriptivas e inferenciales. Se observaron impactos en el trabajo de casi todos los participantes, la necesidad de preparación de los profesionales para este nuevo escenario, la percepción de poco apoyo institucional, y casi la mitad de la población estudiada reportaron sentir síntomas de considerable angustia psicológica desde el inicio de la pandemia. Es esencial prestar atención a los signos y síntomas del sufrimiento psíquico, buscando evitar la enfermedad de una categoría profesional que está a la vanguardia de la lucha contra el daño psicológico de la pandemia y cuya propia salud mental se aborda poco en la literatura.(AU)

The analyst's vitalizing function and the living word in the analysis room: from Thomas Ogden / A função vitalizadora do analista e a palavra viva na sala de análise: reflexões a partir de thomas ogden

RESUMO: O presente artigo tem como objetivo apresentar algumas ideias de Thomas Ogden sobre a importância dada aos sentimentos de vitalidade e desvitalização, como medida fundamental para o entendimento do que ocorre no processo analítico. Com o uso de duas vinhetas clínicas de uma das autoras, pretendeu-se a articulação com as ideias de Ogden, destacando-se o encaminhamento para um encontro vitalizado entre analista e paciente por meio de uma linguagem viva, visando a busca da verdade emocional conectada à vitalidade da sessão.

Abstract: This article aims to present some ideas by Thomas Ogden on the importance given to feelings of vitality and devitalization, as a fundamental measure for understanding what happens in the analytical process. With the use of two clinical vignettes by one of the authors, the intention was to articulate with Ogden's ideas, highlighting the referral to a vitalized encounter between the analyst and the patient through a living language, aiming at the search for connected emotional truth to the vitality of the session.

Incidencia del bienestar subjetivo y equilibrio trabajo-familia en cuanto a la cultura trabajo-familia en trabajadores del poder judicial chileno / Incidence of subjective well-being and work-family balance in terms of workfamily culture in workers of the chilean judicial branch

Resumen El presente trabajo determina la relación entre bienestar subjetivo y equilibrio trabajo-familia en la cultura trabajo-familia en trabajadores ligados al poder judicial en Chile. A 143 trabajadores se les administró el Cuestionario de Cultura Trabajo-Famila (Thompson et al., 1999), la Escala de Equilibrio Trabajo-Famila (Moreno et al., 2009) y Bienestar Subjetivo (Diener et al., 1999). Se observa que la cultura trabajo-familia es explicada en un 44.7% por el bienestar subjetivo y específicamente con la Interfase Negativa del Equilibrio Trabajo-Familia. Se concluye con las implicancias en la gestión organizacional para aplicar estrategias organizacionales que incorporen las dimensiones de bienestar y políticas de conciliación, que consideren un entorno saludable para los trabajadores del poder judicial.

Abstract This study determines the relationship between subjective well-being and work-fa- mily balance in work-family culture in workers linked to the judiciary in Chile. 143 wor- kers were administered the Work-Family Culture Questionnaire (Thompson et al., 1999), the Work-Family Balance Scale (Moreno et al., 2009) and Subjective Well-being (Diener et al., 1984). We found that 44.7% of the Work-Family Culture is explained by subjecti- ve well-being and specifically with the Negative Interface of the Work-Family Balance. It concludes with the implications of promoting initiatives to foster organizational strategies that incorporate the dimensions of well-being and conciliation policies that build a healthy environment for workers in the judiciary.

O infantil¹: suas múltiplas dimensões / The infantile: its multiple aspects / Lo infantil: sus múltiples dimensiones / L'infantile: ses multiples dimensions

O objetivo deste texto é apresentar a importância fundamental do infantil para a clínica e a teoria psicanalíticas. O infantil pode ser apreendido na experiência psicanalítica como expressão princeps da realidade psíquica, da dimensão inconsciente da subjetividade humana. O infantil não concerne apenas aos analistas de crianças, pois não é assimilável à infância ou às fases de desenvolvimento. Diferente do infantilismo comportamental, o infantil obedece a uma sobredeterminação causal, não linear, de composição aberta ao acaso, ao incerto. Longe de ser uma memória fotográfica do passado ou de condutas infantis no adulto, o infantil aponta para os modos de registro e inscrição do que Freud chamou de Erlebnis, "vivência infantil". A tese nuclear é que, para o sujeito, na clínica psicanalítica e independentemente de preferências por um ou outro modelo teórico-clínico, estará sempre em jogo a eficácia dessas inscrições, sua metabolização e simbolização possível ou não, e sua força pulsional viva no presente. O infantil não emerge apenas como resistência ou testemunho do recalcamento da sexualidade infantil, mas como representante atual e vivo da busca por uma experiência criativa e reparadora (neogênese) do que não pôde ser experimentado como continuidade de ser, como expressão potencial, como impulso criativo, e que, por incapacidade ou inadequação do objeto primário, teve de ser recalcado ou clivado. Transformar a relação com o infantil não significa eliminá-lo, mas permitir um reordenamento, uma ressignificação para que o novo possa advir. Fonte de desilusão ou inspiração, nunca deixará de ser referência.

This work aims at showing the extreme importance of the infantile for the psychoanalytical clinic and theory. The infantile may be grasped during the psychoanalytical experience as the princeps expression from psychic reality, from the unconscious of the human subjectivity. The infantile does not concern only children's analysts, as it is not connected to childhood or the development phases; which is different than childish behavior patterns. The infantile follows a casual predominance, non-linear, open to chance, to the doubtful. It is not about having a photographic memory about the past or an adult having childish behavior - the infantile shows what Freud called Erlebnis, "childish perception". The thesis is that, for the subject, the impact of these registrations, their metabolization and symbology, being possible or not, and their strength, is alive in the present, being the subject in a psychoanalytical clinic and not determining preferences for this or that theory-clinical model. The infantile does not emerge only as resistance or testimonial of repressed childhood sexuality, but also as current and vivid representation of the search for a creative and restorative (neogenesis) experience of what couldn't be experimented as the continuity of being, as expression of one's potential, as creative impulse that, due to inability or inadequacy of the primary object, had to be repressed or cleaved. Transforming the relation with the infantile does not mean eliminating it. It is about allowing a reorganization, redefinition, so that something new can arise from it. It can be source of disappointment or inspiration, but it will always be a reference.

El objetivo de este texto es presentar la importancia fundamental de lo infantil para la clínica y la teoría psicoanalíticas. Lo infantil puede ser aprehendido en la experiencia psicoanalítica como expresión prínceps de la realidad psíquica, de la dimensión inconsciente de la subjetividad humana. Lo infantil no atañe solo a los analistas de niños, pues no es asimilable a la infancia o las fases de desarrollo; diferente del infantilismo comportamental, lo infantil obedece a una sobredeterminación causal, no linear, de composición abierta al acaso, a lo incierto. Lejos de una memoria fotográfica del pasado o de conductas infantiles en el adulto, lo infantil apunta a los modos de registro e inscripción de lo que Freud llamó Erlebnis, "vivencia infantil". La tesis nuclear es que, para el sujeto, en la clínica psicoanalítica e independientemente de preferencias por este o aquel modelo teórico-clínico, estará siempre en juego la eficacia de estas inscripciones, su metabolización y simbolización posible o no, y su fuerza pulsional viva en el presente. Lo infantil no emerge solo como resistencia o testimonio de la represión de la sexualidad infantil, sino como representante actual y vivo de la búsqueda por una experiencia creativa y reparadora (neogénesis) de lo que no pudo ser experimentado como continuidad de ser, como expresión potencial, como impulso creativo y que, por incapacidad o inadecuación del objeto primario, debió ser reprimido o clivado. Transformar la relación con lo infantil no significa eliminarlo, sino permitir una reordenación, una resignificación para que lo nuevo pueda advenir. Fuente de desilusión o inspiración, nunca dejará de ser referencia.

L'objectif de ce texte, c'est de présenter l'importance fondamentale de l'infantile pour la clinique et la théorie psychanalytique. L'infantile peut être appréhendé dans l'expérience psychanalytique en tant que l'expression princeps de la réalité psychique, de la dimension inconsciente de la subjectivité humaine. L'infantile ne concerne pas seulement les analystes d'enfants, car ce n'est pas assimilable à l'enfance ou aux phases de développement ; contrairement à l'infantilisme comportemental, l'infantile obéit à une surdétermination causale, non linéaire, de composition ouverte au hasard, à l'incertain. L'infantile désigne les manières d'enregistrement et d'inscription de ce que Freud a appelé Erlebnis, « vécu infantile ¼, bien qu'il ne soit pas une mémoire photographique du passé ou de conduites infantiles chez l'adulte. La thèse nucléaire, c'est que, pour le sujet, dans la clinique psychanalytique et indépendamment de préférences par l'un ou l'autre modèle théorique-clinique, il sera toujours en jeu l'efficace de ces inscriptions, sa métabolisation et symbolisation possible ou non, et sa force pulsionnelle vivante à présent. L'infantile n'émerge pas seulement en tant que résistance ou témoin du refoulement de la sexualité infantile, mais en tant que représentant actuel et vivant de la quête d'une expérience créative et réparatrice (néogenèse) de ce qui ne peut pas être expérimenté comme une continuité d'être, comme une expression potentielle, comme une impulsion créative et qui, par incapacité ou inadéquation de l'objet primaire, a dû être refoulé ou clivé. Transformer le rapport avec l'infantile ne signifie pas l'éliminer, mais permettre un reclassement, une resignification pour que le nouveau puisse advenir. Toute en étant une source de désillusion ou d'inspiration, il ne laissera jamais d'être une référence.

Leadership.

We asked group leaders how they foster mutually reinforcing research productivity and psychological safety in their teams.

Psicólogos en el frente: la atención durante la crisis del Covid-19. De las emociones tóxicas a la salud psicológica / Psychologists at the Front: attention during the Covid-19 crisis. From toxic emotions to psychological health

Objetivos: sobre el marco de la pandemia del COVID-19 y la consecuente cuarentena, esta investigación tuvo por objetivo recolectar las principales intervenciones -"facilitadores"- que han realizado los psicólogos clínicos durante la cuarentena (4 meses). Materiales y métodos: es un estudio cualitativo, donde se seleccionó una muestra de 30 psicólogos psicoterapeutas de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (CABA), de ambos sexos, con 10 a 30 años de experiencia clínica y de diferentes filiaciones terapéuticas, a través de un muestreo no probabilístico, intencional, basado en el conocimiento del investigador sobre la población de profesionales bajo estudio.Se privilegió la experiencia clínica, a la edad, género y modelo terapéutico. Se les formuló una pregunta concreta acerca de ¿cuáles fueron las principales intervenciones que realizaron con sus pacientes a la altura de 4 meses de cuarentena (20 al 30 de julio de 2020), enumerando y explicando un mínimo de 5 (cinco). Resultados: los facilitadores fueron agrupados en categorías por similitudes de intervención y contenido explicativo. De los 150 obtenidos, uniendo las diferentes y descartando las reiteraciones, se seleccionaron 15. Conclusiones: las intervenciones unen filosofía reflexiva de vida y acciones concretas para cambiar, apoyándose en algunos puntos comunes como la perspectiva de atribución de significado positivo por sobre las cosas, personas o situaciones, el empoderamiento y la seguridad, evitar climas beligerantes, crear y hacer proyectos a futuro, mejorar las relaciones con el entorno conviviente, reducir la incertidumbre y niveles de agresión, incertidumbre, angustia y ansiedad..Au

Objectives: on the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent quarantine, this research aimed to collect the main interventions - "facilitators" - that clinical psychologists have carried out during the quarantine (4 months). Materials end methods: it is a qualitative study, where a sample of 30 professionals from the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) was selected, of both sexes, with between 10 and 30 years of clinical experience and different therapeutic affiliations, through a sampling non-probabilistic, intentional, based on the researcher's knowledge of the population of professionals under study. The clinical experience, age, gender and therapeutic model was privileged. They were asked a specific question about what were the main interventions they carried out with their patients at the height of 4 months of quarantine? (July 20 to 30, 2020), listing and explaining a minimum of 5 (five). Results: the facilitators were grouped into categories by similarities of intervention and explanatory content. Of the 150 obtained, joining the different ones and discarding the reiterations, 15 were obtained. Conclusions: the interventions unite reflective philosophy of life and concrete actions to change, relying on some common points such as the perspective of attribution of positive meaning over things, people or situations, empowerment and security, avoid belligerent climates, create and carry out projects for the future, improve relationships with the living environment, reduce uncertainty and levels of aggression, uncertainty, anguish and anxiety..Au

Late guidance resolves the search slope paradox in contextual cueing.

Visual search is facilitated by statistical learning of repeated search contexts, termed 'contextual cueing'. Repeated displays are thought to enhance attentional guidance, but this has been challenged by the absence of search-slope differences between repeated and novel displays. Here we use eye-tracking to resolve this paradox by calculating a measure of when during search the contextual cueing benefit emerges. In 24 human participants we observe typical reaction time and fixation count benefits for repeated contexts, but no slope differences between repeated and novel search contexts. Eye-tracking showed that the attentional guidance benefit emerged over time, occurring later for larger set sizes, and producing similar response time benefits for small and large set sizes. We argue that repeated and novel contexts have similar slopes because learning benefits are confined to target-adjacent regions of roughly equivalent area across set sizes. This finding rules out one of the strongest pieces of evidence against an attentional account of contextual cueing.

Infants' use of motion cues in object individuation processes.

We investigated 10-month-old infants' and adults' numerical expectations in scenarios where information on self-motion and static object features may give rise to numerically incongruent representations. A red circle or a blue box with yellow stripes appeared on the left side of a screen, moved autonomously sideways and then moved back behind the screen. Next, on the opposite side, an identical object was first brought in view by a hand and then pushed back behind the screen (Experiments 1 and 2). The screen was finally removed, revealing either one or two objects. Infants looked longer at one-object test events, suggesting that they expected to find two objects. Adults were also shown these animations and were asked for their numerical expectations. Contrary to infants, they expected one single object (Experiment 3). Whereas preverbal infants' numerical expectations appeared to be dominated by information on object autonomous and induced motion, adults' expectations were mainly guided by information about object shape, size, and color. These findings were discussed in relation to current models on the development of object individuation processes.

Uncovering Underlying Processes Before Illusion of Control Begins in Gambling Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Gambling Disorder (GD) is characterized by persistent betting even in face of accruing debts and psychosocial hardship. Gambling Disorder behavior has been linked to conditioning, cognitive distortions and superstitious behavior. Previous studies have demonstrated that during response-outcome analytical tests (ROAT), non-gambling individuals are precluded from response extinction when failure feedback is suppressed, and develop superstitious behaviors and illusion of control instead. Gambling can be regarded as a ROAT paradigm in which disordered gamblers (DGs) fail to compute failure feedback; hence they do not perceive the independence between response and outcome. In order to investigate early phenomena on response and outcome processing in DGs, we developed two short ROAT versions, one with a controllable outcome and one with an uncontrollable outcome, both with explicit failure feedback. Twenty DGs and twenty healthy controls were assessed using this novel paradigm. Compared to controls, DGs reported higher distress during the controllable ROAT, less self-confidence in the uncontrollable ROAT, and more random responses and less use of analytical strategies in both tests, evidencing potential deficits in cognitive control. In contrast to previous findings, DGs did not demonstrate more superstitious beliefs, or illusion of control, and were generally more skeptical than controls regarding the controllability of both ROAT versions. Taken together, our findings provide some support for deficits in cognitive control in GD that precede illusion of control and superstitious behaviors.

Concurrent working memory load may increase or reduce cognitive interference depending on the attentional set.

Perceptual grouping leads to interference when target and distractors are integrated within the same percept. Cognitive control allows breaking this automatic tendency by focusing selectively on target information. Thus, interference can be modulated either by goal-directed mechanisms or by physical features of stimuli that help to segregate the target from distractors. In three experiments, participants had to respond to the left-right direction of a central arrow, flanked by two arrows on each side. Sometimes, instructions requested to also stay vigilant for detecting an infrequent vertical/horizontal displacement of the target, thus loading working memory. Although it has been usually shown that concurrent working memory load hinders target selection, the present research provides evidence that interference may either increase or decrease depending on whether dual tasking draws attention to the grouping (horizontal displacement) or to an orthogonal dimension (vertical displacement), revealing counterintuitive benefits of working memory load. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

It Is What You Have, Not What You Lose: Effects of Perceived Gains and Losses on Goal Orientation Across Adulthood.

OBJECTIVES: Goal orientation tends to shift from predominantly striving for gains to maintenance and loss avoidance across adulthood. A dominant hypothesis states that age-related increases in losses drive the motivational shift. The present study tests this hypothesis and an alternative, namely that perceived accumulation of resources/assets and discrepancy between the actual and desired state underlie the stronger maintenance and loss-avoidance orientation in older than younger adults. METHODS: Data from N = 182 U.S. adult participants on Amazon Mechanical Turk (preregistered; 50.0% female; 19-77 years, M = 45.1, SD = 15.86) comprise measures of demographics, goal orientation in 16 selected life domains as well as perceived accumulation, losses, actual-desired discrepancy in the same domains. RESULTS: Multilevel modeling analyses showed that, as expected and confirming prior research, gain orientation decreased and maintenance orientation increased with age. Moreover, both perceived losses and accumulation of resources/assets increased with age, while the actual-desired discrepancy decreased. Larger perceived accumulation and smaller actual-desired discrepancies were associated with stronger maintenance orientation. Regardless of age, a smaller actual-desired discrepancy was also associated with stronger loss-avoidance orientation. Contrary to predictions, perceived losses were negatively associated with gain orientation, but not significantly associated with maintenance or loss-avoidance orientation. DISCUSSION: Results replicate the shift in goal orientation across adulthood. Speaking against the loss hypothesis, perceived accumulation of resources/assets and actual-desired discrepancy seem to play an important role in determining goal orientation over adulthood, while the role of perceived losses may be less significant than commonly assumed.

Measuring task set preparation versus mind wandering using pupillometry.

We investigated participants' task set preparation by measuring changes in pupil diameter during a blank interval as they prepared for an easy (i.e., prosaccade) or difficult (i.e., antisaccade) trial. We used occasional thought probes to gauge "on-task" thoughts versus mind wandering. In both studies, participants' pupil diameters were larger when anticipating an antisaccade, relative to a prosaccade, trial. In contrast, their self-reported mind wandering depended upon whether the thought probes occurred after their target detection response (Experiment 1) or occurred in lieu of target detection (Experiment 2). In the latter case, self-reported mind wandering echoed the pupil diameter changes in demonstrating greater off-task behavior when preparing for a prosaccade trial. More important, trial type effects in pupil diameter emerged only when participants reported being "on-task," but disappeared during periods of mind wandering. These results demonstrate that changes in pupil diameter reflect the degree of preparatory control exerted for an upcoming trial, but only when attention is actively focused on the upcoming task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Immoral Professors and Malfunctioning Tools: Counterfactual Relevance Accounts Explain the Effect of Norm Violations on Causal Selection.

Causal judgments are widely known to be sensitive to violations of both prescriptive norms (e.g., immoral events) and statistical norms (e.g., improbable events). There is ongoing discussion as to whether both effects are best explained in a unified way through changes in the relevance of counterfactual possibilities, or whether these two effects arise from unrelated cognitive mechanisms. Recent work has shown that moral norm violations affect causal judgments of agents, but not inanimate artifacts used by those agents. These results have been interpreted as showing that prescriptive norm violations only affect causal reasoning about intentional agents, but not the use of inanimate artifacts, thereby providing evidence that the effect of prescriptive norm violations arises from mechanisms specific to reasoning about intentional agents, and thus casting doubt on a unified counterfactual analysis of causal reasoning. Four experiments explore this recent finding and provide clear support for a unified counterfactual analysis. Experiment 1 demonstrates that these newly observed patterns in causal judgments are closely mirrored by judgments of counterfactual relevance. Experiment 2 shows that the relationship between causal and counterfactual judgments is moderated by causal structure, as uniquely predicted by counterfactual accounts. Experiment 3 directly manipulates the relevance of counterfactual alternatives and finds that causal judgments of intentional agents and inanimate artifacts are similarly affected. Finally, Experiment 4 shows that prescriptive norm violations (in which artifacts malfunction) affect causal judgments of inanimate artifacts in much the same way that prescriptive norm violations (in which agents act immorally) affect causal judgments of intentional agents.

Novel Labels Increase Category Coherence, But Only When People Have the Goal to Coordinate.

From infancy, we recognize that labels denote category membership and help us to identify the critical features that objects within a category share. Labels not only reflect how we categorize, but also allow us to communicate and share categories with others. Given the special status of labels as markers of category membership, do novel labels (i.e., non-words) affect the way in which adults select dimensions for categorization in unsupervised settings? Additionally, is the purpose of this effect primarily coordinative (i.e., do labels promote shared understanding of how we categorize objects)? To address this, we conducted two experiments in which participants individually categorized images of mountains with or without novel labels, and with or without a goal of coordination, within a non-communicative paradigm. People who sorted items with novel labels had more similar categories than people who sorted without labels only when they were told that their categories should make sense to other people, and not otherwise. We argue that sorters' goals determine whether novel labels promote the development of socially coherent categories.

Concrete mindset impairs filtering in visual working memory.

Two studies tested whether a mindset manipulation would affect the filtering of distractors from entering visual working memory (VWM). In Study 1, participants completed a concrete mindset manipulation (by repeatedly describing how to perform an action), an abstract mindset manipulation (by repeatedly describing why to perform an action), and a baseline condition (no manipulation). In Study 2, some participants completed a concrete mindset manipulation, whereas others completed an abstract manipulation. Filtering efficiency was estimated by a change-detection task that included a condition with distractors alongside targets. We derived our prediction from construal-level theory (CLT), according to which concrete representations retain information regardless of its relevance, whereas abstract representations retain the relevant and omit the irrelevant elements of an input array. In a task that requires attending to task-relevant targets and ignoring task-irrelevant distractors in a visual array, concrete processing should impair performance relative to abstract processing. We therefore predicted that a concrete mindset would reduce filtering efficiency as compared to an abstract mindset. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that a concrete mindset manipulation reduced filtering efficiency, as compared to both an abstract mindset manipulation (Studies 1 and 2) and the baseline condition (Study 1). These results suggest a new factor that may contribute to both individual differences and situational variation in working memory performance.

The filled-space illusion induced by a single-dot distractor.

In the present study, we tested the ability of our computational model of the filled­space illusion to account for data collected in experiments with stimuli comprising single­dot distractors. In three sets of experiments, we investigated this illusory effect as a function of distance between the distractor and lateral terminator of the reference spatial interval of the three­dot stimulus. We found that the model calculations properly predicted all of the observed changes in magnitude of the illusion for stimuli with a single distracting dot placed both within and outside the interval, as well as, for stimuli with two distractors arranged symmetrically relative to the lateral terminator. To additionally test the model, in a fourth set of experiments we performed psychophysical examination of the conventional Oppel­Kundt stimulus with a different number of equally spaced dots subdividing the filled part. Adequate correspondence between the computational and experimental data supports our assumptions concerning the origin of the filled­space illusion.

In a Model of Neuroinflammation Designed to Mimic Delirium, Quetiapine Reduces Cortisol Secretion and Preserves Reversal Learning in the Attentional Set Shifting Task.

Quetiapine, an atypical antipsychotic medication has lacked pre-clinical validation for its purported benefits in the treatment of delirium. This laboratory investigation examined the effects of quetiapine on the attentional set shifting task (ASST), a measure of cognitive flexibility and executive functioning, in a rodent model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) mediated neuroinflammation. 19 Sprague Dawley female rats were randomly selected to receive intraperitoneal placebo (N = 5), LPS and placebo (N = 7) or LPS and quetiapine (n = 7) and performed the ASST. We measured trials to criterion, errors, non-locomotion episodes and latency to criterion, serum cortisol and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels. TNF-α levels were not different between groups at 24 h. Cortisol levels in the LPS + Quetiapine group were reduced compared to LPS + Placebo (P < 0.001) and did not differ from the placebo group (P = 0.15). Analysis between LPS + Quetiapine and LPS + Placebo treated rats demonstrated improvement in the compound discrimination reversal (CD Rev1) (P = 0.016) and the intra-dimensional reversal (ID Rev2) (P = 0.007) discriminations on trials to criterion. LPS + Quetiapine treated rats had fewer errors than LPS + Placebo treated animals in the compound discrimination (CD) (P = 0.007), CD Rev1 (P = 0.005), ID Rev2 (P < 0.001) discriminations. There was no difference in non-locomotion frequency or latency to criterion between the three groups in all discriminations (P > 0.0167). We demonstrated preserved reversal learning, no effect on attentional set shifting and normalized cortisol levels in quetiapine-treated rats in this neuroinflammatory model of delirium. This suggests that quetiapine's beneficial effects in delirium may be related to the preservation of reversal learning and potential downstream effects related to reduction in cortisol production. Graphical Abstract.

Functional MRI with a set-shifting task in adolescent anorexia nervosa: A cross-sectional and follow-up study.

Studies of set-shifting in adolescent AN present conflicting results, since not all have found differences with regard to controls. To date, no functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies have been carried out in adolescent patients, nor have patients been assessed after weight recovery. In this study, 30 female AN patients aged 12-17 and 16 matched control subjects were assessed both at baseline and after six months and renutrition using a structured diagnostic interview, clinical and neurocognitive scales, and fMRI during a set-shifting task. Adolescent AN patients presented similar performance on different neurocognitive tests and also on a set-shifting task during fMRI, but they showed a lower activation in the inferior and middle occipital and lingual gyri, fusiform gyri and cerebellum during the set-shifting task. No correlations were found between decreased activation and clinical variables such as body mass index, eating or depressive symptoms. After six months of treatment and renutrition in AN patients, there were no differences between patients and controls. These results show that adolescent AN patients have lower activation in relevant brain areas during a set-shifting task, and support the use of fMRI with set-shifting paradigms as a biomarker in future studies.

Do children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have set shifting deficits?

OBJECTIVE: Set shifting, or cognitive flexibility, is a core executive function involving the ability to quickly and efficiently shift back and forth between mental sets. Meta-analysis suggests medium-magnitude shifting impairments in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, this conclusion may be premature because the evidence-base relies exclusively on tasks that have been criticized for poor construct validity and may better reflect general neuropsychological functioning rather than shifting specifically. METHOD: A well-characterized sample of 77 children ages 8-13 (M = 10.46, SD = 1.54; 32 girls; 66% Caucasian/non-Hispanic) with ADHD (n = 43) and without ADHD (n = 34) completed the criterion global-local set shifting task and 2 counterbalanced control tasks that were identical in all aspects except the key processes. RESULTS: The experimental manipulation was successful at evoking set shifting demands during the global-local versus both nonshift control tasks (p < .001; ω2 = .12-.14). Mixed-model analyses of variance (ANOVAs) revealed that the ADHD group did not demonstrate disproportional decrements in speed shift costs on the shifting versus nonshift control tasks (p = .30; ω2 = .002), suggesting no evidence of impaired set shifting abilities in ADHD. In contrast, the ADHD group made disproportionately more shifting errors than the non-ADHD group (p = .03; ω2 = 0.03) that were more parsimoniously attributable to prerequisite (nonshifting) processes necessary for successful performance on the global-local task. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ADHD's impaired performance on shifting tasks may be attributable to difficulties maintaining competing rule sets and/or inhibiting currently active rule sets prior to shifting. However, when these higher-order processes are executed successfully, there is no significant evidence to suggest a unique set shifting deficit in ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Executive control in language production by children with and without language impairment.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggests that the updating, inhibiting and shifting abilities underlying executive control are important for spoken language production in adults. However, little is known about this in children. AIMS: To examine whether children with and without language impairment differ in all or only some of these executive abilities, and whether they show corresponding differences when these abilities are engaged in language production. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Thirty-three children with specific language impairment (SLI) and 41 typically developing (TD) children (age matched, aged 8-12 years) completed standard executive control tests that measure the updating, inhibiting and shifting abilities. All children were native speakers of Dutch. Moreover, they performed a noun-phrase production task involving picture description within a picture-word interference paradigm. We measured their production accuracy and speed to assess length, distractor and switch effects, which reflect the updating, inhibiting and shifting abilities underlying executive control. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: Compared with TD children, the children with SLI had lower scores on all executive control tests. Moreover, they were overall slower and made more errors in the noun-phrase production task. Additionally, the magnitude of the distractor and switch effects was larger for the SLI than for the TD group. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The results suggest that children with SLI have impaired language production and executive control abilities, and that some of the differences in the executive control abilities between SLI and TD groups were reflected in their language production.