Altered auditory self-recognition in people with schizophrenia

Self-recognition is of great significance to our sense of self. To date, disturbances in the processing of visual self-recognition are well studied in people with schizophrenia, whereas relatively few studies have focused on the processing of self in other domains, such as auditory. An investigation of auditory self-recognition contributes to delineate changes related to self and the potential roots of the described psychopathological aspects connoting schizophrenia. By applying unimodal task and multisensory test, this study investigated auditory self-recognition in people with schizophrenia under unimodal and bimodal circumstances. Forty-six adults diagnosed with schizophrenia and thirty-two healthy controls were involved in this study. Results suggested that people with schizophrenia seemed to have significantly lower perceptual sensitivity in detecting self-voice, and also showed stricter judgment criteria in self-voice decision. Furthermore, in the presentation of stimuli that combined the stimulation of others' faces with one's own voice, people with schizophrenia mistakenly attributed the voices of others as their own. In conclusion, altered auditory self-recognition in people with schizophrenia was found

No disponible

Complexity and familiarity enhance single-trial detectability of imagined movements with electroencephalography.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether the sensorimotor rhythms (SMR) elicited during motor imagery (MI) of complex and familiar actions could be more reliably detected with electroencephalography (EEG), and subsequently classified on a single-trial basis, than those elicited during relatively simpler imagined actions. METHODS: Groups of healthy volunteers, including experienced pianists and ice hockey players, performed MI of varying complexity and familiarity. Their electroencephalograms were recorded and compared using brain-computer interface (BCI) approaches and spectral analyses. RESULTS: Relative to simple MI, significantly more participants produced classifiable SMR for complex MI. During MI of performance of a complex musical piece, the EEG of the experienced pianists was classified significantly more accurately than during MI of performance of a simpler musical piece. The accuracy of EEG classification was also significantly more sustained during complex MI. CONCLUSION: MI of complex actions results in EEG responses that are more reliably classified for more individuals than MI of relatively simpler actions, and familiarity with actions enhances these responses in some cases. SIGNIFICANCE: The accuracy of SMR-based BCIs in non-communicative patients may be improved by employing familiar and complex actions. Increased sensitivity to MI may also improve diagnostic accuracy for severely brain-injured patients in a vegetative state.

Spanish norms for age of acquisition, concept familiarity, lexical frequency, manipulability, typicality, and other variables for 820 words from 14 living/nonliving concepts.

This article presents a new corpus of 820 words pertaining to 14 semantic categories, 7 natural (animals, body parts, insects, flowers, fruits, trees, and vegetables) and 7 man-made (buildings, clothing, furniture, kitchen utensils, musical instruments, tools, and vehicles); each word in the database was collected empirically in a previous exemplar generation study. In the present study, 152 Spanish speakers provided data for four psycholinguistic variables known to affect lexical-semantic processing in both neurologically intact and brain-damaged participants: age of acquisition, familiarity, manipulability, and typicality. Furthermore, we collected lexical frequency data derived from Internet search hits, plus three additional Spanish lexical frequency indexes. Word length, number of syllables, and the proportion of respondents citing the exemplar as a category member-which can be useful as an additional measure of typicality-are also provided. Reliability and validity indexes showed that our items display characteristics similar to those of other corpora. Overall, this new corpus of words provides a useful tool for scientists engaged in cognitive- and neuroscience-based research focused on examining language, memory, and object processing. The full set of norms can be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive.

Effects of age and subtype on emotional recognition in children with anxiety disorders: implications for cognitive-behavioural therapy.

OBJECTIVE: It remains unclear whether an anxiety diagnosis is associated with children's emotional recognition. We considered children's age and types of primary anxiety diagnosis, which have been neglected, to elucidate this relationship. METHODS: Sixty-three referred children with anxiety disorder(s) and 59 volunteer children without anxiety disorder(s), aged between 6 and 11 years, were presented with animated characters, displaying a range of simple and complex emotions, for identification. Statistical analyses examined identification accuracy based on presence or absence of anxiety disorder, age, and types of primary diagnoses. RESULTS: Children with anxiety disorder(s) as a group performed comparably to children without anxiety disorder(s) in identifying emotions (z = -0.72, P = 0.47). In both groups, accuracy for disgust increased significantly each year of age ([anxiety group] OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.6 to 4.3, P < 0.001, [control group] OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3 to 3.3, P = 0.002). When primary anxiety types were considered, while controlling for age, children with separation anxiety disorder (SAD) showed deficits in overall emotional recognition, compared with children with other subtypes or without anxiety (P = 0.004). Further regression analyses showed that children with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) presented significantly lower accuracy than children without anxiety disorder(s) at a young age, but the deficit disappeared with increased age. CONCLUSION: Children with anxiety disorder(s) as a group may not appear to be impaired in emotional recognition. However, when age and subtypes are considered, children with SAD and young children with GAD appear to have difficulty, compared with children without anxiety disorder(s).

Objectif : Il n'est pas encore déterminé si un diagnostic d'anxiété est associé à la reconnaissance émotionnelle des enfants. Nous avons pris en compte l'âge des enfants et les types des diagnostics d'anxiété primaires, qui ont été négligés pour éclaircir cette relation. Méthodes : Soixante-trois enfants référés souffrant de trouble(s) anxieux et 59 enfants volontaires sans trouble(s) anxieux, âgés entre 6 et 11 ans, se sont fait présenter des personnages animés, qui affichaient une gradation d'émotions simples et complexes, aux fins d'identification. Des analyses statistiques ont examiné l'exactitude de l'identification d'après la présence ou l'absence de trouble anxieux, l'âge, et les types des diagnostics primaires. Résultats : Comme groupe, les enfants souffrant de trouble(s) anxieux ont eu un rendement comparable à celui des enfants sans trouble(s) anxieux pour identifier les émotions (z = ­0,72; P = 0,47). Dans les deux groupes, l'exactitude de l'identification du dégoût augmentait significativement à chaque âge ([groupe anxieux] RC 2,6; IC à 95 % 1,6 à 4,3; P < 0,001, [groupe témoin] RC 2,1; IC à 95 % 1,3 à 3,3; P = 0,002). Lorsque les types d'anxiété primaires étaient examinés, en contrôlant l'âge, les enfants souffrant du trouble d'anxiété de séparation (TAS) présentaient des déficits de reconnaissance émotionnelle générale, comparativement aux enfants souffrant d'autres sous-types ou sans anxiété (P = 0,004). Des analyses de régression ont indiqué, les enfants souffrant du trouble d'anxiété généralisée (TAG) présentaient une exactitude significativement plus faible que les enfants sans trouble(s) anxieux à un jeune âge, mais le déficit s'estompait avec l'âge. Conclusion : Comme groupe, les enfants souffrant de trouble(s) anxieux peuvent ne pas sembler être déficients en matière de reconnaissance émotionnelle. Cependant, lorsque l'âge et les sous-types sont pris en compte, les enfants souffrant de TAS et les jeunes enfants souffrant de TAG semblent éprouver des difficultés, comparativement aux enfants sans trouble(s) anxieux.

The role of perceptual information in familiarity-based scene recognition

A method to analyze the role of familiarity in recognizing pictures of everyday scenes is introduced. The idea is to manipulate two within-subjects conditions: an experimental condition where the scenes repeat perceptual information (e.g. buildings and/or vehicles) and a control condition. The results show the two conditions did not differ in terms of hit rates, but in the experimental condition there were significantly fewer false alarms, yielding better results, which supports the findings of past research studies that have used verbal materials. This perceptual facilitation was maintained throughout a week-long retention interval. Finally, a detailed analysis of this facilitation shows it was due to a significant reduction in false alarms on know judgments, emphasizing familiarity’s role in explaining this effect (AU)

Presentamos un método para analizar el papel que la familiaridad juega en el reconocimiento de fotografías de escenas cotidianas. La idea consiste en manipular dos condiciones intrasujeto: una condición experimental en la que se presentan fotografías en las que se repite información perceptual (p.e. edificios y/o vehículos) frente a otra condición control. Los resultados muestran que no hay diferencias en las tasas de aciertos de ambas condiciones, pero sí una reducción significativa de las falsas alarmas en la condición experimental, lo que provoca una mejor rendimiento en esta condición, patrón de resultados que coincide con el hallado utilizando materiales verbales. Dicha facilitación perceptual se mantiene así mismo tras una semana del estudio de los materiales. Por último el análisis pormenorizado de dicha facilitación nos muestra que es debida principalmente a una reducción significativa de las falsas alarmas en los juicios saber, lo que remarca el papel que la familiaridad juega en la explicación de dicho efecto (AU)

Object recognition testing: statistical considerations.

The object recognition task is a commonly used test for the assessment of memory functions in rodents. In this paper different aspects concerning the analysis of object recognition data are discussed. Using a set of experimental studies and fictive data sets, it was shown that the absolute discrimination measure (d1) behaves different from the ratio measures (d2 and d3). Furthermore, it is suggested that, besides group differences, one should also examine whether each individual group actually discriminates between the novel and the familiar object. For this purpose, the use of a fictive group showing no discrimination is advisable. Furthermore, on basis of 48 object recognition task studies it is shown that discrimination performance does not fall significantly below zero. Therefore one-sided testing is allowed, provided that place- or object biases can be ruled out. Finally, it was shown that differences in exploration levels may affect the statistical evaluation of group differences. Several suggestions for statistical analysis are given.

Mere exposure revisited: the influence of growth versus security cues on evaluations of novel and familiar stimuli.

Combining regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997) and novelty categorization theory (Förster, Marguc, & Gillebaart, 2010), we predicted that novel stimuli would be more positively evaluated when focused on growth as compared with security and that familiar stimuli would be more negatively evaluated when focused on growth as compared with security. This would occur, at least in part, because of changes in category breadth. We tested effects of several variables linked to growth and security on evaluations of novel and familiar stimuli. Using a subliminal mere exposure paradigm, results showed novel stimuli were evaluated more positively in a promotion focus compared to a prevention focus (Experiments 1A-1C), with high power compared to low power (Experiment 2A), and with the color blue compared to red (Experiment 2B). For familiar stimuli, all effects were reversed. Additionally, as predicted by novelty categorization theory, novel stimuli were liked better after broad compared to narrow category priming, and familiar stimuli were liked better after narrow compared with broad category priming (Experiment 3). We suggest, therefore, that although familiarity glows warmly in security-related contexts, people prefer novelty when they are primarily focused on growth.

Identification and classification of facial familiarity in directed lying: an ERP study.

Recognizing familiar faces is essential to social functioning, but little is known about how people identify human faces and classify them in terms of familiarity. Face identification involves discriminating familiar faces from unfamiliar faces, whereas face classification involves making an intentional decision to classify faces as "familiar" or "unfamiliar." This study used a directed-lying task to explore the differentiation between identification and classification processes involved in the recognition of familiar faces. To explore this issue, the participants in this study were shown familiar and unfamiliar faces. They responded to these faces (i.e., as familiar or unfamiliar) in accordance with the instructions they were given (i.e., to lie or to tell the truth) while their EEG activity was recorded. Familiar faces (regardless of lying vs. truth) elicited significantly less negative-going N400f in the middle and right parietal and temporal regions than unfamiliar faces. Regardless of their actual familiarity, the faces that the participants classified as "familiar" elicited more negative-going N400f in the central and right temporal regions than those classified as "unfamiliar." The P600 was related primarily with the facial identification process. Familiar faces (regardless of lying vs. truth) elicited more positive-going P600f in the middle parietal and middle occipital regions. The results suggest that N400f and P600f play different roles in the processes involved in facial recognition. The N400f appears to be associated with both the identification (judgment of familiarity) and classification of faces, while it is likely that the P600f is only associated with the identification process (recollection of facial information). Future studies should use different experimental paradigms to validate the generalizability of the results of this study.

How a hobby can shape cognition: visual word recognition in competitive Scrabble players.

Competitive Scrabble is an activity that involves extraordinary word recognition experience. We investigated whether that experience is associated with exceptional behavior in the laboratory in a classic visual word recognition paradigm: the lexical decision task (LDT). We used a version of the LDT that involved horizontal and vertical presentation and a concreteness manipulation. In Experiment 1, we presented this task to a group of undergraduates, as these participants are the typical sample in word recognition studies. In Experiment 2, we compared the performance of a group of competitive Scrabble players with a group of age-matched nonexpert control participants. The results of a series of cognitive assessments showed that the Scrabble players and control participants differed only in Scrabble-specific skills (e.g., anagramming). Scrabble expertise was associated with two specific effects (as compared to controls): vertical fluency (relatively less difficulty judging lexicality for words presented in the vertical orientation) and semantic deemphasis (smaller concreteness effects for word responses). These results suggest that visual word recognition is shaped by experience, and that with experience there are efficiencies to be had even in the adult word recognition system.

Familiarity changes as a function of perceptual shifts

This experiment compares the yes-no and forced recognition tests as methods of measuring familiarity. Participants faced a phase of 3 study-test recognition trials in which they studied words using all the letters of the alphabet (overlapping condition, O), and an additional phase in which targets and lures did not share any letters (non-overlapping condition, NO). Finally, subjects performed a forced-choice task in which they had to choose one of two new words, each from one of the subsets (Parkin et al., 2001). Results in the NO condition were better than in the O condition in the yes-no recognition test, while the forced-choice rate was significantly higher than .50, showing their sensitivity to familiarity. When the letter set of the words for study in the third list of the NO condition was switched, the difference between NO and O conditions disappeared in yes-no test, while the force-choice rate was not higher than .50. We conclude that both the yes-no test and the forced-choice test are valid and equivalent measures of familiarity under the right conditions (AU)

Este experimento compara tareas de reconocimiento convencionales (sí-no) y de elección forzosa como métodos de medición de la familiaridad. Los participantes realizaron tres tareas de estudio y reconocimiento convencional en las que estudiaron y reconocieron palabras compuestas por todas las letras del alfabeto (condición de solapamiento, O) y otras tantas tareas similares en las que las palabras a estudiar y reconocer, y las palabras de relleno no compartían ninguna letra (condición de no solapamiento, NO). Tras este último bloque de tareas los sujetos realizaban una tarea de elección forzosa en la que tenían que elegir entre dos palabras nuevas, cada una formada por un subconjunto de letras distintas (Parkin et al., 2001). Los resultados en la condición NO fueron mejores que en la condición O en las tareas de reconocimiento sí-no, mientras que la tasa de elecciones forzosas a favor de las palabras formadas por el subconjunto de letras estudiadas fue significativamente superior a 0.50, lo que muestra la sensibilidad de la tarea para medir familiaridad. Cuando en la tercera tarea de no solapamiento cambiamos sorpresivamente el conjunto de letras que formaban las palabras a estudiar y reconocer la diferencia entre las condiciones NO y O desapareció en la tarea de reconocimiento sí-no, mientras que la tasa de elección forzosa dejó de ser superior a 0.50. Se concluye que tanto las tareas de reconocimiento convencional como de elección forzosa dan medidas equivalentes de estimación de la familiaridad bajo las condiciones adecuadas (AU)

Age-related changes in recognition and response criterion

Recognition performance does not usually change along the lifespan, but the response criterion usually does, and in general, it changes from being conservative during youth to being liberal, in old age. The focus of the present study is to analyze the changes that take place, both in discrimination and response criterion, as a result of aging in two recognition tasks: one with neutral images, and the other with faces showing positive and negative emotional expressions. Two groups of participants performed both tasks: young (N = 21; age range, 17-33 years), older (N = 21; age range, 65-91 years). The analyses of several discrimination parameters (d´ and probability of recognition) and the response criterion yielded significant age differences. Thus, results indicated that the ability to discriminate of older participants was better than that of younger participants when having to recognize neutral images, and faces with negative emotional expressions. The response criterion of younger participants was always conservative, whereas older participants only showed liberal criteria in front of faces with emotional expressions. In relation to the neutral images, the response criterion of older participants was optimum, because it led to more hits, without increasing the false alarms. The results are partially explained by the tasks differential difficulty, and are discussed within the frame of Simulation theory (AU)

El rendimiento en pruebas de reconocimiento no suele variar a lo largo de la vida, pero sí lo hace el criterio de respuesta empleado que, en general, pasa de ser conservador, en la juventud, a ser liberal, al envejecer. El objetivo del presente estudio es analizar los cambios que se producen en la discriminación y el criterio de respuesta en función de la edad en dos pruebas de reconocimiento: una frente a imágenes sin carga emocional y otra frente a caras con expresiones faciales positivas y negativas. Dos grupos de participantes realizaron ambas pruebas: joven (N = 21; rango de edad de 17-33 años), mayor (N = 21; rango de edad de 65-91 años). El análisis de diferentes medidas de discriminación (d´ y probabilidad de reconocimiento) y del criterio de respuesta de los participantes en las distintas tareas experimentales arrojó diferencias significativas en función de la edad. Así, los resultados indicaron que la habilidad para discriminar de las personas de más edad supera a la de los jóvenes frente a imágenes neutras y caras con expresiones faciales negativas. En lo que respecta al criterio de respuesta, el de los jóvenes siempre fue conservador, en tanto que el de los mayores fue óptimo frente a imágenes neutras (más aciertos sin incremento de falsas alarmas) y liberal frente a las caras con expresiones faciales emocionales. Los resultados se explican en parte por la dificultad diferencial de las pruebas y se interpretan dentro del marco de la teoría de la simulación (AU)

Global similarity predicts dissociation of classification and recognition: evidence questioning the implicit-explicit learning distinction in amnesia.

Dissociation of classification and recognition in amnesia is widely taken to imply 2 functional systems: an implicit procedural-learning system that is spared in amnesia and an explicit episodic-learning system that is compromised. We argue that both tasks reflect the global similarity of probes to memory. In classification, subjects sort unstudied grammatical exemplars from lures, whereas in recognition, they sort studied grammatical exemplars from lures. Hence, global similarity is necessarily greater in recognition than in classification. Moreover, a grammatical exemplar's similarity to studied exemplars is a nonlinear function of the integrity of the data in memory. Assuming that data integrity is better for control subjects than for subjects with amnesia, the nonlinear relation combined with the advantage for recognition over classification predicts the dissociation of recognition and classification. To illustrate the dissociation of recognition and classification in healthy undergraduates, we manipulated study time to vary the integrity of the data in memory and brought the dissociation under experimental control. We argue that the dissociation reflects a general cost in memory rather than a selective impairment of separate procedural and episodic systems.

Who recognizes and chooses behaviors that are best for a relationship? The separate roles of knowledge, attachment, and motivation.

Participants made relationship decisions in several Choose Your Own Adventure-type dating story tasks by choosing between two options at each of 20 points throughout the computerized stories. One option was always the relationship-enhancing option; the other option was detrimental to the relationship. Study 1 included two experimental conditions: Participants were either asked to identify the relationship-enhancing option or to report which option they would actually choose. Individuals high in relationship knowledge were more likely to identify relationship-enhancing behaviors but not more likely to actually choose them. Secure individuals and individuals strongly motivated to have supportive relationships were more likely to identify and to choose relationship-enhancing options. In Study 2 partner supportiveness was manipulated; the fictitious partner was either supportive or nonsupportive. Individuals high in relationship knowledge were better at recognizing when a partner was supportive and when not, whereas attachment anxiety lessened the appreciation of having a supportive partner.

Use of multilevel logistic regression to identify the causes of differential item functioning / Utilización de la regresión logística multinivel para identificar las causas del funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems

Given that a key function of tests is to serve as evaluation instruments and for decision making in the fields of psychology and education, the possibility that some of their items may show differential behaviour is a major concern for psychometricians. In recent decades, important progress has been made as regards the efficacy of techniques designed to detect this differential item functioning (DIF). However, the findings are scant when it comes to explaining its causes. The present study addresses this problem from the perspective of multilevel analysis. Starting from a case study in the area of transcultural comparisons, multilevel logistic regression is used: 1) to identify the item characteristics associated with the presence of DIF; 2) to estimate the proportion of variation in the DIF coefficients that is explained by these characteristics; and 3) to evaluate alternative explanations of the DIF by comparing the explanatory power or fit of different sequential models. The comparison of these models confirmed one of the two alternatives (familiarity with the stimulus) and rejected the other (the topic area) as being a cause of differential functioning with respect to the compared groups (AU)

Dada la relevancia de los tests como instrumentos de evaluación y de toma de decisiones en los campos de la psicología y de la educación, la posibilidad de que algunos de sus ítems presenten un comportamiento diferencial constituye una preocupación central de los psicómetras. En las últimas décadas se han producido importantes avances con respecto a las técnicas diseñadas para detectar el funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems (DIF). Sin embargo, los hallazgos son escasos en lo que respecta a identificar las causas que lo explican. El presente trabajo aborda este problema desde la perspectiva del análisis multinivel. Partiendo del estudio de un caso del ámbito de las comparaciones transculturales, se utiliza la regresión logística multinivel para: 1) identificar las características de los ítems asociadas a la presencia de DIF; 2) estimar la proporción de la variación en los coeficientes de DIF explicada por tales características; y 3) evaluar explicaciones alternativas para el DIF comparando la capacidad explicativa o el ajuste de diferentes modelos. La comparación entre tales modelos permitió confirmar una de las dos alternativas (la familiaridad con el estímulo) y descartar la otra (el tema de estudio) como causa del funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems en los grupos comparados (AU)

Differential development of high-level visual cortex correlates with category-specific recognition memory.

High-level visual cortex in humans includes functionally defined regions that preferentially respond to objects, faces and places. It is unknown how these regions develop and whether their development relates to recognition memory. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the development of several functionally defined regions including object (lateral occipital complex, LOC)-, face ('fusiform face area', FFA; superior temporal sulcus, STS)- and place ('parahippocampal place area', PPA)-selective cortices in children (ages 7-11), adolescents (12-16) and adults. Right FFA and left PPA volumes were substantially larger in adults than in children. This development occurred by expansion of FFA and PPA into surrounding cortex and was correlated with improved recognition memory for faces and places, respectively. In contrast, LOC and STS volumes and object-recognition memory remained constant across ages. Thus, the ventral stream undergoes a prolonged maturation that varies temporally across functional regions, is determined by brain region rather than stimulus category, and is correlated with the development of category-specific recognition memory.

Brain responses of explicit and implicit memory: An event-related potential study.

Implicit memory is acquired by an unintentional or unconscious learning. Recognition memory involves either automatic knowing or consciously controlled remembering. We provided an event-related potential paradigm capable of differentiating memory for the explicitly learned, implicitly learned and unstudied materials. In the explicit memory, we obtained both frontal (controlled retrieval) and parietal (recollection) old/new effects. In the implicit memory, we found persistent occipitotemporal activation (visual priming) and late attenuation in the temporoparietooccipital (repetition suppression). Event-related potential provides an insight into the dissociable mechanism of memory function that supports the dual process model with an enhanced temporal resolution on the dynamic process of both explicit perceptual learning and implicit perceptual priming.