Head centred meridian effect on auditory spatial attention orienting

Six experiments examined the issue of whether one single system or separate systems underlie visual and auditory orienting of spatial attention. When auditory targets were used, reaction times were slower on trials in which cued and target locations were at opposite sides of the vertical head-centred meridian than on trials in which cued and target locations were at opposite sides of the vertical visual meridian or were not separated by any meridian. The head- centred meridian effect for auditory stimuli was apparent when targets were cued by either visual (Experiments 2, 3, and 6) or auditory cues (Experiment 5). Also, the head- centred meridian effect was found when targets were delivered either through headphones (Experiments 2, 3, and 5) or external loudspeakers (Experiment 6). Conversely, participants showed a visual meridian effect when they were required to respond to visual targets (Experiment 4). These results strongly suggest that auditory and visual spatial attention systems are indeed separate, as far as endogenous orienting is concerned

Reducing the meta-emotional problem decreases physiological fear response during exposure in phobics

Anxiety disorders may not only be characterized by specific symptomatology (e.g., tachycardia) in response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem or first-level emotion) but also by the tendency to negatively evaluate oneself for having those symptoms (secondary problem or negative meta-emotion). An exploratory study was conducted driven by the hypothesis that reducing the secondary or meta-emotional problem would also diminish the fear response to the phobic stimulus. Thirty-three phobic participants were exposed to the phobic target before and after undergoing a psychotherapeutic intervention addressed to reduce the meta-emotional problem or a control condition. The electrocardiogram was continuously recorded to derive heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) and affect ratings were obtained. Addressing the meta-emotional problem had the effect of reducing the physiological but not the subjective symptoms of anxiety after phobic exposure. Preliminary findings support the role of the metaemotional problem in the maintenance of response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem)

Persisting inhibition biases efficient rule inference under uncertainty

IntroductionTask set inhibition supports optimal switching among tasks by actively suppressing the interference from recently executed competing task sets. It is typically studied in cued task-switching paradigms where there is no uncertainty about the task set or rule to prepare for on each trial. While inhibition has been shown to influence the speed and the accuracy of task execution, affecting task set retrieval, preparation, or implementation in conditions of task set switching, it remains uninvestigated whether it also affects rule selection under uncertainty.MethodsWe implemented an ad-hoc four-rule card sorting task and categorized the rules selected by participants after a rule shift according to the recency of their last usage. We included a measure of working memory capacity (WMC) to control for its involvement in the rule selection process.ResultsParticipants exhibited a reduced preference for recently abandoned rules than less recently abandoned ones. Furthermore, we found that such a preference was not associated with WMC.DiscussionThe results suggest that decision-making processes underlying rule inference and selection may be influenced by task-set inhibition, configuring as a conflict adjustment mechanism to the sequential history of rules application

The Role of Personal Goals in Depressive Reaction to Adverse Life Events: A Cross-Sectional Study

Consistent with cognitive views of depression, we aimed to investigate the mediating role of personal goals in the relationship between stressful events and distinct patterns of depressive symptoms in a nonclinical sample. Participants identified a dysphoric episode that occurred in the previous year by reporting the severity of 12 depressive symptoms and their plausible cause. A goal taxonomy was used to determine how much the event interfered with the achievement of a series of personal goals. After controlling for age and current level of depression, the patterns of symptoms differed based on the triggering events. The relationship between sadness and affective losses was partially mediated by the personal goal of lovableness, and success was a partial mediator in the association between an event of failure and symptoms of worthlessness and anhedonia. Although the cross-sectional design of the study does not allow for conclusions on the direction of effects, findings suggest the importance of motivational factors in the development of specific patterns of depressive symptoms to adverse events. Assuming a continuum from low mood to clinical depression, treatment models could benefit from a precise identification of the specific stressors that initiate depressive behaviour and the personal meaning assigned to those events