bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Forward and backward visual masking in schizophrenia: influence of age
Authors: GREEN M. F. , NUECHTERLEIN K. H. , BREITMEYER B. , TSUANG J. , MINTZ J.
Published: October 2003

Background. Visual masking tasks assess the earliest stages of visual processing. This study was conducted to address: (1) whether schizophrenia patients show masking deficits after controlling for sensory input factors; (2) whether patients have relatively intact forward masking (when the mask precedes the target) compared with backward masking (when the mask follows the target); and (3) whether the masking deficits in schizophrenia reflect an accelerated age-related decline in performance.

Method. A staircase method was used to ensure that the unmasked target identification was equivalent across subjects to eliminate any confounding due to differences in discrimination of simple perceptual inputs. Three computerized visual masking tasks were administered to 120 schizophrenia patients (ages 18–56) and 55 normal comparison subjects (ages 19–54) under both forward and backward masking conditions. The tasks included: (1) locating a target; (2) identifying a target with a high-energy mask; and (3) identifying a target with a low-energy mask.

Results. Patients showed deficits across all three masking tasks. Interactions of group by forward versus backward masking were not significant, suggesting that deficits in forward and backward masking were comparable. All three conditions showed an age-related decline in performance and rates of decline were comparable between patients and controls. Two of the masking conditions showed increased rates of decline in backward, compared to forward, masking.

Conclusions. We found age-related decline in performance that was comparable for the two groups. In addition, we failed to find evidence of a relative sparing of forward masking in schizophrenia. These results suggest that: (1) early visual processing deficits in schizophrenia are not due to a simple perceptual input problem; (2) sustained channels are involved in the masking deficit (in addition to transient channels); and (3) for the age range in this study, these deficits in schizophrenia are not age-related.
Depression with late onset is associated with right frontal lobe atrophy
Authors: ALMEIDA O. P. , BURTON E. J. , FERRIER N. , McKEITH I. G. , O'BRIEN J. T.
Published: October 2003

Background. The objective of this study was to determine whether older adults with first-ever onset of depression after age 60 years (late onset depression, LOD) have smaller frontal lobes than elderly patients with early-onset depression (EOD) and aged controls.

Method. Twenty-seven subjects with LOD, 24 with EOD and 37 controls underwent volumetric MRI to determine right and left frontal lobe volumes and total brain volume.

Results. The right frontal volume of subjects with LOD was 8·0% and 5·6% smaller than that of patients with EOD (P<0·01) and controls (NS) respectively. Volume of the left frontal lobe was not significantly different from EOD or controls. All analyses were adjusted for age, gender and total brain volume. Unlike controls and those with EOD, patients with LOD did not display a significant positive correlation between cognitive scores and total brain, left frontal or right frontal volumes.

Conclusion. LOD is associated with right frontal lobe atrophy and loss of the correlation between cognitive performance and brain volume. This adds support to the fronto-striatal hypothesis of depression and suggests that structural brain changes have a particular role in cases of LOD.
Adolescent depression, cortisol and DHEA
Authors: ANGOLD ADRIAN
Published: October 2003

Since the mid-1980s Ian Goodyer and his colleagues have been engaged in trying to understand the dynamics of the relationship between acute and chronic life stresses and depression in adolescents (Goodyer et al. 1985, 1986). One of the great strengths of their work has been their attention to an array of potential risk factors ranging from the apparently exogenous (such as life events, e.g. Goodyer et al. 1988; Goodyer & Altham, 1991; Goodyer, 1999), through those of uncertain origin (e.g. peer and family relationships and problems, Goodyer et al. 1990), to those that can be regarded as being endogenous to the child (e.g. measures of temperament or endocrine function, Goodyer et al. 1993, 1996, 1998; Herbert et al. 1996). They have then typically attempted to determine how subsets of these factors interact in the generation of disorder (see Goodyer, 2002 for a speculative presentation of his current thinking about the relationships between social adversity and depression). A second characteristic of their research lies in its frequent attention to outcomes over time, as opposed to cross-sectional relationships (e.g. Goodyer et al. 1997a,b). Thirdly, in line with growing evidence that the relationships between environmental stress (and perhaps neuro-anatomical correlates) and depression change as repeated episodes occur (Lewinsohn et al. 1999; Daley et al. 2000), they have distinguished among first, recurrent, remitting and chronic depressive episodes. The group's latest work, presented in this issue (Goodyer et al. 2003), nicely illustrates these characteristics, and their extension to consideration of potential dynamic relations among endocrine parameters in relation to psychopathology.
Better outcomes for depressive disorders?
Authors: LEE ALAN S.
Published: October 2003

Well conducted investigations into the long-term outcome of depressive disorders are rare. This issue of Psychological Medicine publishes two important papers reporting on different cohorts of depressed patients, one series from Japan (Kanai et al. 2003) and the other from Cambridge UK (Kennedy et al. 2003). Both were ascertained in the early 1990s and have been followed for 5–6 and 8–10 years respectively. Each study demonstrates methodological advances. Both invite comparison with previous reports of the long-term outcome of depression whose follow-up periods span the last 40 years. Is the outcome of depressive disorders at last improving in the era of modern treatments? Is this merely an artefact of better research methods, or does it also reflect therapeutic advances? If there has been very little improvement in some aspects of outcome, what lessons can we learn for future research and practice development?
A response to a Platonistic and to a set-theoretic objection to the Kalam cosmological argument
Authors: MORELAND J. P.
Published: October 2003

The first premise of the Kalam cosmological argument has come under fire in the last few years. The premise states that the universe had a beginning, and one of two prominent arguments for it turns on the claim that an actual infinite collection of entities cannot exist. After stating the Kalam cosmological argument and the two approaches to defending its first premise, I respond to two objections against the notion that an actual infinite collection is impossible: a Platonistic objection from abstract objects and a set-theoretic objection from an ambiguity in the definition of ‘=’ and ‘<’ as applied to sets. The thought-experiment involving Hilbert's Hotel is central to the dialectic, and the discussion clarifies its use in supporting the Kalam cosmological argument.
Evil and the complexity of history: a response to Durston
Authors: TRAKAKIS NICK
Published: October 2003

Kirk Durston recently presented an argument aimed against evidential arguments from evil predicated on instances of suffering that appear to be gratuitous; ‘The consequential complexity of history and gratuitous evil’, Religious Studies, 36 (2000), 65–80. He begins with the notion that history consists of an intricate web of causal chains, so that a single event in one such chain may have countless unforeseen consequences. According to Durston, this consequential complexity exhibited by history negatively impacts on our grasp of the data necessary to determine whether or not an evil is gratuitous. He therefore concludes that our epistemic condition poses an insurmountable barrier towards the inference from inscrutability to pointlessness. By way of reply, I contend that Durston's argument is flawed in two significant respects, and thus the evidential argument emerges unscathed from his critique.
Response to Mumford and another definition of miracles
Authors: CLARKE STEVE
Published: October 2003

Stephen Mumford concludes a recent paper in Religious Studies, in which he advances a new causation-based analysis of miracles, by stating that the onus is ‘on rival accounts of miracles to produce something that matches it’. I take up Mumford's challenge, defending an intention-based definition of miracles, which I developed earlier, that he criticizes. I argue that this definition of miracles is more consistent with ordinary intuitions about miracles than Mumford's causation-based alternative. I further argue that Mumford has failed to demonstrate any advantages that his approach to miracles has over an intention-based approach.
Exclusivism, eternal damnation, and the problem of evil: a critique of Craig's Molinist soteriological theodicy
Authors: MYERS DAVID B.
Published: October 2003

According to orthodox Christianity, salvation depends on faith in Christ. If, however, God eternally punishes those who die ignorant of Christ, it appears that we have special instance of the problem of evil: the punishment of the religiously innocent. This is called the soteriological problem of evil. Using Molina's concept of middle knowledge, William Lane Craig develops a solution to this problem which he considers a theodicy. As developed by Craig, the Molinist theodicy rests on the problematic assumption that all informed persons who would freely reject Christ are culpable. Using an informed Muslim as a counter-example, I try to show that Craig's Molinist solution begs the question.
Response to David Myers
Authors: CRAIG WILLIAM LANE
Published: October 2003

David Myers's critique of my proposed Molinist solution to the so-called soteriological problem of evil miscontrues that solution in several key respects. Once those misinterpretations are rectified, it emerges that his proffered critique of my Molinist solution is really quite unrelated to that solution, but constitutes instead an independent argument against the tenability of a religious epistemology of evidentialism in the context of Christian orthodoxy.
Is free-will theism religiously inadequate? A reply to Ciocchi
Authors: HASKER WILLIAM
Published: October 2003

David Ciocchi has charged that ‘open’ or free-will theism is religiously inadequate. This is it is because it is unable to affirm the ‘presumption of divine intervention in response to petitionary prayer’ (PDI), a presumption Ciocchi claims is implicit in the religious practice of ordinary Christian believers. I argue that PDI and Ciocchi's other assumptions concerning prayer are too strong, and would upon reflection be rejected by most believers. On the other hand, God as conceived by free-will theism has extensive resources for answering petitionary prayers, including prayers whose fulfilment depends on the free responses of other persons.
Are omnipotence and necessary moral perfection compatible? Reply to Mawson
Authors: MORRISTON WES
Published: October 2003

In response to an earlier paper of mine, T. J. Mawson has argued that omnipotence is logically incompatible with wrong-doing, ‘whilst accepting that there is “a genuine, active power knowingly to choose evil” and thus leaving room for a free-will defence to the problem of evil’. Here, I attempt to show that Mawson is mistaken on both counts – that his argument for the incompatibility of omnipotence and wrong-doing is defective, and that the free-will defence cannot be sustained on the ground marked out by him. Given Mawson's understanding of power and freedom, I argue that it would be possible for God to create persons who are both free and unable to make evil choices.
OUT OF BELFAST AND BELGRADE: THE RECENT MUSIC OF IAN WILSON
Authors: Johnson Tim
Published: October 2003

1998 was a dramatic year for Ian Wilson. Already established as one of Ireland's leading young composers, that was the year he was elected to the exclusive Irish arts affiliation Aosdána (one of fewer than 20 musicians among its 200 members); his piano trio The Seven Last Words was included in the Northern Ireland A-level music syllabus (a rare ‘distinction’ for any living composer); he moved to Belgrade to be with his partner Danijela Kulezic; and his first son, Adam, was born.
The Tibetan Dunhuang manuscripts in China
Authors: VAN SCHAIK SAM
Published: October 2003

Early in the twentieth century a hidden cache of manuscripts was discovered in the monastic cave complex of Dunhuang in Central Asia. The majority of the manuscripts, dating from the first millennium C.E., are in Chinese and Tibetan. The largest collections of Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang are in France and England. However, the fact that there are collections of almost equal size within China is hardly known outside of that country. In this article I report on the nature and size of these Chinese collections, and the results of my own examination of the collections in Dunhuang. This information largely completes the puzzle which was left to us after the dispersal of the manuscripts to various institutions, and allows us to attempt a reconstruction of the contents of the original ‘library’ of Tibetan manuscripts in the cave in Dunhuang.
Homely Residential Care: A Contradiction in Terms?
Authors: PEACE SHEILA , HOLLAND CAROLINE
Published: October 2003

Accommodation and care for older people is commonly thought of in relation
to residential care homes: the collective settings with communal
lounges and dining rooms, where older people may live what seems to be a
fine balance between individual and group routines. Yet, while there have
been changes to the living arrangements of people in relatively large
collective groups, the ideal put forward as a basis for care settings has
remained that of ‘home’, with the family model still central. With the
tensions between public and private, domestic and institutional living,
regulated and non-regulated settings, all too obvious, this article uses a
pilot study in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire of registered
small homes with less than four residential places, often run by the
proprietor and her family, to consider whether residential homes may
replicate a homely environment, or whether the model has run its course.
Structures of Mutual Obligation
Authors: GOODIN ROBERT E.
Published: October 2003

‘Mutual obligation’ is a deft political slogan. Morally, it evokes deep-seated
intuitions about ‘fair reciprocity’ and the ‘duty of fair play’. It seems an
easy slide from those intuitions to ‘mutual obligation’ policies demanding
work-for-the-dole. That slide is illegitimate, however. There are many different
ways to structure mutual obligation. Workfare policies, such as the
Howard government's ‘Mutual Obligation Initiative’ in Australia, pick out
only one among many alternative regimes that would answer equally
well to our root intuitions about ‘fair reciprocity’. Other ways of structuring
mutual obligations within social welfare policy are both more standard
and more desirable.
The Scarman Report, the Macpherson Report and the Media: How Newspapers Respond to Race-centred Social Policy Interventions
Authors: NEAL SARAH
Published: October 2003

This paper is concerned with tracking the shifts in media discourses surrounding issues of race and social policy interventions through an examination of the newspaper media responses to the Brixton Inquiry and Scarman Report in 1982 and the Lawrence Inquiry and Macpherson Report that appeared eighteen years later in 1999. Brought about by two very different sets of historical events, albeit events which shared certain common features, this paper argues that the Scarman and Macpherson Reports have framed the changing story of ‘race relations’ in Britain in the last quarter of the twentieth century. While there have, inevitably, been comparisons between the content of the two Reports there has not been a comparative focus on the media reception of the findings and recommendations of the Inquiries. Using written and visual media text from five newspapers the paper seeks to map the extent to which media narratives around both race and race related policy-making have shifted during the course of almost two decades. The paper questions the boundaries of any such changes and examines what remains unchanged.
Autonomic origins of a nonsignal stimulus‐elicited bradycardia and its habituation in humans
Authors: Gianaros Peter J. , Quigley Karen S.
Published: October 2003

The purposes of the present study were to determine the autonomic origins of a bradycardiac response to a moderate intensity nonsignal auditory stimulus and the changes in autonomic cardiac control of this response as a function of habituation. Pure tone stimuli were repeatedly presented to participants while phasic changes in heart period (HP), preejection period (PEP), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) were observed. Tone stimuli initially elicited an increase in HP, an increase in RSA, and a decrease in PEP, suggesting a coactivation of the parasympathetic and sympathetic inputs mediating changes in the bradycardiac HP response. As expected, HP responses habituated with repeated presentations of the tones. PEP and RSA responses, however, demonstrated different habituation rates than HP. These data demonstrate that cardiodeceleratory responses to nonsignal stimuli can arise from changes in activity of both autonomic divisions and document the importance of considering the autonomic origins of habituating cardiac responses in order to fully understand the process of response habituation.
Where is the forest? Where is the dream?
Authors: Greenberg Ramon
Published: October 2003

In this commentary I discuss the importance of considering the isomorphism between the full richness of dreams and the great body of information about REM sleep that is amply documented in the five target articles. With this inclusive mode I point out the importance of looking at REM sleep as involving both pontine and cortical activity in an integrated network. We cannot have a full appreciation of sleep and dreaming (view of the forest) without taking both physiology and mental activity seriously.

[Hobson et al., Nielsen, Revonsuo, Solms, Vertes & Eastman]
The illusory function of dreams: Another example of cognitive bias
Authors: Mealey Linda
Published: October 2003

Patterns of dream content indicating a predominance of themes relating to threat are likely to reflect biases in dream recall and dream scoring techniques. Even if this pattern is not artifactual, it is yet reflective of threat-related biases in our conscious and nonconscious waking cognition, and is not special to dreams.

[Revonsuo]
Post-traumatic nightmares as a dysfunctional state
Authors: Nielsen Tore A. , Germain Anne
Published: October 2003

That PTSD nightmares are highly realistic threat simulations triggered by trauma is difficult to reconcile with the disturbed, sometimes debilitating sleep and waking functioning of PTSD sufferers. A theory that accounts for fundamental forms of imagery other than threat scenarios could explain the selection of many more adaptive human functions – some still pertinent to survival today. For example, interactive characters, a virtually ubiquitous form of dream imagery, could be simulations of attachment relationships that aid species survival in many different ways.

[Revonsuo]
Evolutionary internalized regularities
Authors: Schwartz Robert
Published: October 2003

Roger Shepard's proposals and supporting experiments concerning evolutionary internalized regularities have been very influential in the study of vision and in other areas of psychology and cognitive science. This paper examines issues concerning the need, nature, explanatory role, and justification for postulating such internalized constraints. In particular, I seek further clarification from Shepard on how best to understand his claim that principles of kinematic geometry underlie phenomena of motion perception.

My primary focus is on the ecological validity of Shepard's kinematic constraint in the context of ordinary motion perception. First, I explore the analogy Shepard draws between internalized circadian rhythms and the supposed internalization of kinematic geometry. Next, questions are raised about how to interpret and justify applying results from his own and others' experimental studies of apparent motion to more everyday cases of motion perception in richer environments. Finally, some difficulties with Shepard's account of the evolutionary development of his kinematic constraint are considered.
Intelligent control requires more structure than the Theory of Event Coding provides
Authors: Bryson Joanna
Published: October 2003

That perception and action share abstract representations is a key insight into the organization of intelligence. However, organizing behavior requires additional representations and processes which are not “early” sensing or “late” motion: structures for sequencing actions and arbitrating between behavior subsystems. These systems are described as a supplement to the Theory of Event Coding (TEC).
From reflex to planning: Multimodal versatile complex systems in biorobotics
Authors: Banquet Jean-Paul , Gaussier Philippe , Quoy Mathias , Revel Arnaud
Published: October 2003

As models of living beings acting in a real world biorobots undergo an accelerated “philogenic” complexification. The first efficient robots performed simple animal behaviours (e.g., those of ants, crickets) and later on isolated elementary behaviours of complex beings. The increasing complexity of the tasks robots are dedicated to is matched by an increasing complexity and versatility of the architectures now supporting conditioning or even elementary planning.
More theory and evolution, please!
Authors: Bogdan Radu J.
Published: October 2003

Heyes's (1998) skepticism about theory of mind (ToM) in nonhuman primates exploits the idea of a strong and unified theory of mind in humans based on an unanalyzed category of mental state. It also exploits narrow debates about crucial observations and experiments while neglecting wider evolutionary trends. I argue against both exploitations.
Embodiment is all in the head
Authors: Cisek Paul
Published: October 2003

I suggest that neurophysiological data, usually interpreted in cognitivist terms, is actually more supportive of dynamic frameworks such as that of Thelen et al. I outline a model of embodied action used to interpret neural data from frontal and parietal cortex, and suggest that it bears strong similarity to the framework described in the target article.
No easy answers to hard or easy questions
Authors: Gray Jeffrey
Published: October 2003

What makes conscious experiences necessary for in- formation processing or behaviour (no one knows)? Would it be easier first to divide consciousness into different levels (probably not)? Is consciousness tied to information processing or brain states (no one knows)? Would the target article's comparator be improved by adding a continuously adjusting feedback (probably not)?
Generalization and Tinbergen's four whys
Authors: Cheng Ken
Published: October 2003

Shepard's exponential law provides a functional explanation of generalization. The account complements the more common mechanistic models. The elegant and powerful analyses answer one of Tinbergen's (1963) four whys of behavior: a benefit conferred on the animal by generalizing in this way. A complete account might address evolutionary and developmental questions in addition to mechanistic and functional ones. [Shepard]
A good experiment of choice behavior is a good caricature of a real situation
Authors: Gil-White Francisco J.
Published: October 2003

I argue that (1) the accusation that psychological methods are too diverse conflates “reliability” with “validity”; (2) one must not choose methods by the results they produce – what matters is whether a method acceptably models the real-world situation one is trying to understand; (3) one must also distinguish methodological failings from differences that arise from the pursuit of different theoretical questions.
Misperceptions dependent on oculomotor activity
Authors: Fischer Burkhart
Published: October 2003

Two visual phenomena are described in which oculomotor activity (saccades) changes our conscious perception: (1) some geometrical visual illusions disappear when saccades are suppressed, and (2) misperceptions occur in an antisaccade task with attentional precues. The first phenomenon shows that what we consciously perceive depends on how we look. The second phenomena indicates that a saccade itself may remain unconscious together with the accompanying changes of the retinal image.
Doing it both ways – experimental practice and heuristic context
Authors: Harrison Glenn W. , Rutström E. Elisabet
Published: October 2003

Psychologists can learn from the procedural conventions of experimental economics. But the rationale for those conventions must be examined and understood lest they become constraints. Field referents and the choice of heuristic, matter for behavior. This theme unites the fields of experimental psychology and experimental economics by the simple fact that the object of study in both cases is the same.
“Magical number 5” in a chimpanzee
Authors: Kawai Nobuyuki , Matsuzawa Tetsuro
Published: October 2003

One of our recent studies has revealed that a numerically trained chimpanzee can memorize a correct sequence of five numbers shown on a monitor. Comparative investigations with humans show very similar patterns of errors in the two species, suggesting humans and chimpanzee share homologous memory processes. Whether or not 5 is a pure capacity limit for the chimpanzee remains an empirical question.
How building physical models can reduce and guide the abstraction of nature
Authors: MacIver Malcolm A.
Published: October 2003

Animals detect and acquire resources through a sequence of shape changes. This process is tightly coupled to the sensory and mechanical ecology of the animal. Building physical models allow us to prescind from modeling these aspects of the environment, which may not yet be described or suitably abstracted. The significance of this hybrid of physical modeling and experimentation to the acquisition of scientific knowledge is discussed.
How (and why) Darwinian selection restricts environmental feedback
Authors: Matthen Mohan
Published: October 2003

Selectionist models date back to Empedocles in Ancient Greece. The novelty of Darwinian selection is that it is able to produce adaptively valuable things without being sensitive to adaptive value. Darwin achieved this result by a restriction of environmental feedback to the replicative process. Immune system selection definitely does not respect this restriction, and it is doubtful whether operant learning does.
The TEC as a theory of embodied cognition
Authors: Richardson Daniel C. , Spivey Michael J.
Published: October 2003

We argue that the strengths of the Theory of Event Coding (TEC) can usefully be applied to a wider scope of cognitive tasks, and tested by more diverse methodologies. When allied with a theory of conceptual representation such as Barsalou's (1999a) perceptual symbol systems, and extended to data from eye-movement studies, the TEC has the potential to address the larger goals of an embodied view of cognition.
Artificial systems as models in biological cybernetics
Authors: Neumann Titus R. , Huber Susanne , Bülthoff Heinrich H.
Published: October 2003

From the perspective of biological cybernetics, “real world” robots have no fundamental advantage over computer simulations when used as models for biological behavior. They can even weaken biological relevance. From an engineering point of view, however, robots can benefit from solutions found in biological systems. We emphasize the importance of this distinction and give examples for artificial systems based on insect biology.
Sins of omission and commission
Authors: O'Brien Gerard , Opie Jon
Published: October 2003

O'Regan & Noë (O&N) fail to address adequately the two most historically important reasons for seeking to explain visual experience in terms of internal representations. They are silent about the apparently inferential nature of perception, and mistaken about the significance of the phenomenology accompanying dreams, hallucinations, and mental imagery.
Studies of STM properties in animals may help us better understand the nature of our own storage limitations: The case of birdsong acquisition
Authors: Todt Dietmar
Published: October 2003

I like Cowan's review of STM properties and especially his suggestions on the role of attention. I missed, however, a consideration of studies which provide evidence for STM properties in animals. In my commentary, I argue that such evidence can elucidate the biological basis of storage limitations, validating this view by discussing mechanisms which constrain the acquisition of serial information in songbirds.
At last: Serious consideration
Authors: Hull David L. , Langman Rodney E. , Glenn Sigrid S.
Published: October 2003

For a long time, several natural phenomena have been considered unproblematically selection processes in the same sense of “selection.” In our target article we dealt with three of these phenomena: gene-based selection in biological evolution, the reaction of the immune system to antigens, and operant learning. We characterize selection in terms of three processes (variation, replication, and environmental interaction) resulting in the evolution of lineages via differential replication. Our commentators were largely supportive with respect to variation and environmental interaction but critical with respect to replication, in particular its appeal to information. With some reservations, our commentators think that our general analysis of selection may fit gene-based selection in biological evolution and the reaction of the immune system but not operant learning. If nothing else, this article shows that the notion of selection is not as straightforward as it may seem.
Two visual systems and two theories of perception: An attempt to reconcile the constructivist and ecological approaches
Authors: Norman Joel
Published: October 2003

The two contrasting theoretical approaches to visual perception, the constructivist and the ecological, are briefly presented and illustrated through their analyses of space and size perception. Earlier calls for their reconciliation and unification are reviewed. Neurophysiological, neuropsychological, and psychophysical evidence for the existence of two quite distinct visual systems, the ventral and the dorsal, is presented. These two perceptual systems differ in their functions; the ventral system's central function is that of identification, while the dorsal system is mainly engaged in the visual control of motor behavior. The strong parallels between the ecological approach and the functioning of the dorsal system, and between the constructivist approach and the functioning of the ventral system are noted. It is also shown that the experimental paradigms used by the proponents of these two approaches match the functions of the respective visual systems. A dual-process approach to visual perception emerges from this analysis, with the ecological-dorsal process transpiring mainly without conscious awareness, while the constructivist-ventral process is normally conscious. Some implications of this dual-process approach to visual-perceptual phenomena are presented, with emphasis on space perception.
Varieties of consciousness
Authors: Bartolomeo Paolo , Dalla Barba Gianfranco
Published: October 2003

In agreement with some of the ideas expressed by Perruchet & Vinter (P&V), we believe that some phenomena hitherto attributed to “unconscious” processing may in fact reflect a fundamental distinction between direct and reflexive forms of consciousness. This dichotomy, developed by the phenomenological tradition, is substantiated by examples coming from experimental psychology and lesion neuropsychology.
Reflexive empathy: On predicting more than has ever been observed
Authors: Bandura Albert
Published: October 2003

A model positing that perception of another's affective state automatically generates matching emotional and instrumental responses predicts more than has ever been observed. Reflexive empathicness would produce emotional exhaustion, inhibitory strain, and debilitate everyday functioning. Self-regulation of empathic responses involves, not only reactive inhibition, but agentic proactive control. Pervasive inhumanities involve selective disengagement of empathic restraints through dissociative psychosocial mechanisms.
Symmetry in knapped stones is real, not romanced
Authors: Humphrey Diane
Published: October 2003

It appears that knappers intentionally produced symmetrical stones. Use of the dorsal pathways in knapping does not preclude shape perception, nor does it obviate use of ventral pathways in other tasks in Homo sapiens 400,000 years ago. Shape perception precedes production in present-day human infants, suggesting that symmetry perception was used by knappers of symmetrical stones.
Understanding the imitation deficit in autism may lead to a more specific model of autism as an empathy disorder
Authors: Charman Tony
Published: October 2003

Preston & de Waal are understandably cautious in applying their model to autism. They emphasise multiple cognitive impairments in autism, including prefrontal-executive, cerebellar-attention, and amygdala-emotion recognition deficits. Further empirical examination of imitation ability in autism may reveal deficits in the neural and cognitive basis of perception-action mapping that have a specific relation to the empathic deficit.
The basic questions: What is reinforced? What is selected?
Authors: Grim Patrick
Published: October 2003

Any behavior belongs to innumerable overlapping types. Any adequate theory of emergence and retention of behavior, whether psychological or biological, must give us not only a general mechanism – reinforcement or selection, for example – but a reason why that mechanism applies to a particular behavior in terms of one of its types rather than others. Why is it as this type that the behavior is reinforced or selected?
Imagery in multi-modal object learning
Authors: Jüttner Martin , Rentschler Ingo
Published: October 2003

Spatial objects may not only be perceived visually but also by touch. We report recent experiments investigating to what extent prior object knowledge acquired in either the haptic or visual sensory modality transfers to a subsequent visual learning task. Results indicate that even mental object representations learnt in one sensory modality may attain a multi-modal quality. These findings seem incompatible with picture-based reasoning schemas but leave open the possibility of modality-specific reasoning mechanisms.
What does “isomorphism between conscious representations and the structure of the world” mean?
Authors: Manzotti Riccardo , Sandini Giulio
Published: October 2003

Perruchet & Vinter's provocative article challenges a series of interesting issues, yet the concept of isomorphism is troublesome for a series of reasons: (1) isomorphism entails some sort of dualism; (2) isomorphism does not entail that a piece of the world is a representation; and (3) it is extremely difficult to provide an explanation about the nature of the relation of isomorphism.
Empathy and the action-perception resonances of basic socio-emotional systems of the brain
Authors: Panksepp Jaak , Gordon Nakia , Burgdorf Jeff
Published: October 2003

Mammalian brains contain a variety of self-centered socio-emotional systems. An understanding of how they interact with more recent cognitive structures may be essential for understanding empathy. Preston & de Waal have neglected this vast territory of proximal brain issues in their analysis.
Putting altruism in context
Authors: Sobel Joel
Published: October 2003

I argue that Rachlin's notion of self-control is imprecise and not well suited to the discussion of altruism. Rachlin's broader agenda, to improve collective welfare by identifying behavioral mechanisms that increase altruism, neglects the fact that altruism is neither necessary nor sufficient for desirable social outcomes.
Caregiving, emotion, and concern for others
Authors: Zahn-Waxler Carolyn
Published: October 2003

Few individuals are constitutionally incapable of showing concern for others at an early age, and malleability is possible. Individual variations will be best understood through study of the representational prerequisites of empathy in close conjunction with caregiving environments and affective underpinnings.
Lexical and sentential priming in competition: Implications for two-stage theories of lexical
access
Authors: HERNANDEZ ARTURO E. , FENNEMA-NOTESTINE CHRISTINE , UDELL CARE , BATES ELIZABETH
Published: October 2003

This article presents a new method that can compare lexical priming (word–word) and
sentential priming (sentence–word) directly within a single paradigm. We show that it can
be used to address modular theories of word comprehension, which propose that the effects of
sentence context occur after lexical access has taken place. Although lexical priming and
sentential priming each occur very quickly in time, there should be a brief time window in which
the former is present but the latter is absent. Lexical and sentential priming of unambiguous words
were evaluated together, in competing and converging combinations, using time windows
designed to detect an early stage where lexical priming is observed but sentential priming is not.
Related and unrelated word pairs were presented visually, in rapid succession, within auditory
sentence contexts that were either compatible or incompatible with the target (the second word in
each pair). In lexical decision, the additive effects of lexical priming and sentential priming were
present under all temporal conditions, although the latter was always substantially larger. In
cross-modal naming, sentential priming was present in all temporal conditions; lexical priming was
more fragile, interacting with timing and sentential congruence. No evidence was found for a
stage in which lexical priming is present but sentential priming is absent – a finding that is
difficult to reconcile with two-stage models of lexical versus sentential priming. We conclude that
sentential context operates very early in the process of word recognition, and that it can interact
with lexical priming at the earliest time window.
Phonological representations of adult poor readers: An investigation of specificity and
stability
Authors: DIETRICH JEAN A. , BRADY SUSAN A.
Published: October 2003

The phonological representations of adult less skilled readers (n = 25) were studied
in comparison to those of adult skilled readers (n = 25) and adolescent reading-age
controls (n = 25). Participants were tested on a paired confrontation naming and
spelling test, given two times to evaluate consistency of performance, and a pseudoword
repetition task. On confrontation naming, less skilled readers were less accurate and less
consistent, and they made more phonological errors. Likewise, their spellings were less accurate
and consistent than those of the control groups; inaccurate naming influenced their spelling
significantly more often than it did the spelling of adult skilled readers. They also had fewer
correct responses on the pseudoword repetition task. The results confirm that there are
weaknesses in the phonological representations of known and new words for adult less skilled
readers, with observable consequences for spelling.
The sociolinguistics of sign languages. Ceil Lucas (Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Pp. 259.
Authors: Shaffer Barbara
Published: October 2003

The sociolinguistics of sign languages includes an introduction and six content chapters. In it the contributors present a clear and concise summary of many of the major areas of the study of sociolinguistics. The main purpose of the book is given in the introduction: to present linguistics students with an introductory text that covers many of the current issues and trends in the sociolinguistic study of signed languages. It also seeks to place the study of signed languages within the larger domain of general sociolinguistics. The book is quite successful with that goal in mind. A synopsis of the chapters' contents is presented below, followed by a review of the text as a whole.
Learning in Organizations and Public Policy
Authors: BUSENBERG GEORGE J.
Published: October 2003

This study builds a conceptual framework to guide empirical studies of learning in public policy. Learning in public policy is defined here as a process in which individuals apply new information and ideas to policy decisions. This topic is examined by adapting relevant concepts from studies of organizational learning to the context of public policy. Recent work in the organizational learning literature focuses on institutional structures, procedures, and customs (learning arrangements) that act to promote individual learning. Further work in the policy literature suggests that focusing events (incidents that focus public and political attention on a policy issue) can also shape learning in public policy. Combining insights from these two literatures, this study proposes that both learning arrangements and focusing events can play observable roles in shaping policy change over time. These concepts are developed and examined in the context of hazardous systems.
How Adaptable is the European Commission? The Case of State Aid Regulation
Authors: Smith Mitchell P.
Published: October 2003

With the institutionalization of Europe's single market during the past decade, the Commission of the European Communities has faced dramatic changes in its policy environment. These include the intensified mobilization of firms and business associations that make new demands on Community regulatory regimes, and the accumulation of European Court of Justice decisions that alter the Commission's regulatory latitude. This essay examines developments in Community regulation of government aid to industry to assess how well the Commission has adapted to emerging constraints on its regulatory capacities. The essay finds that the Commission invited representatives of the national governments of EU countries to legislate conditions for applying regulations on government aid to industry in the mid-to-late 1990s - in a policy area in which the Commission in the past guarded its autonomy closely - not due to pressures from national governments, but as a response by the Commission's state aid policy unit to potential constraints on its regulatory capacities.
Poland Before the Euro
Authors: Kokoszczyński Ryszard
Published: October 2003

The euro is relevant for decisions that the Polish Central Bank takes about its general rules of monetary policy, goals and decision structures, but it is not, or at least not yet, relevant to the everyday processes of controlling money supply and interest rates. Fighting inflation was a primary target of the central bank prior to applying for entry to the European Union and maintaining a satisfactory external account. However, with the growing openness of the economy, eclectic monetary policy showed a high degree of internal inconsistency. With greater autonomy under a new constitution, the Central Bank adopted direct inflation targeting. The adoption of this measure is consistent with emerging EU policy but was driven by specifically Polish concerns.
Residential or nursing home care? The appropriateness of placement decisions
Authors: NETTEN ANN , DARTON ROBIN , BEBBINGTON ANDREW , BROWN PAMELA
Published: October 2003

Routinely-collected statistics show considerable variation between local authorities in Great Britain, in the proportions of supported residents placed in nursing and residential care. This raises the question of whether this is due to variations in demand (the type of resident approaching authorities), supply (the level and type of provision available for local authorities to purchase), or policy (in terms of eligibility criteria or interpretations of need at field level). Data were used from a national longitudinal survey of individuals admitted to publicly-funded residential and nursing home care. Information was collected from 18 local authorities on a cohort of 2,544 local authority supported residents who had been admitted to residential and nursing home care. The paper examines the pattern of admissions, the characteristics of people admitted and the relationship between these characteristics and admissions to residential or nursing home care. Characteristics of the individual explained the placement of over 80 per cent of admissions. Supply factors were statistically significant but did not improve the explanatory power of the model. Survival among those admitted to a type of care that was not predicted by the model, suggested that some unmeasured aspects of prognosis may account for some of the residual variation in placements. Overall, the results indicate a reasonably high level of consistency between authorities in nursing home placement decisions. This suggests that either there is considerable variation in the types of individual approaching local authorities or, more likely, that some authorities are more successful in maintaining people for longer at home than others. In addition to maintaining people at home to a higher level of dependency, prevention of admission to residential care is likely to be associated with: interventions that address carer support, safety issues among people who are deaf, and motivation.
Life and death in English nursing homes: sequestration or transition?
Authors: FROGGATT KATHERINE
Published: October 2003

Nursing homes as care institutions seek to offer a home where people can live until their death. A potential conflict, therefore, exists as nursing homes are both a place where life is lived and where death is regularly encountered. It has been proposed that within residential care homes for older people, dying individuals are separated from living people. Drawing on fieldwork undertaken in four English nursing homes the management of the dying process and the relationship between life and death is explored. There is much uncertainty inherent in the boundary between life and death for many residents in nursing homes. The relationship between life and death for these residents is less about the sequestration of dying people from living people, but rather the creation of transitional states between these two polarities.
Introduction: Intergenerational relationships in rural areas
Authors: WENGER G. CLARE
Published: October 2003

It has taken gerontologists a long time to focus on the problems of
rurality. More than half the older people in the world live in rural
areas. The proportions of older people in local populations are higher
in rural areas than in urban areas in most countries of the world.
However, it was not until the year 2000 that the First Global Rural
Aging Conference was held. This special issue looks as intergenerational
relationships in rural areas and stems from an invited symposium at
that conference.