Willispearce6246

An unresolved issue in describing the impact of hand position on visual processing is whether near hand perceptual differences occur automatically or in a strategic and task-dependent fashion. A number of recent studies have demonstrated that the area in the graspable space of the hands is processed differently, and often preferentially, compared with areas distant from the hands (Abrams, Davoli, Du, Knapp, & Paull, 2008; Gozli, West, & Pratt, 2012; Reed, Grubb, & Steele, 2006). However, it is unclear whether the near-hand bias is automatic, or because of a strategic prioritization of search at near-hand locations. In the current studies, we used a flanker task, which did not require search for the target, to differentiate between these 2 alternatives. The task included 1 critical distractor that was either in the graspable space of a hand or on the opposite side of the screen. This critical distractor was either congruent or incongruent with the correct response. Our results indicate an impact of distractor congruency only when the critical distractor was presented in near-hand space. The congruency of distractors opposite the hand had no impact on response times. Further, we find that the near-hand effect is dependent on the inclusion of congruent flankers. These findings demonstrate that the allocation of preferential processing is conditionally automatic when near-hand locations can contain beneficial information, and absent when these locations contain only interfering and neutral information. D-AP5 in vivo (PsycINFO Database RecordAlthough fractions, decimals, and whole numbers can be used to represent the same rational-number values, it is unclear whether adults conceive of these rational-number magnitudes as lying along the same ordered mental continuum. In the current study, we investigated whether adults' processing of rational-number magnitudes in fraction, decimal, and whole-number notation show systematic ratio-dependent responding characteristic of an integrated mental continuum. Both reaction time (RT) and eye-tracking data from a number-magnitude comparison task revealed ratio-dependent performance when adults compared the relative magnitudes of rational numbers, both within the same notation (e.g., fractions vs. fractions) and across different notations (e.g., fractions vs. decimals), pointing to an integrated mental continuum for rational numbers across notation types. In addition, eye-tracking analyses provided evidence of an implicit whole-number bias when we compared values in fraction notation, and individual differences in this whole-number bias were related to the individual's performance on a fraction arithmetic task. Implications of our results for both cognitive development research and math education are discussed. (PsycINFO Database RecordA growing body of work suggests that in some circumstances, humans may be capable of ascribing mental states to others in a way that is fast, cognitively efficient, and implicit (implicit mentalizing hypothesis). However, the interpretation of this work has recently been challenged by suggesting that the observed effects may reflect "submentalizing" effects of attention and memory, with no ascription of mental states (submentalizing hypothesis). The present study employed a strong test between these hypotheses by examining whether apparently automatic processing of another's visual perspective is influenced by experience-dependent beliefs about whether that person can see. Altercentric interference was observed when participants judged their own perspective on stimuli involving an avatar wearing goggles that participants believed to be transparent but not when they believed the goggles to be opaque. These results are consistent with participants ascribing mental states to the avatar and not with the submentalizing hypothesis that altercentric interference arises merely because avatars cue shifts in spatial attention. (PsycINFO Database RecordThere is a need to verify the accuracy of general purpose Monte Carlo codes like EGSnrc, which are commonly employed for investigations of dosimetric problems in radiation therapy. A number of experimental benchmarks have been published to compare calculated values of absorbed dose to experimentally determined values. However, there is a lack of absolute benchmarks, i.e. benchmarks without involved normalization which may cause some quantities to be cancelled. Therefore, at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt a benchmark experiment was performed, which aimed at the absolute verification of radiation transport calculations for dosimetry in radiation therapy. A thimble-type ionization chamber in a solid phantom was irradiated by high-energy bremsstrahlung and the mean absorbed dose in the sensitive volume was measured per incident electron of the target. The characteristics of the accelerator and experimental setup were precisely determined and the results of a corresponding Monte Carlo simulation with EGlying photon cross sections as well as the I-value of media involved in the simulation. The combined standard uncertainty of the Monte Carlo calculation yields 0.78% as a conservative estimation. The result of the calculation is close to the experimental result and with each combined standard uncertainty   less then 1%, the accuracy of EGSnrc is confirmed. The setup and methodology of this study can be employed to benchmark other Monte Carlo codes for the calculation of absorbed dose in radiotherapy.

Physical activity and fitness in adolescence may improve cognition in adulthood by increasing insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I).

As part of the Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study, following subjects from age 13 to 42 years, physical activity and fitness of 303 subjects were assessed annually between the ages 13 to 16. At mean age 36, physical activity, fitness and IGF-I were measured. At mean age 42, IGF-I and cognitive factors (ie, executive functioning and visual-spatial memory) were measured. The linear regression of physical activity and fitness in adolescence and IGF-I in adulthood on cognitive scores in adulthood was investigated.

A significant association was found in males between physical activity in adolescence and executive function in adulthood (Spatial Working Memory Between Errors β = -.18, B = -.13, 95% CI = -.259 to -.010; Spatial Working Memory Strategy β = -.20, B = -.08, 95% CI = -.147 to -.014). No association between physical activity or fitness in adolescence and cognitive function in adulthood was found in females, nor any intermediate role for IGF-I in either sex.

The results suggest a stimulating effect of adolescent physical activity in males on executive functions in adulthood, emphasizing the importance of an active lifestyle among adolescent males.

The results suggest a stimulating effect of adolescent physical activity in males on executive functions in adulthood, emphasizing the importance of an active lifestyle among adolescent males.In 2 separate longitudinal studies, infants and their mothers were seen in 3 longitudinal visits. At 2 months, they were observed in free play where mothers' contingency toward their infants was obtained. At 5 months, a goal blockage response was produced when a previously learned contingent response became ineffective in producing an interesting event. Infants' emotional responses, in particular anger and sad facial expressions, were observed. At 2 years, toddlers' persistence at play was assessed by measuring children's responses to an interruption of their play. In both studies, the amount of toddlers' persistence was positively related to their anger response to the blocked goal at 5 months. Maternal contingency was not related either to infants' response to the blocked goal or to their persistence at play. These findings provide evidence for the contribution to and the consequences of infants' response to a goal blockage and the role of anger as an approach emotion.To learn from their environments, infants must detect structure behind pervasive variation. This presents substantial and largely untested learning challenges in early language acquisition. The current experiments address whether infants can use statistical learning mechanisms to segment words when the speech signal contains acoustic variation produced by changes in speakers' voices. In Experiment 1, 8- and 10-month-old infants listened to a continuous stream of novel words produced by 8 different female voices. The voices alternated frequently, potentially interrupting infants' detection of transitional probability patterns that mark word boundaries. Infants at both ages successfully segmented words in the speech stream. In Experiment 2, 8-month-olds demonstrated the ability to generalize their learning about the speech stream when presented with a new, acoustically distinct voice during testing. However, in Experiments 3 and 4, when the same speech stream was produced by only 2 female voices, infants failed to segment the words. The results of these experiments indicate that low acoustic variation may interfere with infants' efficiency in segmenting words from continuous speech, but that infants successfully use statistical cues to segment words in conditions of high acoustic variation. These findings contribute to our understanding of whether statistical learning mechanisms can scale up to meet the demands of natural learning environments.A longstanding question for attachment theory and research is whether genetically based characteristics of the child influence the development of attachment security and its stability over time. This study attempted to replicate and extend recent findings indicating that the developmental stability of attachment security is moderated by oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genetic variants. Using longitudinal data from over 550 individuals, there was no evidence that OXTR rs53576 moderated the association between attachment security during early childhood and overall coherence of mind ("security") during the Adult Attachment Interview at age 18 years. Additional analyses involving a second commonly investigated OXTR variant (rs2254298) and indices of individuals' dismissing and preoccupied attachment states of mind also failed to provide robust evidence for oxytonergic moderation of the stability in attachment security across development. The discussion focuses on research strategies for investigating genetic contributions to attachment security across the life span.We examined the joint contributions of self-reported adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and recent life events (RLEs) to inflammation at midlife, by testing 3 competing theoretical models stress generation, stress accumulation, and early life stress sensitization. We aimed to identify potential mediators between adversity and inflammation. Participants were 1,180 middle-aged and older adults from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Biomarker Project (M age = 57.3 years, SD = 11.5; 56% female). A composite measure of inflammation was derived from 5 biomarkers serum levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, fibrinogen, E-selectin, and ICAM-1. Participants provided self-report data regarding ACEs, RLEs, current lifestyle indices (cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, physical exercise, waist circumference), current depressive symptoms, and demographic/biomedical characteristics. We also used indices of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical outflow (12-hr urinary cortisol) and sympathetic nervous system output (12-hr urinary norepinephrine and epinephrine).