Separating Speed from Automaticity in a Patient with Focal Brain Atrophy

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Wingfield ◽  
Harold Goodglass ◽  
Kimberly C. Lindfield
Keyword(s):  
Processing Speed ◽  
Brain Atrophy ◽  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Controlled Processes ◽  
Color Name ◽  
Automatic Reading ◽  
Different Color

Automatic processes are characterized as being rapid, as requiring little attentional effort, and as obligatory (once initiated, the activity cannot be inhibited or controlled) In contrast, controlled processes are slower, require attention, and are non-obligatory This distinction appears in the Stroop effect the interference that appears when a person tries to name the color of the ink in which a word is printed when the word spells the name of a different color This effect has historically been attributed to an automatic reading of the color name interfering with the slower, less automatic, naming of the ink color (MacLeod, 1991, Stroop, 1935) In this report, we describe a patient with focal brain atrophy whose speed of reading was no faster than his speed of naming colors, but who still showed the classic Stroop effect This finding critically challenges the traditional identification of automaticity with processing speed

scholarly journals Metaphorical Association Between Physical and Moral Purity in the Context of One’s Own Transgressions and Immoral Behavior of Others

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-170
Author(s):  
Martyna Sekulak ◽  
Józef Maciuszek
Keyword(s):  
Processing Speed ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
External World ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Controlled Processes ◽  
Immoral Behavior ◽  
Behavior Study ◽  
Moral Transgression

Abstract The Macbeth effect is a metaphorical association between physical and moral cleanliness - transgression of one’s morality leads to increased desire to clean oneself (Zhong & Liljenquist, 2006). Earlier studies examined psychological associations between bodily and moral purity according to controlled processes, such as rating product desirability. The influence of the Macbeth effect on more automatic processes (stimuli processing speed) was explored in three studies. We examined whether thinking about one’s moral transgression (Studies 1 and 3) or others’ immoral behavior (Study 2) contributed to slower reaction times (RTs) to stimuli related to physical purification. It seems that automatic processes may also be affected by the metaphor “morality is purity”: It is manifested in slower RTs to stimuli associated with bodily cleansing when recalling one’s own past transgressions (Study 3) and in slower responses to words connected with purification of the external world while recalling immoral behaviors of others (Study 2).

scholarly journals Semantic Conflict and Response Conflict in the Stroop Task

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 24-38
Author(s):  
Alexey Starodubtsev ◽  
◽  
Mikhail Allakhverdov
Keyword(s):  
Stroop Effect ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Incorrect Response ◽  
Response Conflict ◽  
Response Level ◽  
Semantic Level ◽  
Semantic Conflict ◽  
Response Set ◽  
Different Color ◽  
Printed Word

The most common ways researchers explain the Stroop effect are either through semantic or through response conflict. According to the literature, there are several methods capable of disentangling these conflicts: to use words outside of the response set, to use associatively related colors and words, or to use a “2:1” paradigm (requiring the same response for two types of stimuli). However, we believe that these methods cannot entirely differentiate semantic and response conflicts. We propose the following alternative method: when naming the color of a printed word (e.g., red, yellow, etc.) in the Stroop test, participants were asked to use different color names for some colors. For example, the red-colored stimuli had to be named by the word “yellow”. This approach allowed us to create semantically congruent stimuli, but with the conflict at the response level (the word red appears in red, but the participants have to say “yellow” because of the rule). Some stimuli remain congruent at the response level, but with the conflict at the semantic level (the word yellow appears in red, and the participants have to say “yellow” because of the rule). The results showed that semantically congruent stimuli do not produce the Stroop effect even if the meaning of the word corresponds to an incorrect response. In turn, congruence at the response level reduces the interference effect, but interference remains significant. Thus, the response conflict affects the magnitude of the Stroop effect only when there is a semantic conflict. Our data do not correspond to models that assume direct activation of responses corresponding to word meaning

scholarly journals Truth or Truthiness? How Desires Influence Truth Associations (2015) [Dissertation]

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin K Lai ◽  
Joel Le Forestier
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Controlled Processes ◽  
The Impact

What people want to happen and what actually happens often differs. How do people resolve this discrepancy between desires and reality within memory? One possibility is that they don’t. I argue that truth evaluations arise from automatic processes that produce associations with truth and controlled processes that compare the validity of different beliefs. Further, I contend that desires shape associations with the truth. In Studies 1-3 I use real-world events to demonstrate that desires are related to truth associations, even when those desires do not reflect reality. Study 4 examines how desires causally impact truth associations and Study 5 examines how desires and knowledge about an outcome interact in influencing truth associations. Studies 2, 3, and 5 also explore how truth associations mediate the effects of desires on expectations and beliefs about events. I find that desires influence associations with the truth and that truth associations mediate the impact of desires on beliefs about events.

scholarly journals Age-Related Delay in Visual and Auditory Evoked Responses is Mediated by White and Gray matter Differences

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Price ◽  
L. K. Tyler ◽  
R. Neto Henriques ◽  
K. Campbell ◽  
N. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gray Matter ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Brain Atrophy ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Auditory Evoked Responses ◽  
Healthy Humans ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Large N ◽  
White Matter Microstructure ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri

AbstractSlowing is a common feature of ageing, yet a direct relationship between neural slowing and brain atrophy is yet to be established in healthy humans. We combine magnetoencephalographic (MEG) measures of neural processing speed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of white- and gray-matter in a large (N=617, 18-88yrs), population-derived cohort (www.cam-can.org) to investigate the relationship between age-related structural differences and VEF and AEF delay across two different tasks. Using a novel technique, we show that VEFs exhibit a constant delay, whereas AEPs exhibit delay that accumulates over time. Visual delay is mediated by white-matter microstructure in the optic radiation, presumably reflecting increased transmission time, whereas auditory delay is mediated by gray-matter differences in auditory cortex, presumably reflecting less efficient local processing. Our results demonstrate that age has dissociable effects on neural processing speed, and that these effects relate to different types of brain atrophy.

Automatic and Controlled Influences of Associations with Age on Memory

2004 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franciska Krings
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Older People ◽  
Memory Performance ◽  
Automatic Processes ◽  
Process Dissociation ◽  
Controlled Processes ◽  
Recognition Memory Performance ◽  
Age Attitudes ◽  
Methodological Aspects

The influence of positive and negative associations with age on memory through automatic and controlled processes was investigated in three experiments using Jacoby’s (1991) process dissociation procedure. Experiments 1 and 2 (with younger people) demonstrated that negative associations with older people influenced recognition memory performance through automatic processes whereas positive associations influenced memory through controlled processes. Experiment 3 investigated the influence of age attitudes on memory in older adults. Again, negative associations with older adults influenced memory performance through automatic processes and positive associations through controlled processes. Methodological aspects and implications for motivational functions of attitudes and stereotyping are discussed.

scholarly journals The relation of depression with structural brain abnormalities and cognitive functioning: the Maastricht study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Anouk F. J. Geraets ◽  
Miranda T. Schram ◽  
Jacobus F. A. Jansen ◽  
Annemarie Koster ◽  
Pieter C. Dagnelie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Brain Atrophy ◽  
Information Processing Speed

Abstract Background Individuals with depression often experience widespread and persistent cognitive deficits, which might be due to brain atrophy and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). We therefore studied the associations between depression, markers of brain atrophy and CSVD, and cognitive functioning. Methods We used cross-sectional data from the population-based Maastricht study (n = 4734; mean age 59.1 ± 8.6 years, 50.2% women), which focuses on type 2 diabetes. A current episode of major depressive disorder (MDD, n = 151) was assessed by the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Volumes of cerebral spinal fluid, white matter, gray matter and white matter hyperintensities, presence of lacunar infarcts and cerebral microbleeds, and total CSVD burden were assessed by 3 T magnetic resonance imaging. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses tested the associations between MDD, brain markers and cognitive functioning in memory, information processing speed, and executive functioning & attention, and presence of cognitive impairment. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation. Results In fully adjusted models, MDD was associated with lower scores in information processing speed [mean difference = −0.18(−0.28;−0.08)], executive functioning & attention [mean difference = −0.13(−0.25;−0.02)], and with higher odds of cognitive impairment [odds ratio (OR) = 1.60(1.06;2.40)]. MDD was associated with CSVD in participants without type 2 diabetes [OR = 1.65(1.06;2.56)], but CSVD or other markers of brain atrophy or CSVD did not mediate the association with cognitive functioning. Conclusions MDD is associated with more impaired information processing speed and executive functioning & attention, and overall cognitive impairment. Furthermore, MDD was associated with CSVD in participants without type 2 diabetes, but this association did not explain an impaired cognitive profile.

scholarly journals White matter hyperintensities, cortisol levels, brain atrophy and continuing cognitive deficits in late-life depression

2010 ◽  
Vol 196 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Köhler ◽  
Alan J. Thomas ◽  
Adrian Lloyd ◽  
Robert Barber ◽  
Osvaldo P. Almeida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Cognitive Deficits ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Brain Atrophy ◽  
White Matter Hyperintensities ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Cortisol Levels ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri

BackgroundCerebrovascular changes and glucocorticoid mediated hippocampal atrophy are considered relevant for depression-related cognitive deficits, forming putative treatment targets.AimsThis study examined the relative contribution of cortisol levels, brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities to the persistence of cognitive deficits in older adults with depression.MethodThirty-five people aged ⩾60 years with DSM–IV major depression and twenty-nine healthy comparison controls underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and were underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and were followed up for 18 months. We analysed the relationship between baseline salivary cortisol levels, whole brain, frontal lobe and hippocampal volumes, severity of white matter hyperintensities and follow-up cognitive function in both groups by testing the interaction between the groups and these biological measures on tests of memory, executive functions and processing speed in linear regression models.ResultsGroup differences in memory and executive function follow-up scores were associated with ratings of white matter hyperintensities, especially of the deep white matter and periventricular regions. Compared with healthy controls, participants with depression scoring within the third tertile of white matter hyperintensities dropped two and three standard deviations in executive function and memory scores respectively. No biological measure related to group differences in processing speed, and there were no significant interactions between group and cortisol levels, or volumetric MRI measures.ConclusionsWhite matter hyperintensities, rather than cortisol levels or brain atrophy, are associated with continuing cognitive impairments in older adults with depression. The findings suggest that cerebrovascular disease rather than glucocorticoid-mediated brain damage are responsible for the persistence of cognitive deficits associated with depression in older age.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document