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Medication may be required for the development of automatic information processing in schizophrenia.

Medicated and unmedicated schizophrenic patients and normal subjects (n's = 4) were examined on the extent to which their information-processing performance became automated over time, as reflected by increased competence in dual task performance. The central task was a computerized version of the Continuous Performance Test, and the secondary task was a word-list shadowing task. Normal subjects and medicated schizophrenic patients became much more efficient at performing both tasks simultaneously with practice, with unmedicated patients showing no improvement over time.

Adult↗

Different temporal processing of sensory inputs in the rat thalamus during quiescent and information processing states in vivo.

Sensory inputs from the whiskers reach the primary somatosensory thalamus through the medial lemniscus tract. The main role of the thalamus is to relay these sensory inputs to the neocortex according to the regulations dictated by behavioural state. Intracellular recordings in urethane-anaesthetized rats show that whisker stimulation evokes EPSP-IPSP sequences in thalamic neurons. Both EPSPs and IPSPs depress with repetitive whisker stimulation at frequencies above 2 Hz. Single-unit recordings reveal that during quiescent states thalamic responses to repetitive whisker stimulation are suppressed at frequencies above 2 Hz, so that only low-frequency sensory stimulation is relayed to the neocortex. In contrast, during activated states, induced by stimulation of the brainstem reticular formation or application of acetylcholine in the thalamus, high-frequency whisker stimulation at up to 40 Hz is relayed to the neocortex. Sensory suppression is caused by the depression of lemniscal EPSPs in relatively hyperpolarized thalamocortical neurons. Sensory suppression is abolished during activated states because thalamocortical neurons depolarize and the depressed lemniscal EPSPs are able to reach firing threshold. Strong IPSPs may also contribute to sensory suppression by hyperpolarizing thalamocortical neurons, but during activated states IPSPs are strongly reduced altogether. The results indicate that the synaptic depression of lemniscal EPSPs and the level of depolarization of thalamocortical neurons work together in thalamic primary sensory pathways to suppress high-frequency sensory inputs during non-activated (quiescent) states while permitting the faithful relay of high-frequency sensory information during activated (processing) states.

Acetylcholine↗

Information Processing at Successive Stages of Decision Making: Need for Cognition and Inclusion-Exclusion Effects.

Levin and Jasper's (1995) phased narrowing technique for tracking changes in information usage across successive stages of the decision-making process was combined with Huneke's (1996) "pull-down menu" extension of Payne, Bettman, and Johnson's (1988) software package for generating measures of information processing. Because this technique provided considerable data for each individual subject at each stage, we were able to focus on individual differences in information processing across stages, most notably differences related to need for cognition (NC; Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). In a computerized information search and decision task, 60 college students were first asked to narrow their options for purchasing a notebook computer to form a consideration set and were then asked to make a final choice from this set. At the consideration set formation stage, half the subjects were instructed to adopt a mindset to include options while the other half were asked to exclude options. Especially in the inclusion condition where subjects showed greater narrowing of options, high NC subjects processed information in a more focused manner with greater depth and breadth than did low NC subjects, and the quality of their selections tended to be higher. There was no evidence of widespread shifts in strategy as individuals moved from set formation to final choice but, as a group, high NC subjects were more successful at adaptive decision making. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Journal Article↗

The information-processing approach to the human mind: Basics and beyond.

Cognitive psychology attempts to understand the nature of the human mind by using the information-processing approach. In this article, the fundamentals of the cognitive approach will be presented. It will be argued that the human mind can be described at three levels-computational, algorithmic-representational, and implementational-and that the cognitive approach has both important theoretical and practical/clinical implications. Finally, it will be suggested that the study of cognitive psychology can provide a foundation for other fields of social science, including the field of clinical psychology.

Cognition↗

The influence of provocateurs' emotion displays on the social information processing of children varying in social adjustment and age.

This study examined the effect of provocateurs' emotion displays on first through fourth graders' social information processing (SIP). Rating and nomination sociometric techniques were used to identify rejected-aggressive, rejected-nonaggressive, average-nonaggressive, and popular-nonaggressive groups. Children viewed videotaped ambiguous provocation situations in which provocateurs' emotion displays were varied systematically. After each vignette, children's recall of story details, attribution of intent, and problem-solving responses were obtained. Half of the children were randomly assigned to a condition where they were asked directly about provocateurs' emotions, and the remaining children were not asked about provocateurs' feelings. Results revealed both developmental and social adjustment differences in SIP. In addition, provocateurs' emotion displays and asking versus not asking about those displays influenced multiple aspects of SIP.

Affect↗

You focus on the forest when you're in charge of the trees: power priming and abstract information processing.

Elevated power increases the psychological distance one feels from others, and this distance, according to construal level theory, should lead to more abstract information processing. Thus, high power should be associated with more abstract thinking-focusing on primary aspects of stimuli and detecting patterns and structure to extract the gist, as well as categorizing stimuli at a higher level-relative to low power. In 6 experiments involving both conceptual and perceptual tasks, priming high power led to more abstract processing than did priming low power, even when this led to worse performance. Experiment 7 revealed that in line with past neuropsychological research on abstract thinking, priming high power also led to greater relative right-hemispheric activation.

Adult↗

Social information processing in adolescents: data from normally developing adolescents and preliminary data from their peers with traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To assess aspects of social information processing in naturalistic conversations, using online videotape tasks. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: The tasks were administered to 60 normally developing (ND) subjects ages 13 to 21, and 10 adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI). SETTING: University. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Task accuracy scores and measures of reliability and validity. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: ND group scores were generally high, without significant differences by race, sex or age. TBI group scores were significantly lower than ND group scores for both emotion recognition and detection of conversation skills. The results are discussed in light of the evaluation of pragmatic competence in adolescents with TBI.

Adolescent↗

Do social information-processing models explain aggressive behaviour by children with mild intellectual disabilities in residential care?

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine whether the social information-processing model (SIP model) applies to aggressive behaviour by children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID). The response-decision element of SIP was expected to be unnecessary to explain aggressive behaviour in these children, and SIP was expected to mediate the relation between social schemata and aggressive behaviour. METHOD: SIP and aggressive behaviour of 130 10- to 14-year-old children with MID in residential care were assessed. The fit of various SIP models was tested with structural equation modelling. RESULTS: The response-decision process was found not to be necessary to explain aggressive behaviour. Social schemata were indirectly related to aggressive behaviour with aggressive response generation as mediating variable. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for SIP theory and intervention are discussed.

Adolescent↗

Effects of smoking on rapid information processing performance.

In this paper two experiments are reported which were designed to investigate the effects of smoking on the performance of a rapid information processing task. The task involves the detection of sequences of three consecutive digits of the same parity from a series of digits presented visually at the rate of 100/min. In the first experiment smoking improved both the speed and accuracy of performance above rested baseline levels, the greatest improvement occurring with the highest nicotine and tar delivery cigarette. In the second experiment smoking again improved the speed and accuracy of performance above baseline levels, while performance deteriorated over time after not smoking as well as after smoking a nicotine-free cigarette. These findings demonstrate that smoking produces absolute improvements in performance and are explained in terms of the action of nicotine on central cholinergic pathways.

Adolescent↗

Biobehavioral correlates in migraine: the role of hypersensitivity and information-processing dysfunction.

In this paper we address the role of specific abnormal behavioral patterns (such as perfectionism or hypersensitivity) which have been described as psychological characteristics in migraine patients. We propose that behavioral abnormalities may be the result of a determined cortical hypersensitivity and an associated social learning process. New neuro(psycho)physiological data support the concept that migraine is a brainstem-related information-processing dysfunction that is characterized by cortical hypersensitivity and reduced habituation to stimuli. The cortical activity reflects a (time) periodicity and may be due to endogenous or exogenous factors. Based on the current understanding of behavioral and neurophysiological aspects of migraine, we postulate a two-process model of migraine aetiology: (i) a genetically determined hyperactivity of the central monoaminergic (catecholaminergic) system, which could be possibly modulated by learning processes and (ii) a homeostatic (counter) regulation and mobilization of reduced (mitochondrial) energy reserve.

Behavior↗

Contextual organization of unitary information processes in the cortex by the thalamus and basal ganglia and the central control of attention.

Short-term memory experiments suggest the presence within the neocortex of a basic information unit (a data structure plus an algorithm) able to store and return a relatively fixed number of items. Units of a similar format may be involved in all cortical motor and sensory activities of an integrated nature, and may interact to yield higher-order-information units dealing with interrelationships among groups of units. If individual units can reference other similar units, a hierarchical organization of computing is possible that could form the basis for contextual information processing and the hierarchical structuring characteristic of many specifically human forms of behavior. Vertical columns of neurons in the cortex may provide the physical basis for information units of the type suggested. The selection and organizing of activity in groups of columns may be regulated by a neural loop involving the basal ganglia and the thalamus, which would thus implement the central adjustment of attention.

Animals↗

Drugs and information processing in skilled performance.

A concise review is presented of recent research on task aspects with respect to determining the effects of drugs on human information processing. It is concluded that progress in this area is hampered by lack of a theoretical basis to most behavioral tasks, preventing firm conclusions about the effects of drugs on either well-defined mental functions or on real-life performances. It is argued that the effects of drugs should only be tested in behaviorally well-researched tasks. Some proposals are discussed with an emphasis on perceptual-motor skills.

Humans↗

Synchronization of neural activity is a promising mechanism of memory information processing in networks of columns.

Synchronization of the oscillatory discharge of cortical neurons could be a part of the mechanism that is involved in cortical information processing. On the assumption that the basic functional unit is the column composed of local excitatory and inhibitory cells and generating oscillatory neural activity, a network model that attains associative memory function is proposed. The synchronization of oscillation in the model is studied analytically using a sublattice analysis. In particular, the retrieval of a single memory pattern can be studied in the system, which can be derived from the original network model of interacting columns and is formally equivalent to a system of an isolated column. The network model simulated numerically shows a remarkable performance in which retrieval is achieved simultaneously for more than one memory pattern. The manifestations of this simultaneous retrieval in the network dynamics are successive transitions of the network state from a synchronized oscillation for a memory pattern to that for another memory pattern.

Cerebral Cortex↗

Research on information-processing factors in child and adolescent psychopathology: a critical commentary.

Provides a critical commentary on the state-of-the-art of research on information-processing (I-P) factors in clinical child and adolescent psychology. The articles in this special section amply demonstrate the value of the I-P paradigm as a heuristic framework for conceptualizing and studying the role(s) of cognitive factors in the etiology and maintenance of child and adolescent psychopathology. However, the current status of such research also reflects a number of limitations that warrant consideration if the potential value of the I-P paradigm is to be fully realized. Specifically, understanding the role(s) played by such factors is impeded by a variety of insufficiently addressed methodological and psychometric issues, as well as by insufficiently articulated theories regarding such factors. These issues are particularly challenging for child and adolescent psychopathology researchers because of the complexities added by development. The value of I-P theories of childhood and adolescent psychopathology will be considerably enhanced if these issues are more fully considered in future research.

Adolescent↗

Aging and visual information processing: potential implications for everyday seeing.

A review of research examining the effects of aging on visual perception from the perspective of psychological theories of information processing shows that the average speed of processing for groups of older adults is slower than for groups of young adults in most stages of perceptual processes. However, studies examining the correlation of processing speed between separate stages within individuals shows little evidence of general slowing in the nervous systems of individual elderly subjects. The implications of performance decrements at each stage of visual processing are considered for a variety of everyday seeing activities. It is concluded that age-related decrements in visual selective attention processes offer the greatest threat of impairment to many everyday seeing activities.

Aged↗

[Use of the automated system of information processing in tuberculosis control].

A notification variant has been designed on the basis of the No. 089 form "Notification of a patient with newly diagnosed active tuberculosis", which is used for information feeding into computer on persons with newly diagnosed tuberculosis and on those registered in a dispensary; it is also used as a corrective coupon. The automated system for information processing "Tuberculosis" has been developed which allows a centralized control over the early detection and dispensarization of patients, efficient assessment of the accumulated information and proper decision making. The effectiveness of the electronic devices used in dispensary work can be improved on the condition that phthisiologists are provided with personal computers.

Ambulatory Care Information Systems↗

Guarding against threatening HIV prevention messages: an information-processing model.

Previous research has suggested that fear-provoking HIV prevention messages can lead to defensive coping strategies among sexually active students who encounter such messages. An information-processing model of defensive responses is proposed that identifies and operationally defines four mediating processes--attention avoidance, blunting, suppression, and counterargumentation--that may lead to the rejection or denial of threatening health messages. Attention avoidance occurs when people indiscriminately avoid all messages; blunting is the use of distraction to avoid only threatening information in the message. Suppression occurs when people try to stop thinking about the information and avoid forming inferences about its self-relevance; counterargumentation is the biased assessment that follows comprehension and arises along with self-relevant elaboration. Situational influences on people's choice of defensive coping strategy are considered, and implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗