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Cues of high and low body weight negatively influence adults' perceptions and ratings in the hypothetical adoption paradigm.

Infant and child facial cues influence perceptions and ratings in the Hypothetical Adoption Paradigm as well as actual parental care. A previous study demonstrated that infant and child facial cues of low body weight negatively influenced adults' ratings. The current study sought to replicate and expand on those results by presenting adults with normal faces as well as faces that were digitally altered to display high or low body weight. Cues of abnormal body weight significantly, and negatively, influenced adults' ratings of adoption preference, health, and cuteness. Effect sizes were larger for cues of high body weight. Thus, infant and child facial cues of abnormal body weight may represent a relative risk factor to the quality of adult care obtained by children with abnormal body weight.

Adoption↗

Impaired capacity of cerebellar patients to perceive and learn two-dimensional shapes based on kinesthetic cues.

This study addresses the issue of the role of the cerebellum in the processing of sensory information by determining the capability of cerebellar patients to acquire and use kinesthetic cues received via the active or passive tracing of an irregular shape while blindfolded. Patients with cerebellar lesions and age-matched healthy controls were tested on four tasks: (1) learning to discriminate a reference shape from three others through the repeated tracing of the reference template; (2) reproducing the reference shape from memory by drawing blindfolded; (3) performing the same task with vision; and (4) visually recognizing the reference shape. The cues used to acquire and then to recognize the reference shape were generated under four conditions: (1) "active kinesthesia," in which cues were acquired by the blindfolded subject while actively tracing a reference template; (2) "passive kinesthesia," in which the tracing was performed while the hand was guided passively through the template; (3) "sequential vision," in which the shape was visualized by the serial exposure of small segments of its outline; and (4) "full vision," in which the entire shape was visualized. The sequential vision condition was employed to emulate the sequential way in which kinesthetic information is acquired while tracing the reference shape. The results demonstrate a substantial impairment of cerebellar patients in their capability to perceive two-dimensional irregular shapes based only on kinesthetic cues. There also is evidence that this deficit in part relates to a reduced capacity to integrate temporal sequences of sensory cues into a complete image useful for shape discrimination tasks or for reproducing the shape through drawing. Consequently, the cerebellum has an important role in this type of sensory information processing even when it is not directly associated with the execution of movements.

Adult↗

Conditioned learning in alcohol dependence: implications for cue exposure treatment.

A review of the literature pertinent to cue exposure treatment in alcohol dependence is presented. Psychological models of relapse, based on conditioning and social learning theories, are critically evaluated. In particular, attention is drawn to the potential implications for cue exposure research and treatment of an interaction between Pavlovian and operant conditioning, problems with the application of the concepts of arousal and craving and the importance of a systems model to understand physiological responses. It is concluded that no study has so far demonstrated a link between conditioned responses to alcohol-related cues and relapse, an assumption on which cue exposure treatment is based. Further, the evidence for the effectiveness of cue exposure as a treatment is lacking. Promising research directions are identified.

Alcohol Drinking↗

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles as cues for habitat assessment by a foraging parasitoid.

1. Animals usually require information about the current state of their habitat to optimize their behaviour. For this, they can use a learning process through which their estimate is continually updated according to the cues they perceive. Identifying these cues is a long-standing but still inveterate challenge for ecologists. 2. The use of plant cues by aphid parasitoids for the assessment of habitat profitability and the adaptation of patch exploitation was studied. Grounding on predictions from optimal foraging theory, we tested whether parasitoids exploited host patches less intensively after visiting heavily infested plants than after visiting plants bearing fewer aphids. 3. As predicted, after visiting heavily infested plants parasitoids reduced their residence time and attacked fewer hosts in the next patch. This was the case regardless of whether the aphids were actually present on the first plant, indicating that the cue came from the plant. Moreover, the level of infestation of a plant at some distance from the first plant visited affected parasitoid patch exploitation on the second plant in a similar manner, indicating that the cue was volatile. 4. These results highlight a novel role of herbivore-induced volatiles in parasitoid foraging behaviour, different from the widely studied attraction at a distance.

Animals↗

Involvement of NMDA and AMPA/KA receptors in the nucleus accumbens core in instrumental learning guided by reward-predictive cues.

The use of reward-predictive cues to guide behavior critically involves the nucleus accumbens. However, little is known regarding the role of ionotropic glutamate receptors in the core subregion of the nucleus accumbens (AcbC) in instrumental learning guided by reward-predictive cues. Here we examined the effects of an intra-AcbC blockade of NMDA and AMPA/KA receptors on the acquisition of an instrumental response in a reaction time (RT) task in rats. In this task, discriminative cues signaled in advance the upcoming reward magnitude (5 or 1 food pellet) associated with a lever release. During early acquisition (days 1-6) rats received daily bilateral injections of either the NMDA receptor antagonist AP5 (5.0 microg per side, n = 14), the AMPA/KA receptor antagonist CNQX (2.5 microg per side, n = 14) or vehicle (0.5 microL per side, n = 19). No treatment was given during late acquisition (days 7-12). The main result was that rats which received intra-AcbC injections of AP5 or CNQX during early acquisition exhibited a general RT increase of responses to high and low reward. However, treatment with AP5 and CNQX did not interfere with discriminative guidance of RTs by cue-associated reward magnitudes, i.e. during acquisition RTs of responses to expected high reward became significantly faster than RTs of responses to expected low reward. Our findings suggest that NMDA and AMPA/KA receptors in the AcbC play a critical role in invigorating responding during instrumental learning, but seem less important in guiding responding according to reward-predictive cues.

6-Cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione↗

Inferring emotions from multiple cues: revealing age-related differences in "how" without differences in "can".

This study examined differences in children's use of social cues to make emotional inferences. Children ages 4, 5, and 8 years were presented with stimuli that depicted another child in affectively congruous and affectively incongruous expression/situation combinations. The intensity of positive and negative facial expressions was varied across situations. Subjects judged the target's feelings and selected among the alternative facial expressions or situations the one they had just seen. No significant age-related differences were found in the extent to which children registered and used both the expressive and situational information when making emotional inferences. The main experimental measure asked children to explain their judgments. In explaining their judgments, subjects' rationales indicated that they: (a) used both the situational and expressive cues; and (b) were sensitive to congruous versus incongruous cues, and even to mild versus strong incongruous cues. Children's rationales also reflected a sensitivity to expressive and situational negativity. For each age group, the rationales were more elaborate when the cues were problematic. Characteristic strategies, however, were also found for each age group. These distinct strategies may reflect social-life changes in children's social "theories" of emotion.

Age Factors↗

Is visual reference necessary? Contributions of facial versus vocal cues in 12-month-olds' social referencing behavior.

To examine the influences of facial versus vocal cues on infants' behavior in a potentially threatening situation, 12-month-olds on a visual cliff received positive facial-only, vocal-only, or both facial and vocal cues from mothers. Infants' crossing times and looks to mother were assessed. Infants crossed the cliff faster with multimodal and vocal than with facial cues, and looked more to mother in the Face Plus Voice compared to the Voice Only condition. The findings suggest that vocal cues, even without a visual reference, are more potent than facial cues in guiding infants' behavior. The discussion focuses on the meaning of infants' looks and the role of voice in development of social cognition.

Affect↗

Perceptual complexity and form class cues in novel word extension tasks: how 4-year-old children interpret adjectives and count nouns.

Two experiments examined the role of perceptual complexity, object familiarity and form class cues on how children interpret novel adjectives and count nouns. Four-year-old children participated in a forced-choice match-to-target task in which an exemplar was named with a novel word and children were asked to choose another one that matched the exemplar in either shape or material In experiment 1, 56 children were provided with lexical form class cues suggestive of adjectives. The results of Experiment 1 showed that perceptual complexity and not object familiarity determined whether children made material or shape matches. In Experiment 2, 56 children were provided with lexical form class cues suggestive of count nouns. The results of Experiment 2 showed that neither perceptual complexity nor object familiarity affected children's selections in the matching task. When provided with lexical form class cues suggestive of a count noun, children selected shape matches. Thus the results suggest that the perceptual properties of the objects presented to children coupled with the particular lexical form class cue determine which features of objects children attend to when interpreting novel words.

Child Language↗

Children's integration of facial and situational cues to emotion.

Children at 4 age levels (3-5, 6-7, 8-9, and 10-12 years) were shown a series of pictures in which facial and situational cues were (a) congruent, (b) conflicting, or (c) presented alone. Children rated the type (happy or sad) and intensity of the emotion felt by each character. Developmental changes in the relative weights assigned to facial and situational cues were examined using Anderson's information integration approach. The results showed that children's reliance on situational cues increased with age, but their reliance on facial expression decreased with age. Analysis of individual children's ratings indicated a developmental increase in the tendency to integrate facial and situational cues. Children's ability to resolve the conflicting cues (through stories) also increased with age, but there were no age differences in the types of resolutions used. At all age levels, children were less likely to resolve pictures involving an inconsistent positive expression than pictures showing an inconsistent negative expression.

Attention↗

Allocation of attentional resources during habituation to food cues.

Two experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that habituation to repeated food cues can be inhibited by allocating processing resources to nonfood cues. In two experiments, the salivary response to 10 presentations of lemon yogurt was assessed while subjects engaged in a controlled cognitive search task (demanding attentional resources), an automatic search task (needing fewer attentional resources), or no task. In Experiment 1, the controlled and automatic search tasks differed in the number of memory set items. In Experiment 2, the size of the memory sets was held constant, and individuals were provided practice to stabilize the different search strategies in the task. The automatic search and no task groups habituated to the repeated presentation of food cues in both experiments, but the controlled search group did not. These results support the hypothesis that allocation of attentional resources to external cues can influence the processing of food cues.

Adult↗

Genetic moderators of naltrexone's effects on alcohol cue reactivity.

BACKGROUND: Naltrexone (NTX) reduces drinking and craving in alcoholic individuals in treatment and also in heavy drinkers. Polymorphisms in the D4 dopamine receptor (DRD4) gene and mu-opiate receptor gene (OPRM1) may moderate NTX's effects on craving. This study examined these candidate genes as moderators of the effects of NTX on cue-elicited urge to drink in non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers. METHOD: Data from the subset of 93 participants who consented for genetic testing in a larger study of medication effects were used to examine pharmacogenetic hypotheses. The non-treatment-seeking male and female heavy drinkers (62% alcohol dependent) were genotyped for the variable number of tandem repeats polymorphism in the DRD4 gene [L=7 or more (n=34), S=less than 7 (n=56)] and Asn40Asp single-nucleotide polymorphism in the OPRM1 gene [29 aspartate (Asp) carriers and 59 asparagine (Asn) homozygotes]. Ten days after randomization to NTX (50 mg) or placebo, participants completed an alcohol cue reactivity assessment. RESULTS: Any medication effects were all accounted for by interaction with genotype. Naltrexone increased urge for alcohol in Asp carriers across alcohol and neutral beverage cue trials and had no effect on homozygous Asn carriers. Asp40 carriers on either medication had greater decreases (from resting baseline) in mean arterial blood pressure across all beverage cue trials compared with Asn carriers. For DRD4, no differential medication effects by DRD4 polymorphism were found. Alcohol dependence diagnosis did not moderate the effects of gene and medication on cue-elicited measures. DISCUSSION: The differential responses to NTX due to variation in the OPRM1 gene may help explain conflicting results in clinical trials and suggest directions for patient-treatment matching.

Adolescent↗

Blockade of cue-induced brain activation of abstinent alcoholics by a single administration of amisulpride as measured with fMRI.

BACKGROUND: Once alcohol dependence is established, alcohol-associated cues may induce dopamine release in the reward system, which is accompanied by alcohol craving and may lead to relapse. In cocaine addicts, dopamine release in the thalamus was positively correlated with cocaine craving. We tested the effects of the atypical dopamine D(2/3) blocker amisulpride on cue-induced brain activation in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm. METHODS: Alcohol-associated and neutral pictures were presented in a block design to 10 male abstinent alcoholics (1-3 weeks after detoxification) and 10 healthy men during fMRI. The fMRI scans were acquired before and 2 hours after the oral application of 400 mg amisulpride. Before and after each scan, alcohol craving was measured with visual analogue scales. RESULTS: Before the application of amisulpride, alcohol versus control cues elicited a higher blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the left frontal and orbitofrontal lobe, left cingulate gyrus, bilateral parietal lobe, and bilateral hippocampus in alcoholics compared with healthy controls. After amisulpride, alcoholics showed a reduced activation in the right thalamus compared with the first scan. Alcoholics no longer showed significant differences in their cue-elicited BOLD response after amisulpride medication compared with medication-free controls. Self-reported craving was not affected by amisulpride medication. CONCLUSIONS: Amisulpride medication was associated with reduced cue-induced activation of the thalamus, a brain region closely connected with frontostriatal circuits that regulate behavior and may influence relapse risk.

Adult↗

Amygdala subsystems and control of feeding behavior by learned cues.

A combination of behavioral studies and a neural systems analysis approach has proven fruitful in defining the role of the amygdala complex and associated circuits in fear conditioning. The evidence presented in this chapter suggests that this approach is also informative in the study of other adaptive functions that involve the amygdala. In this chapter we present a novel model to study learning in an appetitive context. Furthermore, we demonstrate that long-recognized connections between the amygdala and the hypothalamus play a crucial role in allowing learning to modulate feeding behavior. In the first part we describe a behavioral model for motivational learning. In this model a cue that acquires motivational properties through pairings with food delivery when an animal is hungry can override satiety and promote eating in sated rats. Next, we present evidence that a specific amygdala subsystem (basolateral area) is responsible for allowing such learned cues to control eating (override satiety and promote eating in sated rats). We also show that basolateral amygdala mediates these actions via connectivity with the lateral hypothalamus. Lastly, we present evidence that the amygdalohypothalamic system is specific for the control of eating by learned motivational cues, as it does not mediate another function that depends on intact basolateral amygdala, namely, the ability of a conditioned cue to support new learning based on its acquired value. Knowledge about neural systems through which food-associated cues specifically control feeding behavior provides a defined model for the study of learning. In addition, this model may be informative for understanding mechanisms of maladaptive aspects of learned control of eating that contribute to eating disorders and more moderate forms of overeating.

Amygdala↗

Test anxiety, observation, and range of cue utilization.

Sixty females scoring high on the Sarason Test Anxiety Scale and 60 scoring low on the same scale served as subjects in an experiment on cue utilization. One-third of all subjects were given a simple learning task with relevant cues added, and one-third were given the task with irrelevant cues added. Half of all subjects in each cue condition were observed by the experimenter as they performed and half were not observed. Relative to subjects in the other conditions combining observation and anxiety, those subjects who were high in test anxiety and also were observed showed a narrower range of cue utilization. The results are discussed in terms of current research on social facilitation.

Anxiety↗

Contrasting monaural and interaural spectral cues for human sound localization.

A human psychoacoustical experiment is described that investigates the role of the monaural and interaural spectral cues in human sound localization. In particular, it focuses on the relative contribution of the monaural versus the interaural spectral cues towards resolving directions within a cone of confusion (i.e., directions with similar interaural time and level difference cues) in the auditory localization process. Broadband stimuli were presented in virtual space from 76 roughly equidistant locations around the listener. In the experimental conditions, a "false" flat spectrum was presented at the left eardrum. The sound spectrum at the right eardrum was then adjusted so that either the true right monaural spectrum or the true interaural spectrum was preserved. In both cases, the overall interaural time difference and overall interaural level difference were maintained at their natural values. With these virtual sound stimuli, the sound localization performance of four human subjects was examined. The localization performance results indicate that neither the preserved interaural spectral difference cue nor the preserved right monaural spectral cue was sufficient to maintain accurate elevation judgments in the presence of a flat monaural spectrum at the left eardrum. An explanation for the localization results is given in terms of the relative spectral information available for resolving directions within a cone of confusion.

Acoustic Stimulation↗

Relative contributions of spectral and temporal cues for phoneme recognition.

Cochlear implants provide users with limited spectral and temporal information. In this study, the amount of spectral and temporal information was systematically varied through simulations of cochlear implant processors using a noise-excited vocoder. Spectral information was controlled by varying the number of channels between 1 and 16, and temporal information was controlled by varying the lowpass cutoff frequencies of the envelope extractors from 1 to 512 Hz. Consonants and vowels processed using those conditions were presented to seven normal-hearing native-English-speaking listeners for identification. The results demonstrated that both spectral and temporal cues were important for consonant and vowel recognition with the spectral cues having a greater effect than the temporal cues for the ranges of numbers of channels and lowpass cutoff frequencies tested. The lowpass cutoff for asymptotic performance in consonant and vowel recognition was 16 and 4 Hz, respectively. The number of channels at which performance plateaued for consonants and vowels was 8 and 12, respectively. Within the above-mentioned ranges of lowpass cutoff frequency and number of channels, the temporal and spectral cues showed a tradeoff for phoneme recognition. Information transfer analyses showed different relative contributions of spectral and temporal cues in the perception of various phonetic/acoustic features.

Adult↗

Perception of static and dynamic acoustic cues to place of articulation in initial stop consonants.

Two recent accounts of the acoustic cues which specify place of articulation in syllable-initial stop consonants claim that they are located in the initial portions of the CV waveform and are context-free. Stevens and Blumstein [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 64, 1358-1368 (1978)] have described the perceptually relevant spectral properties of these cues as static, while Kewley-Port [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 73, 322-335 (1983)] describes these cues as dynamic. Three perceptual experiments were conducted to test predictions derived from these accounts. Experiment 1 confirmed that acoustic cues for place of articulation are located in the initial 20-40 ms of natural stop-vowel syllables. Next, short synthetic CV's modeled after natural syllables were generated using either a digital, parallel-resonance synthesizer in experiment 2 or linear prediction synthesis in experiment 3. One set of synthetic stimuli preserved the static spectral properties proposed by Stevens and Blumstein. Another set of synthetic stimuli preserved the dynamic properties suggested by Kewley-Port. Listeners in both experiments identified place of articulation significantly better from stimuli which preserved dynamic acoustic properties than from those based on static onset spectra. Evidently, the dynamic structure of the initial stop-vowel articulatory gesture can be preserved in context-free acoustic cues which listeners use to identify place of articulation.

Communication Devices for People with Disabilities↗

The role of frequency versus informational cues in uncertain frequency detection.

The role of frequency and informational cues in the detection of tones of uncertain frequency was investigated using the probe-signal method [G.Z. Greenberg and W.D. Larkin, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 44, 1513-1523 (1968)] with auditory and visual test patterns. Patterns consisted of a sequence of events, either tones or visual stimuli, preceding the tone to be detected. Both frequency and informational cues were available in the auditory patterns, whereas only informational cues were available in the visual patterns. Results indicated that observers in the auditory condition displayed trial-by-trial selective attention to one or another frequency band as a function of the cues provided by earlier pattern components. In contrast, listeners in the visual condition displayed simultaneous attention to the two separate frequency bands that could possibly contain the tone, regardless of the information provided by the cues. Results are discussed in terms of single- and multiple-band models of attention.

Adult↗