# Question
Title: Does sensory deprivation affect cognitive abilities?
I am wondering if the loss of vision or hearing early in life (say, before the age of 14 years) affects cognitive abilities later in life? I would imagine that as a group, early-blind or early-deaf people may tend to receive less education than the average healthy individual with normal sight and hearing skills? Given that most IQ tests rely on education-related subjects, would it be fair to conclude that sensory-deprived people, on average, may have lesser IQ, not because of their cognitive abilities *per se*, but because they tend to receive less education?

# Answer
This is a really neat question.

A strong predictor of cognitive ability is one's environmental enrichment, or the stimulation of the brain in its physical and social surroundings. Those with sensory deprivation often have less success with social situations and self-esteem, as well as (presumably) less sensory input coming in. The implication is that **lack of sensory stimulation during neurodevelopment can impair cognitive development**.

This is ***linked to education*** in the sense that the educational environment typically provides a cognitively stimulating environment for children to grow in. In that sense, the quality of the educational environment -- and its associated opportunities for engagement in higher-level cognitive activities -- is another factor that predicts cognitive development. \[1\]

Interestingly enough, studies have shown that environmental enrichment can ***correct and rehabilitate*** the effects of sensory deprivation. One study \[2\] showed that physical exercise and an enriched environment actually helped to offset the effects of "dark-rearing" in rats.

Independently of environmental enrichment, the relationship between education and cognitive ability is not well-known. There are studies that suggest that cognitive ability early in life can predict one's success in school, and there is a strong correlation(r~.6-.8) between early childhood IQ and the level of education that the child will end up pursuing. And education certainly contributes to crystallized intelligence, which is the product of education and culture. Both fluid and crystallized intelligence are correlated with each other, thus factoring into one's general intelligence. Regardless, it is fairly well established that *cognitive ability* predicts success in school, but it is not clear how *level of education* affects overall cognitive ability.

But perhaps moreso than education is the weight of **individual differences** in the face of sensory deprivation. For example, certain personality traits are moderately correlated with cognitive ability. Self-efficacy, which is the general feeling that one can succeed in any circumstance, is correlated at around .22. On the Big 5, Openness to Experience is correlated at around .20. But it is important to note that these traits surely predict one's ***response*** and ***ability to cope and adapt*** to a traumatic event such as total deprivation of the senses (blindness, deafness, etc.) in early development. After all, it is clear that sensory deprivation can be a traumatic life event for individuals, particularly those who are seeing-impaired. To quote from the abstract of this study:

> Blindness and sight restoration have been reported to induce both temporary and longer term psychopathology, usually followed by psychosocial readjustment. However, in some cases, readjustment may not occur and suicide may result...When compared with a hearing-impaired control group, impaired sight alone can acutely affect otherwise psychologically healthy individuals.

Given that certain traits that are linked to *readjustment* are also linked to *intelligence*, it may be the case that sensory deprivation has a higher impact of long-term cognitive ability in those who have a reduced capacity to begin with, relative to those with higher intelligence and natural ability.

So my informed conclusion would be that **yes**, sensory deprivation *may* affect cognitive abilities -- from an educational standpoint, a social standpoint, and a reduction in early stimulation (particularly during the critical period). The overall detrimental impact on these abilities may be relative to the existing intelligence of the person (or the even the existence of traits that are linked to intelligence).

---

Sources used:

\[1\] Wilson R, Barnes L, Bennett D (August 2003). "Assessment of lifetime participation in cognitively stimulating activities". J Clin Exp Neuropsychol 25 (5): 634–42.

\[2\] Argandoña, Enrike G, Harkaitz Bengoetxea, and José V Lafuente. “Physical Exercise Is Required for Environmental Enrichment to Offset the Quantitative Effects of Dark-Rearing on the S-100β Astrocytic Density in the Rat Visual Cortex.” Journal of Anatomy 215.2 (2009): 132–140. PMC. Web. 25 Aug. 2015.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: educational-psychology, sensation, iq, cognitive-development
---


# Question
Title: Does correcting responses after feedback lead to better learning?
In a typical supervised learning experiment, one might present visual stimuli, e.g. faces, one after another and ask participants to classify each one into one of two categories, e.g. A and B. Usually participants are not required to DO anything after getting feedback - they just wait, and eventually the next trial appears. Does learning improve if, when the response is incorrect, participants are required to change their response to the correct one before proceeding?

To provide some context - unlike the "typical" experiment described above, I am using educationally relevant materials - mathematics story problems. They are still binary forced choice, but responses are given using radio buttons instead of the usual "press P or Q", so to correct an incorrect response, participants would have to go change the radio button response.

More specifically, since details were requested, all of the problems are story problems involving the concept of "sampling with replacement". Before doing the problems, participants read an instructional passage explaining the general formula for sampling with replacement problems. This passage explains that each problem involves two numbers, *a* and *b*, where *a* indicates the number of sampling events and *b* indicates the size of the sampled set. The problems ask for the number of different possible outcomes, which is given by the formula a^b. Thus, to solve the problems, it is only necessary to figure out which number is the number of sampling events and which the size of the sampled set. Here is a sample problem:

> A group of friends is eating at a restaurant. Each person chooses a meal from the menu. (It is possible for multiple people to choose the same meal.) In how many different ways can the friends choose their meals, if there are 4 friends and 5 meals?
>
> Answers:
>
> 4^5
>
> 5^4

I can think of at least two reasons why they MIGHT learn better from doing this. First, it might improve motivation - they know it's a pain in the neck when they answer wrong, so they're more motivated to answer right. Second, it might have a cognitive benefit, in that they would encode the correct and incorrect answers more strongly because they have to actually respond in some way.

On the other hand, there could be a negative effect in that it interrupts the flow of the trials. Doing a large number of trials quickly, pop pop pop, could increase learners' fluency, and such benefits could be decreased by the proposed requirement.

On the third hand, it might be even more beneficial to use an even more extreme version of the proposed requirement, e.g. present several questions at once and only tell them that SOME are wrong, not WHICH ones, so they have to think about it even more. Of course this could encourage them to figure out ways to play the system and could be even worse with respect to the possible negative effect I mentioned.

Anyone have any evidence or speculations about this?

# Answer
Several different, well-received theories of education would say **yes**. However, it depends on the quality of 'correct' information that is received after the answer is deemed 'incorrect'.

In Jean Piaget's **constructivist theory** of education, it is theorized that individuals construct new knowledge through methods of *assimilation* and *accommodation*. Assimilation requires taking new information and modifying it to fit into an existing framework (without changing the framework itself), and accommodation requires taking new information and updating an existing framework in line with the newly-learned information. Self-correcting responses allow the individual to consciously *accommodate* new information in accordance with the cognitive dissonance that may result from conflicting perspectives on information.

In the theory of **cognitive apprenticeship**, it is speculated that there are *six teaching methods* that are integral to advancing a student's knowledge in a domain. Among those are *reflection*, which allows students to "compare their own problem-solving processes with those of an expert, another student, and ultimately, an internal cognitive model of expertise." In more complex tasks, correcting ones' mistakes in accordance with the techniques and heuristics used by a knowledgable other would be considered a method of reflection. However, it is ***not clear*** that this would further apply to a multiple-choice test, as ones' methods for reaching a conclusion are less observable for tests of that nature.

In fact, there is evidence to show that, while multiple-choice tests may be good predictors of academic performance, multiple-choice questions aren't accurate assessments of ***actual knowledge***. For example:

> Multiple choice tests are best adapted for testing well-defined or lower-order skills. Problem-solving and higher-order reasoning skills are better assessed through short-answer and essay tests. Another disadvantage of multiple choice tests is possible ambiguity in the examinee's interpretation of the item. Failing to interpret information as the test maker intended can result in an "incorrect" response, even if the taker's response is potentially valid. The term "multiple guess" has been used to describe this scenario because test-takers may attempt to guess rather than determine the correct answer. A free response test allows the test taker to make an argument for their viewpoint and potentially receive credit.

Therefore, it may be the case that self-correcting in the instance of an incorrect answer (accommodated by an explanation for the 'correct' answer) can actually improve knowledge, and aid in the accommodation of new knowledge.

For this reason (and for accommodation to effectively occur), in the instance of a multiple-choice test, it may be better practice to ***consciously reason through*** the answer in the face of feedback, instead of simply ***selecting*** the correct answer.
> 2 votes

---
Tags: cognitive-psychology, learning, categorisation
---


# Question
Title: What are 'gap junctions' (electrical synapses) for?
I was reading this and I found the following sentences:

> Apart from chemical synapses neurons can also be coupled by electrical synapses, so-called gap junctions. Specialized membrane proteins make a direct electrical connection between the two neurons. Not very much is known about the functional aspects of gap junctions, but they are thought to be involved in the synchronization of neurons.

Do we really know very little about the functional aspects of gap junctions? And how are they involved the 'synchronization' of neurons?

# Answer
Gap junctions can couple cells directly electrically. Cell types electrically coupled via gap junctions include neurons, the pancreatic islets of Langerhans (Andreu *et al*, 1997) and cardiac cells (Fig. 1.). In contrast to chemical synapses, information transfer via electrical "synapses" (gap junctions) is nearly instantaneous. In chemical information flow, the synapse is the rate limiting step, because it depends on the passive diffusion of neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft.

Fig. 1. The pacemaker potential in cardiac muscle cells spreads rapidly across the surface of the heart to generate synchronous muscle contraction. Source: Austin Community College.

Moreover, in a structure such as a brain nucleus many cells can be coupled. In other words, if all cells in a tissue contain gap junctions, all these cells are directly electrically coupled, not just those cells directly touching each other. In a way, all cells in such a tissue are in open connection with each other. This means that when one cell fires, it can theoretically activate *all the connected cells* to fire an action potential in near-synchrony.

Hence, gap junctions allow for **synchronous activation of inter-connected neurons**, both in the spatial and temporal domain.

While this can be the preferred mode of operation of firing in some neuronal structures such as the olivary nucleus (Leznik & Llinás, 2005), it can theoretically lead to trouble in case pathological synchronization is established, leading to epileptic activity (Dudek, 2002).

Whether we know little, or much of gap junctions is subjective. However, it is certainly true that way more research is available on chemical neurotransmission than on electrical transmission. Likewise, many more medications target chemical transmission than electrical neurotransmission.

**References**
**-** Andreu *et al*, *J Physiol* (1997), **498**(3): 753-61
**-** Dudek, *Epilepsy Curr* (2002); **2**(4): 133–6
**-** Leznik & Llinás, *J Neurophysiol* (2005); **94**(4): 2447-56
> 5 votes

---
Tags: neuroscience, neurophysiology
---


# Question
Title: What brain regions are activated when a dream is remembered?
Some people remember dreams, others don't. The same person can wake up with dream recall one day and without on other days. I know that the association between REM sleep and dreaming was initially established by awakening test subjects during REM and asking them what they remember.

My question is about the dream recall phenomenon – imagine a person is woken up from a dream while his brain is being scanned. **What is the difference in brain region activations shortly before awakening between the case where a dream is recalled and a dream is not recalled?** In both cases polysomnographic readings would conclude that REM is experienced and probability of dreaming is high.

I'm asking this question in relation to this question about working memory of the memory recall patient HM. As I heard about his case, I could not help but think that his "living in the present" seems very similar to the experience of dreaming. While dreaming, one does not have a clear memory of the past events, or any desire to even access this memory. I'm trying to understand: **can the difference in dream recall for the same test subject be localized to some inhibition of hippocampus or another brain structure,** similar to what HM had surgically removed?

Dreams are prone to be "episodic", where a continuous dream of say 20 minutes may contain several very distinct scenes (2–5 minutes each) that have no relation to each other. I'm interested if such dream changes involve the same mechanism that HM experienced when he was distracted.

# Answer
Your memory of a dream would be an **autobiographical memory**, which is a memory system that is based on a combination of episodic memories and semantic memories. Autobiographical memories are memories of events that have happened to you, and thus are often retrieved from a first-person perspective. These are not the same thing as episodic memories, however, as episodic memories are contained in a separate memory system.

Your autobiographical memory knowledge base is distributed through neural networks in the frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes. The frontal lobes and anterior temporal lobes represent the more abstract or conceptual parts of the memory, and the occipital lobes/posterior temporal lobes represent the more sensory and perceptual details of specific events. These are predominantly represented in the right cortex. \[1\] Initially, a memory is formed in the left prefrontal region. Over time, this memory is 'moved' and held at a higher level in the posterior region.

However, there are more widespread activation patterns throughout the brain, and almost every region of the brain has been represented in at least one instance of autobiographic memory retrieval. \[2\] This lends itself to the belief that certain regions are used for certain types of retrieval, such as re-living experiences associated with the memory versus retrieving factual information from the memory.

Dreams themselves are not episodic memories. During REM sleep, there are specific brain regions that appear to be affected; in particular, there is increased activity in the formation of the hippocampus and decreased activity in prefrontal regions. There appears to be no temporal lobe activity, which implies that 'dream memories' are *not* true episodic memories, but instead representative of episodic fragments (at best). One study \[3\] even found that the majority of dreams (\>80%) were comprised of primarily *autobiographical memories*. This suggests that dreams themselves are comprised of fragmented and selective personal experiences, perhaps to aid in the assimilation of memories into the autobiographical memory schema.

---

**Sources used:**

\[1\] Conway, M.A., Pleydell-Pearce, C.W., & Whitecross, S.E. (2001). The neuroanatomy of autobiographical memory: a slow cortical potential study of autobiographical memory retrieval, Journal of Memory and Language. 45, 493-524.

\[2\] Svoboda, E.; McKinnon, M.C.; Levine, B. (2006). "The functional neuroanatomy of autobiographical memory: a meta-analysis". Neuropsychologia 44 (12): 2189–2208.

\[3\] Malinowski, J. E. and Horton, C. L. (2014), Memory sources of dreams: the incorporation of autobiographical rather than episodic experiences. Journal of Sleep Research, 23: 441–447.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: memory, sleep, dreams, neuroanatomy, short-term-memory
---


# Question
Title: Does a loser prefer the winner to subsequently lose or win?
Most major league sports have some form of tournament bracket where there are several rounds of elimination before a winner is determined. In most of them, the winning team is undefeated over the course of the whole tournament.

This question considers the losers and their fans. Specifically, **do fans of a losing team prefer that the team which beat them go on to be the overall winners** (the "We lost to the best" scenario) or that **the winning team lose in the next round** (the "Revenge" scenario)?

Have there been any studies of this? Is there a difference between the attitude of the losing team's players and the losing team's fans?

# Answer
> 2 votes
First, it is worth addressing what *kind* of tournament this is. If this is something like the Super Bowl, where the teams are generally widely-known year after year, then the answer will surely vary depending on the context.

Most long-time sports fans have a subjective preference for the other teams, ranging from 'second-favorite' to 'most hated', and these preferences are built up over time and are determined by the individual as well as the team. After having lost the Super Bowl XLV, a Seahawks fan may hold resentment towards the Steelers for years to come, and thus may root against them on all accounts.

On a more individual basis, fans may view another team favorably for a variety of personal reasons (e.g. a parent or close friend rooting for that team), and thus choose to root for them even if it came down to them beating their team. One writer even analyzed this idea in a FiveThirtyEight blog post.

However, if we were to **remove** these factors entirely -- say, we have a tournament where there is no prior opinion towards the teams that had advanced -- then the answer may shed light on both individual differences and group dynamics.

Studies have shown that the more a fan identifies with their team, the more loyalty they show to their team in the face of a loss:

> When presented with any sort of negative information regarding the group, highly identified group members react differently than those with lower levels of identification (Cohen & Garcia, 2005; Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje, 2002). Highly identified members typically reaffirm their group membership, while those with lower levels of identification tend to distance themselves (Cohen & Garcia, 2005). Such behaviors are apparent in sport fans. Wann and Branscombe (1990) found that highly identified fans are less likely to distance themselves from the team when the team lost than those who were less identified. Further, highly identified fans exhibit biased attribution processing favoring their team (Wann & Dolan, 1994). That is, facing a win, highly identified fans ascribe the victory to internal factors such as the skill of the team, or the coaching, and sometimes even fan support. However, upon a loss, rather than conceding another team’s superiority, they blame the loss on more external factors such as fate or poor refereeing. Thus, highly identified sports fans seem to undergo some sort of biased attributional processes when dealing with a loss.

And another study showed that the stronger the allegiance to the team, the more likely the fan was to perceive the win as a *personal victory*, thereby influencing their *own* self-efficacy. By contrast, the likelihood increased that a loss would be perceived as a *personal offense*.

> Ss watched a live basketball game; then, in the context of a 2nd, unrelated experiment, Ss estimated their own performance at several tasks. Results indicated that fans' mood and self-esteem were affected by game outcome. More important, fans' estimates of both the team's and their own future performance were significantly better in the win than in the loss condition.

Whereas on the other hand, fans who identify less with their team tend to distance themselves from the team in the face of a loss.

So it could be the case that **personal allegiance** to a team determines how a fan responds to a loss. If the fan identifies strongly with the losing team, they may be less likely to view the winning team (opponent) positively, and thus they may demonstrate a greater tendency to root against that team in the next round. On the other hand, less team allegiance may implicate a desire to identify with the winning team, in which case the "we lost to the best" mindset may occur.

---
Tags: cognitive-psychology, sport-psychology
---


# Question
Title: What is the neurological basis of maintaining self discipline?
Self Discipline, as defined in this meagre Wikipedia article as being

> as the ability to motivate oneself in spite of a negative emotion

This is partly distinct from self control and willpower which from Wikipedia, is defined as

> the ability to control one's emotions, behavior, and desires in order to obtain some reward, or avoid some punishment.

I am referring to the former, where there may not necessarily be a reward or punishment involved. I am interested in the neurological basis of self discipline, specifically, are there more primitive areas of the brain at play in trying to defeat our self-discipline that are in turn, inhibited by the frontal cortex or other parts of the brain?

# Answer
> 7 votes
Studies have shown that some people can **mentally isolate stressors** so that they do not affect performance in other areas. This is sometimes referred to as ***isolating*** or ***repressing*** the memory of the stressor so that it does not influence secondary reactions. The recollection of the memory is just as painful as it would be for anyone else, but the memory itself remains isolated, and thus there is no opportunity for the memory to form associative links with other memories, where it could thereby affect self-esteem, sense of achievement, or productivity. \[1\]\[2\]

There have been numerous studies that support this idea of isolation. First is the notion that this effect is not observed in those who demonstrate high neuroticism, or difficulty controlling affective discipline. Studies have shown that people suffering from depression will respond to damaging thoughts by *thinking about other negative thoughts*, thus reinforcing the depression. \[3\] In contrast, those who demonstrate low neuroticism and high defensiveness were more likely to process negative feedback in a minimal fashion \[4\], thus *"isolating" the negative feedback* from the self. In addition, they were more likely to *minimize relative impact* by spontaneously generating positive thoughts afterwards.

This is an important notion, as the role of emotional regulation and achievement is readily apparent. Studies have shown that emotional regulation in school children can predict *teacher-student relationships, academic achievement, and productivity* \[5\]. Furthermore, positive emotions, moreso than negative emotions, appear to be associated with *heightened attention* and *thought-action repertoires*. \[6\]

Thus, it may be the case that with increased self-discipline comes an increased ability to *inhibit* (or 'isolate') negative emotions and stressors. This can be mediated by executive functioning tactics such as **inhibition**, or by **shifting cognitive focus** (particularly onto the task at hand). \[7\] Executive functioning abilities are largely mediated by the frontal lobes and by the prefrontal cortex. However, the ability to 'isolate' stressors in order to maximize productivity and motivation may be more closely related to neuroticism, which is in turn related to reduced connectivity between the left amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex, as well as reduced cardiovascular activity. \[8\]

---

**Sources used**:

\[1\] Hansen, R. D.; Hansen, C. H. (1988). "Repression of emotionally tagged memories: The architecture of less complex emotions.". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55: 811–818.

\[2\] Schul, Y; Schiff, M. (1995). "On the costs and benefits of ignorance: How performance satisfaction is affected by knowing the standard prior to performance". Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 21: 491–501.

\[3\] Edwards, J. A.; Weary, G. (1993). "Depression and the impression-forming continuum: Piecemeal processing despite the availability of category information.". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 64: 636–645.

\[4\] Bonanno, G. A.; Davis, P. J.; Singer, J. L.; Schwartz, G. E. (1991). "The repressor personality and avoidant information processing: A dichotic listening study.". Journal of Research in Personality 62: 386–401.

\[5\] Graziano, P. A., Reavis, R. D., Keane, S. P., & Calkins, S. D. (2007). The role of emotion regulation in children's early academic success. Journal of school psychology, 45(1), 3-19.

\[6\] Fredrickson, B. L., & Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought‐action repertoires. Cognition & emotion, 19(3), 313-332.

\[7\] Wegner, Daniel M.; Schneider, David J.; Carter, Samuel R. & White, Teri L. (1987). "Paradoxical effects of thought suppression". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53 (1): 5–13.

\[8\] J. Ormel, A. Bastiaansen, H. Riese, E.H. Bos, M. Servaas, M. Ellenbogen, J.G. Rosmalen, A. Aleman. (2013) The biological and psychological basis of neuroticism: Current status and future directions. Neurosci. Biobehav. pp. 59–72

---
Tags: motivation, cognitive-neuroscience
---


# Question
Title: Is there any treatment for cognitive difficulties of patients with Parkinson's disease?
I've read some articles and science papers about Parkinson's disease and found out that many patients often have cognitive difficulties, if not all of them. For memory difficulty, medications to treat Alzheimer's are used, but is there something for other cognitive difficulties, e.g., for focus and executive dysfunction? No medication was mentioned in some papers I've read, so I wonder if there is any medication that helps with those problems at the moment?

Also, what is the actual damage in the brain after having Parkinson's for about 15 years? Is memory irreversibly damaged, i.e., can't be retrieved with medications?

# Answer
Parkinson's disease is similar to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the sense that both are thought to stem from **dopamine deficiency**, though the affected areas may differ. Executive functioning is typically associated with the frontal lobes, the prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, and parts of the basal ganglia (including the caudate nucleus). Indeed, those suffering from Parkinson's have critically low levels of dopamine in the caudate nucleus, and thus patients have shown to **improve specific cognitive functioning abilities with dopaminergic medication**, such as those used to treat ADHD. This is likely due to the rewiring of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the posterior parietal cortex to the dorsal caudate nucleus after medication was administered. \[1\]

However, most medications used to treat Parkinson's typically try to **target motor symptoms**. This is because PD is most associated with dopamine depletion in the substania nigra, as well as progressive effects on the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway. \[2\] On the other hand, ADHD medications (such as Adderall, Vyvanse, and Ritalin) target the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways, allowing them to **influence cognition and affect**. \[3\] Thus, there is evidence the cognitive deficits observed in PD may be treatable with psychostimulant medications commonly used to treat ADHD. Overall, there have been comparatively few attempts to treat cognitive deficits in those with PD \[2\], though there have been modest effects with treatment of **Modafinil** for PD-related daytime sleepiness. \[4\] Though Modafinil is a wakefulness agent, it is also used recreationally as a mild cognitive enhancer (or 'Nootropic'), and is said to boost alertness and cognitive function in otherwise high-functioning adults.

As every person is different, 15 years of Parkinson's will manifest itself differently in every individual. Tremor is usually the first symptom of early-stage PD. In the next stage, it spreads and causes the person to have slow movement, stiff muscles, and poor motor coordination. Poor posture, difficulties with writing, and trouble balancing may develop. After a certain number of years (relative to the individual), the person may be confined to a wheelchair or a bed. Dementia may occur in up to one-third of these individuals. (See: WebMD) As it stands, there is no medical 'cure', but the medications can delay the end result.

---

**Sources used**

\[1\] Cools, R., Barker, R. A., Sahakian, B. J., & Robbins, T. W. (2001). Enhanced or impaired cognitive function in Parkinson's disease as a function of dopaminergic medication and task demands. Cerebral Cortex, 11(12), 1136-1143.

\[2\] Brennan, L. (2013). Dopaminergic Therapy in Parkinson's Disease: Psychiatric Symptoms, Cognition, and Everyday Functioning (Doctoral dissertation, Drexel University).

\[3\] Oades, R. D., Sadile, A. G., Sagvolden, T., Viggiano, D., Zuddas, A., Devoto, P., ... & Russell, V. A. (2005). The control of responsiveness in ADHD by catecholamines: evidence for dopaminergic, noradrenergic and interactive roles. Developmental science, 8(2), 122-131.

\[4\] Adler, C. H., Caviness, J. N., Hentz, J. G., Lind, M., & Tiede, J. (2003). Randomized trial of modafinil for treating subjective daytime sleepiness in patients with Parkinson's disease. Movement Disorders, 18(3), 287-293.
> 1 votes

---
Tags: cognitive-psychology, memory, neurology
---


title: What is "perceptual competence"?

text:
# Question
Title: What is "perceptual competence"?
I have no idea what **perceptual competence** is? Does anyone know about it? I found no information about it on the web.

# Answer
**Short answer**
"Perceptual competence" is "the ability to perceive".

**Background**
I Googled "perceptual competence" and the first hit was an open source article (Lencz *et al*., 2003). They define perceptual competence as:

> \[The\] initial representation of to-be-remembered material \[in the context of working memory\]. Perceptual competency itself can include multiple subprocesses, including sensory representation, attention, executive processes, and possibly verbal memory processes, if the stimuli are easily recognized or verbalized.

Reading their use and interpretation, I think "perceptual competence" can be simply literally semantically translated, namely:

* *PERCEPTUAL* \- `of, relating to, or involving perception especially in relation to immediate sensory experience` and
* *COMPETENCE* \- `the ability to do something well : the quality or state of being competent`

<sub>**Reference**
**-** Lencz *et al*., *Arch Gen Psychiatry* (2003); **60**(3):238-43</sub>
> 2 votes

---
Tags: perception, terminology, intelligence
---


# Question
Title: How common is the form of amnesia depicted in fictional works?
There are any number of movies and television shows based on some variation of the same premise:

A character suffers some sort of mishap (the most frequent mishap being a bump on the head), which renders them incapable of remembering who they are. They assume a new life, often as someone totally different from their former self, hilarity ensues, and eventually, they are cured of their affliction.

The premise is so common that it has become a trope. Examples include the Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell vehicle *Overboard*, the movie *Muppets Take Manhattan*, and too many episodes of television shows to count.

How common is this form of identity amnesia in the real world? How often does someone forget everything about who they are?

# Answer
What you are referring to is something called **dissociative fugue**. It is characterized as an official psychiatric disorder and dissociative disorder in the DSM-5, and its prevalence has been estimated at **0.2%**, though it is much more common in connection with wars, accidents, and natural disasters.

The disorder is characterized by reversible amnesia for all aspects of the self: identity, personality, memories, personal history, etc. These episodes of 'fugue' can be caused by stress (in those with the characterized disorder), but similar episodes are not considered to be 'fugue' if they were induced by other factors, such as drug ingestion, head trauma, or other conditions such as dementia. The fugue itself typically lasts anywhere between a few hours and a few days, but can occasionally last a lot longer (up to several months). It usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and in some cases can lead someone to form a new identity.

After recovery, the person typically has no recollection of what happened during their amnesiac state. However, they typically remember everything that they had previously forgotten about their identity. If the episode was caused by a specific stressor (e.g. an abusive figure), the stressor may remain forgotten upon recovery.

For the cases in which the amnesia was caused by a traumatic event, drug use, or physical trauma, then it is usually referred to as **retrograde amnesia**. Similar to dissociative fugue, those who undergo retroactive amnesia typically make a spontaneous recovery.

> Retrograde amnesia usually follows damage to areas of the brain other than the hippocampus (the part of the brain involved in encoding new memories), because already exisiting long-term memories are stored in the neurons and synapses of various different brain regions...It usually results from damage to the brain regions most closely associated with declarative (and particularly episodic) memory, such as the temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex. The damage may result from a cranial trauma (a blow to the head), a cerebrovascular accident or stroke (a burst artery in the brain), a tumour (if it presses against part of the brain), hypoxia (lack of oxygen in the brain), certain kinds of encephalitis, chronic alcoholism, etc.
>
> Retrograde amnesia is often temporally graded, meaning that remote memories are more easily accessible than events occurring just prior to the trauma (sometimes known as Ribot's Law after the 19th Century psychologist Théodule-Armand Ribot), and the events nearest in time to the event that caused the memory loss may never be recovered. This is because the neural pathways of newer memories are not as strong as older ones that have been strengthened by years of retrieval and re-consolidation. While there is no actual cure for retrograde amnesia, “jogging” the victim’s memory by exposing them to significant articles from their past will often speed the rate of recall.

(Source)
> 4 votes

---
Tags: memory, personality, abnormal-psychology, statistics
---


# Question
Title: How to reliably measure working memory capacity?
The capacity of human working memory is subject to individual differences. The number of items or chunks a person can retain in their memory may, have profound effects on a variety of other cognitive processes, such as problem solving.

I have come across a couple of ways to measure working memory such as the delayed match-to-sample task, Dual N-back task or the Wechsler Memory Scale. For the latter I have been unable to find out whether it offers an estimate of the number of items which can be held in working memory. This, however, is precisely what I am interested in. I know that the capacity measured using verbal stimuli is affected by a variety of features of the material.

Therefore, I'm wondering **what are the most commonly used methods to measure an healthy individual's working memory capacity**. Also, **is there a reliable measure that can be easily used in online research?** I am also interested in measures suitable for laboratory research, though. Finally, **are abstract visual material and digits more "pure" measures than verbal ones?**

*I am especially interested in standardized procedures with known reliability measuring working memory and giving an estimate of the number of chunks an individual can retain.*

# Answer
First of all, the existence of a working memory is a theory, not a proven fact. The working memory is a concept of the information processing theory that likens the human brain to a computer. Other theories don't necessarily have an equivalent for this concept.

Second, there are different theories regarding how the working memory is made up: one single store (e.g. Atkinson & Shiffrin) or several systems (e.g. Baddeley & Hitch). Depending on what you believe the working memory is, you might have to measure it (or its parts) in different ways.

Traditionally the capacity of the working memory is measured by asking subjects to remember a list of items and then counting how many they can repeat. This is a standard subtest in many intelligence tests, e.g. the WAIS. The average (!) capacity for remembering letters or numbers has been shown to be 7 +/- 2 . Different experiments find different numbers, but they all range between 3 and 9 (as far as I know). Regular tests stop at nine items, and it is very rare that someone can regularly hold more items in his short term memory after hearing them once only (telephone numbers are stored in long term memory after being learned).

Measuring the capacity for non-linguistic visual, non-verbal auditory, olfactory, tactile etc. stimuli is extremely difficult, because as yet scientists don't even begin to understand how these stimuli are percieved, processed and represented in the brain. The only comprehensible and meaningful measurements are made of the memory of linguistic items like letters or words or visual representations of objects (like a page with a number of drawn objects).
> 14 votes

# Answer
What's answer above summarises many of the first things I would have said.

In addition, you may also want to note that working memory references the idea of a computer, which implies that storage and processing are separable. In fact, storage and processing occur using the same mechanisms in the brain, meaning that a simple concept of working memory is hard to credit.

Also, there is a distinction between the number of objects one can simply remember for a space of time and the number of objects one can operate on at the same time in parallel. This number changes across modalities, so that for audition, you can typically process a single audio stream at a time, however for vision, you can clearly track multiple objects across space (and in fact, if you know anything about the blind spot or peripheral acuity, the brain does a lot of that tracking on inference rather than actual perceived objects). For a good reference on processing vs simple storage and how those concepts dissociate, see *Measuring the Influence of Complexity on Relational Reasoning* by Birney, Damian P; Halford, Graeme S; Andrews, Glenda.

Another important issue is that WM usually refers to a specific sort of processing that occurs consciously. But behind those straightforward stores that we have conscious access to lie a vast complexity of sub conscious processing in each modality. The way that the brain tracks objects in the visual system for example, is relatively well understood, but far more complex than these higher level cognitive concepts of working memory that people talk about so nonchalantly. I'm taking your definition of working memory to be the conscious stuff, but there is a great deal of what I would term sub conscious working memory behind these processes too, that I'm not mentioning here for brevity.

I guess the key message is that there are as many measures of WM as there are definitions of it, and there are a substantial number of studies already examining the effect of different stimuli on ability to recall items. As well as the ability to recall however, WM also implies ability to operate on the items recalled (we might think of this in terms of bandwidth vs storage), which is something that perhaps you may have missed in simply talking about capacity.
> 8 votes

# Answer
Wilhelm 2013 What is working memory capacity, and how can we measure it?

**Complex span tasks (Cspan)**

reading span task (Kane et al. 2004)

operation span task

The rotation span task (Shah & Miyake 1996, adapted from Kane et al. 2004)

**Updating tasks (Updating) (e.g., Miyake et al., 2000)**

The verbal updating task

In the numerical updating task

the spatial-figural updating task

**Recall 1-back (RNb) (Dobbs and Rule, 1989)**

**Binding tasks (Binding)**

the letter-color binding task

the word-number binding task

**Secondary memory tasks (SM)**

the word-word SM task

the letter-position SM task

**Reasoning tasks (Gf)**

the fluid intelligence section of the Berlin Test of Fluid and Crystallized

Intelligence (BEFKI; Wilhelm et al., 2013).

**Tasks measuring response inhibition (Inhibition)**

the Eriksen Flanker (E) task

the Simon (S) task.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: memory, measurement, working-memory, short-term-memory
---


title: What is Psychoanalysis

text:
# Question
Title: What is Psychoanalysis
I came across the term while browsing forums, google didn't offer a direct response. It would be much appreciated if you could explain the general idea and post external links

# Answer
# About Psychoanalysis:

## From the American Psychoanalytic Association:

> **About Psychoanalysis**
>
> Psychoanalysis is a method of treatment that helps people understand themselves, their relationships, and how they behave in the world. Psychoanalytic treatment is based on the idea that we are frequently motivated to act by impulses that we don’t recognize because they originate in our unconscious. These unconscious conflicts can create negative feelings – emotions such as unhappiness, anxiety, or depression – which can be expressed in many ways, including self-destructive behavior, or difficulties with personal relationships or work.
>
> Psychoanalysis is sometimes called the “talking cure” because during treatment the patient is encouraged to talk about everything that comes to mind: their childhood, the present, fears, thoughts and dreams. Nothing is off limits. Talking like this, with a psychoanalyst helping to identify patterns and recurring themes, helps people learn how they came to be who they are and why they do and feel the things they do. It is this understanding of oneself that paves the way toward the emotional freedom necessary to make substantive, lasting changes.
>
> The key to psychoanalytic treatment is in the relationship the patient develops with the analyst. Typically, psychoanalysis involves the patient coming several times a week, lying on a couch, and communicating as openly and freely as possible.
>
> The frequency of psychoanalytic sessions is something that can be worked out between patient and analyst, but the APsaA standard is four to five sessions per week. This frequency deepens and intensifies treatment and is one of the hallmarks of psychoanalysis.
>
> The couch has become so intertwined with psychoanalysis in the mind of the public that it is often used as shorthand to convey the idea of therapy. Stereotype or not, psychoanalysts still recommend its use. Patients recline on the couch and the analyst sits right behind them, just out of view. This arrangement, which may seem unusual at first, promotes “free association,” an essential element to psychoanalysis in which patients allow their thoughts to wander freely and talk about whatever comes to mind. Being on the couch, facing away from the analyst, can also make it easier to talk about embarrassing or difficult topics.
>
> Psychoanalysis is a collaboration in which the patient and analyst work together to explore unconscious feelings, thoughts and conflicts through talk.
>
> **About Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy**
>
> Sometimes also called psychodynamic psychotherapy, this treatment method is based on the theory and technique of psychoanalysis. The primary difference is that the patient and analyst meet less frequently, sometimes only once a week. As with psychoanalysis, the frequency of sessions can be customized to the needs of the patient. Another difference is that the patient usually sits upright and opposite the therapist, rather than reclining on a couch with the therapist out of view.
>
> Other than these differences, psychoanalytic psychotherapy is very much like analysis in its use of free association, the importance placed on the unconscious, and the centrality of the patient-therapist relationship.
>
> **About Applied Psychoanalysis**
>
> Applied psychoanalysis describes the practice of using psychoanalytic theories and methods to explain social, cultural and political phenomena and has been going on since psychoanalysis first began.
>
> Applied psychoanalysis takes the search for meaning and motivations outside of the doctor’s office, using psychoanalytic principles to make sense of the world.
>
> Psychoanalysts have been known to work as consultants in community settings, such as schools, businesses and corporations.
> American Psychoanalytic Association

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiLtQATY\_1s

## From About.com Education:

> **What Is Psychoanalysis?** **The Psychoanalytic Approach to Psychology**
>
> *By Kendra Cherry* *Psychology Expert*
>
> Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis and the psychodynamic approach to psychology. This school of thought emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego, and the superego.
>
> Freud's theories of psychosexual stages, the unconscious, and dream symbolism remain a popular topic among both psychologists and laypersons, despite the fact that his work is viewed with skepticism by many today.
>
> Many of Freud's observations and theories were based on clinical cases and case studies, making his findings difficult to generalize to a larger population. Regardless, Freud's theories changed how we think about the human mind and behavior and left a lasting mark on psychology and culture.
>
> Another theorist associated with psychoanalysis is Erik Erikson. Erikson expanded upon Freud's theories and stressed the importance of growth throughout the lifespan. Erikson's psychosocial stage theory of personality remains influential today in our understanding of human development.
>
> **Major Thinkers Associated With Psychoanalysis**
>
> * Sigmund Freud
> * Anna Freud
> * Erik Erikson
> * Erich Fromm
> * Carl Jung
> * Karl Abraham
> * Otto Rank
> * Sabina Spielrein
>
> **Key Psychoanalysis Terms**
>
> **Case Study** \- An in-depth study of one person. Much of Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes for behavior. The hope is that learning gained from studying one case can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective and it is difficult to generalize results to a larger population.
>
> **Conscious** \- In Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, the conscious mind includes everything that is inside of our awareness. This is the aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about in a rational way.
>
> **Defense Mechanism** \- A tactic developed by the ego to protect against anxiety. Defense mechanisms are thought to safeguard the mind against feelings and thoughts that are too difficult for the conscious mind to cope with. In some instances, defense mechanisms are thought to keep inappropriate or unwanted thoughts and impulses from entering the conscious mind.
>
> **Ego** \- The ego is the part of personality that mediates the demands of the id, the superego and reality. The ego prevents us from acting on our basic urges (created by the id), but also works to achieve a balance with our moral and idealistic standards (created by the superego).
>
> **Id** \- The personality component made up of unconscious psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs and desires.
>
> **Superego** \- The component of personality composed of our internalized ideals that we have acquired from our parents and from society. The superego works to suppress the urges of the id and tries to make the ego behave morally rather than realistically.
>
> **Unconscious** \- A reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges and memories that outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety or conflict. According to Freud, the unconscious continues to influence our behavior and experiences even though we are unaware of these underlying influences.
>
> **Criticisms of Psychoanalysis**
>
> * Freud's theories overemphasized the unconscious mind, sex, aggression and childhood experiences.
> * Many of the concepts proposed by psychoanalytic theorists are difficult to measure and quantify.
> * Most of Freud's ideas were based on case studies and clinical observations rather than empirical, scientific research.
>
> **Strengths of Psychoanalysis**
>
> * While most psychodynamic theories did not rely on experimental research, the methods and theories of psychoanalytic thinking contributed to experimental psychology.
> * Many of the theories of personality developed by psychodynamic thinkers are still influential today, including Erikson's theory of psychosocial stages and Freud's psychosexual stage theory..
> * Psychoanalysis opened up a new view on mental illness, suggesting that talking about problems with a professional could help relieve symptoms of psychological distress.
> Source

## From Psychology Today:

> **What Is Psychoanalysis?**
>
> It began, of course, with Freud. Psychoanalysis refers both to a theory of how the mind works and a treatment modality. In recent years, both have yielded to more mainstream, research-driven approaches, but psychoanalysis is still a thriving field.
>
> Belief in the primacy of the unconscious fantasy, sexual desires (libido, penis envy, Oedipal complex), and dreams has wavered. But Freud also identified such basic mental maneuvers as transference, projection, and defensiveness, and demonstrated how they distort our functioning. As a treatment based on extended self-exploration, psychoanalysis has evolved beyond the silent-shrink stereotype.
>
> Neuropsychoanalysis is an up-and-coming subfield that aims to wed the insights of Freudian psychology and its emphasis on subjective experience with neuroscientific findings about brain processes.
> Source

## Further Reading:

Contemporary Psychoanalysis: William Alanson White Institute

Introduction to Psychoanalysis: Purdue University

Institute of Psychoanalysis: British Psychoanalytical Society

Psychoanalysis: Wikipedia

Great Ideas in Personality: Psychoanalysis

International Journal of Psychoanalysis: Wiley Online Library

Psychoanalysis: University College London

Frontiers in Psychology: Psychoanalysis and Neuropsychoanalysis

About Psychoanalysis: International Psychoanalytical Association

### Psychoanalysis Articles From Psychology Today:

>
> 7 votes

---
Tags: psychology
---


# Question
Title: Has fiction or the study of fiction ever made meaningful contributions to Psychology?
Those who study fiction often make certain claims, such as fiction allowing us to "gain depth into the human experience" and such. Psychology is the academic field which studies human behavior, and by proxy, the human mind and experience.

My question is, has a fictional work or the study fiction (literary analysis) ever made a meaningful contribution to the field of psychology? Like, has a literary analyzer written a paper on friendship of fictional characters, which ended up making a contribution to some psychological theory of friendship. Or are the claims that fiction gives insight into human experience empty?

# Answer
Psychological scientists often cite works of fiction as sources of inspiration. In some cases, literary examples are used as illustrations of the phenomenon of interest. In others, researchers set out to test the hypotheses that are proposed or implied in fictional works.

**Golding's Lord of the Flies and Zimbardo's research on deindividuation**

For example, Zimbardo notes that his research on the effects of deindividuation in the late 1960s (Zimbardo, 1969) was inspired by literature:

> "Ideas for my first experiments in human aggression came from discussions we had in a research seminar about Golding's Lord of the Flies."

**The Macbeth effect**

Shakespeare is frequently cited as a source of inspiration. As one example, Zhong and Lilienquist (2006) have investigated whether sinful behavior prompts the need for physical cleansing - the "Macbeth effect", named after Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth who is compelled to wash her hands because of the crimes she and her husband have committed.

**The Proust phenomenon**

In the famous Madeleine Episode of Marcel Proust's "À la recherche du temps perdu", the narrator describes that the sensory perception of a tea-soaked madeleine has the power to elicit detailed and affectively-laden memories of a distant past. This hypothesis, which some call "the Proust phenomenon" has prompted a variety of empirical investigations. For example, in two experiments conducted by Chu and Downs (2002) "odor-cued autobiographical memories were reliably different in terms of qualitative ratings and reliably superior in the amount of detail yielded". (Also see this earlier question.)

**References**

Chu, S., & Downes, J. J. (2002). Proust nose best: Odors are better cues of autobiographical memory. Memory & Cognition, 30, 511–518. doi:10.3758/BF03194952

Zhong, C.-B., & Liljenquist, K. (2006). Washing away your sins: Threatened morality and physical cleansing. Science, 313, 1451–1452. doi:10.1126/science.1130726

Zimbardo, P. (1969). The human choice: Individuation, reason, and order vs. deindividuation, impulse, and chaos. In: Arnold, W.J. and Levine, D. (eds). Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Lincoln:University of Nebraska Press, 237-307.
> 7 votes

---
Tags: history-of-psychology
---


# Question
Title: Can adhd and ocd coexist? Is it in the same way mania and depression can coexist (in bipolar disorder)?
Is it really possible for someone to have both ADHD and OCD?

I was thinking that ADHD is the opposite of OCD:

from 1:

> alexThePotato:
>
> With ADHD you may be forgetful, distracted, make careless mistakes, daydream, etc. With OCD, my impression is that you'd be very focused on details, a bit perfectionist, and generally meticulous. So how do they coexist, and what kind of behaviors do you attribute to each?
>
> kukienboks:
>
> Seems to me that OCD is about putting a lot of focus and energy into unimportant things, something which Adhd-ers also can tend to do. The main difference is probably that OCD-ers are driven by anxiety rather than suffering from inability to prioritize tasks.

from 2:

> There are also those who believe that OCD and ADHD often occur together. This site on ADHD states, “It is not uncommon for someone to have both ADHD and OCD.” I find this statement baffling, as the basic symptoms of ADHD (listed below), in my opinion, seem to be in direct contrast to those of OCD:
>
> Inattention: Having a short attention span and easily distracted. (Most people with OCD would love to be able to not pay attention to their thoughts.)
>
> Impulsivity: Causes a person to do dangerous or unwise things without thinking about the consequences. (Those with OCD do the exact opposite. They play it safe and obsess about the consequences.)
>
> Hyperactivity: Inappropriate or excessive activity. (Those with OCD often go out of their way to do what they feel is appropriate. Also, in Dan’s case, he often had very low energy as he was “wiped out” from struggling with his OCD.)

However I read here that:

> Some research has suggested that OCD and Obsessive Compulsive Spectrum Disorders fall upon a compulsive-impulsive continuum. In other words there exists a gradient of disorders ranging from behavioral impulsivity to compulsivity. OCD appears to lie at one end of this spectrum, while ADHD exists at the other.

That reminds of this picture (taken from here):

Does this then mean that ADHD and OCD together is like mania and depression together? Is there a term for the former just like the latter has bipolar disorder?

---

There's someone in 1 who says

"ADHD makes my mind wander but then my OCD latches onto things I get so focused that nothing else exists."

and someone else who says

"The OCD part of is killing me on the inside on how messy my room is. I hate messy rooms.",

but there seem to be contesting comments such as

"Actual clinical OCD is so very far from the perfectionism you're describing."

and

"You are confusing Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder...I don't know if OCPD and be comorbid with ADHD, but I agree that intuitively they don't seem compatible. OCD on the other hand is sometimes misdiagnosed as ADHD (and vice versa) as they both involve problems with impulse control."

There's another comment which might explain how ADHD and OCD are not opposites, but I'm not quite sure I understand (assuming it is right):

> they aren't opposites. OCD is when you have strong anxious compulsions that you can't resist. ADHD is when you are unable to resist even weak impulses. They harm the patient in a devilishly sinergistic manner - let's take someone who already has difficulty resisting impulses, and give her compulsions to do useless things!

Is it right? What exactly does that mean?

# Answer
**Yes, they can coexist. No, they aren't opposites.** How could they be? Both ADHD and OCD affect a variety of different brain regions, and its effects are not consistent in every person. Maybe if OCD and all its symptoms were *always* caused by an excess of dopamine in one specific pathway in the reward system, whereas ADHD and all its symptoms was *always* caused by an decrease of dopamine in that same system, *then* they wouldn't be compatible. But this isn't the case, and it could never be the case, because ***the brain is more complex than that***.

If mental disorders were diagnosed strictly on oppositional behaviors, then we could easily make the assertion that the *opposite* of being inattentive would be being hyperfocused. Therefore, nobody who has an attention deficit disorder could achieve hyperfocus, right? But we know to attribute both of these behaviors to ADHD. How can this be?

It is important to remember that ***mental disorders are not behaviors***. OCD is marked by obsessions and compulsions, and any behaviors that may arise do so in the context of *mental symptoms*. It certainly follows that someone with OCD who has an obsessional focus on staying clean and organized will stay clean and organized -- in general, it is hard to *not* act on things that you are constantly thinking about and uncomfortable by. This is different from the child with ADHD, who *may or may not* have trouble staying clean and organized, because to someone who doesn't have some sort of incentive (or 'motivation'), staying clean and organized is *really* hard to force yourself to do on your own terms. And with ADHD, it can be all the more difficult to achieve that motivation, given the lack of dopamine and/or norepinephrine activity in certain parts of the brain.

That being said, ADHD is not a 'messiness' disorder. The behavior of an ADHD sufferer arises from a complex set of symptoms, usually related to executive dysfunction. As the name may reveal, executive functioning is an abstract yet measurable concept that encompasses a variety of higher-level processes, including regulation of focus, self-management (including keeping oneself organized), and one's capacity for paying attention to detail. Any messiness that arises from this is just an effect from the cause-and-effect relationship that is ADHD.

Likewise, OCD is not a 'neatness' disorder. OCD is marked by obsessions and compulsions. A child with ADHD may have OCD and never feel any compulsion to clean a messy room. There are many different ways that obsessions and compulsions can be demonstrated. A person with OCD may perform rituals, engage in lengthy routines, avoid certain foods, or pick at their skin. They may fear or avoid strange things for no reason at all. Many people with OCD have phobias, and these phobias may interfere with normal life, such as a fear of blood leading someone to never step foot in a doctor's office. **Perfectionism and OCD are not the same thing,** though perfectionism can be a quality in *both*.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: abnormal-psychology, depression, adhd, mood, bipolar-disorder
---


# Question
Title: Reference request: the necessity of constraints in learning
I've read theoretical papers on why constraints are a necessary part of any learning system. The papers were aimed at human learning. I'm having trouble finding relevant references now.

What papers deal with the theoretical issue of whether or not learning must be constrained?

# Answer
> 4 votes
If that suffices, I can give you the classical article from the domain of language learning: Gold 1967.

The basic intuition is that an infinite number of grammars could explain any given set of strings. Analogously, you can probably consider fitting a polynomial to a set of points, or instances of the inverse problem (reconstructing a source from observations). In language acquisition, without some prior constraint on the to be acquired grammar, therefore, no unique convergence will happen. This has led to the Poverty of the Stimulus class of arguments, and the wide range of responses to it. There is a wide range of responses to the Gold paper - if you want more, it really depends on what specifically you're looking for.

In practice, I don't think anyone can imagine a learner in the real world that is without constraints, first and foremost those of storage and computational power.

# Answer
> 1 votes
There's a related saying in statistics:

> you cannot do inference without making assumptions.

From Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms (page 26) by David J. C. Mackay.

Inference about the world is learning, and if you don't assume anything about the world, you can't learn to generalize. Assumptions limit your hypothesis space.

---
Tags: learning, reference-request
---


# Question
Title: Does adopting personal routines accelerate cognitive decline?
Many people tend to automate many mundane daily tasks by adhering to a proven routine that works and that can be equivalent to a computer script with the person implementing it being equivalent to a computer. There are many benefits for that in that, just like there are benefits to computing automation, most notably it allows us to live efficiently and spare our mental energies for tasks that cannot be or have not yet been automated yet.

But I am curious if there are cognitive studies that associate adherence to routine to cognitive decline. I can imaging that, if you were doing a lot of daily tasks in the same way over and over again, you may lose your cognitive processing edge. This is just an unconfirmed observation so I am reaching out to the community of experts (of whom I am not one) to see if there are studies about it.

On the other hand, I can also see how personal routines and daily automation are an earmark of highly intelligent people who are capable of seeing patterns between two separate instances of a similar task. But can a side effect (automation) of that initial favorable cognitive state (IQ) lead to lowered cognition as a matter of lessened daily mental workout? In other words, can you become dull if you do things more routinely?

# Answer
> 3 votes
**SHORT ANSWER**:

There is no evidence that adopting personal routines leads to cognitive decline in the way that you have described in your post. There is some evidence that a propensity against personal routine can be representative of underlying creative potential. Given that creativity is highly linked to openness to experience on the Big 5 measure of personality, this could be representative of higher intelligence *in certain contexts*. However, this does not implicate that personal routines *decrease* one's existing cognitive capacity.

**LONG, DETAILED ANSWER**:

In your first paragraph, you refer to these daily routine tasks as 'automated', in the sense that they 'spare... mental energies for \[other\] tasks'.

In your second paragraph, you wonder if said tasks could contribute to a decline in cognitive processing, given that you are (presumably) doing many of them over a long period of time.

For this reason, I think that a computer is not a perfect analogy. A computer may do things 'automatically' (as in, they are pre-programmed to do so). However, the computer still 'runs' this program as it would any higher-level algorithm. The automatic routine may take up less 'space', but I believe it still requires its own subroutine or threaded code (pardon me if my terminology is incorrect, I haven't quite learned how computer systems work yet), thus 'wearing down' the computer over time.

A human performing a daily routine is not the same as a computer performing a recursively-called subroutine. A human performing a routine is engaging in an ***unconscious*** and regularly-repeating habit. Because these habits are unconscious, they do not contribute to cognitive decline in the way that you are referring to. Certain routines may be harmful for other reasons (e.g. routine shopping trips without knowledge of money management, routines that aid procrastination, etc.), but in many ways, routines can actually *reduce cognitive load*, thus freeing up the mind to focus on other things.

The downside is that they take longer to implement, unlike an algorithm. Lally et. al (2009) found that habits take anywhere from 18-254 days to become asymptotically 'automatic', with an average of 66 days. They are also harder to eliminate if they turn out to be harmful. This is augmented by the fact that the basal ganglia remembers the 'triggers' that helped initialize the routine in the first place, and thus routines can be revived if the triggers reappear. (As this article from MIT points out, "Old habits don't die. They hibernate.").

From the third paragraph in your question:

> On the other hand, I can also see how personal routines and daily automation are an earmark of highly intelligent people who are capable of seeing patterns between two separate instances of a similar task. But can a side effect (automation) of that initial favorable cognitive state (IQ) lead to lowered cognition as a matter of lessened daily mental workout? In other words, can you become dull if you do things more routinely?

I don't think that daily automation and personal routines are necessarily the 'earmark of highly intelligent people...' in the way you are describing. Given that automatic routines are unconscious activities, they are marked by a *lack* of cognitive processing, no?

However, the ability to develop and stick to a pre-planned routine to the point that it becomes automatic does depend, to some extent, on specific areas of the brain that help regulate executive functioning. I already mentioned the basal ganglia, but the prefrontal cortex (and other areas of the frontal lobe) have been implicated in planning complex cognitive behavior, as well as decision making. These areas are further responsible for task switching, as well as cognitive inhibition of unnecessary impulses and short-term gratification.

IQ itself is not necessarily a matter of activity in the prefrontal cortical regions. You can have a high IQ and have decreased dopamenigernic activity in the mesolimbic reward pathway, thus making it more difficult to automate *desired* behaviors. You may also find yourself struggling with complex cognitive planning if you have decreased network connections in your prefrontal cortex. However, your intelligence quotient depends on a variety of other neuroanatomical factors besides chemical activity in these regions. The size and shape of the frontal lobes, the amount of blood in the frontal lobes, the total amount of gray matter in the brain, the overall thickness of the cortex, and the glucose metabolic rate all seem to affect IQ.

In terms of making oneself cognitively 'dull' by use of routine, I wouldn't necessarily go that far; however, it is worth mentioning a phenomenon called latent inhibition, which is a personality trait in humans (some more or less than others) in which routine or familiar events become hardly noticeable. Those with low latent inhibition may perceive stimuli as if it were brand new (like a child seeing the world for the first time). From the section on low latent inhibition (courtesy of Wikipedia):

> Most people are able to ignore the constant stream of incoming stimuli, but this capability is reduced in those with low latent inhibition. Low latent inhibition (that may resemble hyper-activity or ADHD in early decades of the individual life) seems to often not correlate with distracted behaviors. This distractedness can manifest itself as general inattentiveness, a tendency to switch subjects without warning in conversation, and other absentminded habits. This is not to say that all distractedness can be explained by low latent inhibition, nor does it necessarily follow that people with low LI will have a hard time paying attention. It does mean, however, that the higher quantity of incoming information requires a mind capable of handling it. Those of above average intelligence are thought to be capable of processing this stream effectively, enabling their creativity and increasing their awareness of their surroundings. Those with average and, less than average intelligence, on the other hand, are less able to cope and as a result are more likely to suffer from mental illness and sensory overload. It is hypothesized that a low level of latent inhibition can cause either psychosis or a high level of creative achievement or both, which is usually dependent on the individual's intelligence. When they cannot develop the creative ideas, they become frustrated and/or depressive.

So, in short, a natural propensity against personal routine may (or may not) be a sign of underlying creative potential, as low latent inhibition may make it naturally difficult to develop and stick with routines to the point of automaticity. However, like many things, this requires context and is not a blanket statement that can generalize people at large.

---
Tags: cognitive-psychology, automaticity
---


title: Self CBT techniques and strategy

text:
# Question
Title: Self CBT techniques and strategy
Can people CBT themselves, if so are there any simple techniques and strategies that could be used.

# Answer
As the above poster mentioned, CBT is a recognition of unhelpful or destructive patterns of thinking. And thus, though it may be aided by a professional, it is largely 'performed' by means of the self.

That being said, the utilization of CBT techniques without guidance from a trained professional may or may not be beneficial, depending on the person. Without professional guidance, it is difficult to know where to look for information, and to know what sort of information is reliable. Furthermore, it can be difficult to stick to a behavioral routine, or to learn for oneself what to believe and what not to believe. In fact, evidence has occasionally shown that professionally-guided self-help is the only significant means of self-help, in terms of beneficial effect. \[1\]

On the other hand, other studies have shown that self-help CBT is more effective than TAU (treatment as usual) in the long run. \[2\] Though I think it is worth mentioning that participants in these trials were given clinically approved CBT manuals, as well as a regime to follow.

Therefore, it may be best to view CBT like one may view taking medication. If you are relying on anecdotal evidence or advice from non-professionals, you may be setting yourself up for failure in the long run (or even damaging yourself further). On the other hand, if you were to consult a trained professional for advice and then follow that advice, then you may have better luck. However, I am not sure if this constitutes as 'self-CBT' in the way that you are describing.

---

**Sources used**:

\[1\] Gellatly, Judith; Bower, Peter; Hennessy, SUE; Richards, David; Gilbody, Simon; Lovell, Karina (2007). "What makes self-help interventions effective in the management of depressive symptoms? Meta-analysis and meta-regression". Psychological Medicine 37 (9): 1217–28.

\[2\] Williams, Christopher; Wilson, Philip; Morrison, Jill; McMahon, Alex; Andrew, Walker; Allan, Lesley; McConnachie, Alex; McNeill, Yvonne et al. (2013). Andersson, Gerhard, ed. "Guided Self-Help Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depression in Primary Care: A Randomised Controlled Trial"
> 2 votes

---
Tags: cognitive-psychology
---


title: "top-down" and "bottom-up" processes

text:
# Question
Title: "top-down" and "bottom-up" processes
What kind of processes are "top-down" and "bottom-up" processes in the context of processing visual information in brain?

Context:

...There are discrete areas in the visual cortex dedicated to identifying specific aspects of vision – vertical or horizontal lines, colour or movement, for example. These elements are brought together to ensure that the total image arrives consistently in space and time. And even while our brains are swiftly adjusting to focus on the scene before us, images established in memory form feedback loops to confirm that we recognise what we have seen before, mediating prior knowledge into perception. As we acquire this personal knowledge then, **we impose ‘top-down’ concepts on to ‘bottom-up’ perceptions**. When we look at a cluttered scene in front of our eyes we may receive only partial information but our brains automatically fill in the gaps to make sense of things.

# Answer
**Top-down knowledge** is knowing what a target *is*. When detecting an object, the rate at which you can detect it (measured via reaction time, or 'RT') is partially dependent on how fast you can identify it based on its sensory features.

**Bottom-up knowledge** is integrating recognition of the *features*, or the *dimensions* of an object, such as its color, orientation, and visibility. Neighbouring locations containing items with similar features tend to inhibit each other, whereas neighbouring locations containing different features tend to activate each other, thus lending to the saliency of an object. Think of how salient a bright red stop sign is in the dark, and consider why that may be important to ensure the safety of nighttime drivers.

Once top-down and bottom-up systems have calculated their outputs, they are summed together in a spatially-guided 'activation map', thus lending itself to perception.

Both are important for object recognition and reaction time. For example, you must use top-down processing while driving to recognize that a streetlight is a streetlight. You then use bottom-up processing to recognize if the light is red, green, or yellow. Both are important mechanisms of perceptions to use, so that you can act appropriately and avoid an accident on the road.

If you are curious and want to read more, this paper examines both top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in visual search, and may prove useful to you.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: cognitive-psychology, neuroscience, neurology, brain-training, brain-development
---


# Question
Title: EEG Alpha waves during eyes open mindfulness training - any research on this subject
I recently conducted an experiment recording EEG during an eyes open mindfulness meditation. I saw a substantial amount of alpha bursts throughout the meditation both in the occipital and frontal regions of the brain. Is anyone aware of any research that demonstrates high alpha waves during eyes open relaxation, focus or mindfulness training?

# Answer
There are many studies suggesting an increased alpha activity during mindfulness/meditation (Delmonte, 1984). Below is a table from Cahn & Polich (2006) summarizing the recent studies of meditation using EEG methods, not all of them mentioned it's eyes open or not, but the effect of increased alpha power can be long lasting(Davidson & Lutz, 2008), thus higher alpha activity should be observed during eyes open as well. The article also points out that the increased alpha power is related to increased relaxation induced by mindfulness/meditation practice.

May not relevant to your question, but it might be interesting to look at theta power as well, since it's mentioned together with alpha in quite a few studies(Dunn et al., 1999;Lagopoulos et al., 2009; Ivanovski & Malhi, 2007) .

1. Delmonte, M. M. (1984). Electrocortical activity and related phenomena associated with meditation practice: A literature review. International Journal of Neuroscience, 24(3-4), 217-231.
2. Cahn BR, Polich J (2006) Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies. Psychological Bulletin 132: 180–211. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.180
3. Davidson RJ, Lutz A (2008) Buddha's Brain: Neuroplasticity and Meditation. IEEE Signal Process Mag 25: 176–174. doi: 10.1109/msp.2008.4431873
4. Dunn, B. R., Hartigan, J. A., & Mikulas, W. L. (1999). Concentration and mindfulness meditations: unique forms of consciousness?. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 24(3), 147-165.
5. Lagopoulos, J., Xu, J., Rasmussen, I., Vik, A., Malhi, G. S., Eliassen, C. F., ... & Ellingsen, Ø. (2009). Increased theta and alpha EEG activity during nondirective meditation. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 15(11), 1187-1192.
6. Ivanovski, B., & Malhi, G. S. (2007). The psychological and neurophysiological concomitants of mindfulness forms of meditation. Acta neuropsychiatrica, 19(2), 76-91.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: eeg, meditation
---


# Question
Title: Why do some people react verbally to intrusive thoughts and/or embarrassing memories?
It seems to me that there are two kinds of intrusive thoughts. The first consists of those thoughts that didn't actually occur in real life, but are nonetheless intrusive and embarrassing and disturbing to the individual (i.e. thoughts of harming someone else, or unwanted sexual thoughts directed towards individuals). The seconds consists of past memories of embarrassing moments, particularly from childhood.

I've noticed that many people will respond to these thoughts in some way. I've had many friends tell me that if I hear them 'talking gibberish' or 'making strange noises', it is because they are having a bad thought. I myself have noticed now that I will talk out loud when I remember an embarrassing thought -- but I won't speak *of* the thought, I will say random things, like "Okay, okay, okay" or "I love you". Usually, I will repeat a phrase over and over under my breath, until I catch myself doing it.

I've also noticed certain individuals will use verbal gestures to show that they are thinking of something negative. My father will scratch his head and blow out of his mouth for several minutes at a time when he is having intrusive thoughts, or 'conversations'.

Is there an explanation for this phenomena? Why is it that externalizing our thoughts seems to 'rid' our head of them?

# Answer
While the basis of the theory covers areas of psychology considered by some here to be pseudoscientific, it might be a way of distracting ourselves, to change the subject and deviate the focus from thoughts we don't like to anything our mind makes up.

> When anxiety becomes overwhelming, it is the ego's place to protect the person by employing defence mechanisms. Guilt, embarrassment and shame often accompany anxiety. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence\_mechanisms

It is also possible that some of us use this as a way to acknowledge their feelings of shame. we can see this when laughing (when its a honest laughter), as it effectively relax the atmosphere.

But in any case, we can't "get rid" of a thought. It is only discarded from the present moment and may be intrusive again at another inopportune moment; until we address the issue.
> 3 votes

---
Tags: social-psychology, abnormal-psychology, behavior
---


# Question
Title: Which animals are thought to possess some degree of a theory of mind?
Most dog owners would insist that their dogs have a strong theory of mind, and I have read abstracts that support this idea - for instance, a dog who knows better than to snatch a piece of forbidden food from a plate on the floor while his or her master is looking becomes more likely to do so when the lights are turned off, which suggests that the dog understands that the owner can't see what he or she is doing in a dark room. I've also noticed that a dog will react differently when he or she is intentionally hurt by a mischievous child than he or she does when someone accidentally steps on his or her tail or paw. These phenomena suggest that dogs might understand that our perception is different from theirs, and that there is a difference between intentional harm and accidental harm.

Many of us would probably assume that higher primates are almost as skilled as we are in the use of the theory of mind, and again, I have seen research that seems to back this up. A chimp is placed in a room with plexiglass walls. The room faces a hallway. A hole in the wall allows the chimp to grab fruit from a tray in the hallway. A researcher walks into the hallway, picks up the tray, and throws it down the hall. The chimp goes ballistic. However, when the same process is repeated, but this time, the researcher pretends to accidentally **trip** over the tray, the chimp is less agitated, and instead of throwing a tantrum, he or she merely gestures towards the tray and waits to see if it will be returned to its original position. This suggests that chimps know the difference between accidents and intentions, which is not particularly surprising, considering how complex (and dangerous) chimpanzee society is.

Add to this anecdotal reports of whales and dolphins apparently showing gratitude when humans assist them (removing nets in which they've become tangled, for instance), and many similar accounts.

Do we have any idea which nonhuman animals possess a theory of mind, at least to some degree?

# Answer
> 3 votes
Well, the areas most responsible for social cognition (or theory of mind) appear to be the right and left temporoparietal junctions, the right anterior superior temporal sulcus, the posterior cingulate, and the medial prefrontal cortex. \[1\]\[2\] Of those, the right TPJ is perhaps the most important; for example, the response in the rTPJ shows a peak just at the time when someone’s thoughts are described. \[3\]

Given the perceived importance of the temporal lobe to theory of mind, it is probably a safe bet that you wouldn't find many non-mammals that experience ToM the way a human does.

Furthermore, among the many hypothesized 'signs' of ToM possession is the ability to recognize oneself in the mirror. This ability implies a level of self-awareness and identity awareness in the individual, and it appears that primates (chimpanzees and orangutans) are the only non-human animals that have successfully recognized themselves in the mirror. \[4\] Monkeys are also the only other animals to have confirmed rudimentary mirror neurons, which are hypothesized to play an important role in empathy and social cognition. However, there are pieces of evidence that suggest that mirror neuron networks *may possibly* exist in elephants, dogs, dolphins, and whales.

That being said, the evidence isn't wholly clear on this one, and is further augmented by the fact that we don't necessarily have a working cognitive model for ToM (outside of our verbal conceptual models, which are not exactly scientifically rigorous). Some researchers even believe that ToM is a uniquely human experience. However, until we can lock down what exactly it is we are looking for, this remains a tricky question to make any sort of scientifically rigorous assertion.

---

**Sources used**:

\[1\] Dodell-Feder, D., Koster-Hale, J., Bedny, M., Saxe, R. (2010). fMRI item analysis in a theory of mind task. NeuroImage.

\[2\] Deen, B., Koldewyn, K., Kanwisher, N., Saxe, R., (2015) Functional Organization of Social Perception and Cognition in the Superior Temporal Sulcus. Cerebral Cortex

\[3\] Young, L., Cushman, R., Hauser, M., & Saxe, R. (2007). The neural basis of the interaction between theory of mind and moral judgment. PNAS, 104(20), 8235-8240

\[4\] G.G. Gallup (1982). Self-awareness and the emergence of mind in primates. Am. J. Primatol., pp. 237–248

---
Tags: animal-cognition, theory-of-mind
---


title: Neurophysiological mappings of empathy

text:
# Question
Title: Neurophysiological mappings of empathy
What biologically plausible models are there of empathy?

I know there has been a significant amount of work in defining emotion on a neurophysiological basis using models (I'm currently reading "Emotions as semantic pointers: Constructive neural mechanisms" by Thaghard et al. about using the Semantic Pointer Architecture as a basis for emotions). However, I'm having a hard time finding models that define emotions on a neurophysiological basis in relation to other social agents. Do they exist?

When I'm discussing empathy, I'm referring to the phenomena's of affective empathy, cognitive empathy and emotional contagion.

# Answer
> 6 votes
In this answer, I'm going to use "self" to describe the person who is empathizing and "other" as the person who is the target of that empathy (the person who's trying to be related to).

The most advance model of empathy (in terms of affective empathy and emotional contagion) that I know of is featured in "A Recipe for Empathy" by Lim et al. which is based on the idea that mirror neurons provide the body of the "other", the insula which associates the action to the emotional state and the somato-sensory cortex which represents that emotional state in the robot's own state.

She demonstrates the effectiveness of this model by first having a robot learn associations between it's own state and emotions (via motherese-like training), and then seeing if when the robot was exposed to other data, if it had the appropriate response, in terms of classification and internal-mapping. Results showed an adult-like empathy level.

In the paper, Angelica notes that one of the limitations of her model is that it does not address cognitive empathy as Hideki Kozima's model does. I will update this answer with how Hideki does this once I finish reading his paper.

Although both of these models use purely statistical models (Angelica uses Gaussian Mixture Models and Hideki uses) with only vague references to the functionality of various neural areas, they are somewhat biologically plausible, since the computations they are doing are not unfeasible for something like the Neural Engineering Fraemwork to perform.

For further information, I would recommend reading the Handbook of Research on Synthesizing Human Emotion in Intelligent Systems and the Journal on Synthetic Emotion, both which seems to contain further resources for this path of investigation.

---
Tags: emotion, reference-request, theoretical-neuroscience, empathy
---


# Question
Title: Studies on the appreciation of works of art
I am interested to know if the concept of a decreasing appreciation of a work of art through increased exposure to it exists, specifically:

* Does this idea exist and is there a term for it ?
* Have any studies been performed around similar ideas ?

For example, if one hears a Beethoven symphony for the `1st` time, the listeners reaction may be much more positive as opposed the `100th` time.

Many thanks in advance

# Answer
> 5 votes
There was a target article published in *Brain and Behavioral Sciences* on a theory of art appreciation (Bullott & Reber, 2013) that I read for some reason…but it looks like it will finally be relevant!

According to this theory, one of the ways that you might come to appreciate art is through **basic exposure**, which involves perceptual exploration of the artwork independent of your knowledge about its art-historical context. Exposure alone is not responsible for art appreciation; rather, it triggers a set of cognitive processes, whose nature determines your experience of aesthetic pleasure or displeasure. This includes the ease with which you can process the artwork (i.e., processing fluency; Reber, Schwarz, & Winkielman, 2004) and the artwork's (un)predictability (Hogan, 2013).

With more exposure to the artwork, processing fluency increases, and so does your appreciation of it. However, over time, you also become more **habituated** to the artwork, view it as less salient, and appreciate it less. This is akin to liking a song at first, then hating it after it's blasted on the radio 1,000 times. Indeed, repeated auditory exposure is associated with reduced emotional reactivity and reduced activation in a network involving the amygdala and certain cortical areas, thought to represent affective habituation (Mutschler et al., 2010).

Hogan (2013) thus suggests that the longevity of your appreciation for artwork depends on a mixture of predictability (fluency) and unpredictability. There are other variables like art-historical knowledge that influence liking over time, as well (Bullott & Reber, 2013).

---
Tags: cognitive-psychology
---


# Question
Title: How is gender variance classified in the cognitive sciences?
I'm trying to do a quick, informal literature survey of current language pertaining to gender variant/trans\* people. Do any important texts still use Gender Identity Disorder, or other language that indicates some kind of impairment or "red flag"?

I'm not currently familiar enough with the literature to know what other places I should be looking--I've seen references to Kaplan and Sadock here and there, and an American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry, but haven't seen the texts. I also have absolutely no idea if there's corresponding Psychology literature.

# Answer
So far, I've found that the American Psychiatric Association's DSM 5 has made it abundantly clear they no longer consider gender variance itself a disorder, to the point of a 2012 position statement on access to care, a 2012 "Position Statement on Discrimination Against Transgender and Gender Variant Individuals", and updated language in the DSM.

It also looks like ICD-11's beta now uses "Gender Incongruence", versus the various "gender identity disorders" under the F64 code in ICD-10. Link when I have the reputation to post it.
> 4 votes

---
Tags: terminology, gender
---