The use of the differential outcomes procedure for the recognition of facial expressions of complex emotions and its electrophysiological correlates.

The differential outcomes procedure (DOP) is an easily applicable method for enhancing discriminative learning and recognition memory. Its effectiveness in improving the recognition of facial expressions of emotion has been recently explored, with mixed success. This study aims to explore whether the expectancies generated via the DOP are reflected as differences in event-related potentials (ERPs) between participants in differential (DOP) or non-differential conditions (NOP) in a facial expression of complex emotion label task.

The Broad Autism Phenotype-International Test (BAP-IT): A two-domain-based test for the assessment of the broad autism phenotype.

The broad autism phenotype refers to a group of behaviors related to autism spectrum disorder, but that appear to a lesser extent. Its assessment has been performed through outdated broad autism phenotype/autism spectrum disorder definitions and tests. To address this problem, this study presents the development of a new test, the Broad Autism Phenotype-International Test, a 20-item measure consisting of two dimensions, SOCIAL-BAP and RIRE-BAP, targeting the two-domain operationalization of autism spectrum disorder in Spain and the United Kingdom.

The role of the differential outcomes procedure and schizotypy in the recognition of dynamic facial expressions of emotions.

Emotional facial expression recognition is a key ability for adequate social functioning. The current study aims to test if the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) may improve the recognition of dynamic facial expressions of emotions and to further explore whether schizotypal personality traits may have any effect on performance. 183 undergraduate students completed a task where a face morphed from a neutral expression to one of the six basic emotions at full intensity over 10 s.

Mental rotation and schizotypal personality traits: A Bayesian approach.

People diagnosed with schizophrenia exhibit mental rotation differences, suggesting that clinical levels of positive symptoms, such as psychotic hallucinations, are related to disruptions in their monitoring and manipulation of mental representations. According to the psychosis continuum, findings in people with a high level of schizotypal personality traits are expected to be qualitatively similar, but research concerning this topic is scarce. A spared mental imagery manipulation in this population only could suggest that this ability might be a possible protective factor, or that the emergence of clinical-level positive symptoms could be paired with disruptions in this capacity.

Schizotypal personality traits and the social learning of fear.

Schizotypy can be defined as a combination of traits qualitatively similar to those found in schizophrenia, but milder in their expression, that can be found in clinical and non-clinical populations. In this research, we explore, to our knowledge, for the first time, whether schizotypal personality traits may affect the acquisition of conditioned fear by social means only. Apart from being an essential capacity to ensure learning in safe environments, social fear learning shares important characteristics with direct fear acquisition, which also makes it a great candidate for developing successful extinction procedures.

Implicit outcomes expectancies shape memory process: Electrophysiological evidence.

The simple manipulation of pairing specific outcomes with the sample stimuli strongly affects discriminative learning and memory processes. This procedure has been named the Differential Outcomes Procedure (DOP) and is usually compared to a control condition (the non-differential procedure, NOP) consisting in the random administration of the outcomes after each correct response. Recent research has revealed that the DOP effect arises even under unconscious conditions.

Electrophysiological correlates of the differential outcomes effect in visual short-term memory.

The differential outcomes procedure (DOP) consists in applying a specific outcome after each discriminative stimulus-correct response pairing, leading to improved performance in both memory and learning tasks (faster acquisition and/or higher response accuracy), compared to the non-differential outcomes procedure (NOP). The main aim of this study was to explore the electrophysiological correlates (ERPs) of the DOP in a visual short-term memory task, and to test whether a differential activation pattern would be observed depending on the outcomes condition (DOP vs. NOP).

Discriminative learning and associative memory under the differential outcomes procedure is modulated by cognitive load.

Working memory (WM) has been thought to be the cause of associative memory deficits in older adults. Previous research has demonstrated the benefits of a discriminative learning procedure, the differential outcomes procedure (DOP), to ameliorate such associative-memory maintenance deficits in situations that simulate adherence to medical prescriptions in both healthy and pathological ageing. Specifically, the DOP involves rewarding each correct response to each stimulus-stimulus association with a distinct and unique outcome (reinforcer).

Enhanced learning and retention of medical information in Alzheimer's disease after differential outcomes training.

Background: Adherence to treatment is a crucial factor for patients who have chronic illnesses or multiple morbidities and polypharmacy, which is frequently found in older adults. The non-adherence to medications has important economic and social consequences as well as impacts on the health of the patients. One of the reasons that can explain the low adherence to treatment, is the memory deficits that are characteristics of this population and that are even more evident in cases that involve neurodegenerative diseases.

Does the implicit outcomes expectancies shape learning and memory processes?

Does the explicit or implicit knowledge about the consequences of our choices shape learning and memory processes? This seems to be the case according to previous studies demonstrating improvements in learning and retention of symbolic relations and in visuospatial recognition memory when each correct choice is reinforced with its own unique and explicit outcome (the differential outcomes procedure, DOP). In the present study, we aim to extend these findings by exploring the impact of the DOP under conditions of non-conscious processing. To test for this, both the outcomes (Experiment 1A) and the sample stimuli (Experiment 1B) were presented under subliminal (non-conscious) and supraliminal conditions in a delayed visual recognition memory task.

Differential Outcomes Training Ameliorates Visual Memory Impairments in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease: A Pilot Study.

It is well known that Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is associated with deficits in cognitive processes including visual memory impairments. One technique that might be used to ameliorate these impairments is the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) that involves associating each to-be-remembered stimulus with a specific outcome. Previous research has demonstrated that the DOP can be used to reduce or eliminate the learning and memory deficits associated with animal models of amnesia and dementia.

Enhancement of Visuospatial Working Memory by the Differential Outcomes Procedure in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease.

In the present study we investigated the efficacy of the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) to improve visuospatial working memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The DOP associates correct responses to the to-be-remember stimulus with unique outcomes. Eleven patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, 11 participants with MCI, and 17 healthy matched controls performed a spatial delayed memory task under the DOP and a control condition (non-differential outcomes -NOP-).

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial to Explore Cognitive and Emotional Effects of Probiotics in Fibromyalgia.

It has recently been found that microbes in the gut may regulate brain processes through the gut microbiota-brain axis, which modulates affection, motivation and higher cognitive functions. According to this finding, the use of probiotics may be a potential treatment to improve physical, psychological and cognitive status in clinical populations with altered microbiota balance such as those with fibromyalgia (FMS). Thus, the aim of the present pilot study with a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised design was to test whether a multispecies probiotic may improve cognition, emotional symptoms and functional state in a sample of patients diagnosed with FMS.

Learning and Recall of Medical Treatment-Related Information in Older Adults Using the Differential Outcomes Procedure.

It has recently been reported that the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) might be one of the therapeutical techniques focused at promoting autonomy in the elderly to deal with their medical issues. Molina et al. (2015) found that a group of healthy young adults improved their learning and long-term retention of six disorder/pill associations when each relationship to be learned was associated with a particular reinforcer (the differential outcomes condition) compared to when they were randomly administered (the non-differential outcomes condition).

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Future Improvements.

The Broad autism phenotype (BAP) refers to a set of subclinical behavioural characteristics qualitatively similar to those presented in Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The BAP questionnaire (BAPQ) has been widely used to assess the BAP both in relatives of ASD people and within the general population. The current study presents the first Spanish version of the BAPQ (BAPQ-SP) and analyses its psychometric properties, including validity evidences based on the BAPQ scores relationship with other variables.

Probiotics for fibromyalgia: study design for a pilot double-blind, randomized controlled trial.

Background: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic, generalized and diffuse pain disorder accompanied by other symptoms such as emotional and cognitive deficits. The FMS patients show a high prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms. Recently it has been found that microbes in the gut may regulate brain processes through the gut-microbiota-brain axis, modulating thus affection, motivation and higher cognitive functions.

The Differential Outcomes Procedure Enhances Adherence to Treatment: A Simulated Study with Healthy Adults.

Memory for medical recommendations is a prerequisite for good adherence to treatment, and therefore to ameliorate the negative effects of the disease, a problem that mainly affects people with memory deficits. We conducted a simulated study to test the utility of a procedure (the differential outcomes procedure, DOP) that may improve adherence to treatment by increasing the patient's learning and retention of medical recommendations regarding medication. The DOP requires the structure of a conditional discriminative learning task in which correct choice responses to specific stimulus-stimulus associations are reinforced with a particular reinforcer or outcome.

Spatial working memory is enhanced in children by differential outcomes.

Working memory (WM) is essential to academic achievement. Any enhancement of WM abilities may improve children's school performance. We tested the usefulness of the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) to enhance typically developing children's performance on a spatial WM task.

The differential outcomes procedure can overcome self-bias in perceptual matching.

There are biases in perceptual matching between shapes and labels referring to familiar others, compared with when the labels refer to unfamiliar people. We assessed whether these biases could be affected by differential feedback (using the differential outcomes procedure [DOP]) compared with when feedback is provided using a nondifferential outcomes procedure (NOP). Participants formed associations between simple geometric shapes and labels referring to people the participant did or did not know (self, best friend, other).

Visual recognition memory enhancement in children through differential outcomes.

Objective: The use of differential outcomes has been shown to enhance discriminative learning and face recognition in children and adults. In this study, we further investigated whether the differential outcome procedure (DOP) would also be effective in improving recognition memory for a wide range of stimuli with varying visual complexity (familiar objects, abstract stimuli, and complex scenes) in 5- and 7-year-old children.

Method: Participants viewed a sample stimulus and, after a short (5s) or a long (15s) delay, they had to identify the previously seen stimulus among four choice alternatives.

Differential outcomes training improves face recognition memory in children and in adults with Down syndrome.

Previous studies have demonstrated that the differential outcomes procedure (DOP), which involves paring a unique reward with a specific stimulus, enhances discriminative learning and memory performance in several populations. The present study aimed to further investigate whether this procedure would improve face recognition memory in 5- and 7-year-old children (Experiment 1) and adults with Down syndrome (Experiment 2). In a delayed matching-to-sample task, participants had to select the previously shown face (sample stimulus) among six alternatives faces (comparison stimuli) in four different delays (1, 5, 10, or 15s).

The effects of differential outcomes and different types of consequential stimuli on 7-year-old children's discriminative learning and memory.

Researchers have demonstrated that discriminative learning is facilitated when a particular outcome is associated with each relation to be learned. Our primary purpose in the two experiments reported here was to assess whether the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) would enhance 7-year-old children's learning of symbolic discriminations using three different forms of consequences in which (1) reinforcers are given when correct choices are made ("+"), (2) reinforcers are withdrawn when errors are made ("-"), or (3) children receive a reinforcer following a correct choice and lose one following an incorrect choice ("+/-"), as well as different types of reinforcers (secondary and primary reinforcers, Experiment 1; primary reinforcers alone, Experiment 2). Participants learned the task faster and showed significantly better performance whenever differential outcomes were arranged independently of (1) the way of providing consequences (+, -, or +/-) and (2) the type of reinforcers being used.

Use of cannabis enhances attentional inhibition.

Objective: Orienting attention to an irrelevant location hampers the response to subsequent targets presented at that location in relation to novel, not previously attended, locations. This inhibitory effect has been named inhibition of return. We conducted an experiment to study the temporal course of inhibition of return in users of cannabis.

Improving delayed face recognition in Alzheimer's disease by differential outcomes.

Objective: Previous studies have demonstrated the benefit of the differential outcomes procedure (DOP) in human learning. In the present study we aimed to explore whether the DOP might also help to overcome the face recognition memory deficit commonly observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.

Method: A delayed matching-to-sample task was used.