Slower Disengagement Research Articles

Distinct patterns of emotional processing in ADHD and anxiety. Evidence from an eye-movement Go/No-Go task

ABSTRACT Young people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) demonstrate cognitive control difficulties, particularly when emotional processing is involved. In contrast, individuals with anxiety show disruptions primarily in threat-related contexts. ADHD and anxiety frequently co-occur and the impact of emotional stimuli on cognitive processes in these groups remains unclear. This study used an eye-tracking Go/No-Go task with emotional (happy, angry) and neutral stimuli to explore attentional processing in children/adolescents with ADHD, anxiety and typically developing (TD) controls. The results showed that children with ADHD had slower disengagement from angry compared to happy faces, while those with anxiety exhibited no such differences. Inhibitory control challenges were evident in the ADHD group for both emotional faces, whereas the anxiety group demonstrated improved control with angry faces. Exploratory analyses suggested that children with comorbid ADHD and anxiety might have distinct cognitive-affective profile, characterized by heightened difficulties in processing emotional stimuli.

A-193 Median- and Robust Statistics-based Attention Indices Outperform Mean-based Counterparts in Predicting Anxiety

Abstract Objectives: Eye-tracking paradigms may measure attentional process with greater precision than parallel reaction-time-based methods by reducing construct-irrelevant systematic error (e.g., motor activity). However, the benefits of increased sensitivity offered through eye-tracking are offset by their potential susceptibility for eye-movement outliers due to instrumentation and related effects. Arithmetic means are commonly used to index attention in multi-trial tasks but are known to be biased in the presence of outliers. Median-based indices and robust mean estimators reduce outliers’ influence but are not commonly used in the literature. This study compares the value of mean-, median-, and robust-mean based eye-tracking attention shifting indices in predicting social and generalized anxiety symptoms among community-dwelling adults with various psychiatric histories. Methods: Participants (N=148) completed self-report measures (SIAS & PSWQ) and a visual attention shifting task via E-prime 3.0 and Tobii x3-120 eye-tracking system. Participants viewed 72 same-actor face pairs (sad-neutral & happy-neutral), and motivated attention shifting speed away from sad- or happy-valenced faces towards neutral faces served as predictors of interest. Arithmetic means, medians, and Tukey’s bisquare function-based robust means summarized attention shifting trials. Results. Arithmetic-mean-based indices did not predict anxiety, while median-based and robust-mean indices did: slow disengagement from sad faces predicted elevated social anxiety (b[Mdn]=.02, p=.02; b[robust-M] = .021, p =.004), and robust-mean-based indices reached trend-levels when predicting worry (ps=.055-.076), while arithmetic-mean- and median-based indices did not (ps=.43-98). Conclusion: Findings support the utility of quantifying attention processes via robust statistical approaches that attenuate outlier influence.

Individual differences in selective attentional bias for healthy and unhealthy food-related stimuli and social identity as a vegan/vegetarian dissociate “healthy” and “unhealthy” orthorexia nervosa

Previous work identified the operation of an attentional bias (AB) towards healthy food related stimuli among those with increasing tendencies towards orthorexia nervosa (ON) using a modified Stroop task. The current work aimed to replicate and extend our understanding of this effect by incorporating alternative measures of AB (i.e., the dot probe task) and ON (i.e., the Teruel Orthorexia Scale [ToS]) in a sample of self-defined vegans/vegetarians. The theoretical assertion of the ToS is the conceptual broadening of orthorexia with differentiable dimensions - one characterised as a “healthy” preoccupation with healthy food/eating patterns (HeOr) and the other by a more underlying pathology (OrNe). This study also aimed to examine the pattern of responding across these two dimensions according to factors known to predict ON. Eighty-six participants (mean age = 33.0 years; 20 males, 66 females) completed measures of obsessive compulsivity, perfectionism, state/trait anxiety and ToS as well as a dot probe designed to measure AB for healthy and unhealthy-related food stimuli, threat ratings of each of words utilized and perceived identity centrality as a vegan/vegetarianism. Results showed a dissociation of predicted determinants for “healthy” ON (HeOr) and pathological ON (OrNe). HeOr was predicted by increasing identity centrality whereas OrNe was predicted by increased OCD and perfectionism, and increased interference for healthy-related food words (in particular slowed disengagement) and not unhealthy related food words. Threat-related ratings of unhealthy food words was shown to be common across both dimensions. This pattern highlights cognitive and individual differences-based correlates of pathological and non-pathological ON.

The COVID-19 anxiety syndrome and selective attentional bias towards COVID-19-related stimuli in UK residents during the 2020-2021 pandemic.

The psychological and social effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic are pervasive, and there is potential for a long‐lasting impact on mental health. In the current study, we sought to provide, in a representative sample of UK residents during the third COVID‐19 lockdown in February 2021, further evidence for the validation of the COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome construct. We did this by evaluating the COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome against measures of personality, health anxiety and COVID‐19 anxiety in predicting levels of generalized anxiety and depression and by examining whether increased health anxiety and COVID‐19 psychological distress (COVID‐19 anxiety and COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome) scores were associated with increased attentional bias to COVID‐19‐related stimuli. A series of correlation analyses revealed that neuroticism, health anxiety, COVID‐19 anxiety and COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome scores were positively and significantly correlated with generalized anxiety and depression scores and that the perseveration component of the COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome predicted generalized anxiety and depression scores independently of age, gender, conscientiousness, openness, health anxiety and COVID‐19 anxiety. Furthermore, results indicated that only the total COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome score and the scores on the avoidance and perseveration components were positively and significantly correlated with attentional bias indices. More specifically, the general attentional bias index was only shown to be positively and significantly correlated with the total COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome score and its perseveration component, while slowed disengagement was only shown to be negatively and significantly correlated with the total COVID‐19 anxiety syndrome score and its avoidance component. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Phosphorus Feast and Famine in Cyanobacteria: Is Luxury Uptake of the Nutrient Just a Consequence of Acclimation to Its Shortage?

To cope with fluctuating phosphorus (P) availability, cyanobacteria developed diverse acclimations, including luxury P uptake (LPU)—taking up P in excess of the current metabolic demand. LPU is underexplored, despite its importance for nutrient-driven rearrangements in aquatic ecosystems. We studied the LPU after the refeeding of P-deprived cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. PCC 7118 with inorganic phosphate (Pi), including the kinetics of Pi uptake, turnover of polyphosphate, cell ultrastructure, and gene expression. The P-deprived cells deployed acclimations to P shortage (reduction of photosynthetic apparatus and mobilization of cell P reserves). The P-starved cells capable of LPU exhibited a biphasic kinetic of the Pi uptake and polyphosphate formation. The first (fast) phase (1–2 h after Pi refeeding) occurred independently of light and temperature. It was accompanied by a transient accumulation of polyphosphate, still upregulated genes encoding high-affinity Pi transporters, and an ATP-dependent polyphosphate kinase. During the second (slow) phase, recovery from P starvation was accompanied by the downregulation of these genes. Our study revealed no specific acclimation to ample P conditions in Nostoc sp. PCC 7118. We conclude that the observed LPU phenomenon does not likely result from the activation of a mechanism specific for ample P conditions. On the contrary, it stems from slow disengagement of the low-P responses after the abrupt transition from low-P to ample P conditions.

Neural mechanisms underlying heterogeneous expression of threat-related attention in social anxiety

Theoretical frameworks propose that threat-related attention, which is typically assessed using the dot-probe paradigm, plays a key role in social anxiety. Within the dot-probe paradigm, novel computational approaches demonstrate that anxious individuals exhibit multiple patterns of threat-related attention on separate trials. However, no research has leveraged such novel computational methods to delineate the neural substrates of threat-related attention patterns in social anxiety. To address this issue, fifty-three socially anxious adults (22.38 ± 3.12, 33 females) completed an fMRI-based dot-probe paradigm. A novel, response-based computation approach revealed conjoint patterns of vigilant orientation, avoidant orientation, slow disengagement, and fast disengagement, which were masked by standard computation measures. Compared to vigilant orientation and fast disengagement, avoidant orientation and slow disengagement were greater in magnitude, respectively. Mirroring behavioral findings, avoidant orientation and slow disengagement elicited greater deactivation of several regions within the Default Mode Network and stronger connectivity between the right amygdala and superior temporal sulcus. Taken together, these results suggest that distinct neural processes facilitate the heterogeneous expression of threat-related attention in social anxiety.

Attentional Disengagement Deficits Predict Brooding, but Not Reflection, Over a One-Year Period.

A growing literature suggests that rumination is linked to attentional disengagement deficits in depression. This is particularly the case with brooding, a maladaptive form of rumination. However, research on the potential constructive association between attentional disengagement and self-reflection, a putative adaptive form of rumination, is sparse. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine whether visual attentional disengagement deficits differentially predict dispositional brooding and self-reflection tendencies. Depressed participants (n = 17), those in remission from depression (n = 42), and their peers with no depression histories (n = 70) completed clinical interviews, the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), and an eye-tracking task that measured attentional disengagement from pleasant (happy) and unpleasant (sad) facial images during a laboratory visit, and the RRS at 4 month intervals over a 1-year period. Results revealed that slow disengagement from sad faces, and rapid disengagement from happy faces, was specifically associated with brooding tendencies concurrently and across follow-up. Attentional disengagement was unrelated to self-reflection. The disengagement-brooding associations remained after controlling for depression status and anxiety disorder histories, suggesting that attentional control deficits may be a state-independent marker of brooding. Theoretical and clinical implications for these associations are discussed.

Can't look Away: Attention control deficits predict Rumination, depression symptoms and depressive affect in daily Life

BackgroundRumination and a reduced capacity to disengage attention as appropriate to context (attention control deficits) have each been implicated in the etiology and maintenance of depressive disorders. However, it remains unclear whether rumination is a mechanism by which attention control deficits predict depression, and whether these relations are observed outside of laboratory settings. We tested whether rumination mediates the effects of attention control deficits marked by slow disengagement from negative-valenced stimuli (sad faces) and fast disengagement from positive-valenced stimuli (happy faces) on depression symptoms and depressive affects in the daily lives of adults with various depression histories. MethodForty-six participants (n = 23 with histories of Major Depressive Disorder) completed a clinical evaluation, an eye-tracking task that indexed attention control, and a 7-day Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) follow-up during which Negative (NA) and Positive Affect (PA) were measured at times of peak distress that occurred in the hour preceding each EMA prompt. ResultsDelayed disengagement from sad faces predicted elevated depression and NA levels, and low PA levels, independent of depression histories. Rumination mediated the effects of delayed disengagement from sad, and rapid disengagement from happy, faces on depression and NA levels. Effects of disengagement on rumination were maintained independent of depression levels. LimitationsOur sample size limited the detection of small statistical effects, and we could not clarify temporal relationships between attention control deficits and rumination. ConclusionOur findings suggest that attention inflexibility and rumination persist independent of depressive states and should be targets of clinical intervention.

Indo-Chinese Cooperation for Gulf Security

:Gulf-Asia ties are no longer restricted to just economic, political and cultural ties. There is noticeable intent of collaboration in the security realm as well. The slow but certain American disengagement from the Middle East has not only affected Gulf security, but could also impact the “free rider” status of China and India in future. As the economies of the Asian giants grow and their naval presence expands to protect the supply routes in the Indian Ocean, they could either themselves play or be called upon to play a security role in the region. This serves as an opportunity to explore a new collective security architecture, involving Middle Eastern, Asian and Western powers. While China and India have not laid bare their cards, they have not ruled out a prospective security role, either independently or collectively. Simultaneously, while Sino-Indo competition is inevitable, there is nothing stopping them from cooperating and avoiding confrontation. Their cooperative relationship has significant implications not only for the future of the two countries, but also for the Gulf. The proposed paper explores the dynamics of these developments and future possibilities.

Reappraisal Modulates Attentional Bias to Angry Faces.

Heightened attentional bias to emotional information is one of the main characteristics of disorders related to emotion dysregulation such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. Although reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy, is known to effectively modulate subjective experience of emotions, it remains unknown whether reappraisal can alter attentional biases to emotional information. In the current research, we investigated the influence of instruction-induced state reappraisal (Study 1) and trait reappraisal (Study 2) on attentional biases to happy and angry faces. In Study 1, healthy young women were recruited and randomly assigned to one of the three groups: up-, down-, and no-regulation. Participants were instructed to reappraise their emotions to increase and decrease emotional experience while viewing an emotionally negative film clip. Attentional bias was assessed with a dot-probe task with pictures of angry and happy facial expressions. In Study 2, a separate group of healthy young men and women participated. Participants’ trait reappraisal and suppression as well as state and trait anxiety were assessed. A dot-probe task was completed by all participants. Statistical tests in Study 1 revealed that participants who reappraised to decrease negative emotions while viewing an emotionally negative film clip had reduced attentional bias to subsequently presented angry faces compared to participants who reappraised to increase negative emotions. Multiple regression analyses in Study 2 revealed that trait reappraisal predicted slower orienting toward angry faces, whereas state anxiety predicted slower disengagement from angry faces. Interestingly, trait suppression predicted slower disengagement from happy faces. Taken together, these results suggest that both instruction-induced state reappraisal and trait reappraisal are linked to reduced attentional bias to negative information and contribute to better understanding of how everyday emotion regulation styles contribute to attentional processing of emotional information.

Can't Look Away: An Eye-Tracking Based Attentional Disengagement Training for Depression.

To address shortcomings of purely reaction-time based attentional bias modification (ABM) paradigms, we developed an ABM task that is controlled by eye-tracking. This task allows to assess and train both disengagement from negative pictures and maintained attention to positive pictures. As a proof-of-principle study with an unselected student sample, this positive training (PT; N = 44) was compared to a negative training (NT; N = 42), which reinforced the opposite attentional pattern. Importantly, training trials were completed only if participants performed the correct gaze patterns. Results showed that higher depression levels were associated with slower disengagement from negative stimuli at baseline. As expected, the PT induced longer fixations on positive pictures and faster disengagement from negative pictures. The NT showed no changes in attentional processes. The groups did not differ in mood reactivity and recovery from a stressor. Advantages of using eye-tracking in ABM and potential applications of the training are discussed.

Attentional control moderates the relationship between social anxiety symptoms and attentional disengagement from threatening information

Background and objectivesSocial anxiety is characterized by biased attentional processing of social information. However, heterogeneity of extant findings suggests that it may be informative to elucidate individual difference factors that modulate the processing of emotional information. The current study examined whether individual differences in components of attentional control (AC – shifting and focusing) moderated the link between social anxiety and attentional engagement and disengagement biases for threat-relevant cues. MethodsSeventy–five undergraduate students completed well-established measures of social anxiety symptoms, AC, and attentional bias for social threat information (modified probe detection task). ResultsModeration analyses revealed that at low levels of AC-shifting, increased social anxiety was associated with slower disengagement from threat-relevant compared to neutral social cues. In contrast, at high levels of AC-shifting, social anxiety was associated with faster disengagement from threat-relevant compared to neutral stimuli. Individual differences in AC-focusing did not moderate the social anxiety-attentional bias link. LimitationsCausal inferences cannot be made given the cross-sectional study design. The sample comprised individuals displaying a range of self-reported social anxiety symptoms; thus, generalizability to clinical samples remains to be established. The measurement of AC relied on subjective participant report. ConclusionsThe current findings underscore the importance of AC processes in understanding the nature of attentional bias mechanisms in anxiety.

See it, grab it, or STOP! Relationships between trait impulsivity, attentional bias for pictorial food cues and associated response inhibition following in-vivo food cue exposure

Impulsivity is associated with appetitive behaviour such as heightened sensitivity to cues of reward. Impulsivity may thus confer a vulnerability to weight gain by virtue of over-responsiveness to rewarding appetitive cues. This vulnerability should be detectable as heightened cognitive and behavioural responsiveness to food cues, namely, an attentional bias to food-stimuli, subjective wanting, and loss of inhibitory control. We examined this proposition by measuring reactions to acute, in-vivo, food-cue exposure in low-impulsive and high-impulsive individuals. We expected that high-impulsive individuals would: (1) show a greater attentional bias towards pictorial food cues presented after in-vivo food cue exposure; (2) show a greater appetitive reaction to high-calorie snack foods; and (3) show poorer inhibitory control after in vivo exposure compared to control. Fifty female participants (25 yr ± 1.1; 24 kg/m2 ± 0.6) randomly allocated to either a high-calorie food-cue exposure or food-neutral control condition subsequently completed a food-cue visual probe reaction time task, subjective ratings of appetitive state and the Stop-Signal task. A significant Group-by-Duration interaction indicated that high-impulsives show slowed disengagement (longer RTs for 2000 ms duration) of pictorial food stimuli compared to their low-impulsive counterparts. Conversely, the low impulsive group show greater attentional bias than the high impulsive group (faster RTs) at the 500 ms duration, indicating speeded detection of pictorial food cues. High-impulsives showed poorer response inhibition compared to low-impulsives following in-vivo food-cue exposure. Impulsivity did not significantly moderate the effect of in-vivo cue-exposure on desire-to-eat ratings. The evidence we obtained regarding inhibitory control following in vivo food cue exposure suggests that high-impulsive individuals may be prone to overeat when their reward systems are activated, a hypothesis that requires further confirmation.

2350 – Pain engagement and disengagement, self-reported health and illness behaviour in irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is characterised by persistent symptoms in the absence of structural abnormality. To discover if people with IBS exhibit atypical patterns of attention to symbolic pain stimuli. To investigate whether IBS is linked to enhanced engagement with pain words and slower disengagement. Exogenous cueing was carried out with 20 IBS and 33 healthy participants. Participants responded to a dot following on the same or other side of the screen, allowing measurement of engagement and disengagement. ANCOVAs were carried out. The IBS group engaged more with Pain and Social Threat words, and had greater difficulty in disengaging from Pain but not from Social Threat (see Figures 1 and 2). Difficulty in disengaging from Pain was linked to greater symptom severity. Mean pain threat indices for engagement and disengagement for IBS and control groups Mean social threat indices for engagement and disengagement for IBS and control groups The IBS group engaged more with pain and found it more difficult to disengage, suggesting a vicious circle maintenance model of IBS.

Does negative mood interact with eating style to predict attention bias towards and slowed disengagement from food stimuli?

This study aimed to investigate whether trait eating behaviour interacts with negative mood to predict attention bias towards, and slowed disengagement from food. It was explored whether such biased attention predicts greater wanting of and actual consumption of high-fat snacks. Females completed the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, and completed either a negative or neutral mood induction (listening to a piece of sad/neutral music whilst recalling an unhappy/neutral memory). Participants completed dot probe tasks with food/neutral picture pairs and a modified Stroop task with words presented in sequences of a food word followed by six neutral words (slowed colour-naming of food words indicating an orientation bias, slowed colour-naming of the neutral word following the food word indicating slowed disengagement). Preliminary analyses indicate no evidence of biased attention processing of food in the dot probe, regardless of restrained or emotional eating score or mood induction condition. In the food Stroop, response times were significantly longer for food words than all other word positions, with response times to food words being significantly positively correlated with emotional and external eating. Those in the negative condition displayed significantly greater wanting of crisps, and consumed significantly more chocolate fingers and Pringles in a ‘taste test’ than those in the neutral condition. Despite finding evidence of an orientation bias towards food, attention bias does not seem to mediate the negative mood/eating relationship, as task performance did not significantly predict consumption.

Attentional Bias and Slowed Disengagement from Food and Threat Stimuli in Restrained Eaters Using a Modified Stroop Task

This experiment examined fast (orientation) and slow (disengagement) components of attention to food and interpersonal threat words in high and low restrained eaters using a modified Stroop task. Target words (food, interpersonal ego threat, neutral) were presented prior to a sequence of four matched neutral words. Participants were slow to disengage from food and ego threat words, and this pattern was particularly striking for the high restraint group. Findings show no evidence of an orientation bias but indicate that slowed disengagement from these stimuli can be demonstrated consistently using the Stroop task. However, restraint was not a significant predictor, and slowed disengagement was also found in the neutral condition, suggesting a categorical effect. This study provides important suggestions for modifications of Stroop tasks designed to target both attention bias and disengagement. Implications of slowed disengagement from disorder-relevant stimuli are discussed in relation to the development of disordered eating.

Attentional bias in high- and low-anxious individuals: Evidence for threat-induced effects on engagement and disengagement

Attentional bias to threatening visual stimuli (words or pictures) is commonly present in anxious individuals, but not in non-anxious people. There is evidence to show that attentional bias to threat can be induced in all individuals when threat is imposed by threat not of symbolic nature, but by cues that predict aversive stimulation (loud noise or electric shock). However, it is not known whether attentional bias in such situations is still influenced by individual differences in anxiety. This question was addressed in two experiments using a spatial cuing task in which visual cues predicted the occurrence of an aversive event consisting of a loud human scream. Speeded attentional engagement to threat cues was positively correlated with trait anxiety in Experiment 1. Experiment 2 showed that speeded attentional engagement was present only in participants selected for high anxiety but not in low-anxious participants. In both experiments, slower disengagement from threat cues was found in all participants, irrespective of their trait anxiety levels.

Individual Differences in Recovery Time From Attentional Capture

Working memory capacity reflects a core ability of the individual that affects performance on many cognitive tasks. Recent work has suggested that an important covariate of memory capacity is attentional control, and specifically that low-capacity individuals are more susceptible to attentional capture by distractors than high-capacity individuals are, with the latter being able to resist capture. Here, we tested an alternative account according to which all individuals are equally susceptible to attentional capture, but high-capacity individuals recover more quickly than low-capacity individuals. Using psychophysical and electrophysiological methods, we measured recovery time from attentional capture. In two experiments, we found that high- and low-capacity individuals showed equivalent attentional capture effects in the initial moments following capture, but that low-capacity individuals took much longer to recover than high-capacity individuals did. These results suggest that the poor attentional control associated with low capacity is due to slow disengagement from distractors.

The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It (review)

Reviewed by: The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It Alan C. Atchison The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It. By Warren Corbett, foreword by Brooks Robinson, introduction by Tony La Russa. (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 2009, Pp. 448. Black-and-white plates, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780870745560, $24.95 cloth.) The recent election of Whitey Herzog to Baseball's Hall of Fame revives thoughts of other major league managers famous for their innovations and baseball knowledge. Unlike Herzog, some failed to win a single pennant. Paul Richards, the Wizard of Waxahachie, belongs to this group. But Warren Corbett's well-researched and well-written biography does not focus on this failure; instead, it uses the life of the North Texan to analyze the changes in professional baseball—and to a lesser extent life in the United States—during the middle decades of the twentieth century. The result is a book that will appeal to baseball strategists and fans of the game's and the state's history. Richards's early years, based on 1980s interviews of Paul Richards and later interviews with Richards's daughter Paula, describe a typical life in Texas just after the turn of the century. Corbett notes Richards's obsession with baseball while providing a clear portrait of daily living in Waxahachie, Texas. Then, using a mixture of primary and secondary sources, Corbett follows the Wizard through his undistinguished playing career to his emergence as one of the most-respected minds in baseball, and finally, to Richards's slow disengagement from the game. Corbett examines the many changes in the national pastime over those decades, some initiated by Richards himself, including an oversized catcher's mitt, pitch counts and "B.A. with base on balls" (111), Richards's term for on base percentage. Interestingly, the impact, at least of the latter two, has been much greater forty years after Richards introduced them. As the century progressed, the relation between baseball and American culture weakened. The Wizard of Waxahachie disconnects the two simply by focusing exclusively on Richards's managerial career after World War II. Here, fans of this Golden Age of Baseball will find an excellent look into Richards's influence on the building of two then perennial losers, the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, into the pennant winners of 1959 and 1966, respectively. Of course, by the time those pennant years came, Richards was elsewhere. Included elsewhere are the Houston Colt .45s and the Texas Rangers (with [End Page 93] stops in Atlanta and again in Chicago interrupting his time in Texas). Unfortunately for fans in the Lone Star State, Richards did not do for the clubs in his home state what he did for the Chicago and Baltimore nines. Corbett's account of Richards's tenure in both Texas cities provides insight into the reasons for the failures and, possibly, for why neither franchise has won baseball's ultimate prize, a World Series championship. Throughout, Corbett provides a balanced profile of Richards, noting his personal failures while avoiding unfair character assassinations. Comments from associates of Richards, players and administrators, encompass praise and disparagement. Corbett claims, "Richards's style fell between McGraw's and Herzog's . . . Richards was respected by many but loved by none" (254). Those with positive memories of Richards include Brooks Robinson and Tony LaRussa, who provided the book's foreword and introduction, respectively; neither essay should be overlooked. For fans attracted solely to the contemporary game, these opening comments will be the best part of the book; those who delve further will be rewarded with an intriguing look at the game before free agency "end[ed] baseball as we know it" (316). Baseball researchers, especially those seeking the origins of many of the game's innovations, will find Corbett's commentary and bibliography valuable. His work will help keep Richards's impact on baseball from being forgotten in a society infatuated with winners. Alan C. Atchison Texas State University—San Marcos Copyright © 2010 The Texas State Historical Association

Cognitive rigidity in unipolar depression and obsessive compulsive disorder: Examination of task switching, Stroop, working memory updating and post-conflict adaptation

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and depressive rumination are both characterized by cognitive rigidity. We examined the performance of 17 patients (9 suffering from unipolar depression [UD] without OCD, and 8 suffering from OCD without UD), and 17 control participants matched on age, gender, language and education, on a battery covering the four main executive functions. Results indicated that, across both disorders, patients required more trials to adjust to single-task conditions after experiencing task switching, reflecting slow disengagement from switching mode, and showed abnormal post-conflict adaptation of processing mode following high conflict Stroop trials in comparison to controls. Rumination, which was elevated in UD and not in OCD, was associated with poor working memory updating and less task preparation. The results show that OCD and UD are associated with similar cognitive rigidity in the presently tested paradigms.