We show that perceptual sensitivity to visual stimuli can be modulated by matches between the contents of working memory (WM) and stimuli in the visual field. Observers were presented with an object cue (to hold in WM or to merely attend) and subsequently had to identify a brief target presented within a colored shape. The cue could be re-presented in the display, where it surrounded either the target (on valid trials) or a distractor (on invalid trials). Perceptual identification of the target, as indexed by A', was enhanced on valid relative to invalid trials but only when the cue was kept in WM. There was minimal effect of the cue when it was merely attended and not kept in WM. Verbal cues were as effective as visual cues at modulating perceptual identification, and the effects were independent of the effects of target saliency. Matches to the contents of WM influenced perceptual sensitivity even under conditions that minimized competition for selecting the target. WM cues were also effective when targets were less likely to fall in a repeated WM stimulus than in other stimuli in the search display. There were no effects of WM on decisional criteria, in contrast to sensitivity. The findings suggest that reentrant feedback from WM can affect early stages of perceptual processing.

Student engagement in Higher Education is the focus of considerable research, particularly in terms of predicting educational achievement and retention. Less research has examined the predictors of engagement. The current study (students N = 117, staff N = 35) explores the predictive role of personality in a multidimensional model of engagement. Given recent tensions between the importance of employability and the time academics have to deliver this, a second objective was to examine the correlation between student and staff perceptions of employability. Results found no differences between student and staff attitudes towards employability and further revealed that students' attitudes became less positive over time. Differential patterns of trait relations were found for components of engagement, though agreeableness and conscientiousness were consistent predictors. Findings of individual differences are encouraging in terms of integrating different practices so that different personalities can be engaged. Finally, the decrease in students' attitudes towards engagement and employability highlights important areas for future investigation.

Abstract:Objective: We examined the utility of the BCoS screen in discriminating cognitive profiles and recovery of function across stroke survivors. BCoS was designed for stroke-specific problems across 5 cognitive domains: controlled and spatial attention, language, memory, number processing and praxis. Methods: Based on specific inclusion criteria, this cross-section observational study analysed cognitive profiles of 657 sub-acute stroke patients, 331 of them reassessed at 9 months. Impairments on 32 measures were evaluated by comparison to 100 matched healthy controls.Measures of affect, apathy, and activities of daily living were also taken. Betweensubject group comparisons of mean performance scores and impairment rates, as well as within-subject examination of impairment rates over time were conducted. Logistic regressions and general linear modelling were used for multivariate analysis of domain level effects on outcomes. Results: Individuals with repeated stroke experienced significantly less cognitive recovery at 9 months than those with a first stroke (OR=6.18) despite similar initial level of cognitive performance. Individuals with left hemisphere lesions performed more poorly than those with right hemisphere lesions but both groups showed similar extent of recovery at 9 months (OR=0.62). BCoS also revealed lesion-side specific deficits as well as common areas of persistent problems. stroke-specific cognitive deficits. We validate the screen and then use it to predict functional recovery. We demonstrate differences in recovery for patients with first and second stroke, even when matched for their initial deficit. We also show how the cognitive profile for a patient, across several domains, helps to predict outcome. Response to Reviewers: Response to reviewers (comments are copied below and corresponding responses are followed by "-")Editor's comments 1) The imaging information was used as a method for inclusion and nothing else? -For the purpose of this paper, it is indeed used for inclusion of patients and categorisation of left lesion vs right lesion groups.2) Was the AES self or informant rated? -It was self rated. We have added this to the text.3) The use of "motivation" in the context of AES findings.-Thanks for your comment, we agree that we should adhere to the use of "apathy" to avoid confusion. We have amended the wordings accordingly.4) Patient effort to engage.-We have not formally measured the patients' effort in the assessment and therefore have included this as a limitation of the current study.5) Patient's ability to sustain attention for 30 mins as inclusion criteria.-This was based on clinical judgement of the treatment team in the research site whom we checked with as well as assessment by the researcher during the BCoS testing.Reviewer 1's comments Abstract 1) 2nd sentence: 5 'COGNITIVE?' domains -Added, thanks2) Talk about 'sub-acute' stroke -what does this mean exactly? How much time has passed since the stroke? 657 analysed, 331 reassessed at 9 months -half dropped out? Why so m...

We examined two forms of top-down effects on visual selection: (1) information held in working memory (WM) and (2) the semantic relations between targets and distractors. We found that items held in WM affected search for a different target. This WM-based interference effect generalized across different exemplars, even though participants could remember the specific exemplar on the trial. This argues against a memory top-up account of performance. In addition, there was interference from distractors that were not held in WM but were semantically related to the target. The effects of WM capture and the effects of capture by a distractor related to the target combined additively. The data suggest that task-irrelevant information in WM and task-relevant templates for targets compete separately for selection. The implications for understanding top-down processes in search are discussed.

We report a lesion–symptom mapping analysis of visual speech production deficits in a large group (280) of stroke patients at the sub-acute stage (<120 days post-stroke). Performance on object naming was evaluated alongside three other tests of visual speech production, namely sentence production to a picture, sentence reading and nonword reading. A principal component analysis was performed on all these tests' scores and revealed a ‘shared’ component that loaded across all the visual speech production tasks and a ‘unique’ component that isolated object naming from the other three tasks. Regions for the shared component were observed in the left fronto-temporal cortices, fusiform gyrus and bilateral visual cortices. Lesions in these regions linked to both poor object naming and impairment in general visual–speech production. On the other hand, the unique naming component was potentially associated with the bilateral anterior temporal poles, hippocampus and cerebellar areas. This is in line with the models proposing that object naming relies on a left-lateralised language dominant system that interacts with a bilateral anterior temporal network. Neuropsychological deficits in object naming can reflect both the increased demands specific to the task and the more general difficulties in language processing.