Group status, perceptions of threat, and support for social inequality

Members of high-status groups have been shown to favor social inequality, but little research has investigated the boundary conditions of this phenomenon. In the present article we suggest that perceived intergroup threat moderates the relationship between group status and support for social inequality (i.e., social dominance orientation), especially among highly identified group members. In Study 1, Democrats and Republicans rated their party’s relative status and were later exposed to a leading US. Presidential candidate from the opposing party (high threat) or their own party (low threat). In Study 2, university students were made to believe that their school had high or low status and were then presented with threatening or non-threatening information about a rival institution. The results of both studies supported the prediction that status only increases preferences for group-based inequality under conditions of high threat and high ingroup identification.     

Facing prejudice: implicit prejudice and the perception of facial threat

We propose that social attitudes, and in particular implicit prejudice, bias people's perceptions of the facial emotion displayed by others. To test this hypothesis, we employed a facial emotion change-detection task in which European American participants detected the offset (Study 1) or onset (Study 2) of facial anger in both Black and White targets. Higher implicit (but not explicit) prejudice was associated with a greater readiness to perceive anger in Black faces, but neither explicit nor implicit prejudice predicted anger perceptions regarding similar White faces. This pattern indicates that European Americans high in implicit racial prejudice are biased to perceive threatening affect in Black but not White faces, suggesting that the deleterious effects of stereotypes may take hold extremely early in social interaction.     

The independence of size perception and distance perception

Research on distance perception has focused on environmental sources of information, which have been well documented; in contrast, size perception research has focused on familiarity or has relied on distance information. An analysis of these two parallel bodies of work reveals their lack of equivalence. Furthermore, definitions of familiarity need environmental grounding, specifically concerning the amount of size variation among different tokens of an object. To demonstrate the independence of size and distance perception, subjects in two experiments were asked to estimate the sizes of common objects from memory and then to estimate both the sizes and the distances of a subset of such objects displayed in front of them. The experiments found that token variation was a critical variable in the accuracy of size estimations, whether from memory or with vision, and that distance had no impact at all on size perception. Furthermore, when distance information was good, size had no effect on distance estimation; in contrast, at far distances, the distances to token variable or unknown objects were estimated with less accuracy. The results suggest that size perception has been misconceptualized, so that the relevant research to understand its properties has not been undertaken. The size-distance invariance hypothesis was shown to be inadequate for both areas of research.     

Speed constancy and the perception of distance

The distance-calibration hypothesis states that retinal velocity is scaled by using distance cues, and judged velocity remains unchanged when distance is changed. The relational hypothesis states that judged velocity depends on retinal velocities, and is proportional to judged distance. These hypotheses were compared in three experiments where the movements of the standard stimulus and the comparison stimulus were manipulated by the ratio of the angular velocity of the comparison stimulus to the angular velocity of the standard stimulus. The presentation conditions of the standard stimulus and the comparison stimulus, and the colour cues of the two stimuli were also manipulated in order to change the strength of the cues available to the observers. The results indicate that judged velocities and the relationship of judged distance and velocity depend on the strength of the cues. When cues are strong, the distance-calibration hypothesis adequately explains speed constancy. When cues are weak, judged velocity and the relationship between judged distance and velocity are consistent with the prediction of the relational hypothesis. The perceived speed of a stimulus depends not only on the physical speed of the stimulus but also on non-motion cues, some of which are distance cues involved in depth perception.     

Structural support for the perception of growth

Previous studies have shown that the effects of a particular class of geometric transformations, known as cardioidal strain, are perceived as growth when applied to a variety of animate and even inanimate objects. The current study demonstrates that the effects of these growth transformations are not completely independent of the object undergoing change, but depend critically on certain structural characteristics. When cardioidal strain is applied to a straight-line, right-angle, robotlike structure, there is no consistent effect on the age level of the figure. However, as the structural contours become more curved and less angular, the effects of this transformation are seen as increasingly more like growth. In contrast, the effects of a shear transformation are not perceived as growth on any of the profiles. These findings are examined in light of the critical physical properties that may be responsible for this notion of biological forms as well as their implications for our understanding of the information about events.     

网络词语与非网络词语的知觉差异:时间知觉、空间距离知觉与知觉范围

根据具身认知理论,人们的认知会受到身体活动的影响。网络环境下人的身体活动受到限制,因而其认知活动与非网络环境存在很大的差异。本研究目的在于考察人们对网络词语与非网络的日常词语的时间知觉,空间距离知觉与知觉范围是否有差异。结果发现被试对网络词语的时间知觉更长;网络词语的空间距离感与日常词语没有显著差异;在启动网络词语之后,被试的知觉范围缩小,对中心刺激的反应显著快于边缘刺激。本研究发现了网络词语加工在时间知觉和知觉范围上的变化。     

The independence of size perception and distance perception.

Research on distance perception has focused on environmental sources of information, which have been well documented; in contrast, size perception research has focused on familiarity or has relied on distance information. An analysis of these two parallel bodies of work reveals their lack of equivalence. Furthermore, definitions of familiarity need environmental grounding, specifically concerning the amount of size variation among different tokens of an object. To demonstrate the independence of size and distance perception, subjects in two experiments were asked to estimate the sizes of common objects from memory and then to estimate both the sizes and the distances of a subset of such objects displayed in front of them. The experiments found that token variation was a critical variable in the accuracy of size estimations, whether from memory or with vision, and that distance had no impact at all on size perception. Furthermore, when distance information was good, size had no effect on distance estimation; in contrast, at far distances, the distances to token variable or unknown objects were estimated with less accuracy. The results suggest that size perception has been misconceptualized, so that the relevant research to understand its properties has not been undertaken. The size-distance invariance hypothesis was shown to be inadequate for both areas of research.     

Examination of the salutogenic model, support resources, coping style, and stressors among Israeli university students

The author investigated A. Antonovsky's (1979) concept of the sense of coherence (SOC) in relation to social support, coping styles, and the stress experiences of college students. A multivariate model was used to assess the relationships between the psychosocial resources, perceived stress, and the effect of different coping styles among 261 undergraduate students in three Israeli institutions of higher education. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance revealed that younger students used more emotional strategies and perceived having greater social support from friends than did older students. Students who did not work reported experiencing higher levels of stress associated with daily life and work-related issues. Women used more emotional and avoidance coping strategies. The findings of the regression analysis demonstrated that task-oriented and emotional coping modes, work stress, and family support explained 30% of the variance of SOC. These results increase our understanding of the salutogenic model of students within university settings and suggest focusing on the students and their interaction with the environment, using the concepts of stress, coping, and social support as inseparable characteristics of systems models.     

Absolute and relative cues for the auditory perception of egocentric distance

Three experiments were performed to examine the reverberation cue to egocentric auditory distance and to determine the extent to which such a cue could provide 'absolute', as contrasted with 'relative', information about distance. In experiment 1 independent groups of blindfolded observers (200 altogether) were presented with broadband noise from a speaker at one of five different distances (0.55 to 8 m) in a normal hard-walled room. Half of each group of observers were presented with the sound at 0 deg azimuth, followed (after a delay) by the identical sound at 90 deg azimuth. The order of presentation was reversed for the remaining observers. Perceived distance varied significantly as a function of the physical distance to the speaker, even for the first presentations. The change in the binaural information between the 0 deg and 90 deg presentations did not significantly modify the results. For both orientations, near distances were overestimated and far distances were underestimated. Experiment 2 and 3 were designed to evaluate how much prior auditory exposure to the laboratory environment was necessary. A 200 Hz square-wave signal was presented from one of three distances (1, 2, or 6 m) to observers who had either minimal room information or an exposure which included talking within the room. Perceived distance varied significantly with physical distance regardless to exposure condition.     

Harmonic,melodic, and frequency height influences in the perception of multivoiced music

Two experiments addressed the influences of harmonic relations, melody location, and relative frequency height on the perceptual organization of multivoiced music. In Experiment 1, listeners detected pitch changes in multivoiced piano music. Harmonically related pitch changes and those in the middle-frequency range were least noticeable. All pitch changes were noticeable in the high-frequency voice containing the melody (the most important voice), suggesting that melody can dominate harmonic relations. However, the presence of upper partials in the piano timbre used may have accounted for the harmonic effects. Experiment 2 employed pure sine tones, and replicated the effects of Experiment 1. In addition, the influence of the high-frequency melody on the noticeability of harmonically related pitches was lessened by the presence of a second melody. These findings suggest that harmonic, melodic, and relative frequency height relationships among voices interact in the perceptual organization of multivoiced music.     

The perception of tactile distance: influences of body site, space, and time

Vibrotactile prostheses for deaf or blind persons have been applied to any number of different locations on the body, including the finger, wrist, forearm, abdomen, back, and nape of the neck. The discriminability of patterns presented by such devices can be affected by the acuity of the site of application and the resolution of the display. In addition, the mutual influences among stimuli close together in both space and time can affect percepts within a broad range of parameters. For example, consideration must be given to a variety of tactile illusions often associated with the spatial separations and the range of temporal intervals typically used in cutaneous communication displays. Experiments are reported in which magnitude estimates and cross-modality matches of perceived extent produced by pairs of vibrotactile taps presented to separate loci were obtained on three different body sites. Perceived distance was directly related both to the timing between the taps and to their physical separation. The findings show a consistent relationship to cortical magnification across body sites.     

Sources of social support and burnout: a meta-analytic test of the conservation of resources model

The Conservation of Resources (COR) model of burnout (Hobfoll & Freedy, 1993) suggests that resources are differentially related to burnout dimensions. In this paper, I provide a meta-analysis of the social support and burnout literature, finding that social support, as a resource, did not yield different relationships across the 3 burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment), challenging the COR model. However, when considering the source of the social support (work vs. nonwork) as a moderator, I found that work-related sources of social support, because of their more direct relationship to work demands, were more closely associated with exhaustion than depersonalization or personal accomplishment; the opposite pattern was found with nonwork sources of support. I discuss the implications of this finding in relation to the COR model and suggest future research directions to clarify the relationship between resources and burnout dimensions.     

Horizontal and vertical distance perception: The discorded-orientation theory

We sought the conditions where the horizontal—vertical illusion (HVI) takes place outdoors in an open field. Longitudinal distance from a subject to a building wall was adjusted to appear equal to the vertical or horizontal distance on the wall. To examine validity of previous theories (physiology, frame, depth, and gravity theories), boundary of visual field (ellipse and circle), bodily orientation (upright and lying), and orientation of visual objects (normal, 90°-tilted, and inverse) were manipulated in eight experiments. These three independent variables affected the HVI effects, but their effects were not explained by the previous theories. We therefore proposed a model on the basis of discord among the retinal, visual, and gravitational orientations. We also found that longitudinal distance was adjusted as being consistently larger than the standard distance. This result was explained by the reduction of cues to distance and the HVI effect.     

Target distance and adaptation in distance perception in the constancy of visual direction

Hay and Sawyer recently demonstrated that the constancy of visual direction (CVD) also operates for near targets. A luminous spot in the dark, 40 cm from the eyes, was perceived as stationary when S nodded his head. This implies that CVD takes target distance, as well as head rotation, into account as a stationary environment is perceived during head movements. Distance is a variable in CVD because, during a turning or nodding of the head, the eyes become displaced relative to the main target direction, the line between the target and the rotation axis of the head. This displacement of the eyes during head rotation causes an additional change in the target direction, i.e., a total angular change greater than the angle of the head rotation. The extent of this additional angular displacement is greater the nearer the target. We demonstrated that the natural combination of accommodation and convergence can supply the information needed by the nervous system to compensate for this additional target displacement. We also found that wearing glasses that alter the relation between these oculomotor adjustments and target distance produces an adaptation in CVD. An adaptation period of 1.5 h produced a large adaptation effect. This effect was not entirely accounted for by an adaptation in distance perception. Measurements of the alteration between oculomotor cues and registered distance with two kinds of tests for distance perception yielded effects significantly smaller than the effect measured with the CVD test. We concluded that the wearing of the glasses had also produced an adaptation within CVD.     

The perception of distance and location for dual tactile pressures

The concept that distance on the skin is frequently misperceived was first reported over a century ago by Weber. Weber and others have reported that the apparent distance between pressure stimuli fluctuates with both body site and stimulus orientation. The present study confirms these effects and shows that the misperceptions are usually compressive in nature. It further establishes that errors in perceived distance correspond to errors in perceived location, indicating that an interaction exists between the perceptual processes responsible for percepts of tactile location and distance. Perceived location depends on the relationship of a tactile stimulus both to the body frame and to nearby stimuli, and the effect of nearby stimuli is to induce a perceptual affinity between sensations of pressure. These results are discussed in relation to the more frequently examined dynamic illusions of tactile distance (tau phenomenon) and location (the cutaneous rabbit).     

Going for distance and going for speed: Effort and optical variables shape information for distance perception from observation to response

Visually guided distance perception reflects a relationship of geometrical optical variables with the effort required when traversing the distance. We probed how the representations encoding optical variables might define this relationship. Participants visually judged distances on sloped surfaces and reproduced these distances over flat terrain by walking while blindfolded. We examined the responses for the effects of optical variables (i.e., angular declinations from eye height) and tested whether four measures of trial-by-trial effort moderated the use of the represented optical variables. We predicted that observation time and response speed relative to the observed distance would accentuate the effects of encoded optical variables, and that response time and response speed relative to the traversed distance would reduce the effects of those variables. The results confirmed all of the effects except those of observation time. Given the benefits of longer study for strengthening a memory trace, the failure of observation time to predict the use of optical variables raises questions about the representational encoding of visual traces for distance perception. Relationships among optical variables and other effort measures implicate the interaction of processes across multiple time scales, as in cascade dynamics. Cascade dynamics may provide new directions for accounts of visually guided distance perception.     

Sex and age modulate the visual perception of distance

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the ability of 28 younger and older adults to visually bisect distances in depth both indoors and outdoors; half of the observers were male and half were female. Observers viewed 15-m and 30-m distance extents in four different environmental settings (two outdoor grassy fields and an indoor hallway and atrium) and were required to adjust the position of a marker to place it at the midpoint of each stimulus distance interval. Overall, the observers’ judgments were more accurate indoors than outdoors. In outdoor environments, many individual observers exhibited perceptual compression of farther distances (e.g., these observers placed the marker closer than the actual physical midpoints of the stimulus distance intervals). There were significant modulatory effects of both age and sex upon the accuracy and precision of the observers’ judgments. The judgments of the male observers were more accurate than those of the female observers and they were less influenced by environmental context. In addition, the accuracies of the younger observers’ judgments were less influenced by context than those of the older observers. With regard to the precision of the observers’ judgments, the older females exhibited much more variability across repeated judgments than the other groups of observers (younger males, younger females, and older males). The results of our study demonstrate that age and sex are important variables that significantly affect the visual perception of distance.