Differential Responses to Being Ignored: The Effects of Architectural Design and Social Density on Interpersonal Behavior1

This study examines the experience of being ignored when social interaction is chronically at high or low levels. Subjects in these studies resided in either traditional corridor dormitories or in suite-type apartments. Previous research has shown that the corridor arrangement leads to an excess of unwanted contacts with other residents. Hence, corridor residents should desire less interaction with strangers than suite residents. It was hypothesized that corridor residents would be less adversely affected if they were ignored during a group discussion. The results of two experiments reported here support this hypothesis. They also demonstrate the generally negative effects of being ignored. Results are discussed in terms of Altman's (1975) model of contact regulation.     

Distance underestimation in virtual space is sensitive to gender but not activity-passivity or mode of interaction.

Four groups of undergraduates (half of each gender) experienced a movement along a corridor containing three distinctive objects, in a virtual environment (VE) with wide-screen projection. One group simulated walking along the virtual corridor using a proprietary step-exercise device. A second group moved along the corridor in conventional flying mode, depressing a keyboard key to initiate continuous forward motion. Two further groups observed the walking and flying participants, by viewing their progress on the screen. Participants then had to walk along a real equivalent but empty corridor, and indicate the positions of the three objects. All groups underestimated distances in the real corridor, the greatest underestimates occurring for the middle distance object. Males' underestimations were significantly lower than females' at all distances. However, there was no difference between the active participants and passive observers, nor between walking and flying conditions.     

Control of the corridor illusion in baboons (Papio papio) by gradient and linear-perspective depth cues

The corridor illusion was recently demonstrated in baboons with background pictures containing rich depth information (Barbet and Fagot 2002, Behavioural Brain Research 132 111-115). In the current research we determined the contribution of gradient texture and perspective lines to that illusion. In experiment 1, the corridor illusion was tested in two baboons, with pictures of a hallway as backgrounds, or the same image of the hallway represented by perspective lines. Findings confirmed that the baboons experience the corridor illusion with the picture of the hallway, and showed that this illusion remained with the perspective-line backgrounds. The same procedure was adopted in experiment 2, but with a hallway drawn from gradient textures. The two baboons experienced the illusion in this experiment too. Thus both gradient and perspective line cues convey sufficient information to control the corridor illusion in baboons. In baboons, the processing of these two kinds of depth cues interacts with the perception of object size, suggesting homologous processes of pictorial depth perception in humans and non-human primates.     

Effects of a driver enforcement program on yielding to pedestrians

A driver-yielding enforcement program that included decoy pedestrians, feedback flyers, written and verbal warnings, and saturation enforcement for a 2-week period was evaluated in the city of Miami Beach using a multiple baseline design. During baseline, data were collected at crosswalks along two major corridors. Treatment was introduced first at selected crosswalks without traffic signals along one corridor. A week later, enforcement was shifted to crosswalks along the second corridor. Results indicated that the percentage of drivers yielding to pedestrians increased following the introduction of the enforcement program in each corridor and that these increases were sustained for a period of a year with minimal additional enforcement. The effects also generalized somewhat to untreated crosswalks in both corridors, as well as to crosswalks with traffic signals.     

Evaluating the impact of adaptive signal control technology on driver stress and behavior using real-world experimental data

While the operational and crash reduction benefits of adaptive signal control technology (ASCT) have long been investigated, the impact of this technology on driver behavior and stress is still uncertain. This study evaluated the impact of ASCT on driver behavior and stress in a real-world environment. Participants travelled through two arterial corridors, one equipped with ASCT and the other having traditional time-of-day coordinated signals. Driver stress was measured using a heart rate detector and a perceived stress scale while driver behavior was examined using vehicular trajectory data. Overall, driving behavior improved on the ASCT as compared to the non-ASCT corridor, as indicated by higher speeds and a fewer number of stops on the ASCT corridor relative to the non-ASCT corridor. Repeated measures ANOVA showed a statistically significant reduction in driver heart rate by −10 beats per minute over the ASCT corridor. A similar trend was observed for drivers’ perceived stress, analyzed by Wilcoxon sign ranked test. Driving behavior also showed significant improvement with ASCT presence, and speed was found to be negatively correlated with stress. Furthermore, the participants’ speed was controlled by the two systems i.e. ASCT and non-ASCT as expected. This study provides a significant proof of concept that ASCT can create positive improvements in driver stress and behavior that can be further investigated in the future.     

Local and global reference frames for environmental spaces

Two experiments examined how locations in environmental spaces, which cannot be overseen from one location, are represented in memory: by global reference frames, multiple local reference frames, or orientation-free representations. After learning an immersive virtual environment by repeatedly walking a closed multisegment route, participants pointed to seven previously learned targets from different locations. Contrary to many conceptions of survey knowledge, local reference frames played an important role: Participants performed better when their body or pointing targets were aligned with the local reference frame (corridor). Moreover, most participants turned their head to align it with local reference frames. However, indications for global reference frames were also found: Participants performed better when their body or current corridor was parallel/orthogonal to a global reference frame instead of oblique. Participants showing this pattern performed comparatively better. We conclude that survey tasks can be solved based on interconnected local reference frames. Participants who pointed more accurately or quickly additionally used global reference frames.     

A visual equalization strategy for locomotor control: of honeybees,robots, and humans

Honeybees fly down the center of a corridor by equating the speed of optic flow in the lateral field of the two eyes. This flow-equalization strategy has been successfully implemented in mobile robots to guide behavior in cluttered environments. We investigated whether humans use a similar strategy to steer down a corridor, and determined the relative contributions of equating the speed of flow (.27), the splay angles of base lines (.62), and the visual angles of texture on the left and right walls (.03) to steering behavior. A generalized equalization strategy based on the weighted linear combination of these variables closely models human behavior, providing robust visual control.     

Flow Experience in Design Thinking and Practical Synergies with Lego Serious Play

The flow experience can be an important precursor to high levels of creativity and innovation. Prior work has identified and conceptualized the key elements of the flow experience in cocreative activities as individual flow corridor, individual flow feeling, and group flow. Surprisingly, the flow experience is underrepresented in theory and practice of design thinking. In this empirical study, the flow experience at the individual and group level was investigated in a 1-day design thinking exercise. The findings from partial least squares (PLS) modeling of 230 observations confirm previously untested conjectures that (a) the elements of individual and group flow experience were prevalent and highly correlated in the design thinking activities and (b) the nature of the design thinking task had an impact on the flow experience. Finally, results confirm that Lego Serious Play skills-building as a creative warm-up had a positive effect on 2 of the 3 flow experience elements: individual flow feeling and individual flow corridor.     

Last issue of SJBT

Abstract

A system providing prompts (verbal encouragement) at prearranged time intervals was used with a woman with total blindness and profound intellectual disability who had discontinuous performance. The woman was to transport objects from one end of a corridor to the other (a space in which orientation was not a problem) and then assemble them. Data indicated that there was a clear increase in the number of objects transported and assembled in the sessions with the prompting system. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Linking Service Climate and Disconfirmation of Expectations as Predictors of Customer Satisfaction: A Cross‐Level Study1

Research addressing customer satisfaction has not been conducted within an integrated framework. Two approaches have been developed separately with different levels of construct and analysis: organizational behavior and consumer behavior. Our research study provides an initial step in developing integrative strategies with the joint consideration of service climate and disconfirmation of expectations. We link these 2 concepts to customer satisfaction with services, using a cross‐level approach. Data from 105 work units and 1,033 customers confirmed the existence of a dual corridor of relationships, with independent and significant links from disconfirmation and service climate to customer satisfaction. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Perceptual slant induced through optical contact

Stimuli simulating a corridor with a pole inside it were presented. The positions of the ends of the pole within the ceiling and ground of the corridor were the optical contacts of concern. The main hypothesis was that a difference between the simulated distances of these optical contacts may influence the apparent slant in depth of the pole. Two experiments were conducted, with 30 and 20 participants (university students). The tasks were a choice between three alternative responses (upward, downward, or no apparent slant) in the first experiment and matching by adjustment in the second. The results supported the hypothesized dependence of apparent slant on differences in optical contacts. The results also revealed a dependence of apparent slant on the interaction between the optical tilt of the pole and its position to the right or left of the vertical median through the stimulus. Comparisons between both effects showed that they combine in a cumulative way and that the former is weightier than the latter. Further findings were a privileged association between null optical tilt of the pole and the no apparent slant response and a bias (for poles with nonnull optical tilt) in favor of the upward apparent slant response.     

Detour behaviour in three species of birds: quails (Coturnix sp.), herring gulls (Larus cachinnans) and canaries (Serinus canaria)

Detour behaviour is the ability of an animal to reach a goal stimulus by moving round any interposed obstacle. It has been widely studied and has been proposed as a test of insight learning in several species of mammals, but few data are available in birds. A comparative study in three species of birds, belonging to different eco-ethological niches, allows a better understanding of the cognitive mechanism of such detour behaviour. Young quails (Coturnix sp.), herring gulls (Larus cachinnans) and canaries (Serinus canaria), 1 month old, 10–25 days old and 4–6 months old, respectively, were tested in a detour situation requiring them to abandon a clear view of a biologically interesting object (their own reflection in a mirror) in order to approach that object. Birds were placed in a closed corridor, at one end of which was a barrier through which the object was visible. Four different types of barrier were used: vertical bar, horizontal bar, grid and transparent. Two symmetrical apertures placed midline in the corridor allowed the birds to adopt routes passing around the barrier. After entering the apertures, birds could turn either right or left to re-establish social contact with the object in the absence of any local sensory cues emanating from it. Quails appeared able to solve the task, though their performance depended on the type of barrier used, which appeared to modulate their relative interest in approaching the object or in exploring the surroundings. Young herring gulls also showed excellent abilities to locate spatially the out-of-view object, except when the transparent barrier was used. Canaries, on the other hand, appeared completely unable to solve the detour task, whatever barrier was in use. It is suggested that these species differences can be accounted for in terms of adaptation to a terrestrial or aerial environment.     

Processing ambiguous Spanish se in a minimal chain

The recovery of pieces of information that are not linguistically expressed is a constant feature of the process of language comprehension. In the processing literature, such missing information is generally referred to as "gaps". Usually, one resolves gaps by finding "fillers" in either the sentence or the context. For instance, in Peter seemed to be upset, Peter is really the subject of being upset but appears as surface subject of seems. Sometimes constituents move, leaving gaps behind. Various Romance languages such as Spanish or Italian have a grammatical particle se/si, which, as it is extremely ambiguous, licenses different sorts of gaps. In Spanish, se can encode at least reflexive, impersonal, and passive meanings. In an eye-tracking experiment we contrast reflexive structures containing postverbal subjects with impersonal structures with no subjects (GAP se vendó apresuradamente el corredor/"the runner bandaged himself hurriedly" vs. GAP se vendó apresuradamente al corridor/"(someone) bandaged the runner hurriedly"). In a second manipulation we contrast the presence of an extra argument with se-passives (GAP se vendó el tobillo el corredor/"the runner bandaged his ankle" vs. GAP se vendó el tobillo al corridor/"the runner's ankle was bandaged"). Our comparisons involve contrasting standard transitive structures with nonstandard word order (postverbal subject and a preverbal subject gap) against inherently complex and less habitual structures such as impersonals (with no subject) or se-passives (with subjects in canonical object position). We evaluate the minimal chain principle (de Vincenzi, 1991), according to which displacement is costly because it entails complex (derivational) "chains" that must be undone before phrasal packaging can commence. We show the minimal chain principle to be essentially correct when contrasting more complex but more frequent structures with less complex but less frequent structures. A noteworthy feature of this research is that the gaps appear before the fillers in the structures that we analyse.     

The Role of Concurrent Feedback in Learning to Walk Through Sliding Doors

Concurrent feedback is defined as information about performance given to participants during the execution of an action. This article investigates whether concurrent feedback is beneficial or detrimental to the learning of an ecologically relevant task. Eighteen participants were asked to walk through a virtual corridor and they practiced over 1110 trials to adjust their walking speed so as to pass through sliding doors that opened and closed at a frequency of 1 Hz. Concurrent feedback informed them about the possible need to accelerate or decelerate. Performance of participants who received concurrent feedback on 66% of the practice trials (on average) did not differ significantly from performance of participants who did not receive concurrent feedback. Furthermore, participants of both of these groups significantly outperformed participants who received concurrent feedback on all practice trials. These results are discussed in relation to the perceptual-motor mechanisms that underlie the control of the action. Also discussed are implications for future research, including the use of self-controlled feedback and the use of multisensory training programs.     

Four-dimensional spatial reasoning in humans

Human subjects practiced navigation in a virtual, computer-generated maze that contained 4 spatial dimensions rather than the usual 3. The subjects were able to learn the spatial geometry of the 4-dimensional maze as measured by their ability to perform path integration, a standard test of spatial ability. They were able to travel down a winding corridor to its end and then point back accurately toward the occluded origin. One interpretation is that the brain substrate for spatial navigation is not a built-in map of the 3-dimensional world. Instead it may be better described as a set of general rules for manipulating spatial information that can be applied with practice to a diversity of spatial frameworks.     

Sikhs and Sikhism in Bihar: Their distinctiveness and diversity

Medieval Bihar served as an important corridor for Sikh dispersal to other areas in eastern and north-eastern India. It stimulated the birth of native Sikh groups who significantly differ from their Punjabi-speaking counterparts in physical presentation and mother tongue. The essay examines why the native Sikhs’ perception of Sikhism differs from Singh Sabha’s (1873–1909) narrative of a monolithic Sikh identity, distinct from Hinduism. The study debates whether it is the perceived centrality of Sikhism’s self-representation in Punjab that stimulates fissures in the Punjabi-Bihari Sikh relationship – fissures that periodically surface and rupture an imagined, homogenized Sikh identity within the sacred precincts of twenty-first-century Patna city.     

Sex differences in social reinstatement motivation of the domestic chick (Gallus gallus) revealed by runway tests with social and nonsocial reinforcement

Male and female chicks (Gallus gallus) were trained at 4 days old to run along a corridor to reach a goal box that contained either cagemates (social reinforcement) or food (nonsocial reinforcement). Females ran faster when social reinforcement was used, whereas males ran faster with nonsocial reinforcement. When social reinforcement was used with a V-shaped runway, in which chicks had to proceed toward the goal object in an indirect fashion, sex differences were reversed. The results may be due to stronger social reinstatement tendencies in females than in males: Higher levels of social motivation facilitate behavioral performance when the task is easy (straight runway) and inhibit it when the task is difficult (V-shaped runway).     

A treadmill and motion coupled virtual reality system for gait training post-stroke.

A virtual reality (VR)-based locomotor training system has been developed for gait rehabilitation post-stroke. The system consists of a self-paced treadmill mounted onto a 6-degrees-of-freedom motion platform. Virtual environments (VEs) that are synchronized with the speed of the treadmill and the motions of the platform are rear-projected onto a screen in front of the walking subject. A feasibility study was conducted to test the capability of two stroke patients and one healthy control to be trained with the system. Three VE scenarios (corridor walking, street crossing, and park stroll) were woven into a gait-training program that provided three levels of complexity (walking speed, slopes, collision avoidances), progression criteria (number of successful trials) and knowledge of results. Results show that, with practice, patients can effectively increase their gait speed as demanded by the task and adapt their gait with respect to the change in physical terrain. However, successful completion of tasks requiring adaptation to increasing demands related to speed and physical terrains does not necessarily predict the patient's ability to anticipate and avoid collision with obstacles during walking. This feasibility study demonstrates that persons with stroke are able to adapt to this novel VR system and be immersed in the VEs for gait training.     

Psychoanalysis in Three Dimensions: Ringstrom’s Relational Metapsychology: Discussion of “Three Dimensional Field Theory”

Although the analytic intersubjective field remains infinite in its potential forms, processes, and transformations, this commentary highlights Ringstrom’s 3D model (this issue) as tackling the challenge of theorizing the relational analytic act, explaining simultaneously the dimensions of metapsychology and practice. Within the epistemological premises of information theory, the 3D model offers a triangulation between the asymmetry of hemispheral modes of processing, consciousness as truth seeking and an intersubjective dramaturgic dimension to describe the vicissitudes and evolutions of an intersubjectively embedded subjectivity. Reading Ringstrom’s model through the corridor of some basic Freudian intuitions, I formulate my reading of the model’s unique conceptions of time, nothing, and otherness as agents of transformation in the thick relational web of the analytic dyad.