What if they knocked down the library and nobody noticed? The failure to detect large changes to familiar scenes

The purpose of the current study was to investigate people's ability to detect changes to familiar scenes. College students were asked either to identify what was wrong with a picture of a familiar location on their college campus (e.g., the library had been removed from the scene), or to estimate the difficulty of change detection for a hypothetical cohort performing the same task. Performance in the change-detection condition was extremely poor, even when changes were large. Participants who were familiar with the scenes and those who were unfamiliar with the scenes both overestimated the actual levels of change-detection performance. A follow-up analysis indicated that the participants who were unfamiliar with the scenes produced estimations of difficulty that were highly correlated with the mathematical area of the change, whereas participants who were familiar with the scenes produced estimations of difficulty that were highly correlated with the actual difficulty of change detection. The results indicate that people's visual long-term memory for familiar scenes lacks the precision to be able to effectively identify even large-scale changes, although subjectively people believe this should be relatively easy.     

What if they knocked down the library and nobody noticed? The failure to detect large changes to familiar scenes

The purpose of the current study was to investigate people's ability to detect changes to familiar scenes. College students were asked either to identify what was wrong with a picture of a familiar location on their college campus (e.g., the library had been removed from the scene), or to estimate the difficulty of change detection for a hypothetical cohort performing the same task. Performance in the change-detection condition was extremely poor, even when changes were large. Participants who were familiar with the scenes and those who were unfamiliar with the scenes both overestimated the actual levels of change-detection performance. A follow-up analysis indicated that the participants who were unfamiliar with the scenes produced estimations of difficulty that were highly correlated with the mathematical area of the change, whereas participants who were familiar with the scenes produced estimations of difficulty that were highly correlated with the actual difficulty of change detection. The results indicate that people's visual long-term memory for familiar scenes lacks the precision to be able to effectively identify even large-scale changes, although subjectively people believe this should be relatively easy.     

Privacy and control: Are they related?

This study examines the relationship of privacy preference with sense of control over privacy, and the discrepancy between desired and actual privacy. Results indicate that (a) sense of control is a fairly good predictor of privacy preference, (b) most subjects report low actual privacy than desired, and the highest desired privacy was in the case of intimacy, (c) discrepancy between desired and actual privacy significantly relates to privacy preference, and sense of control was significantly related to the discrepancy between desired and actual privacy. The results suggest that the experience of control is a significant external correlate of privacy preference.     

Which came first? Bulimia and emotional symptoms: A cross-lagged panel analysis

PurposeResearchers have found growing evidence for the comorbidity link between bulimia and emotional symptoms among Chinese female youth. However, the prospective effect of one on the other is still unclear. Therefore, a cross-lagged model was used to examine the possible underlying mechanism between bulimia and two typical emotional problems (i.e., anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms), respectively, in the present study.MethodsA total of 471 female college students participated in the three waves of the present study. Self-reported questionnaires were delivered to assess their bulimia, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms.ResultsAfter controlling for earlier levels of symptoms, our finding indicated that anxiety symptoms triggered more bulimia symptoms from Time 1 to Time 2. In turn, the reciprocal cycles occurred between anxiety symptoms and bulimia symptoms from Time 2 to Time 3. More interestingly, a similar pattern was found between depressive symptoms and bulimia.ConclusionsThe persistence and reciprocal cycle between bulimia and emotional symptoms are worthy of attention. Specifically, female youth with higher levels of emotional symptoms appear to be more profound at high risk for eating-related problems afterward. Further eating-related intervention programs may also need to take the level of female youth's emotional symptoms into consideration.     

Emergencies: what are they and do they influence bystanders to intervene?

Social psychological research on helping has, in part, been concerned with the intervention of bystanders into emergencies. Pertinent empirical literature does not seem to be available on what factors bystanders use to define an emergency nor the effect of such a decision on the rate of helping. A series of four studies was conducted to answer these questions. We found that (a) Emergencies are a subclass of problem situation that usually result from accidents; (b) there is a high degree of agreement concerning what problem situations are definitely an emergency; (c) emergency situations are differentiated from other problem situations by threat of harm or actual harm worsening with time, unavailability of an easy solution to the problem, and necessity of obtaining outside help to solve the problem; (d) disagreement on whether a problem situation is an emergency or not results from differing perceptions of the degree to which threat of harm or actual harm worsens with time; (e) bystanders are more likely to help in emergency than in nonemergency problem situations. The results were interpreted as indicating that the need of the victim is a salient feature used by bystanders in determining whether or not to help.     

Workaholism and work engagement: how are they similar? How are they different? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Workaholism and work engagement can be depicted, respectively, as the pathological and the healthy form of heavy work investment. In spite of their different definitions and outcomes on individual and organizational life, workaholism and work engagement are not clearly and adequately distinguished by scholars and researchers as they appear to show some overlapping features. The aim of this investigation was to meta-analyze available studies, selected by systematic review, on the relations between subdimensions of workaholism and work engagement. Thirty-five studies were eligible for analysis. Associations emerged between Working Excessively and Absorption (g = .34), Working Compulsively and Absorption (g = .28), and Working Excessively and Dedication (g = .14). Moreover, the results were not influenced by publication bias and showed nationality to be a significant moderator. Overall, these findings suggest that further research is necessary to extend our knowledge of workaholism, work engagement, and the relationship between the two, in order to disentangle commonalities and differences between them.     

Who cares when nobody is watching? Psychopathic traits and empathy in prosocial behaviors

Prosocial behaviors are voluntary acts intended to benefit others. Lack of empathy is a core feature of psychopathy, a constellation of personality traits that includes callousness, egocentricity, and antisociality. While psychopathy is often associated with antisocial behavior, its relation to prosociality may depend upon the class of prosocial behavior and facet of psychopathy considered. Public prosocial behavior may be more motivated by extrinsic social rewards than anonymous prosociality, which may be more motivated by empathy and altruistic motives. It was hypothesized that primary psychopathy, especially affective callousness, would be positively and uniquely associated with public prosociality, and inversely associated with anonymous and altruistic prosociality, and that these associations would be mediated by empathy. In contrast, secondary psychopathy was expected to be weakly and inversely associated with all three types of prosocial behavior and with empathy. In an undergraduate student sample (n = 539), unique and interaction effects were tested in hierarchical regression. Predictions were supported for primary psychopathy. Gender did not moderate associations. Theoretical and practical implications are considered.     

Individual and group psychology — Are they opposed?

It is regrettable that classical psychoanalysis has failed to pursue Freud's early interest in group psychology. In this paper, the inseparability of individual and group psychology are affirmed and the concept of identification is employed to illustrate this unity. In the absence of a satisfactory global theory of group psychology, we must rely on the contemporary knowledge of specific concepts and mini-models. The human need for finding self-esteem and coherence through group ties is increasingly recognized in the field of community mental health.This paper is based on a lecture presented at the Washington Square Institute for Psychotherapy and Mental Health in 1977.     

Age and ageing: What do they mean?

This article provides a philosophical overview of different approaches to age and ageing. It is often assumed that our age is determined by the amount of time we have been alive. Here, I challenge this belief. I argue that there are at least three plausible, yet unsatisfactory, accounts to age and ageing: the chronological account, the biological account, and the experiential account. I show that all of them fall short of fully determining what it means to age. Addressing these problems, I suggest the Two‐tier principle of age: whenever the three accounts of age contradict, combine the two accounts that differ the least, and reject the third. However, while this principle does solve some difficulties, it is itself vulnerable to problems; therefore I propose we should jettison it. I conclude that there are no accounts to ageing that are satisfactory; they all come with a bullet to bite.     

Number and language: how are they related?

Does the ability to develop numerical concepts depend on our ability to use language? We consider the role of the vocabulary of counting words in developing numerical concepts. We challenge the 'bootstrapping' theory which claims that children move from using something like an object-file - an attentional process for responding to small numerosities - to a truly arithmetic one as a result of their learning the counting words. We also question the interpretation of recent findings from Amazonian cultures that have very restricted number vocabularies. Our review of data and theory, along with neuroscientific evidence, imply that numerical concepts have an ontogenetic origin and a neural basis that are independent of language.     

Religion and medicine: How are they related?

This paper provides a comprehensive and dynamic profile of religion-medicine interrelationships. This profile is drawn from the respective characteristics of religion and medicine, as well as from historic and contemporary literature regarding their interconnections. Six symbiotic functions are identified and discussed with respect to their bearing on clinical practice, medical education, and research.The authors thank Drs. Chester R. Burns, Thomas H. Murray, and Ronald A. Carson for their comments on drafts of this paper.     

Professional standards: Can they shape practice in an international context?

A summary of the career of a Russian engineer who practiced a century ago in western Europe, as well as in Russia, provides an example of how ethical standards can influence practice across national boundaries. An examination of his career and his conception of engineering, of the evolution of engineering standards and codes, and of the process of formulating codes in particular instances explains how international standards can shape practice in an international context. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Engineering Foundation Conference on “Ethics for Science and Engineering Based International Industries”, Durham, NC, USA, 14–17 September 1997.     

Scientific societies and research integrity: What are they doing and how well are they doing it?

Scientific societies can play an important role in promoting ethical research practices among their members, and over the past two decades several studies have addressed how societies perform this role. This survey continues this research by examining current efforts by scientific societies to promote research integrity among their members. The data indicate that although many of the societies are working to promote research integrity through ethics codes and activities, they lack rigorous assessment methods to determine the effectiveness of their efforts. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the AAAS-Office of Research Integrity (ORI) meeting in Washington DC on the theme: “The Role and Activities of Scientific Societies in Promoting Research Integrity” held on April 10–11, 2000.     

Behavior-analytic repertoires: Where will they come from and how can they be maintained?

The field of behavior analysis faces a number of issues concerning its existence as a discipline and as a profession, including (a) identification of the knowledge and skills comprising the repertoire of competent behavior analysts, (b) the nature of the curricula that will produce the scientists and practitioners needed by the discipline, (c) identification of the generic professional and social skills required for any successful professional career, (d) academic employment opportunities for behavior analysts, and (e) the maintenance of behavior-analytic repertoires. Recommendations are offered as possible solutions to problems raised with respect to each of these issues.     

Infants and toddlers discriminate amount: are they measuring?

Four experiments that show an early ability to encode and retain information about extent are presented. We found that infants discriminate between the heights of dowels in a habituation task. We also found that toddlers discriminate between heights on a choice task in which a target dowel is presented and removed and they then choose between the target and a foil. Until 4 years of age, however, discrimination occurs only in the presence of a perceptually salient standard. Adults do not require a perceptually present standard; they can assess extent across temporal or spatial gaps by imposing a standard (measure). The present findings indicate that infants and toddlers do not possess an adult ability to establish extent, but that they do possess a skill that provides a start point for this important intellectual achievement.     

Bureaucracy and creativity: do they make companionable bedfellows?

This essay will look at the benefits and weaknesses of the increasingly bureaucratic nature of training structures and processes in the training of Jungian psychotherapists and analysts. The author will draw on her experiences during two different periods of time as Director of Training at the Society of Analytical Psychology in London with observations on and discussion about some of the changes that have evolved. By way of contrast, she will offer some comparisons with developments in the training of Jungian analysts in countries with little or no legacy of an analytic culture. Here, there is a need to professionalize training in Jungian analysis but the attendant growth of bureaucracy can easily come to echo the politics of non‐democratic regimes.