Being In Front Is Good—But Where Is In Front? Preferences for Spatial Referencing Affect Evaluation

Speakers of English frequently associate location in space with valence, as in moving up and down the “social ladder.” If such an association also holds for the sagittal axis, an object “in front of” another object would be evaluated more positively than the one “behind.” Yet how people conceptualize relative locations depends on which frame of reference (FoR) they adopt—and hence on cross-linguistically diverging preferences. What is conceptualized as “in front” in one variant of the relative FoR (e.g., translation) is “behind” under another variant (reflection), and vice versa. Do such diverging conceptualizations of an object's location also lead to diverging evaluations? In two studies employing an implicit association test, we demonstrate, first, that speakers of German, Chinese, and Japanese indeed evaluate the object “in front of” another object more positively than the one “behind.” Second, and crucially, the reversal of which object is conceptualized as “in front” involves a corresponding reversal of valence, suggesting an impact of linguistically imparted FoR preferences on evaluative processes.     

Professional Experience and Referencing Context Explain Variance in Use of Spatial Frames of Reference

The location of objects in relation to other objects can be perceived of and communicated in different ways. Assuming that variance in spatial Frame of Reference (FoR) use may be explained by practical professional requirements, we reasoned that medical professionals may increasingly use the intrinsic FoR which because of its observer‐independence is less prone to misunderstandings than relative FoRs. We compared FoR‐use of beginner and advanced medical students (n = 142) to that of law students (n = 191) using 40 ambiguous referencing tasks. We found that medical students applied the intrinsic FoR more frequently than law students in a medical yet not in a generic context. Beginners did not differ from advanced students. Within contexts, individuals were highly consistent in their FoR‐use. Investigation of latencies indicates that processing of the intrinsic FoR becomes easier with practice. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Temporal frames of reference in three Germanic languages: Individual consistency,interindividual consensus,and cross-linguistic variability

A task like “moving a meeting forward” reveals the ambiguity inherent in temporal references. That speakers of U.S. English do not agree on how to solve it is well established: Roughly one half moves the meeting futurewards, the other half pastwards. But the extent to which individual speakers, rather than groups of speakers, consider such phrases as ambiguous has not been scrutinized. Does the split in readings result from a lack of intraindividual consistency or from a lack of interindividual consensus? And how specific is U.S. English in this regard when compared to other closely related Germanic languages? Based on a taxonomy of spatiotemporal frames of reference (FoRs), we conducted two experiments with speakers of Swedish, U.S. English, and German to assess individual preferences for temporal FoRs, intra- and cross-linguistic variability, consistency and long-term stability of these preferences, and possible effects of priming a spatial FoR. The data reveal cross-linguistic differences, both in terms of which temporal FoRs speakers prefer (the absolute FoR in Sweden, the intrinsic FoR in German, and both of these in the US) and in terms of the extent to which these preferences are shared and stable (high consensus and consistency in Sweden and Germany, and low consensus and partial consistency in the US). Overall, no effect of spatial priming was observed; only speakers of U.S. English with a baseline preference for the absolute temporal FoR seemed to be susceptible to spatial priming. Thus, the assumption that temporal references are affected by spatial references is only weakly supported.     

Rehabilitating the Stroke Patient through Patient-Family Groups

The observer's impact on the process and content of over fifty, two-day, intensive training groups was evaluated by leaders, members, and observers. There was general agreement across the three perspectives that the observer's influence was significant and potentially negative. The group members experienced the observer as more intrusive than did their leaders. The effects were predominantly indirect, and reflected in the content of group interactions both during and after the observer's visit. Results are discussed in terms of their clinical implications, and recommendations are made for how leaders may maximize the therapeutic potential of the observer's contributions.     

Object-based attentional selection and awareness of objects

This study examined whether object-based attentional selection depends on the observer's awareness of objects, using objects defined by perceptual completion. As an indicator of object-based attention, we studied the same-object advantage, where observers respond faster to a target within a cued object than within a noncued object. The same-object advantage was not found in the condition where observers were unaware of the objects (inattentional blindness). On the other hand, the same-object advantage was observed in the condition where observers were aware of the objects. These results suggest that the intensity of object representations can be influenced by observers’ awareness of objects, which affects the occurrence of object-based effects. We propose that attention/inattention (or awareness/unawareness) is graded and observers’ awareness of the objects might serve to boost an otherwise noisy/low signal representation for obtaining object-based effects.     

Transcendence,transmission and transformation: the transcendent function in infant observation

Abstract: This article discusses the activation of the transcendent function as it operates through a series of complex parallel processes occurring within a Tavistock Model Infant Observation Group whose location is Palo Alto, California. We follow the observer, a seasoned female analyst, through her final two observations as she is caught initially in the central family complex that does not allow for a conscious ending to this three‐year observational period. Subsequently through the work of the transcendent function within the group, a discussion of the observer's ensuing paradoxical enactment takes place as we watch how this observer becomes able to help the family reach a termination not previously possible. Moving within a dynamic field that includes the infant observation group, the observed baby and his family, we experience the numinosity of the transformation that is activated. We will explore the ongoing encounter between the group mind, the observer and the observed as mutations within this dynamic field enable a genuine experience of mourning that has a profound effect on the observed baby and family.     

You can't stop new motion: Attentional capture despite a control set for colour

When a stationary object begins to move, visual spatial attention is reflexively deployed to the location of that object. We tested whether this capture of attention by new motion is entirely stimulus driven, or whether it is contingent on an observer's goals. Participants monitored a visual display for a colour change, inducing an attentional control set (ACS) for colour. Across the three performed experiments, irrelevant new-motion cues always captured visual spatial attention, despite the ACS for colour. This persistence of the attentional cueing effect demonstrates that ACSs, in particular an ACS for colour, cannot prevent new motion from capturing attention. Unlike other stimulus types, such as luminance changes, colour singletons, and new objects, new motion may always capture attention regardless of an observer's goals. This conclusion entails that new motion is an important determinant of when, and to where, visual spatial attention is deployed.     

Recognizing the role of perception in action at 6 months

The present research examined whether infants as young as 6 months of age would consider what objects a human agent could perceive when interpreting her actions on the objects. In two experiments, the infants took the agent's actions of repeatedly reaching for and grasping one of two possible objects as suggesting her preference for that object only when the agent could detect both objects, not when the agent's perceptual access to the second object was absent, either because a large screen hid the object from the agent ( Experiment 1 ), or because the agent sat with her back toward the object ( Experiment 2 ). These results suggest that young infants recognize the role of perception in constraining an agent's goal‐actions.     

A differing bidirectional impact on the recognition accuracy of facial expression

This study explored a bidirectional impact on the recognition accuracy of various facial expressions deriving from both the observer and sender in a sample of Chinese participants. A facial manipulation task was used to examine the ability of an observer's facial feedback to modulate the recognition of various facial expressions. Furthermore, the effect of a sender's facial expression with an open or closed mouth on recognition accuracy was investigated. The results showed that only recognition accuracy of a sad facial expression was influenced simultaneously by bidirectional sources from a sender and observer. Moreover, the impact of the unidirectional cue of a sender's facial feature (i.e., mouth openness) on happy and neutral faces was found to influence the recognition accuracy of these faces, but not the observer's bodily state. These findings indicate that the bidirectional impact derived from an observer and sender on facial expression recognition accuracy differs for emotional and neutral expressions.     

Space in Hand and Mind: Gesture and Spatial Frames of Reference in Bilingual Mexico

Speakers of many languages prefer allocentric frames of reference (FoRs) when talking about small-scale space, using words like “east” or “downhill.” Ethnographic work has suggested that this preference is also reflected in how such speakers gesture. Here, we investigate this possibility with a field experiment in Juchitán, Mexico. In Juchitán, a preferentially allocentric language (Isthmus Zapotec) coexists with a preferentially egocentric one (Spanish). Using a novel task, we elicited spontaneous co-speech gestures about small-scale motion events (e.g., toppling blocks) in Zapotec-dominant speakers and in balanced Zapotec-Spanish bilinguals. Consistent with prior claims, speakers’ spontaneous gestures reliably reflected either an egocentric or allocentric FoR. The use of the egocentric FoR was predicted—not by speakers’ dominant language or the language they used in the task—but by mastery of words for “right” and “left,” as well as by properties of the event they were describing. Additionally, use of the egocentric FoR in gesture predicted its use in a separate nonlinguistic memory task, suggesting a cohesive cognitive style. Our results show that the use of spatial FoRs in gesture is pervasive, systematic, and shaped by several factors. Spatial gestures, like other forms of spatial conceptualization, are thus best understood within broader ecologies of communication and cognition.     

Facing the sunrise: cultural worldview underlying intrinsic-based encoding of absolute frames of reference in aymara

The Aymara of the Andes use absolute (cardinal) frames of reference for describing the relative position of ordinary objects. However, rather than encoding them in available absolute lexemes, they do it in lexemes that are intrinsic to the body: nayra (“front”) and qhipa (“back”), denoting east and west, respectively. Why? We use different but complementary ethnographic methods to investigate the nature of this encoding: (a) linguistic expressions and speech–gesture co‐production, (b) linguistic patterns in the distinct regional Spanish‐based variety Castellano Andino (CA), (c) metaphorical extensions of CA’s spatial patterns to temporal ones, and (d) layouts of traditional houses. Findings indicate that, following fundamental principles of Aymara cosmology, people, objects, and land—as a whole—are conceived as having an implicit canonical orientation facing east, a primary landmark determined by the sunrise. The above bodily based lexicalizations are thus linguistic manifestations of a broader macro‐cultural worldview and its psycho‐cognitive reality.     

The effects of type of instruction,animacy cues,and dimensionality of objects on the shape bias in 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children

Robust evidence exists for the shape bias, or children's tendency to extend novel names and categorize objects more readily on the basis of shape than on other object features. However, issues remain about the conditions that affect the shape bias and its importance as a linguistic device. In this research, we examined how type of instruction (common noun naming, proper noun naming, same kind, and goes with), animacy of objects (animate, inanimate), and dimensionality of objects (two‐dimensional, three‐dimensional) affect the shape bias in 3‐ to 6‐year‐old children. Overall, all children showed strong use of the shape bias with categorization (same kind, goes with) instructions, the former in line with the shape‐as‐cue theory. Additionally, the shape bias was quite robust in the inanimate condition, regardless of type of instruction or dimensionality of objects. However, in the animate condition, a proper noun naming instruction coupled with an animate object cue reduced the shape bias across both two‐ and three‐dimensional objects. Implications of these findings are presented.

Highlights

• This study assessed the “shape bias,” a linguistic strategy young children routinely use when confronted with the task of extending a novel name from one object to another.
• Novel name extension and categorization tasks were used in this study.
• Shape bias was affected by the type of instructions, animacy of objects, and dimensionality of objects.

     

Frames of Reference in Self-Reports of Health,Well-Being,Fatigue, and Pain: a Qualitative Examination

Self-reports in survey research can be affected by internal comparison standards, or Frames of Reference (FoRs), that people apply when making their ratings. The goal of this study was to determine which FoRs people naturally use when rating their health, subjective well-being, fatigue, and pain. We further examined whether FoRs varied by content domain and age group. One hundred adults from a community sample of the US general population participated in individual semi-structured qualitative interviews. Participants provided self-report ratings on two of the four content domains and were then systematically queried about FoRs. Interview responses were summarized and coded into broad FoR categories. Four broad FoR categories emerged: References to (1) Other People, (2) an Earlier Time in Life, (3) an Important Event in the Past, and (4) a Hypothetical Situation. FoRs were reported in the majority (80.5%) of responses and multiple FoRs were reported in 34% of responses. The reporting of FoRs was evident for all domains, but was more prevalent for well-being compared to pain. References to a Hypothetical Situation were only mentioned in the well-being and health domains. For health, references to Other People were more frequently reported at older compared to younger ages. Our results extend prior work by demonstrating that participants’ reporting of FoRs is evident in ratings of various content domains. They further suggest that a limited number of FoRs are used and that their identification holds promise for understanding and controlling systematic group differences in FoRs.     

Cortical regions associated with different aspects of object recognition performance

In the present object recognition study, we examined the relationship between brain activation and four behavioral measures: error rate, reaction time, observer sensitivity, and response bias. Subjects perceptually matched object pairs in which structural similarity (SS), an index of structural differentiation, and exposure duration (DUR), an index of task difficulty, were manipulated. The SS manipulation affected the fMRI signal in the left anterior fusiform and parietal cortices, which in turn reflected a bias to respond same. Conversely, an SS-modulated fMRI signal in the right middle frontal gyrus reflected a bias to respond different. The DUR manipulation affected the fMRI signal in occipital and posterior fusiform regions, which in turn reflected greater sensitivity, longer reaction times, and greater accuracy. These findings demonstrate that the regions most strongly implicated in processing object shape (SS-modulated regions) are associated with response bias, whereas regions that are not directly involved in shape processing are associated with successful recognition performance.     

Continued Longitudinal Rorschach Study of a Child for Years Three to Five

The present study was designed to assess whether induced behavioral similarity is reinforcing and, if so, whether it leads to increased subsequent imitation, or whether the increased imitation is a function of the predictability of the observer's responses. Sixty Dutch school age boys and girls participated. The experiment consisted of a modeling-only condition and three (i.e., contingent, noncontingent, and consistent) imitation conditions. All conditions consisted of 15 or less induction trials and 18 modeling trials. Except for the consistent imitation condition, none of the conditions allowed perfect predictability of the observer's responses during induction trials. The results revealed that the contingent imitation of the children's target response did not cause them to demonstrate that response more often and that it did not lead to increased imitations on subsequent modeling trials. By contrast, increased imitation was observed for the one condition suggesting perfect predictability of the observer's imitations.     

Verbal social primes alter motor contagion during action observation

We investigated whether prosocial and nonsocial word primes prior to action observation modify subsequent initiation and execution of the observer's own reach-to-grasp actions. Participants observed a model performing exaggeratedly curved (vertical deviation) or natural straight reaches to a vertical dowel and always performed a straight reach to a dowel themselves. Observing curved movements slowed initiation times and increased the vertical deviation of the participants’ movements. Observing curved movements enhanced vertical deviation only in the prosocial word primes condition. We suggest that social context priming can modulate initiation of movement as well as the extent of motor contagion (in this case, the extent of vertical deviation) between model and observer.     

THE TRUTH-DECEPTION ATTRIBUTION: EFFECTS OF FAMILIARITY ON THE ABILITY OF OBSERVERS TO DETECT DECEPTION

This study investigated the relationship between an observer's familiarity with the normal, truthful communicative behavior of an individual, and the observer's ability to detect deception on the part of that individual. Specifically, an attempt was made to provide an experimental test of the degree of linearity between familiarity and judgmental accuracy in detecting deception. After exposure to varying amounts of a communicator's normal, truthful behavior (baseline segment), observers made judgments of a communicator's veracity following observation of truthful or lying behavior (test segment). The results indicate a significant deviation from linearity in the relationship between familiarity and judgmental accuracy, and that the relationship is better described by an inverted parabolic curve (quadratic function). The possibility of information overload, the possibility of communicator-specific characteristics which provide clues to deception, and the possibility of observer fatigue were proposed as possible explanations of these results.     

Locke's theory of classification

In §155 of his New Theory of Vision Berkeley explains that a hypothetical ‘unbodied spirit’ ‘cannot comprehend the manner wherein geometers describe a right line or circle’.1 ¹All references to Berkeley are from, A. A. Luce and T. E. Jessop (eds.), The Works of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1948) The following abbreviations are used: An Essay Towards A New Theory of Vision, section x = New Theory x; Philosophical Commentaries, entry x = Commentaries x; Part I of A Treatise concerning the Principles of Knowledge, section x = Principles x. All other references to Berkeley's works are of the form The Works of George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, volume x, page y = Works, x, y. The reason for this, Berkeley continues, is that ‘the rule and compass with their use being things of which it is impossible he should have any notion.’ This reference to geometrical tools has led virtually all commentators to conclude that at least one reason why the unbodied spirit cannot have knowledge of plane geometry is because it cannot manipulate a ruler or a compass. In this article I will show that such an interpretation is flawed. I will instead argue that Berkeley's understanding of Euclidian geometry was based on Isaac Barrow's account of the foundations of geometry. On this view geometrical objects are conceived in terms of the idealized motion that generates the objects of geometry. Consequently, that what the unbodied spirit cannot do in this context is to form an idea of motion rather than being unable to handle geometrical tools.     

The role of observer attitudes in judgments of blame in cases of wife assault

This study examines the importance of observer characteristics in determining blame in cases of wife assault. Four independent variables (observer's attitudes toward sex roles, observer sex and age, and victim behavior) were assessed for their influence on the blaming judgments of 128 participants. Subjects completed a questionnaire that contained demographic items and six wife assault vignettes that varied in level of victim provocation (low or high). Questions about blame of the husband and wife followed each vignette. An attitudes toward women scale (AWS-B) was then administered. The main hypothesis, that subjects with traditional attitudes would blame the victim more and the perpetrator less for the assault than their egalitarian counterparts, was supported, as was the prediction of an interaction between provocation and AWS-B. The results are discussed in light of the role of observer attitudes in attribution models.     

Defending Nietzsche's Constructivism about Objects

Nietzsche appears to adopt a radical Kantian view of objects called constructivism, which holds that the existence of all objects depends essentially on our practices. This essay provides a new reconstruction of Nietzsche's argument for constructivism and responds to five pressing objections to reading Nietzsche as a constructivist that have not been addressed by commentators defending constructivist interpretations of Nietzsche.