Differential response patterns to disgust-related pictures

ABSTRACT

In the present study, attentional bias was investigated as a potential predisposing mechanism for the contamination-related subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder (C-OC disorder). Fifty healthy participants with varying degrees of subclinical C-OC symptoms performed a visual search task to measure differential attentional biases elicited by neutral, disgust-, and fear-specific pictorial material. Participants had to find a target picture within five neutral distractor pictures randomly presented on different locations in an array. The task was to decide whether the array contained an unpleasant target picture or not. In randomly-selected emotional trials, participants were further asked about the content of the picture and the confidence of their answer. The results show that the reaction times significantly differed between the emotional and neutral pictures. Participants were significantly more confident in answering questions referring to fear compared to disgust pictures. This effect was marginally amplified in participants with higher C-OC symptoms. We discuss the results within the framework of the cost and benefit hypothesis, which postulates that disgust evolutionarily elicits stronger uncertainty compared to fear, owing to the ambiguous nature of the stimuli. Increased uncertainty might be an important but underestimated factor for pathological disgust experience, such as in obsessive-compulsive disorder.     

Responses to patterns of employee absences

Simulated supervisory responses to different patterns of absence were examined in a 2×2×2 factorial experiment. Annual employee absence records were varied in terms of frequency of absence, when in the year absences occurred (timing) and the mean time between absences. The responses of 73 raters to these records were evaluated in terms of perceived intentions of the employee, perceived impact on the company and raters' intentions to act. The results cast doubts on the role of attributions of intentionality as a mediator between absences and supervisory action. A three-way interaction on supervisor action suggests a three stage model in which frequency has the dominant effect, followed by timing and mean time between absences.     

Judgments relative to patterns: how temporal sequence patterns affect judgments and memory

Six experiments studied relative frequency judgment and recall of sequentially presented items drawn from 2 distinct categories (i.e., city and animal). The experiments show that judged frequencies of categories of sequentially encountered stimuli are affected by certain properties of the sequence configuration. We found (a) a first-run effect whereby people overestimated the frequency of a given category when that category was the first repeated category to occur in the sequence and (b) a dissociation between judgments and recall; respondents may judge 1 event more likely than the other and yet recall more instances of the latter. Specifically, the distribution of recalled items does not correspond to the frequency estimates for the event categories, indicating that participants do not make frequency judgments by sampling their memory for individual items as implied by other accounts such as the availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973) and the availability process model (Hastie & Park, 1986). We interpret these findings as reflecting the operation of a judgment heuristic sensitive to sequential patterns and offer an account for the relationship between memory and judged frequencies of sequentially encountered stimuli.     

Transitions to and from asymmetrical gait patterns

Asymmetrical gait patterns such as the gallop provide insight into the complexity of human locomotion. The nature of spontaneous (e.g., walk-run), quasi-spontaneous (e.g., gallop-walk), and intentional (e.g., walk-gallop) transitions was analyzed in 2 ways in the present study. In Analysis 1, the authors used step-wise regression to associate 10 physical characteristics with gait transitions. Transition predictability was moderate; thigh length best predicted 3 of 6 transitions. In Analysis 2, the dynamic characteristics of transitions (order parameters, phase shifts, multistability, and critical fluctuations) were described; those characteristics existed for all transition types. The results of the analyses suggest that intentional transitions are less biomechanically predictable than are spontaneous transitions and that transitions between gait pairs (e.g., walk-gallop and gallop-walk), regardless of velocity direction, have more in common than do transitions requiring specific intention.     

Super Memory Bros.: Going from mirror patterns to concordant patterns via similarity enhancements

When memory is contrasted for stimuli belonging to distinct stimulus classes, one of two patterns is observed: a mirror pattern, in which one stimulus gives rise to higher hits but lower false alarms (e.g., the frequency-based mirror effect) or a concordant pattern, in which one stimulus class gives rise both to higher hits and to higher false alarms (e.g., the pseudoword effect). On the basis of the dual-process account proposed by Joordens and Hockley (2000), we predict that mirror patterns occur when one stimulus class is more familiar and less distinctive than another, whereas concordant patterns occur when one stimulus class is more familiar than another. We tested these assumptions within a video game paradigm using novel stimuli that allow manipulations in terms of distinctiveness and familiarity (via similarity). When more distinctive, less familiar items are contrasted with less distinctive, more familiar items, a mirror pattern is observed. Systematically enhancing the familiarity of stimuli transforms the mirror pattern to a concordant pattern as predicted. Although our stimuli differ considerably from those used in examinations of the frequency-based mirror effect and the pseudoword effect, the implications of our findings with respect to those phenomena are also discussed.     

A new instrument to identify spatial occupancy patterns

This paper explores the potential of systematic observational methodologies and field format instruments for the analysis of spatial appropriation processes. We present an observational instrument that facilitates the registration of a number of co-ocurrent variables related to different levels of responses (types of users, activities and environmental variables), which was used in an exploratory analysis of occupancy patterns in a public square in Barcelona. A sequential analysis revealed distinct patterns of use in different areas within the space, and at different moments during the day. These strategies offer important new opportunities to describe spatial occupancy patterns.     

Typical coping patterns: A person-centered approach to coping

Applying the person-oriented approach to coping can provide a unique perspective by revealing typical latent patterns. The study examined typical latent patterns shown by task-, emotion- and avoidance-oriented trait-based coping styles. We performed secondary analyses with Latent Profile Analysis on our former data and three independent datasets containing coping measures with the CISS-48 scale (Endler & Parker, 1994). Gender differences were also studied. Two basic profiles seem universal: the first is characterized by a high level of task-oriented coping, and the second profile is with moderately high scores on all three coping styles. The finding indicates that two fundamental latent coping profiles exist, which suggests a within-subject comparison in practice instead of investigating the absolute value of coping styles. Comparing data before and after 2020, COVID-19 does not seem to affect these profiles. The person-centered approach provides a possibility for the integration of coping-related findings.     

Sensorimotor synchronization: Motor responses to pseudoregular auditory patterns

Musically trained and untrained subjects (N=30) were asked to synchronize their finger tapping with stimuli in auditory patterns. Each pattern comprised six successive tonal stimuli of the same duration, the first of which was accented by a different frequency. The duration of interstimulus onset intervals (ISIs) gradually increased or decreased in constant steps toward the end of the patterns. Four values of such steps were used in different trials: 20, 30, 45, and 60 msec. Various time-control mechanisms are hypothesized as being simultaneously responsible for subjects’ incorrect reproduction of the internal temporal ratios of the stimulus patterns. The mechanism of assimilation (of a central tendency) led subjects to enforce a regular (isochronous) structure on the patterns. The influence of other time-control mechanisms (distinction, subjective expression of an accent, sequential transfer) was expressed mainly in differences between intertap onset intervals (ITIs) and the corresponding ISIs at the beginning of the patterns. The duration of the first two ITIs was in the majority of the trials in an inverse ratio to the ratio of the respective ISIs. The distortions resulting from the timing mechanisms concerned were more pronounced in the performance of nonmusicians than in that of musicians.     

Sensorimotor synchronization: Motor responses to regular auditory patterns

Subjects (N = 32) were asked to synchronize a motor response with tones in auditory patterns. These patterns were created from six tones and six intertone intervals of equal duration. The pitch of the first tone differed from the others. It was found that subjects used three types of timing in their motor response: (1) the first intertone interval was prolonged and the second interval was shortened, (2) the second intertone interval was prolonged and the first interval was shortened, and/or (3) the first interval and the second interval were of approximately the same length. The prolongation of the fifth interval was observed during all three types of timing. The results are explained using the concept of suprasegmental control of timing, which explains a prolongation of intervals at critical control point of the patterns. The occurrence of three different strategies of timing is discussed in connection with similar principles in musical performance.     

Attending to threat: Race-based patterns of selective attention

The present research investigated the extent to which the stereotype that young Black men are threatening and dangerous has become so robust and ingrained in the collective American unconscious that Black men now capture attention, much like evolved threats such as spiders and snakes. Specifically, using a dot-probe detection paradigm, White participants revealed biased attention toward Black faces relative to White faces (Study 1). Because the faces were presented only briefly (30-ms), the bias is thought to reflect the early engagement of attention. The attentional bias was eliminated, however, when the faces displayed averted eye-gaze (Study 2). That is, when the threat communicated by the Black faces was attenuated by a relevant, competing socio-emotional cue—in this case, averted eye-gaze—they no longer captured perceivers’ attention. Broader implications for social cognition, as well as public policies that reify these prevailing perceptions of young Black men are discussed.     

Visual encoding of patterns is subject to dual-task interference

Two stimuli were presented at varying stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs), with each stimulus associated with a distinct task. The first stimulus was a tone at one of either two or three frequencies. In two conditions, the task associated with a tone was either a speeded two-alternative discrimination (2AD), or a speeded three-alternative discrimination (3AD) based on the pitch of the tone. In a third condition, subjects were told to ignore the tone. The second stimulus was a briefly exposed study matrix of red and black squares followed by a mask. After a fixed delay, the mask was replaced by a test matrix that was either the same or different from the study matrix. The task associated with the matrices was to indicate, with no speed pressure, whether the study matrix and the test matrix were the same or different. Results from each speeded AD condition showed that subject's accuracy in the matrix task decreased as the SOA between the tone and the study matrix decreased. This effect was larger for the 3AD tone task than with a 2AD tone task. In addition, within each speeded AD condition, longer RTs in the tone task were associated with lower accuracy in the matrix task. None of these effects was evident when the subjects were told to ignore the tone. These results suggest that encoding visual information can be subject to significant capacity limitations imposed by cross-modal multitasking.     

Causal patterns related to post high school employment satisfaction

A linear recursive path model was developed and evaluated using a combined male and female sample, and separate male and female samples in an attempt to identify causal relationships of in-school student characteristics to satisfaction in post high school employment. The statistical methodology used was Path Analysis. A total of ten student characteristic variables were used in the model. The findings indicate that overall job satisfaction is related to variables which are associated with the affective domain. These variables are: Occupational Values-Interest and Satisfaction and Salary, and Vocational Maturity. Overall, employment satisfaction was twice as predictable for the female sample as it was for the combined sample and it was not at all predictable for the male sample.     

Two‐ to three‐month‐old infants prefer moving face patterns to moving top‐heavy patterns

Newborn infants prefer face‐like patterns over non‐face‐like patterns. This preference is explained by newborns' preference for a “top‐heavy” configuration, that is, for geometric patterns that have more elements in the upper part than in the lower part of the configuration (Simion, Valenza, Macchi Cassia, Turati, & Umiltà, 2002). However, for 3‐month‐old infants, face preference cannot be explained only by a preference for “top‐heaviness” because they prefer veridical face images over top‐heavy images. The present study used geometric patterns to investigate whether 2‐ to 3‐month‐old infants' preference for face patterns exceeds their preference for top‐heavy configurations. In Experiment 1, we revealed that the infants preferred the face pattern to the top‐heavy pattern only when the internal elements of the patterns were presented with face‐like movements. This facilitative effect of internal movement was observed again in Experiment 2, in which the patterns were presented with non‐face‐like movements. These results suggest that 2‐ to 3‐month‐olds' preference for geometric face patterns is greater than their preference for top‐heavy patterns only when aided by the movement of internal elements.     

Infant patterns of reactivity to tactile stimulation during parent-child interaction

Touch is the primary modality infants use to engage with the world; atypical responses to tactile stimuli may indicate risk for disordered outcomes. The current study examined infants’ responses to tactile stimulation within parent-child interaction, adding to prior knowledge based on parent report. Nine-month-old infants (N = 497) were observed while parents painted and pressed infants’ hands and feet to paper to make designs. Positive and negative affect and gazing away, exploring, and resistance behaviors were coded. Latent Class Analysis of observed behaviors yielded four tactile response patterns partially consistent with current nosology for sensory processing patterns: Low Reactive, Sensory Overreactive, Sensory Seeking, and Mixed Over/Underreactive. To evaluate whether patterns made valid distinctions among infants, latent classes were examined in relation to parent-reported temperament. Infants in the Mixed Over/Underreactive class were rated higher in distress to limitations and activity level than other infants. Sensory processing patterns observed in parent-child interaction are consistent with those identified by parent-report and may be used in future research to elucidate relations with temperament and typical and atypical development.     

Sensorimotor synchronization: motor responses to regular auditory patterns.

Subjects (N = 32) were asked to synchronize a motor response with tones in auditory patterns. These patterns were created from six tones and six intertone intervals of equal duration. The pitch of the first tone differed from the others. It was found that subjects used three types of timing in their motor response: (1) the first intertone interval was prolonged and the second interval was shortened, (2) the second intertone interval was prolonged and the first interval was shortened, and/or (3) the first interval and the second interval were of approximately the same length. The prolongation of the fifth interval was observed during all three types of timing. The results are explained using the concept of suprasegmental control of timing, which explains a prolongation of intervals at critical control point of the patterns. The occurrence of three different strategies of timing is discussed in connection with similar principles in musical performance.