Perceptions of male and female success or failure in relation to spouse encouragement and sex-association of occupation

Male and female subjects read four paragraphs portraying successful (experiment 1) or unsuccessful (experiment 2) males or females in masculine or feminine occupations, with a supportive or nonsupportive spouse. The likelihoods of various conflicts, consequences, and causes of the success or failure were rated. Generally, ratings of more negative consequences were associated with lack of spouse support for a career pursuit. Spouse support influenced perceptions of female more than male success. The sex-association of the career proved to be an important determinant of perceptions of conflict, consequences, and attributions for the success or failure. Although male and female occupations had been equated for status, female jobs appeared to be generally devalued relative to male jobs.     

Investigations of hemispheric specialization of self-voice recognition

Three experiments investigated functional asymmetries related to self-recognition in the domain of voices. In Experiment 1, participants were asked to identify one of three presented voices (self, familiar or unknown) by responding with either the right or the left-hand. In Experiment 2, participants were presented with auditory morphs between the self-voice and a familiar voice and were asked to perform a forced-choice decision on speaker identity with either the left or the right-hand. In Experiment 3, participants were presented with continua of auditory morphs between self- or a familiar voice and a famous voice, and were asked to stop the presentation either when the voice became "more famous" or "more familiar/self". While these experiments did not reveal an overall hand difference for self-recognition, the last study, with improved design and controls, suggested a right-hemisphere advantage for self-compared to other-voice recognition, similar to that observed in the visual domain for self-faces.     

Lack of pervasiveness of the underconfidence-with-practice effect: boundary conditions and an explanation via anchoring

The authors investigated whether underconfidence in judgments of learning (JOLs) is pervasive across multiple study-test trials as suggested by A. Koriat, L. Sheffer, and H. Ma'ayan (2002) or whether underconfidence with practice (UWP) might be a kind of anchoring-and-adjustment effect, such that the occurrence or nonoccurrence of the UWP effect depends on whether recall is above a psychological anchor. Participants studied normatively difficult items or normatively easy items and made immediate JOLs or delayed JOLs. The UWP effect occurred for easy items, but for difficult items an overconfidence-with-practice (OWP) effect occurred for delayed JOLs and no bias occurred for immediate JOLs. The systematic occurrence of all 3 outcomes establishes boundary conditions for the UWP effect and confirms the hypothesis that underconfidence (or the lack thereof) may arise at least in part from an anchoring-and-adjustment mechanism.     

The Benefits of Coming into Existence

This paper argues that we can benefit or harm people by creating them, but only in the sense that we can create things that are good or bad for them. What we cannot do is to confer comparative benefits and harms to people by creating them or failing to create them. You are not better off (or worse off) created than you would have been had you not been created, for nothing has value for you if you do not exist, not even neutral value.     

Constitutive elements of the concept of human aggression

An analysis of the constitutive elements of the concept of human aggression is made. These constitutive elements are explications of the analytically true implications of the concept of human aggression as they are imbedded into the structure of “normal” language. The analysis results in the following proposal for a definition of the concept of human aggression. Human aggression is characterized—at least from the point of view of the person affected or a neutral judge—as an inconsiderate or malicious violation of a norm which implies current or potential harm by a person actively responsible; characterizing the violation of the norm as “inconsiderate” or “malicious” implies that no arguments for exoneration (e.g., excuses or justifications) will be accepted. These six constitutive elements of the concept of human aggression are discussed; in particular, the structure of possible arguments for incrimination and exoneration is outlined in detail. Finally, some consequences for future research are drawn from this suggestion for the definition of human aggression.     

The first 100 milliseconds of a face: on the microgenesis of early face processing

Face recognition involves both processing of information relating to features (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth, hair, i.e., featural processing), as well as the spatial relation between these features (configural processing). In a sequential matching task, participants had to decide whether two faces that differed in either featural or relational aspects were identical or different. In order to test for the microgenesis of face recognition (the development of processing onsets), presentation times of the backward-masked target face were varied (32, 42, 53, 63, 74, 84, or 94 msec.). To test for specific processing onsets and the processing of different facial areas, both featurally and relationally modified faces were manipulated in terms of changes to one facial area (eyes or nose or mouth), two, or three facial areas. For featural processing, an early onset for the eyes and mouth was at 32 msec. of presentation time, but a late onset for the nose was detected. For relationally differing faces, all onsets were delayed.     

Primacy effect in orienting responses to auditory stimuli of tones and music.

This 25 factorial experiment investigated the primacy effect in the orienting response. The type of stimuli (tone or "music"), stimulus intensities (loud or soft), length of adaptation period (same, 5 or 30 sec; or different, 5 min.), interstimulus intervals (5 or 30 sec.), and sex were studied. College students, 32 males and 32 females were randomly assigned to each group. In the same condition, the tone (or music) was soft (or loud) for 5 sec. (or 30 sec.) in adaptation and was then changed alternately without interruption to loud, soft, etc. (or soft, loud, etc.) for 5 sec. (or 30 sec.). The different condition was identical except for the length of adaptation period in which the stimuli sounded continously for 5 min. Analyses of the GSR manifestation of the orienting responses indicated: (a) an over-all primacy effect with the auditory stimuli and (b) the primacy effect occurred in the 5-sec.-same but not in the 30-sec.-same condition as predicted.     

Primacy of emotional vs. semantic scene recognition in peripheral vision

Emotional scenes were presented peripherally (5.2° away from fixation) or foveally (at fixation) for 150 ms. In affective evaluation tasks viewers judged whether a scene was unpleasant or not, or whether it was pleasant or not. In semantic categorisation tasks viewers judged whether a scene involved animals or humans (superordinate-level task), or whether it portrayed females or males (subordinate-level task). The same stimuli were used for the affective and the semantic task. Results indicated that in peripheral vision affective evaluation was less accurate and slower than animal/human discrimination, and did not show any advantage over gender discrimination. In addition, performance impairment in the peripheral relative to the foveal condition was greater or equivalent for affective than for semantic categorisation. These findings cast doubts on the specialness and the primacy of affective over semantic recognition. The findings are also relevant when considering the role of the subcortical "low route" in emotional processing.     

Valence of distractor words increases the effects of irrelevant speech on serial recall

Participants memorized target words in silence or while ignoring neutral or valent (positive or negative) distractor words that could be either possessor-relevant or other-relevant. Distractor words impaired recall performance, but valent distractor words caused more disruption than neutral distractors, and negative distractors caused more disruption than positive distractors. The results are problematic for explanations of the irrelevant speech effect within working memory models that do not specify an explicit role of attention in the maintenance of information for immediate serial recall.     

Primacy of emotional vs. semantic scene recognition in peripheral vision

Emotional scenes were presented peripherally (5.2° away from fixation) or foveally (at fixation) for 150 ms. In affective evaluation tasks viewers judged whether a scene was unpleasant or not, or whether it was pleasant or not. In semantic categorisation tasks viewers judged whether a scene involved animals or humans (superordinate-level task), or whether it portrayed females or males (subordinate-level task). The same stimuli were used for the affective and the semantic task. Results indicated that in peripheral vision affective evaluation was less accurate and slower than animal/human discrimination, and did not show any advantage over gender discrimination. In addition, performance impairment in the peripheral relative to the foveal condition was greater or equivalent for affective than for semantic categorisation. These findings cast doubts on the specialness and the primacy of affective over semantic recognition. The findings are also relevant when considering the role of the subcortical “low route” in emotional processing.     

Modality dependency of loss of recency in free recall

Summary Four experiments were carried out in which the probability of free recall of words as a function of serial position within lists was examined. The lists were presented either auditorily or visually, with subjects either silent or engaged in irrelevant articulation, and with recall either immediate or after an auditory or visual intervening task. The results provide evidence for the presence of modality-specific capacity limitations in primary memory, and also indicate that forgetting may occur in a last-in, first-out manner.The authors thank Nancy Chenier for assistance with Experiment 4, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Research has been supported by the SRC (MM) and MRC (GVJ). Requests for offprints should be sent to Maryanne Martin, University of Oxford, Department of Experimental Psychology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, England.     

The Use of Metaphor and Drawings in Case Conceptualization

The author describes a procedure whereby counselors, as part of their conceptualization for case conferences or supervision, develop metaphors and then make them concrete by constructing drawings or collages. The drawings or collages are used as the basis for case discussions.     

Motion parallax judgements of depth as a function of the direction and type of head movement

We compared the relative effectiveness of rotating or translating the head, either horizontally or vertically, on the perception of depth resulting from motion parallax. Using Rogers and Graham's (1979) paradigm, we yoked the movement of random dots on a screen to movements of the head, simulating a corrugated surface. In two experiments, subjects nulled the apparent depth or motion seen in the display. Horizontal head movements yielded the most precise depth judgements, irrespective of whether the head translated or rotated. Motion thresholds were higher than those for depth and were independent of direction of head movement. In a third experiment, suprathreshold stimuli that simulated differing amounts of depth were used, and the subjects' perception of depth was virtually the same for all types and directions of head movement. In our stimulus situation, rotating or translating the head either vertically or horizontally produced motion parallax cues for depth that were equally effective. Our results also showed that, within a range, retinal image motion from head movement is converted into a depth signal and that above that range location constancy breaks down and motion is seen.     

The behavioral economics of production.

In two experiments, thirsty rats licked an empty spout instrumentally for water delivered at a neighboring spout. Each such pair of spouts constituted a work station, and one, two, or three stations were available in the test enclosure. In 1-hr sessions, the rats worked alone or in the company of 1 or 2 other rats, and performed either five, 10, or 40 licks at the empty spout for each water delivery. The total number of empty-spout licks, summed across rats and stations, increased with the empty-lick requirement and, with some exceptions, the number of rats in the enclosure and the number of work stations available. A Cobb-Douglas production function, with instrumental responding as an output and the three independent variables as inputs, accounted for a significant percentage of the variance. Contrary to that function, output failed to increase with additional rats (or work stations) when the number of work stations (or rats) was relatively small.     

Preparing Students for the Worst: The Power of Negative Thinking

Helping students be prepared for an uncertain future is difficult. Generally speaking, we counselors are least helpful in preparing students for unhappy eventualities: academic failure (failing an exam or flunking out), vocational failure (unemployment, change of career direction), social failure (rejection, loss, loneliness), or even unhappiness itself. If unprepared for, such future eventualities can be a source of present anxiety and fear-motivated, over-protective life-styles or of defensive denial and unrealistic hopes. As helpers, we may collude with those who ignore or deny and offer the anxious a kind of positive thinking that again fails to prepare them for the worst. In contrast, some negative thinking or contingency planning for otherwise fearful possibilities may help to undercut anxiety, restore motivation to move forward and take risks, shift attention from future-oriented coping to living creatively in the present, clarify priorities and values for life planning, and generally expand behavioral freedom and flexibility. This article emphasizes the use of constructive negative thinking in preparing students for life both in and beyond the classroom or the ivory tower.     

Victim and offender accounts of interpersonal conflict: autobiographical narratives of forgiveness and unforgiveness

Participants wrote 2 narratives that described an incident in which they angered or hurt someone (offender) or in which someone angered or hurt them (victim) and the offense was forgiven or not forgiven. Victims portrayed the offense as continuing (open), and offenders portrayed the offense as over (closed). Forgiveness narratives portrayed offenses as closed and with positive outcomes; however, for some victims, forgiveness coincided with continued anger, suggesting incomplete forgiveness. Dispositional empathy was associated with more benign interpretations of offenses, and situational empathy (e.g., for the offender) was associated with victims' forgiveness. In contrast, offenders' empathy for victims was associated with less self-forgiveness. Thus, both victim or offender role and forgiveness must be considered to understand narratives of interpersonal offenses.     

Strategies of Character Attack

Why are personal attacks so powerful? In political debates, speeches, discussions and campaigns, negative character judgments, aggressive charges and charged epithets are used for different purposes. They can block the dialogue, trigger value judgments and influence decisions; they can force the interlocutor to withdraw a viewpoint or undermine his arguments. Personal attacks are not only multifaceted dialogical moves, but also complex argumentative strategies. They can be considered as premises for further arguments based on signs, generalizations or consequences. They involve tactics for arousing emotions such as fear, hate or contempt, or for ridiculing the interlocutor. The twofold level of investigation presented in this paper is aimed at distinguishing the different roles that ad hominem have in a dialogue and bringing to light their hidden dimensions. The reasoning structure of each type of attack will be distinguished from the tactics used to increase its effectiveness and conceal its weaknesses.     

Reactions of male subordinates to the sex-role congruency of immediate supervision

Male subjects (N=90) worked under supervision for two hours. A 2×2×2 factorial design was employed so that the supervisor was male or female, autocratic or democratic, and possessed a sex-role congruent or incongruent job title. The hypotheses were supported in part: For female supervision only, the more traditionally incongruent the situation, the more unfavorable were the reactions elicited. This finding was true, however, only for subordinates' verbal comments and not for their task performance or written evaluation of the supervisor. Discussion of the specific hypotheses is provided and an alternate explanation concerning the supervisors' alleged prior experience is offered. A more dynamic approach to the study of leader—subordinate relationships — especially in light of the implications for acceptance of female supervision offered by this study — is advocated.     

A test of whether attributions provide for self-enhancement or self-defense

It is well known that people often make attributions in a way that is favorable to their self-concepts (see R. L. Collins, 1996, for a review). However, it is less clear whether the primary effect is to enhance self-esteem or to defend against the possible loss of self-esteem. The authors performed an experiment to test these possibilities against each other. In a completely between-participants design, participants recalled either a positive behavior or a negative behavior that was performed by themselves or others. They then judged the positivity or negativity of the behavior and made trait attributions about the actor (i.e., himself, herself, or others). The results indicated that although judgments and trait attributions for positive behaviors were similar for the self and for others, judgments and trait attributions for negative behaviors were less negative for the self than they were for others. The authors interpreted these and other findings as supporting a defensive strategy rather than an enhancive strategy.     

Perceiving and encoding two kinds of item-information

Perception and encoding of item-information about the occurrence of simple, well-known events (numbers) for retrieval by either same-order recall or serial-order recall was investigated by specifying kind of recall to be used either before or after perception and encoding. Both same-order and serial-order recall were less when kind of recall was specified after presentation, but serial-order recall decreased more than same-order recall. These results indicate that the same numbers may be perceived differently for same-order or serial-order recall: different kinds of item-information may be encoded either in terms of presentation characteristics (serial position for same-order recall) or event characteristics (ordinal position for serial-order recall).