Differences between experts and non-experts in photographic perception and assessment

How professional skills and schemata do affect cognition, evaluative dimensions and aesthetic perception of pictures? And what about the effect of social elements like a smiling or serious subject pictured? The present study investigates the differences between Experts (photo professionals) and inexperienced individuals in perception and evaluation of photographs. Furthermore, it approaches the influence of different facial expressions (Reis et al. in Euro J Soc Psychol 20(3):259-267, 1990). People with well-developed schemes in photography should evaluate pictures through assessment, while inexperienced people should evaluate pictures through appraisal? N = 118, 60 Experts and 58 inexperienced people were asked to evaluate a set of stimulus pictures throughout: (a) 'The Circumplex Model of Affect' (PAQs) to measure 4 affective dimensions; and (b) a Semantic Differential made of 9 couples of bipolar adjectives to measure 2 evaluative dimensions (Aesthetics and Distinctive Features). Results partially confirmed the hypotheses: Experts differ significantly from Non-experts in picture evaluations. Smile arouses more positive evaluations, but only in the inexperienced group. No subject position effects were found. These results are in concordance with previous research about Expert and Non-expert evaluation, and they open new questions about facial expressions studies.     

Differences in personality between American and English children

One thousand and ninety-one children between the ages of 9 and 15 yr from three Tennessee schools completed the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and an Impulsiveness Inventory. The American children scored significantly higher on the N, P, E and Imp scales and lower on the L scale. Common trends were noted on age and sex between the American personality norms and the English norms. The results were discussed in terms of the differences in crime rate and lifestyle between the two countries. Both questionnaires were seen as useful measures of personality for children in the U.S.     

Differences in American English, Spanish, and monkey perception of thesay-stay trading relation

An interesting phenomenon in human speech perception is the trading relation, in which two different acoustic cues both signal the same phonetic percept. The present study compared American English, Spanish, and monkey listeners in their perception of the trading relation between gap duration andFl transition onset frequency in a syntheticsay-stay continuum. For all the subjects, increased gap duration caused perception to change fromsay tostay; however, subjects differed in the extent to which theFl cue traded with gap duration. For American English listeners, a change from a low to a highF1 onset caused a phoneme boundary shift of 26 msec toward shorter gap durations, indicating a strong trading relation. For Spanish listeners, the shift was significantly smaller at 13.7 msec, indicating a weaker trading relation. For monkeys, there was no shift at all, indicating no trading relation. These results provide evidence that thesay-stay trading relation is dependent on perceptual learning from linguistic exposure.     

Differences between immigrant and national students in motivational variables and classroom-motivational-climate perception

The objective of this study is to see whether Immigrant (IM) and Spanish (National) students (SP) need different kinds of help from teachers due to differences in motivation, family expectancies and interests and classroom-motivational-climate perception. A sample of Secondary Students -242 Spanish and 243 Immigrants- completed questionnaires assessing goal orientations and expectancies, family attitudes towards academic work, perception of classroom motivational climate and of its effects, satisfaction, disruptive behavior and achievement. ANOVAs showed differences in many of the motivational variables assessed as well as in family attitudes. In most cases, Immigrant students scored lower than Spanish students in the relevant variables. Regression analyses showed that personal and family differences were related to student's satisfaction, achievement and disruptive behavior. Finally, multi-group analysis of classroom-motivational-climate (CMC) showed similarities and differences in the motivational value attributed by IM and SP to each specific teaching pattern that configure the CMC. IM lower self-esteem could explain these results, whose implications for teaching and research are discussed.     

Differences in American English, Spanish, and monkey perception of the say-stay trading relation

An interesting phenomenon in human speech perception is the trading relation, in which two different acoustic cues both signal the same phonetic percept. The present study compared American English, Spanish, and monkey listeners in their perception of the trading relation between gap duration and F1 transition onset frequency in a synthetic say-stay continuum. For all the subjects, increased gap duration caused perception to change from say to stay; however, subjects differed in the extent to which the F1 cue traded with gap duration. For American English listeners, a change from a low to a high F1 onset caused a phoneme boundary shift of 26 msec toward shorter gap durations, indicating a strong trading relation. For Spanish listeners, the shift was significantly smaller at 13.7 msec, indicating a weaker trading relation. For monkeys, there was no shift at all, indicating no trading relation. These results provide evidence that the say-stay trading relation is dependent on perceptual learning from linguistic exposure.     

Differences between Chinese morphosyllabic and German alphabetic readers in the Stroop interference effect

The goal of our study was to localize the source of the stronger Stroop interference effect found in morphosyllabic readers as compared with alphabetic readers. Twenty-three Chinese and 24 German undergraduate students were tested in a Stroop paradigm with the following stimuli: color patches, colorneutral words (e.g.,friend printed in yellow), incongruent color-associated words (e.g.,blood printed in blue), and incongruent color words (e.g.,yellow printed in blue). Results revealed no differences in German and Chinese students’ response times to color patches. Chinese participants, however, showed longer color naming latencies for neutral words as well as for color words and color-related words. No differences between German and Chinese participants were found when print color latencies for neutral words were subtracted from print color latencies for color words and color-related words. This result does not support theories which suggest that for morphosyllabic readers there is a direct route from orthography to the semantics of a word. We rather argue, with reference to dual route models of reading, that access from print to phonology is faster for morphosyllabic than for alphabetic readers, and therefore interference caused by conflicting phonologies of color name and written word will be stronger in Chinese readers than in German readers.     

Differences between Chinese and American Reactions to the Bernreuter Personality Inventory

Abstract

The present study was conducted to refine some findings of Wiggins and Holzmuller (1978, 1981), who reported on interpersonal flexibility and the conceptual similarity between the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Leary interpersonal circumplex variables. The SYMLOG Behavior Rating Form and the BSRI scales were both administered to two samples of advanced students of psychology. With few exceptions, the results obtained do not confirm any of the hypotheses presented by Wiggins and Holzmuller. One may speculate that their findings may be due mainly to the fact that both sets of self-report measures are composed of highly abstract trait names far removed from observable behavioral acts.     

Differences between African American and European American first-year college students in the relationship between self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and academic achievement

First-year African American and European American college students were surveyed to examine ethnic differences in how their social cognitive beliefs (self-efficacy and outcome expectations) influenced their academic achievement. It was hypothesized that outcome expectations may better explain academic achievement for African Americans due to the fact that they may perceive that external factors such as discrimination may influence their academic outcomes. Because European Americans are less likely to anticipate discrimination, they are more likely to believe that their outcomes would be the result of their own behavior. Higher levels of self-efficacy were related to better academic achievement for both ethnic groups. However, African Americans with negative outcome expectations (e.g. my education will not lead to a well paying job) had better achievement than those with more positive outcome expectations. This pattern was not found for European Americans. Potential explanations for the relationship between outcome expectations and academic achievement for African Americans such as racial socialization for preparation for bias are discussed and implications for interventions are addressed.     

Perceptions of occupational prestige: Differences between African American and White college students

The present study examined perceptions of occupational prestige among university students. One hundred and twenty-four African American and 174 White students rated the prestige levels of 36 occupations evenly sampled from the six RIASEC types and three levels of prestige. Results indicated that there was a significant difference in perception of occupational prestige. African Americans reported more prestige for R, S, E, and C occupations than did Whites. For African Americans there was a positive relation between endorsement of the centrality of African American identity and prestige ratings R, A, S, and E. These results suggest that perceptions of prestige vary across and within ethnicity and also provide additional insight into how prestige might influence African American students' occupational selection.     

Voice quality analysis of American and German speakers

Six phoneticians rated the voices of 26 American and 22 German speakers on nine voice quality parameters which were discussed and illustrated by tape-recorded examples before the rating sessions. A reliability analysis showed highly significant interrater agreement on most parameters. Intercorrelations of the expert ratings and correlations with lay ratings of voice are reported and discussed. In concluding, empirical voice-personality relationships are reported and the role of sociocultural and atributional factors in this area is discussed.     

Sociocultural determinants of suicide ideation: a comparison between American and Ghanaian college samples

This study investigated the role of gender, family cohesion, religiosity, and negative suicide attitudes as potential determinants of cultural differences in suicide ideation among 375 college students from Ghana and the United States. Significant cultural differences were found for suicide ideation, family closeness, religiosity, and negative suicide attitudes. Family cohesion and negative attitudes were significant predictors for both cultural groups. Gender was a significant determinant for suicide ideation among Ghanaians, but not Americans; religiosity was not a significant determinant for either group. More extensive research on sociocultural influences on suicide, especially among countries in which suicide is underreported or not documented, is encouraged.     

The perception of handshapes in American Sign Language

Despite the constantly varying stream of sensory information that surrounds us, we humans can discern the small building blocks of words that constitute language (phonetic forms) and perceive them categorically (categorical perception, CP). Decades of controversy have prevailed regarding what is at the heart of CP, with many arguing that it is due to domain-general perceptual processing and others that it is determined by the existence of domain-specific linguistic processing. What is most key: perceptual or linguistic patterns? Here, we study whether CP occurs withsoundless handshapes that are nonethelessphonetic in American Sign Language (ASL), in signers and nonsigners. Using innovative methods and analyses of identification and, crucially, discrimination tasks, we found that both groups separated the soundless handshapes into two classes perceptually but that only the ASL signers exhibited linguistic CP. These findings suggest that CP of linguistic stimuli is based on linguistic categorization, rather than on purely perceptual categorization.     

Differences in risk factors for suicidality between African American and White patients vulnerable to suicide

Risk factors for suicidal ideation and attempts have been shown to differ between African Americans and Whites across the lifespan. In the present study, risk factors for suicidality were examined separately by race/ethnicity in a population of 131 older adult patients considered vulnerable to suicide due to substance abuse and/or medical frailty. In adjusted analyses, social support was significantly associated with suicidality in African American patients, while younger age and the presence of an anxiety disorder were significantly associated with suicidality in White patients. The results suggest that race/ethnicity-specific risk profiles may improve the detection of suicidality in vulnerable populations.     

Personality and American State Differences in Obesity Prevalence

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to determine whether state obesity-prevalence rates can be predicted by state differences in residents’ levels on the Big Five personality variables (O. P. John &; S. Srivastava, 1999). State obesity prevalence was the mean percentage of the state population from 2000 to 2005 with a body mass index ≥ 30.0 as assessed by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010), which currently interviews more than 350,000 adults annually. State neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness z scores, based on the responses of 619,397 residents to an Internet survey from 1999 to 2005, were taken from P. J. Rentfrow, S. D. Gosling, and J. Potter (2008). Alaska, Hawaii, and North Dakota had scores outside ?3 and +3 standard deviations on at least 1 variable and were excluded as outliers. For the 47 remaining states, state obesity prevalence was significantly correlated with neuroticism (.35), agreeableness (.38), openness (?.44), socioeconomic status (?.74), white percentage (?.34), and urbanization (?.43). Multiple regression analysis showed that socioeconomic status could account for 54.0% of the criterion variance and that agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness together could account for another 17.1%.