Gender stereotyping and decision processes: extending and reversing the gender bias in fame judgments

M. R. Banaji and A. G. Greenwald (1995) demonstrated a gender bias in fame judgments--that is, an increase in judged fame due to prior processing that was larger for male than for female names. They suggested that participants shift criteria between judging men and women, using the more liberal criterion for judging men. This "criterion-shift" account appeared problematic for a number of reasons. In this article, 3 experiments are reported that were designed to evaluate the criterion-shift account of the gender bias in the false-fame effect against a distribution-shift account. The results were consistent with the criterion-shift account, and they helped to define more precisely the situations in which people may be ready to shift their response criterion on an item-by-item basis. In addition, the results were incompatible with an interpretation of the criterion shift as an artifact of the experimental situation in the experiments reported by M. R. Banaji and A. G. Greenwald.     

Reducing neglect by introducing ipsilesional global cues

Halligan and Marshall (1994) have proposed that unilateral neglect (UN) can be reduced by ipsilesional global cues which induce processing of the whole object, including contralesional features. This hypothesis has the potential to distinguish difficulties with disengaging attention after ipsilesional capture from the failure of contralesional stimuli to capture attention. To test the role of global cues, seven individuals with unilateral right-hemispheric lesions copied and verbally identified drawings adapted from Seron, Coyette, and Bruyer (1989). The level of meaningful information presented in the ipsilesional hemispace was varied across three levels: symmetrical objects, objects with an identifying left-side feature, and objects that required processing of the left-side information for plausible identification. The results support the global processing hypothesis by demonstrating that the less the ipsilesional information, the less was the neglect of contralesional information.     

Oral and written discourse in adolescents with closed head injury

Analysis of oral and written discourse suggested differing cognitive demands for modes of expression. Verbal samples were provided by 8 adolescents with closed head injury (CHI) and 8 controls. A generation task using a picture stimulus was the basis for discourse. Eight measures [productivity, efficiency, semantic ties (lexical, incomplete, elliptical), maze use, coherence (global, local)] were utilized. A covariate model consisting of group membership (CHI vs control), executive functioning and working memory helps to explain variance in the discourse skills of adolescents with CHI.     

Compatibility between observed and executed finger movements: comparing symbolic, spatial, and imitative cues

Intuitively, one can assume that imitating a movement is an easier task than responding to a symbolic stimulus like a verbal instruction. Support for this suggestion can be found in neuropsychological research as well as in research on stimulus-response compatibility. However controlled experimental evidence for this assumption is still lacking. We used a stimulus-response compatibility paradigm to test the assumption. In a series of experiments, it was tested whether observed finger movements have a stronger influence on finger movement execution than a symbolic or spatial cue. In the first experiment, we compared symbolic cues with observed finger movements using an interference paradigm. Observing finger movements strongly influenced movement execution, irrespective of whether the finger movement was the relevant or the irrelevant stimulus dimension. In the second experiment, effects of observed finger movements and spatial finger cues were compared. The observed finger movement dominated the spatial finger cue. A reduction in the similarity of observed and executed action in the third experiment led to a decrease of the influence of observed finger movement, which demonstrates the crucial role of the imitative relation of observed and executed action for the described effects. The results are discussed in relation to recent models of stimulus-response compatibility. Neurocognitive support for the strong relationship between movement observation and movement execution is reported.     

Timing precision in continuation and synchronization tapping

 Wing and Kristofferson (1973) have shown that temporal precision in self-paced tapping is limited by variability in a central timekeeper and by variability arising in the peripheral motor system. Here we test an extension of the Wing–Kristofferson model to synchronization with periodic external events that was proposed by Vorberg and Wing (1994). In addition to the timekeeper and motor components, a linear phase correction mechanism is assumed which is triggered by the last or the last two synchronization errors. The model is tested in an experiment that contrasts synchronized and self-paced trapping, with response periods ranging from 200–640 ms. The variances of timekeeper and motor delays and the error correction parameters were estimated from the auto-covariance functions of the inter-response intervals in continuation and the asynchronies in synchronization. Plausible estimates for all parameters were obtained when equal motor variance was assumed for synchronization and continuation. Timekeeper variance increased with metronome period, but more steeply during continuation than during synchronization, suggesting that internal timekeeping processes are stabilized by periodic external signals. First-order error correction became more important as the metronome period increased, whereas the contribution of second-order error correction decreased. It is concluded that the extended two-level model accounts well for both synchronization and continuation performance. Received: 16 November 1998 / Accepted: 21 April 1999     

Comparing contrast-modulated and luminance-modulated masking: effects of spatial frequency and phase

The masking of a sinusoidal test grating by contrast-modulated (CM) gratings could, in principle, be attributable to the presence of a distortion product, injected into the stimulus during some nonlinear transformation at an early level of visual processing (e.g. Nachmias, 1989 Vision Research 29 137-142). If so, CM gratings and luminance-modulated (LM) gratings of similar effective contrast and spatial frequency should mask the detection of sinusoids in a similar fashion. We compared the effects of masking by 1 cycle deg-1 CM gratings [both simple beats (8 + 9 cycles deg-1) and amplitude-modulated gratings (8 + 9 + 10 cycles deg-1)], with those of masking by 1 cycle deg-1 LM gratings of low contrast. We found that: (i) CM and low-contrast LM grating masks yielded similar spatial-frequency tuning functions around the modulation frequency of 1 cycle deg-1; (ii) low-contrast LM gratings masked the detection of test sinusoids in a highly phase-dependent fashion, while masking by CM gratings did not vary systematically with relative spatial phase. The results suggest that masking produced by CM gratings cannot simply be explained by the presence of a distortion product at the beat or modulation frequency.     

Quantitative summaries of single-subject studies: What do group comparisons tell us about individual performances?

Kollins, Newland, and Critchfield (1999) responded to our comments about their review by arguing that their quantitative summary was not a meta-analysis and should not be criticized in these terms. We reply that regardless of what they call their review, it included confounding effects that make interpretations of the results problematic. Kollins et al. also argued that unexpected findings of the sort they reported can serve as a spur for further research. We reply that the understanding of findings that deviate from existing knowledge may well require empirical investigation. Such endeavors, however, should begin with an evaluation of the review procedures that suggested the existence of the differences. Finally, we emphasize that quantitative summaries of individual data are, in the end, a form of group comparison. The implications of using group methods to clarify individual data deserve frank recognition in discussions of the outcomes.     

Maximizing therapeutic effects in treating sexual offenders in an Australian correctional system

In Australia, the community response to sexual offenders is marked by uncertainty as to whether offenders should be incarcerated as punishment or provided treatment in order to reduce the likelihood of re-offense. The incarceration of sexual offenders results in particular management, ethical, and political issues. Nevertheless incarceration can provide leverage to encourage the offender to participate in treatment while delivering punishment for wrongdoing and acting to protect the community. In the state of Victoria the CORE Sex Offender Programs have developed a statewide strategy in the public correctional system in order to assess, manage, and treat male sexual offenders. However, such offenders are notoriously reluctant to engage in treatment to address offending behaviors. A critical element of the strategy has been the Victorian Adult Parole Board, an entity that can determine that an offender needs to engage in treatment before he is considered for parole. Using the therapeutic jurisprudence framework as outlined by Wexler (1990), strategies to minimize the anti-therapeutic effects of the Victorian Adult Parole Board and maximize the therapeutic effects of the CORE Sex Offender Programs are highlighted.