Is interpolation cognitively encapsulated? Measuring the effects of belief on Kanizsa shape discrimination and illusory contour formation

Contour interpolation is a perceptual process that fills-in missing edges on the basis of how surrounding edges (inducers) are spatiotemporally related. Cognitive encapsulation refers to the degree to which perceptual mechanisms act in isolation from beliefs, expectations, and utilities (Pylyshyn, 1999). Is interpolation encapsulated from belief? We addressed this question by having subjects discriminate briefly-presented, partially-visible fat and thin shapes, the edges of which either induced or did not induce illusory contours (relatable and non-relatable conditions, respectively). Half the trials in each condition incorporated task-irrelevant distractor lines, known to disrupt the filling-in of contours. Half of the observers were told that the visible parts of the shape belonged to a single thing (group strategy); the other half were told that the visible parts were disconnected (ungroup strategy). It was found that distractor lines strongly impaired performance in the relatable condition, but minimally in the non-relatable condition; that strategy did not alter the effects of the distractor lines for either the relatable or non-relatable stimuli; and that cognitively grouping relatable fragments improved performance whereas cognitively grouping non-relatable fragments did not. These results suggest that (1) filling-in effects during illusory contour formation cannot be easily removed via strategy; (2) filling-in effects cannot be easily manufactured from stimuli that fail to elicit interpolation; and (3) actively grouping fragments can readily improve discrimination performance, but only when those fragments form interpolated contours. Taken together, these findings indicate that discriminating filled-in shapes depends on strategy but the filling-in process itself may be encapsulated from belief.     

Counseling in Brazil: Past,Present, and Future

This article describes counseling in Brazil, which is rooted in career and vocational guidance. Although considered a distinct discipline, counseling falls under the umbrella of psychology. The multicultural movement is gaining momentum in Brazil, and counselors are pioneers working with socioracial minority college students. This is an emerging dimension to the professional identity. Some Brazilian universities are interested in international partnerships that could lead to the establishment of counseling as an independent profession.     

Neural time course and brain sources of facial attractiveness vs. trustworthiness judgment

Prior research has shown that the more (or less) attractive a face is judged, the more (or less) trustworthy the person is deemed and that some common neural networks are recruited during facial attractiveness and trustworthiness evaluation. To interpret the relationship between attractiveness and trustworthiness (e.g., whether perception of personal trustworthiness may depend on perception of facial attractiveness), we investigated their relative neural processing time course. An event-related potential (ERP) paradigm was used, with localization of brain sources of the scalp neural activity. Face stimuli with a neutral, angry, happy, or surprised expression were presented in an attractiveness judgment, a trustworthiness judgment, or a control (no explicit social judgment) task. Emotional facial expression processing occurred earlier (N170 and EPN, 150-290 ms post-stimulus onset) than attractiveness and trustworthiness processing (P3b, 400-700 ms). Importantly, right-central ERP (C2, C4, C6) differences reflecting discrimination between “yes” (attractive or trustworthy) and “no” (unattractive or untrustworthy) decisions occurred at least 400 ms earlier for attractiveness than for trustworthiness, in the absence of LRP motor preparation differences. Neural source analysis indicated that facial processing brain networks (e.g., LG, FG, and IPL—extending to pSTS), also right-lateralized, were involved in the discrimination time course differences. This suggests that attractiveness impressions precede and might prime trustworthiness inferences and that the neural time course differences reflect truly facial encoding processes.     

Time course of selective attention to face regions in social anxiety: eye-tracking and computational modelling

ABSTRACT

We investigated the time course of selective attention to face regions during judgment of dis/approval by low (LSA) and high (HSA) social anxiety undergraduates (with clinical levels on questionnaire measures). The viewers’ gaze direction was assessed and the stimulus visual saliency of face regions was computed, for video-clips displaying dynamic facial expressions. Social anxiety was related to perception of disapproval from faces with an ambiguous smile (i.e. with non-happy eyes), but not those with congruent happy eyes and a smile. HSA observers selectively looked earlier at the eye region, whereas LSA ones preferentially looked at the smiling mouth. Consistently, gaze allocation was less related to visual saliency of the smile for HSA than for LSA viewers. The attentional bias towards the less salient eye region – thus opposing the automatic capture by the smile – suggests that it is strategically driven in HSA individuals, possibly aimed at detecting negative evaluators.     

Implicit memory for novel associations between pictures: effects of stimulus unitization and aging

Studies of implicit memory for novel associations have focused primarily on verbal materials and have highlighted the contribution of conceptually unitized representations to such priming. Using pictorial stimuli in a perceptual identification task, we examined whether new association priming can occur at a purely perceptual level. By manipulating the spatial contiguity of stimuli, we also evaluated whether such priming requires the creation of perceptually unitized representations. Finally, we examined the status of such priming in aging. In Experiment 1, we found that spatial contiguity of stimuli is not necessary for novel pictorial association priming to emerge, although such contiguity does enhance the magnitude of associative priming. In Experiment 2, we found that new association priming is age invariant, regardless of spatial contiguity. In Experiment 3, we provide additional evidence that pictorial association priming is perceptually based. These findings expand the scope and delineate the conditions of novel association priming and inform theories about the nature of implicit memory for new associations.     

Attentional signatures of perception: multiple object tracking reveals the automaticity of contour interpolation

Multiple object tracking (MOT) is an attentional task wherein observers attempt to track multiple targets among moving distractors. Contour interpolation is a perceptual process that fills-in nonvisible edges on the basis of how surrounding edges (inducers) are spatiotemporally related. In five experiments, we explored the automaticity of interpolation through its influences on tracking. We found that (1) when the edges of targets and distractors jointly formed dynamic illusory or occluded contours, tracking accuracy worsened; (2) when interpolation bound all four targets together, performance improved; (3) when interpolation strength was weakened (by altering the size or relative orientation of inducing edges), tracking effects disappeared; and (4) real and interpolated contours influenced tracking comparably, except that real contours could more effectively shift attention toward distractors. These results suggest that interpolation's characteristics-and, in particular, its automaticity-can be revealed through its attentional influences or "signatures" within tracking. Our results also imply that relatively detailed object representations are formed in parallel, and that such representations can affect tracking when they become relevant to scene segmentation.     

Neuropsychological Performance in Gulf War Era Veterans: Neuropsychological Symptom Reporting

Relationships between broad-based health symptoms and neuropsychological performance have been investigated previously in Gulf War (GW) veterans. However, very little has been done to assess relationships between severity of neuropsychological symptom complaints and performance on objective neuropsychological tests. In this study, relationships between level of self-reported neuropsychological symptom severity and objective neuropsychological performance measures were investigated. Participants included 240 veterans from three GW-era cohorts: GW-deployed veterans recruited from Ft. Devens, MA, (n = 142) and from New Orleans, LA (n = 51), and veterans deployed to Germany from a Maine National Guard unit (n = 47). Findings suggest that level of subjective neuropsychological complaints was associated primarily with mood symptoms in GW-era veterans. Among GW-deployed troops, high neuropsychological symptom reporters endorsed more tension, fatigue, and confusion and less vigor than those reporting fewer cognitive complaints. Current findings emphasize the importance of independent assessment of subjective symptoms and objective neuropsychological performance.     

CAMP: A community‐based approach to promoting safe sex behaviour in adolescence

The primary goal of this study was to describe the development and assessment of the Community Awareness Motivation Partnership (CAMP) Teen Theatre intervention. Based on the behavioural ecological model, CAMP addressed the role of contraceptive use in safe sex behaviour through a brief informative, entertaining, and culturally responsive dramatization programme. Adolescents (N = 1613) between the ages of 11 and 18 (M = 13.31, SD = 0.76) received the intervention, and 961 participants completed both pre‐ and post‐tests. The majority of participants were Latino (78.5%, n = 1039), many of whom were first generation immigrants. Results indicated that the intervention increased participants' reported intentions to delay sex and use contraceptives. The intervention produced short‐term changes in safe‐sex behavioural intentions and knowledge. Suggestions for producing long‐term changes were discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effects of Students’ Perceptions of Teachers’ Antibullying Behavior on Bullying Victimization: Is Sense of School Belonging a Mediator?

This study evaluated the influence of students’ perceptions of teachers’ antibullying behavior and sense of school belonging on bullying victimization among elementary school students (N = 110). The authors used structural equation modeling to test a mediational model in which they hypothesized that sense of school belonging would mediate the relationship between students’ perceptions of teacher behavior and bullying victimization. Results supported the mediational model, indicating students’ perceptions of teachers’ antibullying behavior was positively related to sense of school belonging, which in turn was related to lower levels of bullying victimization. Findings highlight the importance of teachers in fostering a positive school climate to reduce bullying behavior. Implications for school-based bullying prevention and intervention programs are discussed.     

Recognition memory in amnesia: effects of relaxing response criteria

In two experiments, using the remember/know paradigm, we examined whether recognition memory in amnesic patients can be improved by instructing patients to relax their response criterion. Experiment 1 was modeled after a study by Dorfman, Kihlstrom, Cork, and Misiaszek (1995), in which direct instructions to respond more leniently led to an increase in recognition accuracy in patients with ECT-induced amnesia. We failed to extend this finding to patients with global amnesia, but the manipulation was unsuccessful in control subjects as well. In Experiment 2, response criterion was manipulated indirectly by providing information about the alleged base rate of study items on the recognition test. This manipulation led to a criterion shift in control subjects and enhanced discriminability in amnesic patients. Analysis of “remember” and “know” responses suggests that improved accuracy in amnesia was associated with enhanced familiarity-based recognition.