Viewer perspective affects central bottleneck requirements in spatial translation tasks

A psychological refractory period (PRP) approach and the locus of slack logic were applied to examine the novel question of whether spatial translation processes can begin before the central bottleneck when effector or noneffector stimuli are processed from an egocentric (viewer-centered) perspective. In single tasks, trials requiring spatial translations were considerably slower than trials without translations (Experiment 1). Dual tasks consisted of tone discriminations (Task 1) and spatial translations (Task 2) using PRP methods with different manipulations on perceptual and response demands. When a viewer-centered perspective was used, the effect of spatial translation was reduced at short compared with long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) when the potential for code overlap between tasks was removed (Experiments 2, 3, and 4); this finding supports the view that translation processes can begin before the central bottleneck. When an allocentric (non-viewer-centered) perspective was used (Experiment 5), the slowing associated with spatial translation was additive with SOA, suggesting that the processes of spatial translation cannot begin before the bottleneck. These findings highlight the importance of viewer perspective on central bottleneck requirements. Findings are further discussed in relation to the dorsal-ventral model of action and perception.     

The nature of phoneme representation in spoken word recognition

Four experiments used the psychological refractory period logic to examine whether integration of multiple sources of phonemic information has a decisional locus. All experiments made use of a dual-task paradigm in which participants made forced-choice color categorization (Task 1) and phoneme categorization (Task 2) decisions at varying stimulus onset asynchronies. In Experiment 1, Task 2 difficulty was manipulated using words containing matching or mismatching coarticulatory cues to the final consonant. The results showed that difficulty and onset asynchrony combined in an underadditive way, suggesting that the phonemic mismatch was resolved prior to a central decisional bottleneck. Similar results were found in Experiment 2 using nonwords. In Experiment 3, the manipulation of task difficulty involved lexical status, which once again revealed an underadditive pattern of response times. Finally, Experiment 4 compared this prebottleneck variable with a decisional variable: response key bias. The latter showed an additive pattern of responses. The experiments show that resolution of phonemic ambiguity can take advantage of cognitive slack time at short asynchronies, indicating that phonemic integration takes place at a relatively early stage of spoken word recognition.     

For Better and Worse: Social Influences on Coronary Heart Disease Risk

From the neighborhoods we live in to those we marry, other people are a part of our everyday lives. Mounting evidence suggests that these social factors constitute risk and resilience influences for coronary heart disease (CHD). The current aim is to summarize the literature into four representative categories relating to CHD risk: social environments, social roles, social resources, and close relationships. The argument is made that these factors moderate and mediate stress and associated physiological responses constituting a psychosomatic pathway to disease.     

Randomized, controlled trial of Behavioral Family Systems Therapy for Diabetes: maintenance and generalization of effects on parent-adolescent communication

We report a randomized trial of a revised Behavioral Family Systems Therapy for Diabetes (BFST-D) intervention. Families of 104 adolescents with diabetes were randomized to standard care (SC) or to 6 months of an educational support group (ES) or BFST-D. Family communication and problem-solving skills were assessed at 0, 6, 12, and 18 months by independent rating of videotaped family problem-solving discussions. BFST-D improved individual communication of adolescents and mothers, but not fathers. BFST-D significantly improved quality of family interaction compared to SC (10 of 12 comparisons) and ES (6 of 12 comparisons). Changes in family communication were differentially associated with changes in glycemic control, adherence, and family conflict. BFST-D improved family communication and problem solving relative to SC and modestly relative to ES.     

Self-esteem differences in the effects of hypocrisy induction on behavioral intentions in the health domain

Two studies investigated whether individuals with varying levels of self-esteem respond differently in the hypocrisy paradigm. In the first study, all participants were regular smokers. Those in the hypocrisy condition delivered a speech in front of a camera on the dangers of smoking. The principal dependent measure was the intention to stop smoking. In the second study, participants in the hypocrisy condition wrote a public (personally identifiable) passage about the importance of a healthy lifestyle. The principal dependent measure was the intention to improve one's health behaviors. In both studies, self-esteem scores were positively related to intentions to change behavior in the hypocrisy condition but not in a control condition. The implications of these findings for conceptions of self-esteem and for dissonance theory are discussed.     

Ontological Phenomenology: The Philosophical Project of Hedwig Conrad-Martius

The special importance of the system of Hedwig Conrad-Martius lies in that she takes up the ideas of her teacher Husserl and pursues them on an independent path of phenomenology carefully anchored in the history of philosophy. This above all made possible the philosophical grasping of the then revolutionary findings in the modern natural sciences, especially in physics and medicine. The question concerning the border between the natural sciences and philosophy is today still debated with just as much urgency—indeed, ethically with even more urgency—as it was in her time. By virtue of this alone, her ideas can be of great help to us. The natural scientific progress made since her time does not, however, present a barrier; rather it corresponds to the spirit of phenomenology: not to produce results with rigid intellectual frameworks, but to make available a tool with which the world in its diversity—and thus also for its modern, ever-changing issues—can be disclosed ever anew. The essay will consist of an overview of the life of Hedwig Conrad-Martius, an introduction to the essential ideas of her work: her concept of essence and her formulation of phenomenological ideation [Wesensschau], a brief sketch of her epistemology and an exposition of her ontological conception of “real ontology” [Realontologie].

Visual search for faces with emotional expressions

The goal of this review is to critically examine contradictory findings in the study of visual search for emotionally expressive faces. Several key issues are addressed: Can emotional faces be processed preattentively and guide attention? What properties of these faces influence search efficiency? Is search moderated by the emotional state of the observer? The authors argue that the evidence is consistent with claims that (a) preattentive search processes are sensitive to and influenced by facial expressions of emotion, (b) attention guidance is influenced by a dynamic interplay of emotional and perceptual factors, and (c) visual search for emotional faces is influenced by the emotional state of the observer to some extent. The authors also argue that the way in which contextual factors interact to determine search performance needs to be explored further to draw sound conclusions about the precise influence of emotional expressions on search efficiency. Methodological considerations (e.g., set size, distractor background, task set) and ecological limitations of the visual search task are discussed. Finally, specific recommendations are made for future research directions.     

Stripes within words affect reading

In a series of eight studies it is shown that the first peak in the horizontal autocorrelation of the image of a word (which captures the similarity in shape between the neighbouring strokes of letters) determines (i) the appearance of the words as striped; (ii) the speed with which the words are read, both aloud and silently; and (iii) the speed with which a paragraph of text can be searched. By subtly distorting the horizontal dimension of text, and thereby reducing the first peak in the horizontal autocorrelation, it is shown that the speed of word recognition can be increased. The increase in speed is greater in poor readers.     

Toward a developmental psychology of Sehnsucht (life longings): the optimal (utopian) life

The topic of an optimal or utopian life has received much attention across the humanities and the arts but not in psychology. The German concept of Sehnsucht captures individual and collective thoughts and feelings about one's optimal or utopian life. Sehnsucht (life longings; LLs) is defined as an intense desire for alternative states and realizations of life. Presenting a first effort at capturing this phenomenon, the authors conceptualize LLs as composed of 6 interrelated core characteristics: (a) utopian conceptions of ideal development; (b) sense of incompleteness and imperfection of life; (c) conjoint time focus on the past, present, and future; (d) ambivalent (bittersweet) emotions; (e) reflection and evaluation of one's life; and (f) symbolic richness. Self-report data from 299 adults (19-81 years) support the postulated structure and support predictions regarding the functional role of Sehnsucht. Having LLs was evaluated as providing direction to development and helping to manage life's incompleteness. At the same time, the frequent and intense experience of LLs was associated with lower well-being. When LLs were perceived as controllable, however, this negative association disappeared.