Dyslexia, Neurolinguistic Ability, and Anatomical Variation of the Planum Temporale

This article addresses the relationship between patterns of planum temporale symmetry/asymmetry and dyslexia and neurolinguistic abilities. Considerable research indicates that dyslexic individuals typically do not display the predominant pattern of leftward planum temporale asymmetry. Variable findings on the structural basis of symmetry are due partially to measurement issues, which are examined in some detail in this critical review. The physiological basis of symmetry may be reduced neuronal elimination in the right planum, although other alternatives are offered. Theories are offered to explain how symmetrical plana are related to dyslexia, and it is evident that symmetrical plana are not sufficient to produce dyslexia. However, some evidence suggests that nonleftward plana asymmetry is associated with deficits in verbal comprehension, phonological decoding, and expressive language. It is concluded that nonleftward asymmetry is associated with linguistic deficits, but that explanatory theories need to be further developed. Among the many issues that need to be addressed, future research needs to determine whether the relationship between patterns of planum temporale symmetry/asymmetry and linguistic ability is specific to dyslexia or if asymmetry covaries lawfully with linguistic abilities in nondyslexic populations.     

LOCAL AND GLOBAL PROCESSES IN VISUAL COMPLETION

In the natural environment, objects are frequently occluded, and people continuously complete partly occluded objects Do local processes or global processes control the completion of partly occluded objects? To answer this question, most previous studies simply asked subjects to draw the completions they "saw" Such drawing tasks are highly subjective, and they provide equivocal results Our studies are the first to use an objective, implicit paradigm (primed matching) to determine the extent to which local or global processes underlie the visual completion of partly occluded objects Our results suggest that global processes dominate perceptual completion, whereas local processes do not play a large role Therefore, local theories of completion, or theories in which local processes dominate, cannot be entirely correct     

Perceptions of the magnitude and diversity of social support

Three studies were conducted to test the hypotheses that subjects would overestimate the proportion of their peers who shared their opinion on an issue and that they would perceive their own opinion group as consisting of people with a wider and more diverse range of values and outlooks than those holding different opinions. The first study was conducted following a period of intense debate about sixism on a college campus. Subjects estimated student opinion on issues related to sexism and indicated how diverse or similar they perceived supporters and nonsupporters of the women's movement to be. In a second study subjects estimated the proportion of students who evaluated President Carter's performance as good, fair, or poor and then indicated how diverse or similar the three groups of students were who held these various opinions. A third study closely replicated the second, using the issue of divestiture of college-owned stock in South Africa. In all three studies, subjects were divided into groups on the basis of their own attitudes. Results consistently supported the hypotheses.     

Conservation, choice, and the concurrent fixed-ratio schedule

Five rats got all of their water in daily 60-minute sessions. Two levers and a water spout were freely available throughout baseline sessions. Contingency sessions offered a choice between two alternative fixed-ratio components, in the form of a choice between the two levers. Each component required a specified number of lever presses for access to the spout, and then a specified number of licks for another choice between components. Given the observed relative frequency, the absolute frequency of selecting each component was predicted accurately by assuming that the subject conserved between baseline and contingency the total amount of a dimension attributable to lever pressing and licking. Several quantitative models for predicting relative frequency were examined. The best of these assumed that the subject would show a nonexclusive preference for the component requiring fewer lever presses.     

Effect of Mode of Adjudication,Presence of Defense Counsel,and Favorability of Verdict on Observers' Evaluation of a Criminal Trial1

In an experimental simulation, observers evaluated one of four different legal procedures in the presence of either a favorable or unfavorable outcome in a video-taped reenactment of a criminal trial. The procedures were adversarial, inquisitorial, adversarial without lawyer, and adversarial with plea bargaining. Data were gathered on the fairness and perceived satisfaction of the defendant with the final outcome, and quality of the defense and prosecution. Contrary to previous research, results showed that the several different procedures were seen as equally fair and legitimate, which suggests that how a procedure is implemented may be more important than its structural properties in observers' overall evaluations. It was also found that defendants are seen as least satisfied when the ostensibly fairest procedure (eg, adversarial) yields an unfavorable outcome. This finding supports a frustration interpretation and contradicts previous studies which report adversarial to be the most preferred dispute resolution procedure within all outcome conditions.     

Filipino psychic surgery: Myth,magic, or miracle

This essay considers the current impact and evaluation of Far Eastern psychic healing typified by the psychic surgery of the Philippine Islands. On the basis of a literature survey as well as interviews with persons who had visited the healers and received psychic surgery, an analysis of the spiritual dynamics and physical effects is reported. An attempt is made to balance the positive reports of those who were healed with the more objective and/or skeptical reports of religious and scientific leaders. Cultural, psychological, medical, and magical aspects are considered. An expansion of philosophic outlook coupled with a search for new tools of investigation is suggested.This paper is the result of an exploration of various healing modalities by the authors.     

The Landslide Victory That Wasn't: The Bias Toward Consistency in Recall of Election Support1

Experiments that test for the judgmental bias that results from a preference for cognitive consistency often contain two threats to their internal validity. First, the subjects are asked to make judgments about themselves. Thus, the biases that result may be explained in terms of cognitive consistency or the motivation to see oneself in a positive light. Second, the decision subjects are asked to make is often difficult to verify objectively. The present research sought evidence in support of cognitive consistency using a methodology that avoided these two confounds. The context chosen was the tendency of perceivers to use the outcome of a group decision to make inferences about the magnitude of group members’ support for the outcome. The present experiment examined whether people in Richmond, Virginia, would use the outcome of a gubernatorial election to make decisions regarding the percentage of people in favor of the winning candidate. Although the winner won by less than one-half of one percent of the popular vote, we found that the subjects significantly overestimated the degree of voter support he received and underestimated the degree of support his opponent received. Moreover, this tendency was exacerbated over time.     

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.     

Response deprivation, reinforcement, and economics

Reinforcement of an instrumental response results not from a special kind of response consequence known as a reinforcer, but from a special kind of schedule known as a response-deprivation schedule. Under the requirements of a response-deprivation schedule, the baseline rate of the instrumental response permits less than the baseline rate of the contingent response. Because reinforcement occurs only if the schedule deprives the organism of the contingent response, reinforcement cannot result from any intrinsic property of the contingent response or any property relative to the instrumental response. Two typical effects of response-deprivation schedules—facilitation of the instrumental response and suppression of the contingent response—are discussed in terms of economic concepts and models of instrumental performance. It is suggested that response deprivation makes the contingent response function as an economic good, the instrumental response as currency.     

Motivated to Forgive? Partisan Scandals and Party Supporters

In this study, we investigate how partisan motivations shape voters' reactions to a political scandal by drawing on a unique survey experiment fielded immediately after Justin Trudeau's brownface/blackface scandal broke during the 2019 Canadian election. We thus explore motivated reasoning in real time in a competitive and highly partisan election context. Are voters more willing to forgive politicians for past behavior when their own party leader's impropriety is cued? To what extent do personal interests, such as cross-pressures or electoral concerns, affect the motivation to forgive? Our findings show that partisan-motivated reasoning is overwhelmingly powerful, producing politically biased judgments of politicians implicated in scandals. Furthermore, voters' willingness to forgive scandals is also influenced by “strategic” considerations, in that preferences over which political party wins or loses in the election affect opinions about whether someone should be forgiven or whether the scandal is considered important at all. However, we find no evidence that personal involvement in the issue raised by the scandal conditions partisan motivations. We posit that the environment—in this case, a competitive election—is an important consideration for understanding the extent and limits of partisan-motivated reasoning.