Position effects in encoding briefly exposed item matrices: evidence for a reading bias or merely a matter of the selection criterion?

Position effects are frequently reported in experiments that investigate the recognition of items from briefly exposed stimulus matrices. A reliable finding is the ability to report items from the first row of the matrix more accurately than from the second row. The present experiments explore whether this position effect depends upon the selection criterion used to indicate the subgroup of items that has to be reported in a given trial. In Experiment 1, German and Chinese participants were presented with language-specific items which had to be selected by column. In Experiment 2, Germans were presented with Latin letters and the selection criterion was letter color. A strong row effect was evident in both experiments although the selection criteria did not prompt a line-by-line grouping of the items. The row effect is seen as a manifestation of top-down processing that is derived from reading habits.     

How the Process of the CSR Activities Works on Private Hospitals and Pharmaceutical Firms: Multiple Case Study from Strategic Perspective

Journal of Religion and Health - The phenomenon of corporate social responsibility “CSR” has stimulated lots of debates and disagreement among the business scholars. One of the most...     

Perception of Organizational Ethical Climate by University Staff and Students in Medicine and Humanities: A Cross Sectional Study

Science and Engineering Ethics - We assessed students’ and employees’ perception of ethical climate at a university school of medicine compared to that of social sciences and...     

Differences between elite,junior and non-rowers in kinematic and kinetic parameters during ergometer rowing

This paper presents an analysis of the rowing parameters of differently skilled rowers. The study focuses on technique dependency on stroke rate. Five elite, five junior and five non-rowers participated, and the biomechanics of rowing on an ergometer was analyzed at stroke rates of 20, 26 and 34 str/min. The results show that elite rowers use a similar, consistent rowing technique at all stroke rates, the technique of junior rowers follows similar principles, while the technique of non-rowers varies. Elite rowers’ stroke length, handle motion and body posture do not change with stroke rate while the ratio of stroke phases, maximum forces, stroke work and joint loadings are constant at the same stroke rate but dependent on stroke rate. Junior rowers with stroke rate change also the stroke length. In non-rowers the differences can be observed in the handle motion and body posture during the stroke, their stroke length changes with stroke rate while the ratio of stroke phases stays constant. Although different movement execution is evident and variable with stroke rate, non-rowers demonstrate a consistent pattern at the same stroke rate. On the basis of the results, the crucial parameters that differentiate elite, junior, and non-rowers are identified.     

The Emergence and Development of Protestantism in Macedonia

Abstract

This paper explores the political activity of the Catholic Church in Poland in the years 1990–2009 in terms of categories of political strategies. I argue that the church as an institution applied varied strategies with the aim of influencing the politics of the day. These took on three forms, in which the church acted as (1) a political principal, (2) a creator of political values and (3) an interest group. In the period between 1990 and 1997 the church attempted to exert a direct influence on the political scene by supporting the Catholic national parties. In the period between 1997 and 2004 the church focused on the second of the above-mentioned strategies by supporting the establishment of Christian Democratic parties. In the years 2004–2009 we can observe a more varied strategy consisting of a formal withdrawal from political activity with a simultaneous acceptance of political engagement on the part of the Catholic national Radio Maryja. During the whole period under analysis the church effectively acted as an interest group. This has resulted in a growing dependence of the church on the state, which – in connection with symptoms of institutional crisis – may lead to a particular kind of ‘cartelisation of the church’.     

How to measure patch encounter rate: decision-making mechanisms in the parasitic wasp <Emphasis Type="Italic">Asobara tabida</Emphasis>

Parasitic wasps are faced with the decision of where and for how long to search for hosts. Their leaving decisions depend on the rate at which new host-containing patches are encountered: parasitoids increase foraging efficiency by leaving earlier when patch encounter rates become higher. The mechanisms by which these often tiny insects can assess patch encounter rates have not been thoroughly investigated so far. The aim of the present study, where females of the braconid wasp Asobara tabida encountered patches after varying time intervals, was to measure the shape of the travel–time response curve and to analyse how information on inter-patch distances is translated into foraging behaviour. I examined several proxies for travel-time duration, like those of physiological nature as egg content, cues of senescence, amount of energy spent, or muscle fatigue, as well as true cognitive mechanisms, like measurement of distance or interval timing. Constraints in the wasp’s ability to detect patch borders accurately after travelling, e.g. habituation to the patch odour or receptor blocking, are also discussed. From the data presented, most of the above-mentioned mechanisms and constraints can be rejected to work for A. tabida. The effects of inter-patch travel time are strongest when they are short, and even though it cannot be excluded that time measures are processed using an internal clock, I suggest that a Bayesian-like mechanism of timing, the biological basis of which might involve the build-up of neurosecretory material, is the most likely candidate influencing leaving decisions in A. tabida.     

The role of habituation and attentional orienting in the disruption of short-term memory performance

A series of experiments explored habituation and dishabituation to repeated auditory distractors. Participants memorised lists of visually presented items in silence or while ignoring continuously presented auditory distractors. No habituation could be observed, in that the size of the auditory distractor effect did not decrease during the experiment. However, there was evidence for attentional orienting when novel auditory material was presented after a long period of repetitive stimulation, in that a change of distractors was associated with a temporary decrease in recall performance. The results are most consistent with theoretical accounts that claim that the auditory distractor effect is caused primarily by automatic interference, but that still allow attention to play a limited role in the short-term maintenance of information.     

Correction to urošević et Al. (2012)

Reports an error in "Longitudinal Changes in Behavioral Approach System Sensitivity and Brain Structures Involved in Reward Processing During Adolescence" by Sne?ana Uro?evi?, Paul Collins, Ryan Muetzel, Kelvin Lim and Monica Luciana (Developmental Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, Mar 5, 2012, np). Figure 2 was distorted in production. The correct version is presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2012-05404-001.) Adolescence is a period of radical normative changes and increased risk for substance use, mood disorders, and physical injury. Researchers have proposed that increases in reward sensitivity (i.e., sensitivity of the behavioral approach system [BAS]) and/or increases in reactivity to all emotional stimuli (i.e., reward and threat sensitivities) lead to these phenomena. The present study is the first longitudinal investigation of changes in reward (i.e., BAS) sensitivity in 9- to 23-year-olds across a 2-year follow-up. Support was found for increased reward sensitivity from early to late adolescence, and evidence was found for decline in the early 20s. This decline is combined with a decrease in left nucleus accumbens (Nacc) volume, a key structure for reward processing, from the late teens into the early 20s. Furthermore, we found longitudinal increases in sensitivity to reward to be predicted by individual differences in the Nacc and medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) volumes at baseline in this developmental sample. Similarly, increases in sensitivity to threat (i.e., behavioral inhibition system sensitivity) were qualified by sex, with only females participants experiencing this increase, and predicted by individual differences in lateral OFC volumes at baseline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Longitudinal changes in behavioral approach system sensitivity and brain structures involved in reward processing during adolescence

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 48(5) of Developmental Psychology (see record 2012-09244-001). Figure 2 was distorted in production. The correct version is presented in the erratum.] Adolescence is a period of radical normative changes and increased risk for substance use, mood disorders, and physical injury. Researchers have proposed that increases in reward sensitivity (i.e., sensitivity of the behavioral approach system [BAS]) and/or increases in reactivity to all emotional stimuli (i.e., reward and threat sensitivities) lead to these phenomena. The present study is the first longitudinal investigation of changes in reward (i.e., BAS) sensitivity in 9- to 23-year-olds across a 2-year follow-up. Support was found for increased reward sensitivity from early to late adolescence, and evidence was found for decline in the early 20s. This decline is combined with a decrease in left nucleus accumbens (Nacc) volume, a key structure for reward processing, from the late teens into the early 20s. Furthermore, we found longitudinal increases in sensitivity to reward to be predicted by individual differences in the Nacc and medial orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) volumes at baseline in this developmental sample. Similarly, increases in sensitivity to threat (i.e., behavioral inhibition system sensitivity) were qualified by sex, with only females participants experiencing this increase, and predicted by individual differences in lateral OFC volumes at baseline. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).