Is stimulus structure in the Mind's eye? An examination of dimensional structure in iconic memory

Three experiments examined integral and separable dimensions as attentional selective cues from iconic memory. Sperling's partial-report task was employed with physically separable and physically integral stimuli. Stimulus displays were varied in terms of the redundancy of the irrelevant non-cued dimensions—i.e. control, correlated, and orthogonal conditions within Garner's (1974a) framework—and selective readout performance was measured. The results demonstrate that, in initial processing, physically separable dimensions (e.g., circle size vs. angle of radial line) can be selectively attended to as independent dimensions, but physically integral dimensions (e.g., size vs. brightness and height vs. width) can only be represented as wholistic integral objects. Implications of these findings for current models of feature integration and perceptual development are discussed.     

Reasoning about make-believe and hypothetical suppositions: Towards a theory of belief-contravening reasoning

The present study explores how suppositions which conflict with accepted beliefs are represented and reasoned about. Two studies test the predictions regarding the nature and developmental changes in children's ability to represent and reason about hypothetical or make-believe suppositions which violate their everyday knowledge and beliefs. In Study 1, 46 4th- and 5th-graders were introduced to a hand puppet, Freddy, who made claims inconsistent with generally accepted beliefs (e.g., “all dogs meow”) because he was pretending (Make-Believe Condition) or believed them (Hypothetical Condition). Participants were asked to think like Freddy and judge whether a conclusion (“There's a dog; does it meow?”) follows logically from the claim. In Study 2, 40 kindergarten (6-year-olds), 3rd–4th grade (10-year-olds), and college students were asked to represent belief contravening make-believe (pretend in a make-believe world that dogs meow) and hypothetical (imagine what the real world would be like if dogs meow) premises, evaluate conclusions of the premises (Rover is a dog, does Rover meow?) and make judgments about the attributes (growl, wag tail, purr, and eat mice) of the entity (a meowing dog) they created. The prediction that it would be easier to represent and reason from belief-contravening suppositions in the Make-Believe than Hypothetical conditions was confirmed in each study, although the two forms of reasoning were directly correlated (Study 2). The results were discussed in terms of the similarities (compartmentalization and integration) and differences (reconciliation) of processes involved in fancifully (make-believe) or seriously (hypothetical) representing and reasoning about belief-contravening suppositions.     

Social cognitive predictors of prosocial behavior toward same and alternate race children among white pre-schoolers

Social cognitive predictors of 36 White preschoolers' (18 boys, 18 girls) tendencies to say they would act prosocially toward White and African-American children were examined. White preschoolers completed measures of their tendency to engage in prosocial behaviors directed toward White and African-American children, positive racial beliefs about White and African-American persons, and race schematicity. Consistent with previous research examining prosocial behavior in preschoolers, girls were more likely than boys to say they would act prosocially. White preschoolers' age in months did not correlate significantly with their tendencies to engage in prosocial behaviors toward White children. However, age in months was negatively correlated with White preschoolers' inclinations to direct prosocial behaviors toward African-American children. Consistent with an emerging literature concerning the role of social cognitive factors in young children's race schema development, White preschoolers' race schematicity was significantly predictive of their tendencies to say they would engage in prosocial behaviors toward African-American children. Patterns of results partially replicate previous prosocial behavior research, and demonstrate the importance of social cognitive variables on young children's prosocial behaviors. This research was undertaken as part of a graduate program in psychology at the University of Wyoming by the first author under the direction of the second author. The authors express gratitude to Karen Bartsch, Ph.D., and Bernita Quoss, Ph.D., and Jesse Barber, Sylvia Jones, and Nicole Martin of the University of Wyoming and to Nancy Eisenberg, Ph.D., of Arizona State University.     

White racism,civility, and the obligations of the socially privileged

Civility is a virtue associated with civic life, particularly with politics. This article briefly discusses civility as a moral principle requiring moral actions that give rise to the virtue of civility. Civility requires different practices on the part of persons with differential access to social power. In a white supremacist society, those with white privilege must avoid the temptation to use accusations of incivility to silence black voices. Suggestions are offered about how those with white privilege can fulfill their particular duties of civility in a racist society. Points include listening to hard truths and resisting retreat into white fragility.     

The Role of School-based Group Mentoring in Promoting Resilience among Vulnerable High School Students

This study examined the role of participation in a year-long school-based group mentoring program, Project Arrive (PA), on increasing resilience during the first year of high school among students identified as being at high risk for school dropout. Participants were 114, ninth grade students taking part in one of 32 PA mentoring groups, and 71 statistically matched comparison students (53% male, 75% eligible for free/reduced-price lunch, 62% Latinx). Using a propensity score with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) to reduce selection bias, and a multi-level model to account for non-independence of data within mentoring groups, we examined changes from pre-test to program exit on seven external resilience resources (developmental supports and opportunities) and four internal resilience assets (personal strengths). At program exit, PA participants had higher adjusted means than comparisons on six external resources, including school support, school belonging, school meaningful participation, peer caring relationships, prosocial peers, and home meaningful participation. PA participants also had higher adjusted means on one internal asset, problem solving. Results point to the promise of group mentoring as an approach for increasing resilience among academically vulnerable adolescents.     

Anything Goes by the Wayside: A Reply to Raskin and Debany

Raskin and Debany (this issue Raskin, J. D. (2001). On relativism in constructivist psychology. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 14, 285–313. doi:10.1080/10720530126044[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) profess my failure to appreciate how constructivism does not warrant an “anything-goes” relativism. In this reply, I explain how whether any postmodernist doctrine endorses an “anything-goes” epistemology (or a radical relativism) depends on the nature of the constraints that warrant its propositions. I revisit the three core postmodernist claims that I criticized in previous work, which criticism Raskin and Debany now in turn criticize. Emphasis is given to how an objectivist epistemology, contrary to postmodernist belief, does not entail certitude, and moreover incorporates (a) active and indirect knowing, (b) the situated origins of all empirical knowledge, and (c) a subject/object distinction for certain kinds of human/social kinds. I use the example of racist rhetoric to illustrate how discourse can and does affect extradiscursive realities, thereby implicating our moral obligation to seek objective truth as best we can.     

Latino parents’ science beliefs and support of high school students’ motivational beliefs: Do the relations vary across gender and familism values?

Based on the Eccles’ expectancy-value theory, the objectives of this study were (1) to examine the longitudinal relations between Latino parents’ science beliefs, parents’ science support, and high school students’ science motivational beliefs, and (2) to test whether these relations varied by familism values and adolescent gender. Multi-informant longitudinal survey data were collected from 104 Latino parents and adolescents during 9th and 10th grade. Parents’ perceptions of their adolescents’ science ability and value of science in 9th grade predicted higher parent science support at home in 10th grade if they were parents of boys. In contrast, these relations were not statistically significant for parents of daughters. Parent support in 9th grade predicted higher adolescent motivational beliefs one year later. This work provides evidence that parent support is important for high school student success in this understudied population.     

Enhancing theory of mind in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia with transcranial direct current stimulation

Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a form of frontotemporal degeneration characterized by early changes in personality, emotional blunting, and/or loss of empathy. Recent research has highlighted that these features may be at least partially explained by impairments in the theory of mind (ToM; i.e., the ability to understand and predict other people’s behaviour by attributing independent mental states to them). The aim of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to test the hypothesis that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the medial frontal cortex (MFC) selectively enhances communicative intention processing, a specific ToM ability. Using a single-session online design, we administered a ToM task that measures the ability to represent other people’s private and communicative intentions during active or sham tDCS to 16 bvFTD patients. To assess the impact of dementia on performance on the ToM task, we included 16 age-matched healthy volunteers who were asked to perform the entire experimental ToM task. BvFTD is characterized by an impairment in the comprehension of both communicative and private intentions relative to a healthy control group and by a disproportional impairment in communicative intention compared with private intention processing. Significant and selective accuracy improvement in the comprehension of communicative intentions after active stimulation was observed in patients with bvFTD. This is the first study that analyses ToM ability in patients with bvFTD using tDCS stimulation. Our findings could potentially contribute to the development of an effective, noninvasive brain stimulation treatment of ToM impairments in patients with bvFTD.