Stimulus-Response Compatibility for Vertically Oriented Stimuli and Horizontally Oriented Responses: Evidence for Spatial Coding

It has previously been shown that, when stimuli positioned above or below a central fixation point (“up” and “down” stimuli) are assigned to left and right responses, the stimulus-response mapping up-left/down-right is more compatible than the mapping up-right/down-left for responses executed by the left hand in the left hemispace, but this relation is reversed for responses executed by the right hand in the right hemispace. In Experiment 1, each hand responded at locations in both hemispaces to dissociate the influence of hand identity from response location, and response location was found to be the determinant of relative compatibility. In Experiment 2 responses were made at the sagittal midline, and an inactive response switch was placed to the left or right to induce coding of the active switch as right or left, respectively. This manipulation of relative location had an effect similar to, although of lesser magnitude than, that produced by physically changing location of the response switch in Experiment 1. It is argued that these results are counter to predictions of a movement-preference account and consistent with the view that spatial coding underlies compatibility effects for orthogonally oriented stimulus and response sets.     

The Role of Individual Characteristics in Predicting the Stability of Party Identification: A Cross-Cultural Study

The present study examined political partisanship stability in the context of transitional and consolidated democracies. We hypothesised that (a) in both democratic systems, personality differences as well as socialisation patterns and socioeconomic factors would be related to the stability of party identification directly, and that (b) the relationship between individual factors and party identification patterns would be moderated by democracy type and by socialisation strength. A total of 521 participants (293 American, 228 Romanian) completed surveys assessing partisanship stability, individual dispositions, socialisation strength, and socioeconomic status. In support of hypothesis (a), the stability of party identification was significantly predicted by socialisation, desire for control, and positive economic perceptions. In support of hypothesis (b), type of democracy moderated the relationship between economic perceptions and partisanship stability, and parental socialisation moderated the relationship between desire for control/self‐consciousness and the stability of party identification. La présente étude examine la stabilité de la préférence politique dans un contexte de démocraties en transition ou consolidées. Nous faisons l’hypothèse que (a) dans les deux systèmes démocratiques, les différences de personnalité, comme les modèles de socialisation et les facteurs économiques sont directement liés à la stabilité d’identification à un parti et que (b) la relation entre les facteurs individuels et les modèles d’identification à un parti est affaibli par le type de démocratie et la force de la socialisation. Un total de 521 participants (293 Américains et 228 Roumains) ont répondu à une enquête évaluant la stabilité de la préférence, les dispositions individuelles, la force de la socialisation et le statut socio‐économique. En accord avec l’hypothèse (a), la stabilité d’identification à un parti est significativement prédictible par la socialisation, le désir de contrôle et la perception positive de l’économie. En accord avec l’hypothèse (b), d’une part, le type de démocratie affaiblit la relation entre les perceptions de l’économie et la stabilité de la préférence, d’autre part, la socialisation parentale affaiblit le lien entre le contrôle/la conscience de soi et la stabilité de l’identification à un parti.