Sexually selective cognition: beauty captures the mind of the beholder

Across 5 experimental studies, the authors explore selective processing biases for physically attractive others. The findings suggest that (a). both male and female observers selectively attend to physically attractive female targets, (b). limiting the attentional capacity of either gender results in biased frequency estimates of attractive females, (c). although females selectively attend to attractive males, limiting females' attentional capacity does not lead to biased estimates of attractive males, (d). observers of both genders exhibit enhanced recognition memory for attractive females but attenuated recognition for attractive males. Results suggest that different mating-related motives may guide the selective processing of attractive men and women.     

Flanker and negative flanker effects in letter identification

In a speeded choice reaction time task, responses to centrally presented letter targets can be altered by the identity of surrounding task-irrelevant letters (flankers). In the standard flanker effect, flankers associated with the same response as the target lead to faster and more accurate responses, whereas flankers associated with a different response lead to slower and more error-prone responses. B. A. Eriksen and C. W. Eriksen (1974, pp. 143-149) have argued that these flanker effects occur through response competition. We present data from a novel version of the Eriksen task, in which some targets and flankers consist of letter forms that are morphed versions of target letters. In this paradigm, flankers induce classic flanker effects on well-formed targets. But flankers induce an opposite effect, termed a negative flanker effect on morphed letter targets. For example, targets that are morphs between the letters "A" and "H" are more likely to be identified as an "A" when flanked by an "H." The interpretation advanced here is that there are two distinct kinds of flanker effects contrast enhancement in perceptual processes and response competition in response selection processes.     

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Authors Index

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Conceptual interrelatedness and caricatures

Concepts are interrelated to the extent that the characterization of each concept is influenced by the other concepts, and are isolated to the extent that the characterization of one concept is independent of other concepts. The relative categorization accuracy of the prototype and caricature of a concept can be used as a measure of concept interrelatedness. The prototype is the central tendency of a concept, whereas a caricature deviates from the concept's central tendency in the direction opposite the central tendency of other acquired concepts. The prototype is predicted to be relatively well categorized when a concept is relatively independent of other concepts, but the caricature is predicted to be relatively well categorized when a concept is highly related to other concepts. Support for these predictions comes from manipulations of the labels given to simultaneously acquired concepts (Experiment 1) and of the order of categories during learning (Experiment 2).     

Stress symptoms of two groups before and after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01

This study investigated stress symptoms before and after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Responses to the Smith Stress Symptoms Inventory were compared for Chicago area college students assessed 1 to 5 weeks after 9/11 (n=149) and a comparable sample tested up to 5 months prior to 9/11 (n=320). Post-9/11 participants scored higher on Attention Deficit. Contrary to prior research, post-9/11 participants did not score higher on distress, including Worry, Autonomic Arousal/Anxiety, Striated Muscle Tension, Depression, and Anger. It is suggested that those indirectly exposed to a terrorist attack may display traditional symptoms of distress and arousal (as suggested by previous research). Later symptoms of attention deficit and distancing may emerge. This work was based on independent pre- and post-9/11 samples and must be replicated longitudinally as a test-retest to draw conclusions regarding change over time.     

Subfactors of DSM-IV Conduct Disorder: Evidence and Connections with Syndromes from the Child Behavior Checklist

Is conduct disorder (CD) as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) a unitary entity, or do variants of CD exist? We addressed this question, using data collected from the parents of 1,669 Australian boys, aged 6–17. Parents were interviewed to assess DSM-IV Conduct Disorder (DSM-IV CD) criteria. Results revealed 2 subfactors of DSM-IV CD symptoms, made up of overt behaviors (e.g., initiating physical fights) and covert behaviors (e.g., stealing without confrontation). Ordinary least squares regressions showed the 2 CD subfactors to be significantly and uniquely predicted by Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; T. M. Achenbach, 1991a, 1991b) syndromes labeled Aggressive Behavior and Delinquent Behavior, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of differentiating these 2 variants of CD in future editions of the DSM.     

A case of collective responsibility: who else was to blame for the Columbine high school shootings?

Two studies examined perceptions of collective responsibility for the April 20, 1999, shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Collective responsibility refers to the perception that others, besides the wrongdoers themselves, are responsible for the event. In Study 1, the authors assessed perceptions of the shooters' parents and their peer group (the Trenchcoat Mafia), whereas Study 2 tested perceptions of collective responsibility across a range of groups. In both studies, perceptions of a target group's entitativity predicted judgments of collective responsibility. This relationship was mediated by two situational construals that justify applying collective responsibility: responsibility by commission (encouraging or facilitating the event) and responsibility by omission (failing to prevent the event). Study 2 also determined that perceptions of authority predicted judgments of collective responsibility for the Columbine shootings and was mediated by inferences of omission. Future directions in collective responsibility research are discussed.     

Masked repetition and phonological priming within and across modalities

Lexical decision latencies to word targets presented either visually or auditorily were faster when directly preceded by a briefly presented (53-ms) pattern-masked visual prime that was the same word as the target (repetition primes), compared with different word primes. Primes that were pseudohomophones of target words did not significantly influence target processing compared with unrelated primes (Experiments 1-2) but did produce robust priming effects with slightly longer prime exposures (67 ms) in Experiment 3. Like repetition priming, these pseudohomophone priming effects did not interact with target modality. Experiments 4 and 5 replicated this general pattern of effects while introducing a different measure of prime visibility and an orthographic priming condition. Results are interpreted within the framework of a bimodal interactive activation model.     

Assessing the costs, benefits, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefit of psychological assessment: we should, we can, and here's how

To the extent that assessment improves the effectiveness of treatment, prevention, or other services, it can be said to be effective. If an assessment is as effective as alternatives for improving treatment and less costly, it can be said to be cost-effective. If that improvement in the effectiveness of the service is monetary or monetizable, the assessment can be judged beneficial. And, if the sum of monetary and monetizable benefits of assessment exceeds the sum of the costs of treatment, the assessment can be said to be cost-beneficial. An overview of cost-related issues is followed by practical strategies that researchers and administrators can use to measure incremental costs, incremental effectiveness, and incremental benefits of adding psychological assessments to other psychological interventions.     

Barking up the wrong tree? Industry funding of academic research. A case study with commentaries

This case raises ethical issues involving conflicts of interest arising from industrial funding of academic research; ethical responsibilities of laboratories to funding agencies; ethical responsibilities in the management of a research lab; ethical considerations in appropriate research design; communication in a research group; communication between advisor and graduate student; responsibilities of researchers for the environment; misrepresentation or withholding of scientific results.