Diminutives facilitate word segmentation in natural speech: Cross-linguistic evidence

Final-syllable invariance is characteristic of diminutives (e.g., doggie), which are a pervasive feature of the child-directed speech registers of many languages. Invariance in word endings has been shown to facilitate word segmentation (Kempe, Brooks, & Gillis, 2005) in an incidental-learning paradigm in which synthesized Dutch pseudonouns were used. To broaden the cross-linguistic evidence for this invariance effect and to increase its ecological validity, adult English speakers (n=276) were exposed to naturally spoken Dutch or Russian pseudonouns presented in sentence contexts. A forced choice test was given to assess target recognition, with foils comprising unfamiliar syllable combinations in Experiments 1 and 2 and syllable combinations straddling word boundaries in Experiment 3. A control group (n=210) received the recognition test with no prior exposure to targets. Recognition performance improved with increasing final-syllable rhyme invariance, with larger increases for the experimental group. This confirms that word ending invariance is a valid segmentation cue in artificial, as well as naturalistic, speech and that diminutives may aid segmentation in a number of languages.     

Efficient statistics, common currencies and the problem of reward-harvesting

The mammalian brain is equipped with reward-harvesting mechanisms that efficiently categorize and value the behavioral choices that lead to rewards necessary for survival. In this context, 'efficiency' embodies the idea of achieving maximum returns for minimal energetic investments and places a premium on how an animal represents its available options. But the capacity to efficiently represent choices is a profoundly difficult problem because representations for behavioral choice depend intimately on the statistics of information arriving not just from the sensory world and but also from within the creature itself. Any complete account of decision-making in mammals must efficiently connect the internal needs to the perceptual apparatus available to a creature moment-to-moment.     

Hinge versus twist: the effects of 'reference surfaces' and discontinuities on stereoscopic slant perception

Stereoscopic slant perception around a vertical axis (horizontal slant) is often found to be strongly attenuated relative to geometric prediction. Stereo slant is much greater, however, when an adjacent surface, stereoscopically in the frontal plane, is added. This slant enhancement is often attributed to the presence of a 'reference surface' or to a spatial change in the disparity gradient (introducing second and higher derivatives of disparity). Gillam, Chambers, and Russo (1988 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 14 163-175) questioned the role of these factors in that placement of the frontal-plane surface in a direction collinear with the slant axis (twist configuration) sharply reduced latency for perceiving slant whereas placing the same surface in a direction orthogonal to the slant axis (hinge configuration) had little effect. We here confirm these findings for slant magnitude, showing a striking advantage for twist over hinge configurations. We also examined contrast slant measured on the frontal-plane surface in the hinge and twist configurations. Under conditions where test and inducer surfaces have centres at the same depth for twist and hinge, we found that twist configurations produced strong negative slant contrast, while hinge configurations produced significant positive contrast or slant assimilation. We conclude that stereo slant and contrast effects for neighbouring surfaces can only be understood from the patterns and gradients of step disparities present. It is not adequate to consider the second surface merely as a reference slant for the first or as having its effect via a spatial change in the disparity gradient.     

Age differences in memory for prospective compared with retrospective subject-performed tasks

In two experiments, younger and older adults studied three lists of verbal phrases, each of the latter describing a simple action. One list was studied and recalled verbally; one was recalled verbally, but the actions were performed at study [retrospective SPTs (subject-performed tasks)]; and one was studied verbally and the actions were performed at test (prospective SPTs). With long lists, but not with short ones, retrospective-SPT recall exceeded verbal recall and older adults recalled fewer SPTs than did younger adults. Prospective-SPT recall did not exceed verbal recall at either list length, and in each of these prospective-SPT tests, older adults recalled fewer action phrases than did younger adults. Thus, it appears that when retrospective and prospective tasks are equated there are marked age differences that are generally consistent with the view that memory impairment in the elderly is more likely to occur in tasks that make higher attentional processing demands.     

Effects of contextual conditioning and unconditional stimulus presentation on performance in appetitive conditioning

Four experiments with rat subjects examined the effects of contextual conditioning on conditioned appetitive performance. Experiment 1 compared the effects of contextual conditioning on performance to conditioned stimuli (CSs) with different conditioning histories. Contextual conditioning enhanced performance to the CS if the CS had first been conditioned and then extinguished, but had no effect on performance when the CS had been merely paired or unpaired with food. Experiments 2 and 3 then asked whether the effect on the extinguished CS was due to contextual conditioning acting as a cue for conditioning. In Experiment 2, extinction procedures in which extra unconditioned stimuli (USs) were presented during the intertrial intervals were found to reduce the CS's sensitivity to enhancement by contextual conditioning, but had no effect on spontaneous recovery. In Experiment 3, USs added to conditioning or extinction acquired the ability to cue the corresponding performance. Under some conditions, USs added to conditioning could suppress performance (Experiment 4). The results suggest that contextual conditioning has complex effects that can be better understood by recognizing that contextual conditioning, as well as the USs that create it,Mayacquire discriminative control over conditioned responding.     

Black Males Living in an Antithetical Police Culture: Keys for Their Survival

Police killings of unarmed Black males is an all too often occurrence. Just how many have succumbed in this manner is unknown due to a lack of a comprehensive reporting method. However, an undeniable fact and reality is that the Black community, and society as a whole, suffers as a result of the loss of these individuals. The authors of this article suggest that police shootings of unarmed Black males may never cease. The authors propose simple but thoughtful ways in which Black males should be educated by the Black community (family, church, and other institutions) regarding general survival skills and more specifically survival skills in regards to police encounters. Implications for further research are also presented.     

Peritraumatic dissociation mediates the relationship between acute panic and chronic posttraumatic stress disorder

Although peritraumatic dissociation predicts subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), little is understood about the mechanism of this relationship. This study examines the role of panic during trauma in the relationship between peritraumatic dissociation and subsequent PTSD. Randomized eligible admissions to 4 major trauma hospitals across Australia (n = 244) were assessed during hospital admission and within one month of trauma exposure for panic, peritraumatic dissociation and PTSD symptoms, and subsequently re-assessed for PTSD three months after the initial assessment (n = 208). Twenty (9.6%) patients met criteria for PTSD at 3-months post injury. Structural equation modeling supported the proposition that peritraumatic derealization (a subset of dissociation) mediated the effect of panic reactions during trauma and subsequent PTSD symptoms. The mediation model indicated that panic reactions are linked to severity of subsequent PTSD via derealization, indicating a significant indirect relationship. Whereas peritraumatic derealization is associated with chronic PTSD symptoms, this relationship is influenced by initial acute panic responses.     

Face encoding is not categorical: Consistent evidence across multiple types of contingent aftereffects

ABSTRACT

Race-contingent aftereffects indicate that faces of different races are encoded via dissociable visual channels. Race-contingent aftereffects reflect perceptions of typicality, indicating a gradual transition of activity across channels as faces change from looking more typical of one race to the other We examine whether faces forming more discrete categories (sex: male/female; species: human/monkey) are encoded in a similar fashion, or whether they are instead encoded via more dichotomous categorical judgements. Curves representing the rate of change of aftereffect magnitude as stimuli changed from male to female produced shallow slopes, closely resembling ratings of typicality, but differing significantly from slopes for categorical judgements. For species, aftereffect slopes were significantly shallower than both ratings of typicality and categorical judgements. Overall, these results suggest that the encoding of facial properties such as these is not categorical, but instead involves a graded response as stimulus typicality varies. Aftereffect slopes were similar across the two experiments, raising the possibility of a common system that is recruited during contingent adaptation, regardless of the specific dimension involved or the categories used by the experimenter.     

Communicating the validity of structured job interviews with graphical visual aids

The structured job interview is often resisted by human resource (HR) professionals despite its superior predictive validity compared to the traditional unstructured interview. However, HR professionals may underestimate the utility of structured interviews because of how validity information is presented. Three online experiments with MTurk samples were conducted to examine the effect of statistical visual aids (Binomial effect size display; expectancy chart; icon array) on people's perceived usefulness of validity information and intentions toward using the structured interview. Results showed that graphical visual aids (expectancy chart and icon array) were perceived as more useful for communicating validity evidence than a nongraphical effect size display. People also judged the structured interview as more useful and were more willing to use it when validity evidence was presented graphically. Individual differences in graph literacy and nationality were also examined.