The visual basis of category effects in object identification: evidence from the visual hemifield paradigm

The basis for the category specific living things advantage in object recognition (i.e., faster and more accurate identification of living compared to nonliving things) was investigated in two experiments. It was hypothesised that the global shape of living things on average provides more information about their basic level identity than the global shape of nonliving things. In two experiments subjects performed name-picture or picture-name verification tasks, in which blurred or clear images of living and nonliving things were presented in either the right or the left visual hemifield. With blurred images, recognition performance was worst for nonliving things presented to the right visual field/left hemisphere, indicating that the lack of visual detail in the stimulus combined with a left hemisphere bias toward processing high frequency visual elements proved detrimental for processing nonliving stimuli in this condition. In addition, an overall living things advantage was observed in both experiments. This advantage was considerably larger with blurred images than with clear. These results are compatible with the global shape hypothesis and converge with evidence using other paradigms.     

Association between burnout and anger in oncology versus ophthalmology health care professionals

The prevalence of burnout in oncology staff was compared with that of the ophthalmology staff, who normally present a low prevalence of burnout as described in this literature. The correlation of burnout with the emotion of anger was also investigated. Thirty-six subjects working in an oncology department and 32 working in an ophthalmology department were examined using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory. The oncology group showed higher mean scores on the MBI Emotive Exhaustion and Depersonalization scales with respect to ophthalmology staff. Correlation analysis showed that increasing burnout was associated with higher anger expressed towards the environment and loss of anger control. Anger, as a response to frustration, appears to be a feature constantly associated with the clinical expression of burnout and it should not be underestimated in theoretical and preventive contexts.     

Neuropragmatics: Extralinguistic pragmatic ability is better preserved in left-hemisphere-damaged patients than in right-hemisphere-damaged patients

The aim of the present study is to compare the pragmatic ability of right- and left-hemisphere-damaged patients excluding the possible interference of linguistic deficits. To this aim, we study extralinguistic communication, that is communication performed only through gestures. The Cognitive Pragmatics Theory provides the theoretical framework: it predicts a gradient of difficulty in the comprehension of different pragmatic phenomena, that should be valid independently of the use of language or gestures as communicative means. An experiment involving 10 healthy individuals, 10 right- and 9 left-hemisphere-damaged patients, shows that pragmatic performance is better preserved in left-hemisphere-damaged (LHD) patients than in right-hemisphere-damaged (RHD) patients.     

Faces are "spatial"--holistic face perception is supported by low spatial frequencies

Faces are perceived holistically, a phenomenon best illustrated when the processing of a face feature is affected by the other features. Here, the authors tested the hypothesis that the holistic perception of a face mainly relies on its low spatial frequencies. Holistic face perception was tested in two classical paradigms: the whole-part advantage (Experiment 1) and the composite face effect (Experiments 2-4). Holistic effects were equally large or larger for low-pass filtered faces as compared to full-spectrum faces and significantly larger than for high-pass filtered faces. The disproportionate composite effect found for low-pass filtered faces was not observed when holistic perception was disrupted by inversion (Experiment 3). Experiment 4 showed that the composite face effect was enhanced only for low spatial frequencies, but not for intermediate spatial frequencies known be critical for face recognition. These findings indicate that holistic face perception is largely supported by low spatial frequencies. They also suggest that holistic processing precedes the analysis of local features during face perception.     

The path of visual attention

Visual cuing is one paradigm often used to study object- and space-based visual selective attention. A primary finding is that shifts of attention within an object can be accomplished faster than equidistant shifts between objects. The present study used a visual cuing paradigm to examine how an object's size (i.e., internal distance) and shape, influences object- and space-based visual selective attention. The first two experiments manipulated object size and compared attentional shift performance with objects where the within-object distance between cued and uncued target locations was either equal to the between-object distance (1:1 ratio condition) or three times the between-object distance (3:1 ratio condition). Within-object shifts took longer for the larger objects, but an advantage over between-object shifts was still evident. Influences associated with the shapes of the larger objects suggested by the results of the first two experiments were tested and rejected in Experiment 3. Overall, the results indicate that within-object shifts of attention become slower as the within-object distance increases, but nevertheless are still accomplished faster than between-object shifts.     

Reduced Stroop interference for opponent colors may be due to input factors: evidence from individual differences and a neural network simulation

Sensory or input factors can influence the strength of interference in the classic Stroop color-word task. Specifically, in a single-trial computerized version of the Stroop task, when color-word pairs were incongruent, opponent color pairs (e.g., the word BLUE in yellow) showed reduced Stroop interference compared with nonopponent color pairs (e.g., BLUE in red). In addition, participants' color discrimination ability was measured by standard color vision tests (i.e., Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue Test and Ishihara plates). Error rates in the Farnsworth-Munsell test correlated positively with the amount of Stroop interference. Neural network simulations (variants of J. D. Cohen, K. Dunbar, & J. L. McClelland's, 1990, model) showed that only a distributed trichromatic input layer was able to simulate these findings. Thus, sensory input from the color system needs to be incorporated into current accounts of the Stroop effect.     

Randomization test for coupled data

Coupled data arise in perceptual research when subjects are contributing two scores to the data pool. These two scores, it can be reasonably argued, cannot be assumed to be independent of one another; therefore, special treatment is needed when performing statistical inference. This paper shows how the Type I error rate of randomization-based inference is affected by coupled data. It is demonstrated through Monte Carlo simulation that a randomization test behaves much like its parametric counterpart except that, for the randomization test, a negative correlation results in an inflation in the Type I error rate. A new randomization test, the couplet-referenced randomization test, is developed and shown to work for sample sizes of 8 or more observations. An example is presented to demonstrate the computation and interpretation of the new randomization test.     

Comprehensive system Rorschach data on Vietnam combat veterans

To better understand and, therefore, treat Vietnam combat veterans with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the Rorschach was administered to 50 patients so diagnosed. The most important findings were that, on average: (a) These patients have a low level of stress tolerance and are, therefore, likely to respond impulsively to stressful situations; (b) this low stress tolerance appears to be a long-term adjustment problem; and (c) their perception of reality is unconventional and often distorted. A primary therapeutic indication from these data is that the use of structure would be important for successful therapy. Other findings and therapeutic recommendations are also discussed.     

Modality-repetition and attentional effects on reflex blinking in infants and adults

The ability of a brief prepulse to inhibit reflexively elicited startle is a robust phenomenon in adults of several species but is weak or absent in infants. The possibility that afferent processing of the prepulse is inadequate in infants was tested by assessing the integrity of two other types of reflex modulation that occur in modality-specific paths, that is, attenuation by repetition of same-modality stimuli and enhancement by modality-selective attention. The reflex, measured by electromyographic activity of the muscle controlling blink, was elicited by intense light flashes or noise bursts preceded by brief acoustic or visual prepulses and delivered during attention-directing acoustic or visual foregrounds that evoked cardiac deceleration. Modality-repetition effects were evidenced by smaller peak blink magnitude and longer latency of blinking to same than to different modality pairs and did not differ as a function of age (4-month-old infants or college students). Attention effects were also seen in both infants and adults and, in accord with previous findings, were evident in magnitude for infants and latency for adults. Thus, immaturity in paths mediating these effects could not explain delayed development of prepulse inhibition. Other possibilities include delayed maturation of extrinsic inhibition or of transient-processing systems.