Detecting eye movements in dynamic environments

To take advantage of the increasing number of in-vehicle devices, automobile drivers must divide their attention between primary (driving) and secondary (operating in-vehicle device) tasks. In dynamic environments such as driving, however, it is not easy to identify and quantify how a driver focuses on the various tasks he/she is simultaneously engaged in, including the distracting tasks. Measures derived from the driver’s scan path have been used as correlates of driver attention. This article presents a methodology for analyzing eye positions, which are discrete samples of a subject’s scan path, in order to categorize driver eye movements. Previous methods of analyzing eye positions recorded in a dynamic environment have relied completely on the manual identification of the focus of visual attention from a point of regard superimposed on a video of a recorded scene, failing to utilize information regarding movement structure in the raw recorded eye positions. Although effective, these methods are too time consuming to be easily used when the large data sets that would be required to identify subtle differences between drivers, under different road conditions, and with different levels of distraction are processed. The aim of the methods presented in this article are to extend the degree of automation in the processing of eye movement data by proposing a methodology for eye movement analysis that extends automated fixation identification to include smooth and saccadic movements. By identifying eye movements in the recorded eye positions, a method of reducing the analysis of scene video to a finite search space is presented. The implementation of a software tool for the eye movement analysis is described, including an example from an on-road test-driving sample.     

Psychopathy, aggression, and the processing of emotional stimuli in non-referred girls and boys

Research shows that individuals with psychopathic traits differ in how they process negative emotional stimuli. However, it is unclear whether these differences are specific to certain types of negative emotional stimulus and whether they are more strongly associated with psychopathic traits or aggression. Further, it is not clear whether or not deficits in emotional processing generalize to females and ethnic minority individuals with psychopathic traits. In this study, we examined the emotional processing of visual stimuli using a dot-probe task in 50 non-referred girls and boys (mean age of 9.30; SD = 2.00). Overall, there was a significant association between proactive aggression and reduced responsiveness to distressing stimuli. In addition, the predicted association between psychopathic traits and reduced responsiveness to distressing stimuli was only found for children high on aggression. Also, the associations among aggression, psychopathic traits, and responsiveness to distressing stimuli did not differ for boys and girls.     

Social discounting

The amount of money a person was willing to forgo in order to give 75 dollars to another person decreased as a hyperbolic function of the perceived social distance between them. Similar hyperbolic functions have previously been shown to describe both time and probability discounting.     

Relationships among team ability composition, team mental models, and team performance

This study examined the relationship between the similarity and accuracy of team mental models and compared the extent to which each predicted team performance. The relationship between team ability composition and team mental models was also investigated. Eighty-three dyadic teams worked on a complex skill task in a 2-week training protocol. Results indicated that although similarity and accuracy of team mental models were significantly related, accuracy was a stronger predictor of team performance. In addition, team ability was more strongly related to the accuracy than to the similarity of team mental models and accuracy partially mediated the relationship between team ability and team performance, but similarity did not.     

A cross-modal weapon focus effect: The influence of a weapon's presence on memory for auditory information

To examine whether a weapon's presence impairs witnesses' memory for auditory information (as it impairs memory for visual information), we conducted two experiments in which undergraduates watched one version of a videotape depicting a male target who held either a weapon or a neutral object and conversed with a female character. The semantic content of his remarks was either easy or difficult to comprehend. The weapon's presence did not affect voice identification accuracy or memory for the target's vocal characteristics (e.g., pitch, loudness, speech rate) but did worsen memory for semantic content in the Difficult Comprehension condition. Our results can be explained by multiple resource models of attention, which propose separate resource “pools” for different sensory modalities.     

The Meontic and the Militant: On Merleau-Ponty’s Relation to Fink∗

Abstract

This paper clarifies the relationship between Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception and Fink’s Sixth Cartesian Meditation with regard to ‘the idea of a transcendental theory of method’. Although Fink’s text played a singularly important role in the development of Merleau-Ponty’s postwar thought, contrary to recent claims made by Ronald Bruzina this influence was not positive. Reconstructing the basic methodological claims of each text, in particular with regard to the being of the phenomenologist, the nature of the productivity that makes phenomenology possible, and the problem of methodological self-reference, I show that Phenomenology of Perception is premised on a decisive rejection of the main theses affirmed in the Sixth Cartesian Meditation. In contrast to Fink’s speculative reinterpretation of phenomenology as an absolute science, Merleau-Ponty viewed it as participating in the historical realization of the world, and hence as ultimately based on a practical faith. Albeit with a Marxian inflection, Merleau-Ponty thus related phenomenology much more closely to Kant. This may not be a better philosophical position, but circa 1945 it was Merleau-Ponty’s, whose work must be approached accordingly.     

Subliminal priming of winning images prompts increased betting in slot machine play

In 2 experiments (n = 327), participants played a computerized slot machine game. Some participants had the jackpot symbols repeatedly flashed for 30 ms during preliminary play. Exposure to the subliminal jackpot prime led to more betting and confidence on a final spin. In Experiment 2, this effect only occurred for those who placed their bets immediately following exposure to the primes. Betting and confidence returned to baseline levels if participants were forced to wait for 5 minutes before betting. This finding supports a category priming explanation rather than a goal activation explanation for the effect. Results are discussed in the context of research on subliminal priming, and as an example of an application of subliminal priming effects to consumer psychology.     

Separating the confident from the correct: Leveraging member knowledge in groups to improve decision making and performance

Groups often struggle to distinguish expert members from others who stand out for various reasons but may not be particularly knowledgeable (Littlepage & Mueller, 1997). We examined an intervention designed to improve group decision making and performance through instructing group members to search for information they already possessed that was relevant to a problem. Participants estimated values and expressed their confidence in their estimates individually and then a second time either individually or in a group. This was done with or without the intervention. Results indicated that: (1) groups were more confident than, and out-performed, individuals, (2) group decision making was best captured by models predicting more influence for more accurate members when the intervention was used and more influence for more confident members in its absence, and (3) groups that received the intervention out-performed groups that did not.     

Posttraumatic Stress,Depression, and Insomnia Among U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen

Few studies have examined rates of mental health problems among special duty military personnel, who often have frequent deployments and high exposure to operational stressors and trauma. The current study examined the severity and rates of positive screening for posttraumatic stress, depression, and insomnia among 194 U.S. Air Force pararescuemen (PJs) in the active duty (AD) and National Guard/Reserve (NG/R) components. Overall estimated rates were 11.6% for probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 1.6% for probable depression, and 16.1% for clinical insomnia. PJs in the NG/R reported significantly more severe posttraumatic stress symptoms (F(1, 162) = 10.031, p = .002, partial η² = .058) and were approximately twice as likely to screen positive for probable PTSD (8.5% vs. 19.1%; χ²[1] = 3.679, p = .055). No differences in the rate or severity of depression or insomnia symptoms were found. Rates of positive screens are comparable to or lower than previously published rates among military personnel.