Perception of positional relationships between line segments in eccentric vision

The encoding of positional relationships between pattern elements in eccentric vision was studied with different patterns consisting of the same short line segments in different positions. In each trial two stimulus patterns were flashed one above the other and the subject had to decide whether the patterns were identical or mirror symmetric (experiment 1) or whether the patterns were the same or different (experiments 2 and 3). The ability to discriminate between identical and mirror symmetric patterns was reduced in eccentric vision, even when the patterns were size-scaled according to the cortical magnification factor and thus the patterns were similarly visible at the different eccentricities. The results agree with the notion that eccentric vision is inferior to central vision in tasks which require proper encoding of information about the relative positions of pattern elements.     

Can the Created Co‐Creator Be Lutheran?A Response to Svend Andersen

Abstract : The author responds to Svend Andersen's article in this journal 43: 4(Winter 2004) 312–23, “Can Bioethics Be Lutheran?” in which Andersen criticizes the concept of humans as created co‐creators, particularly because it asserts an equality between God and humans; he recommends in its place Luther's concept of humans as God's co‐operators or co‐workers. It is argued here that the created co‐creator meets the critique offered. The concept can be both theologized and secularized, which Andersen overlooks. The concept can be integrated into the Christian theology of divine creation, but it introduces irony into theological formulation which is necessary, and which the idea of “God's co‐operators” fails to do. Finally, the chief and most difficult theological issues are framed: Why does God create co‐creators? and How can they receive grace within a Lutheran framework?     

The Future of the New World that Was Supposed to Be

Abstract :  "North‐South" divides usually overlook the fact that Latin America was also part of the New World. It was only after WW II that these countries were lumped together in a large bunch called "third world." For the sake of simplicity, this paper restricts itself to the period when Liberation Theology made its appearance until now. Even though the seventies devised an autonomous Christianity, with its own traits and purposes, nowadays the churches are back in the mainstream. Issues that engage Christians there are not unlike their counterparts in "the North," thanks to globalization. Demographic changes are still more important than cultural ones, and economic prospects are more likely to interfere in the shape of Christianity than the will and emotions of leaders and the faithful alike.     

Event-related brain potentials reflect traces of echoic memory in humans

In sequences of identical auditory stimuli, infrequent deviant stimuli elicit an event-related brain potential component called mismatch negativity (MMN). MMN is presumed to reflect the existence of a memory trace of the frequent stimulus at the moment of presentation of the infrequent stimulus. This hypothesis was tested by applying the recognition-masking paradigm of cognitive psychology. In this paradigm, a masking sound presented shortly before or after a test stimulus diminishes the recognition memory of this stimulus, the more so the shorter the interval between the test and masking stimuli. This interval was varied in the present study. It was found that the MMN amplitude strongly correlated with the subject’s ability to discriminate between frequent and infrequent stimuli. This result strongly suggests that MMN providesa measure for a trace of sensory memory, and further, that with MMN, this memory can be studied without performance-related distortions.     

Associating unseen events: semantically mediated formation of episodic associations

In prior work, we developed a computational model of how episodic associations between words are formed. Simulating associative learning, the model indicated that strongly associated semantically unrelated words facilitate the episodic association of other exemplars included in their semantic neighborhoods. This prediction was supported empirically by the present study. First, the incidental formation of strong associations between unrelated words, such as dog and table, improved cued recall of weak associations formed incidentally between semantic neighbors, like cat and chair. Second, deciding that two words were semantically unrelated was facilitated by forming strong associations between other words in their respective semantic neighborhoods, even if the tested pair was not presented at study. Together with the computational model, the present results demonstrate that forming episodic associations between words can implicitly mediate the association of other exemplars from the same semantic categories and reveal a mechanism by which the semantic system contributes to the formation of new episodic associations.     

Preattentive auditory context effects

The effects of auditory context on the preattentive and perceptual organization of tone sequences were investigated. Two sets of experiments were conducted in which the pitch of contextual tones was varied, bringing about two different contextual manipulations. Preattentive auditory organization was indexed by the mismatch negativity event-related potential, which is elicited by violations of auditory regularities even when participants ignore the sounds (e.g., by reading a book). The perceptual effects of the contextual manipulations on auditory grouping were assessed using target-detection and orderjudgment tasks. The close correspondence found between the effects of auditory context on the perceptual and preattentive measures of auditory grouping suggests that a large part of contextual processing is preattentive.     

Managing the aftermath: Scapegoating as crisis communication strategy

Should firms struggling with a brand crisis use scapegoating, the assignment of blame to another entity? Across three studies, we offer evidence of the value of scapegoating. We show that when firms use scapegoating, they reduce consumers' attributions of a firm's crisis responsibility, controllability, and stability. Compared to other strategies, including no response, denial, apology, and justification, scapegoating is most effective at reducing these attributions. However, attributions of crisis controllability seem more influential in reducing a firm's crisis responsibility. Scapegoating also increases consumers' word‐of‐mouth (WOM) intentions more than the no response strategy, but not more than denial, apology, and justification. The effect of scapegoating, however, depends on the scapegoat type. Whereas using an underdog scapegoat such as a regular company employee or a small partner firm can backfire and result in negative WOM intentions, the use of topdog scapegoats seems to have more positive effects. When firms use topdog scapegoats, such as the top management of a large firm, negative WOM intentions likely decrease. This type of effect seems to occur due to a reduction in the firm's crisis responsibility that scapegoating engenders.