Communalism, familism, and filial piety: are they birds of a collectivist feather?

The present studies examined the extent to which (a) communalism, familism, and filial piety would pattern onto a single family/relationship primacy construct; (b) this construct would be closely related to indices of collectivism; and (c) this construct would be related to positive psychosocial functioning and psychological distress. In Study 1, 1,773 students from nine colleges and universities around the United States completed measures of communalism, familism, and filial piety, as well as of individualistic and collectivistic values. Results indicated that communalism, familism, and filial piety clustered onto a single factor. This factor, to which we refer as family/relationship primacy, was closely and positively related to collectivism but only weakly and positively related to individualism and independence. In Study 2, 10,491 students from 30 colleges and universities in 20 U.S. states completed measures of communalism, familism, and filial piety, as well as of positive psychosocial functioning and psychological distress. The family/relationship primacy factor again emerged and was positively associated with both positive psychosocial functioning and psychological distress. Clinical implications and future directions for the study of cultural values are discussed.     

Foveal vs. parafoveal attention-grabbing power of threat-related information

We investigated whether threat words presented in attended (foveal) and in unattended (parafoveal) locations of the visual field are attention grabbing. Neutral (nonemotional) words were presented at fixation as probes in a lexical decision task. Each probe word was preceded by 2 simultaneous prime words (1 foveal, 1 parafoveal), either threatening or neutral, for 150 ms. The stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between the primes and the probe was either 300 or 1,000 ms. Results revealed slowed lexical decision times on the probe when primed by an unrelated foveal threat word at the short (300-ms) delay. In contrast, parafoveal threat words did not affect processing of the neutral probe at either delay. Nevertheless, both neutral and threat parafoveal words facilitated lexical decisions for identical probe words at 300-ms SOA. This suggests that threat words appearing outside the focus of attention do not draw or engage cognitive resources to such an extent as to produce interference in the processing of concurrent or subsequent neutral stimuli. An explanation of the lack of parafoveal interference is that semantic content is not extracted in the parafovea.     

Neuroanatomical distribution of five semantic components of verbs: evidence from fMRI

The Simulation Framework, also known as the Embodied Cognition Framework, maintains that conceptual knowledge is grounded in sensorimotor systems. To test several predictions that this theory makes about the neural substrates of verb meanings, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan subjects' brains while they made semantic judgments involving five classes of verbs-specifically, Running verbs (e.g., run, jog, walk), Speaking verbs (e.g., shout, mumble, whisper), Hitting verbs (e.g., hit, poke, jab), Cutting verbs (e.g., cut, slice, hack), and Change of State verbs (e.g., shatter, smash, crack). These classes were selected because they vary with respect to the presence or absence of five distinct semantic components-specifically, ACTION, MOTION, CONTACT, CHANGE OF STATE, and TOOL USE. Based on the Simulation Framework, we hypothesized that the ACTION component depends on the primary motor and premotor cortices, that the MOTION component depends on the posterolateral temporal cortex, that the CONTACT component depends on the intraparietal sulcus and inferior parietal lobule, that the CHANGE OF STATE component depends on the ventral temporal cortex, and that the TOOL USE component depends on a distributed network of temporal, parietal, and frontal regions. Virtually all of the predictions were confirmed. Taken together, these findings support the Simulation Framework and extend our understanding of the neuroanatomical distribution of different aspects of verb meaning.     

Robust regression for single-case data analysis: How can it help?

This study examined the degree to which outliers were present in a convenience sample of published single-case research. Using a procedure for analyzing single-case data Allison &; Gorman (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31, 621–631, 1993), this study compared the effect of outliers using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to a robust regression method and attempted to answer four questions: (1) To what degree does outlier detection vary from OLS to robust regression? (2) How much do effect sizes differ from OLS to robust regression? (3) Are the differences produced by robust regression in more or less agreement with visual judgments of treatment effectiveness? (4) What is a typical range of effect sizes for robust regression versus OLS regression for data from “effective interventions”? Results suggest that outliers are common in single-case data. The effects of outliers in single-case data are explored, and the implications for researchers and practitioners using single-case designs are discussed.     

Parkinson's disease protects against smoking?

Our aim was to estimate the pooled risk of current and former smoking for Parkinson's disease (PD). We have reviewed all observational studies that evaluated the association between PD risk and smoking habit. Twenty six studies were identified: 21 case-control, 4 cohort and 1 cross-sectional. The cross-sectional study did not compare former with never smokers. These studies were carried out between 1968 and 2000. There was an obvious protective effect of current smoking in the pooled estimate [risk estimate 0.37 (95% confidence interval 0.33 to 0.41)]. Former versus never smokers had pooled risk estimate of 0.84 (95% confidence interval 0.76 to 0.92). Current and former smoking do not, therefore, exert the same protective effect against PD so that it is unnecessary to postulate a biological mechanism through which smoking protects against PD. The results show that the reverse direction of causation is a more probable explanation, i.e. movement disorders of PD protect against smoking. Another explanation is that failure to develop strong smoking habits in early adult life might be a prodromal symptom of the disease and could perhaps be its first clinical manifestation.     

Predictors of Condom Use in Mexican Migrant Laborers

The purpose of this study was to explore predictors of condom use with occasional sex partners and regular sex partners, as well as carrying condoms in a new high-risk group for HIV infection, Mexican migrant laborers. This study extends previous findings by (1) exploring additional predictors not previously examined, (2) utilizing a large sample of male and female Mexican migrant laborers, (3) carefully controlling for the effects of various demographic and lifestyle variables related to condom use, and (4) assessing the interactive effects of gender on predictors of condom use. Snowball sampling was used to survey 501 adult Mexican migrant laborers. Results revealed that condom use with occasional sex partners was predicted by carrying condoms and condom self-efficacy and that women were more likely to use condoms with occasional partners when both men and women knew someone with HIV/AIDS. Condom use with regular sex partners was predicted by procondom social norms, less negative attitudes toward condoms, not knowing someone with HIV/AIDS, and condom self-efficacy. Carrying condoms was predicted by procondom social norms, less negative attitudes toward condoms, condom self-efficacy, worry about contracting HIV/AIDS, and women were more likely than men to carry condoms when both men and women were married. Understanding these findings, future research directions, and implications for condom promotion strategies with Mexican migrant laborers are discussed.     

The role of signals in two variations of differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate procedures

Differential‐reinforcement‐of‐low‐rate (DRL) schedules are used to decrease the overall rate of, but not eliminate, a target response. Two variations of DRL, spaced‐responding and full‐session, exist. Preliminary comparative analyses suggest that the two schedules function differently when unsignaled. We compared response rates under these two DRL variations with and without signals. In Experiment 1, five preschool students played a game in which points were earned under DRL schedules. In some sessions, a stimulus signaled when responses would be reinforced (S+) or not reinforced (S‐). In others, only an S‐ was present. Signals (S+/S‐) facilitated and maintained responding in both types of DRL schedules. In Experiment 2, we modified the signals with five different preschoolers. Instead of an S‐ only, we did not present any signals. Elimination and high variability of the target response were observed with the S‐ only and absence of S+/S‐, respectively. Signaled DRL schedules are recommended for application.     

The Influence of Multicultural Training on Perceived Multicultural Counseling Competencies and Implicit Racial Prejudice

This study examined the impact of multicultural training on multicultural counseling competencies and implicit racial prejudice. Results of a multilevel modeling analysis showed that only the multicultural counseling course was related to a decrease in implicit racial prejudice and an increase in cultural self‐awareness. Implications for multicultural training are discussed. Este estudio examinó el impacto de la formación multicultural en las competencias en consejería multicultural y el prejuicio racial implícito. Los resultados de un análisis de modelo a varios niveles mostraron que solo el curso en consejería multicultural estaba implicado en un descenso del prejuicio racial implícito y un aumento de la autoconciencia cultural. Se discuten las implicaciones para la formación multicultural.     

Social Trait Information in Deep Convolutional Neural Networks Trained for Face Identification

Faces provide information about a person's identity, as well as their sex, age, and ethnicity. People also infer social and personality traits from the face — judgments that can have important societal and personal consequences. In recent years, deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) have proven adept at representing the identity of a face from images that vary widely in viewpoint, illumination, expression, and appearance. These algorithms are modeled on the primate visual cortex and consist of multiple processing layers of simulated neurons. Here, we examined whether a DCNN trained for face identification also retains a representation of the information in faces that supports social‐trait inferences. Participants rated male and female faces on a diverse set of 18 personality traits. Linear classifiers were trained with cross validation to predict human‐assigned trait ratings from the 512 dimensional representations of faces that emerged at the top‐layer of a DCNN trained for face identification. The network was trained with 494,414 images of 10,575 identities and consisted of seven layers and 19.8 million parameters. The top‐level DCNN features produced by the network predicted the human‐assigned social trait profiles with good accuracy. Human‐assigned ratings for the individual traits were also predicted accurately. We conclude that the face representations that emerge from DCNNs retain facial information that goes beyond the strict limits of their training.