Perception of objects oriented downward from a vertical position

In the present work we investigated people’s perceptions of orientation for surfaces that are conceived of as being sloped downward from vertical against a vertical reference frame. In the three conditions of Experiment 1, participants either (1) placed a ladder against a wall at what they thought was the most stable position, and then estimated its orientation; (2) gave a verbal (conceptual) estimate of what the most stable position of a ladder leaned against a wall would be; or (3) drew a line representing the most stable position of a ladder to be placed against a wall, and then gave a verbal estimate of the ladder’s orientation. Ladder placement was shallower than the most stable position, as were the verbal estimations of both the positioned and drawn orientations and the verbal (conceptual) estimates of the most stable position for a ladder to be leaned against a wall, relative to the actual orientations. In Experiment 2, participants verbally estimated various ladder orientations. The estimates were again shallower than the actual orientations. For orientations between 60° and 90°, the estimates showed a scale compression effect from horizontal. This perceived exaggeration of the orientation of an object typically oriented down from vertical is similar to the perceived exaggeration of the orientation of hills and ramps, typically thought of as oriented up from horizontal. This may point to a generic perceived exaggeration of slant whose direction depends on the conceptual or actual reference frame being used.     

The Metaphysics of Super‐Substantivalism

Recent decades have seen a revived interest in super‐substantivalism, the idea that spacetime is the only fundamental substance and matter some kind of aspect, property or consequence of spacetime structure. However, the metaphysical debate so far has misidentified a particular variant of super‐substantivalism with the position per se. I distinguish between a super‐substantival core commitment and different ways of fleshing it out. I then investigate how general relativity and alternative spacetime theories square with the different variants of super‐substantivalism.     

Musical ability and non‐native speech‐sound processing are linked through sensitivity to pitch and spectral information

Is the observed link between musical ability and non‐native speech‐sound processing due to enhanced sensitivity to acoustic features underlying both musical and linguistic processing? To address this question, native English speakers (N = 118) discriminated Norwegian tonal contrasts and Norwegian vowels. Short tones differing in temporal, pitch, and spectral characteristics were used to measure sensitivity to the various acoustic features implicated in musical and speech processing. Musical ability was measured using Gordon's Advanced Measures of Musical Audiation. Results showed that sensitivity to specific acoustic features played a role in non‐native speech‐sound processing: Controlling for non‐verbal intelligence, prior foreign language‐learning experience, and sex, sensitivity to pitch and spectral information partially mediated the link between musical ability and discrimination of non‐native vowels and lexical tones. The findings suggest that while sensitivity to certain acoustic features partially mediates the relationship between musical ability and non‐native speech‐sound processing, complex tests of musical ability also tap into other shared mechanisms.     

Reasons to attend college among ethnically diverse college students

A survey of 713 ethnically diverse university freshmen (463 Latino, 167 Asian American, 54 African American, 29 European American) assessed reasons for attending college, ethnic identity, family interdependence, and college adjustment. Results revealed three reasons for attending college not reported in previous research: to help one's family, to prove one's self-worth, and because of encouragement. Attending college to help the family was stronger among students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. Ethnic identity and family interdependence contributed positively to some reasons for attending college, but did not mediate ethnic differences; with cultural factors and socioeconomic status included as predictors, ethnic minority students still gave greater importance to family oriented motives than did European Americans. Career/personal and humanitarian motives contributed positively to college adjustment.     

Probabilistic inference in human semantic memory

The idea of viewing human cognition as a rational solution to computational problems posed by the environment has influenced several recent theories of human memory. The first rational models of memory demonstrated that human memory seems to be remarkably well adapted to environmental statistics but made only minimal assumptions about the form of the environmental information represented in memory. Recently, several probabilistic methods for representing the latent semantic structure of language have been developed, drawing on research in computer science, statistics and computational linguistics. These methods provide a means of extending rational models of memory retrieval to linguistic stimuli, and a way to explore the influence of the statistics of language on human memory.     

The hoarding dimension of OCD: psychological comorbidity and the five-factor personality model

Although hoarding has been associated with several psychological disorders, it is most frequently linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The present study assessed hoarding obsessions and compulsions in 204 individuals with OCD, and evaluated how hoarding was related to obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, psychological comorbidity, and personality as measured by the five-factor model. Results indicated that hoarding in OCD is a dimensional variable that is positively associated with dysphoria, total number of lifetime Axis I disorders, and lifetime histories of bipolar I, PTSD, and body dysmorphic disorder. Hoarding was negatively correlated with the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R) factor of Conscientiousness and positively associated with the NEO-PI-R factor of Neuroticism. When all personality and psychopathology variables were entered into a regression equation, dysphoria, bipolar II disorder, Conscientiousness, age, and Extraversion emerged as significant predictors of hoarding severity. Recommendations are made for clinicians and for future research.     

Does Availability of Mental Health Resources Prevent Recurrent Suicidal Behavior? An Ecological Analysis

This study examines whether availability of mental health resources in the county of residence is associated with subsequent suicidal behavior after a previous suicide attempt. Among 10,922 individuals who attempted suicide in Colorado between 1998 and 2002, residence in a county that offered a minimum safety-net of mental health services significantly reduced the risk of suicidal behavior for at least 1 year after the index attempt. Safety-net services included mental health treatment, crisis treatment, and case management. These results suggest one strategy for prevention of suicidal behavior that could inform state-level health policy development and resource allocation.     

Reliability of 16 balance tests in individuals with Down syndrome

To assess test-retest reliability scores on 16 balance tests of 21 individuals with Down syndrome whose ages ranged from 5 to 31 yr., participants performed a standing test on firm and soft surfaces with the eyes open and closed, the balance subset of the Bruininks-Oseretsky test, full turn, timed-up-and-go test, forward reach, and sit-to-stand. Each participant completed all 16 tests twice in one day and then again on a subsequent day for a total of 4 sessions. The interclass reliability correlation coefficients (ICC) value for each measure of balance varied considerably by age and sex. Based on having an ICC > .50, only 3 tests were reliable in young males and young females, whereas 5 tests could reliably be used in adult females and 9 tests could reliably be used in adult males. The results of this study raise suspicions as to the reliability of tests commonly used to assess balance and differences in reliability due to age and sex. Results of balance tests should be interpreted with caution in males and females with Down syndrome across the age span.     

The effects of local and global processing orientation on eyewitness identification performance

Recent work has demonstrated that performance on a simultaneous target-present photographic line-up can be enhanced by prior global processing orientation, and hindered by prior local processing orientation induced by processing Navon letter stimuli. A series of studies explore the generality of this processing bias effect using either videotaped scenarios or live interactions. Five experiments demonstrate that these effects are seen across a range of test stimuli, test formats, and test instructions. These data inform the processes engaged in by witnesses when making line-up identifications and indicate that it may be possible to improve the accuracy of witnesses making such judgements.