Induced movement as nonveridical resolution of displacement ambiguity: Effect of enclosure and number of field elements

Four experiments on induced movement and induced stationariness are described. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that mere enclosure of a stationary spot in a moving frame does not necessarily result in induced movement. Nor does enclosure of a moving spot in a stationary frame necessarily result in perceived real movement of the spot. Duncker’s principles of enclosure is thus called into question. Two further experiments showed that both induced and perceived real movement of a spot are much more frequent when the frame is replaced by either two or more similar spots which enclose or flank the target spot. It can be concluded that the principle of enclosure obtains when the reference field consists of more than one element which move or remain stationary together. When such a field moves, it is the single, enclosed element which appears to move while the field itself appears stationary.     

Spatial asymmetries in viewing and remembering scenes: Consequences of an attentional bias?

Given a single fixation, memory for scenes containing salient objects near both the left and right view boundaries exhibited a rightward bias in boundary extension (Experiment 1). On each trial, a 500-msec picture and 2.5-sec mask were followed by a boundary adjustment task. Observers extended boundaries 5% more on the right than on the left. Might this reflect an asymmetric distribution of attention? In Experiments 2A and 2B, free viewing of pictures revealed that first saccades were more often leftward (62%) than rightward (38%). In Experiment 3, 500-msec pictures were interspersed with 2.5-sec masks. A subsequent object recognition memory test revealed better memory for left-side objects. Scenes were always mirror reversed for half the observers, thus ruling out idiosyncratic scene compositions as the cause of these asymmetries. Results suggest an unexpected leftward bias of attention that selectively enhanced the representations, causing a smaller boundary extension error and better object memory on the views’ left sides.     

The phenomenology of carryover effects between show-up and line-up identification

This study explored carryover effects from show-ups to subsequent line-up identifications using a novel paradigm in which participants rendered multiple identification judgements. A total of 160 participants studied a series of faces and subsequently viewed a series of target-absent and target-present show-ups. Following a retention interval, participants then made identification judgements from a series of target-absent and target-present line-ups. Remember-Know-Guess judgements were collected to assess the phenomenological basis of carryover effects in face identification. Our results indicated clear carryover effects from show-ups to line-ups, such that repeated exposure to a face increased the likelihood that it would later be identified, regardless of whether or not it had been presented at the time of study. The phenomenological basis for these carryover effects is discussed, as are the implications of these findings for police conduct of multiple eyewitness identification procedures.     

An evaluation of in vivo desensitization and video modeling to increase compliance with dental procedures in persons with mental retardation

Fear of dental procedures deters many individuals with mental retardation from accepting dental treatment. This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of two procedures, in vivo desensitization and video modeling, for increasing compliance with dental procedures in participants with severe or profound mental retardation. Desensitization increased compliance for all 5 participants, whereas video modeling increased compliance for only 1 of 3 participants.     

NEO PI-R predictors of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems

We investigated the relationships between Five-factor model domains and facets and drinking and alcohol-related problems. We also examined the moderating effects of gender. Two hundred students (99 men and 101 women) who had used alcohol in the past year completed self-report and interview assessments. Bivariate analyses demonstrated some significant relationships. In the multivariate analyses that controlled for gender, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were linked to drinking, but only some of the facets from these domains had significant relationships to drinking. Facets of Extraversion and Agreeableness, but not these domains, were associated with drinking. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness and most of their facets were related to alcohol-related problems in the multivariate analyses. The interactions between gender and traits were not significant.     

Food caching by western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) is sensitive to the conditions at recovery

Western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) cached perishable and nonperishable food items, which they could recover after both short and long retention intervals. When perishable items were always degraded at recovery, jays decreased the number of perishable items cached and increased their caching of nonperishable items, relative to a control group whose caches were always fresh at recovery. Jays reduced the number of nonperishable items cached, however, when highly preferred food items were degraded only after the long retention intervals. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of retrospective and prospective processes in the control of caching.     

Factor structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III in schizophrenia

This report examines and compares the factor structure of the new edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) in a sample of chronic schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder outpatients (n = 120) and an age-matched sample of individuals drawn from the WAIS-III standardization sample (n = 200). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses similar to those reported by the developers of the scale suggested that a model of WAIS-III performance with correlated factors for verbal comprehension, perceptual organization, working memory, and processing speed fit the data from the schizophrenia sample as well as it fit the nonclinical comparison sample and fit the data from both samples better than alternative models.     

The Problem of Having Both a Body and a Name in the Work of Jean-Luc Marion

In this essay, and following upon both Jacques Lacan’s and Jacques Derrida’s personal struggles with fatherhood and the naming of their children, I take up what I consider to be Jean-Luc Marion’s failure to deal with the embodiment of fatherhood through an examination of patriarchal signification, or, specifically, the naming of one’s children after the father — at least insofar as Marion’s brief analysis of this symbolic act points toward his failure to think through the various potential and lived embodiments of the father. I aim to illuminate how his efforts to continue this naming of the child with the father’s name speak more directly to an idealized (“theologized”) vision of our world that need not be serviced, indeed, which we would benefit from not utilizing at all. I wish, in an autobiographical-phenomenological response to Marion, to point to other names, other relationships, and other ways of perceiving how one might be situated within our world. I follow Sara Ahmed in calling “queer” ways in which a phenomenological account of the subject’s identity are not a pretext for perpetuating a quasi-theological, patriarchal agenda.     

Linking Genetic Counseling Content to Short-Term Outcomes in Individuals at Elevated Breast Cancer Risk

Few studies have linked actual genetic counseling content to short-term outcomes. Using the Self-regulation Model, the impact of cognitive and affective content in genetic counseling on short-term outcomes was studied in individuals at elevated risk of familial breast-ovarian cancer. Surveys assessed dependent variables: distress, perceived risk, and 6 knowledge measures (Meaning of Positive Test; Meaning of Negative Test; Personal Behavior; Practitioner Knowledge; Mechanisms of Cancer Inheritance; Frequency of Inherited Cancer) measured at pre- and post-counseling. Proportion of participant cognitive and affective and counselor cognitive and affective content during sessions (using LIWC software) were predictors in regressions. Knowledge increased for 5 measures and decreased for Personal Behavior, Distress and Perceived Risk. Controlling for age and education, results were significant/marginally significant for three measures. More counselor content was associated with decreases in knowledge of Personal Behavior. More participant and less counselor affective content was associated with gains in Practitioner Knowledge. More counselor cognitive, and interaction of counselor cognitive and affective content, were associated with higher perceived risk. Genetic counselors dominate the content of counseling sessions. Therefore, their content is tied more closely to short term outcomes than participant content. A lack of patient communication in sessions may pose problems for understanding of complex concepts.     

Sense of agency, associative learning, and schizotypy

Despite the fact that the role of learning is recognised in empirical and theoretical work on sense of agency (SoA), the nature of this learning has, rather surprisingly, received little attention. In the present study we consider the contribution of associative mechanisms to SoA. SoA can be measured quantitatively as a temporal linkage between voluntary actions and their external effects. Using an outcome blocking procedure, it was shown that training action–outcome associations under conditions of increased surprise augmented this temporal linkage. Moreover, these effects of surprise were correlated with schizotypy scores, suggesting that individual differences in higher level experiences are related to associative learning and to its impact on SoA. These results are discussed in terms of models of SoA, and our understanding of disrupted SoA in certain disorders.