Reaction time to different wavelengths at various luminances

The present investigation is concerned with determining whether or not differences in the reaction times exist in a human subject’s responses to 6 different wavelengths equated at 5 levels of luminance. The heterochromatic matching was done by the method of flicker photometry and checked by the method of direct comparison. Simple reaction time, the time interval starting with the presentation of a visual stimulus and terminating in a manual response, was used as the method of determining the latencies for the establishment of equal sensory effects for the different wavelengths. Monocular viewing of the stimuli was used by two subjects and reaction times are determined over a luminance range of 5.2 log units around a central value of I millilambert. The results indicated that simple reaction time is inversely related to stimulus luminance. There were no differences in the reaction times to the different wavelengths at the four highest luminance levels; at the lowest luminance level, the wave-lengths fan out in a manner that is in line with the classical data of vision. In other words, the visual functions obtained with simple reaction time parallel certain well-known visual functions in intensity discrimination, flicker and visual acutty-the results may be accounted for by the Duplicity Theory of vision.     

Validation of a category system for arguments in conflict discourse

Theories of individuation predict systematic differences in argumentative behavior between adolescent girls and their mothers. In order to reveal the nature and functions of this kind of discourse, two studies were carried out on 110 mother-daughter pairs. The second study (n=80) replicated and extended the first study (n=30) on an independent sample. The mother-daughter pairs were asked to discuss a subject that had recently been at issue between them. To assess the argumentative behavior, a category system was developed that reflects the functional character of utterances in discourse. The aim of the research was to test the reliability and validity of the category system. Daughters are assumed to verbalize their own needs and preferences to increase the differences to the mother, and to weaken or reject the mother's arguments in an effort to resist control. Mothers, on the other hand, are supposed to exert control over the behavior of their daughters but do so within bounds of mutuality. This should lead to verbal initiatives and attempts to explain, support and modify their positions and arguments. The data showed high reliability of the categorization of arguments. The categories also differentiated between mothers and daughters. Daughters were more likely to try to weaken and reject (and accept) the mother's arguments and to state preferences while mothers tried to support and explain their positions and to retain control by initiating questions and arguments to which the daughters responded.     

Are selective adaptation and contrast effects really distinct?

Although there is evidence that selective adaptation and contrast effects in speech perception are produced by the same mechanisms, Sawusch and Jusczyk (1981) reported a dissociation between the effects and concluded that adaptation and contrast occur at separate processing levels. They found that an ambiguous test stimulus was more likely to be labeled b following adaptation with [pha] and more likely to be labeled p following adaptation with [ba] or [spa] (the latter consisting of [ba] preceded by [s] noise). In the contrast session, where a single context stimulus occurred with a single test item, the [ba] and [pha] contexts had contrastive effects similar to those of the [ba] and [pha] adaptors, but the [spa] context produced an increase in b responses to the test stimulus, an effect opposite to that of the [spa] adaptor. One interpretation of this difference is that the rapid presentation of the [spa] adaptor gave rise to "streaming," whereby the [s] was perceptually segregated from the [ba]. In our experiment, we essentially replicated the results of Sawusch and Jusczyk (1981), using procedures similar to theirs. Next, we increased the interadaptor interval to remove the likelihood of stream segregation and found that the adaptation and contrast effects converged.     

Eurocommunist recognition of fundamental rights and its limits

Studies in East European Thought -     

When East meets West: a longitudinal examination of the relationship between group relative deprivation and intergroup contact in reunified Germany

Intergroup contact and group relative deprivation have both been shown to play a key role in the understanding of intergroup relations. Nevertheless, we know little about their causal relationship. In order to shed some light on the directionality and causality of the relationship between intergroup contact and group relative deprivation, we analysed responses by East and West Germans from k= 97 different cities, collected 6 (N(T)(1) = 1,001), 8 (N(T)(2) = 747), and 10 years (N(T)(3) = 565) after reunification. Multi-level cross-lagged analyses showed that group relative deprivation at T1 led to more (rather than less) intergroup contact between East and West Germans 2 years as well as 4 years later. We found no evidence for the reverse causal relationship, or moderation by group membership. Furthermore, admiration mediated the positive effect of relative deprivation on intergroup contact for both East and West Germans. This intriguing finding suggests that intergroup contact may be used as a proactive identity management strategy by members of both minority and majority groups.     

Resilience predicts well-being in teachers, but not in non-teaching employees

The resilience concept has often been criticized as simply reflecting the absence of neuroticism (i.e. vulnerability to stress and negative affectivity). Challenging this point of view, the aim of this study was to show that resilience could predict well-being in teachers above and beyond neuroticism. By contrast, we expected that resilience would not play the same role for non-teaching employees. Here, neuroticism should outperform resilience in predicting well-being, as resilience is supposed to be a special prerequisite for teachers, but not for non-teaching employees. One hundred seventy teachers and 183 non-teaching employees provided measures of resilience, neuroticism, and well-being. The aspects of well-being studied were general health perception, job satisfaction, exhaustion, and physical illness. Results revealed that among teachers, resilience contributed more to the prediction of general health perception than did neuroticism. Variance in job satisfaction was explained equally well by resilience and neuroticism. Physical illness and exhaustion were better predicted by neuroticism. In non-teachers, neuroticism predicted all outcomes better than did resilience. The results emphasize that resilience might be particularly important for the well-being of teachers, whereas for non-teachers, low neuroticism can be enough to maintain well-being. Specific occupational stress patterns experienced by teachers may explain these findings.