Action and perception: Evidence against converging selection processes

In a series of experiments we investigated whether identification of a lateralized visual target would benefit from concurrent execution of a reaching movement on the same side of space. Participants were tested in a dual-task paradigm. In one task, they performed a speeded reach movement towards a lateralized target button. The reach was cued by an auditory stimulus, and performed out of the participant's sight. In the other task, participants identified one of two simultaneous visual stimuli presented to the left and right visual fields, close to movement target locations. If motor activity were effective in modulating perceptual processes via a visuo-attentional shift, identification performance should have improved when the visual stimulus appeared at the movement target location. In fact, identification was not affected by the side of reach. Such results suggest substantially independent selection processes in motor and visual domains.     

Theory and tests of the conjoint commutativity axiom for additive conjoint measurement

The empirical study of the axioms underlying additive conjoint measurement initially focused mostly on the double cancellation axiom. That axiom was shown to exhibit redundant features that made its statistical evaluation a major challenge. The special case of double cancellation where inequalities are replaced by indifferences–the Thomsen condition–turned out in the full axiomatic context to be equivalent to the double cancellation property but without exhibiting the redundancies of double cancellation. However, it too has some undesirable features when it comes to its empirical evaluation, the chief among them being a certain statistical asymmetry in estimates used to evaluate it, namely two interlocked hypotheses and a single conclusion. Nevertheless, thinking we had no choice, we evaluated the Thomsen condition for both loudness and brightness and, in agreement with other lines of research, we found more support for conjoint additivity than not. However, we commented on the difficulties we had encountered in evaluating it. Thus we sought a more symmetric replacement, which as Gigerenzer and Strube (1983) first noted, is found in the conjoint commutativity axiom proposed by Falmagne (1976, who called it the “commutative rule”). It turns out that, in the presence of the usual structural and other necessary assumptions of additive conjoint measurement, we can show that conjoint commutativity is equivalent to the Thomsen condition, a result that seems to have been overlooked in the literature. We subjected this property to empirical evaluation for both loudness and brightness. In contrast to Gigerenzer and Strube (1983), our data show support for the conjoint commutativity in both domains and thus for conjoint additivity.     

The time course of similarity effects in visual search

It is well established that visual search becomes harder when the similarity between target and distractors is increased and the similarity between distractors is decreased. However, in models of visual search, similarity is typically treated as a static, time-invariant property of the relation between objects. Data from other perceptual tasks (e.g., categorization) demonstrate that similarity is dynamic and changes as perceptual information is accumulated (Lamberts, 1998). In three visual search experiments, the time course of target-distractor similarity effects and distractor-distractor similarity effects was examined. A version of the extended generalized context model (EGCM; Lamberts, 1998) provided a good account of the time course of the observed similarity effects, supporting the notion that similarity in search is dynamic. Modeling also indicated that increasing distractor homogeneity influences both perceptual and decision processes by (respectively) increasing the rate at which stimulus features are processed and enabling strategic weighting of stimulus information.     

Brightness of different hues is a single psychophysical ratio scale of intensity

Recent studies based on testable behavioral axioms have concluded that psychological scales of subjective intensive attributes involving the ears and eyes form ratio scales. These studies have shown that a certain commutativity of proportion property must hold under either successive increases or successive decreases, with all other independent dimensions fixed. However, until recently limited attention has been paid to whether such subjective intensity scales differ when a dimension independent of intensity, such as frequency or wavelength (e.g., pitch in audition, hue in vision) is varied. Using a simple and favorably tested theoretical model for global psychophysics, Luce, Steingrimsson, and Narens (2010) arrived at a necessary and sufficient cross-frequency, commutativity condition for there to exist a common intensity ratio scale. Here we show that brightness--already established to be a ratio-scalable dimension--and hue satisfy the same conditions.     

Political polarization projection: social projection of partisan attitude extremity and attitudinal processes

What influences perceptions of political polarization? The authors examine the polarization of people's own political attitudes as a source of perceived polarization: Individuals with more extreme partisan attitudes perceive greater polarization than individuals with less extreme partisan attitudes. This "polarization projection" was demonstrated in 3 studies in which people estimated the distribution of others' political attitudes: one study with a nationally representative sample concerning the 2008 presidential election, and 2 studies concerning university students evaluating a policy regarding scarce resource allocation. These studies demonstrate that polarization projection occurs simultaneously with and independently of simple projection, the tendency to assume that others share one's partisan political attitudes. Polarization projection may occur partly because people assume that others engage in similar attitudinal processes as the self, such as extensive thought and emotional arousal. The projection of various attitudinal processes was demonstrated in a study concerning health care reform policies. Further supporting this explanation, polarization projection increased when people introspected about their own attitudinal processes, which increased the accessibility of those processes. Implications for perceptions of partisanship, social judgment, and civic behavior are discussed.     

Predictions about bisymmetry and cross-modal matches from global theories of subjective intensities

The article first summarizes the assumptions of Luce (2004, 2008) for inherently binary (2-D) stimuli (e.g., the ears and eyes) that lead to a "p-additive," order-preserving psychophysical representation. Next, a somewhat parallel theory for unary (1-D) signals is developed for intensity attributes such as linear extent, vibration to finger, and money. The 3rd section studies the property of bisymmetry in these 2 cases. For the 2-D case and the nontrivial p-additive forms, Proposition 3 shows that bisymmetry implies commutativity of the presentations. Bisymmetry has been empirically well sustained, whereas commutativity has been rejected for loudness, brightness, and perceived contrast, thus implying that pure additivity must obtain in the 2-D context. By contrast, bisymmetry and commutativity are automatically satisfied by the p-additive 1-D theory. The 4th section explores the resulting complex of cross-modal predictions. For the additive 1-D case and the 2-D case, the predictions are power functions. For the nonadditive 1-D cases, other relations are predicted (see Table 2). Some parameter estimation issues are taken up in Appendices B and C.     

The Quality Implementation Framework: A Synthesis of Critical Steps in the Implementation Process

Implementation science is growing in importance among funders, researchers, and practitioners as an approach to bridging the gap between science and practice. We addressed three goals to contribute to the understanding of the complex and dynamic nature of implementation. Our first goal was to provide a conceptual overview of the process of implementation by synthesizing information from 25 implementation frameworks. The synthesis extends prior work by focusing on specific actions (i.e., the “how to”) that can be employed to foster high quality implementation. The synthesis identified 14 critical steps that were used to construct the Quality Implementation Framework (QIF). These steps comprise four QIF phases: Initial Considerations Regarding the Host Setting, Creating a Structure for Implementation, Ongoing Structure Once Implementation Begins, and Improving Future Applications. Our second goal was to summarize research support for each of the 14 QIF steps and to offer suggestions to direct future research efforts. Our third goal was to outline practical implications of our findings for improving future implementation efforts in the world of practice. The QIF's critical steps can serve as a useful blueprint for future research and practice. Applying the collective guidance synthesized by the QIF to the Interactive Systems Framework for Dissemination and Implementation (ISF) emphasizes that accountability for quality implementation does not rest with the practitioner Delivery System alone. Instead, all three ISF systems are mutually accountable for quality implementation. Special Issue: Advances in Bridging Research and Practice Using the Interactive System Framework for Dissemination and Implementation; Guest Editors: Abraham Wandersman, Paul Flaspohler, Catherine A. Lesesne, Richard Puddy; Action Editor: Emilie Phillips Smith     

Concurrent validity of an online version of the Timeline Followback assessment

The Timeline Followback (TLFB) interview has been used extensively in the assessment of alcohol and other substance use. While this methodology has been validated in multiple formats for multiple behaviors, to date no systematic comparisons have been conducted between the traditional interview format and online versions. The present research employed a randomized within-subjects design to compare interview versus online-based TLFB assessments of alcohol and marijuana use among 102 college students. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the online version first or the in-person interview format first. Participants subsequently completed the second format within 3 days. While we expected few overall differences between formats, we hypothesized that differences might emerge to the extent that participants are more comfortable and willing to answer honestly in an online format, which provides a degree of anonymity. Results were consistent with expectations in suggesting relatively few differences between the online version and the in-person version. Participants did report feeling more comfortable in completing the online version. Moreover, greater discomfort during the in-person assessment was associated with reporting more past-month marijuana use on the online assessment, but reported discomfort did not moderate differences between formats in reported alcohol consumption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

The illusion of courage in self‐predictions: Mispredicting one's own behavior in embarrassing situations

People exhibit an “illusion of courage” when predicting their own behavior in embarrassing situations. In three experiments, participants overestimated their own willingness to engage in embarrassing public performances in exchange for money when those performances were psychologically distant: Hypothetical or in the relatively distant future. This illusion of courage occurs partly because of cold/hot empathy gaps. That is, people in a relatively “cold” unemotional state underestimate the influence on their own preferences and behaviors of being in a relative “hot” emotional state such as social anxiety evoked by an embarrassing situation. Consistent with this cold/hot empathy gap explanation, putting people “in touch” with negative emotional states by arousing fear (Experiments 1 and 2) and anger (Experiment 2) decreased people's willingness to engage in psychologically distant embarrassing public performances. Conversely, putting people “out of touch” with social anxiety through aerobic exercise, which reduces state anxiety and increases confidence, increased people's willingness to engage in psychologically distance embarrassing public performances (Experiment 3). Implications for self‐predictions, self‐evaluation, and affective forecasting are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.