The influence of head contour and nose angle on the perception of eye-gaze direction

We report seven experiments that investigate the influence that head orientation exerts on the perception of eye-gaze direction. In each of these experiments, participants were asked to decide whether the eyes in a brief and masked presentation were looking directly at them or were averted. In each case, the eyes could be presented alone, or in the context of congruent or incongruent stimuli In Experiment 1A, the congruent and incongruent stimuli were provided by the orientation of face features and head outline. Discrimination of gaze direction was found to be better when face and gaze were congruent than in both of the other conditions, an effect that was not eliminated by inversion of the stimuli (Experiment 1B). In Experiment 2A, the internal face features were removed, but the outline of the head profile was found to produce an identical pattern of effects on gaze discrimination, effects that were again insensitive to inversion (Experiment 2B) and which persisted when lateral displacement of the eyes was controlled (Experiment 2C). Finally, in Experiment 3A, nose angle was also found to influence participants' ability to discriminate direct gaze from averted gaze, but here the effect was eliminated by inversion of the stimuli (Experiment 3B). We concluded that an image-based mechanism is responsible for the influence of head profile on gaze perception, whereas the analysis of nose angle involves the configural processing of face features.     

Adult helping qualities preferred by adolescents

Most studies of therapeutic alliance have focused on adult populations and been written from the therapist's perspective. Thus, there is a clear need for studies of therapeutic alliance that focus on adolescent populations from the perspective of the adolescents. The current study is an exploratory process investigation using a focus group methodology with a nonclinical sample of adolescents to determine which traits in adults might foster alliance, with the assumption that the same traits would apply to therapeutic settings. A content analytic approach was used and 12 adult qualities found to be preferred by adolescents from most to least cited were: respect, time shared, openness, role characteristics, recognition, guidance, identification, trust, freedom, like/ dislike, responsibility, and familiarity.     

Induced biases in emotional interpretation influence stress vulnerability and endure despite changes in context

Previous research has shown that interpretation biases can be experimentally induced and endure for 24 hours. In two experiments, we show that induced biases not only persist but survive changes in environmental context, including transferring to different rooms with different experimenters. In one experiment, training and testing materials were also presented in different sensory modalities without significantly reducing the magnitude of the induced bias. Furthermore, we found evidence of changes in emotional vulnerability, congruent with the direction of induced bias, which also persisted for 24 hours. Together with earlier results, these findings show that induced biases generalize over contexts and have persisting emotional consequences, suggesting that appropriately adapted training methods may contribute to developing therapeutic techniques within clinical settings.     

Adult age differences in autobiographical reasoning in narratives

Two studies examined age differences in autobiographical reasoning within narratives about personal experiences. In Study 1 (n=63), people completed brief interviews about turning points and crises in their lives. Older participants were more likely to narrate crises in ways that connected the experience to the speaker's sense of self, that is, to show autobiographical reasoning. This increase was primarily evident in young adulthood and midlife. In Study 2 (n=115), adults provided written narratives about heterogeneous autobiographical experiences. Age was associated with linear increases in the likelihood of autobiographical reasoning. The results are discussed in terms of narrative approaches to self-development across the life span.     

Emotional and sexual jealousy as a function of sex and sexual orientation in a Brazilian sample

The goal of the present study was to compare the relative distress of homosexual and heterosexual Brazilian men and women on scenarios in which they imagined their partners sexually or emotionally involved with another person, using a forced-choice paradigm and continuous measures. Participants were 68 heterosexual men, 72 heterosexual women, 42 homosexual men, and 35 homosexual women. On the forced-choice questions heterosexual men (39 on one question and 37 on the other) were more upset than their female counterparts (21 on one question and 15 on the other) by scenarios of sexual infidelity than those of emotional infidelity. On questions using continuous measures no significant difference was found between pleasurable sex and attachment scenarios for heterosexual women or heterosexual men. On the highly upsetting scenarios heterosexual men discriminated between flirting and both pleasurable sex and attachment scenarios, being less disturbed by the former. In contrast, heterosexual women were equally distressed by the three scenarios. Scores for the homosexual men and homosexual women fell in between those of the heterosexual men and heterosexual women and did not show a clear cut preference for the sexual infidelity or the emotional alternative on the forced-choice paradigm. However, on the continuous measures of jealousy homosexuals resembled heterosexuals of the opposite sex. There was no evidence that jealousy would be less intense among homosexuals although reproductive outcomes were not at risk.     

The interpersonal expression of perfection: perfectionistic self-presentation and psychological distress

A concept involving the interpersonal expression of perfection, perfectionistic self-presentation, is introduced. It is argued that perfectionistic self-presentation is a maladaptive self-presentational style composed of three facets: perfectionistic self-promotion (i.e., proclaiming and displaying one's perfection), nondisplay of imperfection (i.e., concealing and avoiding behavioral demonstrations of one's imperfection), and nondisclosure of imperfection (i.e., evading and avoiding verbal admissions of one's imperfection). Several studies involving diverse samples demonstrate that perfectionistic self-presentation is a valid and reliable construct and a consistent factor in personal and interpersonal psychological distress. It is argued that the need to promote one's perfection or the desire to conceal one's imperfection involves self-esteem regulation in the interpersonal context.     

The elusive nature of self-measurement: the self-construal scale versus the twenty statements test

In the present study, the authors compared 2 frequently used measures to operationalize the construct of the self, namely, the Self-Construal Scale (SCS; T. M. Singelis, 1994) and the Twenty Statements Test (TST; M. Kuhn & T. S. McPartland, 1954), in a sample of 324 male and female undergraduate psychology students of diverse ethnocultural backgrounds. Results demonstrated low intercorrelations between the 2 measures, suggesting that the qualitative and quantitative measures did not evaluate the same construct. A factor analysis of the SCS scale revealed 3 constructs-an independent construct, an interdependent construct, and a power distance or hierarchy construct. Implications for future research included the need for ongoing work in identifying and measuring the constructs of the self.     

In search of perceptual priming in a semantic classification task

Four experiments tested for perceptual priming for written words in a semantic categorization task. Repetition priming was obtained for low-frequency words when unrelated categorizations were performed at study and test (Experiment 1), but it was not orthographically mediated given that written-to-written and spoken-to-written word priming was equivalent (Experiments 2 and 3). Furthermore, no priming was obtained between pictures and words (Experiment 4), suggesting that the nonorthographic priming was largely phonological rather than semantic. These results pose a challenge to standard perceptual theories of priming that should expect orthographic priming when words are presented in a visual format at study and test.     

Enhanced perceptual priming for neutral stimuli in a traumatic context: A pathway to intrusive memories?

Clinical observations suggest that re-experiencing symptoms are triggered by stimuli that are perceptually similar to those present shortly before the trauma or its worst moments. Two experiments investigated the possible role of perceptual priming in this phenomenon. Volunteers (N = 28, N = 62) watched a series of "traumatic" and neutral picture stories, and completed blurred object identification (priming) and recognition memory tasks. Neutral objects that immediately preceded the "traumatic" stories were more strongly primed, but not better recognised, than objects from neutral stories. Enhanced priming predicted subsequent re-experiencing symptoms. The results support the role of perceptual priming in re-experiencing.