Trade-offs in detecting letters and comprehending text.

Critics of the letter detection task have questioned whether findings from that paradigm reflect normal reading processes. The present study addresses these questions using a new computerized version of the letter detection task in which reading rate along with letter detection and comprehension accuracy are examined. Previous letter detection findings were replicated with this new computerized task. Different conditions were compared in which detection and comprehension instructions were manipulated as well as the salience of the target letters. The requirement to comprehend had small effects on letter detection accuracy and reading rate, and letter detection only modestly reduced comprehension. Thus, the procedures developed in this study permit examination of the component processes contributing to performance in the letter detection task.     

A mixed-methods process evaluation of a goal management intervention for patients with polyarthritis

Process evaluations of newly developed interventions are necessary to identify effective and less effective intervention components. First aim of this study was to identify key components of a psychosocial goal management intervention from the perspective of participants, and second aim was to evaluate the intervention’s fidelity. A mixed-methods approach was applied to 24 interviews with participants post-intervention and 16 audio recordings of random training sessions. Participants experienced three key components: (1) the content, in which specific exercises helped to raise awareness and (intention to) change goal management behaviour, (2) person-focused approach, specifically, the nurse as trainer and personal fit of the approach, and (3) social mechanisms, including facilitating group processes and interpersonal processes. Adherence to the protocol by the trainers was high, while differences were found in the degree to which they were able to apply the intended collaborative approach and psychological communication skills. The applied design provided valuable insights into the processes that took place. Both the effects experienced by participants in relationship to the content, approach and social mechanisms as well as the strengths and weaknesses found with regard to fidelity provide insights that can inform the development and implementation of person-focused interventions.     

Introduction

This introduction presents the extension of Freud's instinct theory via Kohut's theory of narcissism and the self to an application of the combined theories to the political group violence racking the world scene.     

Wavelet modelling of collinearity judgment error

Prior research has found that participants manifest complex profiles of error when they are asked to judge collinearity of stimulus elements. These studies used harmonic analysis to model the data, and found large departures from accurate collinear judgments, with the amplitude and specific angular position of departures from valid judgment varying from one participant to the next. The models appeared to be a composite of many large‐, medium‐ and small‐scale departures, but this could not be established with any certainty because of the global nature of harmonic model components. Wavelet modelling is better suited to answer the question of whether the error profile is produced by independent sources that vary in size and location. Here, we examined judgments of collinearity of dot pairs across 360° of angular position. A priori and post hoc wavelet modelling strategies were used to identify independent sources of error that could not be attributed to chance, and some new statistical protocols were applied. We found evidence of error sources at several levels of scale, and these results were confirmed by the application of cross‐validation methods that make no assumption about the nature of the error probability distribution.     

The Process of Growth in Krishna Consciousness and Sacredness in Belgium

The article focuses on the Hare Krishna members in Belgium. The movement owns a temple on the outskirts of a provincial city in the south of the country. Fieldwork was carried out among the ‘temple residents’ (at Radhadesh, the ‘Petite Somme’), those who live in its vicinity, the ‘congregationalists’ in the local centres, and those who are on the way of being initiated. The article focuses on the development members undergo from ‘adepts’ to ‘devotees’, that is from ‘congregationalists’ to becoming full-time ‘temple residents’ in Radhadesh. The question we address concerns the process of members’ growth in Krishna consciousness and sacredness.     

Psychological mechanisms underlying the Köhler motivation gain

Sometimes group work conditions lead to motivation gains rather than to social loafing. Two theoretical explanations for the K?hler motivation gain effect are identified, one stressing social comparison and a second stressing the indispensability of one's effort to the group. The results of three new experiments are reported. Experiment 1 suggested that both explanations are valid and contribute to the K?hler effect. Prior studies suggested that there might be gender differences in the relative importance of these two explanatory processes. Experiment 2 confirmed this suggestion. In Experiment 3, the gender difference was eliminated by priming women with a goal (viz., competition) presumed to be chronically more important to men. It is argued that the relative importance of these two motivational processes will depend on the immediate and chronic importance attached to more personal (viz., to achieve a favorable social comparison) versus collective (viz., to contribute to one's group) goals.     

A self-adjustment procedure for measuring the visual acuity of rhesus monkeys

A visual acuity testing procedure is described which uses a self-adjustment procedure combined with shock avoidance and punishment. The S adjusts the size of the gap opening in Landolt rings by pressing levers. Correct trials decrease the size of the gap opening and are followed by a tone; incorrect trials increase the size of the gap opening and are followed by shock. The number of correct and incorrect trials needed to change the gap-opening size can be varied.     

Classical physical abstraction

An informal theory is set forth of relations between abstract entities, includingcolors, physical quantities, times, andplaces in space, and the concrete things thathave them, or areat orin them, based on the assumption that there are close analogies between these relations and relations between abstractsets and the concrete things that aremembers of them. It is suggested that even standard scientific usage of these abstractions presupposes principles that are analogous to postulates of abstraction, identity, and other fundamental principles of set theory. Also discussed is the significance of important disanalogies between sets and physical abstractions, including especiallymodal andtemporal aspects of physical abstractions, which is related to the problem of the characterizingconstancy, of colors, physical attributes, and locations in space.