Programming strategies for rapid aiming movements under simple and choice reaction time conditions

Increases in reaction time (RT) as a function of response complexity have been shown to differ between simple and choice RT tasks. Of interest in the present study was whether the influence of response complexity on RT depends on the extent to which movements are programmed in advance of movement initiation versus during execution (i.e., online). The task consisted of manual aiming movements to one or two targets (one- vs. two-element responses) under simple and choice RT conditions. The probe RT technique was employed to assess attention demands during RT and movement execution. Simple RT was greater for the two- than for the single-target responses but choice RT was not influenced by the number of elements. In both RT tasks, reaction times to the probe increased as a function of number of elements when the probe occurred during movement execution. The presence of the probe also caused an increase in aiming errors in the simple but not choice RT task. These findings indicated that online programming was occurring in both RT tasks. In the simple RT task, increased executive control mediated the integration between response elements through the utilization of visual feedback to facilitate the implementation of the second element.     

The demand for effectiveness,efficiency and equity of health care

Effectiveness, efficiency and equity in health care are discussed in this article against the background of concerns that ‘cost containment’ may lead to reductions in quality of care. It is suggested that effectiveness is best seen from the patient's point of view and that it relates to more than simply improved health status. Efficiency and equity are better viewed from a societal stance. The paper discusses the role of the medical profession in effectiveness, efficiency and equity and argues that the role of medical doctors needs to be constrained.     

Phonological transformations in Spanish-speaking aphasics

Thirty-seven aphasic patients whose native language is Spanish were divided into four groups: (1) Broca's, (2) Wernicke's, (3) Conduction, and (4) Anomia. Phonological errors produced on repetition and object-naming tasks were analyzed in terms of type of transformation and degree of similarity between target and errors in terms of shared distinctive features. Segmental transformations were of the following types: (1) pure substitution, (2) pure addition, (3) deletion, (4) reduplicative addition (doublet creation)—anticipatory (right to left) or perseverative (left to right), (5) reduplicative substitution (doublet creation)—anticipatory or perseverative, and (6) mutual exchanges. Pure substitutions were the most prevalent, exchanges, the least. Some error types were found to differentiate significantly between aphasic populations. We suggest that different mechanisms may underlie the same error type for different aphasic populations.     

The origins of deference: when do people prefer lower status?

Although the desire for high status is considered universal, prior research suggests individuals often opt for lower status positions. Why would anyone favor a position of apparent disadvantage? In 5 studies, we found that the broad construct of status striving can be broken up into two conceptions: one based on rank, the other on respect. While individuals might universally desire high levels of respect, we find that they vary widely in the extent to which they strive for high-status rank, with many individuals opting for middle- or low-status rank. The status rank that individuals preferred depended on their self-perceived value to the group: when they believed they provided less value, they preferred lower status rank. Mediation and moderation analyses suggest that beliefs about others' expectations were the primary driver of these effects. Individuals who believed they provided little value to their group inferred that others expected them to occupy a lower status position. Individuals in turn conformed to these perceived expectations, accepting lower status rank in such settings.     

The sound of the crowd: auditory information modulates the perceived emotion of a crowd based on bodily expressions

Although both auditory and visual information can influence the perceived emotion of an individual, how these modalities contribute to the perceived emotion of a crowd of characters was hitherto unknown. Here, we manipulated the ambiguity of the emotion of either a visual or auditory crowd of characters by varying the proportions of characters expressing one of two emotional states. Using an intersensory bias paradigm, unambiguous emotional information from an unattended modality was presented while participants determined the emotion of a crowd in an attended, but different, modality. We found that emotional information in an unattended modality can disambiguate the perceived emotion of a crowd. Moreover, the size of the crowd had little effect on these crossmodal influences. The role of audiovisual information appears to be similar in perceiving emotion from individuals or crowds. Our findings provide novel insights into the role of multisensory influences on the perception of social information from crowds of individuals.