Search asymmetries with real faces: testing the anger-superiority effect

The anger-superiority hypothesis states that angry faces are detected more efficiently than friendly faces. Previously research used schematized stimuli, which minimizes perceptual confounds, but violates ecological validity. The authors argue that a confounding of appearance and meaning is unavoidable and even unproblematic if real faces are presented. Four experiments tested carefully controlled photos in a search-asymmetry design. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed more efficient detection of an angry face among happy faces than vice versa. Experiment 3 indicated that the advantage was due to the mouth, but not to the eyes, and Experiment 4, using upright and inverted thatcherized faces, suggests a perceptual basis. The results are in line with a sensory-bias hypothesis that facial expressions evolved to exploit extant capabilities of the visual system.     

Quantifizierung — Metrisierung

This paper attempts to distinguish the methods of the constitution of a realm of scientific objects from the methods of their mathematical representation. In its investigations into the procedures for forming quantitative concepts analytical philosophy of science has thematized the numerical representation of empirical relational systems (metricizing). It is the task of an historical epistemology to identify the methods and historical processes through which relams of phenomena have been made representable in such a way (quantification). In preparing such investigations conceptual distinctions are made, in particular between quantities and scales.     

It felt fluent but I did not like it: fluency effects in faces versus patterns

Whether you like a person or not is often appraised in a glance. However, under such short presentation durations stimuli are harder to perceive and, according to hedonic fluency theory-which holds that higher fluency is linked to higher liking-thus, are liked less. Given that liking considerably influences person perception, we tested how shorter and longer presentation durations affect liking for faces and compared this with abstract patterns. To capture facets of fluency of processing we assessed felt fluency, liking, and certainty ratings. Following predictions of fluency theory, longer presentation durations led to higher felt fluency, certainty, and positively affected liking judgments in the abstract patterns. In faces, felt fluency and certainty also increased with longer durations. However, with longer durations, faces were liked less, and liking was not related to felt fluency. In other words, in contrast to hedonic fluency theory, faces are more attractive when only seen for a short amount of time. Thus, fluency does not inevitably lead to more positive evaluations—it rather depends on the stimulus category. We discuss these findings in terms of the special status that faces have with regard to human perception and evaluation.     

A feature-weighting account of priming in conjunction search

Previous research on the priming effect in conjunction search has shown that repeating the target and distractor features across displays speeds mean response times but does not improve search efficiency: Repetitions do not reduce the set size effect—that is, the effect of the number of distractor items—but only modulate the intercept of the search function. In the present study, we investigated whether priming modulates search efficiency when a conjunctively defined target randomly changes between red and green. The results from an eyetracking experiment show that repeating the target across trials reduced the set size effect and, thus, did enhance search efficiency. Moreover, the probability of selecting the target as the first item in the display was higher when the target—distractor displays were repeated across trials than when they changed. Finally, red distractors were selected more frequently than green distractors when the previous target had been red (and vice versa). Taken together, these results indicate that priming in conjunction search modulates processes concerned with guiding attention to the target, by assigning more attentional weight to features sharing the previous target’s color.     

The interaction between emotion and executive control: Comparison between visual,auditory, and tactile modalities

The reciprocal connections between emotion and attention are vital for adaptive behaviour. Previous results demonstrated that the behavioural effects of emotional stimuli on performance are attenuated when executive control is recruited. The current research studied whether this attenuation is modality dependent. In two experiments, negative and neutral pictures were presented shortly before a visual, tactile, or auditory target in a Simon task. All three modalities demonstrated a Simon effect, a conflict adaptation effect, and an emotional interference effect. However, the interaction between picture valence and Simon congruency was found only in the visual task. Specifically, when the Simon target was visual, emotional interference was reduced during incongruent compared to congruent trials. These findings suggest that although the control-related effects observed in the Simon tasks are not modality dependent, the link between emotion and executive control is modality dependent. Presumably, this link occurs only when the emotional stimulus and the target are presented in the same modality.     

How many hindsight biases are there?

The answer is three: questioning a conceptual default assumption in hindsight bias research, we argue that the hindsight bias is not a unitary phenomenon but consists of three separable and partially independent subphenomena or components, namely, memory distortions, impressions of foreseeability and impressions of necessity. Following a detailed conceptual analysis including a systematic survey of hindsight characterizations in the published literature, we investigated these hindsight components in the context of political elections. We present evidence from three empirical studies that impressions of foreseeability and memory distortions (1) show hindsight effects that typically differ in magnitude and sometimes even in direction, (2) are essentially uncorrelated, and (3) are differentially influenced by extraneous variables. A fourth study found similar dissociations between memory distortions and impressions of necessity. All four studies thus provide support for a separate components view of the hindsight bias. An important consequence of such a view is that apparent contradictions in research findings as well as in theoretical explanations (e.g., cognitive vs. social-motivational) might be alleviated by taking differences between components into account. We also suggest conditions under which the components diverge or converge.     

Measuring Big-Five personality dimensions with the implicit association test – Implicit personality traits or self-esteem?

We examined whether the implicit association test (IAT) could serve as an implicit measure of the dimensions of the Five-Factor Model of Personality. In the first study (N = 84) IAT-effects of the Big-Five (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism and Openness) were found and the IAT showed good internal consistencies and convergent validity with an explicit Big-Five questionnaire (NEO-FFI-30). In a second study (N = 50), conducted to determine the overlap of the personality-IATs with implicit self-esteem, the Extraversion and the Neuroticism-IAT were shown to correlate with a self-esteem-IAT only moderately.     

Beliefs in the Inheritance of Risk Factors for Suicide Scale: development, reliability, stability, and convergent and discriminant validity

Findings from adoption, family, geographical, immigrant, molecular genetic, surname, and twin studies suggest genetic risk factors have a role in suicidal behavior. However, related mental health literacy (knowledge and beliefs) even of future health-care professionals who will be concerned with suicide lag behind this research progress. As no scale for assessing such beliefs is available, the 22-item Beliefs in the Inheritance of Risk Factors for Suicide Scale was constructed, its contents rated by experts in a validation survey and administered to samples of 70 medical and 165 psychology students. Medical students held stronger beliefs in the genetics of suicide than psychology students. Internal scale consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed as adequate. Factor analysis of the 22 items yielded a dominant first factor. Scores were positively related to knowledge about suicide (convergent validity) but for the most part unrelated to lay theories of suicide, political orientation, religiosity, and social desirability (discriminant validity). This novel scale shows potential for assessing individuals' beliefs about the genetics of suicide. Applications may include basic research, educational contexts, and evaluation of professional training.