Language-guided visual processing affects reasoning: The role of referential and spatial anchoring

Language is more than a source of information for accessing higher-order conceptual knowledge. Indeed, language may determine how people perceive and interpret visual stimuli. Visual processing in linguistic contexts, for instance, mirrors language processing and happens incrementally, rather than through variously-oriented fixations over a particular scene. The consequences of this atypical visual processing are yet to be determined. Here, we investigated the integration of visual and linguistic input during a reasoning task. Participants listened to sentences containing conjunctions or disjunctions (Nancy examined an ant and/or a cloud) and looked at visual scenes containing two pictures that either matched or mismatched the nouns. Degree of match between nouns and pictures (referential anchoring) and between their expected and actual spatial positions (spatial anchoring) affected fixations as well as judgments. We conclude that language induces incremental processing of visual scenes, which in turn becomes susceptible to reasoning errors during the language-meaning verification process.     

Toward a grounded theory of self-regulation in mixed martial arts

ObjectivesThe purpose of the current study was to use a grounded theory methodology to better understand the psychological factors involved in training and competition in MMA.DesignA grounded theory methodology underpinned by an interpretivist epistemology was utilized in the current study.MethodsNine MMA athletes participated in formal, recorded interviews with one athlete participating in two recorded interviews. Additionally, observations and field notes from the first author were collected over a one-year period, and aided data collection and analysis. In line with grounded theory methodology (Weed, 2009), an iterative and constant comparison approach to data collection and analysis was employed until saturation was reached.ResultsThroughout data collection and analysis, self-regulation during a training camp emerged as integral to optimal performance. Motivation and ongoing evaluation aided fighters in their ability to self-regulate both external and internal factors related to training and performance. External factors associated with self-regulation consisted of the creation and maintenance of an ascetic routine through environmental regulation, social support, and structured amnesty. Internal factors associated with self-regulation consisted of deliberately induced pain and distress, which facilitated self-efficacy, and produced stress and fatigue.ConclusionsResults of the current study advance the scientific literature in sport psychology by examining the role of self-regulation in the performance of MMA fighters. As the popularity of MMA continues to increase, future research should also examine the role of self-regulation in other aspects of MMA (e.g., injury rehabilitation, life balance).     

The Direct Use of Projective Techniques in Psychotherapy

Relationships between MMPI scales and criteria were evaluated to determine if the MMPI is racially biased with a juvenile delinquent population. The MMPI was administered to 333 white and 107 Black male juvenile delinquents, and criterion data were collected. The regression equations developed for Blacks and whites resulted in similar accuracies. However, the weights of the regression equations tended to differ for the two races. How they differed depended on the criterion predicted by the equations. Consequently, it was impossible to state unconditionally that the use of the MMPI with Black delinquents will have an adverse impact. In fact, one interpretation of the results suggested that the MMPI may not be racially biased for predictions with juvenile delinquents because the amount of constant error in prediction for a racial group decreased toward zero as the apparent objectivity of the criteria increased.     

Implications of Item Keying and Item Valence for the Investigation of Construct Dimensionality

Factor analysis and nomological network analysis are commonly used as complementary procedures in the investigation of the dimensionality of constructs (e.g., self-esteem, job satisfaction). Although it has been demonstrated that factor analyses are often biased toward a two-dimensional solution for measures including regular- and reverse-keyed items, less attention has been paid to the implications for nomological network analyses. We propose, and demonstrate empirically in two studies, that item keying is confounded with item valence (i.e., favorability of item content), and that item valence can bias the results of both factor analysis and nomological network analysis toward a two-dimensional interpretation. We also demonstrate that the valence effect is related to, but distinguishable from, social desirability response bias. We caution that the practice of excluding reverse-keyed items to achieve unidimensionality can lead to distortion in correlations among constructs, and we offer alternative remedies to the valence problem.     

Index Contents of Volume 37 (1973)

The validity of various indicators of response distortion on the Personality Assessment Inventory–Adolescent (PAI–A; Morey, 2007a) and its potential usefulness to detect malingering were evaluated by having 17- and 18-year-old students complete the PAI–A attempting to simulate Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) under coached or noncoached conditions. Scores for these respondents on the Negative Impression and Positive Impression scales, the Malingering Index, and the Rogers Discriminant Function (RDF) were compared to those of 17- and 18-year-old patients receiving clinical diagnoses of ADHD. Simulating respondents also completed the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) to determine if they could successfully simulate self-reported symptoms of ADHD. A total of 45% of simulating participants obtained CAARS scores reflecting clinically significant symptoms of ADHD. All indicators demonstrated the ability to distinguish between actual patients and feigned responses of successful simulators, with the RDF demonstrating the greatest accuracy in distinguishing these groups.     

The Hydraulic Principles Governing the Function of the Cochlea

General equation. Rejecting all fantastic “anatomical” data, that is, not making any anatomical assumptions but those of facts which are clearly visible under the microscope, but, on the other hand, taking conscientiously into account everything that can thus be seen, we derive a general equation describing the hydraulic functions of the mammalian cochlea.

Statement of the chief aim of the theory. Whenever anything occurs on the outside which deserves to be called a sound in the sense of the physicist, and which varies more or less periodically with the time, we want to know first, what length or lengths of the phragma will be involved, because this determines the number of sensitive cells stimulated and thereby the magnitude of the nervous flux (or “the sensation intensity,” loudness); and we want to know second, how frequently per time unit these various lengths of the phragma are shaken, because this determines the nature of the stimulation and accordingly the quality of the chemical process resulting in each of those sensitive cells (or “the sensation quality,” pitch). Thus, our most important aim must be the establishment of a relation between l and t.

Solution of the equation. The equation is solved in special cases for two-fold verificaton: (1) by auditory observation; (2) by experimentation on a large, transparent, hydraulic model.

Thirty years without adverse criticism. The hydraulic theory during its life of thirty years has received some praise by the few who were willing to read it, has been viciously misrepresented by some who would not or could not comprehend it, has been innumerable times dogmatically rejected by those who did not even know what it consists in. We invite serious criticism of its basic assumptions, its mathematical analysis and, last but not least, its agreement with the facts of hearing.

The concept of a “traveling” bulge is not a part of the hydraulic theory. The author requests textbook and magazine writers to cease misquoting him. He has never either enounced or supported any “traveling” bulge theory.     

Sexuality and Teen Television: Emerging Adults Respond to Representations of Queer Identity on Glee

Academic scholarship on teen television programs indicates that images of queer sexualities can strongly impact the identities of emerging adults. Yet what is missing from this body of scholarship is an in-depth examination of how these representations are incorporated into the identity projects of the emerging adults who watch these shows. This study fills this gap by examining qualitative interviews with emerging adults who watch Glee. The participants consistently and overwhelmingly identified Glee as representing “progressive” emerging adult sexuality. Within that, three key themes emerged. First, identifying with Glee is a gendered practice. Second, Glee fandom aligns with an affinity for musical theater, which is traditionally considered a mirror for gay culture. Finally, while viewers recognized queer narrative content, it did not produce a broader acceptance of non-heterosexual identities. Viewers normalized their own (real, straight) identities in relation to the (fake, queer) identities shown in the narrative.     

The effect of personality pathology on treatment outcome for Axis I disorders in dysfunctional clergy

The relationship between Narcissistic, Compulsive, Dependent, and Antisocial personality traits, as measured by the MCMI-III, and the clinical presentation and the treatment outcome for Axis I disorders, as measured by the MMPI-II was investigated. The subjects were 86 Roman Catholic priests and nuns who participated in 6 to 8 months of residential treatment. Pretreatment evaluation of the patients included the MCMI-III and the MMPI-2. Clinical presentation of Axis I disorders was measured by pretreatment scores on MMPI scales 2 (Depression), 7 (Psychasthenia), content scale DEP (Depression), and content scale ANX (Anxiety). Treatment outcome was measured by posttreatment MMPI-2 scores on these four variables. The results of this study suggest that the level of personality traits a patient possesses can significantly impact the clinical presentation of an Axis I disorder. Although the 48 patients with MCMI-III base rate scores above 74 had significantly higher pretreatment MMPI-2 scores than the patients with lower MCMI-III scores, both groups obtained posttreatment MMPI scores well within normal limits. The intensive individual and group therapy, extended length of stay, and emphasis on community living that the residential program provides may account for these results.     

Executive-process interactive control: A unified computational theory for answering 20 questions (and more) about cognitive ageing

Although the effects of ageing on human information processing and performance have been studied extensively, many fundamental questions about cognitive ageing remain to be answered definitively. For example, what are the sources of age-related slowing? How much is working-memory capacity reduced in older adults? Is time-sharing ability lost with age? Answering such questions requires a unified computational theory that characterises the interactive operations of many component mental processes and integrates diverse data on cognitive ageing. Toward fulfilling this requirement, an executive-process interactive control (EPIC) architecture has been extended to model performance of both young and older adults. EPIC models yield accurate accounts of ageing effects on reaction times and accuracy in basic dual-task and working-memory paradigms. From these accounts, it appears that time-sharing ability and working-memory capacity decrease relatively little until after 70 years of age. Before age 70, at least some apparent performance decrements may be attributable to conservative executive processes and inefficient task procedures rather than decreased "hardware" functionality. By clarifying and deepening such insights, unified computational theories like EPIC will help answer many questions about cognitive ageing.     

Approaching Success or Avoiding Failure? Approach and Avoidance Motives in the Work Domain

In our set of studies, we extended research on approach and avoidance motivations by investigating (i) motives in a work setting, (ii) interactions among approach and avoidance motives, and (iii) motives at implicit levels. Results of Studies 1 through 3 provided support for the construct validity of our work motives measure by demonstrating that approach and avoidance work motives are markers of more general approach and avoidance temperaments, they are distinct from other individual difference variables commonly studied by organisational psychologists (e.g. conscientiousness, regulatory focus and cognitive ability) and they are stable over time. In Studies 4 through 7, we confirmed our predictions that approach and avoidance motives predict employees' goal orientations, job appraisals and attitudes (e.g. job satisfaction and perceived support) and supervisor‐rated job behaviours (e.g. task performance and citizenship behaviour). Importantly, we provide the first empirical evidence that approach and avoidance motives interact to predict task performance and that the motives operate at implicit levels. Copyright © 2012 European Association of Personality Psychology