Body mass index,inflammatory biomarkers and neurocognitive impairment in HIV-infected persons

To determine the relationships among body mass index (BMI), and HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment and the potential mediating effects of inflammatory cytokines. Among the HIV-infected individuals (N = 90) included in this study, obesity was associated with slower processing speed (β = ?.229, standard error (SE) = 2.15, p = .033), compared to participants with a normal BMI, after controlling for psychosocial and HIV clinical factors. Serum concentrations of the interleukin-16 (IL-16) cytokine were significantly associated with slowed processing speed (β = ?.235, SE = 1.62, p = .033) but did not mediate the relationship between obesity and processing speed These findings suggest that obesity may contribute to cognitive processing speed deficits in HIV-infected adults. Elevated concentrations of IL-16 are also associated with slowing, though the results suggest that obesity and IL-16 may exert independent effects.     

HOW SOCIAL DOMINANCE ORIENTATION AND JOB STATUS INFLUENCE PERCEPTIONS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BENEFICIARIES

This paper examines evaluative judgments about an African-American beneficiary of affirmative action (AA) in two studies. Based on a motivated social cognition model, we test whether the use of AA, social dominance orientation (SDO), and job status jointly influence judgments about the future job performance and career progression of an AA beneficiary. In a sample of 244 undergraduate business students, Study 1 showed that SDO and AA interact to predict job-related performance expectations, and AA and job status interact to predict career progression expectations. Study 2 used a different sample of 190 business undergraduates to test whether the effects of AA, job status, SDO and their interactions on evaluative judgments is mediated by stereotype application. Results showed that different dimensions of stereotypes mediated the relationships between SDO, job status and the AA × SDO interaction.     

Mental layout extrapolations prime spatial processing of scenes

Four experiments examined whether scene processing is facilitated by layout representation, including layout that was not perceived but could be predicted based on a previous partial view (boundary extension). In a priming paradigm (after Sanocki, 2003), participants judged objects' distances in photographs. In Experiment 1, full scenes (target), partial scenes, and two control primes were used. Partial scenes excluded the target objects' locations, but these areas could be predicted. Full and partial scenes produced equal performance facilitation. In Experiment 2, task-irrelevant partial scene primes were also tested. These primes did not facilitate performance (i.e. simple scene previews did not help). Experiment 3 showed that a partial prime's utility depended on the area of the scene that would be tested; the task-irrelevant primes used in Experiment 2 were useful for other distance judgments. Experiment 4 showed that partial scene facilitation is not limited to the area immediately surrounding the prime. The study demonstrated that perceived and mentally extrapolated layouts are equally effective.     

“Patriotism à la Carte”: Perceived Legitimacy of Collective Guilt and Collective Pride as Motivators for Political Behavior

Intergroup emotions motivate behavior, yet little is known about how people perceive these emotional experiences in others. In three experiments (Ns = 109, 179, 246), we show that U.S. citizens believe collective guilt is an illegitimate emotional motivator for ingroup political behavior, while collective pride is legitimate. This differential legitimacy is due to the perception that collective guilt violates the norm of group interest, while collective pride adheres to it; those who believe ingroup interests are more important than outgroups’ exhibited this illegitimacy gap. The perception that the intergroup emotion promoted ingroup entitativity mediated the relationship between emotion (pride vs. guilt) and legitimacy; this relationship was especially strong for those high in the belief in the norm of group interest. Collective guilt can have prosocial consequences, yet the perception that it is illegitimate may hinder such consequences from being realized.     

Nostalgia for America's past can buffer collective guilt

This research examined when, and for whom, American collective nostalgia can relieve feelings of collective guilt. In the Pilot Study, path analyses revealed that national glorification is associated with collective nostalgia, and collective nostalgia is associated with lower collective guilt. Our experimental studies test the role of these variables in determining responses to the elevated salience of past ingroup harm doing. Collective nostalgia was associated with lower collective guilt especially after reminders of America's harm doing in Study 1 . In Study 2 we predicted and showed that reminders of American harm doing would evoke spontaneous collective nostalgia for participants high in national glorification. The remaining studies tested the hypothesis that collective nostalgia serves to buffer collective guilt. Collective guilt was lower after reminders of past harm doing for participants who engaged in collective nostalgia ( Study 3 ), and this was especially pronounced for participants high in national glorification ( Study 4 ).     

Culture-contingent signs of trust in emergent relationships

This study develops a culture-contingent model of trust formation in emergent relationships by comparing how trust-warranting signs shape attributions of trustworthiness to unfamiliar trustees in collectivist versus individualist cultures. We predict and find that the effectiveness of dispositional and contextual signs varies systematically depending on trustors’ national culture. Collectivists tend to rely less on dispositional signs and more on situational signs than individualists. This difference fosters distinct trust-building pathways. Individualists bestow trust based on a trustee’s perceived ability and integrity, collectivists’ trusting choices depend to a greater extent on predictable, benevolent interactions with a potential partner. These findings suggest that, in cross-cultural encounters, signs aligned with trustors’ cultural expectations hasten trust production. Mismatched signs are impotent, even off-putting.     

Athletes’ Preferred Characteristics and Qualifications of Sport Psychology Practitioners: A Consumer Market Analysis

Studies assessing the perceived characteristics of competent sport psychology practitioners have resulted in skewed data, making it difficult to discern the relative importance of each characteristic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the attributes of gender, ethnicity, interpersonal skills, physical appearance, athletic background, professional status, and sport culture in relation to one another using conjoint analysis, a consumer market analysis. College student athletes (N = 464) indicated a preference for a female practitioner whose ethnicity matched that of the athlete and possessed high interpersonal skills and sport knowledge, an athletic background, a physically fit body type, and had earned a professional degree. These findings can be used by sport psychology consultants to modify the information they give to current clients and to develop marketing plans to appeal to potential clients.     

Constraints on spatial extrapolation in the mental representation of scenes: View-boundaries vs. object-boundaries

Viewers remember seeing information from outside the boundaries of a scene (boundary extension; BE). To determine if view-boundaries have a special status in scene perception, we sought to determine if object-boundaries would yield the same effect. In Experiment 1 eight “bird's-eye view” photographs containing single object clusters (a smaller object on top of a larger one) were presented. After the presentation, participants reconstructed four scenes by selecting among five different-sized cutouts of each object. BE occurred between the view-boundaries and the object cluster, but not between the smaller object and the larger object's boundaries. There was no consistent effect of the larger object's boundaries. Experiment 2 replicated these results using a drawing task. BE does not occur whenever a border surrounds an object, it occurs when the border signifies the edge of the view. We propose the BE reflects anticipatory representation of scene structure that supports scene comprehension and view integration.     

from the common thug to the local businessman: an exploration into an urban african american barbershop

This ethnographic study investigates the social interactions that transpire in an urban African American barbershop, called Peanut's, located in a Southern city. The results of this study indicate that the urban African American barbershop has the potential to be a place where any number of activities can and do take place. Specifically, this study discovered three levels of the underground economy (i.e., legal, quasi-legal, and illegal) with each level reflecting a different degree of criminal potential.     

Visual laterality in belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) and Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) when viewing familiar and unfamiliar humans

Lateralization of cognitive processes and motor functions has been demonstrated in a number of species, including humans, elephants, and cetaceans. For example, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have exhibited preferential eye use during a variety of cognitive tasks. The present study investigated the possibility of visual lateralization in 12 belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) and six Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) located at two separate marine mammal facilities. During free swim periods, the belugas and Pacific white-sided dolphins were presented a familiar human, an unfamiliar human, or no human during 10–15 min sessions. Session videos were coded for gaze duration, eye presentation at approach, and eye preference while viewing each stimulus. Although we did not find any clear group level lateralization, we found individual left eye lateralized preferences related to social stimuli for most belugas and some Pacific white-sided dolphins. Differences in gaze durations were also observed. The majority of individual belugas had longer gaze durations for unfamiliar rather than familiar stimuli. These results suggest that lateralization occurs during visual processing of human stimuli in belugas and Pacific white-sided dolphins and that these species can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar humans.