Role of expertise and action in motion extrapolation from real road scenes

The tendency of participants to “remember” the stopping point of an event as being farther along in the direction of motion has been a topic of study for about 30 years. The purpose of the present experiment was to test the influence of two factors on motion extrapolation: (1) The involvement of participants in the action, and (2) their expertise in the domain of automobile driving. Participants viewed real driving scenes from the driver's point of view. They were divided into four groups depending upon their involvement in the action (more or less active) and their driving experience (inexperienced or experienced). In order to get half of the participants involved in the driving situation, they had to use a steering wheel to follow the contour of the road. The results showed that both of these factors increased motion extrapolation. The discussion deals with how the interrelationships between real road scenes, expertise, and action-related knowledge affect motion extrapolation.     

Implicit and explicit object recognition at very large visual eccentricities: No improvement after loss of central vision

Little is known about the ability of human observers to process objects in the far periphery of their visual field and nothing about its evolution in case of central vision loss. We investigated implicit and explicit recognition at two large visual eccentricities. Pictures of objects were centred at 30° or 50° eccentricity. Implicit recognition was tested through a priming paradigm. Participants (normally sighted observers and people with 10–20 years of central vision loss) categorized pictures as animal/transport both in a study phase (Block 1) and in a test phase (Block 2). In explicit recognition participants decided for each picture presented in Block 2 whether it had been displayed in Block 1 (“yes”/“no”). Both visual (identical) and conceptual/lexical (same-name) priming occurred at 30° and at 50°. Explicit recognition was observed only at 30°. In people with central vision loss testing was only performed at 50° eccentricity. The pattern of results was similar to that of normally sighted observers but global performance was lower. The results suggest that vision, at large eccentricity, is mainly based on nonconscious coarse representations. Moreover, after 10–20 years of central vision loss, no evidence was found for an increased ability to use peripheral information in object recognition.     

The grim reasoner: Analytical reasoning under mortality salience

The human species enjoys uniquely developed capacities for analytical reasoning and rational decision making, but these capacities come with a price: They make us aware of our inevitable physical death. Drawing on terror management theory and dual-process theories of cognition, we investigate the impact of mortality awareness on analytical reasoning. Two experiments show that experimentally induced thoughts of death impair analytical reasoning performance, just as cognitive load would. When made aware of their own mortality, reasoners allocate their executive resources to the suppression of this disturbing thought, therefore impairing their performance on syllogisms that require analytic thought. This finding has consequences for all aspects of rational thinking that draw on executive resources, and calls for an integrated approach to existential psychology and the psychology of rational thought.     

Crossnational deviance in the workplace: Diverging impact of organizational commitment in Canada and Belgium

Using a self-report questionnaire from the aggressor's point of view, this study contrasted employees' frustration, perception of procedural justice, organizational commitment, and their relationships to interpersonal deviance in Canada and Belgium. Significant main effects were found in both countries for frustration and procedural justice on psychological and physical violence. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses revealed significant interactions of country by normative and continuance commitment in interpersonal deviance, indicating the unique patterns relationships in Canada and Belgium. Hofstede's model of cultural dimensions was used to discuss the results.     

How do job characteristics contribute to burnout? Exploring the distinct mediating roles of perceived autonomy,competence, and relatedness

This study aimed to better understand the psychological mechanisms, referred to in the job demands–resources model as the energetic and motivational processes, that can explain relationships between job demands (role overload and ambiguity), job resources (job control and social support), and burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). Drawing on self-determination theory, we examined whether psychological resources (perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness) act as specific mediators between particular job demands and burnout as well as between job resources and burnout. Participants were 356 school board employees. Results of the structural equation analyses provide support for our hypothesized model, which proposes that certain job demands and resources are involved in both the energetic and motivational processes—given their relationships with psychological resources—and that they distinctively predict burnout components. Implications for burnout research and management practices are discussed.     

Hemispheric lateralization in aging: Interest of the verbal-manual concurrency paradigm

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the classic asymmetry seen in hemispheric functioning is modified in older adults by using a verbal-manual concurrency task. Method: Thirty-five right-handed participants divided into two groups according to age (15 older participants, mean age: 68 ± 8 years, without cognitive decline and 20 younger participants, mean age: 23 ± 2 years) had to perform a 30-second uni-manual tapping task, in both a single task (tapping alone) and dual task (tapping and performing a letter fluency task together) condition. Results: In younger participants, the letter fluency task disrupted the right hand more than the left hand whereas, in older participants, the letter fluency task disrupted both hands equally. Conclusion: These results should be considered preliminary data using a behavioral dual task condition, which might be useful for studying lateralized hemispheric functioning and the processes of divided attention during aging.     

Objective age-of-acquisition (AoA) norms for a set of 230 object names in French: Relationships with psycholinguistic variables,the English data from Morrison et al. (1997), and naming latencies

Picture naming speed is strongly influenced by the age of acquisition (AoA) of words. Most studies of AoA have relied on adults' AoA ratings. However, objective AoA has been found to be a stronger determinant of picture naming latencies. Whereas objective AoA norms for words have been collected for some language communities, no objective AoA measures for words were previously available in French. The study provides objective AoA norms for a set of 230 object names following the procedures used by Morrison, Chappell, and Ellis (1997) to collect objective AoA measures in English. The relationships between objective AoA measures, rated AoA, other variables used in psycholinguistic experiments (name agreement, image agreement, conceptual familiarity, etc.), the English data collected by Morrison et al., and naming latencies are analysed and discussed. In addition, reanalyses of data on picture naming latencies (Bonin, Chalard, Méot, & Fayol, 2002) with the use of objective AoA norms are provided. Stepwise multiple analyses show that objective AoA is a stronger determinant of (spoken and written) naming latencies than rated AoA, whereas objective word frequency is not a reliable independent determinant and does not interact reliably with AoA in any of the analyses.     

Are there gender differences in verbal and visuospatial working-memory resources?

Whereas women generally outperform men in episodic-memory tasks, little is known as to how the genders compare with respect to basic working-memory operations. In reference to Baddeley's (1986) model, the present study searched for possible gender differences in terms of accuracy (but not speed) of working-memory processes. Men and women completed series of working-memory tasks respectively involving verbal and visuospatial information, as well as a double-span task involving both classes of information. Control measures included verbal fluency and mental rotation tasks in which gender differences are frequently obtained. In these tasks, the results showed several of the expected gender contrasts. However, men and women were not found to differ significantly in any type of working memory save in the double-span task where women surpassed men. The patterns of task intercorrelation were largely similar in both genders. Discussion emphasises the manifestation, based on the present exploration, of an almost identical working-memory architecture in men and women.     

The Role of Autonomy Support and Autonomy Orientation in Prosocial Behavior Engagement

Two studies examined individual and environmental forces that affect engagement in prosocial behavior. Self-determination theory was used to derive a model in which autonomy orientation and autonomy support predicted satisfaction of three core psychological needs, which in turn led to engagement in prosocial activities. In Study 1, college students reported their engagement in various prosocial activities, and completed measures of autonomy orientation, parental autonomy support, and general need satisfaction. In Study 2, volunteer workers completed measures of autonomy orientation, work autonomy support and need satisfaction at work. The number of volunteered hours indicated the amount of prosocial engagement. Results across the studies showed that autonomy orientation was strongly related to engagement in prosocial behavior, while autonomy support was modestly related. Need satisfaction partially mediated the effect of autonomy orientation, and fully mediated the effect of autonomy support. Interestingly, autonomy support predicted lower volunteer turnover. Implications for how prosocial behavior can be motivated are discussed.