Molecular analyses of the principal components of response strength

Killeen and Hall (2001) showed that a common factor called strength underlies the key dependent variables of response probability, latency, and rate, and that overall response rate is a good predictor of strength. In a search for the mechanisms that underlie those correlations, this article shows that (a) the probability of responding on a trial is a two-state Markov process; (b) latency and rate of responding can be described in terms of the probability and period of stochastic machines called clocked Bernoulli modules, and (c) one such machine, the refractory Poisson process, provides a functional relation between the probability of observing a response during any epoch and the rate of responding. This relation is one of proportionality at low rates and curvilinearity at higher rates.     

Garner and congruence effects in the speeded classification of bimodal signals

The role of attention in speeded Garner classification of concurrently presented auditory and visual signals was examined in 4 experiments. Within-trial interference (i.e., congruence effects) occurred regardless of the attentional demands of the task. Between-trials interference (i.e., Garner interference) occurred only under conditions of divided attention when making judgments about auditory signals. Of importance, the data show congruence effects in the absence of Garner interference. Such a pattern has been rarely reported in studies of the classification of purely visual stimuli and contradicts theoretical accounts asserting that the effects share a common locus. The data question the notion that Garner classification reveals fundamental insights about the nature of the perceptual processing of bimodal stimuli.     

Lower region: a new cue for figure-ground assignment

Figure-ground assignment is an important visual process; humans recognize, attend to, and act on figures, not backgrounds. There are many visual cues for figure-ground assignment. A new cue to figure-ground assignment, called lower region, is presented: Regions in the lower portion of a stimulus array appear more figurelike than regions in the upper portion of the display. This phenomenon was explored, and it was demonstrated that the lower-region preference is not influenced by contrast, eye movements, or voluntary spatial attention. It was found that the lower region is defined relative to the stimulus display, linking the lower-region preference to pictorial depth perception cues. The results are discussed in terms of the environmental regularities that this new figure-ground cue may reflect.     

Spatial stimulus cue information supplying auditory saltation

Auditory saltation is a misperception of the spatial location of repetitive, transient stimuli. It arises when clicks at one location are followed in perfect temporal cadence by identical clicks at a second location. This report describes two psychophysical experiments designed to examine the sensitivity of auditory saltation to different stimulus cues for auditory spatial perception. Experiment 1 was a dichotic study in which six different six-click train stimuli were used to generate the saltation effect. Clicks lateralised by using interaural time differences and clicks lateralised by using interaural level differences produced equivalent saltation effects, confirming an earlier finding. Switching the stimulus cue from an interaural time difference to an interaural level difference (or the reverse) in mid train was inconsequential to the saltation illusion. Experiment 2 was a free-field study in which subjects rated the illusory motion generated by clicks emitted from two sound sources symmetrically disposed around the interaural axis, ie on the same cone of confusion in the auditory hemifield opposite one ear. Stimuli in such positions produce spatial location judgments that are based more heavily on monaural spectral information than on binaural computations. The free-field stimuli produced robust saltation. The data from both experiments are consistent with the view that auditory saltation can emerge from spatial processing, irrespective of the stimulus cue information used to determine click laterality or location.     

Accounts of the confidence-accuracy relation in recognition memory

Confidence and accuracy, while often considered to tap the same memory representation, are often found to be only weakly correlated (e.g., Bothwell, Deffenbacher, & Brigham, 1987; Deffenbacher, 1980). There are at least two possible (nonexclusive) reasons for this weak relation. First, it may be simply due to noise of one sort or another; that is, it may come about because of both within- and between-subjects statistical variations that are partially uncorrelated for confidence measures on the one hand and accuracy measures on the other. Second, confidence and accuracy may be uncorrelated because they are based, at least in part, on different memory representations that are affected in different ways by different independent variables. We propose a general theory that is designed to encompass both of these possibilities and, within the context of this theory, we evaluate effects of four variables—degree of rehearsal, study duration, study luminance, and test luminance—in three face recognition experiments. In conjunction with our theory, the results allow us to begin to identify the circumstances under which confidence and accuracy are based on the same versus different sources of information in memory. The results demonstrate the conditions under which subjects are quite poor at monitoring their memory performance, and are used to extend cue utilization theories to the domain of face recognition.     

Parent coping styles and schizophrenic patient behavior as predictors of expressed emotion

Several studies have examined relationships between levels of expressed emotion in relatives of individuals with schizophrenia and the coping strategies these relatives employ. In an attempt to elucidate these relationships, 44 parents were assessed using the Camberwell Family Interview and the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale. Associations between these measures were examined. Additionally, interactions between parent coping style and patient aggression were assessed with respect to expressed emotion. The results indicate that scores on the coping scale generally were not directly related to levels of expressed emotion. However, an interaction was found between parent coping style and patient behavior which predicted level of expressed emotion. This finding supports the idea that research into the variables underlying expressed emotion should include the assessment of both parent and patient characteristics and examine the interactions between these variables.     

Reaction of mock jurors to testimony of a court appointed expert

A study was conducted to assess the impact of court appointed experts on the judgments of mock jurors. A civil proceeding was adopted for the experiment. Mock jurors heard testimony about a plaintiff's injury in an automobile accident. In some conditions, medical testimony for the plaintiff and defendant was provided by experts hired by each side. In other conditions, a medical expert appointed by the court testified in addition to the two adversarial experts. In one of these conditions, the court expert sided with the plaintiff; in another, the expert sided with the defendant. The plaintiff in the case was always an individual. The defendant was sometimes a corporation and sometimes an individual. The results showed that mock jurors sided with the court appointed expert in every condition except when the expert favored a corporate defendant. The results were discussed in terms of heuristic processing of persuasive information.     

Global mobility for psychologists: the role of psychology organizations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other regions

Global mobility for psychologists is rapidly improving because of an emerging consensus on recognition standards, the demand for cross-border mobility both internal and external to the profession, and the efforts of membership, credentialing, and regional organizations to promote mobility. In the United States, multiple credentialing organizations promote mobility, primarily through individual endorsement of credentials. The Canadian regulatory boards signed a mutual recognition agreement implementing fast-track mechanisms for licensed psychologists seeking mobility and a competency-based assessment for initial registration. Europe plans to reduce barriers to mobility through mutual recognition of qualifications via a EuroPsy diploma that provides a benchmark for professional psychology education and training. Other regions have not made as much progress with regard to promoting mobility, as many do not yet even regulate the practice of psychology. The authors examine who seeks mobility, which geographic regions promote mobility, and by which mechanisms.