Are there capacity limitations in symmetry perception?

Previous researchers have proposed that there are two types of symmetry detection: one based on crude preattentive symmetry judgments and another based on detailed scrutiny of individual parts (Barlow & Reeves, 1979; S. E. Palmer & Hemenway, 1978; Royer, 1981). Four experiments were conducted to examine capacity limits in different symmetry judgments. Observers were required to discriminate between random patterns and approximate symmetry (Experiments 1 and 3) or between perfect and approximate symmetry (Experiments 2 and 4). The patterns were divided into two sets of dots, presented either simultaneously or successively. A comparison of accuracy under these two presentation conditions suggested that symmetry detection involves an analysis that is spatially parallel but coarse, regardless of either task difficulty or task type (detecting symmetry vs. detecting asymmetry).     

Intergenerational transmission of prejudice, sex role stereotyping, and intolerance

The attitudes of 111 ninth and eleventh graders and both of their biological parents were independently assessed for prejudice against people with HIV/ AIDS, homosexuals, Blacks, and fat people, as well as for male and female sex role stereotyping. This study corrected for two shortcomings in previous research: neglecting to assess both parents and assessing only a single domain of prejudice. We addressed the intergenerational transmission of prejudice and stereotyping using three competing models: same-sex, parent equivalent, and differential effects. Using multiple regressions in which parents' scores were entered separately, along with control variables, different maternal and paternal influences were detected. Mothers were the primary influence for prejudice regarding HIV/AIDS, fatness, and race, and fathers were the primary influence for male and female stereotyping and prejudice against homosexuals, supporting the differential effects model. We also established that prejudice and stereotyping in specific domains reflected a more general proclivity to be intolerant. In contrast to prejudice and stereotyping in specific domains, fathers and mothers about equally shaped the adolescents' intolerance, supporting the parent equivalent model.     

The future of the American Group Psychotherapy Association: whither we goest?

The author describes his perspective about what the future holds for the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA). Utilizing Nitsun's (1996) construct of the "anti-group" as an organizing metaphor, he delineates the destructive forces both within and outside the organization that are currently affecting it, and then describes how they can be transformed into instruments for positive development. He suggests that the AGPA can and must continue to provide a "holding environment" (Winnicott, 1960) for professionals interested in working with people in groups. In addition, he asserts that the organization will build upon its remarkable response to the September 11, 2001 debacle in the United States to expand its services to those who have been traumatized. Beyond this, he underscores the importance of the AGPA consolidating and expanding its various educational offerings into a coherent package that will meet the needs of any and all who are interested in learning about how to work effectively with groups. In these and other ways, he contends that the AGPA will thereby confirm Nitsun's assertion that anti-group forces can be transformed, and that organizations that confront these forces constructively can not only survive but thrive.     

Pathways to violence in the children of mothers who were depressed postpartum

The impact of postnatal depression on a child's risk for violent behavior was evaluated in an urban British community sample (N=122 families). Mothers were interviewed during pregnancy, at 3 months postpartum, and when the child was 1, 4, and 11 years of age. Mothers, teachers, and children reported on violent symptoms at age 11. Structural equation modeling revealed that the child's violence was predicted by the mother's postnatal depression even when her depression during pregnancy, her later history of depression, and family characteristics were taken into account. Violence was associated with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and problems with anger management. Children were most violent if mothers had been depressed at 3 months and at least once thereafter.     

Is temporal spacing of tests helpful even when it inflates error rates?

The occurrence of errors is often thought to impede associative learning. This was tested in 2 studies, each of which involved 2 sessions. In Session 1, subjects learned foreign vocabulary (Experiment 1) or obscure English words (Experiment 2) and received 2 tests (each with corrective feedback) separated by a variable lag. Greater lags drastically reduced performance on the 2nd test. However, they dramatically improved performance in a Session-2 test given 1 day (Experiment 1) or 1 week later (Experiment 2). This pattern held even for items that elicited errors on the 1st test of Day 1. Evidently, the benefit of spacing overwhelms any possible harmful effect of producing errors. The results have clear and nonobvious implications for computer-aided instruction.     

Assessment of DSM-IV personality disorders in obsessive-compulsive disorder: comparison of clinical diagnosis, self-report questionnaire, and semi-structured interview

In patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality disorders are not many times assessed according to DSM-IV criteria. The purpose of the present study is to examine the prevalence of personality disorders diagnosed according to the DSM-IV in a severely disordered OCD population (n=65) with three different methods of assessing personality disorders (structured interview, questionnaire, and clinical diagnoses). Furthermore, correspondence between these different methods was investigated and their construct validity was examined by relating the three methods to external variables. Each method resulted in a predominance of Cluster C personality disorders, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder had the highest prevalence. However, there was generally low correspondence regarding which patient had which personality disorder. Results concerning the relation of external variables were the most promising for the structured clinical interview.     

Spontaneous allocation of visual attention: dominant role of uniqueness

Common sense suggests that unique or abruptly changing (transient) elements in a visual scene often draw attention involuntarily. Visual search studies paint a seemingly different picture, however: Unique items usually draw attention involuntarily only when observers seek a unique target. One type of transient— abrupt onsets—draws attention involuntarily, but only when the observer is seeking an onset (Folk, Remington, & Johnston, 1992). One way of reconciling common-sense with these findings is to suppose that when people view a scene with no specific goal or task, they adopt adefault set, which might prioritize novelty and/or transients. In two experiments, 336 subjects saw a single display of six items for 900 msec, expecting to have to describe it (Experiment 1) or make an aesthetic judgment about it (Experiment 2). One item in the display was either uniquely flashing (surrounded by static items) or uniquely static (surrounded by flashing items). In both studies, the unique item, even if static, was more often reported than the nonunique item, with flashing items enjoying an additional advantage.     

Perception and production of brief durations: beat-based versus interval-based timing

Two experiments examined whether timing of short intervals is beat- or interval-based. In Experiment 1, subjects heard a sequence of standard tones followed by 2 test tones; they compared the interval between test tones to the interval between the standards. If optimal precision required beat-based timing, performance should be best in blocks in which the interval between standard and test reliably matched the standard interval. No such effect was observed. In Experiment 2, subjects heard 2 test tones and reproduced the intertone interval by producing 2 keypress responses. Entrainment to the beat was apparent: First-response latency clustered around the standard interval and was positively correlated with the produced interval. However, responses occurring on or near the beat showed no better temporal fidelity than off-beat responses. One plausible interpretation of these findings is that the brain always times brief intervals with an interval timer; however, this timer can be used in a cyclic fashion to trigger rhythmic responses.     

Calculation of signal detection theory measures

Signal detection theory (SDT) may be applied to any area of psychology in which two different types of stimuli must be discriminated. We describe several of these areas and the advantages that can be realized through the application of SDT. Three of the most popular tasks used to study discriminability are then discussed, together with the measures that SDT prescribes for quantifying performance in these tasks. Mathematical formulae for the measures are presented, as are methods for calculating the measures with lookup tables, computer software specifically developed for SDT applications, and general purpose computer software (including spreadsheets and statistical analysis software).