Infants' perception of information along object boundaries: concavities versus convexities

Object parts are signaled by concave discontinuities in shape contours. In seven experiments, we examined whether 5- and 6 1/2-month-olds are sensitive to concavities as special aspects of contours. Infants of both ages detected discrepant concave elements amid convex distractors but failed to discriminate convex elements among concave distractors. This discrimination asymmetry is analogous to the finding that concave targets among convex distractors pop out for adults, whereas convex targets among concave distractors do not. Thus, during infancy, as during adulthood, concavities appear to be salient regions of shape contours. The current study also found that infants' detection of concavity is impaired if the contours that define concavity and convexity are not part of closed shapes. Thus, for infants, as for adults, concavities and convexities are defined more readily in the contours of closed shapes. Taken together, the results suggest that some basic aspects of part perception from shape contours are available by at least 5 months of age.     

Medication barriers and anti-hypertensive medication adherence: the moderating role of locus of control

Locus of control as a moderator of the relationship between medication barriers (e.g., side-effects, forgetting to take medication, and keeping track of pills) and anti-hypertensive medication adherence was examined. Baseline data were obtained from 588 hypertensive veterans. In general, fewer medication barriers, higher internal locus of control and lower external locus of control was associated with better hypertensive medication adherence. Furthermore, internal locus of control served as a moderator (beta = -.74, p < .01) for the relationship between medication barriers and medication adherence; effect size was large. Decomposition of the interaction revealed that the relationship between medication barriers and medication adherence was strongest when internal control was high (b = -.24, p < .01). Higher internal locus of control was beneficial when barriers to medication adherence are low, but at high perceived barriers, locus of control plays less of a role in medication adherence. Future efforts to improve medication adherence should consider the patient's perceived level of medication barriers in conjunction with their locus of control.     

Prevalence of suicide programs in schools and roadblocks to implementation

We surveyed all school districts in Washington State for information on the prevalence of suicide programs and on major roadblocks to implementing programs. With 163 districts responding (62%), we found that the majority did not have suicide programs or policies and procedures. The largest perceived roadblock was insufficient staff and the greatest perceived need was more information. Although establishing policies and procedures is considered by many as a necessary first step to establishing suicide programs, we did not find schools choosing this option as often as others. This raises questions as to what are effective ways to have schools start suicide programs. We analyzed the data by school district size and by the title of the staff member making the report. We discuss the implications of these findings as well as the need for further efforts to develop appropriate programs for schools.     

Transcendence and Reason

Nussbaum argues for a (limited) transcendence through contemplation which is compatible with practical reasoning and aspiration towards other human goods. This paper raises difficulties for this account based on a) the relation of thinking to human freedom, and b) the self-constitutive nature of human thinking. It explores connections Thomas Aquinas makes between contemplation, transcendence and happiness, and explains the relation between (unlimited) transcendent experience and rationality by considering individuals who lack rational judgement but do seem capable of contemplation (young children, certain mentally disordered persons). What contemplation by these individuals and by rational, mature adults have in common is awareness (by the less than perfectly rational) of the possibility of a life of unlimited rationality. I claim this awareness does not come naturally to us but is made possible by some super-natural cause acting in a way that does not violate human nature but rather perfects our contemplative faculty and enables our happiness.     

Perceptual organization based on illusory regions in infancy

Prior research indicates that, like adults, infants use enclosed regions to group elements. It is not clear whether infants or adults can use regions that have to be inferred from illusory contours to group elements. We examined whether 3- to 4-month-olds use illusory regions to group elements and generalize this organization to novel regions. Infants habituated to pairs of shapes in illusory vertical or horizontal regions subsequently discriminated, in novel regions, pairs of elements that had previously shared a region from pairs of elements that had been in different regions. A control group of infants, who had experienced the same stimuli except for the presence of illusory regions, failed to discriminate between within-region and between-region pairs of stimuli. These results reveal that (1) illusory regions can be used to group elements, (2) perceptual organization is sufficiently developed early in life for 3- to 4-month-olds to group on the basis of ecologically relevant illusory contours, and (3) such grouping in infancy generalizes to novel regions.     

蒙汉族大学生父母教养方式、成人依恋与心理困扰的关系研究

通过整群抽样方法抽取了576名大学生,对其施测父母养育方式量表、亲密关系体验量表和心理困扰量表,运用结构方程模型技术,分别考察了父母养育方式的蒙汉族差异以及成人依恋模式在父母养育方式和心理困扰间的中介作用。结果表明:(1) 蒙古族父母对孩子的关爱程度和给孩子的自主性要显著高于汉族;(2) 汉族的成人依恋模式在父母过度保护与抑郁-焦虑-压力之间起着部分中介作用,而蒙古族成人依恋的中介作用不明显,但母亲的冷漠拒绝和过度保护会导致个体依恋回避和依恋焦虑,父亲的冷漠拒绝和过度保护会影响个体的抑郁和焦虑,母亲的过度保护和父亲的冷漠拒绝会影响个体的压力。     

Stability of laboratory-assessed temperamental emotionality traits from ages 3 to 7

A key component of temperament models is the presumed temporal stability of temperament traits. Although a substantial literature using parent report measures has addressed this claim, very few investigations have examined the stability of temperament using alternative measurement strategies, particularly those that involve direct assessment of emotional expressions. This study reports on the relative stability and heterotypic continuity of temperament traits measured via laboratory tasks and maternal report in a sample of children assessed at ages 3, 5, and 7, focusing on Positive Emotionality and Negative Emotionality. Relative stability of Positive Emotionality and Negative Emotionality traits ranged from moderate to high for laboratory and maternal report measures. Measures of emotional expressions exhibited levels of stability comparable to or higher than traits defined by other behavioral patterns (e.g., sociability and engagement).     

Impact of Worry on Career Thoughts,Career Decision State,and Cognitive Information Processing Skills

Sixty-nine Amazon Mechanical Turk workers completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (Berle et al., 2011), the Career Thoughts Inventory (Sampson et al., 1996a), and the Career State Inventory (Leierer et al., 2017). Worry was significantly correlated with negative career thinking and its dimensions of decision-making confusion and commitment anxiety, with readiness and its dimensions of clarity and certainty, and with the self-assessed cognitive information processing skills of self-knowledge, options knowledge, decision-making, and executive processing. Worry was also found to predict the degree of readiness for career decision-making, negative career thinking, and cognitive information processing requisite skills.