A computer-generated face database with ratings on realism, masculinity, race, and stereotypy

Ratings of realism, masculinity, race, and racial stereotypy were collected on a set of computer-generated faces representing European, South East Asian, and African American ethnicities. To determine if these faces are processed in the same way as photographs of real faces, we demonstrated with these faces superior memory performance for upright faces over inverted faces (the face inversion effect). Further, in observers of European decent, we found both superior memory for European faces and a larger inversion effect for European than African American faces. Based on these results, we believe that this set of faces may be of use in perceptual investigations in which race is a critical manipulation.     

Pro- and antisaccades: dissociating stimulus and response influences the online control of saccade trajectories

The authors examined whether the diminished online control of antisaccades is related to a trade-off between movement planning and control or the remapping of target properties to a mirror-symmetrical location (i.e., vector inversion). Pro- and antisaccades were examined in a standard no-delay schedule wherein target onset served as the movement imperative and a delay cuing schedule wherein responses were initiated 2,000 ms following target onset. Importantly, the delay cuing schedule was employed to equate pro- and antisaccade reaction times. Online control was evaluated by indexing the strength of trajectory amendments at normalized increments of movement time. Antisaccades exhibited fewer online corrections than prosaccades, and this result was consistent across cuing schedules. Thus, the diminished online control of antisaccades cannot be tied to a trade-off between movement planning and control. Rather, the authors propose that the intentional nature of dissociating stimulus and response (i.e., vector inversion) engenders a slow mode of cognitive control that is not optimized for fast oculomotor corrections.     

Evolving informational credentials: the (mis)attribution of believable facts to credible sources

Three studies demonstrate that individuals often rely on a "belief force equals credible source" heuristic to make source judgments, wherein they assume that statements they believe originate from credible sources. In Study 1, participants who were exposed to a statement many times (and hence believed it) were more likely to attribute it to Consumer Reports than to the National Enquirer. In Study 2, participants read a murder investigation article containing evidence against two suspects from credible and noncredible sources. When participants believed a particular suspect to be guilty, they misattributed evidence incriminating that suspect to the high-credibility source. Study 3 demonstrated that this phenomenon occurs because individuals assume their beliefs are true and that true beliefs come from credible sources; when participants were given feedback that their beliefs were incorrect, the relationship between beliefs and source inferences did not occur.     

The expression of manual asymmetries following extensive training of the nondominant hand: a kinematic perspective

A single experiment involving 5600 discrete aiming trials with the left hand and 560 trials with the right hand designed to track the kinematic changes associated with left hand practice is reported. In general, performance data revealed that following practice movement time of the left hand achieved a level of performance similar to that of the right. However, the kinematic variables analyzed were instructive in identifying differential control processes associated with the right and left hand. Specifically, the right hand was more accurate during the ballistic phase of movement execution, while practice enabled the left hand to utilize response-produced feedback more efficiently.     

The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model for decision time in cognitive tasks: An example of control of nonlinear network dynamics

The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) model for human decision-making has been successfully applied to account for response accuracy and response time (RT) data in recent two-choice decision models. A variant of the OU model is shown to arise from the response dynamics of a nonlinear network consisting of randomly connected neural processing units. When feedback control of the network is effected by the stimulus onset, the average network response is an autocorrelated random signal satisfying the stochastic differential equation for the OU process. An alternative, more general, stimulus detection procedure is proposed which involves the use of an adaptive Kalman filter process to track any temporal change in autoregressive parameters. The predicted decision time distributions suggest that both the OU and the Kalman filter processes can serve as alternative models for RT data in experimental tasks. Received: 15 October 1998 / Accepted: 27 May 1999     

Transitive gesture production in apraxia: visual and nonvisual sensory contributions

The production of transitive limb gestures is optimized when the appropriate tool can be physically manipulated. Little research has addressed the independent contributions of visual and nonvisual sources of sensory information to this phenomenon. In this study, 12 control, 37 LHD, and 50 RHD stroke patients performed transitive limb gestures to pantomime (to verbal command with the object visible) and object manipulation. Performance was more accurate in the object manipulation condition, suggesting that haptic and kinesthetic cues are important for transitive gesture production. Various patterns of performance were observed in the stroke groups, indicating that selective damage to the haptic/kinesthetic processing system is possible and common following unilateral stroke.     

Stigma in help-seeking: the case of adolescents

Stigma associated with seeking help has been found to be a key help-seeking barrier, however its role is less clear for: (a) adolescents, (b) groups outside the United States and (c) different types of therapy. This study addresses these omissions by examining the relationships between perceptions of public stigma of mental illness and the self-stigma of seeking help, and how they are related to help-seeking attitudes and intentions for both individual and group therapy among adolescents in Israel (N?=?238). Path analysis confirmed that self-stigma of seeking help was negatively related to attitudes towards psychological help which was then positively related to intentions to seek help, across both individual and group therapy. Consistent with the only other study conducted in Israel, but contrasting research from other parts of the world, the relationship between perceptions of public stigma of mental illness and self-stigma of seeking help was not present for either individual or group therapy. However, perceptions of public stigma of mental illness were a direct negative predictor of help-seeking attitudes for group therapy. Overall, participants reported more negative perceptions of group therapy than individual therapy. These results have implications for future interventions to increase help-seeking behaviours for adolescents.     

Effects of Considering Who and Why the Defendant Attacked1

Some people who are accused of a crime admit to the act, but provide an excuse. The effects of an excuse's self‐inflictedness level (high, moderate, or low) and the type of victim attacked (one partially responsible for the defendant's excusing condition, or innocent victim) were investigated. After a pretest (N= 26) to choose stimuli, participants (N= 220) read a scenario in which a male attacks another and then, once on trial, gives an excuse for his act. Those giving highly vs. less self‐inflicted excuses were more likely to receive a guilty verdict, received higher guilt level ratings, and tended to receive longer sentences; those who hurt an innocent vs. a partially responsible victim were more likely to be found guilty. In addition, the defendant's sentence was influenced by both the type of victim and the self‐inflictedness level of the excuse. The influence of perceived responsibility for an act on jurors' decisions is discussed