Der Kern der materialistischen Dialektik

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Das handelnde Subjekt im Historischen Materialismus

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Local and Relational Aspects of Face Distinctiveness

Distinctiveness contributes strongly to the recognition and rejection of faces in memory tasks. In four experiments we examine the role played by local and relational information in the distinctiveness of upright and inverted faces. In all experiments subjects saw one of three versions of a face: original faces, which had been rated as average in distinctiveness in a previous study (Hancock, Burton, & Bruce, 1996), a more distinctive version in which local features had been changed ( D-local ), and a more distinctive version in which relational features had been changed ( D-rel ). An increase in distinctiveness was found for D-local and D-rel faces in Experiment 1 (complete faces) and 3 and 4 (face internals only) when the faces had to be rated in upright presentation, but the distinctiveness of the D-rel faces was reduced much more than that of the D-local versions when the ratings were given to the faces presented upside-down (Experiments 1 and 3). Recognition performance showed a similar pattern: presented upright, both D-local and D-rel revealed higher performance compared to the originals, but in upside-down presentation the D-local versions showed a much stronger distinctiveness advantage. When only internal features of faces were used (Experiments 3 and 4), the D-rel faces lost their advantage over the Original versions in inverted presentation. The results suggest that at least two dimensions of facial information contribute to a face's apparent distinctiveness, but that these sources of information are differentially affected by turning the face upside-down. These findings are in accordance with a face processing model in which face inversion effects occur because a specific type of information processing is disrupted, rather than because of a general disruption of performance.     

Hand preference in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

In our Outpatient Department, we studied 56 subjects (41 males, 15 females; aged 5-16 yr.) with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with respect to hand use in functional tasks via parental report. Left-hand use was markedly preferred, compared to that of a control group, more for complex than simple and for external (touching food and objects) than internal (scratching, rubbing eyes) tasks, suggesting a deficit in cerebral control of right-hand use. More patients were reported to have a left-hand preference than in the non-ADHD population. Furthermore, extent of laterality was greater for complex than simple external tasks and for external than for internal.     

When feature information comes first! Early processing of inverted faces

We investigated the early stages of face recognition and the role of featural and holistic face information. We exploited the fact that, on inversion, the alienating disorientation of the eyes and mouth in thatcherised faces is hardly detectable. This effect allows featural and holistic information to be dissociated and was used to test specific face-processing hypotheses. In inverted thatcherised faces, the cardinal features are already correctly oriented, whereas in undistorted faces, the whole Gestalt is coherent but all information is disoriented. Experiment 1 and experiment 3 revealed that, for inverted faces, featural information processing precedes holistic information. Moreover, the processing of contextual information is necessary to process local featural information within a short presentation time (26 ms). Furthermore, for upright faces, holistic information seems to be available faster than for inverted faces (experiment 2). These differences in processing inverted and upright faces presumably cause the differential importance of featural and holistic information for inverted and upright faces.     

The Wall inside the brain: Overestimation of distances crossing the former Iron Curtain

A study of distance estimations between German cities investigated the organization of mental maps and their specific deviations from reality. Potential factors for the deviation of mental maps from reality are physical barriers, emotional involvement, and semantic unity. Distance estimations between cities situated in different former parts of Germany (East or West) were systematically overestimated compared to distances of cities located in the same parts of Germany. This trend was strengthened when participants had a negative attitude toward the reunification of Germany. The impact of these results is far reaching, because overestimated distances between both German parts indicate that there still exists a mental gap between East and West—even in young people—15 years after the German reunification.