CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISONS ON PSYCHOSEMANTICS OF ICONS AND GRAPHICS

This study is to report a cross-cultural comparison on perceptions of icons and graphics and their relationships. Data were ratings of 10 icons and 10 graphics against 21 bipolar semantic differential scales from 325 college students in three countries, Mexico, Columbia, and Japan. Cross-cultural factor analyses resulted in the identification of four semantic (three affective and one denotative) features, three icon factors, and three graphic factors. Indigenous cultural means of these iconic and graphic factors were computed and used to probe cross-cultural similarities and differences in perceptions. Psychosemantics of icon factors were further predicted by graphic factors through canonical correlation. This study concludes the importance of implicit cultural meanings of nonverbal figures in intercultural communications. The implications of this study are also discussed.     

FACIAL EXPRESSION AND SPEECH: NEUROANATOMICAL CONSIDERATIONS

This paper discusses the neuroanatomy and pathology of facial expression and findings on the neuroanatomical connections between expressions of the face and speech. The facial musculature is briefly dealt with in terms of its innervation by the facial nerve and its relationship to the soft palate at the peripheral system level. After considering the facial nuclei, the supranuclear innervation of volitional and emotional facial expression is reviewed. Then supranuclear relations between facial movements and some speech organs are considered. Finally, attention is paid to aspects of facial paralysis stemming from peripheral and central origins.     

The Determinants of Mock Jurors' Verdicts in a Rape Case1

The determinants of verdicts in a rape case were examined. Pretrial attitudes (rape empathy, juror bias, belief in a just world, and authoritarianism) were measured to ascertain both the intercorrelations among the attitudes and their predictive value of verdicts. The eye contact (staring, avoiding, or random) of the alleged rape victim with the defendant was also examined. Results showed that rape empathy was predictive of verdict. The eye contact of the alleged victim with the defendant also affected verdicts of female mock jurors. Specifically, when eye contact was avoided, more guilty verdicts were rendered. Furthermore, interpretation of eye contact was found to be a function of mock jurors' reported rape empathy. Specifically, subjects who reported empathy with the victim tended to interpret the victim's behavior as consistent with being raped. Finally, differences were found between high and low empathizers for the rape victim in what aspects of the trial were important to mock jurors' decisions.     

The Use of Psychoendocrine Strategies in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder1

An overview is presented of a pilot psychoendocrine study of PTSD inpatients in comparison with several subgroups of schizophrenic and affective disorder patients. Using a hormonal profile including Cortisol, norepinephrine, epinephrine, testosterone, and thyroxine, it was found that the mean values for the PTSD group were at or near the extreme end of the range for every hormone measured, i.e., relatively low for Cortisol and high for the remaining hormones. The possible clinical meaning of these findings is considered in the light of prior psychoendocrine research on chronic stress. The hormonal alterations in PTSD appear to be persistent and suggest the possibility of being linked largely to traits or character structure, perhaps particularly to cognitive variables related to defense and coping mechanisms, as reviewed in detail for each hormonal system. There appears to be a potential for a fruitful union between the traumatic stress and psychoendocrine fields and some future strategies for developing and strengthening such a union are suggested.     

Contributors to the Appraisal of Major Life Changes: Gender, Perceived Controllability, Sensation Seeking, Strain, and Social Support

This study investigated relationships between the appraisal of life events and gender, locus of control, social support, strain, and sensation seeking. In group sessions, undergraduate males and females completed self-report measures assessing life events appraisals and self-report measures for the above individual differences. Analyses supported the notion that a range of these variables, previously shown to serve as moderators of life stress, are significantly related to the appraisals of life events. Moreover, in addition to the gender differences obtained for the perception of life events, gender was found to influence several associations between the individual differences and life events appraisal.     

Younger and older adolescents' thinking about commitments

One hundred and sixty-three adolescents listed factors they consider or would consider when choosing a career and a romantic partner, and defined "commitment" in an open-ended essay. Male and female ninth graders, twelfth graders, and college juniors, from public and private schools served as subjects. Gender, grade, and type of school differences were found in the types and number of different types of factors listed for the above commitments, but not in the number of factors listed. Conceptions of the nature of commitment became more complex with grade, and differed as a function of gender and of type of school. Females listed more "internal" factors than did males for romantic commitments. Males described commitment more contractually, women more affectively. Older students focused more upon long-term and internal concerns, and defined "commitment" more in terms of cognitive processing and emotional attachment than younger students. Implications for related areas of work are discussed.     

Preload and isometric force variability

Two experiments are reported, which examined the relative contributions of preload (resting force level), change of force, and the time taken to achieve the force in determining isometric force variability. The findings showed that change of force is the strongest determiner of peak force variability but that preload and time to peak force have smaller though systematic effects. A formula that predicts peak force variability is proposed, with preload as an additive effect to the ratio between the change of force level and the square root of time to peak force. These findings confirm that these three impulse variables are significant in predicting force variability and that the impact of rate of force on peak force variability is nonlinear.