Asymmetries in perception of tachistoscopically presented horizontal and vertical random-letter strings

Two studies examined perception of briefly presented (100-msec.) strings of letters. In Study One, 20 subjects were presented horizontal 5-letter strings in the left, central, and right visual fields. These were compared with 5-letter vertical strings presented centrally in the lower, central, and upper visual fields. Similar within-string patterns were found for all presentations. Between strings there was a typical right over left visual-field advantage in accuracy of report for horizontal strings. There was no equivalent lower over upper visual-field advantage for vertical strings. In Study Two, 24 subjects were presented vertical strings in the right and left visual fields, vertical strings in the upper and lower visual fields, and horizontal strings in the right and left visual fields. A post-stimulus cueing technique for single letters was used. Between-strings, the same right over left visual-field advantage for horizontal strings was noted but not for vertical strings. Between strings no advantage for lower over upper visual fields was found. An interaction for within-string patterns and visual field was found for vertical strings presented in the upper and lower visual fields. These results are explained in terms of an interaction between scanning and masking effects depending upon orientation and visual field.     

The Ethical Inclusion of Children With Psychotic Disorders in Research: Recommendations for an Educative,Multimodal Assent Process

This article addresses the issue of properly assenting children with psychotic disorders to participate in clinical research. Due to the protective concerns with such a vulnerable population, additional precautions are necessary to ensure that youth with psychotic disorders assent to research with an appropriate level of understanding regarding study procedures. Current literature suggests that positive/negative symptoms and minor cognitive deficits do not interfere with the ability to comprehend study-related information for adults with psychosis if the study information is presented through an educative process. Similarly, youth benefit from repeated presentation of procedures and periodic assessment of their comprehension. An integrated educative process is proposed that emphasizes the importance of an interactive consent through repetition and participant/investigator feedback.     

Cross-cultural differences in eyewitness memory reports

Increasingly, investigators conduct interviews with eyewitnesses from different cultures. The culture in which people have been socialised can impact the way they encode, remember, and report information about their experiences. We examined whether eyewitness memory reports of mock witnesses from collectivistic (sub-Saharan Africa) and individualistic (Northern Europe) cultures differed regarding quantity and quality of central and background details reported. Mock witnesses (total N = 200) from rural Ghana, urban Ghana, and the Netherlands were shown stimuli scenes of crimes in Dutch and Ghanaian settings and provided free and cued recalls. Individualistic culture mock witnesses reported the most details, irrespective of detail type. For each cultural group, mock witnesses reported more correct central details when crime was witnessed in their own native setting than a non-native setting, though for different recall domains. The findings provide insight for legal and investigative professionals as well as immigration officials eliciting memory reports in cross-cultural contexts.     

An examination of the Self-Administered Interview as a verbal veracity assessment tool

The self-administered interview (SAI) is a written eyewitness recall tool that elicits more information from cooperative witnesses than written free recall (WFR) formats. To date, SAI research has examined the accounts of cooperative people providing honest reports. In the current experiment, truthful and fabricating participants (N = 128) either completed a WFR or a SAI after witnessing a crime (initial account). After a 1-week delay, participants were interviewed verbally (subsequent interview). Truth tellers reported significantly more detail than liars in both the initial account and subsequent interview, and participants who completed the SAI reported more detail than those completing the WFR. Truth tellers repeated and omitted more information in the subsequent interview than liars; however, there was no significant difference in the number of reminiscent details reported. Although the SAI is effective in eliciting information as an initial eyewitness reporting tool, no benefits for the detection of deception were demonstrated.     

Beyond unusual? Examining the role of attention in the weapon focus effect

The current study examined whether the weapon focus effect could be accounted for in terms of stimulus novelty. Participants viewed a slideshow of a simulated event while attending to a secondary task. In the critical slide, the target was shown holding a threatening object (weapon condition), a novel object (unusual condition) or a neutral object (control condition). Reaction times on the secondary task were impaired in the weapon and unusual conditions. Participants in the weapon condition had poorest recognition scores for the target's appearance when confidence was also taken into account. Results suggest that while both unusual and threatening objects command attention, the significance of a weapon can lead to impaired performance on less immediately informative aspects of a scene such as target appearance. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pigeons' memory for number of events: Effects of intertrial interval and delay interval illumination

In Experiment 1, pigeons were trained at a 0-s baseline delay to discriminate sequences of light flashes (illumination of the feeder) that varied in number but not time (2f/4s and 8f/4s). During training, the intertrial interval was illuminated by the houselight for Group Light, but it was dark for Group Dark. Testing conducted with dark delay intervals produced a strong choose-small bias in both groups. All birds then received baseline training with a 5-s dark delay and were subsequently tested at shorter and longer dark delays. A choose-small bias was again observed at delays longer than the training delay, while a choose-large bias occurred at delays shorter than the training delay. Differentiating the ambient chamber illumination during the intertrial interval and the delay interval did not attenuate choose-small or choose-large effects. In Experiment 2, all birds received baseline training with a 5-s illuminated delay and were subsequently tested at shorter and longer illuminated delays. A choose-large bias was observed at delays longer than the training delay, while a choose-small bias occurred at delays shorter than the training delay. In Experiment 3, on intermittent test trials, when the duration of the second flash on small-sample trials was equal to the total flash duration on large-sample trials (i.e., 1600 ms), accuracy fell to approximately chance. These results suggest that pigeons discriminated the sequences of light flashes that varied in number but not in total duration of the sequence by relying on other temporal properties of the sequence rather than by using an event switch to count flashes.     

Gender Differences in Anticipated Salary: Role of Salary Estimates for Others,Job Characteristics,Career Paths,and Job Inputs

The purpose of this research was to compare pay expectations of women and men. Participants were 371 college students (261 women, 110 men; 94% White) from a variety of majors. Most students at this university are middle class. Consistent with prior research, women estimated significantly lower salaries at career entry and peak and rated family considerations and pleasant working conditions as significantly more important than did men. Men and women differed on salary estimates for others, influence of salary on decision to enter a field, time off for childrearing, career certainty, and weekly work hours. Controlling for average salaries in the listed job, job characteristic importance, career path, and job input differences eliminated the gender differences at entry and reduced the difference at peak.     

Qualitative Evaluation of Medical Information Processing Needs of 60 Women Choosing Ovarian Cancer Surveillance or Prophylactic Oophorectomy

Thirty women who had prophylactic oophorectomy (PO) and thirty women undergoing ovarian cancer surveillance (OCS) completed a one-time in-depth telephone interview exploring information gathering and decision-making processes. There were close similarities between groups, including age, race, marital status, education, menopausal status, number undergoing genetic testing for BRCA mutations, and number of prophylactic mastectomies. The majority of participants indicated overall satisfaction with their final decision. However, many described the information gathering process as frustrating and anxiety provoking. Participants in both groups expressed a need to process medical information within the context of individual psychosocial needs and personal perceptions and experiences. There were recurrent themes with regard to informational and psychosocial needs and personal perceptions and experiences that impacted decision-making process for these women. The present paper is a companion paper to Swisher et al. (J Repr Med 2001, 46:87–94) with the focus of this paper to illustrate the medical informational processing needs identified by this group of women.     

Engaged Against the Machine: Institutional and Cultural Racial Discrimination and Racial Identity as Predictors of Activism Orientation among Black Youth

The current study examines how experiences of institutional and cultural racial discrimination relate to orientations toward activism in the Black community among Black adolescents and emerging adults. Furthermore, we investigate the role of racial identity (centrality, public regard, nationalism) as moderators of those relations. In a national sample of 888 Black adolescents and emerging adults, we found that experiences of cultural racial discrimination, racial centrality, and nationalism ideology were related to a greater orientation toward low‐risk Black community activism. For high‐risk activism, nationalism was associated with a greater likelihood to participate in future social action in the Black community. The relation between experiences of institutional racial discrimination and high‐risk activism orientation was moderated by public regard. For Black adolescents and emerging adults who believe others view Black people negatively, more experiences of institutional racial discrimination were related to a greater high‐risk activism orientation. Findings highlight the importance of investigating racial discrimination as a multidimensional construct that extends beyond individual interactions and microaggressions. Furthermore, these findings underscore how phenomenological variation in experiences of racial discrimination and racial identity differentially influence adolescent and emerging adult orientations toward social action in and for the Black community.