Eye—response lags during a continuous monitoring task

We measured the temporal relationship between eye movements and manual responses while experts and novices watched a videotaped football match. Observers used a joystick to continuously indicate the likelihood of an imminent goal. We measured correlations between manual responses and between-subjects variability in eye position. To identify the lag magnitude, we repeated these correlations over a range of possible delays between these two measures and searched for the most negative correlation coefficient. We found lags in the order of 2 sec and an effect of expertise on lag magnitude, suggesting that expertise has its effect by directing eye movements to task-relevant areas of a scene more quickly, facilitating a longer processing duration before behavioral decisions are made. This is a powerful new method for examining the eye movement behavior of multiple observers across complex moving images.     

Surface and Edge Information for Spatial Integration: A Saccadic-selection Search Task

Three experiments are described that investigate visual integration across space using a saccade selection paradigm. Subjects saccaded to a vertical target in the presence of a number of horizontal distractor items. Both horizontal and vertical items were composed of two identical elements, so, in order to locate the target, subjects had to integrate the pairs of elements together. We measured saccade accuracy, the proportion of saccades directed to the vertical target, together with saccade latency following display appearance. In Experiment 1 we found that saccade accuracy was improved by the items having either common surface properties or collinear edges. These effects were not a resultof increased display heterogeneity (Experiment 2), or a result of the introduction of a strong internal contour between the items (Experiment 3). These results show that for saccadic selection both surface and edge properties of items are processed. This in turn suggests thatearly visual processing encodes and exploits both types of information.     

Books Received

In Questioning Technology, Feenberg accuses Heidegger of an untenable 'technological essentialism'. Feenberg's criticisms are addressed not to technological essentialism as such, but rather to three particular kinds of technological essentialism: ahistoricism, substantivism, and one-dimensionalism. After these three forms of technological essentialism are explicated and Feenberg's reasons for finding them objectionable explained, the question whether Heidegger in fact subscribes to any of them is investigated. The conclusions are, first, that Heidegger's technological essentialism is not at all ahistoricist, but the opposite, an historical conception of the essence of technology which serves as the model for Feenberg's own view. Second, that while Heidegger does indeed advocate a substantivist technological essentialism, he offers a plausible, indirect response to Feenberg's voluntaristic, Marcusean objection. Third, that Heidegger's one-dimensional technological essentialism is of a non-objectionable variety, since it does not force Heidegger to reject technological devices in toto. These conclusions help vindicate Heidegger's ground-breaking ontological approach to the philosophy of technology.     

The expressibility of fragments of Hybrid Graph Logic on finite digraphs

Hybrid Graph Logic is a logic designed for reasoning about graphs and is built from a basic modal logic, augmented with the use of nominals and a facility to verify the existence of paths in graphs. We study the finite model theory of Hybrid Graph Logic. In particular, we develop pebble games for Hybrid Graph Logic and use these games to exhibit strict infinite hierarchies involving fragments of Hybrid Graph Logic when the logic is used to define problems involving finite digraphs. These fragments are parameterized by the quantifier-rank of formulae along with the numbers of propositional symbols and nominals that are available. We ascertain exactly the relative definability of these parameterized fragments of the logic.     

Family caregivers of older relatives: ways of coping and change in distress

The aim of this secondary analysis was to examine the relationships between the ways in which caregivers coped with caregiving stressors and their experience of distress over time. Three coping subscales were derived from the Carers' Assessment of Management Index (CAMI) coping scale: "maintaining balance", "focusing on caregiving" and "avoidance". A proportional (relative) scoring technique was applied. The analysis was based on the responses of 115 pairs of caregivers and care recipients. Care recipients were aged 66-92 years, with no symptoms of dementia, and the majority had mild to moderate hearing impairment. Data were collected at baseline and 6 months later. Caregivers who increased the proportion of strategies endorsed in the "maintaining balance" subscale experienced a decrease in distress, irrespective of change in the proportion of strategies endorsed in the "avoidance" subscale. "Focusing on caregiving" was not significantly related to distress. The results highlight the potential benefits to these caregivers of maintaining a balance in their lives by taking breaks from caregiving.     

Attitudes toward Indigenous Australians: the role of empathy and guilt

Previous research in Perth, Western Australia, finds a disturbing amount of prejudice against Indigenous Australians. At the forefront of much prejudice research has been the distinction between old‐fashioned and modern prejudice. We constructed an Attitude Toward Indigenous Australians scale from items originating from qualitative data. We found that negative attitudes were predicted by collective guilt about past and present wrongs to Indigenous Australians (collective guilt directly linked to Indigenous issues, as well as collective guilt generally). Negative attitudes were also predicted by a lack of empathy for Indigenous Australians, and affective perspective taking generally. Socio‐demographics (e.g. a lack of education) predicted negative attitudes, which indicate the necessity of taking both social‐psychological and socio‐demographic factors into account when examining the nature of prejudice. A number of practical implications arise from these findings. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heidegger’s perfectionist philosophy of educationin Being and Time

Continental Philosophy Review - In Heidegger on Ontotheology: Technology and the Politics of Education, I argue that Heidegger’s ontological thinking about education forms one of the deep...     

Utilizing a Social‐Ecological Framework to Promote Water and Energy Conservation: A Field Experiment1

The present study utilized a social‐ecological framework to design an intervention to reduce residential water and energy use in a local community. An experimental design was used to study the influence of information leaflets, attunement labels, and socially comparative feedback on the actual levels of energy and water consumption in 166 households over a 6‐month period. The results suggest that the labels, designed to attune residents to the environmental‐impact affordances of various appliances around their homes, led to a 23% reduction in water consumption. Neither information leaflets nor socially comparative feedback produced significant reductions in water use, compared to controls. No significant reductions in energy consumption were observed for any of the intervention conditions. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications and their application to public policy promoting environmentally sustainable behavior.