The relation between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being: A meta-analytic investigation

This meta-analysis includes studies concerning the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI) and subjective well-being (SWB). A total of 25 studies with 77 effect sizes and a combined sample of 8520 participants were found. The results provided evidence of a positive significant relationship between EI and SWB (? = 0.32). This relationship was found to be higher in studies using self-report mixed EI instruments (? = 0.38), than with in studies using self-report ability EI instruments (? = 0.32) and performance-based ability EI instruments (? = 0.22). When examining EI measures, there was a larger association between EI and the cognitive component of SWB (? = 0.35) than with the affective component (? = 0.29). There is a need for further research with other evaluation methods to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between EI and SWB.     

Single-band amplitude demodulation of Müller-Lyer illusion images

The perception of the Müller-Lyer illusion has previously been explained as a result of visual low band-pass spatial filtering, although, in fact, the illusion persists in band-pass and high-pass filtered images without visible low-spatial frequencies. A new theoretical framework suggests that our perceptual experience about the global spatial structure of an image corresponds to the amplitude modulation (AM) component (or its magnitude, also called envelope) of its AM-FM (alternatively, AM-PM) decomposition. Because demodulation is an ill-posed problem with a non-unique solution, two different AM-FM demodulation algorithms were applied here to estimate the envelope of images of Müller-Lyer illusion: the global and exact Daugman and Downing (1995) AMPM algorithm and the local and quasi-invertible Maragos and Bovik (1995) DESA. The images used in our analysis include the classic configuration of illusion in a variety of spatial and spatial frequency content conditions. In all cases, including those of images for which visual low-pass spatial filtering would be ineffective, the envelope estimated by single-band amplitude demodulation has physical distortions in the direction of perceived illusion. It is not plausible that either algorithm could be implemented by the human visual system. It is shown that the proposed second order visual model of pre-attentive segregation of textures (or "back-pocket" model) could recover the image envelope and, thus, explain the perception of this illusion even in Müller-Lyer images lacking low spatial frequencies.     

Underlying dimensions of ecocentric and anthropocentric environmental beliefs

This study focuses on the cognitive components of general environmental attitudes. Taking as a starting point the scale of Thompson and Barton (1994) to identify ecocentric and anthropocentric motives in environmental conservation, the beliefs that guide attitudes in the person-environment relationship are analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to contrast the tripartite structure of these beliefs--based on egoistic, socioaltruistic, and biospheric aspects-with a two-dimensional structure that confronts ecocentric and anthropocentric orientations. The results obtained from two samples, a student sample (n = 212) and a sample from the general population of Madrid (n = 205), indicate the existence of a three-dimensional structure of environmental beliefs: an anthropocentric dimension based on the instrumental value of the environment for human beings, a biospheric dimension that values the environment for its own sake, and, lastly, an egobiocentric dimension that values the human being within nature as a whole.     

Independent and additive repetition priming of motion direction and color in visual search

Priming of visual search for Gabor patch stimuli, varying in color and local drift direction, was investigated. The task relevance of each feature varied between the different experimental conditions compared. When the target defining dimension was color, a large effect of color repetition was seen as well as a smaller effect of the repetition of motion direction. The opposite priming pattern was seen when motion direction defined the target—the effect of motion direction repetition was this time larger than for color repetition. Finally, when neither was task relevant, and the target defining dimension was the spatial frequency of the Gabor patch, priming was seen for repetition of both color and motion direction, but the effects were smaller than in the previous two conditions. These results show that features do not necessarily have to be task relevant for priming to occur. There is little interaction between priming following repetition of color and motion, these two features show independent and additive priming effects, most likely reflecting that the two features are processed at separate processing sites in the nervous system, consistent with previous findings from neuropsychology & neurophysiology. The implications of the findings for theoretical accounts of priming in visual search are discussed.

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Priming of luminance-defined motion direction in visual search

Features that we have recently attended to strongly influence how we allocate visual attention across a subsequently viewed visual scene. Here, we investigate the characteristics of any such repetition effects during visual search for Gabor patch targets drifting in the odd direction relative to a set of distractors. The results indicate that repetition of motion direction has a strong effect upon subsequent allocation of attention. This was the case for judgments of a target’s presence or absence, of a target’s location, and of the color of a target drifting in the odd direction. Furthermore, distractor repetition on its own can facilitate search performance on subsequent trials, indicating that the benefits of repetition of motion direction are not confined to repetition of target features. We also show that motion direction need not be the target-defining dimension throughout a trial block for motion priming to occur, but that priming can build up with only one presentation of a given target direction, even within blocks of trials where the target may, unpredictably, be defined by a different feature (color, in this case), showing that dimensional-weighting accounts cannot, on their own, account for motion direction priming patterns. Finally, we show by randomizing the set size between trials that priming of motion direction can decrease search rates in visual search.     

The relationship between intercultural abilities and cultural identity styles: A longitudinal cross-lagged analysis

Hybrid and alternating identity styles are dynamic strategies that members of immigrant and ethnic minority groups use to maintain multiple cultural identities. Although research shows that the two strategies predict different outcomes for cultural identity development and psychological well-being, less is known about their antecedents. The present study investigated the temporal relationship between intercultural abilities (i.e. intercultural effectiveness) and the activation of hybrid and alternating identity styles in a community sample of Filipino and Indian New Zealanders. Cross-lagged analysis indicated that intercultural abilities positively predicted the hybrid identity style and negatively predicted the alternating identity style. Cultural identity styles were not predictive of intercultural abilities over time. Multigroup analysis indicated equivalence of regression paths across ethnic groups. Findings suggest that intercultural abilities function as an antecedent of cultural identity styles.     

Diagrammatic carriers and the acceptance of Newton’s optical theory

Synthese - A permissivist framework is developed to include images in the reconstruction of the evidential base and of the theoretical content. The paper uses Newton’s optical theory as a...