The effect of landmark features on mental rotation times

By varying what we take to be the saliency oflandmarks (which are cues to location and orientation that are unique and visible from a distance), the slopes and intercepts of the time/angle function in the "mental rotation" task were caused to vary accordingly.     

The effects of primary reward on the I.Q. performance of grade-school children as a function of initial I.Q. level

The effect of candy reward on I.Q. scores was investigated in 72 first- and second-grade children. All subjects were administered Form A of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and, based upon these scores, were divided into three blocks: low, middle, and high. From each block, subjects were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (contingent reward, noncontingent reward, or no reward) that were in effect during administration of Form B. Results showed that candy given contingent upon each correct response increased I.Q. scores for the initially low scoring subjects, but had no influence on the scores of middle and high scoring subjects.     

Effects of signals preceding and following shock on baseline responding during a conditioned-suppression procedure

Long-Evans rats were exposed to a succession of conditioned-suppression procedures involving pairings of (1) signal-shock, (2) shock-signal, and (3) a signal-shock-signal sequence in which first and second signals were at first physically identical. Traditional suppression of food-reinforced responding was obtained under the signal-shock arrangement, and exposure to the shock-signal sequence resulted in conditioned enhancement of responding during the signal. The signal-shock-signal condition reliably suppressed responding during the first signal, but produced no differential effect on response rate during the second signal. Baseline responding was least changed from preshock rates under the signal-shock-signal procedure, but baseline rate was considerably reduced under the signal-shock and shock-signal arrangements, the latter yielding most substantial reductions. A second experiment indicated that the magnitude and direction of changes in baseline responding reported in Experiment I were not confined to cases in which the first and second signals in the signal-shock-signal arrangement were physically identical. It is suggested that the major effects of the conditioned-suppression procedure on response rate might not be confined to presentations of the signal.     

Multiple sources of positive- and negative-priming effects: An event-related potential study

Event-related potential correlates of positive priming (PP) and negative priming (NP) were investigated in order to further elucidate the cognitive mechanisms involved. Thirty-six participants performed both an identity- and a location-based priming task. Repeating the target stimulus/location from the immediately preceding display produced behavioral PP. With localization, but not with identification, behavioral NP was observed when the target stimulus/location matched the preceding distractor stimulus/location. Smaller P300 amplitude accompanied identity-based PP, suggesting persisting target-specific activation. The lateralized readiness potential, an index of correct/incorrect response activation, indicated persisting central motor activation as another source of PP. Both location-based PP and NP were accompanied by reduced P1/N1 and P300 amplitudes, pointing to the involvement of inhibition of return in location-based priming. The results support the view that multiple brain processes underlie behavioral priming.     

The virtual cutting edge: the internet and adolescent self-injury

The 2 studies reported here use observational data from message boards to investigate how adolescents solicit and share information related to self-injurious behavior. Study 1 examines the prevalence and nature of these message boards, their users, and most commonly discussed topics. Study 2 was intended to explore the correlations between content areas raised for discussion. Both studies were intended to shed light on the role of message boards in spreading information about self-injurious practices and influencing help-seeking behavior. More than 400 self-injury message boards were identified. Most are populated by females who describe themselves as between 12 and 20 years of age. Findings show that online interactions clearly provide essential social support for otherwise isolated adolescents, but they may also normalize and encourage self-injurious behavior and add potentially lethal behaviors to the repertoire of established adolescent self-injurers and those exploring identity options.     

Resources and life-management strategies as determinants of successful aging: on the protective effect of selection, optimization, and compensation

In this research, the authors investigated the specific and shared impact of personal resources and selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) life-management strategies (A. M. Freund & P. B. Baltes, 2002) on subjective well-being. Life-management strategies were expected to be most relevant when resources were constrained, particularly in very old age. In Study 1 (N=156, 71-91 years), age-differential predictive patterns supported this assumption: Young-old individuals' well-being was predicted independently by resources and SOC, whereas SOC buffered the effect of restricted resources in old-old individuals. Study 2 replicated the findings longitudinally with resource-poor and resource-rich older individuals (N=42). In both studies, specific SOC strategies were differentially adaptive. Results confirm that resources are important determinants of well-being but that life-management strategies have a considerable protective effect with limited resources.     

The spatial constraint in intersensory pairing: no role in temporal ventriloquism

A sound presented in temporal proximity to a light can alter the perceived temporal occurrence of that light (temporal ventriloquism). The authors explored whether spatial discordance between the sound and light affects this phenomenon. Participants made temporal order judgments about which of 2 lights appeared first, while they heard sounds before the 1st and after the 2nd light. Sensitivity was higher (i.e., a lower just noticeable difference) when the sound-light interval was approximately 100 ms rather than approximately 0 ms. This temporal ventriloquist effect was unaffected by whether sounds came from the same or a different position as the lights, whether the sounds were static or moved, or whether they came from the same or opposite sides of fixation. Yet, discordant sounds interfered with speeded visual discrimination. These results challenge the view that intersensory interactions in general require spatial correspondence between the stimuli.     

Is it impossible to inhibit isoluminant items, or does it simply take longer? Evidence from preview search

Visual search can be facilitated when participants receive a preview of half the distractors (the preview benefit in search; Watson & Humphreys, 1997). Donk and Theeuwes (2001) have argued that preview-based benefits are abolished if the display items are isoluminant to a background. This is consistent with the preview benefit being due to onset capture by the new stimuli. In contrast, the present experiments challenge this suggestion and show that preview benefits can occur under isoluminant conditions, providing that they are given enough time to occur. In Experiment 1, we showed that a preview benefit can occur even with isoluminant stimuli, provided that the old items are previewed for a sufficient time. In Experiment 2, we tested and rejected the idea that this advantage is due to low-level sensory fatigue for the preview stimuli. These findings indicate that the preview effect is not caused solely by onset capture.     

Parents' ethnic-racial socialization practices: a review of research and directions for future study

Recently, there has been an emergence of literature on the mechanisms through which parents transmit information, values, and perspectives about ethnicity and race to their children, commonly referred to as racial or ethnic socialization. This literature has sought to document the nature of such socialization, its antecedents in parents' and children's characteristics and experiences, and its consequences for children's well-being and development. In this article, the authors integrate and synthesize what is known about racial and ethnic socialization on the basis of current empirical research, examining studies concerning its nature and frequency; its child, parent, and ecological predictors; and its consequences for children's development, including ethnic identity, self-esteem, coping with discrimination, academic achievement, and psychosocial well-being. The authors also discuss conceptual and methodological limitations of the literature and suggest directions for future research.     

Facilitated cognitive disengagement in depression

The present study was conducted to test predictions derived from the hypothesis that depression may serve the purpose of adaptively facilitating disengagement from obsolete cognitive plans. Groups of students with either low or high depression scores were contrasted using a procedure that featured an initial learning phase, within which participants learned to perform a task, followed by a relearning phase within which they needed to disengage from initial learning in order to relearn to perform an altered task. It was assumed that performance in the relearning phase would be affected by the degree to which participants could readily disengage from their initial learning. As predicted, participants in the high depression group, relative to those in the low depression group, demonstrated superior performance in the relearning phase alone. The theoretical and applied implications of this finding are discussed.