Accounting for belief bias in a mental model framework: comment on Klauer, Musch, and Naumer (2000)

K. C. Klauer, J. Musch, and B. Naumer (2000; see record 2000-02818-008) presented a general multinomial model of belief bias effects in syllogistic reasoning. They claimed to map a particular mental model account of belief bias (J. V. Oakhill, P. N. Johnson-Laird, & A. Garnham, 1989; see record 1989-38845-001)) onto this model and to show empirically that it is incorrect. The authors argue that this mental model account does not map onto the multinomial model and that it can account for the data presented by Klauer et al. (Experiments 1-4). The authors further argue that additional data Klauer et al. presented in support of a new model of their own (Experiments 5-8) are explained by this mental model account. The mental model account is, therefore, refuted neither by Klauer et al.'s theoretical analysis nor by any of the results they presented. Furthermore, the account can accommodate more recent findings on belief bias in a more satisfactory way than can alternative models that have been proposed.     

Testing comprehension abilities in users of British Sign Language following CVA

Recent imaging (e.g., MacSweeney et al., 2002) and lesion (Hickok, Love-Geffen, & Klima, 2002) studies suggest that sign language comprehension depends primarily on left hemisphere structures. However, this may not be true of all aspects of comprehension. For example, there is evidence that the processing of topographic space in sign may be vulnerable to right hemisphere damage (e.g., Hickok, Say, Bellugi, & Klima, 1996), and the influence of iconicity on comprehension has yet to be explored. In this study, comprehension testing was conducted with 15 signers with unilateral brain damage, and with elderly Deaf controls. Four tests were administered: a test of iconic and non-iconic noun comprehension, a test of verb and sentence comprehension, a test of locative sentence comprehension, and a test of classifier comprehension. All tests were administered in British Sign Language (BSL), a language that has only recently been explored with lesioned signers (see Atkinson, Marshall, Thacker, & Woll, 2004; Marshall, Atkinson, Thacker, Woll, & Smulevitch, 2004; Marshall, Atkinson, Woll, & Thacker, in press). People with left hemisphere damage were impaired relative to controls on all tests. Those with right hemisphere damage performed well in the first two tests, but were impaired on locative sentences and classifiers. Neither group showed any effect of iconicity. The results shed further light on the laterality of sign language comprehension.     

Attentional inhibition has social-emotional consequences for unfamiliar faces

Visual attention studies often rely on response time measures to show the impact of attentional facilitation and inhibition. Here we extend the investigation of the effects of attention on behavior and show that prior attentional states associated with unfamiliar faces can influence subsequent social-emotional judgments about those faces. Participants were shown pairs of face images and were asked to withhold a response if a transparent stop-signal cue appeared over one of the faces. This served to associate the cued face with an inhibitory state. Later, when asked to make social-emotional choices about these face pairs, participants chose uncued faces more often than cued faces as "more trustworthy" and chose cued faces more often than uncued faces as "less trustworthy." For perceptual choices, there was no effect of how the question was framed (which face is "on a lighter background" vs. "on a darker background"). These results suggest that attentional inhibition can be associated with socially relevant stimuli, such as faces, and can have specific, deleterious effects on social-emotional judgments.     

High-lethality status in patients with borderline personality disorder

Recurrent suicidal behaviors in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are often considered communicative gestures; however, 10% complete suicide. This study seeks to identify risk factors for suicide within a BPD sample by comparing patients with High- and Low-Lethality attempts. BPD attempters (n = 113) were assessed on demographic, diagnostic, and personality variables: clinical symptoms, suicidal behaviors; childhood, family, and treatment histories; social adjustment; and recent life events. Forty-four High-Lethality attempters, defined by a score of 4 or more on Beck's Medical Lethality Scale, were compared to 69 Low-Lethality attempters. Discriminating variables were entered in a multivariate logistic regression model to define predictors of High-Lethality status. High-Lethality attempters were older, with children, less education, and lower socioeconomic class (SES) than Low-Lethality attempters. They were more likely to have Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), co-morbid Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), and family histories of substance abuse. They reported greater intent to die, more lifetime attempts, hospitalizations, and time in the hospital. High-Lethality status was best predicted by low SES, co-morbid ASPD, extensive treatment histories, and greater intent to die. These characteristics resemble profiles of patients who complete suicide, are not specific for BPD, and do not include impulsivity, aggression, or severity of BPD criteria.     

Cortical regions associated with different aspects of object recognition performance

In the present object recognition study, we examined the relationship between brain activation and four behavioral measures: error rate, reaction time, observer sensitivity, and response bias. Subjects perceptually matched object pairs in which structural similarity (SS), an index of structural differentiation, and exposure duration (DUR), an index of task difficulty, were manipulated. The SS manipulation affected the fMRI signal in the left anterior fusiform and parietal cortices, which in turn reflected a bias to respond same. Conversely, an SS-modulated fMRI signal in the right middle frontal gyrus reflected a bias to respond different. The DUR manipulation affected the fMRI signal in occipital and posterior fusiform regions, which in turn reflected greater sensitivity, longer reaction times, and greater accuracy. These findings demonstrate that the regions most strongly implicated in processing object shape (SS-modulated regions) are associated with response bias, whereas regions that are not directly involved in shape processing are associated with successful recognition performance.     

High familiarity enhances visual change detection for face stimuli

Does high familiarity with a face enable particularly efficient visual processing? In three experiments, we presented briefly and successively two pairs of faces (either famous or recently learned), masking each presentation. Between the first and the second presentations, one face changed, and the task was to locate this change. Performance was significantly better when the change involved a famous face. This superfamiliarity effect was found only for changes occurring in the left visual field and was abolished by inverting the faces. Extended prior study of the recently learned faces did not improve performance with these stimuli. The results suggest that superfamiliarity promotes highly efficient visual processing and may especially activate a configural mode of analysis.     

School-age children's perceptions of a person who stutters

The present study examined the perceptions school-age children have of stutterers. Four groups of fourth and fifth grade students viewed a videotape with either the speaker stuttering or not stuttering while reading a poem. A semantic differential scale of bi-polar adjective pairs was used to rate the speaker on intelligence and personality traits. The current study found that there is a significant difference between school-age children's perceptions of stutterers and nonstutterers with the ratings for the disfluent speaker more negative than the ratings for the fluent speaker. It was found that children did not rate personality and intelligence related traits differently. This information can be used to validate the need for education regarding stuttering for children and those who work with children. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will learn about and be able to (1). identify perceptions of stutterers by a variety of groups; (2). discuss the implications of research on perceptions of stutterers; and (3). compare/contrast children and adults and their perceptions.     

Testing different interpretations for the mistaken belief that rays exit the eyes during vision

Research has shown that children and adults believe that emissions from the eye occur during the act of vision. Such beliefs are similar to ancient extramission theories of perception. In Study 1, the authors tested the idea that extramission beliefs might stem from people's thinking about what might occur during vision as opposed to what is necessary for seeing. Training participants to think about what is necessary for vision, however, had no effect on extramission responses. The results of Study 2 indicated that emphasizing the idea of visual input led to a decline in extramission responses and supported the hypothesis that extramission notions stem from the outer-oriented phenomenology of vision.