The effects of memory load on the time course of inhibition of return

Inhibition of return (IOR) refers to a processing disadvantage at a recently attended location. It is generally agreed that when elicited in a cue-target task, IOR will not be apparent until attention is disengaged from the originally cued location and returned to a neutral state. Here we test the hypothesis that when such disengagement is dependent on endogenous control, a secondary task that taxes working memory capacity should delay the appearance of IOR. Participants were given a six-item verbal working memory load prior to the peripheral cue in a cue-target detection task. Consistent with the hypothesis, the appearance of IOR was delayed on trials for which participants had to hold information in working memory. Converging evidence was derived from a second experiment in which the time course of IOR’s appearance, when we added a central cue to exogenously remove attention from the peripheral cue, was unaffected by the memory load.     

Moving farther but faster: an exception to Fitts's law

Fitts's law holds that movement time (MT) increases with longer distances. Here we report a violation of this law: When the target appears in a structured, linear display with placeholders indicating the possible target locations, MT to the most distant target is not longer than MT to the second most distant target, but rather tends to be shorter. Furthermore, the presence of placeholders attenuates the range effect that occurs in the absence of placeholders. These findings suggest that Fitts's law may be limited to egocentric visuomotor action, and that the visual control of hand movements may use allocentric, in addition to egocentric, spatial information.     

Trait and social processes in the link between social support and affect: an experimental, laboratory investigation

This study investigated the extent to which the link between perceived social support and affect reflected support recipients' trait perceived support as well as three distinct social processes: the objective supportiveness of providers, the unique relationships among recipients and providers that were stable over occasions, as well as the unique relationships that varied across occasions. Ten recipients interacted with each of the same four providers on five separate occasions, for a total of 200 interactions. Recipients and independent observers rated recipient affect and provider support. Greater perceived support was related to greater positive affect for recipients' trait perceived support, as well as for relationships that were stable over occasions and relationships that varied across occasions. No social support effects were found for negative affect. Perceived similarity was a consistent predictor of recipients' support perceptions. Implications for social support models and interventions were discussed.     

Oversimplifying evolutionary psychology leads to explanatory gaps

Comments on Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations (see record 2010-02208-001) by Confer et al. They argued that SST cannot explain the existence of either homosexuality or suicide within the human species. We contend that a sufficiently nuanced evolutionary position has no difficulties explaining either phenomenon. Also in this account, it is assumed that all psychological functioning must serve survival and reproduction. However, since evolution selects against certain qualities (it does not select for qualities, as it is commonly, but incorrectly, described), two types of qualities should remain intact for any species: (a) those that facilitate survival and reproduction and (b) those that do not impede survival and reproduction at the population level.     

On the Road to Self-Perception: Interpretation of Self-Behaviors Can Be Altered by Priming

ABSTRACT In 3 experiments, some participants read a story describing ambiguously mean behaviors performed by another person. Other participants read the story and imagined that they performed the behaviors. Results showed that (a) exposure to a conceptual priming manipulation caused assimilation effects in actor meanness judgments, regardless of whether the actor was self or other, (b) tasks designed neither to heighten self-concept accessibility nor to threaten the self moderated the effects of conceptual meanness primes on self-meanness judgments, and (c) this lack of moderation occurred despite considerable evidence of self–enhancement effects elsewhere in self-judgments. A fourth experiment examined the extent to which priming affected interpretations of real self or other behavior. Results were consistent with the idea that priming altered event interpretation and subsequent judgments but also suggested that judgments were influenced by self-enhancement motivation. Implications of the results for theorizing in personality and self-knowledge acquisition are discussed.     

Rapid Aimed Limb Movements: Differential Effects of Practice on Component Submovements

Three experiments are reported in which subjects practiced rapid aimed limb movements (arm pointing and wrist rotation) toward a visible target region. Subjects were required to minimize their movement durations while still landing in the target. The movement trajectories were examined to assess the effects of practice on separate component submovements of the limb movements. The results revealed that practice improved primarily temporal, not spatial, aspects of performance. Practice reduced the overall movement durations, but had different effects on the individual submovements: Practice allowed subjects to reduce the amount of time spent performing final corrective submovements, but actually increased slightly the time needed to produce the initial ballistic submovement. The results suggest that practice in the present task primarily enhanced the ability to use feedback information, but there was also some evidence of changes in the ballistic, preprogrammed portion of the movements. The results demonstrate that analysis of submovements can reveal important details of the underlying motor control processes.