Who are you looking at? The influence of face gender on visual attention and memory for own- and other-race faces

Previous research suggests that the own-race bias (ORB) in memory for faces is a result of other-race faces receiving less visual attention at encoding. As women typically display an own-gender bias in memory for faces and men do not, we investigated whether face gender and sex of viewer influenced visual attention and memory for own- and other-race faces, and if preferential viewing of own-race faces contributed to the ORB in memory. Participants viewed pairs of female or male own- and other-race faces while their viewing time was recorded. Afterwards, they completed a surprise memory test. We found that (1) other-race males received the initial focus of attention, (2) own-race faces were viewed longer than other-race faces over time, although the difference was larger for female faces, and (3) even though longer viewing time increased the probability of remembering a face, it did not explain the magnified ORB in memory for female faces. Importantly, these findings highlight that face gender moderates attentional responses to and memory for own- and other-race faces.     

Family interaction: A process model of deviancy training

A model was presented describing the reciprocal influence of disruptions in parent discipline practices on irritable exchanges between the target child and other family members. Disrupted parent discipline and irritable microsocial exchanges within the family were hypothesized to provide a basic training for aggression that generalizes to other settings such that the child is identified by peers, teachers, and parents as physically aggressive. Physical fighting was thought to lead to rejection by the normal peer group, which was hypothesized to feed back to further exacerbate fighting. Multilevel assessment including interview, questionnaires, laboratory studies, and home observations were carried out with the families of 91 preadolescent and adolescent boys. Nine indicators from the assessment battery were used to define the constructs Inept Parental Discipline, Negative Microsocial Exchanges, Physical Fighting, and Poor Peer Relations. Structural equations (LISREL VI) were used to describe the relations among the constructs. The t values for the path coefficients were significant. A chi-square analysis showed an acceptable fit between the model and the empirical findings. The findings were interpreted as being consistent with the hypothesis that under certain circumstances, family interaction may serve as basic training for aggression. In the present study, interactions with siblings in the home seemed to serve a pivotal role.     

The five factor model of personality: Openness a distinct but related construct

It has been argued that the Openness (O) dimension from the five factor model (FFM) of personality may in fact be an associate of the ability domain more than the personality domain. This paper explores this hypothesis using a sample of 101 managers. Participants completed the NEO-FFI and a measure of ability assessing the construct as typical performance. This measure was an occupational specific measure of typical intellectual engagement (TIE), termed the “problem solving through challenge” PSC scale. A combination of LISREL CFA and hierarchical multiple linear regression (HMLR) indicated that in fact O was a distinct but related construct to the other four dimensions of the FFM (N, E, A and C), but that O was more strongly correlated with PSC than the other dimensions. These results are taken to indicate that O, while associated with personality, assesses something to do with problem solving as a personality trait. Further the results suggest that E linked O to the other personality scales.     

Childhood peer rejection,aggression, withdrawal,and perceived competence as predictors of self-reported behavior problems in preadolescence

Childhood peer rejection, aggression, withdrawal, and perceived competence were compared as predictors of self-reported behavior problems. Peer sociometric status (Coie, Dodge, and Coppotelli, 1982), teacher ratings of behavior problems (Lorion, Cowen, & Caldwell, 1975), and perceived competence ratings (Harter, 1982) were obtained for 613 second-through fourth-grade children. Two years later, these students completed a modified version of the Youth Self-Report form (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1987). Rejected children and neglected girls were more likely to have a self-reported nonspecific negative outcome than others. Neglected girls were at heightened risk for depression. A varied set of predictors obtained from different informants emerged for each sex for each of the specific self-reported outcomes of depression, unpopularity, delinquency, aggression, and self-destructive/identity problems. Results are discussed in terms of future directions for longitudinal research on the consequences of poor peer relationships in childhood.This research was supported in part by a grant from the W. Alton Jones Foundation and in part from Cooperative Agreement (G0087C3033) between the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, and the University of Virginia. However, the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the opinions of the funding agencies. Portions of this paper were presented at the First Annual Meeting of the Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Miami, Florida. The authors would like to thank Robert Terry, Ruth Axman, Pamela Griesler, Melissa DeRosier, Nancy Vaden, Charlene Eickholt, Amy Young, Emily Burhans, Eric Johnson, Renee Lorio, and Karen Welke for their assistance in conducting this research project.     

A delivery system for olfactory stimuli

This paper describes the design of a new method for controlling and administering olfactory stimuli—namely, thehood system. The hood system involves a stream of vaporized odor (at known concentrations) mixed with odorless air and pumped (at a constant flow rate) into an oxygen therapy hood. It is designed to be used with odorants in solution, such as essential oils, as the olfactory stimulus. The use of oxygen therapy hoods allows for the precise control of a constant concentration of odorized air over time, while allowing subjects to breathe normally. The hood system provides a natural administration of olfactory stimuli and the exact determination of the stimulus concentration. The use of this system will allow experimental conditions to be completely defined and results and replication studies to be accurately interpreted. The hood system is portable, cost effective, and constructed from readily available components. It is proposed that the hood system could be adopted to suit a wide range of olfactory research, particularly that in which the effects of chronic exposure to olfactory stimuli on cognition are examined.     

Phonological and articulatory impairment in Alzheimer's disease: a case series

We demonstrate that phonological and articulatory impairments may occur at presentation or early in the course of Alzheimer's disease, contrary to claims that these aspects of language production are relatively preserved until the final stages of this disease. Six patients with pathologically confirmed Alzheimer's disease (AD) and four patients with clinically diagnosed dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) presented with one of five different clinical profiles: nonfluent progressive aphasia, mixed progressive aphasia, progressive aphasia diagnosed as DAT from neuropsychological assessment, initial amnestic syndrome with prominent phonological errors, and biparietal syndrome. Analysis of their conversational speech, single-word production, and performance of highly familiar series speech tasks such as counting revealed false start errors, phonological paraphasias, and/or articulatory difficulty. Neuropathological changes were located in left perisylvian regions consistent with speech and language impairment but atypical for Alzheimer's disease.     

How and for Whom Time Control Matter for Innovation? The Role of Positive Affect and Problem-Solving Demands

Job resources are essential for higher performance. Focusing on innovation, we examine how and for whom the job resource of time control is related to the implementation of novel ideas in the workplace. Drawing on the job demands-resources model and affect-as-information theory, we propose that positive affect explains how the association of time control with innovation unfolds and how this psychological process depends on the extent to which employees work under problem-solving demands. Using a survey study, conducted with 198 employees from diverse organisations, we supported a mediation mechanism in which time control was positively associated with positive affect, which is turn was positively related to innovation. Furthermore, the strength of this mediation process depended on problem-solving demands, such that positive affect and innovation resulting from time control was stronger for those working in complex environments. These results corroborate and expand knowledge on the job demands-resources, affect and innovation literatures, showing that job resources matter for performance, particularly in conjunction with job complexity denoting challenging performance. Thus, organisations should be aware of opportunities to manage the degree of job control and complexity if they aim to foster employee innovation.     

A CULTURAL EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO MODERNITY: WHAT MIGHT IT MEAN FOR CHRISTIAN FAITH?

This essay introduces, for theological consideration, some recent work in the field of cultural evolutionary theory, specifically the kin-influence hypothesis. This theory holds that, following the beginnings of industrialization and economic growth, a nation's fertility rate commences a decline, which is further abetted by the consequent and increasing imbalance in the relative influence of kin versus nonkin influences on individuals in favor of the latter. It is further proposed that this process is itself a major independent factor in the emergence of many of the features of what is called modernity, among which is that of secularization. Extending further this work, I argue that, given the historic alignment of family and religious values in Christian nations, a loss of religious belief and practice is, at least in part, the spill over effect of the opposing influence of values emerging from ever more dominant nonfamily social interaction. I conclude with some reflections on possible theological implications.