Spatial and temporal separation fails to counteract the effects of low prevalence in visual search

Recent research has shown that, in visual search, participants can miss 30-40% of targets when they only appear rarely (i.e. on 1-2% of trials). Low target prevalence alters the behavior of the searcher. It can lead participants to quit their search prematurely (Wolfe et al., 2005), to shift their decision criteria (Wolfe et al., 2007) and/or to make motor or response errors (Fleck & Mitroff, 2007). In this paper we examine whether the LP Effect can be ameliorated if we split the search set in two, spreading the task out over space and/or time. Observers searched for the letter "T" among "L"s. In Experiment 1, the left or right half of the display was presented to the participants before the second half. In Experiment 2, items were spatially intermixed but half of the items were presented first, followed by the second half. Experiment 3 followed the methods of Experiment 2 but allowed observers to correct perceived errors. All three experiments produced robust low prevalence (LP) effects with higher errors at 2% prevalence than at 50% prevalence. Dividing up the display had no beneficial effect on errors. The opportunity to correct errors reduced but did not eliminate the LP effect. Low prevalence continues to elevate errors even when observers are forced to slow down and permitted to correct errors.     

Charles Rycroft’s Contribution to Contemporary Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Charles Rycroft played a significant part in gaining psychoanalysis understanding and intellectual acceptance within the wider intellectual community of post-war Britain. However he became gradually disaffected with the schisms and inward-looking character of UK psychoanalysis in its post-controversial discussions phase. He was ahead of his time in his interest in psychoanalysis as semantics, links between psychoanalysis and evolutionary and attachment theories, literary resonances with psychoanalytic thinking, and of the role of support as well as interpretation as a mutative agent. Renewed interest in his writings is long overdue.     

Causal explanation improves judgment under uncertainty,but rarely in a Bayesian way

Three studies reexamined the claim that clarifying the causal origin of key statistics can increase normative performance on Bayesian problems involving judgment under uncertainty. Experiments 1 and 2 found that causal explanation did not increase the rate of normative solutions. However, certain types of causal explanation did lead to a reduction in the magnitude of errors in probability estimation. This effect was most pronounced when problem statistics were expressed in percentage formats. Experiment 3 used process-tracing methods to examine the impact of causal explanation of false positives on solution strategies. Changes in probability estimation following causal explanation were the result of a mixture of individual reasoning strategies, including non-Bayesian mechanisms, such as increased attention to explained statistics and approximations of subcomponents of Bayes’ rule. The results show that although causal explanation of statistics can affect the way that a problem is mentally represented, this does not necessarily lead to an increased rate of normative responding.     

Working adults’ well‐being: An online self‐help goal‐based intervention

An online self‐help goal‐setting and planning (GAP) intervention to improve working adults’ well‐being was tested using a longitudinal, randomized crossover design. The study sought to (1) test the effectiveness of the intervention relative to wait‐list controls; and (2) test the stability of effects over a 3‐month follow‐up period. Participants were recruited from the UK Civil Service and were randomized to either a GAP intervention or a wait‐list control condition. Wait‐list participants then crossed‐over to receive GAP. Relative to wait‐list controls (N = 149), GAP participants (N = 158) reported significantly higher levels of positive affect (PA) and flourishing, but similar levels of negative affect (NA) and life satisfaction immediately after the intervention. Longitudinal data were analysed for the whole sample (N = 307). Compared to the start of the intervention, participants reported an increase in PA and flourishing directly after the intervention and 3 months later. NA and life satisfaction showed no change by the end of the intervention, but had improved by 3‐month follow‐up. Completing more modules predicted post‐intervention improvements in well‐being, accounting for pre‐intervention well‐being levels. The online self‐help format allowed the intervention to be offered with minimal therapeutic support, enabling convenient access by a large group of employees. The study provides an example of a successful adaptation of a clinically proven well‐being intervention to make it accessible to working adults.

Practitioner points

• Well‐being interventions proven in clinical settings can be effectively adapted for use in workplace settings with only minor alterations.
• Brief, online self‐help interventions can improve working adults’ well‐being.
• Goal‐based interventions can improve working adults’ well‐being when focused towards goals that are aligned with personal values and have been chosen by the individual.

     

Ethical climate influences on employee commitment through job satisfaction in a transport sector industry

This study examined the extent to which an ethical climate moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and perceptions of organisational commitment. The study sample consisted of 839 employees of a railway organisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (women = 32%). Perceptions of the organisation’s ethical climate were measured using the Ethical Climate Questionnaire (Victor & Cullen, 1998), job satisfaction was measured using the Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Lock, 1976), and organisational commitment was measured using the Organisational Commitment Scale (Meyer & Allen, 1997). Data were analysed by applying hierarchical moderator regression analysis to predict employee commitment from job satisfaction, in interaction with the ethical climate. The findings indicated that the ethical climate dimensions of caring, law and code, rule, independence, and instrumental predicted 72% of the variance in job satisfaction and 73% of the variance in employee commitment. Positive perceptions of an ethical work atmosphere and clear code of conduct would enhance employees’ levels of dedication, loyalty, and commitment to the organisation.     

An Examination of Inmate Physical Assaults on Jail Correctional Staff: Exploring Inmate-Level and Jail-Level Conditions in the United States

The current study examines individual-level determinants of inmate-on correctional staff assaults, particularly the demographic characteristics of inmates, and the context of structural/environmental characteristics of specific jails. Findings from a series of negative binomial regression models indicate some significant relationships, with additional analyses highlighting the nonlinear nature of the relationship between racial representation and assaults. The findings give credence to both the “lone-wolf” and “gang mentality” perspectives, in that jails with an unbalanced racial composition have higher rates of inmate assaults on correctional staff when groups are both under- and over-represented as a proportion of the jail population.     

Revisiting the crossroads: can Oedipus take a gay turn in the 21st C?

Is our foundational story of sexual identity still relevant and valid for today, or is it wrong? Oedipus has been used in the past as a cautionary tale for the consequences of transgressive sexuality, as well as an exemplar of hetero-normative development. Perhaps most influentially he has been used recently to illustrate a mechanism that underpins the concept of a pathological organization of personality, a perverse turning of a blind eye to the truth. But is this reading mistaken? In this article I return to the crossroads with Oedipus to try to give him back – for the first time – his sexual identity. By offering a re-reading of the myth in light of how we understand the impact of internalized stigma on the formation of sexual identity today I hope to show that our psychoanalytic imagination can use the Oedipus myth to encompass a range of different developmental possibilities.     

The case of Sophie

The analysis of a girl from ages 3 to 5 years old offers a clinical illustration of an alternative theory of change. In this theory the process of change is organized around nodal points of exchange between patient and analyst, designated as “now moments” and “moments of meeting.” In the case presented, these moments were preceded by an intensification of affect and were accompanied by a sense of openness and ambiguity. As often as not they were nonverbal and sometimes did not even involve symbolic representation. The process resulted in a progressively expanded repertoire of ways of being together and ways of doing things together. In a parallel and mutually influencing track, the child was telling me a story that gave meaning to her world, and increased the coherence of her sense of self. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Sense,reference and substitution

Philosophical Studies - We show that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Frege’s distinction between sense and reference does not reconcile a classical logic of identity with apparent...