Kanizsa-type subjective contours do not guide attentional deployment in visual search but line termination contours do

We used visual search to explore whether attention could be guided by Kanizsa-type subjective contours and by subjective contours induced by line ends. Unlike in previous experiments, we compared search performance with subjective contours against performance with real, luminance contours, and we had observers search for orientations or shapes produced by subjective contours, rather than searching for the presence of the contours themselves. Visual search for one orientation or shape among distractors of another orientation or shape was efficient when the items were defined by luminance contours. Search was much less efficient among items defined by Kanizsa-type subjective contours. Search remained efficient when the items were defined by subjective contours induced by line ends. The difference between Kanizsa-type subjective contour and subjective contours induced by line ends is consistent with physiological evidence suggesting that the brain mechanisms underlying the perception of these two kinds of subjective contours may be different.     

Induced loudness reduction as a function of frequency difference between test tone and inducer

When a high-intensity tone (inducer) is followed by a moderate-intensity tone (test tone), the loudness of the latter is reduced. This phenomenon, called induced loudness reduction (ILR), depends on the frequency separation of the two tones; as the difference in frequency increases, the amount of ILR decreases. However, the precise course of this decrease is not well known. This article presents two experiments that address this question. In the first experiment, the amount of loudness reduction produced by a 2.5-kHz 80-dB-SPL inducer was measured with the frequency of the test tone swept from 800 Hz to 6 kHz. In the second experiment, the amount of ILR was measured with the same inducer and with test tones set at 2, 2.5, 3, and 4 kHz. Both experiments show that some ILR occurs at frequency separations as wide as four critical bands.     

Looking at scenes while searching for numbers: dividing attention multiplies space

Observers tend to remember seeing a greater expanse of a scene than was shown (boundary extension [BE]). Is undivided visual attention necessary for BE? In Experiment 1, 108 observers viewed photographs with superimposed numerals (2s and 5s). Each appeared for 750 msec, followed by a masked interval and a test picture (same, closer up, or wider angled). Test pictures were rated as the same, closer, or wider angled on a 5-point scale. Visual attention was manipulated with a search task: The observers reported the number of 5s (zero, one, or two). The observers performed search only, picture rating only, or both (giving search priority). Search accuracy was unaffected by condition. BE occurred in both conditions but was greater with divided attention. The results were replicated using incidental BE tests (Experiments 2 and 3). We propose that anticipatory representation of layout occurs automatically during scene perception, with focal attention serving to constrain the boundary error.     

The sensitivity of a palm-based psychomotor vigilance task to severe sleep loss

In this study, we evaluated the sensitivity of a 5-min personal digital assistant-psychomotor vigilance test (PDA-PVT) to severe sleep loss. Twenty-one participants completed a 10-min PVT-192 and a 5-min PDA-PVT at two hourly intervals during 62 h of sustained wakefulness. For both tasks, response speed and number of lapses (RTs > 500) per minute significantly increased with increasing hours of wakefulness. Overall, standardized response speed scores on the 5-min PDA-PVT closely tracked those of the PVT-192; however, the PDA-PVT was generally associated with more lapses/minute. Closer inspection of the data indicated that when the level of sleep loss and fatigue became more severe (i.e., Day 3), the 5-min PDA-PVT was not quite as sensitive as the 10-min PVT-192 when 2- to 10-sec foreperiods were used for both. It is likely, however, that the observed differences between the two devices was due to differences in task length. Thus, the findings provide further evidence of the validity of the 5-min PDA-PVT as a substitute for the 10-min PVT-192, particularly in circumstances in which a shorter test is required and/or the PVT-192 is not as practical.     

Reconsidering qualitative and quantitative research approaches: A cognitive developmental perspective

Rather than embracing the notion that contextualism requires purely qualitative methodologies, Westerman and Yanchar argue that there is a place for quantification in post-positivist research. Both authors provide compelling arguments for this position. From our cognitive developmental perspective, we see this as a move toward a new level of integration in psychology. Whereas reactive shifts between positivist quantification and radical contextualism exemplify the kind of pendulum swing we see in individual development immediately before the emergence of a new developmental level, the moves suggested by Westerman and Yanchar are in the direction of a qualitative shift—a new level of differentiation and integration. We argue that the arguments put forward by Westerman and Yanchar do not quite achieve consolidation at this new level, because they remain embedded in a post-positivist contextualism that demands an a priori rejection of psychological universals and strong forms of quantification. In our view, consolidation at this new level requires a shift to a problem-focused methodological pluralism that assimilates a wide range of methodological approaches, critiques them, and adapts them in light of the problems researchers seek to solve.     

Perceived fairness in employee selection: the role of applicant personality

The present study investigated the role of applicant personality in relation to applicant procedural and distributive justice perceptions after being informed of an organization’s reject/accept selection decision. A sample of 503 students completed a selection test, believing the results would be used to make initial selection decisions for an organization recruiting from the university. Participants were presented with selection decisions (randomly assigned) two weeks later, and procedural and distributive justice perceptions were assessed. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that agreeableness, openness to experience, and test-taking self-efficacy were positively related with perceptions of procedural and distributive justice. Neuroticism was negatively associated with distributive justice perceptions. The relationships of test-taking self-efficacy with procedural and distributive justice were moderated by the organization’s selection decision.     

Understanding the Windsor Report. Two Leaders in the American Church Speak Across the Divide – Ian T. Douglas and Paul F.M. Zahl

Book reviewed:
Understanding the Windsor Report. Two Leaders in the American Church Speak Across the Divide , Ian T. Douglas and Paul F.M. Zahl, Church Publishing 2005 (0-89869-487-6), viii + 184 pp., pb $20.00     

‘Mutual Obligation’ and ‘New Deal’: Illegitimate and Unjustified?

It is now commonplace for governments in Western countries to require the unemployed to work in exchange for their unemployment benefits. In this article I raise some serious doubts about the most promising and philosophically interesting defence of this argument, which relies on the ‘principle of reciprocity’. I argue that it is seriously unclear whether the obligations imposed on welfare claimants by ‘workfare’ schemes are legitimate and justified according to the principle of reciprocity. I do this by reconstructing the arguments for the obligations of the unemployed put forward in both the United Kingdom and Australia.     

Getting the ethics right regarding research in the emergency setting: lessons from the PolyHeme study

Research in emergency settings (RES) has become a major public issue with urgent policy implications. Significant attention has focused recently on RES in response to the trial of PolyHeme, a synthetic blood substitute, in trauma victims in hemorrhagic shock. Unfortunately, the discussion of the PolyHeme trial in the popular and scholarly press leaves important questions unanswered. This paper articulates three important lessons from the PolyHeme trial that have significant policy implications. First, the RES regulations should be re-visited, particularly the requirement that existing treatments be unproven or unsatisfactory in order for research to be acceptable without consent. Second, further conceptual and empirical scholarship is needed to accomplish the goal of effectively involving communities. Third, a more subtle analysis is needed regarding how to balance the needs of maintaining public trust and protecting confidential trade information in the context of RES.