Assessing changes in brain electrical activity and functional connectivity while overtaking a vehicle

ABSTRACT

Driving is a daily requirement and an indispensable activity for many people. However, still little is known about how driving is supported by the brain. We used electroencephalography to study the changes in brain activity and its functional connectivity in a simulated driving task. We focused on overtaking and studied this activity in three phases: before overtake, during overtake, and after overtake. Our results showed that mu power in motor and sensorimotor areas decreased during overtake and again increased after overtake. On the other hand, beta oscillations in frontal areas were at their highest level in the “before overtake” phase. It can be interpreted that the “before overtake” was the most attention-demanding phase. In addition, we found that the connectivity between right and left prefrontal regions and right and left occipital regions in alpha (and mu) band power was significantly stronger in the “during overtake” compared to the other two conditions.     

The evolution of the tattoo in defiance of the immutable definition of deviance: current perceptions by law enforcement of tattooed arrestees

Tattoos have made their way from prisons to fashion runways, but are they still perceived by law enforcement as marks of deviance? The purpose of this study is to examine law enforcement arrest patterns to determine the relationship between tattoos and offense charges. This study analyzes a random sample of arrestees from a large county in the Southern U.S. Using logistic regression models, the relationship between tattoos, tattoo location, number of offense charges, and severity of offense charges is examined.     

Sex,Power, and Money: Prediction from the Dark Triad and Honesty–Humility

Data were collected from two undergraduate student samples to examine (i) the relations of the ‘Dark Triad’ variables (Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Narcissism) with the HEXACO personality dimensions, as well as (ii) the ability of the aforementioned characteristics and of the Big Five personality factors to predict outcome variables related to sex, power, and money. Results indicated that the common variance of the Dark Triad was very highly correlated with low Honesty–Humility and that the unique variance of each of the Dark Triad variables also showed theoretically meaningful relations with the other five HEXACO factors. Furthermore, the Dark Triad and Honesty–Humility were strong predictors of three domains of outcome variables—Sex (short‐term mating tendencies and sexual quid pro quos), Power (Social Dominance Orientation and desire for power), and Money (conspicuous consumption and materialism)—that were not well predicted by the dimensions of the Big Five. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Imageability estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words

We provide imageability estimates for 3,000 disyllabic words (as supplementary materials that may be downloaded with the article from www.springerlink.com ). Imageability is a widely studied lexical variable believed to influence semantic and memory processes (see, e.g., Paivio, 1971). In addition, imageability influences basic word recognition processes (Plaut, McClelland, Seidenberg, & Patterson, 1996). In fact, neuroimaging studies have suggested that reading high- and low-imageable words elicits distinct neural activation patterns for the two types e.g., Bedny & Thompson-Schill (Brain and Language 98:127-139, 2006; Graves, Binder, Desai, Conant, & Seidenberg NeuroImage 53:638-646, 2010). Despite the usefulness of this variable, imageability estimates have not been available for large sets of words. Furthermore, recent megastudies of word processing e.g., Balota et al. (Behavior Research Methods 39:445-459, 2007) have expanded the number of words that interested researchers can select according to other lexical characteristics (e.g., average naming latencies, lexical decision times, etc.). However, the dearth of imageability estimates (as well as those of other lexical characteristics) limits the items that researchers can include in their experiments. Thus, these imageability estimates for disyllabic words expand the number of words available for investigations of word processing, which should be useful for researchers interested in the influences of imageability both as an input and as an outcome variable.     

Filler items and social desirability in Rotter's locus of control scale

Three experiments were conducted to determine whether the use of filler items in Rotter's I-E scale fulfills its stated objective of obscuring the purpose of the scale. Subjects were undergraduate psychology students. Experiment 1 compared the effects of filler items and sex of subject on 145 subjects I-E scores. Experiment 2 examined effects of filler items and sex on I-E responses of 210 subjects under standard and fake good instructions. Experiment 3 examined subjects' ability to discern the purpose of the I-E scale, with and without the filler items. Filler items did not affect I-E score, impede subjects from faking good, or obscure knowledge of the purpose of the I-E scale. Sex differences occurred in faking good, knowledge and certainty of correctness of knowledge.     

Clothing: Communication, Compliance, and Choice

This study looks at some effects of five different styles of women's clothing: Formal Skirt, Formal Pants, Casual Skirt, Casual Pants, and Jeans. There were no significant differences in compliance to a request to fill out a questionnaire made by experimenters dressed in the five clothing styles, although experimenter age and sex effects were found. Ratings of photographs of the five dress styles indicate that a model was viewed by both male and female subjects as most happy, successful, feminine, interesting, attractive, intelligent, and wanted as a friend when wearing a Formal Skirt outfit and as least so when wearing Jeans. She was also seen as more active when wearing pants as compared with a skirt. Subjects' reasons for choosing what clothing to wear did not indicate that how one will appear to others is the major factor in clothing selection. It appears that clothing does communicate something about the wearer but may influence behavior toward her primarily in the absence of other information about her status.     

Perceptual completion of surfaces in infancy

Two experiments provide evidence that 4-month-old infants perceive background surfaces as continuous behind occluding objects. Infants were shown a partly hidden background surface either for a brief period of familiarization (Experiment 1) or until they met a criterion of habituation (Experiment 2). The infants were then tested with nonoccluded surfaces that were either continuous or interrupted by a gap where the occluder had been. The infants in each study looked longer at the interrupted than at the continuous surface, relative to infants in baseline controls, which suggests that the partly hidden surface was perceived as continuous. Contrasting findings were obtained in a third experiment, in which infants were habituated to a partly hidden surface that stood in front of a background so that its edges were visible: Infants gave no evidence of perceiving the foreground surface as continuous behind the occluder. These experiments provide evidence that infants perceive a surface as continuous only if it serves as the background of a scene. The results are discussed in relation to figure-ground perception in pictures and surface layouts.