Binding across space and time in visual working memory

Recent studies of visual short-term memory have suggested that the binding of features such as color and shape into remembered objects is relatively automatic. A series of seven experiments broadened this investigation by comparing the immediate retention of colored shapes with performance when color and shape were separated either spatially or temporally, with participants required actively to form the bound object. Attentional load was manipulated with a demanding concurrent task, and retention in working memory was then tested using a single recognition probe. Both spatial and temporal separation of features tended to impair performance, as did the concurrent task. There was, however, no evidence for greater attentional disruption of performance as a result of either spatial or temporal separation of features. Implications for the process of binding in visual working memory are discussed, and an interpretation is offered in terms of the episodic buffer component of working memory, which is assumed to be a passive store capable of holding bound objects, but not of performing the binding.     

Rejection and Acceptance Across Contexts: Parents and Peers as Risks and Buffers for Early Adolescent Psychopathology. The TRAILS Study

In a large sample of early adolescents (T2: n = 1023; M age = 13.51; 55.5% girls) it was investigated whether the effects of parental and peer acceptance and rejection on psychopathology (externalizing and internalizing problems) remain when taking into account both contexts simultaneously. Moreover, we examined whether acceptance in one context can buffer rejection in the other. It was found that when analyzing peer and parent effects simultaneously (1) the protective effect of parental acceptance and the risk effect of peer rejection were diminished; (2) the protective effect of peer acceptance and the risk-effect of parental rejection remained strong; and (3) peer acceptance buffered parental rejection but parental acceptance did not buffer peer rejection. The results imply that the parent and peer contexts are interdependent. Implications and directions for future research are given.     

National Origin and Behavioural Problems of Toddlers: The Role of Family Risk Factors and Maternal Immigration Characteristics

In many societies the prevalence of behavioural problems in school-aged children varies by national origin. We examined the association between national origin and behavioural problems in 1½-year-old children. Data on maternal national origin and the Child Behavior Checklist for toddlers (n?=?4943) from a population-based cohort in the Netherlands were used. Children from various non-Dutch backgrounds all had a significantly higher mean behavioural problem score. After adjustment for family risk factors, like family income and maternal psychopathology, the differences attenuated, but remained statistically significant. Non-Dutch mothers with immigration risk factors, such as older age at immigration or no good Dutch language skills, reported significantly more behavioural problems in their offspring. In conclusion, the present study indicated more behavioural problems in immigrant toddlers from various backgrounds. Researchers and policymakers aiming to tackle disparities in behavioural problems should take into account that risks associated with national origin are intertwined with unfavourable family and immigration characteristics.     

Toward an integrative approach of cognitive neuroscientific and evolutionary psychological studies of art

This paper examines explanations for human artistic behavior in two reductionist research programs, cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. Despite their different methodological outlooks, both approaches converge on an explanation of art production and appreciation as byproducts of normal perceptual and motivational cognitive skills that evolved in response to problems originally not related to art, such as the discrimination of salient visual stimuli and speech sounds. The explanatory power of this reductionist framework does not obviate the need for higher-level accounts of art from the humanities, such as aesthetics, art history or anthropology of art.     

Development of a new Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale

In the psychological study of auditory imagery, instruments for measuring vividness or clarity have existed for some time. The present article argues that existing scales are ambiguous, in that clarity and vividness of auditory imagery are addressed simultaneously, and that empirical validations of those scales suffer from inadequate methods. The aim of the present study was to develop a new psychometric scale, the Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale, measuring individual differences in clarity of auditory imagery. Drawing on previous literature, 16 items were generated, forming an initial item pool that was presented to 212 respondents. The hypothesized single dimensionality inherent in the data was confirmed using Velicer’s (1976) minimum average partial test and parallel analysis. Also, data were factor analyzed, extracting a stable one-factor solution including all 16 items. The internal consistency of the final scale was satisfactory (coefficient alpha = .88). Other properties of the questionnaire, such as test-retest reliability, remain to be established.     

Implicit and Explicit Stances in Logic

Journal of Philosophical Logic - We identify a pervasive contrast between implicit and explicit stances in logical analysis and system design. Implicit systems change received meanings of logical...     

Please mind the gappy content

Philosophical Studies - Representationalist theories of experience face the problem that two sets of compelling intuitions seem to support the contrary conclusions that we should ascribe,...     

Development of inattention, impulsivity, and processing speed as measured by the d2 Test: results of a large cross-sectional study in children aged 7-13.

The development of three aspects of selective attention was studied in 451 Dutch schoolchildren attending second to sixth grade. Selective attention was measured with the d2 Test of attention. The largest age differences were found for processing speed that continued to improve until the sixth grade. Impulsivity, as measured by the percentage of errors of commission, decreased until the fourth grade. Inattention, measured by the percentage of errors of omission, was stable in all grades. Processing speed and impulsivity were correlated with the score on the Attention Problems subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist. These results imply that selective attention continues to develop, at least, until the end of elementary school. The findings are support for a step-wise model of cognitive development (P. Anderson, 2002).     

Identification of everyday objects on the basis of fragmented outline versions

Although Attneave (1954 Psychological Review 61 183 193) and Biederman (1987 Psychological Review 94 115-147) have argued that curved contour segments are most important in shape perception, Kennedy and Domander (1985 Perception 14 367-370) showed that fragmented object contours are better identifiable when straight segments are shown. We used the set of line drawings published by Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980 Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory 6 174-215), to make outline versions that could be used to investigate this issue with a larger and more heterogeneous stimulus set. Fragments were placed either around the 'salient' points or around the midpoints (points midway between two salient points), creating curved versus relatively straight fragments when the original outline was fragmented (experiment 1), or angular and straight fragments when straight-line versions were fragmented (experiment 2). We manipulated fragment length in each experiment except the last one, in which we presented only selected points (experiment 3). While fragmented versions were on average more identifiable when straight fragments were shown, certain objects were more identifiable when the curved segments or the angles were shown. A tentative explanation of these results is presented in terms of an advantage for straight segments during grouping processes for outlines with high part salience, and an advantage for curved segments during matching processes for outlines with low part salience.