Eye movements blink the attentional blink

When presented with a sequence of visual stimuli in rapid succession, participants often fail to detect a second salient target, a phenomenon referred as the attentional blink (AB; Raymond, Shapiro, & Arnell, 1992; Shapiro, Raymond, & Arnell, 1997). On the basis of a vast corpus of experiments, several cognitive theories suggest that the blink results from a discrete structuring of attention, sampling information from temporal episodes during which several items can access encoding process (Wyble, Bowman, & Nieuwenstein, 2009; Wyble, Potter, Bowman, & Nieuwenstein, 2011). The objective of this work is to explore the AB when multiple items are presented at the fovea during ocular movements. The authors reasoned that each fixation may cohesively form an episode and hence expected that the blink may vanish within a single fixation. In turn, they expected saccades to accentuate episodic borders and hence shorten the regime of interference when 2 targets are presented fovealy in successive fixations. Evidence is provided in favor of this hypothesis, showing that the blink vanishes when both targets are presented in the core of a single fixation (far from the saccadic boundaries) and that it recovers more rapidly in successive fixations. These studies support current views that episodes should have an effect on the AB and provide evidence that eye movements play an important role in the formation of episodes.     

Eye gaze versus arrows as spatial cues: two qualitatively different modes of attentional selection

This study aimed to evaluate the type of attentional selection (location- and/or object-based) triggered by two different types of central noninformative cues: eye gaze and arrows. Two rectangular objects were presented in the visual field, and subjects' attention was directed to the end of a rectangle via the observation of noninformative directional arrows or eye gaze. Similar experiments with peripheral cues have shown an object-based effect: faster target identification when the target is presented on the cued object as compared to the uncued object, even when the distance between target and cue was the same. The three reported experiments aimed to compare the location- and object-based attentional orienting observed with arrows and eye gaze, in order to dissociate the orienting mechanisms underlying the two types of orienting cues. Results showed similar cueing effects on the cued versus oppositely cued locations for the two cue types, replicating several studies with nonpredictive gaze and arrow cues. However, a pure object-based effect occurred only when an arrow cue was presented, whereas a pure location-based effect was only found for eye-gaze cues. It is suggested that attention is nonspecifically directed to nearby objects when a noninformative arrow is used as cue, whereas it is selectively directed to a specific cued location when noninformative eye gaze is used. This may be mediated by theory of mind mechanisms.     

Sex differences in how erotic and painful stimuli impair inhibitory control

Witnessing emotional events such as arousal or pain may impair ongoing cognitive processes such as inhibitory control. We found that this may be true only half of the time. Erotic images and painful video clips were shown to men and women shortly before a stop signal task, which measures cognitive inhibitory control. These stimuli impaired inhibitory control only in men and not in women, suggesting that emotional stimuli may be processed with different weights depending on gender.     

Are cross-cultural comparisons of personality profiles meaningful? Differential item and facet functioning in the Revised NEO Personality Inventory

Measurement invariance is a prerequisite for confident cross-cultural comparisons of personality profiles. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to detect differential item functioning (DIF) in factor loadings and intercepts for the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McCrae, 1992) in comparisons of college students in the United States (N = 261), Philippines (N = 268), and Mexico (N = 775). About 40%-50% of the items exhibited some form of DIF and item-level noninvariance often carried forward to the facet level at which scores are compared. After excluding DIF items, some facet scales were too short or unreliable for cross-cultural comparisons, and for some other facets, cultural mean differences were reduced or eliminated. The results indicate that considerable caution is warranted in cross-cultural comparisons of personality profiles.     

Dispositional optimism, pessimism and realism in technological potential entrepreneurs

Optimism has been classically considered a key trait in entrepreneurs' personality but it has been studied from a psychological point of view only in recent years. The main aim of this research is to study the relationship between dispositional optimism, pessimism and realism as a function of the tendency to create technology-based businesses. A sample of undergraduate students (n= 205) filled in an electronic questionnaire containing the Life Orientation Test-Revised after they were classified as potential technological entrepreneurs, potential general entrepreneurs and non-potential entrepreneurs. Our results show that technology-based entrepreneurs are more optimistic than non-potential entrepreneurs, whereas there were no statistical differences in pessimism and realism. The results are interpreted theoretically to define the potential entrepreneur and, from an applied perspective, to design training programmes to support future technological entrepreneurs.     

Authentic leadership. Concept and validation of the ALQ in Spain

This study presents the validation of the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) in a sample of more than 600 Spanish employees. This questionnaire measures four distinct but related substantive components of authentic leadership. These components are: self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective. Structural equation modeling confirmed that the Spanish version of ALQ has high reliability and predictive validity for important leadership outputs such as perceived effectiveness of leadership, followers' extra effort and satisfaction with the leader.     

Factor structure and reliability of the Spanish adaptation of the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale--Self Report (CY-BOCS-SR)

The aim of this study was the adaptation to Spanish of the ?Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale--Self Report? (CY-BOCS-SR), one of the most frequently utilized scales in the assessment of obsessive-compulsive behaviors. After its translation to Spanish, its factor invariance in boys and girls, reliability, and relationship with the children's age were examined. Lastly, normative data for this Spanish version are presented. The sample comprised 1,706 children and adolescents from the general population. Results show that the factor composition of the CY-BOCS-SR does not present a very good fit to the usual scoring of three scales were observed: Obsession Severity, Compulsion Severity, and total score. Results also show that the factor validity and reliability of the CY-BOCS-SR improve remarkably if items related to Resistance to Obsessions and Compulsions are considered a different factor from Severity. It is concluded that the Spanish version of the CY-BOCS-SR has similar psychometric characteristics as the original English version.     

Bias? Who is Bias? Comments to Dellsén

Philosophia - (Dellsén, Philosophical Studies, 177(12), 3661–3678, 2020) argues that a positivistic defense of science’s objectivity is incoherent because bias in the...     

Habituation in anuran tadpoles and the role of risk uncertainty

Animal Cognition - The ability to learn in the context of predation allows prey to respond to threats by adjusting their behavior based on specific information acquired from their current...     

先天视觉经验缺失对颜色认知的影响：一项ERP研究

感觉与认知是否是相互独立的？本研究通过对比先天盲被试与明眼被试在进行物体颜色判断时的行为反应和神经电生理信号变化,探讨视觉经验缺失对颜色认知的影响。结果发现,先天盲被试具有一定的颜色知识,但其水平低于明眼被试;两组被试都出现了由颜色不匹配所诱发的N400效应,且都表现出左半球优势;但是盲人组的N400效应大于明眼组,盲人组的N400反应潜伏期小于明眼组。该结果说明,直接的视觉经验是颜色认知的充分条件而非必要条件。