Influences of hand posture and hand position on compatibility effects for up-down stimuli mapped to left-right responses: evidence for a hand referent hypothesis

Unimanual left-right responses to up-down stimuli show a stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) effect for which the preferred mapping varies as a function of response eccentricity. Responses made in the right hemispace and, to a lesser extent, at a midline position, are faster with the up-right/down-left mapping than with the up-left/down-right mapping, but responses made in the left hemispace are faster with the up-left/down-right mapping. Also, for responses at the midline position, the preferred mapping switches when the hand is placed in a supine posture instead of the more usual prone posture. The response eccentricity effect can be explained in terms of correspondence of asymmetrically coded stimulus and response features, but it is not obvious whether the hand posture effect can be explained in a similar manner. The present study tested the implications of a hypothesis that the body of the hand provides a frame of reference with respect to which the response switch is coded as left or right. As was predicted by this hand referent hypothesis, Experiment 1 showed that the influence of hand posture (prone and supine) on orthogonal SRC was additive with that of response location. In Experiment 2, the location of the switch relative to the hand was varied by having subjects use either a normal grip in which the switch was held between the thumb and the index finger or a grip in which it was held between the little and the ring fingers. The magnitudes of the mapping preferences varied as a function of the grip and hand posture in a manner consistent with the hand referent hypothesis.     

Perception of objects that are translating and rotating

The motion of objects that are both translating and rotating can be decomposed into an infinite number of translational and rotational combinations. How, then, do such stimuli routinely elicit specific percepts and behavioral responses that are usually appropriate? A possible answer is that motion percepts are fully determined by the probability distributions of all the possible correspondences and differences in the stimulus sequence. To test the merits of this conceptual framework, we investigated the perceived motion elicited by a line that is both translating and rotating behind an aperture. When stimuli are presented such that a particular sequence of appearance and disappearance occurs at the aperture boundary, subjects report that the line is rotating only; furthermore, the perceived centers of rotation appear to describe a cycloidal trajectory, even when one aperture shape is replaced by another. These and other perceptual effects elicited by translating and rotating stimuli are all accurately predicted by the probability distribution of the possible sources of the physical movements, supporting the conclusion that motion perception is indeed generated by a wholly probabilistic strategy.     

Reliability and dimensionality of judgments of visually textured materials

We extended perceptual studies of the Brodatz set of textured materials. In the experiments, texture perception for different texture sets, viewing distances, or lighting intensities was examined. Subjects compared one pair of textures at a time. The main task was to rapidly rate all of the texture pairs on a number scale for their overall dissimilarities first and then for their dissimilarities according to six specified attributes (e.g., texture contrast). The implied dimensionality of perceptual texture space was usually at least four, rather than three. All six attributes proved to be useful predictors of overall dissimilarity, especially coarseness and regularity. The novel attribute texture lightness, an assessment of mean surface reflectance, was important when viewing conditions were wide-ranging. We were impressed by the general validity of texture judgments across subject, texture set, and comfortable viewing distances or lighting intensities. The attributes are nonorthogonal directions in four-dimensional perceptual space and are probably not narrow linear axes. In a supplementary experiment, we studied a completely different task: identifying textures from a distance. The dimensionality for this more refined task is similar to that for rating judgments, so our findings may have general application.     

Correction for range restriction: an expanded typology

A common research problem is the estimation of the population correlation between x and y from an observed correlation rxy obtained from a sample that has been restricted because of some sample selection process. Methods of correcting sample correlations for range restriction in a limited set of conditions are well-known. An expanded classification scheme for range-restriction scenarios is developed that conceptualizes range-restriction scenarios from various combinations of the following facets: (a) the variable(s) on which selection occurs (x, y and/or a 3rd variable z), (b) whether unrestricted variances for the relevant variables are known, and (c) whether a 3rd variable, if involved, is measured or unmeasured. On the basis of these facets, the authors describe potential solutions for 11 different range-restriction scenarios and summarize research to date on these techniques.     

Culture and the economy

In a sample of 18 industrialized nations, measures of national character did not improve the power of socioeconomic variables in predicting unemployment rates.     

An introduction to Bayesian hierarchical models with an application in the theory of signal detection

Although many nonlinear models of cognition have been proposed in the past 50 years, there has been little consideration of corresponding statistical techniques for their analysis. In analyses with nonlinear models, unmodeled variability from the selection of items or participants may lead to asymptotically biased estimation. This asymptotic bias, in turn, renders inference problematic. We show, for example, that a signal detection analysis of recognition memory data leads to asymptotic underestimation of sensitivity. To eliminate asymptotic bias, we advocate hierarchical models in which participant variability, item variability, and measurement error are modeled simultaneously. By accounting for multiple sources of variability, hierarchical models yield consistent and accurate estimates of participant and item effects in recognition memory. This article is written in tutorial format; we provide an introduction to Bayesian statistics, hierarchical modeling, and Markov chain Monte Carlo computational techniques.     

自我面孔识别的独特性

与识别他人的面孔相比,自我面孔识别在行为反应、种系发生、个体发展以及脑机制等方面都具有很大的独特性。行为指标方面,自我面孔识别在速度上快于识别他人的面孔;种系发生方面,只有人类和大猩猩等高级灵长类动物才具有识别自己面孔的能力;个体发展方面,儿童出生后不久即能识别他人面孔,但要在18个月左右才能表现出自我面孔识别能力;脑机制方面,神经心理学和脑成像研究结果表明自我面孔识别可能主要是右脑的功能。该领域的研究进展将为深入了解自我的形成机理提供一个新的探视“窗口”。     

Temporal specificity of extinction in autoshaping

Three experiments investigated the effects of varying the conditioned stimulus (CS) duration between training and extinction. Ring doves (Streptopelia risoria) were autoshaped on a fixed CS-unconditioned stimulus (US) interval and extinguished with CS presentations that were longer, shorter, or the same as the training duration. During a subsequent test session, the training CS duration was reintroduced. Results suggest that the cessation of responding during an extinction session is controlled by generalization of excitation between the training and extinction CSs and by the number of nonreinforced CS presentations. Transfer of extinction to the training CS is controlled by the similarity between the extinction and training CSs. Extinction learning is temporally specific.     

A factor analysis of Furnham's Money Attitude Scale: a response to Furnham

Two empirically-derived scales from Furnham's Money Attitude Scale are presented. They measure money as a source of status and power and having a strong desire for money.     

中小学生对父母管教信息的认知、情绪与行为反应倾向

运用情境模拟的方法,对中小学生对父母管教信息的认知、情绪与行为反应倾向进行了研究。被试是616名中小学生。结果表明：(1)小学中年级以上学生对家长管教信息的情绪有较准确的认知;(2)不同管教信息的教育效能有优劣之分：诱导教诲最能引起被试的正面反应,其次是困扰担忧,伤心失望能引起部分学生的顺从反应,愤怒批评易引起子女的消极情绪和对抗行为。(3)父亲发出的管教信息比母亲更具权威性,更易引起子女积极的情绪体验与行为倾向。(4)学生对家长管教信息的反应具有明显的年龄和性别差异,小学生比中学生更易接受、顺从家长管教,女生比男生易产生更多的积极情绪与服从行为。(5)被试的认知评价与其情绪反应、行为倾向有较高的一致性。学生对父母管教信息的情绪体验和行为反应很大程度上取决于对管教信息的认知。如果学生的认知较为积极,更易引起积极的情绪体验和行为倾向。