Behavioral speed contagion: automatic modulation of movement timing by observation of body movements

To coordinate our actions with those of others, it is crucial to not only choose an appropriate category of action but also to execute it at an appropriate timing. It is widely documented that people tend to unconsciously mimic others' behavior. The present study show that people also tend to modify their movement timing according to others' movements even when the observed and the to-be-executed movements are unrelated. Observers viewed either point-light biological motion, scrambled biological motion, or solid object motion. The stimulus sequence was presented at three different (half, normal, and double) rates. After a 300-2400-ms blank period, the observers performed a simple choice reaction-time task that was unrelated to the presented stimulus sequence. The observation of the biological motion produced a negative correlation between reaction time and stimulus speed, whereas no such trend was observed with the scrambled or solid object motion. Furthermore, speed-dependent modulation occurred only when the task was imposed within approximately 1s after the offset of the biological motion. These results suggest that behavioral tempo may be contagious; the speed of others' movements may automatically influence the timing of movement execution by the observer.     

Contrast Effects and Approval Voting: An Illustration of a Systematic Violation of the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives Condition

In approval voting, voters indicate all alternatives acceptable to them, instead of indicating their most preferred alternative. This study sought to examine the hypothesis that, under certain conditions, approval voting systematically violates a rationality condition of social choice: the independence of irrelevant alternatives condition. Given a well-known psychological phenomenon, the contrast effect, it was hypothesized that sets of acceptable alternatives might be changed as a result of changes in unacceptable alternatives. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of undergraduates who were presented with fictional profiles of juvenile delinquents and then were asked whether they should be granted parole. The outcomes of approval voting changed merely as the result of a change in an alternative least preferred by all voters.     

The effects on the predictive variance of a new subject’s score for a new test

Abstract: It is often required to predict the scores or their variations under interest. Ishii and Watanabe (2001) investigated, in the context of psychological measurement, the Bayesian predictive distribution of a new subject’s scores for tests and subjects’ scores for a new test. In this paper, the Bayesian posterior predictive distribution of a new subject’s scores for a new parallel test were considered. And the effects of the number of subjects, the number of the tests, and the test reliability were investigated. Then, it was found that, under assumptions that (co)variance parameters are known, the predictive variance of a new subject’s score for a new test was equal to the predictive variances of the new subject’s scores for the existent tests. It was also found that the effect of the number of subjects was relatively large and the effect of the number of tests was relatively small, when a new subject’s scores for existent tests were not observed.     

Orientation-contingent color aftereffects mediated by subjective transparent structures.

We examined whether the orientation-contingent color aftereffect (the McCollough effect) could be mediated by subjective horizontal and vertical structure induced by the perception of transparency. In our experiments, red vertical bars and green horizontal bars were alternated as an adapting stimulus. After adaptation, subjects (n = 6) were asked to adjust the green and red saturation of a test pattern until they obtained a neutral gray. Horizontal and vertical stripes were combined in the test pattern in three different ways: (1) overlapping with a luminance combination that gave rise to a perception of transparent overlays of horizontal and vertical stripes (valid transparency condition), (2) overlapping with luminance combinations that did not induce a perception of transparency (invalid transparency condition) and that appeared more as a patchwork of checks, and (3) presented in adjacent, nonoverlapping areas. Our results showed that the McCollough effect was significantly greater in the valid transparency condition than in the invalid transparency conditions. The effect in the valid transparency condition was nevertheless less strong than was the effect seen with the standard test stimulus made up of nonoverlapping vertical and horizontal stripes. Our results suggest that the McCollough effect can be mediated by the subjective spatial organization (inner representation of vertical and horizontal stripes) that accompanies the perception of transparency in our stimulus.     

Effects of test-mask similarity on forward and backward masking of patterns by patterns

Summary Effects of test-mask similarity on the masking function were examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, random bar patterns were used as test and mask stimuli. Bars were oriented in 135° oblique direction in test stimuli, and in 135° or 45° oblique direction in mask stimuli. The SOA was varied from 0 to 100 ms (backward masking). In Experiment 2, red and blue random dot patterns were used as both test and mask stimuli, with SOAs of –100 to 100 ms (forward and backward masking). The subject was asked to report the number of bars or dots as quickly as possible. The results of four subjects in one experiment and five in the other indicated that masking effects were generally greater when the test and mask stimuli were the same in orientation or color than when they were different. Slightly asymmetrical U-shaped functions were obtained both in the same and in different (orientation or color) conditions. A two-factor model with a similarity-related symmetrical integration process and a similarity-unrelated asymmetrical interuption process was considered.Experiment 1 was conducted by the first and third authors at Chiba University, and Experiment 2 was performed by the first and second authors at the University of Tokyo     

Who's Up First? Testing for Order Effects in Structured Interviews Using a Counterbalanced Experimental Design

A growing body of research suggests that, apart from the wording of specific questions, various aspects of the interview process itself may affect the reliability of information provided by research participants. To examine whether the order of presentation of specific diagnostic modules affects the likelihood of subjects' yes/no responses within the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC), the authors used a counterbalanced design, presenting two DISC diagnostic modules to children and their parents in standard or reversed order. Results indicate that the order of module administration exerts effects on the total numbers of symptoms endorsed, level of impairment, and the likelihood of meeting diagnostic criteria, regardless of whether the information is provided by parent or child respondents. Future child and adult assessment measures should take these difficulties fully into account through novel approaches to instrument design and interview procedures.     

Texture and motion spreading, the aperture problem, and transparency.

When a cross of either static or moving texture is inserted in the intersection of an Ehrenstein figure, we find that the texture and its motion appear to spread outside of the cross. We suggest that these phenomena are analogous to neon color spreading, wherein an interpretation of a transparent surface makes the properties of that surface, which are physically visible only inside the cross, appear to spread over its apparent extent. In our experiments, the texture and the motion of the cross are attributed to the transparent surface. In addition, the spreading changes the apparent aperture within which the texture and its motion are seen, leading to a corresponding change in the apparent direction of motion.     

The role of myelination in learning performance observed in two strains of myelin-deficient mutant mice (shiverer and mld)

In order to study whether myelination is involved in learning performance, the behavior of myelin-deficient mutant mice (shiverer and mld) was examined. Shiverer is a deletion mutant of the myelin basic protein (MBP) gene causing severe myelin deficits due to the complete absence of MBP, while mld, allelic mutant to shiverer, shows lowered MBP expression, resulting in less severe effects. Shiverer clearly showed deficits in successive reversal learning, while mld showed less deficits in the learning performance. Both mutant mice showed no deficits in the radial maze performance, which is though to show the natural foraging behavior of rodents. These results suggest that myelin formation is related to learning but not to natural behavior.     

Effect of unpleasant loud noise on hippocampal activities during picture encoding: an fMRI study

The functional link between the amygdala and hippocampus in humans has not been well documented. We examined the effect of unpleasant loud noise on hippocampal and amygdaloid activities during picture encoding by means of fMRI, and on the correct response in humans. The noise reduced activity in the hippocampus during picture encoding, decreased the correct response and increased the activity of the amygdala. A path diagram using structural equation modeling suggested that hippocampus activity might be depressed by high amygdala activity. Therefore, noise should diminish memory by reducing hippocampal activity, which might be depressed by high amygdala activity.     

Geographical profiling incorporating neighbourhood-level factors using spatial interaction modelling

The aim of this study was to examine the applicability of methods that use spatial interaction modelling to predict the most probable area for an offender's residence. Tokyo, which is the capital of Japan and is divided into 1507 square-kilometre zones, was selected as the study area. We analysed 4316 criminal trips to commit residential burglaries by 1089 offenders who lived in Tokyo. The following neighbourhood-level factors, and a distance-decay effect between zones, were incorporated into the proposed model: the size of the residential population aged 15–59 years in origin zones, the numbers of households living in detached houses, newcomers, the number of police facilities in destination zones, and the spatial structures of the criminal trips. Search areas calculated by the proposed model were smaller than previous models, suggesting that neighbourhood-level factors are important for predicting the location of an offender's residence.