Effects of varying target luminance and cue luminance on attentional effects of spatial cues

Attentional effects of letter cues on target processing were investigated in a bilateral spatial cueing paradigm. Luminance contrast of the cue stimuli and of the target stimuli were both manipulated. Consistent with predictions derived from theoretical models of visual attention, manipulating cue luminance and target luminance had very different effects on performance. In agreement with the dorsal stream attention hypothesis (Marrett et al., 2011) orienting effects were unaffected by changes in cue luminance; but in agreement with the work of Reynolds, Pasternak, and Desimone (2000) and Carrasco, Ling, and Read (2004) orienting effects were strongly modulated by changes in the luminance and perceptual quality of the target. Theoretical implications of the results are considered and the data are explained in terms of a sensory enhancement effect, whereby attention amplifies the neuronal responses for attended stimuli.     

Book reviews

Nietzsche and Buddhism: a study in nihilism and ironic affinities. Robert G. Morrison, 1997, Oxford, Oxford University Press x + 250 pp., hb ISBN 0 19 823556 9, £32.50

Chong Yagyong: Korea's challenge to orthodox neo‐Confucianism. Mark Sftton, 1997, Albany, NY, State University of New York Press, >xv + 232 pp., pb ISBN 0 7914 3174 6, US$15.95

Fatalism in Ancient India. Sukumari Bhattacharji, 1995, Calcutta, Sarmistha Roy for Baulmon Prakashan xxviii + 356 pp., hb Rs250, ISBN 81 86552 02 2

The Vimalakirti Sutra (from the Chinese version by Kumarajiva). Burton Watson (Trans.), 1997, New York, Columbia University Press xii+ 168 pp., hb £18.00 ISBN 0 231 10656 4

Zhouyi, the Book of Changes‐a new translation with commentary. Richard Rutt, 1996, Richmond, Curzon Press xii + 498 pp., hb (Price not given), ISBN 0 70007 0467 1     

Book Reviews

A dler G erhard (Ed.). Success and failure in analysis. The Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress for Analytical Psychology
Confrontation in psychotherapy. A dler , G erald and M yerson , P aul G. (Eds.)
K han , M. M asud R. The privacy of the self
M ilgram , S tanley : Obedience to authority
S tein , R obert . Incest and human love
S zasz , T homas S. The ethics of psychoanalysis
Ideology and insanity
The second sin     

The school psychologist as a source of power and influence

This essay reviews the historical role of the school psychologist and examines his impact on educational systems. Past influences of the school psychologist in effecting understanding and acceptance of individual differences of children are examined in relationship to the contemporary need to relate this knowledge to appropriate educational planning for a culturally diverse school population.     

Psychological correlates of the French sound system

Six samples of CCVC phoneme sequences were devised to represent linguistically specifiable distances from existing French words, distance being measured in terms of number of substitutions needed to make an existing French word. Fifty-four native speakers of French rated the sound sequences for their subjective proximity to French, using ungraded rating scales. Results showed a general correspondence between the linguistic and psychological measurements, although certain phoneme sequences did not follow the predicted order. These were examined to see if their displacement could be attributed to the number of different French words reached through substitutions.     

High-speed data processing and unobtrusive monitoring of eye movements

A system has been developed that monitors eye movements without imposing any unnatural constraints or mechanical attachments on the subject. The system also features high-speed on-line data processing.     

Differential Effects of Racial Socialization Messages for African American Adolescents: Personal Versus Institutional Racial Discrimination

Racial socialization is one factor known to attenuate the negative consequences of racial discrimination on adolescents’ anger and depressive symptoms. However, little is known about whether racial socialization messages addressing cultural and racial pride and messages preparing youth for racial discrimination and racial barriers function differently depending upon whether adolescents perceive personal versus institutional racial discrimination. Thus, the present study examined whether racial socialization messages emphasizing racial pride and racial barriers protected against anger and depressive symptoms for African American adolescents’ experience of personal and institutional racial discrimination. Participants were a community sample of 106 urban African American adolescents (57 % girls; mean age = 15.41) residing in a large metropolitan area. Regression analyses revealed that personal racial discrimination was positively associated with anger for youth reporting low cultural pride reinforcement, and positively associated with depressive symptoms for youth reporting low cultural alertness to discrimination; there were no associations between personal racial discrimination and anger or depressive symptoms for youth reporting high racial socialization messages. Neither cultural pride nor racial barrier racial socialization message protected against institutional racial discrimination. Findings suggest that the protective effects of racial socialization messages vary based on the type of racial discrimination adolescents experience.