Essentializing differences between women and men

People represent many social categories, including gender categories, in essentialist terms: They see category members as sharing deep, nonobvious properties that make them the kinds of things they are. The present research explored the consequences of this mode of representation for social inferences. In two sets of studies, participants learned (a) that they were similar to a member of the other gender on a novel attribute, (b) that they were different from a member of the other gender on a novel attribute, or (c) just their own standing on a novel attribute. Results showed that participants made stronger inductive inferences about the attribute in question when they learned that it distinguished them from a member of the other gender than in the other conditions. We consider the implications of these results for the representation of social categories and for everyday social inference processes.     

Perinatal infection, fetal inflammatory response, white matter damage, and cognitive limitations in children born preterm

Only sparse information is available about a possible association between antenatal infection outside the brain and subsequent cognitive limitations among preterm infants. Based on published studies, we provide a theoretical schema that links them via the fetal inflammatory response and neonatal white matter damage. We conclude that the relationship between antenatal infection and cognitive limitations deserves much further attention by researchers interested in the prevention of this undesirable outcome of prematurity.     

Cone contributions to colour constancy

Colour constancy refers to the stable perception of object colour under changing illumination conditions. This problem has been reformulated as relational colour constancy, or the ability of the observer to discriminate between material changes and changes in illumination. It has been suggested that local cone excitation ratios play a prominent role in achieving such constancy. Here we show that perceptual colour constancy measured by achromatic adjustments is to a large part complete after 25 ms. This speaks against a prominent role for receptor adaptation, which takes significantly longer. We also found no difference in colour constancy between colour changes that were compatible with a change of illuminant, and between colour changes where local cone ratios were uncorrelated between the two illuminants. Our results show that constant cone ratios are not necessary for colour constancy.     

Caring for the stories that come to us: work narratives and their sacred promise

People often lack opportunity and place to reflect upon and share the sacred moments that occur in their work. Thus, these experiences are marginalized and neglected. Yet, they embody the soul of one's vocation. Drawing upon material from narrative family therapy, this article suggests that attending to and remembering these core but marginalized experiences is an activity for pastoral care. Narratives integrate spirituality and work. The article discusses the structure of narrative, its life cycle, and living in a universe composed of many stories. It explains a storytelling ritual that creates a safe place among the listeners who can then receive the narrative's sacredness. Two extended examples of sacred work narratives are given. A task for pastoral care is to construct hospitable places, sanctuaries, to hear the voice of these marginalized stories.     

Pauses and durations exhibit a serial position effect

This article reports evidence of two kinds of serial position effects in immediate serial recall: One involves interresponse pauses, and the other response durations. In forward and backward recall, responding was faster at initial and final positions than at center positions, exhibiting a bow-shaped function relative to serial position. These data were obtained in a spoken recall study in which ungrouped lists of four to six words and postcuing of recall direction were used. The pause pattern is consistent with several models of serial memory, including a distinctiveness model (Brown, Neath, & Chater, 2002) and a version of the ACT—R model augmented with a spontaneous grouping strategy (Maybery, Parmentier, & Jones, 2002). The duration pattern suggests that response articulation depends on the processing context, rather than being modular.     

Priming of semantic classifications: Late and response related,or earlier and more central?

Priming of semantic classifications may occur because of response-related priming or because of priming at a more central locus. To separate these two possibilities, we randomly intermixed adjectives and first names, using a response window procedure. Participants decided whether the adjectives were positively or negatively valenced and whether the names were male or female. Each of these kinds of targets was preceded by adjective or name primes associated with responses that either matched or mismatched the correct response to the target. Results showed that priming of semantic classification involves two components: a major response-related one, modulated by prime visibility and prime—target repetition, and a smaller component with a more central locus that is less susceptible to context effects.     

Putting the partner within reach: a dyadic perspective on felt security in close relationships

The authors argue that felt insecurity in a partner's positive regard and caring stems from a specifically dyadic perception--the perception that a partner is out of one's league. A cross-sectional sample of dating couples revealed that people with low self-esteem feel inferior to their partner and that such feelings of relative inferiority undermine felt security in the partner's regard. Three experiments examined the consequences of reducing such perceived discrepancies by pointing to either strengths in the self or flaws in the partner. Low, but not high, self-esteem participants reacted to new strengths in the self or faults in the partner by reporting greater felt security in their specific partner's positive regard and commitment and more positive, general feelings about their own interpersonal worth. Thus, putting the partner more within the psychological grasp of low self-esteem people may effectively increase felt security in the partner's regard.