Crowded and sparse domains in object recognition: consequences for categorization and naming

Some models of object recognition propose that items from structurally crowded categories (e.g., living things) permit faster access to superordinate semantic information than structurally dissimilar categories (e.g., nonliving things), but slower access to individual object information when naming items. We present four experiments that utilize the same matched stimuli: two examine superordinate categorization and two examine picture naming. Experiments 1 and 2 required participants to sort pictures into their appropriate superordinate categories and both revealed faster categorization for living than nonliving things. Nonetheless, the living thing superiority disappeared when the atypical categories of body parts and musical instruments were excluded. Experiment 3 examined naming latency and found no difference between living and nonliving things. This finding was replicated in Experiment 4 where the same items were presented in different formats (e.g., color and line-drawn versions). Taken as a whole, these experiments show that the ease with which people categorize items maps strongly onto the ease with which they name them.     

Motivated decision making: effects of activation and self-centrality of values on choices and behavior

Six studies examined the value-behavior relation and focused on motivational properties of values, the self, and value activation. Priming environmental values enhanced attention to and the weight of information related to those values, which resulted in environmentally friendly consumer choices. This only occurred if these values were central to the self-concept. Value-congruent choices were also found in response to countervalue behavior in an unrelated context. Donating behavior congruent with central altruistic values was found as a result of enhanced self-focus, thus demonstrating the importance of the self in the value-behavior relation. The external validity of the value-centrality measure and its distinction from attitudes were demonstrated in the prediction of voting. Values were thus found to give meaning to, energize, and regulate value-congruent behavior, but only if values were cognitively activated and central to the self.     

Using theory to evaluate personality and job-performance relations: a socioanalytic perspective

The authors used socioanalytic theory to understand individual differences in people's performance at work. Specifically, if predictors and criteria are aligned by using theory, then the meta-analytic validity of personality measures exceeds that of atheoretical approaches. As performance assessment moved from general to specific job criteria, all Big Five personality dimensions more precisely predicted relevant criterion variables, with estimated true validities of .43 (Emotional Stability), .35 (Extraversion-Ambition), .34 (Agreeableness), .36 (Conscientiousness), and .34 (Intellect-Openness to Experience).     

Experimental manipulation of prior experience: Effects on item and associative recognition

Frequency of exposure to very low- and high-frequency words was manipulated in a three-phase (familiarisation, study, and test) design. During familiarisation, words were presented with their definition (once, four times, or not presented). One week (Experiment 1) or one day (Experiment 2) later, participants studied a list of homogeneous pairs (i.e., pair members were matched on background and familiarisation frequency). Item and associative recognition of high- and very low-frequency words presented in intact, rearranged, old-new, or new-new pairs were tested in Experiment 1. Associative recognition of very low-frequency words was tested in Experiment 2. Results showed that prior familiarisation improved associative recognition of very low-frequency pairs, but had no effect on high-frequency pairs. The role of meaning in the formation of item-to-item and item-to-context associations and the implications for current models of memory are discussed.     

Impact of face masks on perceptions of black and white targets during the COVID-19 pandemic

Although the use of face masks was widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic, their impact on social perceptions is unclear. Notably, research that has investigated the influence of masks on personality attributions has focused on a small set of characteristics with a focus on predominantly White targets, and only few studies examining more diverse groups. Because the race of targets has been found to impact impression formation processes in significant ways, it is important to examine diverse racial targets along with a wider range of personality traits. The goal of the present research therefore was to explore how face masks impact a variety of trait attributions for both White and Black targets. Our results indicate that masking faces has positive implications (i.e., more trustworthy, warm, competent, and less threatening) for White but not Black targets. Notably, both White and Black targets with masks compared to without masks were perceived as more attractive, but the effect was smaller for Black targets. Because COVID-19 continues to be a public health emergency of international concern, with infections and deaths occurring around the world and with mask mandates still being implemented in a variety of contexts, knowing how people differentially respond to targets of different races wearing masks remains relevant and important.     

Eros as the Educational Principle of Democracy

This paper explores the value of the eros motif for critical pedagogy and citizenship education. The conceptual affinities between eros and democracy are identified and integrated into a theory of democratic political education. Long recognized as vital to the process of self knowledge, the ancient Greek concept of eros has nevertheless been largely erased from contemporary educational debate. By retrieving eros from the fringe of academic discourse and integrating it with critical pedagogy, the aims of radical democracy can be more fully achieved. The essay emphasizes the civil society or cultural dimensions of democracy as against its legal or procedural aspects. Renewed emphasis on the associational qualities of democracy underscore the importance of eros as an educational principle. The ancient pedagogical motif of educating the desires is posited as an alternative to the liberal/modernist paradigm of education which de-values affective domains of knowledge.     

Innovations in Assessing ADHD: Development, Psychometric Properties, and Factor Structure of the ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale (ADHD-SRS)

This research involved the development of a behavior rating scale designed to measure ADHD and the investigation of the scale's psychometric properties and factor structure. This scale, the ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale (ADHD-SRS), was developed for the assessment of ADHD in the school-age (K–12) population. Participants were 1006 children and adolescents (in grades K–12) who were rated by their parents and/or teachers. The results indicate that the ADHD-SRS possesses strong internal consistency reliability and test–retest reliability and moderate cross-informant reliability. The data also suggest that the ADHD-SRS has strong content validity. Convergent validity of this instrument was also high, as demonstrated by correlations with three previously validated behavior rating scales. Significant age and gender differences in ADHD symptoms were found with both the parent and teacher respondent populations. Finally, the factor analysis of the ADHD-SRS suggested a two factor oblique rotation as the best fit for both the parent and the teacher data. After a visual inspection of the items which loaded on each factor, Factor 1 was named Hyperactive-Impulsive and Factor 2 was named Inattention. These two factors, along with the items which loaded on each factor, appear to be remarkably similar to the two categories listed in the DSM-IV for ADHD. Directions for future research, as well as clinical implications and limitations of the research are discussed.     

Predicting cognitive recovery from closed head-injury in children and adolescents

Longitudinal data from 84 head-injured children and adolescents, who were tested at three points in the first year postinjury, were analyzed to determine the best combination of demographic, injury-related, and behavioral factors predicting cognitive performance. Dependent variables were language, memory, visuomotor, and speeded performance factor scores obtained through confirmatory factor analyses of an extensive test battery. Multiple regression analyses indicated that injury severity and the existence of previous psychological, physical, or cognitive disorders were primary for predicting acute (1 month post-hospital discharge) performance for older subjects. For younger subjects, however, parental marital status was the most important correlate of acute cognitive performance. Those residing in homes with both parents fared better than children in one-parent families. At 6 months and 1 year postinjury, the older subjects who performed most poorly initially remained the most impaired. For younger children, acute cognitive standing was also an important predictor of later performance, but parental marital status remained a crucial influence on their longer-term recovery of cognitive skills.     

Transfer of negative occasion setting and conditioned inhibition across conditioned and unconditioned stimuli

The transfer of negative occasion setting and conditioned inhibition across conditioned stimuli (CSs) and unconditioned stimuli (USs) was examined in four experiments that used Pavlovian appetitive feature negative discrimination training procedures with rats. After training with simultaneous compounds (A+, XA-), X inhibited conditioned responding (CRs) elicited by other CSs and CRs supported by other appetitive USs that had not been involved in discrimination training. After training with serial compounds (A+, X----A-), X's power to set the occasion for nonresponding transferred across CSs and USs only if those events had also been involved in serial feature negative discrimination training. The results supported the suggestion that the acquisition of negative occasion setting involves the representation of individual events in a higher order memory system, separate from that involved in simple association, and that negative occasion setters act only on events that are represented in that system.