Cue-based preparation and stimulus-based priming of tasks in task switching

In this study, we investigated the interaction of three different sources of task activation in precued task switching. We distinguished (1) intentional, cue-based task activation from two other, involuntary sources of activation: (2) persisting activation from the preceding task and (3) stimulus-based task activation elicited by the task stimulus itself. We assumed that cue-based task activation increases as a function of cue-stimulus interval (CSI) and that task activation from the preceding trial decays as a function of response-stimulus interval Stimulus-based task activation is thought to be due to involuntary retrieval of stimulus-associated tasks. We manipulated stimulus-based task activation by mapping each of the stimuli consistently to only one or the other of the two tasks. After practice, we reversed this mapping in order to test the effects of item-specific stimulus-task association. The mapping reversal resulted in increased reaction times and increased task shift costs. These stimulus-based priming effects were markedly reduced with a long CSI, relative to a short CSI, suggesting that stimulus-based priming shows up in performance principally when competition between tasks is high and that cue-based task activation reduces task competition. In contrast, lengthening the response-cue interval (decay time) reduced shift costs but did not reduce the stimulus-based priming effect The data are consistent with separable stimulus-related and response-related components of task activation. Further theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Effects of precuing horizontal and vertical dimensions on right—left prevalence

When stimuli and responses can be coded along horizontal and vertical dimensions simultaneously, a right-left prevalence effect is often obtained for which the advantage for a compatible mapping is larger on the horizontal dimension than on the vertical dimension. The present study investigated the role of preparatory processes in this right-left prevalence effect using a method in which the relevant dimension was cued at short and long intervals prior to presentation of the target stimulus. In three experiments, the right-left prevalence effect did not vary significantly in magnitude as a function of cue-target interval, suggesting that the effect is due primarily to relative salience of the horizontal and vertical codes, as determined by the task structure, and not to a greater ease of attending to the horizontal dimension.     

Self-monitoring,need for cognition,and the Stroop effect: a preliminary study

The color-word Stroop task requires an individual to ignore one piece of information (word) while responding to another (color). Since self-monitors are good at adapting their responses to fit a situation and those high in need for cognition carefully think through information before responding, this study explored the relationship between self-monitoring and need for cognition using Stroop interference. It was anticipated that self-monitoring would reduce Stroop interference, while need for cognition would increase Stroop interference. 23 General Psychology students (10 men, 13 women, M(age) = 18.8 yr.) participated. Participants were given the Self-monitoring Scale, the Need for Cognition Scale, and the Stroop Color-Word Test. Analysis indicated that Need for Cognition was not correlated with Stroop interference (r = .31) but higher scores on Self-monitoring were correlated with lower Stroop interference (r = .43). Implications for research are suggested.     

Attentional enhancement opposite a peripheral flash revealed using change blindness

We describe a new method for mapping spatial attentionthat reveals a pooling of attention in the hemifield opposite a peripheralflash. Our method exploits the fact that a brief full-field blank caninterfere with the detection of changes in a scene that occur during theblank. Attending to the location of a change, however, can overcome thischange blindness, so that changes are detected. The likelihood of detecting anew element in a scene therefore provides a measure of the occurrence ofattention at that element's location. Using this measure, we mappedhow attention changes in response to a task-irrelevant peripheral cue. Underconditions of visual fixation, change detection was above chance across theentire visual area tested. In addition, a "hot spot" ofattention (corresponding to near-perfect change detection) elongated alongthe cue-fixation axis, such that performance improved not only at the cuedlocation but also in the opposite hemifield.     

Disability or end-of-life? Competing narratives in bioethics

Bioethics, and indeed much ethicalwriting generally, makes its point throughnarratives. The religious parable no less thanthe medical teaching case uses a simple storyto describe appropriate action or theapplication of a critical principle. Whilepowerful, the telling story has limits. In thispaper the authors describe a simple teachingcase on ``end-of-life' decision making that wasill received by its audience. The authors ill-receivedexample, involving the disconnection ofventilation in a patient with ALS (Lou Gherig'sDisease) was critiqued by audience members withlong-term experience as ventilation users. Inthis case, the supposedly simple narrative ofthe presenters conflicted with the lifehistories of the audience. The lessons of thisstory, and the conflict that resulted, speakcritically to the limits of simple teachingcases as well as the strengths of narrativeanalysis as a tool for the exploration ofbioethical case histories. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Being forgiven: toward a thicker description of forgiveness

The author describes the less frequently examined process of seeking forgiveness from others. Examples from the seminary classroom are used to describe the process. The examination of the seeking forgiveness process provides insight into the whole construct of forgiveness.     

The 'hard problem' and the quantum physicists. Part 1: the first generation

All four of the most important figures in the early twentieth-century development of quantum physics-Niels Bohr, Erwin Schroedinger, Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli-had strong interests in the traditional mind-brain, or 'hard,' problem. This paper reviews their approach to this problem, showing the influence of Bohr's complementarity thesis, the significance of Schroedinger's small book, 'What is life?,' the updated Platonism of Heisenberg and, perhaps most interesting of all, the interaction of Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli in the latter's search for a unification of mind and matter.     

Health, wealth, and happiness: financial resources buffer subjective well-being after the onset of a disability

We examined the hypothesis that the relationship between financial status and subjective well-being, typically found to be very small in cross-sectional studies, is moderated by health status. Specifically, we predicted that wealth would buffer well-being after the onset of a disability. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal study of people at and approaching retirement age, we employed within-subjects analyses to test whether wealth measured prior to the onset of a disability protected participants' well-being from some of the negative effects of a new disability. We found support for this hypothesis: Participants who were above the median in total net worth reported a much smaller decline in well-being after a new disability than did participants who were below the median. We also found some evidence that the buffering effect of wealth faded with time, as below-median participants recovered some of their well-being.     

Sex-specific finger-length patterns linked to behavioral variables: consistency across various human populations

In humans, as in nonhuman primates, the digits of the hands are similar in length during early fetal development. Subsequently, differentiation leads to a patter of unequal finger lengths, described by George as the finger-length pattern. Recent work by Manning and colleagues suggested that digit length patterns are due to early influences of sex hormones. Most importantly for psychology, such patterns might also relate to cognitive activities that are influenced by early organizing actions of sex hormones. The exciting possibility of having an easily measurable indicator of early action of sex hormones that relates to behavior led us to examine the universality of digit length patterns. With samples from Brazil, Canada, India, Turkey, and Korea, we showed that patterns of distal extent of finger tips are similar across different human populations. Consistent sex differences were found across the samples, showing that the index finger in males extends less far distally relative to the middle finger than is the case for females and that the difference in distal extent between index and ring fingers, relative to the middle finger, is smaller in females than in males.     

Object-recognition tasks: comparing paper versions to computerized laboratory methods

This study attempts to generalize Biederman's 1987 findings regarding Recognition by Components theory, which were obtained using a computer administered object-recognition task, to an analog or paper task that is consistent with typical assessment or testing procedures. Three versions of an object-recognition task were developed after the Structure of Intellect-Learning Abilities Test by Meeker, Meeker, and Roid. One version contained randomly fragmented objects, one contained objects with vertices present, and the third contained objects with midsegments. 30 participants were administered each of the three versions in a counterbalanced order. The results are consistent with those of Biederman. Objects with missing vertices were more difficult to recognize than objects with missing midsegments. There was no difference between randomly fragmented objects and those with vertices present. Implications for object-recognition research and test-item development are discussed. In particular, it is suggested that perceptual theories should be used in developing test items to gain greater control in creating items of appropriate difficulty and to increase the validity of the overall instrument.