Visual field asymmetries and allocation of attention in visual scenes

Single items such as objects, letters or words are often presented in the right or left visual field to examine hemispheric differences in cognitive processing. However, in everyday life, such items appear within a visual context or scene that affects how they are represented and selected for attention. Here we examine processing asymmetries for a visual target within a frame of other elements (scene). We are especially interested in whether the allocation of visual attention affects the asymmetries, and in whether attention-related asymmetries occur in scenes oriented out of alignment with the viewer. In Experiment 1, visual field asymmetries were affected by the validity of a spatial precue in an upright frame. In Experiment 2, the same pattern of asymmetries occurred within frames rotated 90 degrees on the screen. In Experiment 3, additional sources of the spatial asymmetries were explored. We conclude that several left/right processing asymmetries, including some associated with the deployment of spatial attention, can be organized within scenes, in the absence of differential direct access to the two hemispheres.     

Recognizing the un-real McCoy: priming and the modularity of face recognition

Fodor (1983) has proposed that face perception is carried out by an informationally encapsulated module, whose operation is unaffected by context or expectancies. We tested the modularity hypothesis by examining whether discriminations between normal and distorted versions of famous faces can be primed, either by the name of an associated person (semantic context) or by a valid cue as to the identity of the target face (expectancy). A preliminary experiment showed that, in the absence of priming, discriminations between normal and distorted versions of a face were unaffected by whether the target faces were familiar or not, confirming that these judgments tap perceptual, not postperceptual (semantic), coding processes. In Experiment 1, accuracy was significantly higher when target face pairs were preceded by related name primes, as compared with unrelated ones. In Experiment 2, reaction times were significantly faster for targets preceded by a valid identity cue than for targets preceded by an invalid one. Neither effect could be explained as a speed—accuracy tradeoff. These results fail to support Fodor’s conjecture that face processing is encapsulated.     

Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations

In 7 studies, the authors examined the link between emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. In Studies 1 and 2, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for empathic perspective taking and self-monitoring in social situations. In Study 3, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for social skills. In Study 4, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence displayed more cooperative responses toward partners. In Study 5, the participants with higher scores for emotional intelligence had higher scores for close and affectionate relationships. In Study 6, the participants' scores for marital satisfaction were higher when they rated their marital partners higher for emotional intelligence. In Study 7, the participants anticipated greater satisfaction in relationships with partners described as having emotional intelligence.     

Predicting memory benefits in the production effect: the use and misuse of self-generated distinctive cues when making judgments of learning

The production effect occurs when reading a word aloud leads to better memory for the item, relative to words that are read silently. In the present study, we assessed the degree to which judgments of learning (JOLs) are sensitive to the production effect, to determine whether people are aware of how distinctive cues can enhance memory. If the act of saying a word aloud is used as a cue for later memorability, then JOLs should be sensitive to production. Experiment 1 demonstrated that this was the case, as participants provided higher JOLs for produced items than for those read silently. This pattern of JOLs was also evident when participants silently mouthed words (Exp. 2). In Experiment 3, participants instead made a nonunique response as the production component (saying “yes” instead of the word itself). JOLs were still higher under production, although memory performance did not differ from that in a silent condition. The results suggest that the presence of both specific and nonspecific self-generated cues is used to make metacognitive judgments, likely due to the high accessibility of this information, but that participants are not precisely aware of how distinctiveness enhances encoding and retrieval. Such findings have implications for how distinctiveness is perceived by learners and for what cues would appropriately be incorporated when predicting future memory performance.     

Emptiness,Engulfment, and Life Struggle: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Chronic Depression

This article explores participants’ experience of what it is like to suffer depression, endured for years. Four women and three men, who each reported a minimum of four years’ of depression, were interviewed and themes were generated using interpretative phenomenological analysis. A first complex theme is depths of emptiness, which encompasses decline of will, disconnection from others, empty future, and numbing of the self. A second theme, episodic despairing engulfment, describes agonizing feelings and thoughts, a sense and conviction that one’s world and self are being destroyed, a growing belief that there is no escape, and sometimes ideas of suicide. The third theme, the struggle of unending life problems, describes a perceived timeline of struggle and difficulties, and terrible feelings and emotions. Five of the participants engaged in extreme negative thoughts and narrations about themselves, whereas two focused specifically on loss and threatening present situations. We conclude that chronic depression involves the experience of emptiness, but also a repeated experience of the destruction of self, connection to the world, and deepest hopes. In chronic depression there are negative thoughts and feelings, yet crucially, it also involves alterations in motivation, in particular a process in which aims, cares, and concerns that form important parts of the person’s life are repeatedly thwarted or destroyed. In extreme occurrences, the phenomenological self seems to be passing out of existence.     

Qualitative elicitation of affective beliefs related to physical activity

ObjectivesBased on previous research that has identified affective attitude as a distinct predictor of physical activity (PA) behavior, the purpose of this pilot study was to elicit affective beliefs toward physical activity using qualitative data generated through specific open-ended questions.MethodsA sample of 126 undergraduate students participated in this study. Four open-ended questions based on the theory of planned behavior were posed to elicit affective beliefs. A content analysis was used to categorize and code data by theme based on common responses that emerged in the elicitation. A frequency count of the responses falling into each category was then conducted to establish which affective beliefs were the most common. The themes were established by two researchers and reviewed for internal homogeneity and external heterogeneity by a third party.ResultsThe results highlight key beliefs related to affective attitude. In descending rank order; Social Involvement, Pleasant Body States, Esteem, Improved Psychological Outcome, and General Enjoyment were the most common affective beliefs for PA involvement. Feelings arising from Time Issues/Conflict, Physical Unpleasantness, PA Environment, and Necessity/Obligation were the most common negative affective beliefs.ConclusionsThe results suggest that promoting enjoyment rather than necessity of PA and encouraging variety in PA may be effective. Addressing the importance of aesthetically pleasing environments and highlighting social interaction as a strategy rather than merely a norm or a form of support in behavioral research may be important.     

Deepening the measurement of motivation in the physical activity domain: Introducing behavioural resolve

ObjectivesIntention is theorized as the proximal determinant of behaviour in many leading theories and yet tests of its absolute predictive utility show discordance. While one line of research has been investigating constructs that may augment intention, another possibility may be to improve measurement. The purpose of this study was to compare a typical measure of exercise intention with a measure that attempts to deepen the motivational domain via considerations of contextual barriers and other competing goals (named behavioural resolve).DesignTwo-week prospective.MethodParticipants were a random sample of university students who were subsequently randomized to groups who completed either measures of behavioural intention (n = 179) and behavioural resolve (n = 227) in relation to exercise and a 2-week follow-up of exercise behaviour.ResultsComparing the two measures showed that the behavioural resolve construct explained significantly more variance in exercise behaviour than the standard intention construct (q = .35). Further comparison of the two measures showed that absolute discordance with subsequent exercise behaviour was considerably lower with behavioural resolve (mean = ?.09) compared to behavioural intention (mean = ?1.28).ConclusionsThese findings indicate that at least some of the intention–behaviour gap may be from inadequate measurement of the motivational domain, and this can be partially rectified with shifting to a behavioural resolve measure.     

Developmental Changes in the Consideration of Sample Diversity in Inductive Reasoning

Determining whether a sample provides a good basis for broader generalizations is a basic challenge of inductive reasoning. Adults apply a diversity-based strategy to this challenge, expecting diverse samples to be a better basis for generalization than homogeneous samples. For example, adults expect that a property shared by two diverse mammals (e.g., a lion and a mouse) is more likely to be shared by all mammals than a property that is shared by two more similar mammals (e.g., a lion and a tiger). Across four studies, we document a developmental progression in children's understanding that diverse samples provide a strong basis for generalizations, such that young children (grade 1) consistently failed to consider sample diversity within their inductive reasoning, but older children (grade 5) preferred to create diverse samples on which to base inferences about basic-level categories. These results suggest that recognizing the value of a diverse sample for inductive reasoning emerges slowly across the elementary school years.     

BootES: An R package for bootstrap confidence intervals on effect sizes

Bootstrap Effect Sizes (bootES; Gerlanc & Kirby, 2012) is a free, open-source software package for R (R Development Core Team, 2012), which is a language and environment for statistical computing. BootES computes both unstandardized and standardized effect sizes (such as Cohen’s d, Hedges’s g, and Pearson’s r) and makes easily available for the first time the computation of their bootstrap confidence intervals (CIs). In this article, we illustrate how to use bootES to find effect sizes for contrasts in between-subjects, within-subjects, and mixed factorial designs and to find bootstrap CIs for correlations and differences between correlations. An appendix gives a brief introduction to R that will allow readers to use bootES without having prior knowledge of R.