Fixation-dependent memory for natural scenes: an experimental test of scanpath theory

Many modern theories propose that perceptual information is represented by the sensorimotor activity elicited by the original stimulus. Scanpath theory (Noton & Stark, 1971) predicts that reinstating a sequence of eye fixations will help an observer recognize a previously seen image. However, the only studies to investigate this are correlational ones based on calculating scanpath similarity. We therefore describe a series of 5 experiments that constrain the fixations during encoding or recognition of images in order to manipulate scanpath similarity. Participants encoded a set of images and later had to recognize those that they had seen. They spontaneously selected regions that they had fixated during encoding (Experiment 1), and this was a predictor of recognition accuracy. Yoking the parts of the image available at recognition to the encoded scanpath led to better memory performance than randomly selected image regions (Experiment 2), and this could not be explained by the spatial distribution of locations (Experiment 3). However, there was no recognition advantage for re-viewing one's own fixations versus someone else's (Experiment 4) or for retaining their serial order (Experiment 5). Therefore, although it is beneficial to look at encoded regions, there is no evidence that scanpaths are stored or that scanpath recapitulation is functional in scene memory. This paradigm provides a controlled way of studying the integration of scene content, spatial structure, and oculomotor signals, with consequences for the perception, representation, and retrieval of visual information.     

Development of Recognition of Face Parts from Unfamiliar Faces

The present study examined developmental changes in the ability to recognize face parts. In Experiment 1, participants were familiarized with whole faces and given a recognition test with old and new eyes, noses, mouths, inner faces, outer faces, or whole faces. Adults were above chance in their recognition of the eye and mouth regions. However, children did not naturally encode and recognize face parts independently of the entire face. In addition, all age groups showed comparable inner and outer face recognition, except for 8‐ to 9‐year‐olds who showed a recognition advantage for outer faces. In Experiment 2, when participants were familiarized with eyes, noses, or mouths and tested with eyes, noses, or mouths, respectively, all ages showed above‐chance recognition of eyes and mouths. Thirteen‐ to 14‐year‐olds were adult‐like in their recognition of the eye region, but mouth recognition continued to develop beyond 14 years of age. Nose recognition was above chance among 13‐ to 14‐year‐olds, but recognition scores remained low even in adulthood. The present findings reveal unique developmental trajectories in the use of isolated facial regions in face recognition and suggest that featural cues (as a class) have a different ontogenetic course relative to holistic and configural cues. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Collected Stories: Play in Four Acts

This article evolved from a group process where members of a psychoanalytic institute were faced with planning workshops for a professional weekend around the theme of “play.” The workshop that evolved consisted of four vignettes of play taking place in the therapeutic sessions of a child, an adolescent, an adult, and an elderly woman. The discussion of these vignettes that began at the conference and then was developed for this article focuses on tracing the development of play from childhood into adulthood (Mayes & Cohen, 1996; Russ, 2004) and on the relationship between play and the development of reflective functioning (Fonagy & Target, 1996). One area of particular interest that was focused upon was the use of play with adults who are described as “concrete,” people who function, at times, at a level of differentiation more typical of a young child. Play is described as being particularly helpful in facilitating a more differentiated and, thus, more reflective mode of psychic functioning for this group of individuals as well as for people at all levels of development.     

The role of formal information sharing in key account team effectiveness: does informal control matter and when

Team selling is a useful approach for retaining strategically important accounts in business-to-business markets. For key account sales teams, ensuring adequate access to information about customer needs offers sustainable competitive advantages. However, the internal alignment of market information remains a recurring managerial issue in key account team selling. This study develops a moderated mediation model to identify management strategies that encourage team members' formal information sharing, which in turn improves team effectiveness. Analysis of a multilevel data set comprising 37 fluid key account teams reveals that customer orientation and task interdependence increase formal information sharing among team members. Managers' exercise of professional control strengthens the positive impact that formal information sharing has on team satisfaction. However, the practice has a dysfunctional influence on the positive effect of task interdependence on formal information sharing. Firms with key account management (KAM) programs must decide whether the marginal benefits attained by advocating such professional control outweigh the possible drawbacks.     

The Ecological Revolution: The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems, 50 Years Later - Part 2

ABSTRACT

This editorial presents the second of a 2-part special issue honoring the publication of James J. Gibson's 1966 book, The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems. As was pointed out by several reviews of this book written just after its publication (i.e., between 1967 and 1969), Gibson's 1966 book represents a revolution not only for the psychological science but also for domains beyond that of psychology. This second part of the special issue is composed of 5 theoretical contributions that represent, in addition to the 4 pieces previously published in the first part, the far-reaching influence of Gibson's ecological revolution.     

1966 and All That: James Gibson and Bottom-Down Theory

ABSTRACT

The “later” James Gibson is widely misrepresented as an extreme stimulus–response theorist. In fact, Gibson's 1966 book presents a radical alternative to stimulus–response theory. “Perceptual systems” are not passive and receptive but “organs of active attention” (1966/1968, p. 58). Perceivers “reach out” into the world. This commentary examines some of the implications of Gibson's systems-cum-functionalist-cum-ecological approach, including the relations between the senses; the concept of “sensationless” perception; and most fundamentally, the nature of perceptual systems as extending beyond the body. I conclude that an adequate understanding of perception cannot be limited to the already severely limited domain of psychology. If Gibson is right, “ecological psychology” is a contradiction in terms.     

Impact of retailer image on private brand attitude: Halo effect and summary construct

The purpose of this article is to examine the influence of retailer image on consumers' attitude towards private brand. More specifically, we evaluate two alternative perspectives of retailer image—the halo effect and the summary construct—and include a moderator variable, consumer familiarity with a retailer's private label products, to discern which of the two models has better explanatory power. The findings indicate that there are moderating effects of consumer familiarity with a retailer's private brands and product categories in determining the efficacy of each model. In private brand foods, high familiarity is related to the summary construct model, and low familiarity is associated with the halo effect model. In private brand clothing, however, low familiarity is related to the halo effect model, but high familiarity is associated with both the halo effect and the summary construct model. Managerial and future research implications are also provided.