Does degree of asymmetry relate to performance? An investigation of word recognition and reading in consistent and mixed handers

Is it advantageous to be strongly lateralized? The current study investigated this question by examining the relationship between visual field asymmetries for lexical tasks and reading performance in a sample of 200 young adults. Larger visual field asymmetries were associated with better reading performance, but this relationship was obtained primarily in those with strong and consistent hand preferences. Among mixed handers, variation in visual field asymmetry accounted for little or no variance in reading skill. In addition, correlations between visual field asymmetry and reading performance were observed for word recognition tasks, but not for tasks requiring controlled semantic retrieval. The results are consistent with the idea that consistent and mixed handers may represent differing neurobehavioral populations. Because greater lateralization was associated with better reading skill only for consistent handers, reduced behavioral asymmetry cannot be assumed to be a risk factor for reading dysfunction in the population as a whole.     

Comments on “Getting scarred and winning lotteries: Effects of exemplar cuing and statistical format on imagining low‐probability events,” By Newell,Mitchell, and Hayes (2008)

Newell, Mitchell, and Hayes (NMH) conduct three experiments designed to test whether exemplar cuing (EC) theory or a statistical format theory provides a more accurate account for how people make judgments about low‐probability events. They report finding support for the statistical format theory and little or no support for EC. However, NMH misstate the requirements for the production of exemplars in EC theory. As a result, they confuse non‐exemplar conditions with exemplar conditions in their experiments, and find results that are virtually irrelevant to EC theory. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hiding and finding: The relationship between visual concealment and visual search

As an initial step toward developing a theory of visual concealment, we assessed whether people would use factors known to influence visual search difficulty when the degree of concealment of objects among distractors was varied. In Experiment 1, participants arranged search objects (shapes, emotional faces, and graphemes) to create displays in which the targets were in plain sight but were either easy or hard to find. Analyses of easy and hard displays created during Experiment 1 revealed that the participants reliably used factors known to influence search difficulty (e.g., eccentricity, target—distractor similarity, presence/absence of a feature) to vary the difficulty of search across displays. In Experiment 2, a new participant group searched for the targets in the displays created by the participants in Experiment 1. Results indicated that search was more difficult in the hard than in the easy condition. In Experiments 3 and 4, participants used presence versus absence of a feature to vary search difficulty with several novel stimulus sets. Taken together, the results reveal a close link between the factors that govern concealment and the factors known to influence search difficulty, suggesting that a visual search theory can be extended to form the basis of a theory of visual concealment.     

Inhibitory tagging in an interrupted visual search

Inhibition of return facilitates visual search, biasing attention away from previously examined locations. Prior research has shown that, as a result of inhibitory tags associated with rejected distractor items, observers are slower to detect small probes presented at these tagged locations than they are to detect probes presented at locations that were unoccupied during visual search, but only when the search stimuli remain visible during the probe-detection task. Using an interrupted visual search task, in which search displays alternated with blank displays, we found that inhibitory tagging occurred in the absence of the search array when probes were presented during these blank displays. Furthermore, by manipulating participants’ attentional set, we showed that these inhibitory tags were associated only with items that the participants actively searched. Finally, by probing before the search was completed, we also showed that, early in search, processing at distractor locations was actually facilitated, and only as the search progressed did evidence for inhibitory tagging arise at those locations. These results suggest that the context of a visual search determines the presence or absence of inhibitory tagging, as well as demonstrating for the first time the temporal dynamics of location prioritization while search is ongoing.     

The Rolling 50s (and More): Cars and Life Satisfaction Among Seniors Across Europe

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Cars represent a valuable real asset that most individuals use on a daily basis. Although cars are a form of material prosperity like income and other forms of...     

Exploring numerical proportions in a unique context: The group support systems meeting environment

This paper reports the results of a study examining issues of group gender composition in a meeting setting employing group support systems (GSS). Research examining the effects of numerical proportions on group behavior has traditionally been conducted in settings where use of technology by groups is minimal. This research, however, examines the impact of varying group gender composition on brainstorming, social interaction patterns, and attitudes when technology is employed to facilitate and structure group process. In this setting, we find no gender-related differences in computer-based brainstorming. In the accompanying oral discussions, however, males display a higher proportion of task-related answers than females and uniform groups express more maintenance behavior than groups consisting of mixed genders. Our findings also show that uniform gender groups perceive greater participation in the decision process than skewed groups. Despite these gender-related differences, we found relatively little support for Kanter's Numerical Proportions Model in a GSS setting, given the range of measures explored in this study.     

Assessing Person-Organization Fit in Personnel Selection: Guidelines for Future Research

In response to theory and research suggesting that positive individual and organizational outcomes are associated with person-organization fit, there is growing interest in the use of personnel selection practices to achieve fit between individuals and organizations. Research is needed to confirm the value of assessing applicant-organization fit in the selection process and to test alternative approaches for measuring the match between applicants and organizations. This article provides guidance for future research on the assessment of applicant-organization fit. Criteria for assessing applicant-organization fit are indentified and four techniques for assessing fit are then evaluated in the light of these criteria. In addition, the article identifies issues that should be addressed in future research on applicant-organization fit.