The Impact and Status of Carol Fowler's Supramodal Theory of Multisensory Speech Perception

ABSTRACT

One important contribution of Carol Fowler's direct approach to speech perception is its account of multisensory perception. This supramodal account proposes a speech function that detects supramodal information available across audition, vision, and touch. This detection allows for the recovery of articulatory primitives that provide the basis of a common currency shared between modalities as well as between perception and production. Common currency allows for perceptual experience to be shared between modalities and supports perceptually guided speaking as well as production-guided perception. In this report, we discuss the contribution and status of the supramodal approach relative to recent research in multisensory speech perception. We argue that the approach has helped motivate a multisensory revolution in perceptual psychology. We then review the new behavioral and neurophysiological research on (a) supramodal information, (b) cross-sensory sharing of experience, and (c) perceptually guided speaking as well as production guided speech perception. We conclude that Fowler's supramodal theory has fared quite well in light of this research.     

Understanding Young Adults’ Reports of Contact with their Parents in a Digital World: Psychological and Familial Relationship Factors

Continued involvement of parents in the lives of young adults is a topic of great interest to both scholars and the lay public. Although young adults’ astounding use of cell phones, texting, video chat, and social media in negotiating their social relationships is well documented, few studies have examined the role of different types of communications technology in facilitating young adults’ involvement with their parents. Researchers have begun to examine familial and psychological correlates of parental involvement for college students, but existing studies offer mixed results. The present study examined college students’ reports of frequency of contact with parents using different types of communications technology and examined familial relationship and individual well-being factors associated with young adults’ reports of frequent parental contact. College students (N = 326) completed measures of frequency of contact with mothers and fathers using seven types of communications technology, the quality of family relationships (felt obligation towards parents and family satisfaction) and individual well-being (self-esteem, depressed mood, and general psychological well-being). Phone calls and texting were the two most popular methods of parental contact reported by college students. Level of self-reported contact with parents was not significantly related to participants’ reports of self-esteem, depressed mood, or general well-being. Results of multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that higher levels of felt obligation and family satisfaction meaningfully distinguished between young adults who reported frequent and infrequent parental contact. Our results indicate the importance of understanding young adults’ reports of parental contact within the context of ongoing family relationships.     

Posttraumatic Growth After Motor Vehicle Crashes

The relationship between sub-dimensions of posttraumatic growth (PTG) and distress was investigated for survivors of motor vehicle crashes (MVC). PTG and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for 1045 MVC survivors who attended the Accident and Emergency Services were examined with the Chinese versions of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised 1 week after the experience of a MVC. A factor structure, which was different from both the original English version of the PTGI and the Chinese version of PTGI for cancer survivors, was identified. Factors extracted were: (1) Life and Self Appreciation; (2) New Commitments; (3) Enlightenment; and (4) Relating to Others. However, correlation analyses indicated a functional similarity between factors from this study and those from previous studies. Relations between PTG sub-dimensions and PTSD symptoms were identified. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analysis and structural equation modeling show that there were different predictors for different PTG sub-dimensions. Findings suggest that different modes of relationship between PTSD symptoms and PTG sub-dimensions may co-exist.     

Serving first for the benefit of others: preliminary evidence for a hierarchical conceptualization of servant leadership

In this paper, we examine servant leadership as a promising leadership style for today's dynamic sales environments. Conceptual and empirical literature points to servant leadership's strong potential in facilitating benefits to salespeople and the organization. Yet that same literature evidences a problematic lack of consensus regarding components that distinctly reflect servant leadership. Existing conceptualizations include dimensions like humility and providing direction, which clearly overlap with various other leadership styles. In this paper, we first consider unique distinctives of servant leadership. We then propose an extension of the augmentation hypothesis from the transactional and transformational leadership literature. Specifically, we posit that servant leadership distinctives are hierarchically built on transformational characteristics, which themselves are built on transactional characteristics. Using secondary data from a sample of professional salespeople, we apply Guttman scaling and show this hierarchical conceptualization to be empirically tenable. We demonstrate that sales leadership at higher levels on the hierarchy produces incremental gains in salesperson satisfaction, salesperson performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, and corporate social responsibility. We confirm our findings in a validation sample and demonstrate an additional relationship with customer-directed extra-role behaviors. Our results imply that sales organizations can reap enhanced multi-faceted benefits through higher levels of servant leadership.     

Individual differences and correlates of highly superior autobiographical memory

Highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM) is a recently identified ability that has been difficult to explain with existing memory science. The present study measured HSAM participants’ and age/gender-matched controls’ on a number of behavioural measures to test three main hypotheses: imaginative absorption, emotional arousal, and sleep. HSAM participants were significantly higher than controls on the dispositions absorption and fantasy proneness. These two dispositions also were associated with a measure of HSAM ability within the hyperthymesia participants. The emotional-arousal hypothesis yielded only weak support. The sleep hypothesis was not supported in terms of quantity, but sleep quality may be a small factor worthy of further research. Other individual differences are also documented using a predominantly exploratory analysis. Speculative pathways describing how the tendencies to absorb and fantasise could lead to enhanced autobiographical memory are discussed.     

Crashing Memory 2.0: False Memories in Adults for an Upsetting Childhood Event

Previous crashing memory studies have shown that adults can be led to believe they witnessed video footage of news events for which no video footage actually exists. The current study is the first to investigate adults' tendency to report memories of viewing footage that took place when they were children: the plane crash in Pennsylvania on 11 September 2001. We found that in a computer questionnaire, 33% indicated a false memory with at least one false detail. In a more detailed face‐to‐face interview, only 13% of the group described a detailed false memory. Familiarity with the news story, fantasy proneness, alcohol use, and frequency of negative emotions after 9/11 were all associated with a Persistent False Memory. Participants who had received prior suggestion were more likely to later report false memories in the subsequent interview. We discuss our novel results and the importance of the paradigm.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Historical Hostility in the African American Client: Implications for Counseling

“Historical hostility” may function as a psychological factor in the lives of African Americans in the United States. Historical hostility is a pattern of responses that many African Americans exhibit, which may stem from their prolonged subjection to inferior treatment in American society. Strategies for addressing historical hostility in African Americans are provided.