Is the face-perception system human-specific at birth?

The present study investigates the human-specificity of the orienting system that allows neonates to look preferentially at faces. Three experiments were carried out to determine whether the face-perception system that is present at birth is broad enough to include both human and nonhuman primate faces. The results demonstrate that the newborns did not show any spontaneous visual preference for the human face when presented simultaneously with a monkey face that shared the same features, configuration, and low-level perceptual properties (Experiment 1). The newborns were, however, able to discriminate between the 2 faces belonging to the 2 different species (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, the newborns were found to prefer looking at an upright, compared with an inverted, monkey face, as they do for human faces. Overall, the results demonstrate that newborns perceive monkey and human faces in a similar way. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the system underlying face preference at birth is broad enough to bias newborns' attention toward both human and nonhuman primate faces.     

Motivated social categorization: fundamental motives enhance people's sensitivity to basic social categories

This article presents an evolutionary framework for identifying the characteristics people use to categorize members of their social world. Findings suggest that fundamental social motives lead people to implicitly categorize social targets based on whether those targets display goal-relevant phenotypic traits. A mate-search prime caused participants to categorize opposite-sex targets (but not same-sex targets) based on their level of physical attractiveness (Experiment 1). A mate-guarding prime interacted with relationship investment, causing participants to categorize same-sex targets (but not opposite-sex targets) based on their physical attractiveness (Experiment 2). A self-protection prime interacted with chronic beliefs about danger, increasing participants' tendency to categorize targets based on their racial group membership (Black or White; Experiment 3). This work demonstrates that people categorize others based on whether they display goal-relevant characteristics reflecting high levels of perceived desirability or threat. Social categorization is guided by fundamental evolved motives designed to enhance adaptive social outcomes.     

Attunement to haptic information helps skilled performers select implements for striking a ball in cricket

This study examined the perceptual attunement of relatively skilled individuals to the physical properties of striking implements in the sport of cricket. We also sought to assess whether utilizing bats with different physical properties would influence performance of a specific striking action: the front foot straight drive. Eleven skilled male cricketers (mean age = 16.6 ± 0.3 years) from an elite school cricket development program consented to participate in the study. While blindfolded, participants wielded six bats exhibiting different mass and moment of inertia (MOI) characteristics and were asked to identify the three bats they preferred the most for hitting a ball to a maximum distance by performing a front foot straight drive (a common shot in cricket). Next, participants actually attempted to hit balls projected from a ball machine using each of the six bat configurations to enable kinematic analysis of front foot straight drive performance with each implement. Results revealed that, on first choice, the two bats with the smallest mass and MOI values (1 and 2) were most preferred by almost two thirds (63.7 %) of the participants. Kinematic analysis of movement patterns revealed that bat velocity, step length, and bat–ball contact position measures significantly differed between bats. Data revealed how skilled youth cricketers were attuned to the different bat characteristics and harnessed movement system degeneracy to perform this complex interceptive action.     

Mental disorders and communication of intent to die in indigenous suicide cases, Queensland, Australia

In comparing Indigenous to non-Indigenous suicide in Australia, this study focussed on the frequency of the association between some psychiatric conditions, such as depression and alcohol abuse, and some aspect of suicidality, in particular communication of suicide intent. Logistic regression was implemented to analyze cases of Indigenous (n = 471) versus non-Indigenous suicides (n = 6,655), using the Queensland Suicide Register as a data source. Compared to non-Indigenous suicides, Indigenous cases had lower odds of being diagnosed with unipolar depression, seeking treatment for psychiatric conditions or leaving a suicide note. Indigenous suicides had greater odds of verbally communicating suicide intent and having a history of alcohol and substance use. The magnitude of these differences is remarkable, underscoring the need for culturally sensitive suicide prevention efforts.     

Information processing and aspects of visual attention in children with the DSM-III-R diagnosis “pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified” (PDDNOS): II. sustained attention

A group of 15 nonhyperactive children of normal intelligence with the DSM-III-R diagnosis “pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified” (PDDNOS) performed a sustained attention task. Adopting a cognitive-energetical linear stage model of human information processing, we investigated whether task performances deteriorated due to a diminishing level of arousal, activation, or by the active ‘effortful’ mode of information processing. In comparison to an age-matched group of normal children, the patients showed no sharper decrease in perceptual sensitivity (d'). D' is assumed to be a measure of arousal. However, the children with PDDNOS exhibited large fluctuations in their response bias beta (β), which is assumed to be a measure of activation. During the first part of the task, they shifted between under- and overestimating negative responses. In the latter part of the task this pattern altered to significantly overestimating the number of negative responses. This indicates that the patients were not able to appropriately tune to the task-inherent response probability. Moreover, as compared to the control children, the patients showed a significantly sharper decrease in hit rate with time on task, despite the fact that feedback was given on the errors. The findings are interpreted as an increasing loss of the ability to control the response bias due to difficulties in maintaining the voluntary effortful mode of processing information with prolonged time on task.     

Interacting Constraints and the Emergence of Postural Behavior in ACL-Deficient Subjects

In this study, the authors examined how task, informational, and sensorimotor system constraints influence postural control. Postural behavior of subjects with (n = 15) and without (n = 15) a key sensorimotor system constraint, anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs) in 1 knee, was examined during 1 - and 2-legged stance with and without vision. Postural control was assessed on a commonly used postural sway meter and on a dynamic stabilometer. Data on postural sway characteristics were obtained for 30 s under 6 different conditions: standing, with eyes open and closed, on both legs, on the injured leg, and on the noninjured leg. The interaction of task, informational, and sensorimotor constraints was observed only on the dynamic stabilometer and not the postural sway meter. Vision was the most important informational constraint on postural control for subjects on the dynamic stabilometer, particularly for the ACL-deficient group standing on the injured leg. Under more static task constraints, ACL deficiency did not prove a significant disadvantage, because vision was confirmed as a significant source of exproprioceptive information. The results support the functionality of using dynamic tasks such as a stabilometer in assessing postural behavior of subjects with sensorimotor system constraints.