Perceptual asymmetry for chimeric faces across the life span

Perceptual asymmetries for processing chimeric faces were investigated in dextral subjects, ranging in age from 5 years to elderly adults. The task involved deciding which member of a pair of face chimeras presented in free vision looks happier, the one with the smile to the left or its mirror image with the smile to the right (Levy, Heller, Banich, & Burton, 1983a, Brain and Cognition, 2, 404-419). A leftward bias was found for all age groups. However, kindergarteners' mean asymmetry score was lower than that of all other groups combined, most likely due to noise in their data. The direction in which subjects drew circles with their left and right hands was also observed as an index of interhemispheric communication. All groups showed a bias toward drawing the circles in concordant directions except the kindergarteners. The relation between subjects' performance on the circle drawing and facebook tasks is discussed.     

Role of health locus of control beliefs and expectations of treatment efficacy in adjustment to cancer

We examined the effects of health locus of control beliefs (self-, doctor, and chance control) and expectations of treatment efficacy on short-term psychological adjustment in a sample of newly diagnosed cancer patients. The role of these beliefs and expectations in moderating the relation between (perceived and actual) disease severity and depression was also examined. The data were collected within one week of diagnosis. The relation between perceptions of disease severity and depression was weaker for those who believed that they could personally control their health and for those who held positive expectations about the effects of complying with medical treatment. Similar patterns were found when disease severity was defined in terms of prognosis for survival. Strong negative correlations between self-control/treatment expectations and depression were found for those who perceived that their illness was very severe. The results for chance and doctor control were less consistent. The stability of health control beliefs and treatment expectations over the course of a serious long-term illness is discussed.     

Neural network principles for theoretical psychology

Neural networks are an increasingly important tool for the mechanistic understanding of psychological phenomena. Three commonly used principles in neural-network design (associative learning, competition, and opponent processing) are outlined here, and two examples of their use in behavior-modeling architectures are discussed. One example relates to an instance of reinforcement learning; that is, of an organism controlling its environment to maximize positive reinforcement or to minimize negative reinforcement. The other example relates to some characteristic deviations from reinforcement learning that occur in people or monkeys with frontal-lobe damage.     

Men's and women's ratings of life satisfaction by age of respondent and age interval judged

A total of 432 people in six age groups rated the satisfaction of their current, past, and projected future lives. Average ratings for men and women did not differ. However, the triple interaction of sex × age of respondent × age interval judged indicated an optimism toward the future on the part of women. Compared with men of the same age, women judged the age interval prior to their own, as well as their present age interval, as being less satisfying than did the men. But women expected levels of satisfaction in the future to be higher than men expected. This optimism is attributed to socialization differences as well as the hope engendered by the current feminist movement.     

An analysis of mutual assistance

Why should community psychology be interested in mutual assistance? Mutual assistance organizations represent not an alternative to professional care by an addition to resources in the community of a kind that makes for a more competent community (Iscoe, 1974). Mutual assistance also reflects the values of empowerment that many community psychologists accept as primary (Rappaport, 1981). For those persons who suffer with conditions that may be attributed to oppressive social environments, there is no alternative to collective political and social action to produce change. The developing mutual assistance movement provides an unparalleled opportunity to enhance our understanding of the meaning and significance of social support and the conditions under which people change. Those of us in the field have every reason to embrace this movement for it is truly in keeping with the vision of community psychology.     

Optimal appropriateness measurement

The test-taking behavior of some examinees may be so idiosyncratic that their test scores may not be comparable to the scores of more typical examinees. Appropriateness measurement attempts to use answer patterns to recognize atypical examinees. In this report appropriateness measurement procedures are viewed as statistical tests for choosing between a null hypothesis of normal test-taking behavior and an alternative hypothesis of atypical test-taking behavior. Most powerful tests for inappropriateness are described together with methods for computing their power. A recursion greatly simplifying the calculation of optimal test statistics is described and illustrated.The work reported in this article was supported by United States Office of Naval Research contracts N00014-79C-0752, NR 154-445 and N00014-83K-0397, NR 150-518, Michael V. Levine, Principal Investigator.