Influence of preceding liquid on stop-consonant perception

Certain attributes of a syllable-final liquid can influence the perceived place of articulation of a following stop consonant. To demonstrate this perceptual context effect, the CV portions of natural tokens of [al-da], [al-ga], [ar-da], [ar-ga] were excised and replaced with closely matched synthetic stimuli drawn from a [da]-[ga] continuum. The resulting hybrid disyllables were then presented to listeners who labeled both liquids and stops. The natural CV portions had two different effects on perception of the synthetic CVs. First, there was an effect of liquid category: Listeners perceived “g” more often in the context of [al] than in that of [ar]. Second, there was an effect due to tokens of [al] and [ar] having been produced before [da] or [ga]: More “g” percepts occurred when stops followed liquids that had been produced before [g]. A hypothesis that each of these perceptual effects finds a parallel in speech production is supported by spectrograms of the original utterances. Here, it seems, is another instance in which findings in speech perception reflect compensation for coarticulation during speech production.     

Development of voice recognition: parallels with face recognition.

Encoding and subsequent recognition of unfamiliar voices was examined in children, aged 6 to 16, and in adults. Performance changed markedly with age, improving sharply between ages 6 and 10, with 10-year-olds approaching adult levels. After age 10 accuracy declined significantly but returned to the adult level by age 14. The course of development closely matches that recently documented for the ability to encode and recognize unfamiliar faces. Several parallels between voice recognition and face recognition are discussed.     

Chicks' responses to familiar stimuli in unfamiliar environments

The aim of the present experiments was to find out how imprinted chicks respond to familiar figures in unfamiliar settings. Experiment I showed that chicks individually imprinted with a coloured stationary disc did not readily approach it when later confronted with it in a larger pen—a confirmation of an earlier finding. Experiment II showed a similar disruptive effect when the chicks were individually presented with a stationary object (a ball) in a pen differing in colour from the original one. Experiment III, however, in which chicks were imprinted to a moving ball, showed unattenuated imprinting when testing took place in a strange environment. It was concluded that the disruptive effect of neophobia can be overcome when a high degree of figure salience ensures powerful imprinting.     

Localization of targets by strabismic subjects: Contrasting patterns in constant and alternating suppressors

Strabismic subjects in whom vision in one eye is constantly suppressed localized targets at different points in space when using each eye. Whether they were esotropes or exotropes determined the relation between the two locations and the angle of their vergence error correlated with the magnitude of the interocular discrepancy. These relationships suggest that constant suppressors utilize information about posture of the dominant eye in reaching toward targets presented to the normally suppressed eye. Neither orthotropes nor strabismics in whom vision in each eye is alternately suppressed showed this anomaly. These results were attributed to differences in the way in which visual space is represented, an outcome of the pattern of use of the eyes during early development.     

Meta‐Analysis of Anorexia Nervosa Counseling Outcome Studies From 1990 to 2015

This meta‐analysis of 92 anorexia nervosa counseling articles examined the effectiveness of counseling in reducing symptoms of anorexia nervosa at termination and the longest follow‐up assessments. Treatment‐as‐usual studies showed no effect to small effects at both posttest and follow‐up assessments, wait‐list studies showed small effects at posttest and medium effects at follow‐up, and single‐group uncontrolled studies showed medium to large effects at posttest and medium effects at follow‐up. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Using unexpected questions to elicit information and cues to deceit in interpreter‐based interviews

We examined whether speech‐related differences between truth tellers and liars are more profound when answering unexpected questions than when answering expected questions. We also examined whether the presence of an interpreter affected these results. In the experiment, 204 participants from the United States (Hispanic participants only), Russia, and the Republic of Korea were interviewed in their native language by a native‐speaking interviewer or by a British interviewer through an interpreter. Truth tellers discussed a trip that they had made during the last 12 months; liars fabricated a story about such a trip. The key dependent variables were the amount of information provided and the proportion of all statements that were complications. The proportion of complications distinguished truth tellers from liars better when answering unexpected than expected questions, but only in interpreter‐absent interviews. The number of details provided did not differ between truth tellers and liars or between interpreter‐absent and interpreter‐present interviews.     

Visuospatial counter‐interrogation strategies by liars familiar with the alibi setting

This study examines counter‐interrogation strategies employed by liars giving false alibis. Participants (N = 144) visited a restaurant to buy a sandwich (truth‐tellers) or to use it as a false alibi (liars). Half of the liars were informed they might be asked for a drawing of the alibi setting if interviewed (informed liars). Participants spent either 10 min (high familiarity condition) or 30 s (low familiarity condition) in the restaurant. All participants were asked to provide two visuospatial statements, which were assessed for salient details, nonsalient details, between‐statement consistency, and statement‐alibi setting consistency. Informed liars provided significantly more salient and nonsalient details than uninformed liars and truth‐tellers, particularly in the high familiarity condition. No differences emerged for statement consistency types. The results suggest that liars are more concerned than truth‐tellers about making a positive impression on the interviewer, and they fail to accurately reflect on truth‐tellers' visuospatial statements.