The time required for perceptual (nonmotoric) processing in IOR

In an inhibition of return (IOR) paradigm, we used a threshold-tracking procedure combined with backward masking to measure the speed of perceptual processing in IOR independent of motoric factors. Instead of the conventional reaction time measure, this procedure yielded the critical exposure duration (DUR_c) that is required in order for a target to be identified reliably before the onset of a trailing mask. In Experiment 1, the facilitation effects conventionally found at short cue—target onset asynchrony (CTOA) were evidenced by shorter values of DUR_c at cued relative to uncued locations. Conversely, the retardation effects conventionally found at long CTOA were evidenced by correspondingly longer values of DUR_c. In Experiment 2, the DUR_c results strongly suggest that the directional reading bias previously observed in IOR studies is due, at least in part, to perceptual rather than motoric factors.     

The role of coping, anxiety, and stress in depression post-acute coronary syndrome

Depressive symptoms are common and can affect prognosis following acute coronary syndromes (ACS). This study examined the psychological factors, coping, anxiety, and perceived stress associated with depression following ACS. Psychological variables were assessed in 15 females and 66 males (M = 57 years, SD = 12). Repeated measures at 2, 12, and 24 weeks post-ACS compared depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and coping resources as determined by the Cardiac Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II, State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, and Coping Resources Inventory. Depression, anxiety, and perceived stress remained high in the depressed group across time. Coping scores at 2 weeks post-ACS predicted depression scores at 24 weeks post-ACS. It appears that trait anxiety and coping resources are related to depressive symptoms post-ACS.     

Body image and body change strategies among adolescent males and females from Fiji, Tonga and Australia

The current study was designed to investigate the body image and body change strategies of adolescents from Fiji, Tonga and Australia. Participants were 628 Fijians, 463 Indo-Fijians, 598 Tongans and 535 European Australians. Adolescents completed measures of height, weight, body dissatisfaction, strategies to lose weight, increase weight and increase muscles. The results demonstrated that overweight adolescents were more dissatisfied with their bodies than those who were normal weight. Overweight Fijians and Tongans were more satisfied with their body than Indo-Fijian or Australian adolescents. Tongans, followed by Fijians and Indo-Fijians, were more likely to engage in strategies to lose weight, increase weight and increase muscles. These results are consistent with the focus in Fiji and Tonga on the value of the large body ideal, but may also reflect the recent focus on the attainment of a healthy body size.     

Are spatial selection and identity extraction separable when attention is controlled endogenously?

Visual search for a target involves two processes: spatial selection and identity extraction. Ghorashi, Enns, and Di Lollo (2008) found these processes to be independent and surmised that they were carried out along distinct visual pathways: dorsal and ventral, respectively. The two experiments that are described in the present article evaluated this hypothesis. Attentional-blink methodology was combined with voluntary spatial cuing in a visual search task: Intertarget lag was used to manipulate identity extraction; predictive cues were used to signal target locations. Central digit cues in Experiment 1 required participants to identify digits before voluntarily directing attention to a corresponding location, whereas flashed dots in Experiment 2 (indicating an opposite location) required attentional redeployment without prior cue identification. Consistent with the dual-pathway hypothesis, cuing was impaired only when the first target and the number cue competed for ventral-pathway mechanisms. Collectively, the results support the dual-pathway account of the separability of spatial selection and identity extraction.     

The Social Production of Altruism: Motivations for Caring Action in a Low-Income Urban Community

Contemporary social science paints a bleak picture of inner-city relational life. Indeed, the relationships of low-income, urban-residing Americans are represented as rife with distress, violence and family disruption. At present, no body of social scientific work systematically examines the factors that promote loving or selfless interactions among low-income, inner-city American individuals, families and communities. In an effort to fill that gap, this ethnographic study examined the motivations for altruism among a sample of adults (n = 40) who reside in an economically distressed housing community (i.e., housing project) in New York City. Content analyses of interviews indicated that participants attributed altruism to an interplay between 14 motives that were then ordered into four overarching categories of motives: (1) needs-centered motives, (2) norm-based motives deriving from religious/spiritual ideology, relationships and personal factors, (3) abstract motives (e.g., humanism), and (4) sociopolitical factors. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Temporal information coding properties of a network of inhibitory interneurons

Inhibitory interneurons are coupled by electrical and inhibitory synapses and exert a powerful control of the discharges of principal cells. In this paper, the transmission properties of excitatory synaptic inputs by a network of interneurons, are studied by using a computational approach. It is shown that both the rise and decay time constants, describing the time course of the excitatory synaptic inputs, have a strong effect on the output jitter of the fired spikes. Similar results were found by changing the values of the other parameters describing the network. Lastly, it is shown that the presence of the electrical coupling between interneurons confers to the network the capability of transmitting, with less temporal spread, the timing information contained in its inputs.     

从词频和新旧效应探讨再认测验中的定向遗忘

本文采用字表方式,从高低词频和新旧效应角度,探讨内隐和外显测验中定向遗忘效应的存在性及其机制问题。结果发现:(1)低频词在两种测验中都存在定向遗忘效应,而高频词仅存在于外显测验中。(2)两种测验中都存在指示记住的新旧效应,而外显测验中不存在指示忘记的新旧效应。由此推断,测验间在没有"意识和无意识"相互污染的理想情况下,只有外显测验可获得定向遗忘效应;定向遗忘的机制可能是选择性编码机制。     

Visual search is postponed during the attentional blink until the system is suitably reconfigured

J. S. Joseph, M. M. Chun, and K. Nakayama (1997) found that pop-out visual search was impaired as a function of intertarget lag in an attentional blink (AB) paradigm in which the 1st target was a letter and the 2nd target was a search display. In 4 experiments, the present authors tested the implication that search efficiency should be similarly impaired (steeper search slopes at shorter lags). A conventional AB deficit was found, but, contrary to expectations, search slopes were invariant with lag. These results suggest that no search can be carried out during the period of the AB. Instead, the search is postponed until after the 1st target has been processed. The authors conclude that efficient visual search cannot be carried out unless the visual system is configured appropriately for the search task. If the initial configuration is inappropriate, processing of the 2nd target is held in abeyance until the system has been suitably reconfigured.     

爬行经验与婴儿空间认知能力的发展

本研究采用“A非B”时间延搁测验对34名9-12个月缨儿的爬行经验与其空间认知能力发展的关系进行了研究。协方差分析表明,婴儿的爬行经验对其在“A非B”延搁任务中表现出来的空间认知能力有显著的主效应,而年龄的效应不明显;进一步分析显示,爬行经验7周以内的婴儿与爬行经验10周以上的婴儿空间认知能力发展水平差异显著。本研究说明,爬行经验与婴儿在“A非B”延搁任务上表现出来的空间认知能力发展有密切的关系。