Intersensory redundancy facilitates prenatal perceptual learning in bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) embryos.

Information presented redundantly and in temporal synchrony across sensory modalities (intersensory redundancy) selectively recruits attention and facilitates perceptual learning in human infants. This comparative study examined whether intersensory redundancy also facilitates perceptual learning prenatally. The authors assessed quail (Colinus virginianus) embryos' ability to learn a maternal call when it was (a) unimodal, (b) concurrent but asynchronous with patterned light, or (c) redundant and synchronous with patterned light. Chicks' preference for the familiar over a novel maternal call was assessed 24 hr following hatching. Chicks receiving redundant, synchronous stimulation as embryos learned the call 4 times faster than those who received unimodal exposure. Chicks who received asynchronous bimodal stimulation showed no evidence of learning. These results provide the first evidence that embryos are sensitive to redundant, bimodal information and that it can facilitate learning during the prenatal period.     

Are the Referents Remembered in Temporal Bisection?

In roving-referent bisection, three duration values are presented sequentially on each trial, two referents and then a probe, and the observer is instructed to indicate whether the probe is more similar to the duration of the first or second trial referent. Data from three experiments are reported which consistently indicate that human observers do not compare the probe to the trial referents in roving-referent bisection. Rather, they base their judgment on the absolute value of the probe rather than on its relationship to the trial referents. The data are consistent with Gibbon's (1981) formulation of the decision process in bisection which specifies that the probe is compared to a criterion duration value. Although many studies have used bisection to study temporal memory, the data from the present experiments suggest that referent memory is not a dominant source of variability in human temporal bisection.     

Human variable ratio performance

The generality of the mathematical principles of reinforcement (MPR) was tested with humans. In Experiment 1A, participants’ mouse clicks were reinforced according to a series of variable-ratio (VR) values. In one condition, a situated task was used (searching for treasure on a map presented via a PC monitor); in the other, abstract version of the task, participants clicked on a white screen. Under the “map” condition, response rates increased with increasing ratio value before decreasing with further ratio increases; under the “no-map” condition, response rates decreased linearly from a peak at the smallest ratio. In Experiment 1B, the pattern of responding was confirmed under the “map” conditions using a different set of ratio values. In Experiment 2, reinforcer magnitude was manipulated using the “map” context. Response rates did not differ significantly when large rather than small cash reinforcers were delivered according to a VR 30 but were significantly higher when large rather than small cash reinforcers were delivered according to a VR 120. Together these experiments offer qualified support for extending MPR to the behavior of human participants.     

Men Pursuing an Undergraduate Psychology Degree: What’s Masculinity Got to Do with It?

Using discursive psychology as its theoretical and methodological framework, the present study explored male Canadian undergraduate students’ accounts of their reasons for studying psychology, their experiences of being male undergraduate psychology students, and their anticipated future careers. Ten men (19–29 years-old) who were at least in their second year of study in the psychology major program were interviewed. Contrary to survey research concluding that men who make gender-atypical vocational choices conform less to masculine norms than do men who make typical academic and career choices, our participants produced contradictory accounts. On the one hand, in talking about their experiences as psychology students in the context of the gender gap, they argued that gender does not matter. On the other hand, they showed that gender does matter in brief “boy moments” when they shared tacit gender knowledge with the interviewer and in justifying their academic paths toward futures that involved leaving psychology for a male-concentrated field. Thus, gender-does-not matter was the preferred argument when gender was an explicit topic of conversation, and the doing of gender occurred in unacknowledged ways.

     

Effects of Maternal Depression Symptoms and Alcohol Use Problems on Child Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems

Empirical evidence suggests maternal behavioral health problems are significant predictors of child behavioral health difficulties, but it is unclear of the specific relation of maternal alcohol use problems and depression symptoms with child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of maternal depression symptoms and alcohol use problems on children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems over a period of 5 years. Implications for intervention may differ depending on which type of maternal behavioral health concerns predicts which child behavior problem. A total of 1874 families eligible for Early Head Start participated. Maternal depression symptoms and alcohol use problems were assessed when children were in preschool, and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were assessed when children were in fifth grade. Clinical internalizing behavior problems was best predicted by maternal depression symptoms, whereas clinical externalizing behavior problems was best predicted by maternal alcohol use problems. Children were almost twice as likely to have clinical internalizing behavior problems when mothers exhibited very elevated depression symptoms compared to when mothers displayed minimal symptoms. A similar relation was found with maternal alcohol use problems and clinical externalizing behavior problems. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding and treating various kinds of behavioral health concerns in mothers of young children.     

Infant discrimination of faces in naturalistic events: actions are more salient than faces

Despite the fact that faces are typically seen in the context of dynamic events, there is little research on infants' perception of moving faces. L. E. Bahrick, L. J. Gogate, and I. Ruiz (2002) demonstrated that 5-month-old infants discriminate and remember repetitive actions but not the faces of the women performing the actions. The present research tested an attentional salience explanation for these findings: that dynamic faces are discriminable to infants, but more salient actions compete for attention. Results demonstrated that 5-month-old infants discriminated faces in the context of actions when they had longer familiarization time (Experiment 1) and following habituation to a single person performing 3 different activities (Experiment 2). Further, 7-month-old infants who have had more experience with social events also discriminated faces in the context of actions. Overall, however, discrimination of actions was more robust and occurred earlier in processing time than discrimination of dynamic faces. These findings support an attentional salience hypothesis and indicate that faces are not special in the context of actions in early infancy.     

The psychophysics of contingency assessment

The authors previously described a procedure that permits rapid, multiple within-participant evaluations of contingency assessment (the "streamed-trial" procedure, M. J. C. Crump, S. D. Hannah, L. G. Allan, & L. K. Hord, 2007). In the present experiments, they used the streamed-trial procedure, combined with the method of constant stimuli and a binary classification response, to assess the psychophysics of contingency assessment. This strategy provides a methodology for evaluating whether variations in contingency assessment reflect changes in the participant's sensitivity to the contingency or changes in the participant's response bias (or decision criterion). The sign of the contingency (positive or negative), outcome density, and imposition of an explicit payoff structure had little influence on sensitivity to contingencies but did influence the decision criterion. The authors discuss how a psychophysical analysis can provide a better understanding of findings in the literature such as mood and age effects on contingency assessment. They also discuss the relation between a psychophysical approach and an associative account of contingency assessment.     

The initial stage of the international sojourn: excitement or culture shock?

This paper presents findings from an ethnographic study of the adjustment journey of international postgraduate students at a university in the South of England, which involved interviews and participant observation over a 12-month academic year. It was discovered that the initial stage of the sojourn1 was not characterised by feelings of excitement, as suggested by the U-curve model (and its successors): though such feelings were present, they were overwhelmed by negative symptoms more commonly associated with culture shock. The implications of these findings for support structures in higher education are discussed.     

Toward an Understanding of (Em)Power(Ment) for HIV/AIDS Prevention with Adolescent Women

Adolescent females, particularly urban and low-income youth of color, are at particular risk for HIV infection. This article uses an empowerment perspective to consider the degree to which intrapersonal and interpersonal power dynamics in heterosexual relations have an impact on condom use among high-risk youth. Participants in this study were 333 African American and European American urban youth, ages 14–19 years, who were heterosexually active. Measures focused on interpersonal and intrapersonal factors thought to be associated with condom use. This model was most useful in predicting condom use among women and least useful in predicting condom use among male participants. Implications for empowerment theory and future research are discussed.