A comparison of visual and auditory short-term memory in monkeys (Cebus apella)

Using a visual and an acoustic sample set that appeared to favour the auditory modality of the monkey subjects, in Experiment 1 retention gradients generated in closely comparable visual and auditory matching (go/no-go) tasks revealed a more durable short-term memory (STM) for the visual modality. In Experiment 2, potentially interfering visual and acoustic stimuli were introduced during the retention intervals of the auditory matching task. Unlike the case of visual STM, delay-interval visual stimulation did not affect auditory STM. On the other hand, delay-interval music decreased auditory STM, confirming that the monkeys maintained an auditory trace during the retention intervals. Surprisingly, monkey vocalizations injected during the retention intervals caused much less interference than music. This finding, which was confirmed by the results of Experiments 3 and 4, may be due to differential processing of “arbitrary” (the acoustic samples) and species-specific (monkey vocalizations) sounds by the subjects. Although less robust than visual STM, auditory STM was nevertheless substantial, even with retention intervals as long as 32 sec.     

Tailoring visual images to fit: Value creation in persuasive messages

The present studies aimed to extend Regulatory Fit Theory in the domain of persuasive communication by (a) using printed advertisement images without any verbal claim, instead of purely or mostly verbal messages; (b) selecting the images to fit the distinct orientations of regulatory mode rather than regulatory focus; and (c) priming regulatory mode orientation instead of relying on chronic prevalence of either locomotion or assessment orientation. We found that recipients primed with a locomotion orientation experienced fit, and were more persuaded, when exposed to “dynamic” versus “static” visual images; conversely, recipients primed with an assessment orientation experienced fit and were more persuaded when exposed to “static” versus “dynamic” images. Our findings show that the experience of fit can be induced by visual messages, resulting in positive effects in terms of attitude toward product advertisement and estimated price of advertised products. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visual pop-out in infants: Evidence for preattentive search in 3- and 4-month-olds

The present experiment tested for preattentive visual search in 3- and 4-month-old infants using stimulus features described by Treisman and Souther (1985) as producing visual “pop-out” effects in adults. Infants were presented with two visual arrays to the left and right of midline. One array comprised homogeneous elements, while the other had a discrepant element embedded in it. On the basis of previous research, we expected infants to fixate the array containing the embedded discrepant element. The pattern of fixation indicated detection of the embedded discrepant element for both age groups, but only with stimuli shown to elicit visual pop out in adults. This asymmetry in detection is consistent with the presence of preattentive visual search in infants as young as 3 months.     

Perception of partly occluded objects by young chicks

Completion of partly occluded objects is a ubiquitous phenomenon in human visual perception. It is unclear, however, whether it occurs at all in other species: Studies on visual discrimination learning have revealed that animals usually attend to parts and features of the discriminative stimuli rather than to global object properties. We provide here the first demonstration of recognition of partly occluded objects in a bird species, the domestic chickGallus gallus, using the naturalistic setting made available by filial imprinting, a process whereby young birds form attachments to their mothers or some artificial substitute. In Experiment 1, newborn chicks were reared singly with a red cardboard triangle, to which they rapidly imprinted and therefore treated as a social partner. On Day 3 of life, the chicks were presented with pairs of objects composed of either isolated fragments or occluded parts of the imprinting stimulus. Chicks consistently chose to associate with complete or with partly occluded versions of the imprinting object rather than with separate fragments of it. Similarly, in Experiment 2, chicks reared with a partly occluded triangle chose to associate with a complete triangle rather than with a fragmented one, whereas chicks reared with a fragmented triangle chose to associate with a fragmented triangle and not with a complete one. Newborn chicks thus appear to behave as if they could experience amodal completion.     

Variants of biculturalism in migrant and host adolescents living in Italy and Spain: Testing the importance of life domains through the Relative Acculturation Extended Model

Several variants of biculturalism have recently been proposed (Schwartz, Birman, Benet‐Martínez, & Unger, 2016). Nevertheless, few studies have identified different types of bicultural individuals, and no one has addressed the possibility that these types could depend on acculturation domains. By using the Relative Acculturation Extended Model (RAEM), this study aimed to explore if different variants of biculturalism could be individuated, and if some of these variants were sensitive to life domains. Four samples of migrant and host adolescents living in Italy (n = 173 and n = 186) and Spain (n = 139 and n = 156) answered a questionnaire about acculturation perceptions and preferences in central and peripheral life domains. Together with acculturation options consistent with Berry's (1997) model (full‐assimilation, full‐separation and full‐marginalisation), some variants of biculturalism emerged from the latent class analysis: full‐high and full‐low integration, which were not sensitive to life domains; and “alternate” acculturation options that were sensitive to life domains, with participants switching from their original culture to the host culture according to the peripheral and central domains. Acculturation options varied across the four samples, with Italians switching more from one culture to another, and Spanish adolescents being more full‐high or full‐low integrated.     

The Embodied Experience of Microaggressions: Implications for Clinical Practice

Ongoing scholarship in multicultural counseling practice has established the significance of microaggressions in the lived experience of clients and in the client–counselor dyad. Grounded in new research into the embodied experience of oppression, this article reviews key concepts in nonverbal communication and traumatology to illustrate how the body is implicated in the transmission of microaggressions and how counselors can become more attentive, informed, and responsive to how social power differences manifest in the body. Las investigaciones actuales sobre la práctica de la consejería multicultural han establecido la importancia de las microagresiones en la experiencia vital de los clientes y en la díada cliente–consejero. Fundamentado en nuevas investigaciones sobre la experiencia corporal de la opresión, este artículo revisa conceptos clave de la comunicación no verbal y la traumatología para ilustrar cómo el cuerpo está involucrado en la transmisión de microagresiones y cómo los consejeros pueden tornarse más atentos, informados y sensibles a cómo las diferencias de poder social se manifiestan en el cuerpo.     

The Manager as Coach: Cross-Cultural Adaptation of an Instrument Assessing Managers’ Coaching Skills

While coaching has been conceived as a new managerial strategy and effective leadership initiative in organizations, the concept of ‘manager as coach’ has gained considerably popularity. In this context, the interest for reliable and valid tools to assess managers’ coaching skills increased among practitioners and organizations. This paper provides additional analyses of an instrument assessing managers’ coaching skills in business settings and examines a theoretical model in identifying manager coaching skills from two informational sources, namely self-report and other-report. This work does not only continue the development of the base of empirical research on managerial coaching, but also offers some guidelines for further testing and development of valid and reliable instruments for the assessment and understanding of managers’ coaching skills.     

The Italian Version of the Cognitive Style Indicator and its Association with Decision-Making Preferences

The Cognitive Style Indicator (CoSI) includes 3 cognitive dimensions: creating (flexible, open-ended and inventive), knowing (emphasizing facts, details, objectivity, and rationality), and planning (guided by preferences for certainty and well-structured information). The first aim of this research was to validate the 3-factor structure of the CoSI within the Italian context. The second was to verify whether cognitive styles, as measured by the CoSI, accounted for individual differences in decision-making processes. Two studies were conducted using 2 different samples (n = 549 and n = 397). Confirmatory and multigroup factor analysis corroborated the 3-factor model and the measurement invariance of the instrument across genders. Reliability indices showed good internal consistency, as well as good levels of convergent and discriminant construct validity. Results from structural equation model revealed that cognitive styles, as measured by the CoSI, predicted individual differences in intuitive and deliberative decision-making processes. Findings gave evidence for the validity of the Italian version of the CoSI and for the causal relationship between cognitive styles and decision-making processes. Further research is needed to explore a more comprehensive model that includes, for example, personality.