Attentional coding of categorical relations in scene perception: evidence from the flicker paradigm

The purpose of the present investigation was to determine whether the positions of objects in a scene are coded relative to one another categorically (i.e., above, below, or side of; Experiment 1) and to determine whether spatial position in scene perception is coded preattentively or only under focused attention (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, participants viewed alternating versions of a scene in which one of the objects in the scene changed its categorical relationship to the closest object in the scene, changed only its metric relationship to the closest object in a scene, or appeared and disappeared. Participants were faster at detecting changes that disrupted categorical relations than at detecting changes that disrupted only metric relations. In Experiment 2, this categorical advantage still occurred even when participants were cued to the location of the change. These results suggest that categorical spatial relations are being coded in scene perception and that attention is required in order to encode spatial relations.     

Psychopathy and COVID-19: Callousness,impulsivity, and motivational reasons for engaging in prevention behavior

Two direct replication studies were conducted to investigate the associations of psychopathic traits with engagement in COVID-19 prevention behavior and motivational reasons for engaging in such behavior. College undergraduate students completed two self-report measures of psychopathic traits based on the four-factor conceptualization of psychopathy (callous affect, manipulative tendency, erratic lifestyle, criminal tendency) and the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy (meanness, disinhibition, boldness). Participants then reported the degree to which they engaged in COVID-19 prevention behavior currently and in the past, and reported their self-focused and other-focused motivational reasons for doing so. Results aggregated across both studies (N = 292) revealed that traits reflecting emotional callousness and impulsivity independently predicted lower levels of other-focused reasons for engaging in prevention behavior. Moreover, controlling for other-focused reasons appreciably reduced negative associations of emotional callousness and impulsivity with prevention behavior. The results provide insight into points of convergence in conceptualization and measurement of psychopathy from multiple theoretical perspectives and the importance of considering the impact of divisive personality traits on motivation to protect others during pandemics.     

On the tunnel effect

The experiments described in this paper consist of presenting observers with two similar objects in successive movement in the same plane but of which the end of the first and the beginning of the second are hidden by a screen (tunnel). Under proper experimental conditions the impression received is one of continuous and uniform movement by a single object passing behind the screen.

The hidden phase of this movement assumes all of the characteristics of true, visible movement for its entire extent, and any lengthening of the duration of the invisible phase gives the impression of a momentary halt behind the screen at a definite point. A modification of the position or of the relative orientation of the visible portions of the trajectory influences the apparent form of its invisible portion. This form can be made to assume the aspects of complicated curves which are sketched and described by different observers with remarkable consistency.

All these phenomena are dependent upon the objctive conditions: the speed of the objects while they are visible, the length of the tunnel, the duration of the invisible phase, the relative position of the visible portions of the trajectory; and they vary systematically with these conditions. As one or other of these conditions is varied, the impression of continuity may give way to one of a simple succession of independent movements.

It is thought that the absence of sensory qualities justifies the use of the term “amodal data” to describe the way in which the hidden movement phase makes itself known to the observer. These “amodal data” form the bridge between the modal phases and become an integral part of the total sensory experience. These properties are determined by the nature of the complex system of excitations in the same way as those of the modal phases and one can thus consider this amodal aspect of the combined experience as a truly perceptual phenomenon.     

What is a Seminar? Two Views of the Same Course

This article presents a methodology for a feminist theology of education based on reflection of women's educational experience in light of historical and contemporary theological works, especially the writing of Julian of Norwich. It argues for hospitality as a metaphor for theological education and suggests an understanding of the student, teacher, and environment of education that can create hospitality in the classroom.     

Beyond family‐level adversities: Exploring the developmental timing of neighborhood disadvantage effects on the brain

A growing literature suggests that adversity is associated with later altered brain function, particularly within the corticolimbic system that supports emotion processing and salience detection (e.g., amygdala, prefrontal cortex [PFC]). Although neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage has been shown to predict maladaptive behavioral outcomes, particularly for boys, most of the research linking adversity to corticolimbic function has focused on family‐level adversities. Moreover, although animal models and studies of normative brain development suggest that there may be sensitive periods during which adversity exerts stronger effects on corticolimbic development, little prospective evidence exists in humans. Using two low‐income samples of boys (n = 167; n = 77), Census‐derived neighborhood disadvantage during early childhood, but not adolescence, was uniquely associated with greater amygdala, but not PFC, reactivity to ambiguous neutral faces in adolescence and young adulthood. These associations remained after accounting for several family‐level adversities (e.g., low family income, harsh parenting), highlighting the independent and developmentally specific neural effects of the neighborhood context. Furthermore, in both samples, indicators measuring income and poverty status of neighbors were predictive of amygdala function, suggesting that neighborhood economic resources may be critical to brain development.     

Cross‐cultural similarities and differences in the theoretical predictors of cyberbullying perpetration: Results from a seven‐country study

The Barlett Gentile cyberbullying model (BGCM) posits that correlated anonymity perceptions and the belief in the irrelevance of muscularity for online bullying (BIMOB) predict positive cyberbullying attitudes to predict subsequent cyberbullying perpetration. Much research has shown the BGCM to be the only published theory that differentiates traditional and cyberbullying while validly predicting cyberbullying. So far, however, the cross‐cultural ubiquity has gone understudied. Thus, 1,592 adult participants across seven countries (USA, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, and Singapore) completed measures germane to the BGCM. Supporting the BGCM, the variables were significantly correlated for the entire sample, participants from independent cultures, and participants from interdependent cultures. However, the relationship between BIMOB and positive cyberbullying attitudes as well as the relationship between positive cyberbullying attitudes and cyberbullying perpetration were stronger for independent cultures. These results suggest that the BGCM postulates are mostly universal, but several relations appear to be culturally different. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

The unity of consciousness,within subjects and between subjects

Philosophical Studies - The unity of consciousness has so far been studied only as a relation holding among the many experiences of a single subject. I investigate whether this relation could hold...     

Trait Intellect Predicts Cognitive Engagement: Evidence from a Resource Allocation Perspective

Trait Intellect, one of the two ‘aspects’ of the broader Openness/Intellect ‘domain’, predicts performance on a range of cognitive tasks including tests of intelligence and working memory. This has been explained in terms of the tendency for high‐Intellect individuals to explore, or engage more effortfully with, abstract information. This theoretical perspective can be framed in the language of Resource Allocation Theory, in terms of high‐Intellect individuals allocating more of their available cognitive resources to abstract cognitive tasks. In two experiments (total N = 160), we examined the relation between Intellect and cognitive engagement during a primary word‐search task under conditions of both high and low secondary cognitive load. Both experiments revealed that high‐Intellect individuals were more vulnerable to the impact of the secondary cognitive load on primary task performance. This suggests that, under low secondary load, such individuals were indeed allocating more of their available cognitive resources to the primary task. These results held after controlling for trait Openness, trait Industriousness (an aspect of Conscientiousness) and a measure of working memory capacity (N‐back task). Our findings provide novel support for the cognitive mechanisms proposed to underlie trait Intellect. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Psychometric properties of the mini-social phobia inventory (Mini-SPIN) in a large online treatment-seeking sample

The Mini-Social Phobia Inventory (Mini-SPIN) is a brief, three-item measure designed as a screening tool for social anxiety disorder (SAD). This study investigated the Mini-SPIN’s psychometric properties in a series of trials of Internet-delivered treatment. Participants were 993 people seeking Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for a range of anxiety and mood disorders. Participants completed the Mini-SPIN, and were diagnosed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Version 5.0.0 (MINI). They also completed measures of depression, general anxiety, panic, neuroticism and general impairment. The Mini-SPIN’s ability to discriminate between people with and without SAD, within a large sample of people seeking treatment for a range of psychological disorders, was assessed at initial assessment and three-month follow-up. The Mini-SPIN’s criterion group validity, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, construct validity and responsiveness to treatment were also examined. Results demonstrated that the Mini-SPIN has an excellent ability to discriminate between those with and without SAD in a highly comorbid clinical sample, and also has good criterion group validity. The Mini-SPIN also exhibited excellent internal consistency, good test–retest reliability, and was responsive to treatment. These results highlight the Mini-SPIN’s potential as an efficient and reliable measure of SAD in heterogenous populations.