The virtual haptic display: A device for exploring 2-D virtual shapes in the tactile modality

In order to understand better the processes involved in the perception of shape through touch, someelement of control is required over the nature of the shape presented to the hand and the presentation timing. To that end, we have developed a cost-effective, computer-controlled apparatus for presenting haptic stimuli using active touch, known as a virtual haptic display (VHD). The operational principle behind this device is that it translates black and white visual images into topographic, 2-D taxel (tactile pixel) arrays, along the same principle using in Braille letters. These taxels are either elevated or depressed at any one time representing white and black pixel colors of the visual image, respectively. To feel the taxels, the participant places their fingers onto a carriage which can be moved over the surface of the device to reveal a virtual shape. We conducted two experiments and the results show that untrained participants are able to recognize different, simple and complex, shapes using this apparatus. The VHD apparatus is therefore ideal at presenting 2-Dshapes through touch alone. Moreover,this device and its supporting software can also be used for presenting computer-controlled stimuli in cross-modal experiments.     

Unravelling the effects of sequential presentation in culprit‐present lineups

It is well established that sequential presentation of faces in an eyewitness situation can reduce false identification rates. The effect of a sequential presentation on the probability of accurately identifying a culprit when present in a lineup is less clear. The current study examined the efficacy of the sequential procedure in culprit present lineups approximating the real life condition where a person's appearance has changed between the time they were seen and the identification. Young (17–33 years) and older (58–80 years) witnesses viewed a video of a crime and then engaged in some filler tasks. Later they viewed a culprit‐present lineup presented in a simultaneous or sequential format. Some witnesses viewed lineups in which target appearance (hairstyle) had changed and some where it had not. Sequential testing was associated with fewer choices (hits and foil choices) as compared to simultaneous testing. A change of appearance lowered hit rates in sequential test conditions among young adults. Finally, participants in sequential conditions were more likely to report that they expected the target to be present in the lineup. We advise policy makers not to advocate sequential testing until we have a full understanding of the conditions under which the sequential‐superiority effect may be observed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reason to Believe: Representations of Aggression as Phenomenological Read-Out

Men tend to view their own aggression as an instrumental act aimed at imposing control, whereas women tend to view theirs as an expressive act resulting from a loss of self-control. These interpretations have been called social representations based on their presumed social origins and mode of transmission. However, if women’s self-control is generally higher than men’s, they would be expected to behave aggressively only infrequently and at higher levels of provocation. Aggression would be experienced phenomenologically as a loss of self-control. In Study 1, a student sample, men scored higher than women on instrumental beliefs, impulsivity, and risk seeking. As predicted, instrumental beliefs were associated with higher impulsive risk seeking and an expressive representation was positively associated with temper. In Study 2, an offender sample, there were no gender differences in instrumental beliefs, physical aggression, temper, carelessness, and present orientation. Instrumental beliefs were again associated with impulsive risk seeking and, to a lesser extent, temper. Expressive beliefs were again associated with temper and, to a lesser extent, present orientation. Physical aggression was associated with holding instrumental beliefs, impulsive risk seeking, and temper. The model is broadly supported and directions for future work are suggested.     

Minding the Gap not Bridging the Gap: Family Therapy From a Psychoanalytic Perspective

Following recent interest in this journal in building bridges between a psychoanalytic and systemic approach to family therapy (Vol. 19, 1997), the authors take up the debate. A clinical vignette from a recent article is used for discussion and, in order to describe further work from a psychoanalytic perspective, two case vignettes are presented. The comparisons are discussed with particular reference to the concepts of projective identification, transference/countertransference and internal object relations.     

Biculturalism amongst ethnic minorities: Its impact for individuals and intergroup relations

This review article offers an integration of acculturation, biculturalism, and intergroup relations research. Additionally, it argues that bicultural identities can be more accurately conceptualised as a third, hyphenated cultural identity (e.g., Chinese‐Australian), in addition to one's ethnic and the dominant national identity. In doing so, this article proposes that hyphenated cultural identities may be personally meaningful for many ethnic minorities and discusses the function of hyphenated cultural identification for individuals and society. Given the relevance of bicultural identification, it is argued that recognising and understanding a hyphenated cultural identity is fundamental to ethnic minorities' wellbeing, as well as improving the quality of intergroup relations in multicultural societies, such as Australia.     

Positive and negative intergroup contact predict Black and White Americans' judgments about police violence against Black Americans

We examined whether past positive and negative interracial contact predict people's views of interracial police violence. White (N = 207) and Black (N = 116) Americans reported on their past intergroup experiences before viewing information about one of two true events involving the death of a Black man at the hands of a White police officer. For White Americans, negative contact predicted a reluctance to blame the officer and a willingness to believe that people's responses to the events involved “playing the race card.” For Black Americans, positive contact predicted marginally less officer blame and lower beliefs that the victim was racially profiled. This suggests the potential for a vicious cycle, whereby past contact experiences color perceptions of intergroup conflict in the present.