Familiarity breeds attraction: effects of exposure on the attractiveness of typical and distinctive faces

Several studies have shown that facial attractiveness is positively correlated with both familiarity and typicality. Here we manipulated the familiarity of typical and distinctive faces to measure the effect on attractiveness. In our first experiment, we collected ratings of attractiveness, distinctiveness, and familiarity using three different groups of participants. Our stimuli included 84 images of female faces, presented in a full-face view. We replicated the finding that attractiveness ratings negatively correlate with distinctiveness ratings. In addition, we showed that attractiveness ratings were positively correlated with familiarity ratings. In our second experiment, we demonstrated that increasing exposure to faces increases their attractiveness, although there was no differential effect of exposure on typical and distinctive faces. Our results suggest that episodic familiarity affects attractiveness ratings independently of general or structural familiarity. The implications of our findings for the 'face-space' model are discussed.     

The effect of temporal delay and spatial differences on cross-modal object recognition

In a series of experiments, we investigated the matching of objects across visual and haptic modalities across different time delays and spatial dimensions. In all of the experiments, we used simple L-shaped figures as stimuli that varied in either the x or the y dimension or in both dimensions. In Experiment 1, we found that cross-modal matching performance decreased as a function of the time delay between the presentation of the objects. We found no difference in performance between the visual-haptic (VH) and haptic-visual (HV) conditions. Cross-modal performance was better when objects differed in both the x and y dimensions rather than in one dimension alone. In Experiment 2, we investigated the relative contribution of each modality to performance across different interstimulus delays. We found no differential effect of delay between the HH and VV conditions, although general performance was better for the VV condition than for the HH condition. Again, responses to xy changes were better than changes in the x or y dimensions alone. Finally, in Experiment 3, we examined performance in a matching task with simultaneous and successive presentation conditions. We failed to find any difference between simultaneous and successive presentation conditions. Our findings suggest that the short-term retention of object representations is similar in both the visual and haptic modalities. Moreover, these results suggest that recognition is best within a temporal window that includes simultaneous or rapidly successive presentation of stimuli across the modalities and is also best when objects are more discriminable from each other.     

Conversing across cultures: East-West communication styles in work and nonwork contexts

Four experiments provided evidence that East-West differences in attention to indirect meaning are more pronounced in work settings compared with nonwork settings as suggested by prior research on Protestant relational ideology. Study 1 compared errors in interpreting indirect messages in work and nonwork contexts across three cultures. Studies 2 and 3 examined differences in self-reported indirectness with coworkers versus nonwork acquaintances across three cultures controlling for variation in individualism--collectivism. Study 4 examined self-reported indirectness in bicultural managers and experimentally manipulated the salience of Western versus Eastern culture. The results showed that Americans, but not East Asians, were less attentive to indirect cues in work than nonwork settings and that East-West differences in indirectness were greater in work than nonwork settings.     

Effects of methylphenidate on working memory in pigeons

To assess the effects of methylphenidate on working memory, pigeons were trained in a delayed matching-to-sample task. Delay interval duration (0.2, 1, 3, 6, or 12 sec) was varied within sessions in order to separate delay-dependent from delay-independent effects of the drug on performance. A reduction in the sample response requirement from five responses to one response effectively reduced attention to the stimulus and impaired overall accuracy. Methylphenidate was administered in doses of 0.0 (saline control), 0.25, 2.5, and 10 mg/kg. Relative to performance with saline, accuracy was significantly reduced with 10 mg/kg methylphenidate to the same extent in both fixed ratio (FR) 1 and FR 5 conditions. The smaller doses had no effect, and there was no evidence that accuracy improved with drug administration. Intercepts and slopes of exponential functions fitted to measures of discriminability plotted as a function of delay showed that methylphenidate affected delay-independent aspects of performance (initial discriminability), but not delay-dependent aspects (rate of forgetting).     

A population-based 2-year longitudinal study of insomnia disorder in a Chinese population in Hong Kong

There is a paucity of literature examining the longitudinal course of insomnia using standardized diagnostic criteria. This study aims to evaluate the persistence, remission, relapse, and incidence rates of insomnia symptoms and insomnia disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th and 5th edition (DSM-IV and DSM-5). A total of 398 community dwellers were interviewed annually over two years using the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire, a validated questionnaire for deriving insomnia diagnoses. Normal sleepers were defined according to the DSM-5 quantitative criteria as having insomnia symptoms at most twice per week. Estimates were weighted against population age and sex distribution. Persistence for two consecutive years was 26.3, 26.4, and 23.0% for insomnia symptoms, DSM-IV, and DSM-5 insomnia disorders; remission rate was 55.8, 22.9, and 26.1%, relapse rate was 21.8, 1.3, and 0%, while incidence rate was 62.4, 19.6, and 4.5%. The common trajectories for DSM-IV insomnia disorder were to remain the same (26.4%), followed by a change to insomnia symptoms at the second year (25.7%), and at the third year (17.3%). For DSM-5 insomnia disorder, a change to insomnia symptoms at the second year was the commonest (28.3%), followed by continuing the same (23.0%), and a change to insomnia symptoms at the third year (14.0%). Over a two-year naturalistic follow-up, persistence of insomnia disorder was roughly 25%. Changes from insomnia disorder to insomnia symptoms were common; however, remission only occurred in about 25%, highlighting the chronic course of insomnia, perhaps due to a lack of treatment, under-treatment, or resistance to treatment. Incidence of insomnia symptoms was 62.4%, suggesting a high risk of developing insomnia in the general population.     

A Therapeutic Recreation Camp for Children with Congenital Heart Disease: Examining Impact on the Psychosocial Well-Being of Parents

Therapeutic recreation camps have been considered to be an effective context for improving the psychosocial functioning of children with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, there is limited research regarding their impact on parents. Nine parents participated in two semi-structured interviews before and after their children attended a camp for children with CHD. Parents described their perceptions of their children’s camp experiences and identified the psychosocial utility of camp for themselves. Camp enabled parents to let their children grow and be independent, and helped reduce parents’ restricting and overprotective behaviours. Camp also provided parents with respite care, which alleviated their need to be ‘cardiac’ parents. These findings strengthen the case for therapeutic recreation camps and underscore the importance of expanding camp access to more families affected by CHD.     

Self‐Regulation and Power: How Self‐Regulatory Failures Can Enhance Social Power

Low self‐control is often associated with poor life outcomes. Here, we propose that self‐control failures may also provide social benefits by signaling and maintaining power. We identify several pathways by which reduced self‐control can assist in ascending social hierarchies. First, the self‐enhancing tendencies adopted by people with low self‐control may contribute to making positive first impressions and advertising power to new acquaintances. The direct and disinhibited communication styles that stem from self‐control failures may also enhance power and lubricate difficult social interactions. Disinhibited aggression can help people maintain and acquire material resources and establish dominance over rivals. Finally, the parallels between the behavior of people with low self‐control and people with power (e.g., self‐enhancement, disinhibition, approach‐orientation, aggression) suggest that people with impaired self‐control will be perceived as more powerful than people with intact self‐control. Evidence for these propositions and directions for future research are discussed.