Tests of a temporal theory of attentional binding

Different features of stimuli present in the field of view appear to be registered in different cortical maps. How, then, are the features that come from the same object bound together rather than mistakenly assembled with features coming from other simultaneously present objects? One theory supposes that an attentional mechanism intercepts input coming from particular retinal locations at a way station prior to parsing of the features from the same object. Any enhancement (or facilitation) at that stage will cause all the features from that object to be modified simultaneously in the downstream registers. The imposed temporal synchronicity serves as the essential binding cue. Five experiments provided no support for the theory. There is no tendency for synchronicity of features to cause binding unless the features come from the same location. Location, rather than temporal synchronicity, appears to be the essential cue for binding.     

Semi-Post algebras

In this paper, semi-Post algebras are introduced and investigated. The generalized Post algebras are subcases of semi-Post algebras. The so called primitive Post constants constitute an arbitrary partially ordered set, not necessarily connected as in the case of the generalized Post algebras examined in [3]. By this generalization, semi-Post products can be defined. It is also shown that the class of all semi-Post algebras is closed under these products and that every semi-Post algebra is a semi-Post product of some generalized Post algebras.     

Applications of multivariate visualization to behavioral sciences

The complexity of psychological science often requires the collection and analysis of multidimensional data. Such data bring about a corresponding cognitive load that has led scientists to develop techniques of scientific visualization to ease the burden. This paper provides an introduction to scientific visualization techniques, a framework for understanding those techniques, and an assessment of the suitability of this approach for psychology. The framework employed builds on the notion of balancingnoise andsmooth in statistical analysis.     

Revisiting a contrasting thought between Descartes and Spinoza in the light of psychotherapy

The aim of this paper is to revisit one contrasting thought on the notion cause and effect between Descartes and Spinoza. This debate will be re-examined in the light of clients' knowledge of the cause and effect of their psychological distress, prior to seeking psychotherapy and in the process of receiving treatments. The treatment approach chosen for this paper is psychodynamic. This paper also aims to demonstrate how psychoterapeutic ideas can contribute to philosophical debates     

Community members' perceptions of evidence: the effects of gender in a recovered memory civil trial.

Community members judged a civil trial in which a memory had either been recovered or kept secret until therapy 12 years later. Female jurors were more likely to find the defendant liable and to compensate female plaintiffs more than male plaintiffs, whereas the reverse pattern held for male jurors. Female plaintiffs who reported recovered memories were compensated least, whereas female plaintiffs who kept the abuse secret were compensated most. A mediational model was posited and results indicated that the origin of the memory of sexual abuse and victim gender influenced assessments of trial testimonies that were related to the trial outcomes. Results supported the postulated model and indicated significant juror-gender differences in evaluating and weighing the evidence.     

Parental control in child rearing and multidimensional locus of control.

272 French-Canadian adolescent boys and 286 girls took part in a study of the association between parental control in child-rearing and Levenson's locus of control dimensions. Analysis showed relations between parental control and the two external dimensions but not with the internal one. Age and gender did not contribute to the various relationships.     

Effects of syntactic structure in the memory of concrete and abstract Chinese sentences

Smith (1981) found that concrete English sentences were better recognized than abstract sentences and that this concreteness effect was potent only when the concrete sentence was also affirmative but the effect switched to an opposite end when the concrete sentence was negative. These results were partially replicated in Experiment 1 by using materials from a very different language (i.e., Chinese): concrete-affirmative sentences were better remembered than concrete-negative and abstract sentences, but no reliable difference was found between the latter two types. In Experiment 2, the task was modified by using a visual presentation instead of an oral one as in Experiment 1. Both concrete-affirmative and concrete-negative sentences were better memorized then abstract ones in Experiment 2. The findings in the two experiments are explained by a combination of the dual-coding model and Marschark's (1985) item-specific and relational processing. The differential effects of experience with different language systems on processing verbal materials in memory are also discussed.This research was partially supported by a research grant from the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong to Hsuan-Chih Chen. Connie Suk-Han Ho was supported on an Overseas Research Studentship from the University of Oxford of United Kingdom during the preparation of this article.     

Parental control and anomie in French-Canadian adolescents

110 French-Canadian adolescents (60 boys, 50 girls) participated in a study of the relationship between parental control in child-rearing and anomie. Correlational analysis indicated that subjects coming from family backgrounds high in parental control generally reported greater feelings of anomie.     

相位差对閃光信号辨認和似动现象的影响

问題近年来关于閃光信号編碼和辨认的研究日漸增多。庫克(K.G.Cook)和紐曼(K.M.Newman)分别作过閃光編碼和显示效果的研究;李家治等作过閃光信号的頻率选择、等辨量表和語义干扰等研究;克劳福(A.Crawford)研究过閃光信号与背景的关系。关于同时使用两个閃光信号問題,未見报导。