Competition between color salience and perceptual load during visual selection can be biased by top-down set

Visual salience and perceptual load may both influence the efficiency of visual selection. Recently, Gibson and Bryant (2008) showed that perceptual load can dominate color salience in a distractor interference paradigm. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possibility that knowledge (of color or load) may modulate the relative operation of these two mechanisms. Consistent with previous findings, perceptual load dominated color salience, but only in certain contexts in which display load was mixed and high-load displays preceded other high-load displays. More important, color salience dominated perceptual load in other contexts in which display load was mixed and low-load displays preceded high-load displays. In addition, color salience also dominated perceptual load in contexts in which display load was fixed and advance knowledge of load was available. Altogether, the present findings suggest that the competition between color salience and perceptual load can vary as a function of task context, thereby supporting top-down accounts, although the precise aspect of task context remains to be identified.     

Constrained action selection in children with developmental coordination disorder

The effect of advance ('precue') information on short aiming movements was explored in adults, high school children, and primary school children with and without developmental coordination disorder (n=10, 14, 16, 10, respectively). Reaction times in the DCD group were longer than in the other groups and were more influenced by the extent to which the precue constrained the possible action space. In contrast, reaction time did not alter as a function of precue condition in adults. Children with DCD showed greater inaccuracy of response (despite the increased RT). We suggest that the different precue effects reflect differences in the relative benefits of priming an action prior to definitive information about the movement goal. The benefits are an interacting function of the task and the skill level of the individual. Our experiment shows that children with DCD gain a benefit from advance preparation in simple aiming movements, highlighting their low skill levels. This result suggests that goal-directed RTs may have diagnostic potential within the clinic.     

Event-related potentials, reaction time, and response selection of skilled and less-skilled cricket batsmen

The differences in P300 latency, P300 amplitude, response selection, and reaction time between skilled and less-skilled cricket batsmen have been investigated. Eight skilled and ten less-skilled right-handed batsmen each viewed 100 in-swing, 100 out-swing, and 40 slower deliveries displayed in random sequence from projected video footage whilst their responses and electroencephalograms were recorded. Logistic regression was used to derive a discriminative function for the P300 data. This was done to determine whether the skilled batsmen differed from the less-skilled batsmen on the basis of pooled P300 amplitude and latency data. All the batsmen were correctly characterised as being skilled or less-skilled. Logistic regression equations with reaction time and correctness of response data indicated that behavioural data do not correctly classify skilled performance. It is suggested that skilled cricket batsmen have a superior perceptual decision-making ability compared with less-skilled cricket batsmen, as measured by P300 latency and amplitude. This appears to be the first study showing a link between skill and cerebral cortical activity during a perceptual cricket batting task and it could pave the way for future studies on mental processing in cricket batsmen.     

Why did I right that? Factors that influence the production of homophone substitution errors

Despite considerable research on language production errors involving speech, little research exists in the complementary domain of writing. Two experiments investigated the production of homophone substitution errors, which occur when a contextually appropriate word (e.g., beech) is replaced with its homophone (e.g., beach tree). Participants wrote down auditorily presented sentences containing dominant or subordinate homophones. Homophones were preceded by a lexical prime that overlapped in phonology and orthography (e.g., teacher) or only orthography (e.g., headmaster) with the target homophone. Results showed more substitution errors when the context elicited a subordinate homophone than when it elicited a dominant homophone. Furthermore, both types of primes equivalently increased production of homophone errors relative to control words (e.g., lawyer), suggesting that only orthographic overlap between the prime and target was necessary to influence errors. These results are explained within dual-route models of spelling, which postulate an interaction between lexical and sublexical routes when spelling.     

Training clinical psychologists for rural and northern practice: Transforming challenge into opportunity

Abstract: The Rural and Northern Program (R&NP) of the University of Manitoba's Department of Clinical Health Psychology (DCHP) is a unique training and service delivery platform that was developed in response to the scarcity of psychological services in rural and northern areas of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Since 1996 rural and northern‐based psychologists, in conjunction with the faculty based in Winnipeg (Manitoba's largest city) have offered training to two interns and one postdoctoral resident (resident) yearly. The current article discusses the nature of the program, the regions of Manitoba that the program services, and recruitment and retention data. The authors conclude by offering suggestions for creating sustainable rural/northern psychological practice.     

Automatic processing of pain: the change of implicit pain associations after psychotherapy

This study explores the utility of a pain IAT for the assessment of dysfunctional cognitive beliefs in chronic pain patients before and after a cognitive behaviour therapy. A patient group suffering from chronic pain (N=25) treated with a 4-week cognitive behavioural psychotherapy is compared with an untreated healthy control group (N=27) at two points in time. In addition, both groups completed a self-esteem questionnaire (Rosenberg-scale) and a self-esteem IAT. In the clinical group a questionnaire assessing self-reported pain cognitions was administered. The pain IAT was able to differentiate between chronic pain patients and healthy controls before the treatment. Most important, pain-related implicit associations could be shown to change over the course of treatment in the clinical group of chronic pain patients. Results provide first evidence for an application of the IAT in chronic pain research.     

Staying or returning: Pre‐migration influences on the migration process of German migrants to New Zealand

Changes in migrants' backgrounds and societies sending and receiving migrants might increase adaptation issues and reduce retention. To enhance migrants' well‐being/health and their likelihood of staying it is necessary to gain an understanding of psychological and social factors that contribute to resilience and adaptation. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that investigated the experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrant couples to New Zealand throughout the whole migration process to identify these factors. In depth, episodic interviews were conducted with four couples who decided to stay in New Zealand and four couples who decided to return to Germany. Interview data were complemented with participant observation. This paper provides insights into how the pre‐migration experiences, interpretations and actions of German migrants to New Zealand influenced their establishment, their interpretations and actions and consequently adaptation, well‐being/health and the decision whether to stay in New Zealand or to return to Germany. The findings illuminate the influence of psychological and social factors on migration experiences, interpretations and actions throughout the migration process. The paper offers some solutions for addressing the identified barriers to successful migration and integration into host societies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Learning from experience: Examining the impact of client work upon two trainee therapists

This qualitative research study, focusing on the learning and change of two trainee therapists over a nine‐month period, was conducted by the trainees themselves. In collecting and analysing their data, the researchers made use of the heuristic methodology, to which some of the principles of the co‐operative inquiry methodology were added. The findings shed light on some of the ways in which trainee counsellors and psychotherapists might learn through their work with clients, the forms and contexts in which this learning may arise, and how the learning might affect the trainees. The findings additionally highlight some of the possible benefits of engaging in research for trainee counsellors and psychotherapists, in terms of their roles as practitioners. These include positive changes in the ways in which they work with clients, and changes in the ways they think about their practice.     

The Logic of Chastity: Women,Sex, and the History of Philosophy in the Early Modern Period

Before women could become visible as philosophers, they had first to become visible as rational autonomous thinkers. A social and ethical position holding that chastity was the most important virtue for women, and that rationality and chastity were incompatible, was a significant impediment to accepting women's capacity for philosophical thought. Thus one of the first tasks for women was to confront this belief and argue for their rationality in the face of a self‐referential dilemma.