Perspective taking and opinions about forms of reparation for victims of historical harm

The authors investigated the effects of perspective taking on opinions about reparations for victims of historical harm. In two studies, they showed that when non-Indigenous Australians took an Indigenous Australian perspective, this increased perceived entitlement to, and decreased anger toward, monetary compensation. Moreover, perceived entitlement mediated the relationship between anger about monetary compensation and perspective taking. Study 2 demonstrated the mutual influence of emotions and perceived entitlement. In particular, self-image shame rather than group-based guilt or anger predicted support for reparation when an Indigenous Australian perspective was adopted. The results suggest that taking the perspective of people who have experienced harm from one's own group can bolster a commitment to positive social change in relation to a pressing social issue.     

Polarity correspondence in metaphor congruency effects: structural overlap predicts categorization times for bipolar concepts presented in vertical space

Previous research has shown that words presented on metaphor congruent locations (e.g., positive words UP on the screen and negative words DOWN on the screen) are categorized faster than words presented on metaphor incongruent locations (e.g., positive words DOWN and negative words UP). These findings have been explained in terms of an interference effect: The meaning associated with UP and DOWN vertical space can automatically interfere with the categorization of words with a metaphorically incongruent meaning. The current studies test an alternative explanation for the interaction between the vertical position of abstract concepts and the speed with which these stimuli are categorized. Research on polarity differences (basic asymmetries in the way dimensions are processed) predicts that +polar endpoints of dimensions (e.g., positive, moral, UP) are categorized faster than -polar endpoints of dimensions (e.g., negative, immoral, DOWN). Furthermore, the polarity correspondence principle predicts that stimuli where polarities correspond (e.g., positive words presented UP) provide an additional processing benefit compared to stimuli where polarities do not correspond (e.g., negative words presented UP). A meta-analysis (Study 1) shows that a polarity account provides a better explanation of reaction time patterns in previous studies than an interference explanation. An experiment (Study 2) reveals that controlling for the polarity benefit of +polar words compared to -polar words did not only remove the main effect of word polarity but also the interaction between word meaning and vertical position due to polarity correspondence. These results reveal that metaphor congruency effects should not be interpreted as automatic associations between vertical locations and word meaning but instead are more parsimoniously explained by their structural overlap in polarities.     

Adolescent problem behavior: The effect of peers and the moderating role of father absence and the mother-child relationship

Examined the effect of peer problem behavior, the absence of a father or equivalent in the home, and the mother-adolescent relationship as predictors of adolescent problem behavior in a sample of 112 African American adolescents. Statistical analyses compared a moderator model to a mediational model and a cumulative risk model. As predicted, the moderator model was superior to the alternative models. Specifically, whereas the mediational model predicted that the effect of father absence and the mother-child relationship upon adolescent problem behavior would be mediated by peer problem behavior, neither effected peer problem behavior or adolescent problem behavior. Similarly, a cumulative risk index did not predict either child or parent reports of problem behavior and was not sensitive to specific contingencies that existed between the predictor variables. In contrast, an interactive, moderator model described the data quite well. This model suggested that father or equivalent absence magnifies the negative impact of peer problem behavior, while a positive mother-adolescent relationship attenuates this risk. A strong mother-adolescent relationship also served to protect adolescents in father-absent homes from the risk of peer problem behavior. This research was supported by a grant (NICHHD: HD24056) awarded to A. M. Cauce. The authors thank Nydia Ordonez, Tanya Aguilar, and Laurie Deppman for their assistance on the project, and Cliff Lunneberg for suggestions regarding resampling procedures. Portions of this paper were presented at the meetings of the Western Psychological Association, April 1992.     

Sensitivity to event timing in regular and irregular sequences: Influences of musical skill

In two experiments, the performance of listeners with different amounts of musical training (high skill, low skill) was examined in a two-alternative forced choice time-detection task involving simple five-cycle acoustic sequences. In each of a series of trials, all listeners determined which of two pattern cycles contained a small time change. Sequence context was also varied (regular vs. irregular timing). In Experiment 1, in which context was manipulated as a between-subjects variable, high-skill listeners performed significantly better than low-skill listeners only with regular patterns. In Experiment 2, in which context was manipulated as a within-subjects variable, the only significant source of variance was pattern context: All listeners were better at detecting time changes in regular than in irregular patterns. The results are considered in light of several hypotheses, including the expectancy/contrast model (Jones & Boltz, 1989).     

Analysis of word comprehension in a case of pure word deafness

A case of pure word deafness due to a left temporal infarct is reported. The results of dichotic tests suggest that auditory verbal material may be processed in the right hemisphere. The inability to repeat nonsense words, the frequent semantic paraphasias in real-word repetition tasks, and the capacity to give a partial account of the meaning of a word that the patient cannot repeat show that despite the impairment of the phonological analysis, lexical semantic processing is possible. An attempt is made to demonstrate that the patient resorts to this semantic processing and that this reflects the linguistic competence of the right hemisphere.     

A tutorial on some issues and methods in serial pattern research

In a review of major trends in serial pattern research, the issue of structural ambiguity and its relationship to representations of hierarchical and nonhierarchical patterns is considered. Also discussed is the role of various kinds of serial rules that can relate events within a sequence (e.g., nominal, ordinal, interval rules), as well as new developments in representing time relationships. Some practical problems that arise in the study of perception of serial structure are shown to involve its formal specification and the enlistment of appropriate controls. Major pitfalls are illustrated using recent research with music-like patterns (e.g., Deutsch, 1980).     

Readiness for pronunciation during the reading process

The task proposed to the S consisted of reading a series of three numbers projected on a screen. Depending on the series presented, the number projected at the center (test) required one or more syllables to be pronounced. The results show that the more syllables it takes to pronounce it, the longer the eye fixation on that number lasts. This suggests that a mechanism of readiness for pronunciation co-occurs with visual processing.     

The Rolling 50s (and More): Cars and Life Satisfaction Among Seniors Across Europe

Applied Research in Quality of Life - Cars represent a valuable real asset that most individuals use on a daily basis. Although cars are a form of material prosperity like income and other forms of...