You detect while I search: examining visual search efficiency in a joint search task

Numerous factors impact attentional allocation, with behaviour being strongly influenced by the interaction between individual intent and our visual environment. Traditionally, visual search efficiency has been studied under solo search conditions. Here, we propose a novel joint search paradigm where one individual controls the visual input available to another individual via a gaze contingent window (e.g., Participant 1 controls the window with their eye movements and Participant 2 – in an adjoining room – sees only stimuli that Participant 1 is fixating and responds to the target accordingly). Pairs of participants completed three blocks of a detection task that required them to: (1) search and detect the target individually, (2) search the display while their partner performed the detection task, or (3) detect while their partner searched. Search was most accurate when the person detecting was doing so for the second time while the person controlling the visual input was doing so for the first time, even when compared to participants with advanced solo or joint task experience (Experiments 2 and 3). Through surrendering control of one’s search strategy, we posit that there is a benefit of a reduced working memory load for the detector resulting in more accurate search. This paradigm creates a counterintuitive speed/accuracy trade-off which combines the heightened ability that comes from task experience (discrimination task) with the slower performance times associated with a novel task (the initial search) to create a potentially more efficient method of visual search.     

Psychological support for people with dementia: A preliminary study

Aim/Purpose

Evidence suggests nonpharmacological therapies could improve quality of life in people with Alzheimer's disease (Olazaran et al., 2010). This study aimed to explore attitudes to, and acceptability of, psychological support for people with mild dementia, from their perspective.

Design/Methodology

Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with five people identified from secondary care services. Questions concerned the experience of being diagnosed, experience of support services and their opinion of alternative support options. Interviews were audio‐recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

Results/Findings

Three main themes were identified: loss, coping mechanisms and support. Loss of physical abilities was associated with loss of identity and place in the community. Coping mechanisms included asserting control, and growth and development, including engaging in new activities or using humour. Individual needs and preferences were key to effective support. Social aspects of support and opportunities to talk about their feelings were valued by participants. Counselling, mindfulness and group‐based activities, including walking and gardening, were viewed positively. Support from admiral nurses or specialist nurses tended to be viewed in terms of physical health needs, and most needed in later stages of dementia.

Research Limitations

Limitations include the small sample size, potential inaccuracies acknowledged by participants regarding recollections of events and researcher bias in hoping that psychological support would be well received.

Conclusions/Implications

Talking therapies and psychosocial interventions are acceptable sources of support. Person‐centred support which considers personal preferences and abilities can support people to live well with dementia.     

When all COVID breaks loose: Examining determinants of working parents' job performance during a crisis

As governments mandated organization and school closures due to COVID-19, working parents involuntarily found themselves trying to balance both work and child educational responsibilities from home while still endeavoring to remain productive at work. As such, we integrate the crisis management literature with boundary theory and the work–home resources model to propose and test a process model to better understand how abrupt shifts to remote work and school closures impact working parents' job performance during a crisis. Using data collected across four time periods beginning at the time when most states had issued “safer at home” orders, we examine a serial mediation model and find, consistent with predictions, that early experiences of boundary violations and job insecurity impact work–family balance self-efficacy, which in turn drives future job performance by way of its effects on working parents' subjective well-being. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

A Model of Racialized Sexual Harassment of Women in the UK Workplace

This paper examines Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) women’s experiences of sexual harassment in the UK workplace from the perspective of frequency and types of sexual harassment and characteristics of the harasser; ethnic and cultural influences; power, fear of reprisals, and reporting behavior. Using a snowballing technique, in depth interviews with 17 BAME women who had experienced or witnessed BAME sexual harassment reported that they were frequently sexually harassed by men from the same ethnic background. The fear of job loss, reprisals from male family members and negative organizational consequences resulted in over three quarters of the women not reporting incidents. Key questions regarding the factors and influences that are inherent in racialized sexual harassment are integrated into a model.     

The Impact of Organizational Culture on Attraction and Recruitment of Job Applicants

Purpose  

This research examined how job pursuit and application decisions of male and female job applicants are impacted by beliefs about the organization’s culture.     

Caring for the Caregivers: An Investigation of Factors Related to Well-Being Among Parents Caring for a Child with Smith-Magenis Syndrome

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a complex disorder characterized by numerous challenges, including intellectual disability, speech delay, decreased pain sensitivity, sleep disturbances, hyperactivity, mood instability, and self-injury. Caregivers must readily adapt to the ever-changing needs of the child. Due to these demands, caregivers may encounter difficulties maintaining their own level of well-being. Thus, a total of 112 primary caregivers (i.e., parents) of individuals diagnosed with SMS responded to online questionnaires to assess demographic and psychosocial factors, such as perceptions of child health vulnerability, benefit finding, sleep behaviors, anxiety and depression symptomatology, and caregiver satisfaction and self-efficacy, which may be related to caregiver well-being. Results show that, among mothers, caregiver well-being was directly related to perceived child health vulnerability, caregiver satisfaction, and benefit finding, and a significant moderating effect was observed for depression/anxiety counseling after beginning the caregiver role on the relationship between anxiety symptomatology and caregiver well-being. Results further suggest that maternal caregivers who report high levels of anxiety but do not seek counseling fair the worst in terms of well-being. Among fathers, lower depression symptoms and greater benefit finding were related to higher levels of caregiver well-being. These data show that many factors play roles in influencing coping and well-being among SMS caregivers. Investigating these variables and relationships may reveal additional resources and interventions to assist primary caregivers.     

Rate and duration memory of naturalistic sounds

Research has shown that the tempi of familiar songs are remarkably well-remembered with a high degree of accuracy. The goal of the present research was to determine whether this ability generalizes to various types of ecological sounds and, if so, how rate information is encoded into the cognitive system. Across three experiments, participants were familiarized with a set of sounds and later asked to remember the rate of each. Experiment 1 revealed that the inherent rate of sounds is incidentally learned such that subsequent recognition is comparable across both prospective and retrospective paradigms. Experiment 2 confirmed these findings through an adjustment task and further demonstrated that memory for event rate remains highly accurate regardless if attending is initially directed toward a sound's rate and/or pitch qualities. Lastly, Experiment 3 assessed the ability to recognize event rate vs. duration when the two dimensions systematically co-vary with one another and revealed that rate variations influence duration recognition but not vice versa. These overall findings are discussed relative to a framework that emphasizes the role of event structure in time judgment behavior.