Studying visual search using systems factorial methodology with target-distractor similarity as the factor

Systems factorial technology (SFT) is a theory-driven set of methodologies oriented toward identification of basic mechanisms, such as parallel versus serial processing, of perception and cognition. Studies employing SFT in visual search with small display sizes have repeatedly shown decisive evidence for parallel processing. The first strong evidence for serial processing was recently found in short-term memory search, using target-distractor (T-D) similarity as a key experimental variable (Townsend & Fifi?, 2004). One of the major goals of the present study was to employ T-D similarity in visual search to learn whether this mode of manipulating processing speed would affect the parallel versus serial issue in that domain. The result was a surprising and regular departure from ordinary parallel or serial processing. The most plausible account at present relies on the notion of positively interacting parallel channels.     

Mothers' attachment style, their mental health, and their children's emotional vulnerabilities: a 7-year study of children with congenital heart disease

The long-term contribution of mothers' attachment insecurities to their own and their children's psychological functioning was examined in a 7-year prospective longitudinal study of children with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). Sixty-three mothers of newborns with CHD participated in a three-wave study, beginning with the CHD diagnosis (T1), then 1 year later (T2), and again 7 years later (T3). At T1, the mothers reported on their attachment style and mental health. At T2, the mental health measure was administered again, along with a marital satisfaction scale. At T3, participants completed these two measures again, and their children reported on their self-concept and completed the Children's Apperception Test. Maternal avoidant attachment at T1 was the best predictor of deterioration in the mothers' mental health and marital satisfaction over the 7-year period, especially in a subgroup whose children had severe CHD. In addition, mothers' attachment insecurities (both anxiety and avoidance) at the beginning of the study were associated with their children's emotional problems and poor self-image 7 years later.     

What makes revenge sweet: Seeing the offender suffer or delivering a message?

The present article investigates the conditions under which vengeful episodes are satisfactory for the victim/avenger. Two hypotheses are tested simultaneously: (1) victims are satisfied if they see the offender suffer, even if this suffering was imposed by fate (“comparative suffering” hypothesis) and (2) victims are satisfied if the offender signals that he understands why revenge was imposed upon him (“understanding” hypothesis). A laboratory experiment is described in which the source of the offender’s suffering (revenge vs. fate) and the offender’s understanding for the cause of his suffering were varied. As an implicit measure of goal fulfillment, participants completed a lexical decision task that measured the relative accessibility of aggression-related words (compared to non-aggressive words). The results corroborate the understanding hypothesis: Participants showed higher levels of implicit goal fulfillment if they decided to take revenge and if the offender signaled understanding for the vengeful response. The findings are discussed with regard to the question what people hope to achieve when they take revenge.     

Perceived probability and evaluation of balance,agreement, and attraction: Toward a solution of conflicting results

Fifty-four subjects rated sixteen hypothetical situations on four evaluative and four probability scales. The situations were of the P-O-X type, consisting of two persons and an issue. A2×2×2×2 factorial design was used to test the relative importance of attitude (P to × relation), issue (marijuana or premarital sex), agreement (P to × and O to × relations), attraction (P to O relation), and balance (agreement × attraction interaction) on the evaluation and probability variables. As predicted from a critical review of past research on balance theory, balance was the main determinant of perceived probability. Attraction was the main determinant of evalution. In light of a review of past balance research and of the present data, we propose to restrict the balance hypothesis to cognitive variables, i.e., expectancy and perceived probability. In addition, support was obtained for the hypothesis that the more dogmatic a person is, the more frequently he will perceive balanced relationships as occurring and the more positively he will evaluate balanced situations.     

Influence in canonical correlation analysis

The perturbation theory of the generalized eigenproblem is used to derive influence functions of each squared canonical correlation coefficient and the corresponding canonical vector pair. Three sample versions of these functions are described and some properties are noted. As particular applications, the influence function of the squared multiple correlation coefficient and influence functions of eigenvalues and eigenvectors in correspondence analysis are obtained. Three numerical examples are briefly discussed.We thank the Editor and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. This research was carried out with the financial support of the Italian Ministry of the University and the National Research Council.     

Attachment, caregiving, and altruism: boosting attachment security increases compassion and helping

Recent studies based on J. Bowlby's (1969/1982) attachment theory reveal that both dispositional and experimentally enhanced attachment security facilitate cognitive openness and empathy, strengthen self-transcendent values, and foster tolerance of out-group members. Moreover, dispositional attachment security is associated with volunteering to help others in everyday life and to unselfish motives for volunteering. The present article reports 5 experiments, replicated in 2 countries (Israel and the United States), testing the hypothesis that increases in security (accomplished through both implicit and explicit priming techniques) foster compassion and altruistic behavior. The hypothesized effects were consistently obtained, and various alternative explanations were explored and ruled out. Dispositional attachment-related anxiety and avoidance adversely influenced compassion, personal distress, and altruistic behavior in theoretically predictable ways. As expected, attachment security provides a foundation for care-oriented feelings and caregiving behaviors, whereas various forms of insecurity suppress or interfere with compassionate caregiving.     

Macbeth and the Joystick: Evidence for moral cleansing after playing a violent video game

The “Macbeth effect” denotes the phenomenon that people wish to cleanse themselves physically when their moral self has been threatened. In this article we argue that such a threat to one's moral self may also result from playing a violent video game, especially when the game involves violence against humans. The cleansing effect should be particularly strong among inexperienced players who do not play video games on a regular basis, because frequent players may apply other strategies to alleviate any moral concerns. Seventy students played one of two violent video games and were then asked to select 4 out of 10 gift products, half of which were hygiene products. Inexperienced players reported more moral distress when the game involved violence against humans (compared to violence against objects), and selected more hygiene products in this condition than frequent video game players. Frequent players, on the other hand, reported less moral distress, irrespective of the game they played.     

Automatic and controlled components of judgment and decision making

The categorization of inductive reasoning into largely automatic processes (heuristic reasoning) and controlled analytical processes (rule-based reasoning) put forward by dual-process approaches of judgment under uncertainty (e.g., K. E. Stanovich & R. F. West, 2000) has been primarily a matter of assumption with a scarcity of direct empirical findings supporting it. The present authors use the process dissociation procedure (L. L. Jacoby, 1991) to provide convergent evidence validating a dual-process perspective to judgment under uncertainty based on the independent contributions of heuristic and rule-based reasoning. Process dissociations based on experimental manipulation of variables were derived from the most relevant theoretical properties typically used to contrast the two forms of reasoning. These include processing goals (Experiment 1), cognitive resources (Experiment 2), priming (Experiment 3), and formal training (Experiment 4); the results consistently support the author's perspective. They conclude that judgment under uncertainty is neither an automatic nor a controlled process but that it reflects both processes, with each making independent contributions.