Perceptual averaging by eye and ear: Computing summary statistics from multimodal stimuli

Beyond perceiving the features of individual objects, we also have the intriguing ability to efficiently perceive average values of collections of objects across various dimensions. Over what features can perceptual averaging occur? Work to date has been limited to visual properties, but perceptual experience is intrinsically multimodal. In an initial exploration of how this process operates in multimodal environments, we explored statistical summarizing in audition (averaging pitch from a sequence of tones) and vision (averaging size from a sequence of discs), and their interaction. We observed two primary results. First, not only was auditory averaging robust, but if anything, it was more accurate than visual averaging in the present study. Second, when uncorrelated visual and auditory information were simultaneously present, observers showed little cost for averaging in either modality when they did not know until the end of each trial which average they had to report. These results illustrate that perceptual averaging can span different sensory modalities, and they also illustrate how vision and audition can both cooperate and compete for resources.     

Epistemology and the law: why there is no epistemic mileage in legal cases

Philosophical Studies - The primary aim of this paper is to defend the Lockean View—the view that a belief is epistemically justified iff it is highly probable—against a new family of...     

Comparison of brain activation during word retrieval done silently and aloud using fMRI

Using functional MRI we compared the patterns of activation in an effortful word retrieval task (stem completion) performed both silently and aloud. The silent and overt conditions showed expected differences in activation magnitude in regions such as primary motor cortex. Some regions, such as frontal operculum and dorsolateral frontal cortex, showed similar activation magnitude across conditions. Thalamus was more active on the left in both conditions and showed a symmetric drop in activity in the silent compared with the overt condition. Putamen was also more active in the overt condition and showed a larger decrease in activity on the right than on the left in the silent compared with the overt condition. Thus it appears that silent and overt performance of this task engage the thalamus and putamen in different ways.     

Asymmetrical effects of Pavlovian excitatory and inhibitory aversive transfer on Pavlovian appetitive responding and acquisition

Predictions of a theory of Pavlovian motivational transfer, which incorporates principles of both the theory of reciprocal inhibition and the Rescorla-Wagner model, were tested in several Pavlovian aversive to Pavlovian appetitive transfer tasks. As predicted, the presence of a signal for an aversive event, conditioned stimulus (AV CS+), reliably suppressed performance of appetitive conditioned responses (CRs) whether imposed during acquisition or on independently established responding. Acquisition of appetitive responding to a novel CS reinforced in compound with an AV CS+, however, was enhanced (“superconditioning”). This observation suggests that the effects of a discrepancy between expectation and actual outcome on a conditioning trial are influenced by the affective value of both the expectation and the reinforcer. These transfer effects were not symmetrical for an inhibitory aversive stimulus (AV CS?). An AV CS? did not enhance appetitive responding compared to a random control condition, nor did the AV CS? reduce (i.e., block) appetitive conditioning to a novel CS when appetitive reinforcement occurred in the presence of the AV CS?. Comparison of the two shock-exposed conditions with a naive control condition suggests that previous results that were apparently consistent with inhibitory aversive enhancement and blocking of appetitive conditioning may have been due to aversive context conditioning.     

Reactions of would-be helpers whose offer of help is spurned

An experiment was conducted to test the proposition that rejection of help by a needy recipient constitutes a negative expectancy violation for the would-be helper. The helper will react to this self-threat by expressing negative affect, unfavorable evaluations of the recipient, low attraction to the recipient, and causal attributions for the rejection that cast the recipient in an unflattering light. To test these hypotheses, college freshmen were prompted to offer rules for word construction to a same-sex recipient (a confederate) who was described as needing remediation on vocabulary and who "failed" a practice task. After rejecting/accepting the help, the recipient failed or succeeded on a comparable task. The results were consistent with these predictions. Dispositionally high expectations of interpersonal success served to amplify helpers' reactions to rejection/acceptance.     

WIEMAN'S MISUNDERSTANDING OF DEWEY: THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY DISCUSSION

Abstract. An important issue in the development of the American school of philosophy known as critical naturalism was whether the naturalistic vision implied a humanistic or a theistic interpretation of religion. Is the divine a creativity within nature but more than human effort, or is it the human vision of ideal possibilities and the effort to realize them? This issue is clarified through a study of the concept of the divine developed by the leading naturalist John Dewey in A Common Faith, the misunderstanding of this book by Henry Nelson Wieman, and the discussion of this misunderstanding in the pages of Christian Century. The essay concludes that Wieman's misunderstanding of Dewey is instructive in that it reveals unintended possibilities in Dewey's thought.     

Training community residential staff: Evaluation and follow-up

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a comprehensive residential direct-care staff training program on staff knowledge, record keeping, habilitation delivery, and turnover. A 40-hour training course was presented to 18 direct-care staff employed in three community residential facilities (CRF), while 18 staff in three other CRFs were placed on a waiting list. Sixteen of 18 trained staff (89%) increased use of habilitation activities, averaging 35.44% programming after training. Only six (33%) of the staff on the waiting list increased programming. The effectiveness of training was assessed against the gains of developmentally disabled (DD) consumers. In the training group, 31 of 36 (86.11%) residents increased on-task behavior while only 7 of 22 (31.6%) of the waiting list residents increased on-task behavior. Training also yielded improved client program records and a 50% decrease in staff turnover. Follow-up over 12 months showed behavior maintenance. Results suggest that training based on clear learner objectives, presented using behavioral procedures, and taught to the entire staff including managers improves staff performance and client benefit.     

Sex differences in affective responses as evidenced on the Bene-Anthony Test

This study investigates changes in a child's perception of the relationship with male and female parents during the course of the critical ages of 5, 6, 7, and 8. Correspondingly, since the paper concerns itself with nonpathological normal children, it also provides normative data on the Bene-Anthony Family Relations Test. Findings indicate variable gender and age differences in the feelings experienced by children aged 5, 6, 7, and 8 towards male and female parents. There are differences between male and female children in their attitudes toward mother and father, and there are significant changes within the age ranks. Sweeping norms which do not take age and gender into account are inappropriate on the basis of our findings.     

Experience and desire: A new format for Sensation Seeking Scales

A new form (VI) of the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) was developed which separates reports of past experiences from desired or intended future experiences on both Disinhibition (Dis) and Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) factors. Factor analyses were used to select items for the scales. High internal reliabilities were found for the Experience-Dis, Intention-TAS, and Intention-Dis scales, but only moderate reliability was found for the Experience-TAS scale. Retest reliabilities were high for all scales. The Experience-TAS and -Dis scales were highly correlated for males but not for females. The Experience- and Intention-TAS scales were moderately correlated, and the Experience- and Intention-Dis scales were highly correlated for both sexes. Both the TAS and the Dis scales on form V were highly correlated with the corresponding Intention scales on form VI. Uses for the new SS scales in individual assessment are suggested.A copy of SSS form VI may be obtained from the author.