Building the buzz in the hive mind

What is the secret to buzz marketing? Buzz marketing is defined as the amplification of initial marketing efforts by third parties through their passive or active influence. This powerful conceptual framework is illustrated in this paper with practical information on how to build the buzz. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications Ltd.     

Salience drives non-spatial feature repetition effects in cueing tasks

In an exogenous cueing task repeating a non-spatial feature can benefit performance if the feature is task-relevant to a discrimination response. Previous studies reporting this effect have used complex displays. In the current study, we look at the generalizability of this effect, by extending it to a simple exogenous cueing paradigm in which the cue and target displays each consist of single-object onsets. We also investigate the influence of task-relevant and irrelevant features independently within the same experiment. Consistent with previous studies, we find non-spatial feature repetition benefits in all three experiments. Importantly, and unlike previous studies, we find that the most salient, rather than the task-relevant, feature drives the non-spatial feature repetition benefit. Furthermore, in addition to the previously observed non-spatial feature repetition benefits, we also found a spatially specific feature repetition benefit. We argue that these new findings are consistent with habituation accounts of attentional cueing effects.     

The action effect: Support for the biased competition hypothesis

The action effect refers to the finding that faster response times are found when a previously responded to stimulus contains a target item than when it serves as a distracting item in a visual search. The action effect has proven robust to a number of perceptual and attentional manipulations, but the mechanisms underlying it remain unclear. In the current study, we present two experiments investigating a possible underlying mechanism of the action effect; that responding to a stimulus increases its attentional weight causing the system to prioritize it in the visual search. In Experiment 1, we presented the search stimulus in isolation and found no evidence of an action effect. Thus, when there was no requirement for prioritization, there was no action effect. In Experiment 2, we tested whether stimulus-based priming (rather than the action) can account for the observed validity effects. We found no evidence of a priming effect when there were never any actions. These findings are consistent with the biased competition hypothesis and provide a framework for explaining the action effect while also ruling out other potential explanations such as event file updating.     

Exploring the Role of Social Support in Promoting Community Integration: An Integrated Literature Review

Community integration has emerged as a priority area among mental health advocates, policy makers, and researchers (Townley, Miller, & Kloos, 2013; Ware, Hopper, Tugenberg, Dickey, & Fisher, 2007). Past research suggests that social support influences community integration for individuals with serious mental illnesses (Davidson, Haglund, Stayner, Rakfeldt, Chinman, & Tebes, 2001; Davidson, Stayner, Nickou, Styron, Rowe, & Chinman, 2001; Wong & Solomon, 2002), but there has not yet been a systematic review on this topic. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to explore the influence of social support on community integration through a review of the existing literature. An extensive literature search was conducted, resulting in 32 articles that met the search criteria. These articles were organized into three categories: defining community integration, supportive relationships, and mental health services. The search results are analyzed according to the types of support being provided. Article strengths, limitations, implications, and future directions are also addressed. Overall, the findings of this review suggest that social support, which may be provided by a variety of individuals and services, plays an important role in promoting community integration for individuals with serious mental illnesses. Therefore, as community mental health research and practice continues to promote community integration for individuals with serious mental illnesses, the mental health field should emphasize the importance of social support as a key factor influencing community integration.     

Upper- and lower-limb amputees show reduced levels of eeriness for images of prosthetic hands

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - The “uncanny phenomenon” describes the feeling of unease associated with seeing an image that is close to appearing human. Prosthetic hands in...     

Evolution of Students’ Varied Conceptualizations About Socially Responsible Engineering: A Four Year Longitudinal Study

Science and Engineering Ethics - Engineers should learn how to act on their responsibility to society during their education. At present, however, it is unknown what students think about the...     

Oops!.. I did it again: an ERP and behavioral study of double-errors

To understand the sequealae of action monitoring failures, most previous studies have focused on neural (e.g., the ERN and Pe) and behavioral (e.g., post-error slowing) measures associated with correct trials that precede and follow errors. However, trials that precede and follow errors are not always correct, and no study to date has examined RT and ERP indices in double-error sequences that could shed additional light on multiple response monitoring failures. In the present study, we examined ERP and behavioral data surrounding double-errors to explore the possibility that double-errors could either result from the failed detection of the first error, or from a reduction in compensatory post-error behavioral adjustments. Results indicate a normal ERN and Pe surrounding double-errors; however, errors that followed errors were characterized by reduced post-error reaction time slowing. These data are discussed in terms of existing response monitoring data, and in terms of the utility of double-errors to shed light on distinct types of response monitoring failures.