Parsing silhouettes: the short-cut rule.

Many researchers have proposed that, for the purpose of recognition, human vision parses shapes into component parts. Precisely how is not yet known. The minima rule for silhouettes (Hoffman & Richards, 1984) defines boundary points at which to parse but does not tell how to use these points to cut silhouettes and, therefore, does not tell what the parts are. In this paper, we propose the short-cut rule, which states that, other things being equal, human vision prefers to use the shortest possible cuts to parse silhouettes. We motivate this rule, and the well-known Petter's rule for modal completion, by the principle of transversality. We present five psychophysical experiments that test the short-cut rule, show that it successfully predicts part cuts that connect boundary points given by the minima rule, and show that it can also create new boundary points.     

Women's characteristics and gender role attitudes: support for father involvement with children

Women's (N = 364) personal characteristics and gender role attitudes were examined in relation to their support for father involvement with children. The respondents completed measures of trust, attitudes toward women, hostility, self-esteem, and father involvement. Nontraditional gender role attitudes, positive ratings of their own interpersonal trust, and low hostility toward men were predictive of the respondents' support for father involvement. Participant demographics (including age, marital status, and number of children) were unrelated to their views of father involvement. Results indicate the importance of considering the characteristics and attitudes women bring to the co-parental relationship in the examination of factors influencing father involvement with children. Findings are discussed within the context of mothers' primary child-care and gatekeeping roles.     

Parsing silhouettes: The short-cut rule

Many researchers have proposed that, for the purpose of recognition, human vision parses shapes into component parts. Precisely how is not yet known. The minima rule for silhouettes (Hoffman & Richards, 1984) defines boundary points at which to parse but does not tell how to use these points to cut silhouettes and, therefore, does not tell what the parts are. In this paper, we propose the short-cut rule, which states that, other things being equal, human vision prefers to use the shortest possible cuts to parse silhouettes. We motivate this rule, and the well-known Petter’s rule for modal completion, by the principle of transversality. We present five psychophysical experiments that test the short-cut rule, show that it successfully predicts part cuts that connect boundary points given by the minima rule, and show that it can also create new boundary points.     

Early sexual experiences among pregnant and parenting adolescents.

One hundred sixty-six pregnant or parenting adolescent females completed a survey regarding early sexual experiences (wanted and unwanted), family dysfunction and violence, and health-risky behaviors occurring prior to age 18. Fifty-three percent had at least one unwanted sexual experience. Younger age at first unwanted sexual experience was associated with younger age at first wanted sexual experience. Adolescent females with an unwanted sexual experience, as compared to those without, were more likely to be victims of physical violence, to have run away, to be substance abusers, and to have family members with drug or alcohol problems. Four factors explained 39% of the variance in age at first pregnancy: presence of a family member with a drinking problem, age first got hit with a belt or other object by a family member, age first got drunk, and age at first wanted sexual experience. It was concluded that the prevention of teenage pregnancy entails a multifaceted approach that addresses family life, early sexual experiences, and health-risky behaviors.     

Unpacking Cultural Variations in Peak-Experiences: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Early Childhood Recollection Between Hong Kong and Brazil

In this cross-cultural study, 115 Hong Kong Chinese and 117 Brazilian college students described a childhood peak-experience (occurring before the age of 14) and provided a self-rating on its enduring impact. Among various categories of peak-experiences, both Hong Kong Chinese and Brazilians reported interpersonal joy most frequently; the second most frequently reported category was external achievement for the Hong Kong sample and developmental landmark for the Brazilian sample. Compared with Brazilians’ narratives, those of Hong Kong Chinese were more social-focused, involving greater number of other people, but less specific. These characteristics of autobiographical memory, i.e., memory focus (self vs. social), memory specificity (specific vs. general), and the number of other people involved, significantly mediated the relation between culture and interpersonal joy. The present findings have extended research on peak-experiences to cross-cultural contexts and incorporated measures of autobiographical memory to unpack cultural variations in these two collectivist societies.     

Religious Experience in a Cross-Cultural and Interfaith Context: Limitations and Possibilities

Religious experience is a multifaceted aspect of an individual’s experience involving conscious and unconscious components. Individuals, for example, maintain varied ideas of God at different levels of awareness and consciousness, all of which contribute to their broader experience of God. This paper focuses primarily on complex theistic experiences of God, their relationship to psychological and spiritual health, and how these experiences can be changed through psychological intervention. Consideration is also given to ethical issues and other implications of changing one’s religious experience.     

Evidence for the Effectiveness of an Alternative Multisource Performance Rating Methodology

Despite persistent concerns as to the quality of performance information obtained from multisource performance ratings (MSPRs), little research has sought ways to improve the psychometric properties of MSPRs. Borrowing from past methodologies designed to improve performance ratings, we present a new method of presenting items in MSPRs, frame‐of‐reference scales (FORS), and test the efficacy of this method in a field and lab study. The field study used confirmatory factor analysis to compare the FORS to traditional rating scales and revealed that FORS are associated with increased variance due to dimensions, decreased overlap among dimensions, and decreased error. The laboratory study compared rating accuracy associated with FORS relative to frame‐of‐reference training (FORT) and a control group and demonstrated that FORS are associated with higher levels of accuracy than the control group and similar levels of accuracy as FORT. Implications for the design and implementation of FORS are discussed.     

Insights into spared memory capacity in amnestic MCI and Alzheimer's Disease via minimal interference

Impairment on standard tests of delayed recall is often already maximal in the aMCI stage of Alzheimer's Disease. Neuropathological work shows that the neural substrates of memory function continue to deteriorate throughout the progression of the disease, hinting that further changes in memory performance could be tracked by a more sensitive test of delayed recall. Recent work shows that retention in aMCI patients can be raised well above floor when the delay period is devoid of further material - 'Minimal Interference'. This memory enhancement is thought to be the result of improved memory consolidation. Here we used the minimal interference/interference paradigm (word list retention following 10 min of quiet resting vs. picture naming) in a group of 17 AD patients, 25 aMCI patients and 25 controls. We found (1) that retention can be improved significantly by minimal interference in patients with aMCI and patients with mild to moderate AD; (2) that the minimal interference paradigm is sensitive to decline in memory function with disease severity, even when performance on standard tests has reached floor; and (3) that this paradigm can differentiate well (80% sensitivity and 100% specificity) between aMCI patients who progress and do not progress to AD within 2 years. Our findings support the notion that the early memory dysfunction in AD is associated with an increased susceptibility to memory interference and are suggestive of a gradual decline in consolidation capacity with disease progression.