Do observers like curvature or do they dislike angularity?

Humans have a preference for curved over angular shapes, an effect noted by artists as well as scientists. It may be that people like smooth curves or that people dislike angles, or both. We investigated this phenomenon in four experiments. Using abstract shapes differing in type of contour (angular vs. curved) and complexity, Experiment 1 confirmed a preference for curvature not linked to perceived complexity. Experiment 2 tested whether the effect was modulated by distance. If angular shapes are associated with a threat, the effect may be stronger when they are presented within peripersonal space. This hypothesis was not supported. Experiment 3 tested whether preference for curves occurs when curved lines are compared to straight lines without angles. Sets of coloured lines (angular vs. curved vs. straight) were seen through a circular or square aperture. Curved lines were liked more than either angular or straight lines. Therefore, angles are not necessary to generate a preference for curved shapes. Finally, Experiment 4 used an implicit measure of preference, the manikin task, to measure approach/avoidance behaviour. Results did not confirm a pattern of avoidance for angularity but only a pattern of approach for curvature. Our experiments suggest that the threat association hypothesis cannot fully explain the curvature effect and that curved shapes are, per se, visually pleasant.     

Parent–child relationships and offspring’s positive mental wellbeing from adolescence to early older age

We examined parent-child relationship quality and positive mental well-being using Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development data. Well-being was measured at ages 13–15 (teacher-rated happiness), 36 (life satisfaction), 43 (satisfaction with home and family life) and 60–64 years (Diener Satisfaction With Life scale and Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale). The Parental Bonding Instrument captured perceived care and control from the father and mother to age 16, recalled by study members at age 43. Greater well-being was seen for offspring with higher combined parental care and lower combined parental psychological control (p < 0.05 at all ages). Controlling for maternal care and paternal and maternal behavioural and psychological control, childhood social class, parental separation, mother’s neuroticism and study member’s personality, higher well-being was consistently related to paternal care. This suggests that both mother–child and father–child relationships may have short and long-term consequences for positive mental well-being.     

The visual system prioritizes locations near corners of surfaces (not just locations near a corner)

When a new visual object appears, attention is directed toward it. However, some locations along the outline of the new object may receive more resources, perhaps as a consequence of their relative importance in describing its shape. Evidence suggests that corners receive enhanced processing, relative to the straight edges of an outline (corner enhancement effect). Using a technique similar to that in an original study in which observers had to respond to a probe presented near a contour (Cole et al. in Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 27:1356–1368, 2001), we confirmed this effect. When figure–ground relations were manipulated using shaded surfaces (Exps. 1 and 2) and stereograms (Exps. 3 and 4), two novel aspects of the phenomenon emerged: We found no difference between corners perceived as being convex or concave, and we found that the enhancement was stronger when the probe was perceived as being a feature of the surface that the corner belonged to. Therefore, the enhancement is not based on spatial aspects of the regions in the image, but critically depends on figure–ground stratification, supporting the link between the prioritization of corners and the representation of surface layout.     

Narrative identity in female patients with remitted bipolar disorder: a negative past and a foreshortened future

The present study examined narrative identity and subjective well-being in outpatients with remitted bipolar disorder (BD) and a healthy control group. Fifteen female outpatients with remitted BD and 15 healthy control participants identified past and future chapters in their life stories, gave their age for the beginning and end of each chapter, rated emotional tone as well as positive and negative self-event connections associated with the chapters, and for future chapters rated the probability of the chapter. The BD patients reported less positive emotional tone and self-event connections for past chapters, but not for future chapters. However, the patients did describe fewer future chapters with shorter temporal projection into the future, and reported lower probability of future chapters. These characteristics of chapters were related to lower subjective well-being. The study suggests that a more negative narrative identity with a foreshortened future perspective may contribute to lower subjective well-being in patients with BD.     

Feeding upon awakening in breastfeeding and bottlefeeding mothers does not affect the awakening cortisol response

An acute breastfeeding stimulus is generally followed by a transient decrease in cortisol levels in mothers. It is currently not clear whether breastfeeding upon waking up would affect the awakening cortisol response (ACR), a significant increase in salivary cortisol levels occurring within 30-45 min after awakening. In the present study, we measured the amplitude and stability of the ACR in response to infant feeding in women who were exclusively bottle-feeding (n = 16), or breastfeeding (n = 13) or feeding their child solid food (n = 12). The results show that the type of infant feeding did not affect the amplitude and stability of the ACR. Given that the ACR has been reported to reflect physical and psychological well-being, our finding that infant feeding upon waking up might not be a confounding factor in ACR studies on the postpartum population represents valuable methodological information.     

Euclidean Hierarchy in Modal Logic

For a Euclidean space , let L _n denote the modal logic of chequered subsets of . For every n 1, we characterize L _n using the more familiar Kripke semantics, thus implying that each L _n is a tabular logic over the well-known modal system Grz of Grzegorczyk. We show that the logics L _n form a decreasing chain converging to the logic L of chequered subsets of . As a result, we obtain that L is also a logic over Grz, and that L has the finite model property. We conclude the paper by extending our results to the modal language enriched with the universal modality.     

分类研究中的原型与样例观

该文具体分析了现代认知心理学对分类问题的主要看法,指出了当前分类研究范式存在的问题及今后进一步研究的主要方向。     

Social Justice and Multicultural Issues: Implications for the Practice and Training of Counselors and Counseling Psychologists

The authors discuss the historical and contemporary connection to social justice issues in the fields of counseling and counseling psychology via the multicultural counseling movement. In addition, the authors present ways in which social justice issues can be addressed in counselors' and counseling psychologists' work with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds and in graduate training programs.