Cross-domain Repetition Priming in Person Recognition

Three experiments examining repetition priming of personal names are reported. In each experiment, faces are used as prime stimuli and people's names as the test stimuli. Experiment 1 fails to demonstrate priming from faces to names when the same task-a familiar/ unfamiliar judgement-is made in prime and test phases. Experiment 2 shows that priming is observed when the same semantic judgement (British/ American) is made in prime and test phases. Experiment 3 shows that priming is observed when different semantic judgements (dead/ alive, British/ American) are made at prime and test phase. These results suggest that transfer appropriate processing cannot provide the sole account of repetition priming in person recognition. Instead, the results are interpreted in terms of a structural account of priming, embedded within an interactive activation and competition model of person recognition.     

Regression away from the mean: Theory and examples

Using a standard repeated measures model with arbitrary true score distribution and normal error variables, we present some fundamental closed-form results which explicitly indicate the conditions under which regression effects towards (RTM) and away from the mean are expected. Specifically, we show that for skewed and bimodal distributions many or even most cases will show a regression effect that is in expectation away from the mean, or that is not just towards but actually beyond the mean. We illustrate our results in quantitative detail with typical examples from experimental and biometric applications, which exhibit a clear regression away from the mean (‘egression from the mean’) signature. We aim not to repeal cautionary advice against potential RTM effects, but to present a balanced view of regression effects, based on a clear identification of the conditions governing the form that regression effects take in repeated measures designs.     

Book reviews

Long, J. and Baddeley, A. Attention and performance IX. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1981. Pp 643. ISBN 0-89859-156-2. £30.

Cutler, A. and Ladd, D. R. (Eds.). Prosody: Models and measurements. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 1983. Pp. ix + 159. ISBN 3-540-12428-4. $24.

Wood, G. Cognitive psychology: A skills approach. Monterey, Cal.: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. 1983. Pp. 352. ISBN 0-534-01262-0.

Engelkamp, J. and Zimmer, H. D. Dynamic aspects of language processing: Focus and presupposition. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 1983. Pp. 102. ISBN 3-540-12433-0

K. Rayner (Ed.). Eye movements in reading: Perceptual and language processes. New York: Academic Press. 1983. pp. xxi + 526. ISBN 0-12-583680-5. £34.40.

Lass, N. J., McReynolds, L. V., Northern, J. L. and Yoder, D. E. (Eds.). Speech, language and hearing. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co. 1982. Vol I: Normal processes. (ISBN 0-7216-5641-2, pp. 422, $26.50.) Vol II: Pathologies of speech and language. (ISBN 0-7216-5642-0, pp. 368, $24.50.) Vol III: Hearing disorders. (ISBN 0-7216-5643-9, pp. 238, $22.50.)

Singleton, W. T. (Ed.). The body at work: Biological ergonomics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1982. Pp. 430. ISBN 0-521-24087-5. £32.50.

Magill, R. A. (Ed.). Memory and control of action. Amsterdam: North-Holland. 1983. Pp. 395. ISBN 0-444-86559-4. $53.25.

Hewstone, M. (Ed.). Attribution theory: Social and functional extensions. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1983. Pp. 256. ISBN 0-631-13322-4. Hardback £25.00; paperback £9.50.

Ellis, A. W. Reading, writing and dyslexia: A cognitive analysis. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1984. Pp. 147. ISBN 0-86377-002-9. Hardback £12.95. Paperback £5.95.     

After Counting: The Church in English Social Life

Book reviewed in this article
Timothy Jenkins, Religion in English Everyday Life: An Ethnographic Approach     

Public service motivation as a predictor of attraction to the public sector

According to public service motivation theory, individuals with a strong public service orientation are attracted to government jobs. This proposition was investigated in three studies by measuring public sector motivation at a pre-entry level as an individual difference variable affecting perceptions of fit and organizational attraction. Results were consistent with a positive relationship between public sector motivation and attraction to both public sector and non-profit organizations. Despite substantial overlap between the constructs of public sector motivation and agreeableness, the present research indicated that public sector motivation has utility in predicting employment interests beyond the general personality factor of agreeableness.     

"HIV testing is so gay": the role of masculine gender role conformity in HIV testing among men who have sex with men

Men who have sex with men (MSM) account for more than half of all new cases of HIV infection in the United States. Yet, many MSM are unaware of their HIV serostatus. Consistent with research indicating that gender role conformity impacts health behaviors, this study examined how masculine norms may influence HIV testing among MSM in the United States. Data from 170 self-identified MSM (age M = 46.45, SD = 12.18) of self-reported negative or unknown HIV serostatus living in the United States were used in this study. About half (52%) of participants reported that they had been tested for HIV within the past 12 months; 48% reported that they had not. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between domains of masculine gender role conformity and HIV testing within the past 12 months, controlling for number of sexual partners in the last 12 months. The masculine norm of heterosexual self-presentation (i.e., desire to be perceived by others as heterosexual) was negatively associated with HIV testing (B = -0.74, SE B = 0.36, O.R. = 0.48, 95% CI [0.24, 0.96]), after controlling for the effect of number of sexual partners. Psychologists and other health professionals may remain mindful of potential implications of HIV testing among MSM, including potential for MSM to view HIV testing as an "outing" procedure.