Prejudice expectations moderate preconscious attention to cues that are threatening to social identity

Two studies examined whether chronic and situational expectations about being stigmatized predict attention toward cues that are threatening to social identity. In Study 1, women's chronic expectations about experiencing sexism were positively associated with their attention toward subliminal cues threatening to their social identity. In Study 2, women were vigilant toward subliminal cues threatening to their social identity when the experimental situation conveyed that their gender was devalued, but not when the experimental situation promoted value and respect for their gender. Women were vigilant toward consciously presented cues threatening to their social identity regardless of the attitudes the experimental context conveyed toward their group. These studies have important theoretical and practical implications for understanding the psychological experience of possessing a devalued social identity.     

Conceptual Locations and Pronominal Reference in American Sign Language

We report the results of an experiment investigating the ramifications of using space to express coreference in American Sign Language (ASL). Nominals in ASL can be associated with locations in signing space, and pronouns are directed toward those locations to convey coreference. A probe recognition technique was used to investigate the case of "locus doubling" in which a single referent is associated with two distinct spatial locations. The experiment explored whether an ASL pronoun activates both its antecedent referent and the location associated with that referent. An introductory discourse associated a referent (e.g, MOTHER) with two distinct locations (eg., STOREleft, KITCHENright), and a continuation sentence followed that either contained a pronoun referring to the referent in one location or contained no anaphora (the control sentence). Twenty-four deaf participants made lexical decisions to probe signs presented during the continuation sentences. The probe signs were either the referent of the pronoun, the referent-location determined by the pronoun, or the most recently mentioned location (not referenced by the pronoun). The results indicated that response times to referent nouns were faster in the pronoun than in the no-pronoun control condition and that response times to the location signs did not differ across conditions. Thus, the spatial nature of coreference in ASL does not alter the processing mechanism underlying the on-line interpretation of pronouns. Pronouns activate only referent nouns, not spatial location nouns associated with the referent.     

System-justifying beliefs and psychological well-being: the roles of group status and identity

This research examined the relationship between endorsing system-justifying beliefs and psychological well-being among individuals from ethnic groups that vary in social status. System-justifying beliefs are beliefs that imply that status in society is fair, deserved, and merited; examples of system-justifying beliefs in the United States include the beliefs that hard work pays off and that anyone can get ahead regardless of their group membership. We found that endorsing system-justifying beliefs was negatively related to psychological well-being among members of low-status groups who were highly identified with their group but positively related to well-being among members of low-status groups who were not highly identified with their ethnic group. In addition, we found that endorsing system-justifying beliefs was positively related to well-being among members of high-status groups, especially among members of high-status groups who were highly identified with the group.     

Parent and Child Anxiety Sensitivity: Relationship in a Nonclinical Sample

Little is known about the relationship between parent and child anxiety sensitivity (AS), particularly in nonclinical samples. The present study examined this association in 207 healthy parent-child pairs including 244 children (mean age = 12.3 years, 103 girls) and 226 parent figures (175 mothers). Sequential multiple linear regression revealed that parent AS was significantly associated with child AS in girls, but not in boys. Parent AS accounted for 9% of incremental variance in child AS, after controlling for child age, parent depression, and parent anxiety. Analyses of parent AS dimensions indicated that the social concerns dimension accounted for 14% of incremental variance in child AS in girls only. Parent anxiety and depression showed no association with child AS, once parent AS was taken into account. The findings indicate that parent AS, especially AS social concerns, demonstrates a significant relationship with child AS in this nonclinical sample of girls.     

A prospective investigation of the relationship between just-world beliefs and the desire for revenge after September 11, 2001

We prospectively examined the relationship between individuals' belief in a just world and their desire for revenge against the perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States. Eighty-three undergraduate students who had completed a measure of just-world beliefs prior to the terrorist attacks were assessed approximately 2 months following the attacks. The more strongly they had endorsed just-world beliefs prior to the attacks, the more distressed they felt about the attacks and the more they desired revenge. Furthermore, the relationship between belief in a just world and the desire for revenge was mediated by feelings of distress in response to the terrorist attacks. The results point to the importance of justice beliefs in understanding responses to the terrorist attacks.     

Principles of cross-modal competition: Evidence from deficits of attention

How does the attentional system coordinate the processing of stimuli presented simultaneously to different sensory modalities? We investigated this question with individuals with neurological damage who suffered from deficits of attention. In these individuals, we examined how the processing of tactile stimuli is affected by the simultaneous presentation of visual or auditory stimuli. The investigation demonstrated that two stimuli from different modalities are in competition when attention is directed to the perceptual attributes of both, but not when attention is directed to the perceptual attributes of one and the semantic attributes of the other. These findings reveal a differentiated attentional system in which competition is modulated by the level of stimulus representation to which attention is directed.     

On the (non)categorical perception of lexical tones

Identification and discrimination of lexical tones in Cantonese were compared in the context of a traditional categorical perception paradigm. Three lexical tone continua were used: one ranging from low level to high level, one from high rising to high level, and one from low falling to high rising. Identification data showed steep slopes at category boundaries, suggesting that lexical tones are perceived categorically. In contrast, discrimination curves generally showed much weaker evidence for categorical perception. Subsequent investigation showed that the presence of a tonal context played a strong role in the identification of target tones and less of a role in discrimination. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that tonal category boundaries are determined by a combination of regions of natural auditory sensitivity and the influence of linguistic experience.     

Psychosocial development and moral development: an exploratory comparison of adolescents in Japan and America

Building on previous cross-cultural research, this exploratory study examined the comparative psychosocial and sociomoral development of 46 adolescents--22 Japanese in Japan, 10 Japanese in the United States, and 14 Euro-Americans in the United States. Euro-American participants obtained more positive scores than Japanese in the United States and Japanese in Japan on six psychosocial stages and the total psychosocial score as measured by the Measures of Psychosocial Development. Except in the Contract/Truth domain, all groups scored at a comparable level in sociomoral development as measured by the Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form. Results are discussed in terms of cultural differences affecting adolescent development with implications for research and professional practice.     

Effects of Paired and Unpaired Eye-Blink Conditioning on Purkinje Cell Morphology

This experiment addressed (1) the importance of conjunctive stimulus presentation for morphological plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells and inhibitory interneurons and (2) whether plasticity is restricted to the spiny branches of Purkinje cells, which receive parallel fiber input. These issues were investigated in naive rabbits and in rabbits that received paired or unpaired presentations of the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US). To direct CS input to the cerebellar cortex, pontine stimulation served as the CS. Air puffs to the cornea served as the US. Paired condition rabbits received pontine stimulation for 350 msec paired with a coterminating 100-msec air puff. Unpaired condition rabbits received the same stimuli in a pseudorandom order at 1- to 32-sec intervals. Rabbits were trained for a mean of 12 days. Naive rabbits received no treatment. In Golgi-stained Purkinje neurons in lobule HVI, total dendritic length, main branch length, total spiny branch length, and number of spiny branch arbors were all greater in the naive group than in the paired and unpaired groups, which did not differ. No differences were found between the hemispheres ipsilateral and contralateral to the trained eye. The dendritic length and number of branches for inhibitory interneurons did not differ across groups. The Purkinje cell morphological changes detected with these methods do not appear to be uniquely related to the conjunctive activation of the CS and US in the paired condition.     

Women's Descriptions of Drinking in Bars: Reasons and Risks

Fifty-two women bar drinkers participated infocus group discussions about women's reasons fordrinking, victimization experiences, and behaviors thatinfluence risk for victimization, in bars. The majority of the participants were White (67.3%),one-third were Black (30.8%), and one was NativeAmerican. Qualitative data analytic techniques were usedto assess the content of these discussions. Womendescribed distinct reasons for going to bars and providednumerous accounts of aggression they had witnessed orexperienced associated with this setting. Depictions ofphysical violence ranged from having an object thrown at them or being pushed, to accounts ofrape and attempted murder. These women also describedobservable changes in other women's behavior followingalcohol consumption, and how these behaviors increase risk for victimization in bars. The qualitativefindings are discussed in terms of what they tell usabout women bar drinkers and the insight theyprovide fordesigning future studies and interventions that focus on education and prevention.