Visual search for simple volumetric shapes.

Five experiments measured reaction time (RT) to detect the presence or absence of a simple volumetric shape (target) dependent on the number of display items (distractors) and their depicted three-dimensional (3-D) orientation. Experiments 1-4 examined every pairwise combination of two different simple volumetric shapes in two 3-D orientations. Conditions exhibiting "pop-out" could be predicted by differences in their two-dimensional (2-D) features. Conditions in which search was slower support previously found search asymmetries for particular 2-D features. When the distractors were a mixture of the other shapes in the same 3-D orientation, search was serial, except when the target had a curved principal axis (Experiment 5). The results suggest that these simple volumetric shapes are not processed preattentively.     

Status protection in high status minority groups

The present study investigated the conditions under which group members try to obtain membership in another group, or are motivated to protect their group membership when they risk losing it. One hundred and twenty-nine high school students participated as subjects in a laboratory experiment. Subjects were divided into two groups, allegedly on the basis of their problem solving style. The relative size (minority/majority) and status position (high/low) of the subject's group, as well as the permeability of group boundaries (permeable/impermeable) were manipulated as independent variables in a 2×2×2 factorial design. The main dependent variables were the extent to which individuals valued their group membership, and identified with their group. The main results are that membership in a group with high status is considered more attractive than membership in a low status group, This differential evaluation of high and low status groups is more extreme in minority groups than in groups of majority size. Furthermore, when group boundaries are permeable, members of high status minorities show relatively strong ingroup identification, indicating a strengthening of ties with their own group when an alternative (majority) group affiliation is possible. However, our expectation that permeable group boundaries would result in diminished ingroup identification in low status minorities was not confirmed. Some additional data suggest that unsatisfactory membership in a low status group is resolved in a different way.     

Sharp targets are detected better against a figure, and blurred targets are detected better against a background

There is growing evidence that the performance of perceptual tasks is often facilitated by perceived "figureness." Accuracy in detection and discrimination of targets is higher when the targets are presented in figural regions than when they are presented in ground regions of an image. This "figure superiority" might be a result of a functional specialization in the visual analysis of figure; recent theories have also assumed a functional specialization in the visual analysis of ground. If so, we might expect "ground superiority" in situations where task performance requires information available primarily through analysis of ground. We manipulated the spatial frequency of a small line segment and found that when it was sharp (i.e., the high-spatial-frequency components were present), it was detected better in figural regions, but when we blurred it (only the low-to-medium spatial frequencies were present) it was detected better in ground regions. These findings support the view that figure and ground analyses involve different specialized functions.     

Mothers' speech to children of four different ages

This study reports analyses, in terms of five different measures, of the speech on two standard tasks of 32 middle-class mothers to their children aged 1 1/2, 2 1/2, 4, and 6 years. Sex and birth order of child were not found to be related to mothers' speech. On four of the measures, both task and age of child had strongly significant effects. In general, with increasing age of child, mothers spoke more, in longer and grammatically more complex utterances, with greater diversity of vocabulary. The differences in speech addressed to 1 1/2-year-olds and that addressed to 2 1/2-year-olds were particularly marked.     

Father identification,achievement, and occupational behavior of rural youth

Comparisons were made between the post high school plans and the adequacy of father identification of male adolescents from rural economically deprived areas. The subjects were divided into two groups, low identification males (LIM) and high identification males (HIM) based on independent evaluators' judgments of the adequacy of their fathers. Each group's responses to a questionnaire concerning future plans and aspirations were compared. In general, the hypotheses predicting that HIM subjects have higher levels of aspiration, more self-confidence and greater satisfaction with school experiences were confirmed by the data.     

Spatial frequency differences can determine figure-ground organization

In three experiments we examined the influence of spatial frequency on perceptual organization. In each experiment a pattern was tested that was ambiguous in terms of figure and ground. In each experiment, the stimuli were 20 variations of the pattern, which were generated by filling the two regions of the pattern with horizontal sine wave gratings differing in spatial frequency. Five spatial frequencies were tested: 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 8 cycles per degree. The response measure was the percentage of response time one of the regions was seen as the figure. This region was seen as the figure a higher percentage of the time in those stimuli where it contained the relatively higher spatial frequency sine wave grating compared with those stimuli where it contained the relatively lower spatial frequency sine wave grating.     

Striving for success in outgroup settings: effects of contextually emphasizing ingroup dimensions on stigmatized group members' social identity and performance styles

For members of stigmatized groups, being confronted with highstatus outgroup members threatens social identity and undermines performance on status-relevant dimensions. Two experiments examined whether the negative effects of outgroup contexts are alleviated when value is expressed for a dimension on which the stigmatized ingroup excels. Specifically, the authors assessed whether ingroup versus outgroup context and contextual value for ingroup dimensions affects group members' reactions to failure on status-relevant dimensions and subsequent performance. Experiment 1 showed that in comparison to ingroup contexts, outgroup contexts induce stigmatized group members to protect social identity and to feel more agitated following negative performance feedback. Experiment 2 showed that when others in the context emphasize the importance of a dimension on which the ingroup excels, the negative effects of outgroup contexts are alleviated, stigmatized group members feel more cheerful concerning an upcoming task, and task performance is characterized by a focus on success.