Stroop effects in bilingual translation

In two experiments, bilinguals proficient in English and Spanish translated words from one language to the other. In each experiment, following the target word to be translated, distractor words were presented after a short (200-msec) or long (500-msec) stimulus onset asynchrony. In Experiment 1, the distractor words appeared in the language of production and were related to the meaning or form of the spoken translation. The results replicated past studies in demonstrating that semantically related distractor words produced Stroop-type interference, whereas form-related distractor words produced facilitation. In Experiment 2, the distractors appeared in the language of input and were related to the meaning or form of the target word itself. In contrast to the results of Experiment 1, there were only marginal effects of the distractors on translation performance. These results suggest that language cues related to the nature of the input in translation may serve to reduce competition among lexical competitors during lexicalization. The contrast between these results and those in bilingual picture-word interference studies provides important constraints for models of language production and for claims about the locus of language selection.     

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Pastoral Psychology -     

Economic and biological influences on key pecking and treadle pressing in pigeons

Pigeons were studied on a two-component multiple schedule in which the required operant was, in different conditions, biologically relevant (i.e., key pecking) or nonbiologically relevant (i.e., treadle pressing). Responding was reinforced on a variable-interval (VI) 2-min schedule in both components. In separate phases, additional food was delivered on a variable-time (VT) 15-s schedule (response independent) or a VI 15-s schedule (response dependent) in one of the components. The addition of response-independent food had different effects on responding depending on the operant response and on the frequency with which the components alternated. When components alternated frequently (every 10 s), all pigeons keypecked at a much higher rate during the component with the additional food deliveries, whether response dependent or independent. In comparison, treadle pressing was elevated only when the additional food was response dependent; rate of treadling was lower when the additional food was response independent. When components alternated infrequently (every 20 min), pigeons key pecked at high rates at points of transition into the component with the additional food deliveries. Rate of key pecking decreased with time spent in the 20-min component when the additional food was response independent, whereas rate of pecking remained elevated in that component when the additional food was response dependent. Under otherwise identical test conditions, rate of treadle pressing varied only as a function of its relative rate of response-dependent reinforcement. Delivery of response-independent food thus had different, but predictable, effects on responding depending on which operant was being studied, suggesting that animal-learning procedures can be integrated with biological considerations without the need to propose constraints that limit general laws of learning.     

Crossmodal links between audition and touch in covert endogenous spatial attention

We report three experiments designed to investigate the nature of any crossmodal links between audition and touch in sustained endogenous covert spatial attention, using the orthogonal spatial cuing paradigm. Participants discriminated the elevation (up vs. down) of auditory and tactile targets presented to either the left or the right of fixation. In Experiment 1, targets were expected on a particular side in just one modality; the results demonstrated that the participants could spatially shift their attention independently in both audition and touch. Experiment 2 demonstrated that when the participants were informed that targets were more likely to be on one side for both modalities, elevation judgments were faster on that side in both audition and touch. The participants were also able to "split" their auditory and tactile attention, albeit at some cost, when targets in the two modalities were expected on opposite sides. Similar results were also reported in Experiment 3 when participants adopted a crossed-hands posture, thus revealing that crossmodal links in audiotactile attention operate on a representation of space that is updated following posture change. These results are discussed in relation to previous findings regarding crossmodal links in audiovisual and visuotactile covert spatial attentional orienting.     

Localizing Localization: The Role of Working Memory in Auditory Localization

It is unclear from current accounts of working memory which, if any, of its components might be involved in our ability to specify the location of a sound source. A series of studies were performed to assess the degree of interference in localization of broadband noise, by a concurrent articulatory suppression (articulatory loop—Experiment 1), serial recall (phonological store and articulatory loop—Experiment 2), and Paced Visual Serial Addition Test (central executive—Experiment 3). No significant disruption of auditory localization was revealed by the first two experiments, ruling out a role for the phonological loop in auditory localization. In Experiment 3, a large degree of error was exhibited in localization, when performed concurrently with the addition task, indicating a requirement for central resources. This suggestion is confirmed by comparison of localization performance across all three studies, which demonstrates a clear deterioration in performance as the demand of concurrent tasks on central resources increases. Finally, concurrent localization was shown to disrupt the primacy portion of the serial position curve, as well as performance on the Paced Visual Serial Addition Test.     

Assessing the Current Validity of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is a widelyused instrument in measuring gender role perceptions.Recent concerns regarding the validity of the adjectiveshave arisen as changes in the roles of men and women have occurred in American society sincethe 1970's. A partial replication of the method that Bem(1974) used to validate the masculine and feminineadjectives comprising the instrument was conducted. All but two of the adjectives were validatedusing Bem's criteria. These findings suggest that theBSRI may still be a valid instrument for assessing genderroles. However, evidence was revealed that traditional masculine and feminine gender role perceptionsmay be weakening. Future validation of the BSRI iswarranted in light of these patterns.     

Depression, self-focused attention, and expectancies for positive and negative future life events for self and others

In two studies, we examined depressed and nondepressed persons' judgments of the probability of future positive and negative life events occurring to themselves and to others. Study 1 demonstrated that depressed subjects were generally less optimistic than their nondepressed counterparts: Although nondepressed subjects rated positive events as more likely to happen to themselves than negative events, depressed subjects did not. In addition, relative to nondepressed subjects, depressed subjects rated positive events as less likely to occur to themselves and more likely to occur to others and negative events as more likely to occur to both self and others. Study 2 investigated the role that differential levels of self-focused attention might play in mediating these differences. On the basis of prior findings that depressed persons generally engage in higher levels of self-focus than nondepressed persons do and the notion that self-focus activates one's self-schema, we hypothesized that inducing depressed subjects to focus externally would attenuate their pessimistic tendencies. Data from Study 2 supported the hypothesis that high levels of self-focus partially mediate depressive pessimism: Whereas self-focused depressed subjects were more pessimistic than nondepressed subjects, externally focused depressed subjects were not. The role of attentional focus in maintaining these and other depressive pessimistic tendencies was discussed.     

The development of primary process in children's Rorschachs

Three cohorts of normal Italian schoolchildren, 55 boys and 47 girls, were given Rorschachs at ages 6, 7, and 8; 9, 10, and 11; and 12 and 13. Regardless of sex or score, primary process (scored by Holt's method) tends to diminish with age; but significantly among the boys only for the sums of all primary process, of Level 2 responses, and of content. Measures of control showed similar developmental trends, mean form level advancing significantly in the total sample and among girls. Even stronger trends within cohorts were confounded by retest effects.     

Clinical and statistical prediction: a retrospective and would-be integrative perspective

One of the early participants in the clinical-statistical controversy describes his effort to mediate the dispute and to direct attention to the underlying issues, to most of which the box scores were irrelevant. A previously undiscussed undercurrent of the controversy is the conflict between different metaphysical world views, the history of which for the past few hundred years is quickly sketched. The mechanist metaphysics of behaviorism, which has long been dominant in American mainstream psychology, favors objective and statistical approaches and discourages interest in judgement, an issue that nevertheless refuses to go away. Systems philosophy is proposed as an integrative alternative.     

Emotion Regulation Difficulties Moderate the Association Between Heavy Episodic Drinking and Dating Violence Perpetration Among College Men

Because of high rates of heavy drinking and dating violence (psychological or physical aggression toward a dating partner) among college men, we examined whether emotion regulation difficulties moderated the association between heavy drinking and dating violence perpetration. One hundred and fifty-eight men were recruited from a large northwestern U.S. university between April 2014 and August 2014. Participants completed an online survey that assessed their emotion regulation difficulties as well as their past year history of heavy episodic drinking (HED; consuming 5+ drinks in 2 hr) and dating violence perpetration. Generalized linear models revealed that the positive association between HED and dating violence perpetration was stronger for men with greater impulse control difficulties and for those who reported limited access to emotion regulation strategies. In addition to continued efforts to reduce heavy drinking among college men, interventions targeting emotion regulation difficulties should be incorporated into standard dating violence intervention and prevention efforts to further reduce the likelihood of dating violence perpetration in this population.