Focusing attention on overlapping and non-overlapping figures with subjective contours

In a series of five experiments we investigated whether observers could focus attention on a restricted visual area that was demarcated by Kanizsa-like subjective contours, and whether this effect also occurred in the case of overlapping figures. The task was a simple reaction time to a luminance increment and the basic finding was that reaction time was faster when the imperative stimulus fell inside the focus of attention than when it fell outside. The first two experiments showed that the extent of the attentional focus could be adapted to a region that was demarcated by subjective contours, thus extending the results of previous studies that used regions demarcated by real contours. The last three experiments showed that, regardless of the type of margins, focusing was more efficient for the figure that was perceived as lying in front in a pair of overlapping figures. Received: 21 December 1999  / Accepted: 23 August 2000     

Psychological essentialism and the differential attribution of uniquely human emotions to ingroups and outgroups

According to the psychological essentialism perspective, people tend to explain differences between groups by attributing them different essences. Given a pervasive ethnocentrism, this tendency implies that the human essence will be restricted to the ingroup whereas outgroups will receive a lesser degree of humanity. Therefore, it is argued that people attribute more uniquely human characteristics to the ingroup than to the outgroup. The present article focuses on secondary emotions that constitute such characteristics. Study 1 showed that members of high‐ and low‐status groups attribute more positive secondary emotions to the ingroup than to the outgroup. Study 2 verified that the differential attribution extended also to negative secondary emotions. No exemplars of emotions were provided in Study 3. Instead, participants had to estimate the means of two distributions of numbers that supposedly represented characteristics of the ingroup and of the outgroup. The results of this third experiment illustrated the reluctance to attribute secondary emotions to the outgroup. The findings are discussed from the perspective of psychological essentialism. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Føllesdal on the notion of the noema: A critique

Conclusion In this paper, I have demonstrated that Føllesdal's famous interpretation of Husserl's concept of the noema is mistaken due to a fundamental misunderstanding of Husserlian terminology. I have given what I consider to be a correct explanation of the notion of the noema and of Husserlian terminology and have backed my claims with direct references to the text. I have then compared and contrasted these with Føllesdal's interpretation and, thereby, have explained the nature of his mistakes with regards to terminology. I have also shown that two of Føllesdal's faithful followers, Smith and McIntyre, have walked a similarly erroneous path with regards to their interpretation of Husserl's theory of meaning in theIdeas.I do not know where the key to the reconciliation of phenomenology and analytic philosophy lies. But, I do know that it does not lie in the claim that Husserl shared Frege's view on the nature of meaning as an abstract intensionalSinn nor does it lie in the related view that Husserl radically changed his conception of the relation of meanings to intending acts. Hopefully, this paper has shed light on this widely debated issue and has clarified the nature of the mistakes in recent interpretations of Husserl's concept of the noema.     

The indirect effect of cognitive reserve on the relationship between age and cognition in pathological ageing: A cross-sectional retrospective study in an unselected and consecutively enrolled sample

Cognitive reserve (CR) allows individuals to maintain cognitive functionality even in the presence of pathologies. The compensation hypothesis suggests that CR plays an indirect role between age and cognitive decline, contrasting the negative effect of ageing on cognition. We test this hypothesis in an unselected and consecutively enrolled sample of memory clinic attendees (n = 134) who completed the CR Index questionnaire and three neuropsychological tests assessing global cognition (MMSE, FAB, CDT). Participants were divided into two groups based on standard diagnostic criteria (DSM-5): those who were cognitively impaired (n = 92) and those who were preserved (n = 42). A principal component analysis was used to extract a composite measure of global cognitive functioning from the three neuropsychological tests, and mediation analysis was used to examine the relationship between CR, age and global cognitive functioning in the two groups. Results revealed that: (i) age had a significant direct negative effect on the global cognitive score in both groups; (ii) the three socio-behavioural proxies of CR together suppress the direct negative relationship between age and global cognitive score in cognitively impaired patients but not in cognitively preserved participants. This study confirms the association between CR, age and cognition and allows us to validate its role in a population with cognitive impairment and extend findings to a low-to-middle educated population. These results hold important implications for public health and wellness promotion, emphasising the beneficial role of maintaining healthy and active physical, cognitive and social lifestyles.     

Integrating Dimensional and Discrete Theories of Emotions: A New Set of Anger- and Fear-Eliciting Stimuli for Children

The selection of appropriate stimuli for inducing specific emotional states has become one of the most challenging topics in psychological research. In the literature there is a lack of affective picture database specifically suited to investigate emotional response in children. Here the authors present the methodology that led us to create a new database (called Anger- and Fear-Eliciting Stimuli for Children) of affective stimuli inducing experiences of 3 target emotions (neutral, anger, and fear) to use in experimental session involving children. A total of 84 children were asked to (a) indicate the perceived emotion and its intensity and (b) rate the three affective dimensions of the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). Based on concordance between labeled and expected target emotion, the authors decided to select 15 stimuli to be included in Multivariate modeling techniques were applied to evaluate the association between expected target emotion and SAM ratings. The authors found that the hit rate for the neutral pictures was good (greater than 81%), for fear-eliciting pictures it was greater than 64%, and for anger-eliciting pictures it was moderate (between 45% and 56%). The study results reveal also an age effect only in the arousal scale. However, the authors did not find significant gender-related differences in SAM ratings.     

Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire—Body Image: Psychometric Properties and Its Incremental Power in the Prediction of Binge Eating Severity

Given the clinical usefulness of the CFQ-BI (Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire—Body Image; the only existing measure to assess the body-image-related cognitive fusion), the present study aimed to confirm its one-factor structure, to verify its measurement invariance between clinical and non-clinical samples, to analyze its internal consistency and sensitivity to detect differences between samples, as well as to explore the incremental and convergent validities of the CFQ-BI scores in Brazilian samples. This was a cross-sectional study, which was conducted in clinical (women with overweight or obesity in treatment for weight loss) and non-clinical samples (women from the general population). The one-factor structure was confirmed showing factorial measurement invariance across clinical and non-clinical samples. The CFQ-BI scores presented an excellent internal consistency, were able to discriminate clinical and non-clinical samples, and were positively associated with binge eating severity, general cognitive fusion, and psychological inflexibility. Furthermore, body-image-related cognitive fusion scores (CFQ-BI) presented incremental validity over a general measure of cognitive fusion in the prediction of binge eating symptoms. This study demonstrated that CFQ-BI is a short scale with reliable and robust scores in Brazilian samples, presenting incremental and convergent validities, measurement invariance, and sensitivity to detect differences between clinical and non-clinical groups of women, enabling comparative studies between them.     

Gender differences in reaction to psychological pressure: evidence from tennis players

Using data on about 35,000 professional tennis matches, we test whether men and women react differently to psychological pressure arising from the outcomes of sequential stages in a competition. We show that, with respect to men, women losing the first set are much more likely to play poorly the second set. This suggests that women are more discouraged when facing the pressure of falling behind and receiving negative feedback. The gender differential is stronger in high-stake matches. On the other hand, when players are tied in the third set we do not find any gender difference in players’ reactions suggesting that women are as able as men to handle pressure if they do not lag behind. These results are robust controlling for measures of abilities and fitness of players, such as players’ rankings, players’ ex-ante winning probability, players’ rest, monetary prizes, players’ and tournaments’ fixed effects.     

Weighting of vowel cues explains patterns of word–object associative learning

Previous research has demonstrated that infants under 17 months have difficulty learning novel words in the laboratory when the words differ by only one consonant sound, irrespective of the magnitude of that difference. The current study explored whether 15‐month‐old infants can learn novel words that differ in only one vowel sound. The rich acoustic/phonetic properties of vowels allow for a detailed analysis of the contribution of acoustic/phonetic cues to infants’ performance with similar‐sounding words. Infants succeeded with the vowel pair /i/–/I/, but failed with vowel pairs /i/–/u/ and /I/–/u/. These results suggest that infants initially use the most salient acoustic cues for vowels and that this staged use of acoustic cues both predicts and explains why infants can learn some words that differ in only a single vowel.     

Temperamental profiles and linguistic development: Differences in the quality of linguistic production in relation to temperament in children of 28 months

The temperamental constellations that can be found in the infant population may influence the development trajectories of single domains of knowledge, such as that relative to language. The main objective of this study is to identify temperamental profiles to which one associates different levels of linguistic competence and to identify the profile associated with the highest risk for language acquisition. The temperamental characteristics of a sample of 106 children of 28 months attending day-care centres were surveyed and three temperamental profiles were highlighted: a profile typical of the Italian population which grouped most of the children; another made up of easily distractible and not very persistent children, who show a poor capacity to modulate motor activity and finally, the third with children inhibited in new situations. A comparison of the three groups on the basis of the level of linguistic competence revealed important differences regarding certain indices such as the vocabulary size and composition: in particular, the group of “inattentive” children has a more “immature” vocabulary composition, characterised by the presence of more primitive components of the lexical repertory.