Hierarchical attention in discriminating objects at different levels of specificity

An implicit assumption of studies in the attentional literature has been that global and local levels of attention are involved in object recognition. To investigate this assumption, a divided attention task was used in which hierarchical figures were presented to prime the subsequent discrimination of target objects at different levels of category identity (basic and subordinate). Target objects were identified among distractor objects that varied in their degree of visual similarity to the targets. Hierarchical figures were also presented at different sizes and as individual global and local elements in order to investigate whether attention-priming effects on object discrimination were due to grouping/parsing operations or spatial extent. The results showed that local processing primed subordinate object discriminations when the objects were visually similar. Global processing primed basic object discriminations, regardless of the similarity of the distractors, and subordinate object discriminations when the objects were visually dissimilar. It was proposed that global and local processing aids the selection of perceptual attributes of objects that are diagnostic for recognition and that selection is based on two mechanisms: spatial extent and grouping/parsing operations.     

The use of race variables in genetic studies of complex traits and the goal of reducing health disparities: a transdisciplinary perspective

The use of racial variables in genetic studies has become a matter of intense public debate, with implications for research design and translation into practice. Using research on smoking as a springboard, the authors examine the history of racial categories, current research practices, and arguments for and against using race variables in genetic analyses. The authors argue that the sociopolitical constructs appropriate for monitoring health disparities are not appropriate for use in genetic studies investigating the etiology of complex diseases. More powerful methods for addressing population structure exist, and race variables are unacceptable as gross proxies for numerous social/environmental factors that disproportionately affect minority populations. The authors conclude with recommendations for genetic researchers and policymakers, aimed at facilitating better science and producing new knowledge useful for reducing health disparities.     

Treatment of Hypochondriasis with Exposure

Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to be an effective treatment for hypochondriasis. An important element of most of the empirically validated CBT protocols for this problem is exposure. Various approaches to exposure may be useful including in vivo exposure to health and death-related situations, interoceptive exposure to feared bodily symptoms, and imaginal exposure to symptoms and feared illnesses that are difficult to reproduce in real life. Strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of exposure, such as response prevention, cognitive reappraisal, and acceptance, are also discussed. Practical suggestions for implementation of exposure with this population are provided.     

Southeast Asian immigrants' perceptions of good adolescents and good parents

The authors examined the extent to which Southeast Asian immigrant parents and adolescents agree on what it means to be a "good" parent and a "good" adolescent. Thirty-six parents and 37 adolescents of Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese descent participated in a series of focus groups. Content analyses of their discussions showed that good adolescents were obedient, helpful around the house, and respectful to parents and elders, and good parents were those who provide for, nurture, and monitor children's activities. The findings suggest that ideas about good parents and good adolescents are influenced by both the parents' traditions and by adolescents' acculturation to American values.     

The Motivation Analysis Test: an historical and contemporary evaluation

This is an historical review and contemporary empirical evaluation of the Motivation Analysis Test (MAT), one of the first tests to take a psychometric approach to the assessment of motivation. Reviews were quite positive, but the test is now over 50 years old. Nevertheless, it employs innovations in measurement not widely used in objective measurement then or now: (1) subtests with different formats, (2) disguised items, (3) speeded administration procedures, and (4) ipsative format and scoring procedures. These issues are discussed and a contemporary sample (N = 360) obtained to evaluate the Motivation Analysis Test in light of its innovative characteristics.     

Early Adversity and the Prospective Prediction of Depressive and Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents

The current study was a prospective exploration of the specificity of early childhood adversities as predictors of anxiety and depressive disorders in adolescents. Participants were 816 adolescents (414~males, 402 females) with diagnostic information collected at age 15; information on early adversities had been collected from the mothers during pregnancy, at birth, age 6 months, and age 5~years for a related study. Adolescents with pure anxiety disorders were compared with adolescents with pure depressive disorders (major depressive disorder, dysthymia), and these groups were compared to never-ill controls. Analyses controlled for gender and maternal depression and anxiety disorders. Results indicated that adolescents with anxiety disorders were more likely than depressed youth to have been exposed to various early stressors, such as maternal prenatal stress, multiple maternal partner changes, and more total adversities, whereas few early childhood variables predicted depressive disorders. Even when current family stressors at age 15 were controlled, early adversity variables again significantly predicted anxiety disorders. Results suggest that anxiety disorders may be more strongly related to early stress exposure, while depressive disorders may be related to more proximal stressors or to early stressors not assessed in the current study.     

Forming a stable memory representation in the first year of life: why imitation is more than child's play

Although 9-month-old infants are capable of retaining temporally ordered information over long delays, this ability is relatively fragile. It may be possible to facilitate long-term retention by allowing infants to imitate event sequences immediately after their presentation. The effects of imitation on immediate and delayed recognition and on long-term recall were investigated using event-related potentials (ERPs) and elicited imitation, respectively. Mnemonic facilitation resulting from the opportunity to imitate was apparent using both assessments. ERP assessments at immediate and delayed recognition tests suggested that infants who were allowed to imitate had stronger memory representations of familiar stimuli relative to infants who only viewed the presentation of the events. In addition, infants who were allowed to imitate evidenced higher levels of ordered recall after 1 month relative to infants who only watched the experimenter's demonstration. Therefore, imitation proved to have beneficial effects on explicit memory in 9(1/2)-month-olds, providing evidence of its effectiveness as a tool to augment mnemonic capabilities in infancy.     

Cognitive and Value Correlates of Health-Related Behavior in Brazilian Middle-class Women

The prevalence of several health-related behaviors was studied in a random sample of 294 Brazilian middle-class women between 25 and 45 years of age. The interrelationships among these behaviors confirmed previous findings in North America and provided the basis for the computation of a composite index of health behavior. The sociodemographic, cognitive, and value correlates of scores on the Health Behavior Index (HBI) were investigated using regression analysis. Women who behave in favor of good health were mothers of more children, had a definition of health as higher level functioning and self-realization, believed that care outweighs chance as a determinant of health, and valued inner harmony as opposed to comfort and independence. These findings verified most aspects of Pender's health promotion model (Pender, Walker, Sechrist, & Stromberg, 1990).     

Contractual prayer of Christians and Muslims in Lebanon

One perspective from which to view Christian‐Muslim relations is to analyse beliefs and practices shared by Christians and Muslims in a particular culture. This paper analyses contractual prayer as practised by many adherents of the four main religious sects of Lebanon: Sunni and Shi^cfa Muslims and Maronite and Orthodox Christians. Contractual prayer (nidr in colloquial Arabic) is a prayer of petition addressed to the supernatural in which the petitioner couples a request with a conditional promise. Many similarities in the practice are attributable to inherent limitations of this type of prayer, to common human concerns that are expressed in the requests made, and to shared perspectives on gender and other cultural norms. Significant sect‐specific differences are most apparent regarding the supernatural being to whom the request is addressed, the nature of the conditional promise, and the manner and extent to which the practice is institutionalized.