Overt and covert object-based attention

To examine the role of perceptual object representations in the control of eye movements and attention, a pair of experiments adapted the object-cuing paradigm of Egly, Driver, and Rafal (1994) to require eye movements. Displays were pairs of adjacent rectangles, each containing two characters. Observers were asked to make a speeded judgment of a target character’s orientation, and a cue was provided prior to target/distractor onset to indicate the target’s likely location. Gaze-contingent presentation of target and distractors was used to demand overt scanning of displays. Eye movements during task performance evinced two forms of object-based effects. First, saccades following fixation on an invalidly cued item were more likely to be made within the cued rectangle than between rectangles. Second, saccades within the cued rectangle were preceded by shorter dwell times than saccades between rectangles. Extrafoveal processing of stimuli within the cued rectangle, however, was not facilitated, suggesting that covert attention was not allocated more densely within the cued than within the uncued object.     

The development of the Cultural Health Attributions Questionnaire (CHAQ)

Current general health belief measures that are used to assess health behaviors do not capture the full range of health beliefs present among Latinos. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of Latino health beliefs, the Cultural Health Attributions Questionnaire (CHAQ). Three hundred forty participants were recruited in 2 metropolitan areas with large Latino populations. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 2 highly interpretable 12-item subscales: the Equity Attribution and the Behavioral-Environmental Attribution scales. Examination of the relationships between the subscales and measures of acculturation provided evidence of construct validity. Moreover, the prediction of health care behavior by the CHAQ also indicated initial criterion validity.     

Multiplicative effects of intention on the perception of bistable apparent motion

When viewing ambiguous displays, observers can, via intentional efforts, affect which perceptual interpretation they perceive. Specifically, observers can increase the probability of seeing the desired percept. Little is known, however, about how intentional efforts interact with sensory inputs in exerting their effects on perception. In two experiments, the current study explored the possibility that intentional efforts might operate by multiplicatively enhancing the stimulus-based activation of the desired perceptual representation. Such a possibility is suggested by recent neurophysiological research on attention. In support of this idea, when we presented bistable apparent motion displays under stimulus conditions differentially favoring one motion percept over the other, observers' intentional efforts to see a particular motion were generally more effective under conditions in which stimulus factors favored the intended motion percept.     

Childhood amnesia in children and adolescents: their earliest memories

Investigations of childhood amnesia have almost exclusively focused on the earliest memories of adults. Here we investigate the earliest memories of children of 6--19 years old. Parents confirmed the memory events and dated the memories. There were surprisingly few developmental differences between the earliest memories of children. Although 6--9-year-olds recalled earlier events than did older children, there were no differences between older age groups. Memories from all age groups were similar in structure, social orientation, and the nature of the recalled event. However, memories of older children were more likely to involve negative affect. There were also few gender differences, although girls were more likely to recall traumatic or transitional events while boys were more likely to recall play events. Overall, results deepen the paradox of early memory: 6--9-year-olds have verbally accessible memories from very early childhood that then seem to disappear as they get older.     

Providing misleading and reinstatement information a year after it happened: effects on long-term memory

The question addressed here is whether misleading suggestions made to children a year after target events had occurred will alter long-term recall. One group (3-13 years old when injured and treated in a hospital Emergency Room) were given both misleading and accurate reinstating information a year later, and recall of target events assessed both 1 week and another year later (i.e., 2 years post-injury). A control group had recall assessed both 1 and 2 years post-injury. Misleading had little effect on children's recall 1 week later, although a few misled details were reported. However, a year later virtually none of the misleading information was incorporated into long-term recall. Rather, children were more, not less, accurate when recalling details about which they had been misled. Results were attributed to target events having been highly memorable and well rehearsed via previous recalls, and detection of discrepancies between memory and misleading information focusing attention on targeted details.     

Trauma histories and attachment styles of members of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies

The study is focused on the training, demographics, perceived emotional and physical health, past traumatic experience histories, and attachment styles of mental health professionals in the field of trauma (members of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies). While the data set is limited by a low response rate of 20%, the uniqueness of the sample and distinctive themes yield insight into the experience of trauma and its association with attachment style.     

Decreased latent inhibition is associated with increased creative achievement in high-functioning individuals

Reductions in latent inhibition (LI), the capacity to screen from conscious awareness stimuli previously experienced as irrelevant, have been generally associated with the tendency towards psychosis. However, "failure" to screen out previously irrelevant stimuli might also hypothetically contribute to original thinking, particularly in combination with high IQ. Meta-analysis of two studies, conducted on youthful high-IQ samples. demonstrated that high lifetime creative achievers had significantly lower LI scores than low creative achievers (r(effect size) = .31, p = .0003, one-tailed). Eminent creative achievers (participants under 21 years who reported unusually high scores in a single domain of creative achievement) were 7 times more likely to have low rather than high LI scores, chi2 (1, N = 25) = 10.69, phi = .47. p = .003.     

Character strengths before and after September 11

Did Americans change following the September 11 terrorist attacks? We provide a tentative answer with respect to the positive traits included in the Values in Action Classification of Strengths and measured with a self-report questionnaire available on-line and completed by 4,817 respondents. When scores for individuals completing the survey in the 2 months immediately after September 11 were compared with scores for those individuals who completed the survey before September 11, seven character strengths showed increases: gratitude, hope, kindness, leadership, love, spirituality, and teamwork. Ten months after September 11, these character strengths were still elevated, although to a somewhat lesser degree than immediately following the attacks.