Asymmetrical responding to male versus female other-race categories in 9- to 12-month-old infants

Faces can be categorized along various dimensions including gender or race, an ability developing in infancy. Infant categorization studies have focused on facial attributes in isolation, but the interaction between these attributes remains poorly understood. Experiment 1 examined gender categorization of other-race faces in 9- and 12-month-old White infants. Nine- and 12-month-olds were familiarized with Asian male or female faces, and tested with a novel exemplar from the familiarized category paired with a novel exemplar from a novel category. Both age groups showed novel category preferences for novel Asian female faces after familiarization with Asian male faces, but showed no novel category preference for novel Asian male faces after familiarization with Asian female faces. This categorization asymmetry was not due to a spontaneous preference hindering novel category reaction (Experiment 2), and both age groups displayed difficulty discriminating among male, but not female, other-race faces (Experiment 3). These results indicate that category formation for male other-race faces is mediated by categorical perception. Overall, the findings suggest that even by 12 months of age, infants are not fully able to form gender category representations of other-race faces, responding categorically to male, but not female, other-race faces.     

Evaluating video modeling and video modeling with video feedback to enhance the performance of competitive dancers

This study evaluated the use of video modeling and video modeling plus video feedback to enhance four adolescents' performance of a dance movement. Intervention was evaluated in a multiple baseline across participants design. This study found that video modeling enhanced performance from baseline, but the addition of video feedback produced further increases. For one participant, improvement was dependent on the perspective of the video model. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Are some gestalt principles deployed more readily than others during early development? The case of lightness versus form similarity

Four experiments investigated how readily infants achieve perceptual organization by lightness and form similarity. Infants were (a) familiarized with elements that could be organized into rows or columns on the basis of lightness or form similarity and tested with vertical versus horizontal bars depicting the familiar versus novel organization or (b) familiarized with bars and tested with elements. For lightness similarity, generalization occurred in both tasks; however, for form similarity, generalization occurred only in the elements --> bars task. The findings indicate that lightness similarity is more readily deployed than form similarity and are discussed in the context of (a) whether the difference reflects speed of application or experience-based learning, (b) evidence from visual agnosic patients and the time course of application of the principles in healthy adults, and (c) development of dorsal and ventral visual processing streams.     

African Americans and High Blood Pressure: The Role of Stereotype Threat

We examined the effect of stereotype threat on blood pressure reactivity. Compared with European Americans, and African Americans under little or no stereotype threat, African Americans under stereotype threat exhibited larger increases in mean arterial blood pressure during an academic test, and performed more poorly on difficult test items. We discuss the significance of these findings for understanding the incidence of hypertension among African Americans.     

Social Neuroscience: Progress and Implications for Mental Health

ABSTRACT— Social neuroscience is a new, interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how biological systems implement social processes and behavior. Social neuroscience capitalizes on biological concepts and methods to inform and refine theories of social behavior, and it uses social and behavioral constructs and data to inform and refine theories of neural organization and function. We focus here on the progress and potential of social neuroscience in the area of mental health. Research in social neuroscience has grown dramatically in recent years. Among the most active areas of research we found are brain-imaging studies in normal children and adults; animal models of social behavior; studies of stroke patients; imaging studies of psychiatric patients; and research on social determinants of peripheral neural, neuroendocrine, and immunological processes. We also found that these areas of research are proceeding along largely independent trajectories. Our goals in this article are to review the development of this field, examine some currently promising approaches, identify obstacles and opportunities for future advances and integration, and consider how this research can inform work on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.     

Book reviews

Spoehr, K. T., and Lehmkuhle, S. W. Visual Information Processing. San Francisco: Freeman. 1982. Pp. 298. ISBN 0-7167-1373-X. Hardback £16.90; paperback £9.80.

Weale, R. A. Focus on Vision. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1982. Pp. 194. ISBN 0-340-24839-4. £5.75.

Warren, R. M. Auditory Perception: A New Synthesis. New York: Pergamon Press. 1982. Pp. 239. ISBN 0-08-025957-X. £12.50.

Bryden, M. P. Loterality: Functional Asymmetry in the Intact Brain. London: Academic Press. 1982. Pp. 319. ISBN 0-12-138180-3. £19.60.

Simon, T. W. and Scholes, R. J. (Eds.) Language, Mind, and Brain. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1982. Pp. xvi + 263. ISBN 0-89859-153-8. £19.95.

Wilding, J. M. Perception: From Sense to Object. London: Hutchinson. 1982. Pp. 314. ISBN 0-09-150720-1. £12.95.

Rosenzweig, M.R. and Porter, L. W.(Eds.). Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 34. Palo Alto, Calif.: Annual Reviews Inc. 1983. Pp. 617. ISBN 0-8243-0234-6. $30.00.

Schank, R. C. Dynamic Memory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1983. Pp. 233. ISBN 0-521-24856-2. Hardback £18.50; paperback £6.95.

Hinton, G. E. and Anderson, J. A. (Eds.). Parallel Models of Associative Memory. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 1981. Pp. 295. ISBN 0-89859-105-0. £17.50.