Multidimensional scaling of pictorial informativeness.

The dimensions used in the judgment of the informativeness of picture sections were investigated by means of a recently proposed methodology, multidimensional similarity analysis. 10 judges (college students) rated the informational similarity of 32 areas within a single picture. The five extracted dimensions accounted for 86% of the judgmental variance and were all readily interpretable. These dimensions were discussed with respect to an earlier study in which eye movements of subjects viewing this picture were recorded.     

Response latencies in visual search involving redundant or irrelevant information

Three properties of models for comparison of multiattribute visual stimuli were considered: parallel vs serial processing, efficient vs exhaustive comparisons, and biased vs unbiased acceptance of attributes for processing. Ss performed two comparison tasks, matching-to-sample (M) and identification of odd stimuli (0), with color and form attributes presented singly and in redundant and nonredundant pairings. Analyses of means and of total distributions of response latencies supported the conclusion that parallel and efficient comparisons were the rule, along with a kind of partial selection of attribute to be processed. Ss differed in their relative speed of processing form and color attributes, and these differences accounted for most, but not all, of the differences among them in processing multiattribute stimuli.     

The design and operation of an improved olfactometer for behavioral and physiological investigation1

An improved olfactometer is described, and its range of application for the study of the olfaction in man is discussed. The apparatus is based on air dilution; an odorant is diluted in a constant-flowing stream of air. The odor-containing air flows to S, who is seated in an enclosed partition with his head in a Plexiglas hood. A visual signal system allows communication between E and S. Precision flowmeters, solenoid valves, one-way floats, and an automated control system permit E to select rapidly a large range of stimuli, stimulus concentrations, and trial lengths. The apparatus has been used in a variety of situations ranging from absolute threshold detection to adaptation and recovery.     

Relative frequency of attribute relevance and response times in visual search

Two experiments, one using a between-Ss and one a within-Ss design, showed that response latencies to single attribute probe stimuli were longer when the target stimulus embodied two attributes (form and color) rather than a single attribute. The magnitude of this "mixed attribute effect" was influenced by the probability of attribute relevance, but the "probability effect" was mostly due to a "repetition effect," such that latencies on trials involving repetitions of the same attribute were shorter than when the relevant attribute was shifted. Implications of these results are drawn for the issues of holistic vs attributized representation of the target stimulus and serial vs parallel search of a set of attributes. Although no class of models can be ruled out on the basis of these experiments, constraints can be imposed on the versions of each that are compatible with the data presented.     

Using Scaling to Facilitate Ethical Decision-Making in Family Therapy

Ethical decision-making in family therapy is inherently complex, as it requires therapists to balance competing needs of multiple individuals and subsystems. Scaling offers a potential means of helping facilitate such decision-making, by encouraging attendance to the likely impact of various courses of action on individuals and subsystems as related to each of the core ethical principles underlying psychotherapeutic practice. This article explores the potential use of scaling in family therapists’ ethical decision-making through case examples. Benefits and risks of such an approach are reviewed.     

The Co-Development of Parenting Stress and Childhood Internalizing and Externalizing Problems

Although the detrimental influence of parenting stress on child problem behavior is well established, it remains unknown how these constructs affect each other over time. In accordance with a transactional model, this study investigates how the development of internalizing and externalizing problems is related to the development of parenting stress in children aged 4–9. Mothers of 1582 children participated in three one-year interval data waves. Internalizing and externalizing problems as well as parenting stress were assessed by maternal self-report. Interrelated development of parenting with internalizing and externalizing problems was examined using Latent Growth Modeling. Directionality of effects was further investigated by using cross-lagged models. Parenting stress and externalizing problems showed a decrease over time, whereas internalizing problems remained stable. Initial levels of parenting stress were related to initial levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems. Decreases in parenting stress were related to larger decreases in externalizing problems and to the (stable) course of internalizing problems. Some evidence for reciprocity was found such that externalizing problems were associated with parenting stress and vice versa over time, specifically for boys. Our findings support the transactional model in explaining psychopathology.     

J. Wentzel van Huyssteen: Refiguring Rationality in the Postmodern Age

In his three books J. Wentzel van Huyssteen develops a complex and helpful notion of rationality, avoiding the extremes of foundationalism and postmodern relativism and deconstruction. Drawing from several postmodern philosophers of science and evolutionary epistemologists who seek to devise a usable notion of rationality, he weaves together a view that allows for a genuine duet betweenscience and theology. In the process he challenges much contemporary nonfoundationalist theology as well as the philosophical naïveté of some cosmologists and sociobiologists.     

Evaluations versus stereotypes in emotion recognition: a replication and extension of Craig and Lipp’s (2018) study on facial age cues

Recently, Cognition and Emotion published an article demonstrating that age cues affect the speed and accuracy of emotion recognition. The authors claimed that the observed effect of target age on emotion recognition is better explained by evaluative than stereotype associations. Although we agree with their conclusion, we believe that with the research method the authors employed, it was impossible to detect a stereotype effect to begin with. In the current research, we successfully replicate previous findings (Study 1). Furthermore, by changing the comparative context, Study 2 provides a first test of age-stereotypes affecting emotions recognition. We discuss recommendations for future studies in the domain of social categorisation and emotion recognition.