Technical clarification to Silbert and Thomas (2013): “Decisional separability,model identification,and statistical inference in the general recognition theory framework”

We offer a minor technical correction to the published proof of part (ii) of the main theorem in Silbert and Thomas (Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 20, 1–20, 2013) that somewhat limits the scope of the equivalence observed in that work. Specifically, in order for a mean shift integrality with decisional separability to be mimicked by a perceptually separable but nondecisionally separable configuration, one needs to assume stimulus invariance. This holds when all of the covariance matrices in the stimulus configuration are equal to each other. We note that part (i) of the theorem is unaffected by this modification; an empirical finding of perceptual separability and the failure of decisional separability can be mimicked by a perceptually nonseparable, decisionally separable configuration without restricting the covariance matrices to be equal. We also note that stimulus invariance is often assumed in simple designs (e.g., Macmillan & Ornstein in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 97, 1261–1285, 1998), due to the implausibility of different perceptual correlations being present within stimuli perched very closely in perceptual space.     

Does Symptom Linkage Density Predict Outcomes in Cognitive Therapy for Recurrent Depression?

Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment - Acute-phase cognitive therapy (CT) is an efficacious treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), but how CT helps patients is incompletely...     

African American Children’s Racial Discrimination Experiences and Mental Health

Journal of Child and Family Studies - The current study examined how African American children’s experiences of perceived personal racial discrimination and perceived vicarious racial...     

The Development of Global and Local Processing: A Comparison of Children to Adults

In light of the adult model of a hemispheric asymmetry of global and local processing, we compared children (M _age = 8.4 years) to adults in a global-local reaction time (RT) paradigm. Hierarchical designs (large shapes made of small shapes) were presented randomly to each visual field, and participants were instructed to identify either the global or the local level in each of two blocks. We obtained evidence of a global-local processing asymmetry, with stronger effects for children than for adults. In both children and adults, responses were faster and more accurate for global identification in the right hemisphere and for local identification in the left hemisphere. Similarly, a significant asymmetry of global and local interference was obtained in children but not in adults. Interference reflects the RT cost of conflicting information at the nonattended level. For example, local interference indicates the degree to which inconsistency at the local level slows global identification. Stronger evidence for lateralized processing in children is discussed within the framework of increasing interhemispheric transfer. That is, as interhemispheric transfer increases, cost of presentation to the nonpreferred hemisphere (e.g., local identification in the right hemisphere) is reduced.