A Dissociation Between Attention and Selection

It is widely assumed that the allocation of spatial attention results in the "selection" of attended objects or regions of space. That is, once a stimulus is attended, all its feature dimensions are processed irrespective of their relevance to behavioral goals. This assumption is based in part on experiments showing significant interference for attended stimuli when the response to an irrelevant dimension conflicts with the response to the relevant dimension (e.g., the Stroop effect). Here we show that such interference is not due to attending per se. In two spatial cuing experiments, we found that it was possible to restrict processing of attended stimuli to task-relevant dimensions. This new evidence supports two novel conclusions: (a) Selection involves more than the focusing of attention per se; and (b) task expectations play a key role in determining the depth of processing of the elementary feature dimensions of attended stimuli.     

A framework for understanding cross-national differences in the relationship between research and policy

Nothing much seems to have changed since Caplan described the “worlds” of research and policy as being incompatible. Across Europe, representatives from both communities in the field of migration and integration issues discuss their linkage as having failure wired into it and label successful interaction as the exception to the rule. Nevertheless, research-policy linkages differ substantially between countries in their intensity and in their dominant modes. How stakeholders talk about these differences does not sit well with current understanding of the issue. A major reason for the general feeling that social science analysis of the research-policy interface has not delivered much relief is caused by its fixation on the utilization of knowledge. Benchmarking research-policy linkage shows that the discussion about similar issues (such as interdisciplinarity) is primarily in terms of the quality of the relationship between the actors involved and the effects of the relationship (i.e., non-use or underuse of academic knowledge) are considered in derivatives terms. It is argued that thinking about the interaction of research and policy in terms of relationship rather than utilization, in combination with a focus on the wider context in which the relationship unfolds, makes for a useful analytical framework for understanding crossnational differences in the use of research by policy.     

Vicarious desensitization of test anxiety

students fail in the university environment due to an inability to perform in testing situations because of anxiety associated with tests (Suinn, 1968). Systematic desensitization has been found to be effective in the treatment of test anxiety, and attempts are being made to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of this procedure (Mann and Rosenthal, 1969; Suinn and Hall, 1970). This study evaluates the relative effectiveness of four methods of systematic desensitization in the treatment of test anxiety. Specifically, two changes were investigated which may lead to: (a) more rapid forms of treatment (massed treatment versus distributed treatment); (b) more easily administered forms of treatment (vicarious desensitization versus active desensitization).     

On component analyses

Principal components analysis can be redefined in terms of the regression of observed variables upon component variables. Two criteria for the adequacy of a component representation in this context are developed and are shown to lead to different component solutions. Both criteria are generalized to allow weighting, the choice of weights determining the scale invariance properties of the resulting solution. A theorem is presented giving necessary and sufficient conditions for equivalent component solutions under different choices of weighting. Applications of the theorem are discussed that involve the components analysis of linearly derived variables and of external variables.Preparation of this article was supported in part by National Institute of Aging Grant NIA-AG03164-03 to William Meredith.     

Gender differences,mediation, and disciplinary styles in children's responses to television

A sample of kindergarten and first-grade children was studied in a research center and at school to determine the extent to which family communication mediated their comprehension of television, as well as a series of cognitive skills necessary for such comprehension. Separate analyses were conducted for boys and girls, and results indicated that certain styles of family mediation facilitated comprehension more effectively for boys than for girls. Additionally, differential effects of two styles of discipline were found for each sex.This research was funded by a grant to Jerome and Dorothy Singer from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation entitled Television and Family Living Patterns.     

The subjective familiarity of English homophones

College students rated 828 homophonic words (words with the same pronunciation but different spellings) in terms of subjective familiarity. High interrater reliability was obtained, and the ratings correlated well with other published familiarity measures (r=.85). The familiarity ratings also correlated highly with log transforms of Ku?era and Francis’s (1967) printed frequency measures (r= 75). However, many words of equal log frequency varied widely in rated familiarity, and vice versa. To determine which of these two factors was the better predictor of verbal performance, we orthogonally varied the two in a lexical decision task and found that, for words of moderate frequency, rated familiarity was by far the better predictor. We conclude that even though printed frequency and rated familiarity generally covary, printed frequency is a less reliable index of the underlying psychological construct, word familiarity.