Inhibition of return at multiple locations and its impact on visual search

Previous research has shown that when attention is directed sequentially to multiple locations, inhibition of return (IOR) can be observed at each location, with a larger magnitude of IOR at the more recently attended locations. In the present study we asked whether this “multiple IOR” effect influences search only for simple feature targets, as has been shown in the past, or whether it generalizes to more complex, attentionally demanding conjunction search situations. The results demonstrated that IOR effects (1) occur for more complex conjunction search environments, (2) are larger for the attentionally demanding conjunction search, and (3) occur at more locations for conjunction search than feature search. Together these data provide a clear demonstration of the robustness and responsiveness of the IOR effect across search situations—which is precisely what is expected of a phenomenon posited to facilitate efficient visual search of real-world environments. Nevertheless, these data do not firmly establish that IOR effects established by the cueing paradigm before search is implemented are the same as the IOR effects that are assumed to be established during search itself. We suggest that this disconnection between paradigms highlights a fundamental limitation of laboratory-based research.     

Social influences on creativity: Evaluation,coaction, and surveillance

Numerous anecdotal accounts exist of an incubation period promoting creativity and problem solving. This article examines whether incubation is an empirically verifiable phenomenon and the possible role therein of nonconscious processing. An Idea Generation Test was employed to examine (a) whether an incubation effect occurred and (b) the impact of different types of break on this effect. In the Idea Generation Test, two groups of participants were given a distracting break, during which they completed either a similar or an unrelated task, and a third group worked continuously (N = 90). The Idea Generation Test was validated against established measures of cognitive ability and personality, and was found to exhibit variance distinct from those marker tests. Most important, results demonstrated that having a break during which one works on a completely different task is more beneficial for idea production than working on a similar task or generating ideas continuously. The advantage afforded by a break cannot be accounted for in terms of relief from functional fixedness or general fatigue, and, although it may be explicable by relief from task-specific fatigue, explanations of an incubation effect in terms of nonconscious processing should be (re)considered.     

Aptitude and Trait Predictors of Manned and Unmanned Aircraft Pilot Job Performance

Sixty-seven United States Navy maintainers (55 men and 12 women) representing both the aviation and surface communities participated in an experiment examining the efficacy of a simulation to assist technicians in rapidly understanding a system's state. Participants were assigned to one of three groups based on the technicians' experience and one of two experimental conditions: simulation (SIM) or technical manual (TM). The experimental task consisted of a series of eight questions regarding the condition of the S-3 aircraft's nose wheel steering (NWS) system given a set of initial aircraft conditions. To aid in performance of the experimental task, participants assigned to the TM condition were given a paper copy of the S-3 aircraft's organizational maintenance manual for the NWS system, and participants assigned to the SIM condition were given a laptop computer running a computer-based interactive model of the S-3 NWS system. Results showed that regardless of level of expertise, participants assigned to the SIM condition answered questions significantly faster than participants assigned to the TM condition. Further, technicians experienced in nonaviation maintenance assigned to the SIM condition answered questions significantly more accurately than experienced nonaviation technicians assigned to the TM condition.     

Personality Differences between Responsible and Less Responsible Children

Social maladjustment has been related to an external locus of control orientation. It was hypothesized, therefore, that delinquent females would be more external than a control sample. Further, since alienation from others is also associated with maladjustment, it was expected that the delinquents would also prefer greater distance from others. These hypotheses were confirmed with discussion being in terms of implication for rehabilitation of delinquents.     

An Investigation of the Nature of Non-Directive Psychotherapy

An experiment was performed to assess the effects of mental age (MA) and external cues on response inhibition in the mentally retarded. Twelve Ss were presented with an experimental task which required that they withhold responding for five or more seconds before pressing a key to obtain reinforcement. For half the Ss the key was lighted (cued) during the waiting interval, while it was unlighted (uncued) for the other half. The results indicate that (a) response inhibition increased with MA and (b) MA differences might have been due to an inability to mediate the delay interval. The results were interpreted in terms of possible mediating mechanisms and implications for training inhibitory performance in the mentally retarded.     

Subjective Social Status and Well-Being: The Role of Referent Abstraction

Subjective social status (SSS) has been shown to predict well-being and mental health, above and beyond objective social status (OSS). However, little is known about the factors that moderate this relationship. Two studies explored whether the link between SSS and well-being varied depending upon the referent used for comparison in SSS judgments. Participants judged their well-being and SSS in comparison to referents that varied in abstraction. A confirmatory factor analysis on SSS judgments yielded two factors: (a) SSS perceptions toward global referents and (b) SSS perceptions toward local referents. SSS relative to a global referent was a better predictor of depression (Studies 1 and 2), life satisfaction (Studies 1 and 2), and self-esteem (Study 2) than SSS relative to a local referent. These findings have theoretical implications for understanding how people differentiate between local vs. global referents and practical implications for status-related health disparities.     

Do the Effects of Adolescent Employment Differ by Employment Intensity and Neighborhood Context?

Research on the effects of adolescent employment on primarily middle‐class youth suggests that intense employment, working more than 15 or 20 hours during the school year, is associated with increased participation in risky behavior. Despite these findings, scholars who focus on the development of youth living in low‐income urban areas often hypothesize that adolescent employment will have beneficial effects on this population. There is some evidence that adolescent employment is associated with increased educational achievement and adult employment for low‐income urban youth. The impact of adolescent employment on future engagement in risky behavior across levels of neighborhood deprivation and employment intensity was investigated on a sample of 1,057 adolescents from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a longitudinal study of neighborhood effects on development. After controlling for individual characteristics, intense employment during adolescence did predict increased use of cigarettes and alcohol and having a greater number of sexual partners 2 years after employment was measured. There were no significant interactions between neighborhood SES and adolescent employment status on involvement in risky behavior. These findings suggest that intense adolescent employment is associated with detrimental developmental outcomes for youth regardless neighborhood context.     

Are all ostracism experiences equal? A comparison of the autobiographical recall,Cyberball, and O-Cam paradigms

In the present study, we aimed to compare the primary-need depletion elicited by three common ostracism paradigms: autobiographical recall (e.g., Zhong & Leonardelli in Psychological Science 19:838–842, 2008), Cyberball (Williams, Cheung, & Choi in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79:748–762, 2000), and O-Cam (Goodacre & Zadro in Behavior Research Methods 42:768–774, 2010). A total of 152 participants (52 males) were randomly allocated to one of the three paradigms, and their subsequent primary needs were measured (belonging, control, self-esteem, and meaningful existence). O-Cam was found to induce greater total primary-need depletion than did Cyberball and recall, which did not differ significantly from each other. Moreover, when examining the pattern of individual need depletion elicited by each paradigm, O-Cam was found to induce significantly greater depletion of belonging, control, and meaningful existence than did the recall paradigm, and significantly greater depletion of control and self-esteem than did Cyberball. No other comparisons were found to be significant, including the comparisons between the recall and Cyberball paradigms for each individual primary need. Collectively, the findings will assist ostracism researchers in making informed choices regarding (a)?which paradigm is appropriate to implement with respect to their research aims, and (b)?whether the interchangeable use of paradigms within a program of research is appropriate practice.