Distant melodies: statistical learning of nonadjacent dependencies in tone sequences

Human listeners can keep track of statistical regularities among temporally adjacent elements in both speech and musical streams. However, for speech streams, when statistical regularities occur among nonadjacent elements, only certain types of patterns are acquired. Here, using musical tone sequences, the authors investigate nonadjacent learning. When the elements were all similar in pitch range and timbre, learners acquired moderate regularities among adjacent tones but did not acquire highly consistent regularities among nonadjacent tones. However, when elements differed in pitch range or timbre, learners acquired statistical regularities among the similar, but temporally nonadjacent, elements. Finally, with a moderate grouping cue, both adjacent and nonadjacent statistics were learned, indicating that statistical learning is governed not only by temporal adjacency but also by Gestalt principles of similarity.     

Six-year-olds' difficulties handling intensional contexts

Previous research shows that children have difficulties handling intensional contexts even when they can pass a test of false belief (e.g. Cognition 67 (1998) 287; Cognition 25 (1987) 289). Some authors (Perner, J. (1991). Understanding the representational mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; Cognition 25 (1987) 289) place these difficulties in the linguistic and not the mental representational domain. The experiments reported here examined whether 6-year-old children could answer questions in an intensional context that did not require the explicit verbal characterization of a belief. We replicated previous findings and found that children answered according to their own knowledge in an intensional context. This occurred even though they responded by choosing a picture to insert into a protagonist's thought bubble rather than report the belief verbally. Children could correctly answer questions about the knowledge state of the protagonist and pass a test of false belief. Further experiments ruled out methodological explanations. Experiment 2 showed that the difference in answering according to own knowledge between the false belief and intensional stories is not accounted for by procedural factors in the two types of test. Experiment 3 revealed that children did not answer according to their own knowledge by default. Experiment 4 suggested that answering according to own knowledge was not a result of pictorial salience. Results are discussed in relation to the simulation-theory debate.     

Tooth color: effects on judgments of attractiveness and age

Tooth whitening has become a very popular procedure. Advertisements for whitening products imply that whiter teeth are more attractive than yellower teeth. We tested this idea empirically by manipulating the tooth color of pictures of male and female targets. Participants' ratings of attractiveness were not influenced by tooth color. Exp. 2 yielded a negative correlation between attractiveness and age ratings: targets judged to be older were rated as less attractive. Unless whiter teeth help in some other way, e.g., improved self-esteem or confidence, it seems that tooth whitening procedures or products are not associated with increased attractiveness to others.     

A review of the biological bases of ADHD: what have we learned from imaging studies?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common and impairing neuropsychiatric disorder with onset at preschool age. Although a significant amount of progress has been made investigating the neurobiology of this disorder, its precise etiology still remains unclear. Converging evidence from studies of the neuropharmacology, genetics, neuropsychology, and neuroimaging of ADHD imply the involvement of fronto-striatal circuitry in ADHD. However, while it does appear that poor inhibitory control and the deficits in fronto-striatal circuitry associated with it are central, there is evidence to suggest that more posterior cerebral areas are also implicated in this disorder. Anatomical studies suggest widespread reductions in volume throughout the cerebrum and cerebellum, while functional imaging studies suggest that affected individuals activate more diffuse areas than controls during the performance of cognitive tasks. The future impact of new MR imaging methodologies on the field is discussed.     

HYPERFEMININITY AND INFLUENCE

Murnen and Byrne (1991) have defined hyperfemininity as an exaggerated adherence to a feminine gender role as it relates to heterosexual relationships. Hyperfeminine women believe their success is determined by maintaining a romantic relationship with a man, and that their sexuality can be used to maintain this relationship. Extrapolating from theory concerning gender and status, including expectation states theory, it was hypothesized that a woman's expression of hyperfeminine attitudes would lead male college student participants to agree with her in response to a persuasive speech because it would indicate her compliance with women's subordinate status. It was found that men (but not women) who listened to a very hyperfeminine (high) speaker agreed with her more than did men who heard a mildly hyperfeminine (low) speaker, despite the fact that the high hyperfeminine speaker was judged less competent and knowledgeable. Implications of the results, including the idea that the sexual objectification of women perpetuates women's subordinate status, were discussed.     

EFFECTS OF PREFERENCE AND REINFORCER VARIATION ON WITHIN-SESSION PATTERNS OF RESPONDING

We examined correspondence between preference assessment outcome and within‐session patterns of responding in one subject with autism. Responding maintained by a single highly preferred item resulted in a greater total number of responses, a slower decline in within‐session response rates, and a greater proportion of short interresponse times compared to responding maintained by varied moderately preferred (MP) stimuli. Presenting varied MP stimuli within the same session produced greater levels and more sustained responding than presenting those same stimuli individually.     

Poignancy: mixed emotional experience in the face of meaningful endings

The experience of mixed emotions increases with age. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that mixed emotions are associated with shifting time horizons. Theoretically, perceived constraints on future time increase appreciation for life, which, in turn, elicits positive emotions such as happiness. Yet, the very same temporal constraints heighten awareness that these positive experiences come to an end, thus yielding mixed emotional states. In 2 studies, the authors examined the link between the awareness of anticipated endings and mixed emotional experience. In Study 1, participants repeatedly imagined being in a meaningful location. Participants in the experimental condition imagined being in the meaningful location for the final time. Only participants who imagined "last times" at meaningful locations experienced more mixed emotions. In Study 2, college seniors reported their emotions on graduation day. Mixed emotions were higher when participants were reminded of the ending that they were experiencing. Findings suggest that poignancy is an emotional experience associated with meaningful endings.     

Ignorance is not a victimless crime: The case of the caring teacher,part I

Intrapsychic factors, including the dissociation of childhood wounds, rendered a mandated reporter of child abuse impotent to report a child's disclosure of abuse. The defenses of projective identification, splitting, denial, devaluation, and cognitive impairment prevented her from taking proper action. Passivity trained into her by the church and society reinforced her refusal to act to protect the child.     

Relativity of judgements about sound amplitude and the asymmetry of the same-different ROC

The problem of deciding whether two things are the same or different in magnitude can be solved by judging one magnitude relative to the other, or by making absolute judgements about the magnitude of each. The shape of the resulting receiver operating characteristic depends on which solution is adopted. In order to obtain empirical receiver operating characteristics, we therefore had subjects rate their confidence that two tone amplitudes were the same or different. Four subjects each made 500 ratings of three differences in amplitude. The asymmetry in the obtained characteristics indicated that subjects made relative rather than absolute judgements of the amplitudes, despite the fact that making absolute judgements would lead to better performance on the task.