Familiarity and pronounceability of nouns and names

Ratings of familiarity and pronounceability were obtained from a random sample of 199 surnames (selected from over 80,000 entries in the Purdue University phone book) and 199 nouns (from the Ku?era-Francis, 1967, word database). The distributions of ratings for nouns versus names are substantially different: Nouns were rated as more familiar and easier to pronounce than surnames. Frequency and familiarity were more closely related in the proper name pool than the word pool, although both correlations were modest. Ratings of familiarity and pronounceability were highly related for both groups. A production experiment showed that rated pronounceability was highly related to the time taken to produce a name. These data confirm the common belief that there are differences in the statistical and distributional properties of words as compared to proper names. The value of using frequency and the ratings of familiarity and pronounceability for predicting variations in actual pronunciations of words and names are discussed.     

A central capacity limit to the simultaneous storage of visual and auditory arrays in working memory

If working memory is limited by central capacity (e.g., the focus of attention; N. Cowan, 2001), then storage limits for information in a single modality should apply also to the simultaneous storage of information from different modalities. The authors investigated this by combining a visual-array comparison task with a novel auditory-array comparison task in 5 experiments. Participants were to remember only the visual, only the auditory (unimodal memory conditions), or both arrays (bimodal memory conditions). Experiments 1 and 2 showed significant dual-task tradeoffs for visual but not for auditory capacity. In Experiments 3-5, the authors eliminated modality-specific memory by using postperceptual masks. Dual-task costs occurred for both modalities, and the number of auditory and visual items remembered together was no more than the higher of the unimodal capacities (visual: 3-4 items). The findings suggest a central capacity supplemented by modality- or code-specific storage and point to avenues for further research on the role of processing in central storage.     

Agreeableness and the self-regulation of negative affect: Findings involving the neuroticism/somatic distress relationship

In the temperament literature, agreeableness has been theoretically linked to effortful control. Further, research in this area has suggested that effortful control may play a broad role in moderating temperament-based tendencies toward negative affect. The present three studies, involving a total of 300 undergraduate participants, sought to extend this perspective to the adult literature by examining potential interactions between agreeableness and neuroticism in predicting reported somatic symptoms. Although such symptoms have been linked to neuroticism, they are not characteristic of the interpersonal concerns linked to agreeableness. Nevertheless, all studies found that agreeableness and neuroticism interacted to predict somatic symptoms such that high levels of agreeableness decoupled the relationship between neuroticism and somatic distress. These findings indicate a broad role for agreeableness in the self-regulation of neuroticism-linked distress.     

Life after Trauma: Personality and Daily Life Experiences of Traumatized People

In this study, we explored differences in personality and daily life experiences of traumatized (n= 26) versus nontraumatized (n= 30) college students. Study participants completed a variety of personality measures as well as a 28–day experience sampling study assessing daily activities, emotions, and physical health. Although not differing on general demographics, traumatized individuals reported more trait anxiety and lower self–esteem than nontraumatized individuals. They scored higher on Neuroticism, were more introverted, and were less emotionally stable than nontraumatized participants. Traumatized individuals also reported more cognitive disturbances, emotional blunting, and interpersonal withdrawal. They did not report being more depressed, but did endorse cognitive styles associated with heightened risk for depression. Earlier age of trauma was associated with more pathological outcomes: lower self–esteem and psychological well–being, more anxiety, more pessimism, and emotional constriction of positive mood. We compare this symptom profile to that of posttraumatic stress disorder.     

Individual differences and cheating behavior: Guilt and cheating in competitive situations

To examine whether guilt would inhibit immoral behavior, subjects were differentiated on their feelings of anticipatory (AG) and posttransgressional (PTG) guilt and subsequently placed in an anagram task shown to induce a high level of cheating. Results indicated that neither pre- nor post-test AG was related to cheating behavior, and test-retest administration indicated that the AG scale was unreliable. The PTG scale, however, was found to be a temporally reliable measure of guilt. In order to assess the relative contributions of pre-test posttransgressional guilt, the ability to persist, and gender to cheating behavior, a saturated multiple regression model of centered predictor effects and interaction terms was constructed. Results revealed a significant gender × persistence interaction. The cheating behavior of males was not significantly influenced by the ability to persist. On the other hand, females who exhibited a strong ability to persist rarely cheated, while those who were unable to persist cheated a great deal. Finally, subjects who felt the most posttransgressional guilt cheated more frequently. These findings provide additional evidence that guilt may be positively related to cheating behavior.     

Construction and validation of the Gender Attitude Inventory,a structured inventory to assess multiple dimensions of gender attitudes

Three studies describe the development and initial validation of the Gender Attitude Inventory (GAI), a structured inventory that assesses attitudes toward the multiple objects that organize college students' thoughts and feelings about sex and gender. An intergroup relations perspective was used to specify the universe of gender-related targets and to construct a preliminary instrument. Factor analyses of the results of two sequential studies yielded a 109-item inventory with 14 content-specific attitude areas and three second-order factors. In Study 3 GAI scales were shown to have acceptable internal consistency and temporal stability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity. In terms of race/ethnicity, most respondents were white (ranging from 69% to 82% across the three studies).     

Time,change, and motion: The effects of stimulus movement on temporal perception

The effects of stimulus motion on time perception were examined in five experiments. Subjects judged the durations (6–18 sec) of a series of computer-generated visual displays comprised of varying numbers of simple geometrical forms. In Experiment 1, subjects reproduced the duration of displays consisting of stationary or moving (at 20 cm/sec) stimulus figures. In Experiment 2, subjects reproduced the durations of stimuli that were either stationary, moving slowly (at 10 cm/sec), or moving fast (at 30 cm/sec). In Experiment 3, subjects used the production method to generate specified durations for stationary, slow, and fast displays. In Experiments 4 and 5, subjects reproduced the duration of stimuli that moved at speeds ranging from 0 to 45 cm/sec. Each experiment showed that stimulus motion lengthened perceived time. In general, faster speeds lengthened perceived time to a greater degree than slower speeds. Varying the number of stimuli appearing in the displays had only limited effects on time judgments. Other findings indicated that shorter intervals tended to be overestimated and longer intervals underestimated (Vierordt’s law), an effect which applied to both stationary and moving stimuli. The results support a change model of perceived time, which maintains that intervals associated with more changes are perceived to be longer than intervals with fewer changes.     

Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling

R. M. Baron and D. A. Kenny (1986; see record 1987-13085-001) provided clarion conceptual and methodological guidelines for testing mediational models with cross-sectional data. Graduating from cross-sectional to longitudinal designs enables researchers to make more rigorous inferences about the causal relations implied by such models. In this transition, misconceptions and erroneous assumptions are the norm. First, we describe some of the questions that arise (and misconceptions that sometimes emerge) in longitudinal tests of mediational models. We also provide a collection of tips for structural equation modeling (SEM) of mediational processes. Finally, we suggest a series of 5 steps when using SEM to test mediational processes in longitudinal designs: testing the measurement model, testing for added components, testing for omitted paths, testing the stationarity assumption, and estimating the mediational effects.     

A linear optical trajectory informs the fielder where to run to the side to catch fly balls

P. McLeod, N. Reed, and Z. Dienes (2002) argued that the linear optical trajectory (LOT) strategy incorrectly cues fielders to run forward for balls headed beyond them. The authors of this article explain that the downward optical curvature found for balls landing beyond the fielder's initial position occurs because the balls reorient the direction the fielder is facing during pursuit. Thus, when downward optical curvature begins, the ball is headed to land in front of where the fielder is facing and running. This investigation of open-loop failure conditions has led to new insights such as the reorientation of the fielder, and it supports the use of maintaining matching rates of vertical and lateral optical ball movement consistent with primacy of the LOT control mechanism even when interception is unachievable.