The face behind the mask: a developmental study

Faces are a rich and available source of social information, and the representation for faces is robust in adults (i.e. the face detection effect; Purcell & Stewart, 1988). The current study compared the developmental trajectory of the robustness of face perception against the trajectory for a non-face object. Participants (5-35 years old) were presented with rapid (17 and 33 millisecond) presentations of face and house stimuli and were instructed to identify the object category of the stimulus (face or house). There was an interaction between object type and age such that the developmental slope for face identification was steeper than the slope for house identification for the 17-millisecond presentation. These data show that faces are processed in a different way than a non-face object during the period from middle childhood through adolescence and adulthood, and this differential processing may involve the massive amount of exposure we have to faces.     

Compatibility effects in stopping and response initiation in a continuous tracking task

Two experiments explored stopping performance using a new stimulus-response compatibility effect spanning action initiation and stopping. Participants tracked a sometimes-moving, sometimes-stationary target by controlling the speed of a response marker via a force sensor. In the compatible condition, participants pressed the sensor in response to the target moving and stopped pressing in response to the target stopping. In the incompatible condition, participants stopped pressing in response to the target moving and initiated pressing in response to the target stopping. Response initiation and stopping were found to be faster under compatible than under incompatible conditions, regardless of whether compatible and incompatible trials were blocked or mixed. These findings indicate that stopping, like response initiation, is influenced by stimulus-response properties such as compatibility. This in turn suggests that stopping is governed by constraints similar to those of other behaviours.     

The thematic apperception test: toward a standard measure of the big three motives

The application of the Thematic Apperception Test to the assessment of motives has been heralded as an important milestone in personality psychology. However, although this approach is well established, there is at present no standard battery of cues for measuring the Big Three motives (achievement, affiliation, power). Furthermore, the extent to which scoring subcategories contribute to overall motive scores has been neglected. Our research with students and managers examined the effectiveness of picture cues in eliciting motive imagery and the prevalence of scoring subcategories within each motive scoring system. Results from 2 data sets comprising 547 men and women suggested that there were 3 cues that should be retained for future research and that motive scoring systems could be refined through removal of redundant subcategories. Further research is needed to systematically investigate the effectiveness of a standard battery of cues and the validity of revised motive scoring systems.     

Toward Mapping Daily Challenges of Living with ADHD: Maternal and Child Perspectives Using Electronic Diaries

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has an impact on the family as well as the affected child. This study developed and tested an electronic diary for mapping the challenges of everyday family life in a sample of children with ADHD being treated with pharmacotherapy. Across 7 days, mothers and children (27 ADHD; 25 non-ADHD) independently reported their moods, behaviors, and social contexts every 30 min during nonschool hours. Symptomatic behaviors and negative moods were elevated in the ADHD group, combined with maternal perceptions of lower parenting effectiveness and quality of life. Differences in the contexts of maternal anger were salient, with mothers in the ADHD group more often angry when with their children and comparison mothers more often angry when not. Although mothers' diaries were more informative, children's diaries also distinguished the two groups, especially during mornings and weekends. The need for family-wide interventions, the utility of child self-reports, and the promise of electronic diaries are discussed.     

Predicting handwriting performance of early elementary students with the developmental test of visual-motor integration

The purpose of this study was to examine use of the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration in predicting handwriting performance of early elementary students and the contribution of sex. An additional purpose was to examine whether successful completion of the first nine figures or the oblique cross from the test predicted handwriting. 101 children were tested at the beginning of their kindergarten year and again in the middle of the first-grade year on the Scale of Children's Readiness In PrinTing (SCRIPT). The VMI kindergarten scores did not significantly predict first-grade SCRIPT scores for the sample as a whole. When boys and girls were considered separately. VMI scores predicted handwriting SCRIPT scores for girls, but accounted for only 10% of the variance. Successful performance on the first nine VMI figures was significantly associated with handwriting for girls but not boys, while the oblique cross did not significantly predict handwriting performance. These results do not provide clear support for administration of the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration during kindergarten as a tool to identify children at risk for handwriting difficulties.     

A multiple case study of rape victim advocates' self-care routines: the influence of organizational context

This study assumes that rape victim advocates who provide community outreach services to victimized women must adjust to a heightened awareness of sexual violence to do their jobs. Using qualitative methodology, this multiple case study explored rape victim advocates' strategies for incorporating repeated exposure to sexual assault into their daily lives as well as ways that organizations can support such endeavors. Findings suggest that advocates' self-care routines draw upon various personal resources (i.e., cognitive, physical, social, spiritual, verbal), and serve 2 roles for coping with rape-related pain: (a) cathartic releasing of traumatic material, and (b) improving capacity to integrate the traumatic material into one's life. Additionally, over 20 organizational characteristics that workers perceive to be supportive (e.g., weekly meetings, flexible hours) were identified. Nonparametric and categorical statistical analyses were used to analyze the relationship between organizational support and self-care routines, finding that advocates working in organizations with higher levels of support utilize more strategies that are integrative in nature. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Responses to olfactory stimuli in spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta): II. Discrimination of conspecific scent

Scent marking in spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) includes the deposition of anal sac secretions, or "paste," and presumably advertises territorial ownership. To test whether captive hyenas classify and discriminate individuals using odor cues in paste, the authors conducted behavioral discrimination bioassays and recorded hyena investigation of paste extracted from various conspecific donors. In Experiment 1, subjects directed most investigative behavior toward scents from unfamiliar hyenas and members of the opposite sex. In Experiment 2, male hyenas discriminated between concurrent presentations of paste from various unfamiliar females in similar reproductive states. Thus, pasted scent marks convey information about the sex, familiarity, and even identity of conspecifics. Aside from territory maintenance, scent marking may also communicate information about individual sexual status.     

Assessing the importance of letter pairs in initial, exterior, and interior positions in reading

Exterior letter pairs (e.g., d--k in dark) play a major role in single-word recognition, but other research (D. Briihl & A. W. Inhoff, 1995) indicates no such role in reading text. This issue was examined by visually degrading letter pairs in three positions in words (initial, exterior, and interior) in text. Each degradation slowed reading rate compared with an undegraded control. However, whereas degrading initial and interior pairs slowed reading rate to a similar extent, degrading exterior pairs slowed reading rate most of all. Moreover, these effects were obtained when letter identities across pair positions varied naturally and when they were matched. The findings suggest that exterior letter pairs play a preferential role in reading, and candidates for this role are discussed.     

Ecstatic stigmatics and Holy anorexics: medieval and contemporary

As has been shown and explained, the stigmata and other mortifications of the flesh can serve as survival tools for someone who has been severely traumatized, devout Christian or unbeliever alike. When Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed, this nonreligious woman came to be regarded by her admirers as a popular saint who wanted nothing more than to help and serve others. Despite her wealth, she became a waif in the popular imagination, and like many others who suffered great psychic pain, she too inflicted further pain and suffering on herself through starving herself, binging and purging, and cutting herself. This suffering was her visible stigmata, inspiring great popular devotion. When she died, millions cried, carrying candles in the streets as they listened to Elton John's song to this suffering woman whose light flickered "like a candle in the wind".