The architecture of high status among Finnish youth

We tested the construct validity of a two‐dimensional model of high status, consisting of social acceptance and perceived popularity (hereafter, acceptance and popularity) among Finnish children and adolescents. In addition, we investigated the correlates of the two forms of high status, as well as their relations to resource control. Participants were 563 boys and girls in grades four and eight, that is, aged 10–11 and 14–15. CFA and SEM models supported the hypothesis of acceptance and popularity representing distinct, yet associated constructs that have partly different correlates. Acceptance and popularity were most closely connected among grade four students, particularly among boys. Prosocial behaviour was associated with acceptance, whereas peer‐valued characteristics (physical attractiveness, athletic ability) and aggression were related especially to popularity. Popularity, but not acceptance, was positively related to resource control.     

Assessing the impact of organizational communication on job satisfaction and job performance

The present paper analyses the impact of organizational communication on job satisfaction and job performance. Data were collected from 380 employees working at different managerial levels in various organizations in India by using Organizational Communication Scale (Roberts & O’Reilly, 1974), Job Satisfaction Survey scale (Spector, 1985), and Job Performance scale (Rodwell, Kienzle & Shadur, 1998). It was found that organizational communication had a significant effect on job satisfaction and job performance of the employees. The analysis further indicated that the employees at different levels perceived job satisfaction differently. Thus, it can be inferred that in Indian organizations, job satisfaction and performance are very much dependent on the communication behavior of the organization.     

The Processing Costs of Presupposition Accommodation

The present study investigates the processing of presupposition accommodation. In particular, it concerns the processing costs and the time-course of accommodation as compared to presupposition satisfaction. Data collected in a self-paced word-by-word reading times experiment support three results. First, independently on the presupposition trigger in use, accommodation is costlier than satisfaction. Second, presupposition accommodation takes places immediately just as the trigger becomes available and proceeds incrementally during the sentence processing. Third, accommodated information is harder to be recalled. The results offer evidence for the on-line processing of presuppositions and, consistently with the traditional semantic framework, support the idea that, presuppositions are semantic properties encoded in the lexical meaning of the presupposition triggers.     

The role of crowding in parallel search: Peripheral pooling is not responsible for logarithmic efficiency in parallel search

Recent results from our laboratory showed that, in fixed-target parallel search tasks, reaction times increase in a logarithmic fashion with set size, and the slope of this logarithmic function is modulated by lure-target similarity. These results were interpreted as being consistent with a processing architecture where early vision (stage one) processes elements in the display in exhaustive fashion with unlimited capacity and with a limitation in resolution. Here, we evaluate the contribution of crowding to our recent logarithmic search slope findings, considering the possibility that peripheral pooling of features (as observed in crowding) may be responsible for logarithmic efficiency. Factors known to affect the strength of crowding were varied, specifically: item spacing and similarity. The results from three experiments converge on the same pattern of results: reaction times increased logarithmically with set size and were modulated by lure-target similarity even when crowding was minimized within displays through an inter-item spacing manipulation. Furthermore, we found logarithmic search efficiencies were overall improved in displays where crowding was minimized compared to displays where crowding was possible. The findings from these three experiments suggest logarithmic efficiency in efficient search is not the result peripheral pooling of features. That said, the presence of crowding does tend to reduce search efficiency, even in “pop-out” search situations.     

Looking for honesty: The primary role of morality (vs. sociability and competence) in information gathering

Research on the two fundamental dimensions of social judgment, namely warmth and competence, has shown that warmth has a primary and a dominant role in information gathering about others. In two studies we examined whether the sociability and morality components of warmth play distinct roles in such a process. Study 1 (N = 60) investigated which traits were mostly selected when forming impressions about others. The results showed that, regardless of the task goal, traits related to morality and sociability were differently processed. Furthermore, participants were more interested in obtaining information about morality than about sociability when asked to form a global impression about others. Study 2 (N = 98) explored the adoption of asymmetric/symmetric strategies when asking questions to make inferences on others. As predicted, participants adopted an asymmetrically disconfirming strategy on morality traits, while they looked for more symmetrical evidence on sociability or competence traits. Overall, our findings indicated a distinct and a dominant role of the moral component of warmth in the information‐gathering process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A preliminary study of sex differences in brain activation during a spatial navigation task in healthy adults

The hippocampus plays a significant role in spatial memory processing, with sex differences being prominent on various spatial tasks. This study examined sex differences in healthy adults, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in areas implicated in spatial processing during navigation of a virtual analogue of the Morris water-maze. There were three conditions: learning, hidden, and visible control. There were no significant differences in performance measures. However, sex differences were found in regional brain activation during learning in the right hippocampus, right parahippocampal gyrus, and the cingulate cortex. During the hidden condition, the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and cingulate cortex were activated in both men and women. Additional brain areas involved in spatial processing may be recruited in women when learning information about the environment, by utilizing external cues (landmarks) more than do men, contributing to the observed sex differences in brain activation.