Superior haptic perceptual selectivity in late-blind and very-low-vision subjects

Blindfolded sighted, congenitally blind, late-blind, and very-low-vision subjects were tested on a tangible version of the embedded-figures test. The results of ANOVAs on accuracy measures yielded superior performance by the very-low-vision and late-blind subjects compared with the blindfolded sighted and congenitally blind participants. Accuracy of the congenitally blind subjects was similar to that of the blindfolded sighted participants. However, all groups of blind subjects were significantly faster than the blindfolded sighted subjects. It is suggested that experience with pictures combined with haptic skill aid perceptual selectivity in touch.     

Egocentric and geocentric frames of reference in memory of large-scale space

This experiment investigated the frames of reference used in memory to represent the spatial structure of a large-scale outdoor environment. Participants learned the locations of eight objects in an unfamiliar city park by walking through the park on one of two prescribed paths that encircled a large rectangular building. The aligned path was oriented with the building; the misaligned path was rotated by 45°. Later, participants pointed to target objects from imagined vantage points using their memories. Pointing accuracy was higher in the aligned than in the misaligned path group, and the patterns of results differed: In the aligned condition, accuracy was higher for imagined headings parallel to legs of the path and for an imagined heading oriented toward a nearby lake, a salient landmark. In the misaligned condition, pointing accuracy was highest for the imagined heading oriented toward the lake, and decreased monotonically with angular distance. These results indicated that locations of objects were mentally represented in terms of frames of reference defined by the environment but selected on the basis of egocentric experience.     

Linking sight and sound: fMRI evidence of primary auditory cortex activation during visual word recognition

We describe two studies that used repetition priming paradigms to investigate brain activity during the reading of single words. Functional magnetic resonance images were collected during a visual lexical decision task in which nonword stimuli were manipulated with regard to phonological properties and compared to genuine English words. We observed a region in left-hemisphere primary auditory cortex linked to a repetition priming effect. The priming effect activity was observed only for stimuli that sound like known words; moreover, this region was sensitive to strategic task differences. Thus, a brain region involved in the most basic aspects of auditory processing appears to be engaged in reading even when there is no environmental oral or auditory component.     

The influence of between and within-person hope among emergency responders on daily affect in a stress and coping model

This study reports on daily hope, coping, stress, and affect among 84 fire service members who completed a 21-day diary. Multilevel modeling showed that between-person hope was related to higher positive affect. Three-way interactions were found for within-person hope, stress, and daily coping in the prediction of daily affect. When under high stress and if low in hope, more emotion–expression coping predicted higher next day positive affect whereas if high in hope, more problem-focused coping predicted more positive affect. Within-person hope, stress, and emotion–expression coping interacted to predict negative affect. Findings for the prediction of negative affect necessitate further research to determine if the nature of coping under low hope and low stress is qualitatively distinct from high hope states.     

J.S. Mill's Canons of Induction: From True Causes to Provisional Ones

In this essay, my aim is twofold: to clarify how the late Mill conceived of the certainty of inductive generalisations and to offer a systematic clarification of the limited domain of application of Mill's Canons of Induction. I shall argue that Mill's views on the certainty of knowledge changed over time and that this change was accompanied by a new view on the certainty of the inductive results yielded by the Canons of Induction. The key message of the later editions of The System of Logic as conceived by the late Mill was no longer that by the Canons of Induction we can establish scientific certainty and true causes, but rather that the Canons are useful in establishing causal laws in a provisional way.

Deduction is a game and induction a grievance. (Bagehot 1913, vol. 3, p. 37)     

Does Defensiveness Account for the Relationship Between Religiosity and Psychosocial Adjustment?

Religiosity has been related to positive psychosocial adjustment across a large number of studies. Some researchers question, however, whether this relationship is an accurate finding, observing that there are many potential confounds that have not been controlled for, such as defensiveness. This study examined whether defensiveness accounted for the relationship between religiosity and psychosocial adjustment. Two samples of religious individuals were assessed on religiosity (Duke University Religion Index), defensiveness (measured using the denial of distress and repressive defensiveness subscales from the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory [WAI]), and psychosocial adjustment (Depression subscale from the WAI, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Sarason Social Support Scale). In both studies it was found that religiosity was related to positive psychosocial adjustment as well as higher levels of defensiveness. Defensiveness, however, did not account for the relationships between religiosity and psychosocial adjustment. These findings add to the research literature by eliminating a potential confound of the relationship between religiosity and psychosocial adjustment.     

A Monte Carlo study comparing PIV,ULS and DWLS in the estimation of dichotomous confirmatory factor analysis

We conducted a Monte Carlo study to investigate the performance of the polychoric instrumental variable estimator (PIV) in comparison to unweighted least squares (ULS) and diagonally weighted least squares (DWLS) in the estimation of a confirmatory factor analysis model with dichotomous indicators. The simulation involved 144 conditions (1,000 replications per condition) that were defined by a combination of (a) two types of latent factor models, (b) four sample sizes (100, 250, 500, 1,000), (c) three factor loadings (low, moderate, strong), (d) three levels of non‐normality (normal, moderately, and extremely non‐normal), and (e) whether the factor model was correctly specified or misspecified. The results showed that when the model was correctly specified, PIV produced estimates that were as accurate as ULS and DWLS. Furthermore, the simulation showed that PIV was more robust to structural misspecifications than ULS and DWLS.     

A Computationally More Efficient and More Accurate Stepwise Approach for Correcting for Sampling Error and Measurement Error

Over the last decade or two, multilevel structural equation modeling (ML-SEM) has become a prominent modeling approach in the social sciences because it allows researchers to correct for sampling and measurement errors and thus to estimate the effects of Level 2 (L2) constructs without bias. Because the latent variable modeling software Mplus uses maximum likelihood (ML) by default, many researchers in the social sciences have applied ML to obtain estimates of L2 regression coefficients. However, one drawback of ML is that covariance matrices of the predictor variables at L2 tend to be degenerate, and thus, estimates of L2 regression coefficients tend to be rather inaccurate when sample sizes are small. In this article, I show how an approach for stabilizing covariance matrices at L2 can be used to obtain more accurate estimates of L2 regression coefficients. A simulation study is conducted to compare the proposed approach with ML, and I illustrate its application with an example from organizational research.     

Factors shaping condom use among South African university students: a thematic analysis

This study aimed to investigate contextual influences on condom use by South African university students. Twenty one-to-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with male and female South African undergraduates. The data were thematically analysed. Results revealed that condom use was transient and often unrelated to disease prevention. Condom use was impeded by closer perceived intimacy, gender dynamics, and social stigma against proposing use of condoms in a presumably committed relationship. Public health policies regarding condom, pill and injection pricing / promotion, and religious toleration also hampered condom use, by encouraging a preference over hormonal contraception or proscribing contraceptive measures altogether. The results provide a basis for considering the impact of immediate and wider social contexts on condom use, as proposed by socio-ecological models of HIV risk behaviour.     

When the half-full glass is appraised as half empty and memorised as completely empty: Mood-congruent true and false recognition in depression is modulated by salience

Since the 1980s a large body of empirical effort has been devoted to mood-congruent memory (MCM) biases in clinical depression. Whereas there is broad, albeit not unequivocal, evidence that depressive patients retain negative-valenced memory items better than neutral material, few studies have investigated false memories in depression. In a pilot study we gathered support for both enhanced true and false memory for emotional material in depression. The present study aimed to extend these preliminary findings. In view of investigations suggesting that arousing and meaningful stimuli have facilitated access to memory, personal salience was considered a moderator for MCM. In the present study 21 depressed and 22 healthy participants were presented six false memory lists dealing with neutral, negative, and positive themes. At recognition, each item had to be appraised for its degree of valence subsequent to an old–new judgement. Pre-categorised and subjective valence did not discriminate groups. However, relative to controls depressed patients showed both more veridical as well as false recognition for items that concurrently elicited higher salience ratings in patients. In contrast, group differences in recognition performance did not significantly affect salience ratings. Results indicate that salience modulates MCM and may account for discrepancies in the literature.