Attentional demand and memory retrieval in negative priming

Negative priming refers to delayed response to previous distractors, and can reflect the operation of attentional selection in prime trials. One important feature of negative priming is that it is modulated by the characteristics of probe trials. The current study manipulated competition from probe distractors and prime-probe similarity to examine the effects of attentional demand and memory retrieval in probe trials. The results demonstrated that the effects of attentional demand and memory retrieval on negative priming were dynamic. Distractor competition in probe trials affected negative priming in Experiment 1, and prime-probe similarity affected negative priming in Experiment 2. Moreover, negative priming in Experiment 3 was observed either when competition from probe distractors was strong or when identical spatial layouts were used in prime-probe couplets. Taken together, either competition from probe distractors or prime-probe similarity of spatial layouts was critical to the manifestation of negative priming at one time. Implications for distractor inhibition and memory retrieval in negative priming were discussed.     

Visual events modulated by sound in repetition blindness

Repetition blindness (RB; Kanwisher, 1987) is the term used to describe people’s failure to detect or report an item that is repeated in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) stream. Although RB is, by definition, a visual deficit, whether it is affected by an auditory signal remains unknown. In the present study, we added two sounds before, simultaneous with, or after the onset of the two critical visual items during RSVP to examine the effect of sound on RB. The results show that the addition of the sounds effectively reduced RB when they appeared at, or around, the critical items. These results indicate that it is easier to perceive an event containing multisensory information than unisensory ones. Possible mechanisms of how visual and auditory information interact are discussed.     

The Career Decision‐Making Process of Chinese American Youth

The authors investigated how negotiating two cultural expectations may influence the career decision‐making process of Chinese youth. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 8 participants addressing issues of role models, career interests, and individuals with whom they discussed career concerns. Consensual Qualitative Research (C. E. Hill, B. J. Thompson, & E. N. Williams, 1997) was used to analyze data. The findings suggest that parents' academic and career expectations influenced the career decisions of Chinese youth.     

Two-Way Regularized Fuzzy Clustering of Multiple Correspondence Analysis

Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) is a useful tool for investigating the interrelationships among dummy-coded categorical variables. MCA has been combined with clustering methods to examine whether there exist heterogeneous subclusters of a population, which exhibit cluster-level heterogeneity. These combined approaches aim to classify either observations only (one-way clustering of MCA) or both observations and variable categories (two-way clustering of MCA). The latter approach is favored because its solutions are easier to interpret by providing explicitly which subgroup of observations is associated with which subset of variable categories. Nonetheless, the two-way approach has been built on hard classification that assumes observations and/or variable categories to belong to only one cluster. To relax this assumption, we propose two-way fuzzy clustering of MCA. Specifically, we combine MCA with fuzzy k-means simultaneously to classify a subgroup of observations and a subset of variable categories into a common cluster, while allowing both observations and variable categories to belong partially to multiple clusters. Importantly, we adopt regularized fuzzy k-means, thereby enabling us to decide the degree of fuzziness in cluster memberships automatically. We evaluate the performance of the proposed approach through the analysis of simulated and real data, in comparison with existing two-way clustering approaches.     

Mean size estimation yields left-side bias: Role of attention on perceptual averaging

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - The human visual system can estimate mean size of a set of items effectively; however, little is known about whether information on each visual field...     

Probe distractors can influence negative priming by perceptual grouping

Negative priming occurs when a response is slower to a target that was a previously ignored stimulus. According to a computational model of inhibition, negative priming results from relative activation between a target and a distractor in probe trials. Thus, the degree of competition in the probe trial should influence negative priming. The results from three experiments supported this hypothesis. Probe distractors grouped with a target by a rectangle produced a larger negative priming effect than did distractors isolated from the target. Moreover, neither prime-probe similarity nor perceptual interference could explain the grouping effect. The results suggest that perceptual mechanisms can influence negative priming via a race in the probe trial.     

Measurement of discrimination of separation in elderly persons using a liquid-crystal display and grating method

This study analyzed psychophysical data from younger and elderly people on the influence of spacing between vertical lines, exposure time, and number of vertical lines in a stimulus for visual performance. A total of 50 elderly people and 31 graduate students participated in the experiment. Nine levels of spacing between lines (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 29 points), three exposure times (0.2, 0.6, and 1.0 sec.), and five sets of numbers of lines (4, 5, 6, 7, and 8) were manipulated. Analysis showed enhanced spacing between lines and exposure time improved discrimination of separation. However, although performance on discrimination of separation increased as spacing between lines increased up to 21 points, it was degraded at higher values. A positive effect of number of lines on discrimination of separation was also observed, and performance increased as the number of lines decreased. The effect of age group, i.e., elderly versus younger, on performance was significant. The accuracy of the younger was greater than that for the elderly group. Moreover, three interactive two-way effects were found: group x spacing between lines, number of lines x spacing between lines, and number of lines x exposure time. The present findings could be used as a practical reference in the design of instrument displays in which the operator has to consider the scale and markings on a dial, especially if the display is operated in an emergency or is manipulated by elderly people.     

Childhood and adolescent onset conduct disorder: a test of the developmental taxonomy

Hypotheses generated by a developmental taxonomy that distinguishes between childhood and adolescent onset conduct disorders were tested. Hypotheses predicted that (1) individual and familial factors would be more strongly related to childhood onset conduct disorder, whereas ethnic minority status and exposure to deviant peers would be more strongly related to adolescent onset conduct disorder and (2) individuals with childhood onset disorder would be more likely to commit violent and victim oriented offenses than individuals with adolescent onset conduct disorder. The first hypothesis was strongly supported and the second hypothesis was partially supported. Implications for early identification of youth at risk for chronic offending are discussed.