Effects of chromaticities and occlusion of shaft on magnitude of the Müller-Lyer illusion

The magnitude of the Müller-Lyer illusion was investigated using the Brentano figure by varying the chromaticities of the shaft and the fins along the cone-excitation axes and by varying the occlusion status of the shaft by the fins. 72 college students participated using the staircase method. The stimuli whose shaft and the fin chromaticities were the same produced larger illusions than stimuli with different chromaticities regardless of the luminance contrast between the figure and the surround. When the shaft appeared in front of the fins, the illusion effect was stronger than when the shaft was occluded by the fins.     

Factor structure of the Korean version of Wong and Law's Emotional Intelligence Scale

This study reports the factor structure of a Korean version of the 16-item Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) for a sample of 161 Korean university students. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-factor model of the WLEIS: (1) self-emotional appraisal, (2) others' emotional appraisal, (3) use of emotion, and (4) regulation of emotion. However, improvement of the model fit after removing three items suggests the need for future research on the cross-cultural measurement invariance of the WLEIS.     

Working Memory Training Improves Dual-Task Performance on Motor Tasks

The authors investigated whether working memory training improves motor-motor dual-task performance consisted of upper and lower limb tasks. The upper limb task was a simple reaction task and the lower limb task was an isometric knee extension task. 45 participants (age = 21.8 ± 1.6 years) were classified into a working memory training group (WM-TRG), dual-task training group, or control group. The training duration was 2 weeks (15 min, 4 times/week). Our results indicated that working memory capacity increased significantly only in the WM-TRG. Dual-task performance improved in the WM-TRG and dual-task training group. Our study provides the novel insight that working memory training improves dual-task performance without specific training on the target motor task.     

Correlates of retrospective early life experience with personality in young Japanese women

To examine the influence of early experiences on the development of personality. We used the Temperament and Character Inventory to assess 98 young women who had first entered a company. Different early experiences were linked, albeit weakly, to test scores. Both partial correlations and multiple regression analyses indicated that Self-directedness was higher if women reported more care of parents. Partial correlation, but not multiple regression analyses, showed that Cooperativeness was greater if women reported more care of parents and less frequent abuse. Reports of early parental loss or negative or positive early life events showed no correlation with scores on any of the Temperament and Character Inventory subscales.     

The potential link between sense of agency and output monitoring over speech

We investigated output-monitoring errors over speech based on findings in the research on the sense of agency. Several words were presented one-by-one, and we asked participants to say the word aloud, mouth the word, or imagine saying the word aloud. Later, participants were asked whether each word was said aloud. We found that the “said aloud” response was higher for generated words than that for observed words; it was decreased when the pitch of the feedback was lowered but still higher than when no feedback was received, and it was the same when no feedback was received and when feedback was replaced by another’s voice. Furthermore, we found that the “said aloud” response did not decrease even when the altered feedback was received with a short delay. These results were discussed according to the sense of agency and agency memory.     

Rubber hand illusion, empathy, and schizotypal experiences in terms of self-other representations

When participants observed a rubber hand being touched, their sense of touch was activated (rubber hand illusion: RHI). While this illusion might be caused by multi-modal integration, it may also be related to empathic function, which enables us to simulate the observed information. We examined individual differences in the RHI, including empathic and schizotypal personality traits, as previous research had suggested that schizophrenic patients would be more subject to the RHI. The results indicated that people who experience a stronger RHI might have stronger empathic and schizotypal personalites simultaneously. We discussed these relationships in terms of self-other representations.     

Regional brain activity during face and word discrimination: simultaneous recording of event-related potentials and positron emission tomography

In order to clarify the brain mechanisms involved in the recognition of faces, words, and figures, spatiotemporal analyses were carried out with event-related potentials (ERPs) and positron emission tomography (PET) in normal subjects. In the first experiment, we analyzed the ERPs of eight normal subjects under a passive habituation paradigm using pictures of faces and letters. In the second experiment, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) measured using PET was obtained simultaneously with the ERP recordings during a continuous performance task (CPT) in 12 normal subjects. This required the active discrimination of famous people's faces, meaningful words consisting of two Japanese hiragana characters, and simple geometric figures. There were similar deflections in the global field power (GFP) in the first 200 ms of the passive and active tasks, regardless of type of stimuli. This suggests a common time course in the visual information processing mechanisms during the preattentive stage. Mesiotemporal activity, dominant on the right, was seen during the face discrimination task in both the PET results and the ERP topographies. In the word task, activity that was clearly dominant on the left was observed at around a 160 ms latency in the posteriotemporal region of the ERP topography and this again coincided well with the PET data. The spatiotemporal resolution of the analyses was improved by combining PET and topographic ERP studies, and this provided additional neurophysiological information concerning cognitive processing.     

Relationship between masculinity-femininity and concession in an experimental collaborative eyewitness testimony

The present study examined the relationships of masculinity and femininity with concession in an experimental collaborative eyewitness testimony task, using the MORI technique. Participants formed same sex or mixed sex pairs and watched a videotaped event. Their eyewitness memories were assessed three times: immediately after watching, after discussing the event together, and individually 1 week later . The participants' self-confidence in their recalled memories and percentages of concessions were also examined. The Masculinity-Humanity-Femininity Scale was administered to the participants at the end of the experiment. The results showed that masculinity negatively correlated with concession, and that both masculinity and femininity were associated with inaccuracy in collaborative memory recall.     

Predictors of Living in Precarious Housing Among Immigrants Accessing Housing Support Services

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that explain immigrant housing vulnerability, thereby contributing to the growth of a more substantial knowledge base on the intersection between immigration, housing and homelessness. Administrative data on housing support service recipients (n?=?4168) in Alberta, Canada, were analysed to determine the varied demographic, socio-economic and health-related factors that contribute to living in a precarious housing situation (such as homelessness, couch surfing, staying with friends or family etc.). Logistic regression analysis shows that being an immigrant is a protective factor from living in a precarious housing situation. For the immigrant subsample (n?=?525), logistic regression analysis demonstrates that living in a larger city, having a mental illness and being married were protective factors from living in a precarious housing situation. However, having an addiction and being precariously employed (such as only working part-time, having temporary employment or being unemployed) were risk factors for living in a precarious housing situation. Shared and distinctive vulnerabilities among the immigrant subsample and the full study sample are discussed, along with implications for specific policy and programmes that aim to address the housing needs of immigrants.