Support for lateralization of the Whorf effect beyond the realm of color discrimination

Recent work has shown that Whorf effects of language on color discrimination are stronger in the right visual field than in the left. Here we show that this phenomenon is not limited to color: The perception of animal figures (cats and dogs) was more strongly affected by linguistic categories for stimuli presented to the right visual field than those presented to the left. Moreover, the magnitude of the visual field asymmetry was reduced when demands on verbal working memory were increased by a secondary task. This reduction did not occur when the secondary task imposed demands on spatial working memory. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the lateralized Whorf effect may be quite general, reflecting an interaction of linguistic and perceptual codes primarily in the left hemisphere.     

Specificity of episodic and semantic aspects of autobiographical memory in relation to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Two studies examined the relationship between the ability to access specific autobiographical material in memory and presence/symptoms of posttraumatic stress. In Study 1, a sample of refugees with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) in which they had to generate specific episodic autobiographical memories in response to emotion-related cue words. Results showed that reduced specificity of memories on the AMT was associated with an increased frequency of trauma-related flashbacks but with reduced use of effortful avoidance to deal with trauma-related intrusions in the day-to-day. Study 2 examined retrieval of semantic autobiographical information from previous lifetime periods in groups of cancer survivors with posttraumatic stress and healthy controls. The cancer survivors were able to generate fewer specific semantic details about the personal past compared to the controls. The more symptomatic survivors showed the greatest memory impairment. The data from both studies are discussed in terms of compromised access to specific autobiographical material in distressed trauma survivors reflecting a process of affect regulation.     

Interindividual-intergroup discontinuity in the domain of correspondent outcomes: the roles of relativistic concern, perceived categorization, and the doctrine of mutual assured destruction

Most prior research on the tendency for groups to be less cooperative than individuals (the interindividual-intergroup discontinuity effect) has used the Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG). Experiment 1 examined the discontinuity effect with 3 additional matrices: Chicken, Leader, and Battle of the Sexes (BOS). Unlike the PDG, these matrices are characterized by correspondence of outcomes. The discontinuity effect was significant for the PDG and Chicken matrices only. With the BOS and Leader matrices, both individuals and groups pursued outcome maximization through coordinated turn taking. Despite the lesser competitiveness, sets of interacting participants in the BOS and Leader conditions did perceive that they were 2 groups. Experiment 2 examined the discontinuity effect in 2 Chicken matrices with varying outcomes associated with mutual competition. Consistent with the doctrine of mutual assured destruction, the discontinuity effect was eliminated for the matrix in which mutual competition was associated with very low outcomes. Although concern for relative in-group standing gave rise to intergroup competition even in the domain of correspondent outcomes, such concern was constrained to the extent that it interfered with outcome maximization.     

The self-protective altruist: terror management and the ambivalent nature of prosocial behavior

Three studies examined the hypothesis that mortality salience (MS) will increase prosocial behaviors when the prosocial cause promotes terror management processes. However, when the prosocial cause interferes with these processes, MS will reduce prosocial behavior. In Study 1, following a MS procedure, participants indicated their willingness to donate money to charity or to donate to an organ donation organization. In Study 2, a research assistant randomly distributed fliers with reminders of death or back pain, and another research assistant solicited participants' assistance from either a charitable fund booth or an organ donation booth. Study 3 examined the impact of MS on helping a wheelchair-bound confederate or a walking confederate. The results indicated that MS increased charitable donations and increased help to a walking confederate. However, MS significantly decreased organ donation card signings and decreased help to a wheelchair-bound confederate. The discussion examines the tension between personal fear and worldview validation.     

Fluctuations in self-esteem and paranoia in the context of daily life

Studies investigating the relationship between self-esteem and paranoia have specifically focused on self-esteem level, but have neglected the dynamic aspects of self-esteem. In the present article, the authors investigated the relationship between self-esteem and paranoia in two different ways. First, 154 individuals ranging across the continuum in level of paranoia were studied with the Experience Sampling Method (a structured self-assessment diary technique) to assess the association between trait paranoia and level and fluctuation of self-esteem in daily life. Results showed that trait paranoia was associated with both lower levels and higher instability of self-esteem. Second, the temporal relationship between momentary (state) paranoia and self-esteem was investigated in the daily life of these individuals. Results showed that a decrease in self-esteem was associated with an immediate increase in paranoia. The findings indicate that paranoid individuals are not only characterized by a lower level of self-esteem but also by more fluctuations in their self-esteem and that fluctuations in self-esteem predict the degree of subsequent paranoia. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that paranoia is associated with dysfunctional strategies of self-esteem regulation.     

Orienting attention in visual working memory reduces interference from memory probes

Given a changing visual environment, and the limited capacity of visual working memory (VWM), the contents of VWM must be in constant flux. Using a change detection task, the authors show that VWM is subject to obligatory updating in the face of new information. Change detection performance is enhanced when the item that may change is retrospectively cued 1 s after memory encoding and 0.5 s before testing. The retro-cue benefit cannot be explained by memory decay or by a reduction in interference from other items held in VWM. Rather, orienting attention to a single memory item makes VWM more resistant to interference from the test probe. The authors conclude that the content of VWM is volatile unless it receives focused attention, and that the standard change detection task underestimates VWM capacity.     

Viewer perspective affects central bottleneck requirements in spatial translation tasks

A psychological refractory period (PRP) approach and the locus of slack logic were applied to examine the novel question of whether spatial translation processes can begin before the central bottleneck when effector or noneffector stimuli are processed from an egocentric (viewer-centered) perspective. In single tasks, trials requiring spatial translations were considerably slower than trials without translations (Experiment 1). Dual tasks consisted of tone discriminations (Task 1) and spatial translations (Task 2) using PRP methods with different manipulations on perceptual and response demands. When a viewer-centered perspective was used, the effect of spatial translation was reduced at short compared with long stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) when the potential for code overlap between tasks was removed (Experiments 2, 3, and 4); this finding supports the view that translation processes can begin before the central bottleneck. When an allocentric (non-viewer-centered) perspective was used (Experiment 5), the slowing associated with spatial translation was additive with SOA, suggesting that the processes of spatial translation cannot begin before the bottleneck. These findings highlight the importance of viewer perspective on central bottleneck requirements. Findings are further discussed in relation to the dorsal-ventral model of action and perception.     

Supramodality effects in visual and haptic spatial processes

In this article, the authors investigated unimodal and cross-modal processes in spatial working memory. A number of locations had to be memorized within visual or haptic matrices according to different experimental conditions known to be critical in accounting for the effects of perception on imagery. Results reveal that some characteristics of the generated mental image remained strictly inherent to the modality in which information was acquired; in general, accuracy was higher when configurations were visually rather than haptically explored (Experiments 1 and 3). Interestingly, the same pattern emerged when the effects of simultaneous versus sequential processing of the stimuli inherent to vision and haptics were isolated from perceptual modality (Experiment 2). Supramodal elements were also identified (Experiment 3) that were specifically associated to the nature of the cognitive processes, regardless of the original characteristics of the sensory information. These data indicate that both unimodal modality-specific and higher order supramodal mechanisms are simultaneously used in spatial processes.     

Automatic measurement of propositional idea density from part-of-speech tagging

The Computerized Propositional Idea Density Rater (CPIDR, pronounced "spider") is a computer program that determines the propositional idea density (P-density) of an English text automatically on the basis of part-of-speech tags. The key idea is that propositions correspond roughly to verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. After tagging the parts of speech using MontyLingua (Liu, 2004), CPIDR applies numerous rules to adjust the count, such as combining auxiliary verbs with the main verb. A "speech mode" is provided in which CPIDR rejects repetitions and a wider range of fillers. CPIDR is a user-friendly Windows .NET application distributed as open-source freeware under GPL. Tested against human raters, it agrees with the consensus of two human raters better than the team of five raters agree with each other [r(80) = .97 vs. r(10) = .82, respectively].     

Racial discrimination and psychological distress: the impact of ethnic identity and age among immigrant and United States-born Asian adults

The association between racial and ethnic discrimination and psychological distress was examined among 2,047 Asians (18 to 75 years of age) in the National Latino and Asian American Study, the first-ever nationally representative study of mental health among Asians living in the United States. Stratifying the sample by age in years (i.e., 18 to 30, 31 to 40, 41 to 50, 51 to 75) and nativity status (i.e., immigrant vs. U.S.-born), ethnic identity was tested as either a protective or exacerbating factor. Analyses showed that ethnic identity buffered the association between discrimination and mental health for U.S.-born individuals 41 to 50 years of age. For U.S.-born individuals 31 to 40 years of age and 51 to 75 years of age, ethnic identity exacerbated the negative effects of discrimination on mental health. The importance of age and immigrant status for the association between ethnic identity, discrimination, and well-being among Asians in the United States is discussed.