Face inversion and contrast-reversal effects across development: in contrast to the expertise theory

To determine the role of configural changes on the development of face encoding and memory, we investigated face recognition in an n-back repetition task with upright, inverted and contrast-reversed unfamiliar faces in adults and children (8-16 years). Repetitions occurred immediately (0-lag) or after one intervening face (1-lag). Face recognition continued to develop beyond 14-16 years, as shown with hit rates, d' scores and reaction times that all improved with age. Inversion and contrast-reversal effects were found in all subjects but were not more pronounced with increasing age, suggesting no increased reliance on configural processing and thus arguing against the expertise theory of Diamond and Carey (1986). Recognition improved with age in upright but also in inverted and contrast-reversed faces, suggesting a quantitative rather than a qualitative developmental change in face processing. For all age groups, performances decreased and reaction times increased from 0- to 1-lag conditions similarly, suggesting a similar memory component involved in adults' and children's processing. These data suggest gradual quantitative improvements in face processing with age, mainly due to increasing working memory processing capacity.     

Enhanced occipital and anterior cingulate activation in men but not in women during exposure to angry and fearful male faces

Blood-oxygenation-level-dependent signal was measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging in 24 healthy young subjects (12 men and 12 women) during viewing of angry, fearful, and neutral male and female face pictures. Exposure to angry male as opposed to angry female faces activated the visual cortex and the anterior cingulate gyrus significantly more in men than in women. A similar sex-differential brain activation pattern was present during exposure to fearful but not neutral faces. Previous behavioral studies indicate enhanced physiological arousal in men but not in women during exposure to angry male as opposed to female faces, and brain imaging studies have shown that the occipital cortex and the anterior cingulate gyrus are influenced by activity in the autonomic nervous system as well as by visual attention. Hence, we suggest that the elevated occipital and anterior cingulate activation in men during confrontation with other angry and fearful males may reflect enhanced vigilance in a potentially dangerous situation.     

The factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index among Northern Plains Native Americans

Within our current research climate, an emphasis has been placed on examining the cross-cultural applicability of psychological tools, and exploring their utility with people of different backgrounds. Within this line of investigation lies the risk of classifying people too broadly and masking important regional, tribal, or dialectical differences. This may be particularly potent among Native Americans, given the number of distinct indigenous entities. This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index with a tribally homogeneous sample, as compared to previous tribally-heterogeneous and majority culture findings. Results suggested that data from a homogeneous Native American sample poorly fit factor solutions reported from heterogeneous Native American and Caucasian samples, and favored a unifactorial solution. Implications for assessment with Native American peoples are discussed.     

Applications of computer-based instruction: using specialized software to aid letter-name and letter-sound recognition

We evaluated computerized training and testing programs with children who were having difficulties learning prereading skills. The programs were derived from equivalence research and were written in authoring software designed for educators. After learning to match uppercase and lowercase printed letters to the corresponding letter names (Tasks 1 and 2), the children matched the letters to one another (Tasks 4 and 5). Then, after learning to match uppercase letters to sounds (Task 3), they also matched lowercase letters to sounds (Task 6) and matched printed to spoken words (Tasks 7 and 8). The results recommend equivalence-based protocols and user-friendly software in further development of prereading instruction.     

Attachment representations and characteristics of friendship relations during adolescence

Attachment theory proposes that experiences with the primary caregivers are an important basis for the development of close social relationships outside the parent-child relationship. This study examined the association between representations of attachment, as assessed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), representations of friendship and peer relations, as assessed with an interview in a sample of 43 adolescents. Secure attachment representations were significantly related to interview-based assessments of close friendships, friendship concept, integration in a peer group, and emotion regulation within close friendships. Attachment experiences reported during the AAI, their integration, and their coherency were related to friendship quality and friendship concept. Results show the close associations between attachment representations and friendship relationships during adolescence. The associations between peer relations and attachment representations differed depending on whether an interview approach or a questionnaire approach was used.     

What is the canonical theory of assimilation?

Throughout the past century, assimilation has been the hegemonic theory of ethnic group relations in sociology, and Robert E. Park is generally considered to be the key figure associated with the articulation of assimilation's canonical formulation. Based on a careful reading of Park's main essays on assimilation, this article argues that those who associate his position with the melting pot (with its assumption of the eradication of ethnic traits and ties), the race-relations cycle, or a straight-line process of incorporation misconstrue his views. This article is in part corrective and in part revisionist insofar as it is intended to indicate aspects of Park's theory that have particular relevance to current sociological efforts to understand the implications of assimilation in multiethnic liberal democracies.     

“Seeing Conversion Whole”: Testing a Model of Religious Conversion

Rambo (1993) theorized that religious conversion consists of a process involving seven dimensions, labeled context, crisis, quest, encounter, interaction, commitment, and consequences. To test the Rambo model, a new measure, the 97-item Adult Religious Conversion Experiences Questionnaire (ARCEQ), was developed, revised on the basis of feedback from a focus group, and administered by mail to 110 adult volunteers who self-identified as having experienced conversion. Reliability analysis of the subscales of the ARCEQ resulted in five (crisis, quest, encounter, commitment, and consequences) meeting the criterion ( > .80). A sixth (interaction) achieved a reliability of .76 and was retained, but the seventh (context) was dropped. Principal components factor analysis with Varimax rotation produced factors labeled Redemptive Love, Zealous Dedication, Dysphoric Need, Openness to Uncertainty, Extrinsic Crisis, and Experiential Learning, which could readily be interpreted in relation to Rambo's model. Subsidiary analyses showed a number of significant correlations between demographic characteristics of the sample and differences in religious conversion experience.     

Task- and location-switching effects on visual attention

In two experiments, we examined the effects of task and location switching on the accuracy of reporting target characters in an attentional blink (AB) paradigm. Single-character streams were presented at a rate of 100 msec per character in Experiment 1, and successive pairs of characters on either side of fixation were presented in Experiment 2. On each trial, two targets appeared that were either white letters or black digits embedded in a stream of black letter distractors, and they were separated by between zero and five items in the stream (lags 1-6). Experiment 1 showed that report of the first target was least accurate if it immediately preceded the second target and if the two targets were either both letters or both digits (task repetition cost). Report of the second target was least accurate if one or two distractors intervened between the two targets (the U-shaped AB lag effect) and if one target was a letter and the other a digit (task switch cost). Experiment 2 added location uncertainty as a factor and showed similar effects as Experiment 1, with one exception. Lag 1 sparing (the preserved accuracy in reporting the second of two targets if the second immediately follows the first) was completely eliminated when the task required attention switching across locations. Two-way additive effects were found between task switching and location switching in the AB paradigm. These results suggests separate loci for their attentional effects. It is likely that the AB deficit is due mainly to central memory limitations, whereas location-switching costs occur at early visual levels. Task-switching costs occur at an intermediate visual level, since the present task switch involved encoding differences without changes in stimulus-response mapping rules (i.e., the task was character identification for both letters and digits).     

Linear separability in superordinate natural language concepts

Two experiments are reported in which linear separability was investigated in superordinate natural language concept pairs (e.g., toiletry-sewing gear). Representations of the exemplars of semantically related concept pairs were derived in two to five dimensions using multidimensional scaling (MDS) of similarities based on possession of the concept features. Next, category membership, obtained from an exemplar generation study (in Experiment 1) and from a forced-choice classification task (in Experiment 2) was predicted from the coordinates of the MDS representation using log linear analysis. The results showed that all natural kind concept pairs were perfectly linearly separable, whereas artifact concept pairs showed several violations. Clear linear separability of natural language concept pairs is in line with independent cue models. The violations in the artifact pairs, however, yield clear evidence against the independent cue models.