Cross-modal personality attributions in synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes

Those variants of synaesthesia that trigger colour are well studied, although comparatively less is known about variants that involve cognitive constructs such as personality types. Here we investigate sequence-personality synaesthesia (also known as ordinal linguistic personification, OLP) in which sequenced units (e.g., letters) become associated to personalities or genders. We present the first group study of this variant, showing similarities and differences between synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes. In Experiment 1, we show that synaesthetes differ from the general population in the phenomenology of their reports, the depth of their personality associations, and the consistency of those associations over time. In Experiment 2, we show that synaesthetes are similar to the general population in the underlying rules that link their personalities to letters. Specifically, we show that these mappings are not random, but are based on a shared rule system linking linguistic qualities of letters with quantitative dimensions of personality (based on Goldberg's Big Five personality traits; Goldberg, 1990, 1992). Synaesthetes tend to associate high-frequency letters with high agreeable and low neurotic personalities, and non-synaesthetes share these tendencies at an implicit level. Together, these data show that synaesthetes differ from the general population in phenomenological ways, but that their underlying mechanisms may be common to all people.     

Dimension-specific attention directs learning and listening on auditory training tasks

The relative contributions of bottom-up versus top-down sensory inputs to auditory learning are not well established. In our experiment, listeners were instructed to perform either a frequency discrimination (FD) task ("FD-train group") or an intensity discrimination (ID) task ("ID-train group") during training on a set of physically identical tones that were impossible to discriminate consistently above chance, allowing us to vary top-down attention whilst keeping bottom-up inputs fixed. A third, control group did not receive any training. Only the FD-train group improved on a FD probe following training, whereas all groups improved on ID following training. However, only the ID-train group also showed changes in performance accuracy as a function of interval with training on the ID task. These findings suggest that top-down, dimension-specific attention can direct auditory learning, even when this learning is not reflected in conventional performance measures of threshold change.     

Stereotype threat undermines academic learning

Two experiments tested whether stereotype threat can undermine the acquisition of academic knowledge and thus harm performance even in nonthreatening settings. In Experiment 1, Black and White students studied rare words in either nonthreatening or threatening conditions. One to two weeks later, participants recalled word definitions, half in a nonthreatening "warm-up" and half in a threatening "test." Replicating past research, Black students performed worse on the test than on the warm-up. But importantly, Black students who had studied in the threatening rather than nonthreatening environment performed worse even on the warm-up. White students were unaffected. In Experiment 2, a value affirmation eliminated the learning-threat effect and provided evidence of psychological process. The results suggest that stereotype threat causes a form of "double jeopardy" whereby threat can undermine both learning and performance. The discussion addresses implications for the interpretation of group differences and for understanding how brief threat-reducing interventions can produce long-lasting benefits.     

The influence of consistency, frequency, and semantics on learning to read: an artificial orthography paradigm

Two experiments explored learning, generalization, and the influence of semantics on orthographic processing in an artificial language. In Experiment 1, 16 adults learned to read 36 novel words written in novel characters. Posttraining, participants discriminated trained from untrained items and generalized to novel items, demonstrating extraction of individual character sounds. Frequency and consistency effects in learning and generalization showed that participants were sensitive to the statistics of their learning environment. In Experiment 2, 32 participants were preexposed to the sounds of all items (lexical phonology) and to novel definitions for half of these items (semantics). Preexposure to either lexical phonology or semantics boosted the early stages of orthographic learning relative to Experiment 1. By the end of training, facilitation was restricted to the semantic condition and to items containing low-frequency inconsistent vowels. Preexposure reduced generalization, suggesting that enhanced item-specific learning was achieved at the expense of character-sound abstraction. The authors' novel paradigm provides a new tool to explore orthographic learning. Although the present findings support the idea that semantic knowledge supports word reading processes, they also suggest that item-specific phonological knowledge is important in the early stages of learning to read.     

Non-organizational Religious Participation,Subjective Religiosity,and Spirituality among Older African Americans and Black Caribbeans

This study utilizes data from the National Survey of American Life to examine the sociodemographic and denominational correlates of religious involvement and spirituality among older African Americans and Black Caribbeans. Eleven measures of non-organizational religious participation, subjective religiosity, and spirituality are utilized. The findings indicate significant gender, income, region, marital status, denominational, and immigration status differences in religiosity and spirituality. Among older Black Caribbeans, income was a consistent correlate of religious participation and spirituality. The findings are discussed in relation to prior work in the area of religious involvement among older adults.     

To see ourselves as others see us: an experimental integration of the intra and interpersonal consequences of self-protection in social anxiety disorder

The current study investigated the mechanism through which safety behaviors perpetuate perceived and actual negative social outcomes hypothesized to maintain social anxiety disorder (SAD). Eighty individuals diagnosed with generalized SAD took part in a "getting acquainted" conversation with a trained experimental confederate. Participants were then randomly assigned to either a safety behavior reduction plus exposure condition (SB + EXP) or a graduated exposure (EXP) control condition and completed a 2nd conversation with the same interaction partner. Mediation analyses revealed that participants instructed to reduce their idiosyncratic safety behaviors displayed significantly greater increases in both perceived and actual positive interpersonal outcomes relative to the EXP group. However, whereas the safety behavior manipulation influenced participants' appraisals of their partner's reaction to them through reducing self-judgments about the visibility of anxiety-related behaviors, in reality, the SB + EXP group elicited more positive partner reactions because they displayed a greater increase in social approach behavior. Thus, although both parties recognized positive changes in the social exchange following the safety behavior manipulation, different sources of social information accounted for participant versus partner interpersonal judgments. The current findings point to the potential value of considering both the intra and interpersonal consequences of safety behaviors in SAD.     

Influences of APOE ε4 and expertise on performance of older pilots

Little is known about how APOE ε4-related differences in cognitive performance translate to real-life performance, where training and experience may help to sustain performance. We investigated the influences of APOE ε4 status, expertise (FAA pilot proficiency ratings), and their interaction on longitudinal flight simulator performance. Over a 2-year period, 139 pilots aged 42-69 years were tested annually. APOE ε4 carriers had lower memory performance than noncarriers (p = .019). APOE interacted with Expertise (p = .036), such that the beneficial influence of expertise (p = .013) on longitudinal flight simulator performance was more pronounced for ε4 carriers. Results suggest that relevant training and activity may help sustain middle-aged and older adults' real-world performance, especially among APOE ε4 carriers.     

Timing and aging: slowing of fastest regular tapping rate with preserved timing error detection and correction

This study assessed motor limits of regular tapping, timing error detection, and correction in 60 participants aged from 19 to 98 years. Rate limitations on motor production were estimated from the average inter-tap interval when tapping as fast as possible for 30 s. Timing error detection required participants to judge whether a sound sequence presented at a slow, intermediate, or fast speed contained an irregularity because of phase shift. This was performed with or without synchronizing to the sounds. On the basis of the just-detectable positive phase shift (JND), participants synchronized with sequences containing phase shifts that were subliminal, just detectable or supraliminal. On average, JNDs were 9% of the inter-onset interval and by and large were not affected by synchronization tapping. Speed of error correction was estimated from the number of tones to return within 20% of the preshift synchronization error. Consistent with previous findings of motor slowing with aging, the fastest inter-tap interval increased with age. However, there was no age-related decline in JNDs or speed of error correction, both of which reflect predictive abilities for intervals within the motor repertoire of human adults. These results point towards intact timing error processing up to an advanced age. In assessing timing abilities in the brain of older adults, it is important to differentiate between motor slowing and its impact on rhythmic behavior (e.g., walking pace) from anticipatory mechanisms ('what to expect when') and how these are used to adjust the timing of actions ('what to do when').     

Contributions of familiarity and recollection rejection to recognition: evidence from the time course of false recognition for semantic and conjunction lures

It has been suggested that both familiarity and recollection contribute to the recognition decision process. In this paper we leverage the form of false alarm rate functions--in which false alarm rates describe an inverted U-shaped function as the time between study and test increases--to assess how these processes support retention of semantic and surface form information from previously studied words. We directly compare the maxima of these functions for lures that are semantically related and lures that are related by surface form to previously studied material. This analysis reveals a more rapid loss of access to surface form than to semantic information. To separate the contributions of item familiarity and reminding-induced recollection rejection to this effect, we use a simple multinomial process model; this analysis reveals that this loss of access reflects both a more rapid loss of familiarity and lower rates of recollection for surface form information.