Remembering plurals: Unit of coding and form of coding during serial recall

Subjects were required to recall lists of six words which had been presented visually in sequence. One or two of the words might be plural nouns. A substantial number of errors occurred in which the plural form became detached from its original root. This is taken as evidence for a morpheme-based code as opposed to a unitary word code. A significantly high proportion of these errors maintained the form of the plural ( /S/, /Z/ or (ЪZ/) which is considered evidence for a primarily phonological coding of the plural morpheme. There is however a suggestion that on some occasions the plural is coded morphemically—i.e., in a way which does not distinguish between the various plural endings.     

Measuring circadian cycles: A simple temperature recording preparation

While measurement of temperature as an index of circadian rhythmicity is not a difficult task with infrahuman subjects, long-term monitoring of deep body temperature with human subjects poses numerous measurement and safety problems. A preparation is described that is highly accurate, inexpensive, chronic, comfortable, and eliminates safety problems associated with more traditional methods of temperature measurement.     

Perceived orientation in depth from line-of-sight movement

Twelve college students viewed computer-generated displays of a cross comprised of two orthogonal dotted lines, and judged the apparent in-depth orientation of the horizontal arm by positioning a horizontal bar mounted on a rotary potentiometer. The vertical arm of the simulated cross was always in the observer’s frontal plane, but the randomly textured horizontal arm was in one of nine orientations relative to the line of sight. Each observer viewed displays in which the simulated cross was, alternately, (a) stationary, (b) approaching the viewer, and (c) stationary but expanding in size. The static texture density gradient in the horizontal arm of the simulated stationary cross mediated perceived orientation in depth. Further, when motion perspective was added to the detail perspective, the impression of depth was enhanced, with the greatest enhancement obtaining at the near viewing distance. When dynamic magnification was added to the detail perspective, the impression of depth was attenuated; this effect was interpreted as an illusory case of motion perspective.     

The toll of ethnic discrimination on sleep architecture and fatigue.

Most work on ethnicity tends to focus on daytime health rather than how aspects of ethnicity affect nighttime functioning. The current study examined how discrimination and ethnic identity relate to sleep architecture and fatigue in 37 African Americans and 56 Caucasian Americans. The authors conducted sleep monitoring with standard polysomnography. African Americans had less slow-wave sleep and reported more physical fatigue than did Caucasian Americans (ps < .05). The authors conducted path analyses to examine relationships between ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, sleep, and fatigue. Perceived discrimination mediated ethnic differences in Stage 4 sleep and physical fatigue. Individuals who reported experiencing more discrimination had less Stage 4 sleep and reported experiencing greater physical fatigue (ps < .05). Although ethnic identity did not mediate ethnic differences in sleep latency, there was a significant relationship between ethnic identity and sleep latency, indicating that individuals who felt more connected to their ethnic group had more difficulty falling asleep while in the hospital (p < .05). These observations suggest that the effects of stress related to one's ethnic group membership carry over into sleep.     

Assessing Facets of Mindfulness in the Context of Work: The Mindfulness@Work Scale as a Work-Specific,Multidimensional Measure of Mindfulness

The mindfulness at work literature lacks a multi-faceted measure of mindfulness that is applicable in the work context. Building on predominantly clinically oriented, multi-faceted mindfulness measures, we aimed to develop and validate such a measure and to provide first insights into differential validities of mindfulness subfacets for work outcomes. Data from seven work samples (overall n = 4,977) provided support that (a) a 4-factor structure representing the subfacets of Describing, Nonreactivity, Nonjudging, and Act with Awareness replicates across samples; (b) subfacets and overall scale have good internal consistency and retest reliability; (c) the measure demonstrates convergent and discriminant validity; (d) it demonstrates criterion-related validity for well-being, motivational, and interpersonal work outcomes; (e) the Mindfulness@Work Scale explains variance in outcome variables above a unidimensional measures of mindfulness supporting its incremental validity. Furthermore, relative weights and incremental validity analyses revealed differential validities of subfacets of the Mindfulness@Work Scale in relation to positive psychological states versus psychological distress. Overall, findings suggest that the Mindfulness@Work Scale has good psychometric properties and that a differentiation of subfacets provides novel insights into the role of mindfulness for work outcomes.