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.     

GPS: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Sexual Health Counseling for Gay and Bisexual Men Living With HIV

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBM) continue to have high rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, including syphilis. GBM have therefore been identified by public health agencies as a high-priority population to reach with prevention initiatives. Despite the importance of mental health in preventing HIV and related infections, there is a shortage of credentialed mental health professionals to deliver behavioral Counseling interventions. The current study evaluated the efficacy of GPS, a community-based and peer-delivered sexual health promotion motivational interviewing–based intervention for HIV-positive GBM who engaged in condomless anal sex (CAS) in the past 2 months. GPS prevention counseling demonstrated a 43% relative reduction at 3-month follow-up in CAS with serodiscordant partners and significant reductions in sexual compulsivity. The study demonstrated that community-based counselors can administer an efficacious motivational interviewing program, and suggests a continued benefit of counseling methods to promote the sexual health of higher risk populations.     

A preliminary evaluation of treatment duration on the resurgence of destructive behavior

Quantitative models of resurgence (e.g., Behavioral Momentum Theory, Resurgence as Choice) suggest that resurgence is partly a function of the duration of extinction exposure, with longer histories of extinction producing less resurgence. This prediction is supported by some laboratory research and has been partially supported by clinical translations that did not isolate the effects of extinction exposure prior to testing for resurgence. The degree to which different histories of extinction impact the likelihood of treatment relapse in therapeutic applications of differential reinforcement is of great interest to the clinical community, including insurance carriers and other financial providers. In the present study, we isolated the effects of extinction history for severe destructive behavior across 6 participants referred for treatment services and examined resurgence of destructive behavior when alternative reinforcement terminated. Our within-subject evaluation showed no difference in the level of resurgence or persistence of destructive behavior following short and long exposures to differential reinforcement with extinction. We discuss our failure to replicate in relation to experimental-design considerations for investigating this and other relapse phenomena in future research with clinical populations.     

Face detection in 2‐ to 6‐month‐old infants is influenced by gaze direction and species

Humans detect faces efficiently from a young age. Face detection is critical for infants to identify and learn from relevant social stimuli in their environments. Faces with eye contact are an especially salient stimulus, and attention to the eyes in infancy is linked to the emergence of later sociality. Despite the importance of both of these early social skills—attending to faces and attending to the eyes—surprisingly little is known about how they interact. We used eye tracking to explore whether eye contact influences infants' face detection. Longitudinally, we examined 2‐, 4‐, and 6‐month‐olds' (N = 65) visual scanning of complex image arrays with human and animal faces varying in eye contact and head orientation. Across all ages, infants displayed superior detection of faces with eye contact; however, this effect varied as a function of species and head orientation. Infants were more attentive to human than animal faces and were more sensitive to eye and head orientation for human faces compared to animal faces. Unexpectedly, human faces with both averted heads and eyes received the most attention. This pattern may reflect the early emergence of gaze following—the ability to look where another individual looks—which begins to develop around this age. Infants may be especially interested in averted gaze faces, providing early scaffolding for joint attention. This study represents the first investigation to document infants' attention patterns to faces systematically varying in their attentional states. Together, these findings suggest that infants develop early, specialized functional conspecific face detection.