Attentional biases in geometric form perception

This paper reports the operation of robust attentional bias to the top and right during perception of small, single geometric forms. Same/different judgements of successively presented standard and comparison forms are faster when local differences are located at top and right rather than in other regions of the forms. The bias persists when form size is reduced to approximately one degree of visual angle, and it is unaffected by saccadic eye movements and by instructions to attend to other reliably differentiating regions of the forms. Results lend support in various degrees to two of the possible explanations of the bias: (1) a static, skewed distribution of attentional resources around eye fixation; and (2) biased, covert scanning that commences invariably at the top and right of stim ulus forms. Origins of the bias in terms of possible left-hemispheric capacity for constructing representations of visual stimuli from parts, as well as in terms of reading experience and prevailing optic flow during locomotion through space are considered. Recent investigations of conditions under which the bias can be maintained or reduced are mentioned.     

Progress in Psychoblography

ABSTRACT Progress in psychobiography What is it? Has there been any? And what processes contnbute to it? The issue of progress in psychobiography is pursued from two different perspectives The first section briefly reviews the historical growth of the field, including the range of disciplines involved, the rise of associated professional organizations and publication outlets, and a quantitative analysis of the increase in books, articles, and dissertations in psychobiography The second section argues that progress in psychobiographical understanding can be analyzed into eight component processes, such as the collection of additional evidence, the formulation of fresh interpretations, critical examination of prior explanations, and the application of new theoretical advances These processes are illustrated with an examination of the course of debate about the physical and psychological disturbances of King George III Personality psychology is concerned with the four basic tasks of developing general theories of personality, analyzing individual and group differences, understanding individual persons, and studying selected processes and classes of behavior In that developing a better understanding of individual persons is one of the ultimate objectives of personality psychology, progress in psychobiography is intimately related to progress in personality psychology as a whole     

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A CONSTANT TIME-DELAY PROCEDURE TO TEACH CHAINED RESPONSES TO ADOLESCENTS WITH MENTAL RETARDATION

The effectiveness of a 5-s constant time-delay procedure to teach three chained food preparation behaviors to four moderately retarded adolescent students was evaluated within a multiple probe design across behaviors. Results indicate that the procedure was effective in teaching all four students to make a sandwich, boil a boil-in-bag item, and bake canned biscuits. The skills maintained with at least 85% accuracy over a 3-month period. Training generalized from the school to the home setting for the 2 subjects that completed generalization probe sessions. The percentage of errors across all skills and students was less than 9%.     

The assessment of child abuse potential and the prevention of child abuse and neglect: A policy analysis

A frequently advocated strategy for increasing the efficiency of child abuse prevention programs is to deliver prevention services to "high-risk" populations. This article critically reviews procedures for the reliable and valid assessment of child abuse potential within an ecological perspective. Factors that limit the usefulness of child abuse risk assessment are discussed. These factors include the uncertain criteria of child abuse and neglect, the low base rate of the phenomenon, and the financial and social costs of such procedures. Finally, the prevention implications of the current and future state of the art in child abuse risk assessment are considered and preventive interventions that do not depend on individual case risk screening are advocated.     

Resilient children,psychological wellness,and primary prevention

The concept of heightened resilience or invulnerability in young profoundly stressed children is developed in terms of its implications for a psychology of wellness and for primary prevention in mental health. Relevant literature is reviewed, a skeletal model for studying resilience is outlined, and needed research directions are considered. The latter include expansion of the construct's nomological definitional net, inquiry into the antecedents and determinants of resilience, and the application of such generative information to frame preventive interventions for young, profoundly stressed children.     

Bias in the use of base rates: Racial prejudice in decision-making

Two studies investigated biases in the use of base rate information when assessing the probability of a witness' accurate identification of a white or West Indian as a burglar. An adapted version of the Kahneman-Tversky cab problem was used, to provide a social decision in which biases could be measured against some normative standard. Ethnicity of youth (white/West Indian) and nature of base rate (incidental/causal) were manipulated in a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. A significant interaction effect revealed that subjects took no account of the base rate for a West Indian subject, but used the base rate only when it was causal and the youth was white. This ‘prejudice effect’ against a West Indian youth and ‘exoneration effect’ for a white youth were replicated in a second study, using a microcomputer and chronometric analyses. Results are discussed in terms of heuristic decision-making, social schemata, and the cognitive versus motivational bases of bias in the use of base rates.