Conceptualizing parental autonomy support: adolescent perceptions of promotion of independence versus promotion of volitional functioning

In current research on parenting, 2 ways of conceptualizing perceived parental autonomy support can be distinguished. Parental autonomy support can be defined in terms of promotion of independence (PI) or in terms of promotion of volitional functioning (PVF). This study aimed to establish the empirical distinctiveness of both conceptualizations and to examine their relative contribution to the prediction of adolescents' adjustment. The authors conducted 3 studies, 2 which sampled late adolescents (N=396, mean age=18.70 years, 79% female; and N=495, mean age=19.30 years, 74% female, respectively) and 1 which sampled middle adolescents (N=153, mean age=15.12 years, 70% female). Factor analyses pointed to the distinction between perceived PVF and PI. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that whereas perceived PVF uniquely predicted adjustment (ps<.01), perceived PI did not (ps>.05). SEM also demonstrated that adolescents' self-determined functioning significantly mediates the relationship between perceived parental PVF and adjustment (ps<.001). Results are discussed in terms of the type of autonomy that parents might want to facilitate among their adolescents to foster well-being.     

Constructive Dialogical Pluralism: A Context of Interreligious Relations

This article presents current philosophical reflections on religious diversity and concomitant attitudes towards the interreligious situation. The motive behind this presentation is to show that in order to deal more efficiently with the phenomenon of religious plurality, there is a need for a development of the philosophy of religion, where new perspectives are opened up and explored. The very concept of religion as a belief system is put into question, since it has caused philosophical reflections on religious diversity to be confined to certain metaphysical and epistemological concerns. Instead of focusing on the noun ‘religion’, the article suggests a way to understand the adjective ‘religious’ and view religious plurality as a plurality of ways of being religious. This opens up a certain context of interreligious relations and interreligious dialogue, where this very dialogue itself can contribute to the development of philosophical tools, concepts and categories for dealing with the fact of plurality. I call this context constructive dialogical pluralism.     

Autonomous and controlled regulation of performance-approach goals: Their relations to perfectionism and educational outcomes

The present research uses self-determination theory to examine whether autonomous and controlled regulation of performance-approach (PAp) goals would differentially predict educational outcomes and add to the variance explained by the goal strength. Two cross-sectional studies among 10th to 12th grade students supported this hypothesis but showed that when regulations of PAp goals were entered into the same regression equation with the PAp goal strength, the PAp goal strength no longer predicted outcomes. Study 2 examined perfectionism in relation to PAp goals and types of regulation, thereby showing that whereas adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism were both positively related to PAp goals, adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism were associated with autonomous and controlled regulations, respectively. Finally, path modeling indicated that autonomous and controlled regulations of PAp goals (but not PAp goals themselves) accounted for nearly all of the relation between the types of perfectionism and learning outcomes. The discussion emphasizes that it is critical to move beyond the consideration of PAp goals per se, thereby considering the types of regulation of PAp goals.     

Safari to masking land: A hunt for the elusive U

Due to the theoretical interest in whether U-shaped visual masking functions are obtained when discrimination responses are required of the Ss, an attempt was made to replicate the Weisstein and Haber (1965) experiment. The attempt was unsuccessful. The results indicated that masking was uniform over a temporal range of approximately 50 msec. The possibility of individual differences in the shape of masking functions was investigated in two subsequent experiments with negative results. Overall, the results of the three experiments supported a temporal integration account of masking when assessed by detection or discrimination criteria. Some possible reasons for discrepancies with the Weisstein and Haber (1965) experiment were considered.     

Multiple-feature discrimination faster than single feature discrimination within the same object?

In the present study, we investigated whether judging the presence of multiple features within an object would be superior to judging the presence of only one feature. Feature discriminability and the number of features to discriminate within an object were varied. Specific features were judged as present or absent. Results showed that judging the presence of two or three features was faster than judging the presence of the less discriminable of these two or three features alone (multiple-feature benefits). These findings suggest that relevant features within an object activate (prime) a decision or response in a parallel, asynchronous fashion based on discriminability (Miller, 1982a). The ability of a response priming model, a response mapping model, and a template model to account for multiple feature benefits is discussed.     

N-channel tachistoscopes

Two 10-channel tachistoscopes are described. In one the optical system is based upon fiber optic light guides; channel and interchannel time control is provided by Tektronix pulse and waveform generators. In the other the optical system uses 10 8-mm variable power projector lens systems. Timing control is obtained from an Iconix timebase generator and preset counters. Two methods of programming the equipment are described and some experimental applications are considered.     

Shifting of attentional focus within and about a visual display

If several positions must be attended in a large visual display, does the efficiency of performance vary as a function of the display distance between these to-be-attended positions? Two previous experiments (Podgorny & Shepard, 1983; Shaw, 1978) gave conflicting answers. In the present experiments, eight-letter circular displays were briefly presented. On each trial one, two, or three positions of the display were cued or precued. The number of noncued display positions intervening between the cued locations varied from zero to three. The subjects' task was to rapidly discriminate between two target letters. Although reaction time was found to increase with increases in the number of cued locations, no significant or suggestive effects were found for the spacing or distance between the cued locations. The evidence strongly suggests that the subjects serially searched the cued locations, which further implies that attention can index locations in the visual field at a speed that is independent of the distance between these locations.     

Attentional distribution in visual space

Summary The horizontal extent of the visual attentive field was measured by the use of a two-choice-RT task and compatible and incompatible distractors. The target was a line that inclined either to the left or to the right. Whether or not the subject performed the choice RT was made contingent upon whether two other stimuli presented in the visual display matched or mismatched. The match-mismatch stimuli varied in locations so as to manipulate the relevant visual area (the attended area). The locations of the distractors were also varied. The increase in RT associated with incompatible distractors was found to vary inversely with their distance from the edge of the area attended to and independently of their distance from the target lines. The results were interpreted in terms of an inhibitory field that surrounds the area attended to.     

Coactivation in the perception of redundant targets

Reaction time (RT) to redundant stimuli was investigated while controlling for distraction effects and response competition. In Experiment 1, a redundancy gain was found for 2 target letters with identical features (redundant) compared to trials in which 2 different targets shared the same response assignment (compatible) indicating coactivation of stimulus inputs. No difference in RTs was found between compatible displays and displays containing 2 targets with different responses (incompatible), suggesting (with other evidence) that letters were serially processed. In Experiment 2, a redundancy gain was again found. Unlike in Experiment 1, incompatible displays produced response competition, indicating a redundancy gain with parallel processing. Three forms of redundancy gains operating under specific conditions are discussed.