Effects of interior colors on mood and preference: comparisons of two living rooms

The purpose was to assess whether various colors across room interiors do, in fact, evoke different moods. Digital images of two imaginary living rooms were used as the experimental settings. For each of the experiments, the rooms' spatial characteristics were fixed, with only the colors changed: either warm, cool, or achromatic colors. As predicted, warm colors tended to produce stronger participant responses when rating the scene on "high arousal," "exciting," and "stimulating." Cool colors tended be associated with "not very arousing," but to be rated higher on "spacious" and "restful." It is generally assumed that cool and achromatic colors evoke calmer and more peaceful emotions. The study's results show that the spatial characteristics of the imaginary spaces themselves affected participants' responses only on measures of "happiness" and "vividness." Lastly, sex differences were also found, with women's ratings generally more positive than those of men.     

Activation of learned action sequences by auditory feedback

The present research addressed whether auditory feedback associated with a learned action sequence can activate the action representation of that sequence. Nonpianist participants learned to perform two melodies at a piano keyboard repeatedly during a trial. The participants heard feedback either from the melody they were performing (normal feedback) or from the other learned melody (termed alternate feedback). An additional tone functioned as an instruction cue to either switch melodies or continue the current melody. Following the instruction cues, participants typically paused just before switching, and paused similarly during trials with a continue cue. Participants paused longer after a continue cue when they experienced alternate rather than normal feedback. This effect was specific to instruction cues positioned at weak metrical accents—positions at which participants were less likely to switch overall. Feedback did not influence timing on switch trials. These findings indicate that influences of auditory feedback can activate learned action sequences, leading to longer latencies associated with cue evaluation.     

Working in the hangar: The impact of psychological capital on work outcomes among army aircraft mechanics

Based on positive organizational behavior, this study aimed to explore the impact of psychological capital (PsyCap) on task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors, affective commitment, and job satisfaction among army aircraft mechanics. Data was obtained from 260 aircraft mechanics working in various Turkish Army aviation units. The hypotheses were tested using a series of hierarchical regressions. The results indicated that those with higher PsyCap are more likely to depict task performance, engage in highly extra-role behaviors, be more committed to their organizations, and be highly satisfied with their jobs that are advantageous to army aviation settings. The authors concluded that promoting the levels of PsyCap could be effective in elevating aircraft mechanics’ work attitudes and behaviors. Military aviation units are encouraged to establish human resource development programs to foster the PsyCap of their soldiers, which in turn, enhances crucial work attitudes.     

Death anxiety and visual oculomotor processing of arousing stimuli in a free view setting

The main goal of this study was to determine how death anxiety (DA) affects visual processing when confronted with arousing stimuli. A total of 26 males and females were primed with either DA or a neutral primer and were given a free view/free choice task where eye movement was measured using an eye tracker. The goal was to identify measurable/observable indicators of whether the subjects were under the influence of DA during the free view. We conducted an eye tracking study because this is an area where we believe it is possible to find observable indicators. Ultimately, we observed some changes in the visual behavior, such as a prolonged average latency, altered sensitivity to the repetition of stimuli, longer fixations, less time in saccadic activity, and fewer classifications related to focal and ambient processing, which appear to occur under the influence of DA when the subjects are confronted with arousing stimuli.     

Prospective memory in youth with perinatally-acquired HIV infection

Youth with perinatal HIV infection (PHIV) are at increased risk for neurocognitive impairment (NCI). Prospective memory (PM) is a complex neurocognitive function that has been shown to be impaired in adults with HIV disease and independently associated with poorer daily living skills, including medication nonadherence. The current study sought to determine the presence and extent of PM deficits in youth with PHIV. Participants included 173 youth with PHIV and 85 youth perinatally HIV-exposed but uninfected (PHEU), mean age 14.1 years, 75% black, 18% Hispanic. Among youth with PHIV, 26% had a past AIDS-defining condition (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], Class C), 74% did not (non-C). Adjusted generalized estimating equation models were used to compare groups (PHIV/C, PHIV/non-C, and PHEU) on the Naturalistic Event-Based Prospective Memory Test (NEPT) and the Prospective Memory Assessment for Children & Youth (PROMACY). Secondarily, subgroups defined by HIV serostatus and global NCI were compared (PHIV/NCI, PHIV/non-NCI, PHEU). PHIV/C had significantly lower NEPT scores than PHEU, with decreases of 40% in mean scores, but did not differ from PHIV/non-C. PHIV/NCI had 11–32% lower PROMACY scores and 33% lower NEPT scores compared to PHIV/non-NCI (all p < .05); significantly, lower scores for PHIV/NCI versus PHEU also were observed for PROMACY and NEPT indices. Findings suggest a subset of youth with PHIV (those with a prior AIDS-defining diagnosis) is vulnerable to PM deficits. The extent to which PM deficits interfere with development and maintenance of independent living and health-related behaviors during transition to adulthood requires further study.     

Impact of spatial grouping on mean size estimation

People represent summary statistics of visual scenes, but it is not fully clear whether such summary statistics are extracted automatically. To determine whether different levels of summary representation (i.e., at the perceptual-group or the entire-display level) may be formed differently, in two experiments we investigated how people extracted summary statistics for displays consisting of spatially segregated groups. Participants were asked to report the mean sizes of either entire sets or perceptual groups in precue and postcue conditions. There was no precueing advantage in the mean size estimations of entire sets. However, when these precues identified target perceptual groups, participants reported the perceptual-group means more accurately than when postcues were used. In the postcue condition, participants were biased toward the entire-set mean even when they were probed to report the perceptual-group mean. There was also greater bias toward the entire-set mean for more erroneous perceptual-group summaries. These findings suggest that ensemble representations are extracted more efficiently for the whole than for the perceptual parts and that ensemble perception is not a uniform process across perceptual groups and entire sets.     

Perceptions of Turkish Parents with Children Identified as Dyslexic About the Problems that they and Their Children Experience

This study identified problems encountered by both dyslexic children and their parents. Seven parents were interviewed. Parents mentioned the negative attitudes of teachers towards them and their children, the use of incorrect practices in the classroom, and educational insufficiency in relation to dyslexia. Similarly, family members were found to display negative attitudes towards dyslexic children manifested in the form of insults, exclusion, psychological pressure, and physical violence. Dyslexic children were also subjected to exclusion and various bullying behaviors by their friends. An additional problem that emerged was the inordinate amount of time taken by schools to make diagnoses of dyslexia.