Prospective and retrospective effects in human motor control: planning grasps for object rotation and translation

People pick up objects in ways that reflect prospective as well as retrospective control. Prospective control is indicated by planning for end-state comfort such that people grasp a cylinder to be rotated or translated with a hand orientation or at a height that affords a comfortable final posture. Retrospective control is indicated when people reuse a remembered grasp rather than using a new grasp that would ensure end-state comfort. Here, we asked whether these manifestations of prospective and retrospective control co-occur. We did so by having healthy young-adult participants grasp a cylinder to rotate and translate it between a horizontal position and a vertical position at each of five heights. We found that participants planned for comfortable final hand orientations for first moves but relied on recall for subsequent hand orientations. The results suggest that motor planning is sensitive to computational as well as physical demands and that object rotation and translation are not dissociable features of motor control, at least as reflected in their contributions to grasp selection. The latter result is consistent with the hypothesis that movements constitute holistic body changes between successive goal postures.     

Growing up in the shadow of terrorism: youth in America after 9/11

Research conducted in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks (9/11) suggests that, except for those who directly witnessed or suffered loss from the attacks, for most children the emotional impact was relatively transitory. We review this literature as well as consider other ways in which the attacks may have played a role in the development of adolescents and young adults as they came of age in the shadow of 9/11 in the United States. Specifically, we discuss the potential impact of the collective trauma of 9/11 on children's coping and emotional regulation, their sociopolitical attitudes, and their general beliefs about the world. Developmental issues and the role of parents in shaping their children's responses to 9/11 are also addressed. Researchers interested in children's social, emotional, and psychological development have much to learn about children's reactions to events like 9/11 and factors that might mitigate the negative consequences of such events on children's development.     

A Step‐by‐Step Guide to Using Secondary Data for Psychological Research

The purpose of this paper is to serve as a primer for those who have never used, or even considered using, secondary data as a resource for psychological research. Secondary data (SD) can provide a unique methodological tool with which to examine psychological issues and can serve as a valuable contribution to a program of research. However, this important resource may often be overlooked because its use can sometimes appear daunting and time‐consuming. We seek to assist new users of SD by describing the process in a step‐by‐step manner. We address both benefits and challenges to anticipate when using SD, and discuss identifying and acquiring potential datasets, creating a personalized dataset, variable creation, statistical considerations, and the potential problem of conflicting findings when large datasets are used by multiple researchers. Our goal is to encourage researchers who are novices to the approach to consider using SD as an adjunct to their program of research.     

Personally-significant information affects performance only within the focus of attention: a direct manipulation of attention

It has been suggested that personally significant (PS) information interferes with performance only when presented within the focus of attention. However, this claim was never tested by a systematic manipulation of attention, but only by using correlative measures of its locus. We addressed this issue in two experiments, utilizing a cued visual search paradigm that allowed us to directly manipulate attention and to measure behavioral and physiological responses. One of the stimuli in the search display had a higher luminance value (i.e., was cued), and, orthogonally, one of the stimuli could be a PS or neutral name. When the cue did not predict target location, PS distractors mildly interfered with task performance, regardless of the cue's location. However, when the cue predicted target location, responses were facilitated for cued targets, indicating that attention was shifted to the cue. Importantly, PS distractors interfered with task performance and elicited enhanced orienting responses only when they were cued. This implies that PS information affects performance only when presented within but not outside the focus of attention.     

Values and Commitment: A Test of Schwartz's Human Values Theory Among Arab Teachers in Israel

This study examines the relationship between individual‐level values, using Schwartz's theory, and organizational and occupational commitment among Israeli Arabs. The sample includes 369 Arab teachers working in 14 schools in Arab communities in the north of Israel, with a response rate of 65%. The findings show a significant effect of 2 values—benevolence and conformity—on most organizational and occupational commitment dimensions, above and beyond the effect of demographic variables. The specific relationships found here are attributed to the characteristics of the sample. Implications of the findings for continuing research on this issue are emphasized.     

Mating competitors increase religious beliefs

It has been presumed that religiosity has an influence on mating behavior, but here we experimentally investigate the possibility that mating behavior might also influence religiosity. In Experiment 1, people reported higher religiosity after looking at mating pools consisting of attractive people of their own sex compared to attractive opposite sex targets. Experiment 2 replicated the effect with an added control group, and suggested that both men and women become more religious when seeing same-sex competitors. We discuss several possible explanations for these effects. Most broadly, the findings contribute to an emerging literature on how cultural phenomena such as religiosity respond to ecological cues in potentially functional ways.     

Perceptions of Anti-Semitism among American Jews, 2000–05, A Survey Analysis

Despite their high degree of economic, educational, social, and political success, most American Jews in the early 2000s see anti‐Semitism as a problem, and significant percentages see anti‐Semitism as a very serious problem. How do we explain these perceptions of anti‐Semitic threat given the comparative success of Jews in so many aspects of American life? This paper uses annual surveys from the National Survey of American Jews from 2000 through 2005 to address this question. Results indicate a multiplicity of factors affect perceptions of the seriousness of anti‐Semitism. Those with a stronger sense of Jewish identity, lower income, and older people are more likely to see anti‐Semitism as a very serious problem. Respondents also tend to see anti‐Semitism as a more serious threat if they live in states with higher anti‐Semitic incidents rates and when use of anti‐Semitic terms in the news media increases. The conclusion puts the findings into perspective and suggests what we can learn by studying successful minority groups.