A Note on Family Acceptance Involving Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships

Perceptions of family acceptance concerning interracial friendships and romantic relationships were investigated in a group of 142 undergraduates. The Assessment Scale of Interracial Relationships (ASIR) was constructed by the authors and administered to 68 men and 74 women recruited from introductory psychology courses. Results showed that both men and women held negative attitudes toward interracial relationships, although Black students held more favorable attitudes than did White students. These findings also showed that the women were less accepting of interracial friendships and romantic relationships than the men were. Both Black and White students indicated that family perception of these interracial relationships would be negative.     

Effects of prime and target eccentricity on masked repetition priming

Three experiments examined the influence of briefly presented, pattern-masked prime stimuli on target word recognition at varying eccentricities. The prime was either the same word as the targets or a different word, and prime position varied horizontally from a central fixation point. The targets were either in the same location as the primes (Experiment 1A) or always centrally located (Experiments 1B and 2). In Experiment 1A, target word recognition showed a typical right visual field advantage, and priming effects diminished with increasing prime and target eccentricity. With centrally located targets, priming effects tended to be more constrained by prime location. After eye fixation location and prime visibility were controlled for (Experiment 2), a right visual field advantage for priming effects was also evident for central targets, suggesting an influence of endogenous attentional biases in masked repetition priming.     

Inhibition of return in subliminal letter priming

The present study combined exogenous spatial cueing with masked repetition priming to study attentional influences on the processing of subliminal stimuli. Participants performed an alphabetic decision task (letter versus pseudo-letter classification) with central targets and briefly presented peripherally located primes that were either cued or not cued by an abrupt onset. A relatively long delay between cue and prime was used to investigate the effect of inhibition of return (IOR) on the processing of subliminal masked primes. Primes presented to the left visual field showed standard effects of Cue Validity and no IOR (significant priming with valid cues only). Primes presented to the right visual field showed no priming from valid cues (an IOR effect), and priming with invalid cues that depended on hand of response to letter targets (right-hand in Experiment 1, left-hand in Experiment 2). The results are interpreted in terms of a differential speed of engagement and disengagement of attention to the right and left visual fields for alphabetic stimuli, coupled with a complex interaction that arises between Prime Relatedness and response-hand.     

The methodology of genuine modal realism

David Lewis’s genuine modal realism is a controversial thesis in modal metaphysics. Charles Chihara and Ross Cameron have each argued that Lewis’s defence of his thesis involves his committing serious methodological errors; in particular, that his replies to two well-known and important objections are question-begging. Scott Shalkowski has further argued that Lewis’s attempt to analyse modal talk in non-modal terms is viciously circular. This paper considers the methodology which Lewis uses to argue for his thesis, and the paper tries to show that it is guilty of no methodological errors.     

Teaching Phoneme Segmenting and Blending as Critical Early Literacy Skills: An Experimental Analysis of Minimal Textual Repertoires

The purpose of the current study was to examine blending and segmenting of phonemes as an instance of small, textual response classes that students learn to combine to produce whole word reading. Using an A/B/A/B design, a phoneme segmenting and blending condition that included differential reinforcement for response classes at the level of phonemes was compared to a control condition which was equated for differential reinforcement of reading words and opportunities to respond. The critical difference between conditions was the size of the responses that were brought under stimulus control (phonemes versus whole words). Findings clearly supported the superiority of the phoneme blending treatment condition over the control condition in producing generalized increases in word reading. The results are discussed in terms of the behavioral mechanisms that govern early literacy behaviors and the essential role that targeting measured increases in academic responses plays in furthering our understanding of how to improve the analysis and instruction of students who need to learn these important skills.     

The role of awakening cortisol and psychological distress in diurnal variations in affect: a day reconstruction study

People often feel unhappy in the morning but better later in the day, and this pattern may be amplified in the distressed. Past work suggests that one function of cortisol is to energize people in the morning. In a study of 174 students, we tested to see whether daily affect patterns, psychological distress, and awakening cortisol levels were interlinked. Affect levels were assessed using the Day Reconstruction Method and psychological distress was measured using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. On average, positive affect increased markedly in a linear pattern across the day, whereas negative affect decreased linearly. For the highly distressed, this pattern was stronger for positive affect. Lower than average morning cortisol, as assessed by two saliva samples at waking and two samples 30 min after waking, predicted a clear increasing pattern of positive affect throughout the day. When we examined the interlinkages between affect patterns, distress, and cortisol, our results showed that a pronounced linear increase in positive affect from morning through to evening occurred chiefly among distressed people with below average cortisol levels upon awakening. Psychological distress, although not strongly associated with morning cortisol levels, does appear to interact with cortisol levels to profoundly influence affect.     

Personal adjustment and perceptions of grandchild behavior in custodial grandmothers

Examined parenting stress, depression, parenting satisfaction, and perceptions of child behavior in 35 custodial grandmothers seeking outpatient psychological services for their grandchildren ages 3 to 12. These clinic grandmothers reported significantly greater stress and depression, less parenting satisfaction, and more negative perceptions of their grandchildren's behavior than did 35 nonclinic custodial grandmothers. Also, similar to a comparison group of 35 clinic mothers and to the empirical literature on clinic parents, the clinic grandmothers' personal adjustment (i.e., stress and depression) was related significantly to their perceptions of their grandchildren's behavior. Thus, assessment of custodial grandmothers' adjustment, as well as grandchild behavior, in clinical settings appears warranted.     

The relationship between shame and guilt: cultural comparisons between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates

The current study examines whether proneness to shame and guilt is related to the cultural dimensions of collectivism and individualism. Two groups of participants from Ireland (n?=?120) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (n?=?115) completed measures assessing collectivism, individualism, and shame and guilt proneness. Results indicated that both samples displayed similar levels of individualism and collectivism. The UAE sample reported significantly higher levels of guilt proneness and shame proneness characterised by negative self-evaluation. In contrast, the Irish sample displayed significantly higher levels of shame characterised by withdrawal tendencies. Guilt was positively correlated with individualism, but shame was not correlated with either scores on collectivism or individualism. Young Arab women appear to experience higher levels of guilt and shame characterised by negative self-evaluation in comparison to their Irish counterparts who displayed higher levels of guilt proneness.