When adjunction fails

The rule of adjunction is intuitively appealing and uncontroversial for deductive inference, but in situations where information can be uncertain, the rule is neither needed nor wanted for rational acceptance, as illustrated by the lottery paradox. Practical certainty is the acceptance of statements whose chances of error are smaller than a prescribed threshold parameter, when evaluated against an evidential corpus. We examine the failure of adjunction in relation to the threshold parameter for practical certainty, with an eye towards reinstating the rule of adjunction in some restricted forms, by observing the conditions under which the overall chance of error of the joint statements can be variously bounded.     

Personality differences between online game players and nonplayers in a student sample.

This study examines the differences in openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion between online game players and nonplayers using a student sample. The matched sample comprised 130 pairs of students, who are paired in gender and age. The results indicate that online game players reported higher scores in openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion than did nonplayers.     

Inaccurate representation of the ground surface beyond a texture boundary

The sequential-surface-integration-process (SSIP) hypothesis was proposed to elucidate how the visual system constructs the ground-surface representation in the intermediate distance range (He et al, 2004 Perception 33 789-806). According to the hypothesis, the SSIP constructs an accurate representation of the near ground surface by using reliable near depth cues. The near ground representation then serves as a template for integrating the adjacent surface patch by using the texture gradient information as the predominant depth cue. By sequentially integrating the surface patches from near to far, the visual system obtains the global ground representation. A critical prediction of the SSIP hypothesis is that, when an abrupt texture-gradient change exists between the near and far ground surfaces, the SSIP can no longer accurately represent the far surface. Consequently, the representation of the far surface will be slanted upward toward the frontoparallel plane (owing to the intrinsic bias of the visual system), and the egocentric distance of a target on the far surface will be underestimated. Our previous findings in the real 3-D environment have shown that observers underestimated the target distance across a texture boundary. Here, we used the virtual-reality system to first test distance judgments with a distance-matching task. We created the texture boundary by having virtual grass- and cobblestone-textured patterns abutting on a flat (horizontal) ground surface in experiment 1, and by placing a brick wall to interrupt the continuous texture gradient of a flat grass surface in experiment 2. In both instances, observers underestimated the target distance across the texture boundary, compared to the homogeneous-texture ground surface (control). Second, we tested the proposal that the far surface beyond the texture boundary is perceived as slanted upward. For this, we used a virtual checkerboard-textured ground surface that was interrupted by a texture boundary. We found that not only was the target distance beyond the texture boundary underestimated relative to the homogeneous-texture condition, but the far surface beyond the texture boundary was also perceived as relatively slanted upward (experiment 3). Altogether, our results confirm the predictions of the SSIP hypothesis.     

Designing time-limited cyber promotions: effects of time limit and involvement.

This study found that a longer time limit in cyber promotions results in lower time pressure perceptions by consumers and a greater rate of consumers choosing higher-priced items. Furthermore, products with which consumers are more involved entail higher time pressure, lower consumer satisfaction, and a lower share of consumers using the promotion for that product.     

How to know and choose online games: differences between current and potential players.

This study investigated how different adolescent players acquire game information and the criteria they use in choosing online games and found that (1) current players generally use comprehensive information sources more than potential players do; (2) current players rely on free trials and smooth display of motion graphics as choice criteria more than potential players do; (3) potential players rely on the look of advertisements more than current players do; (4) both current and potential players most likely use word-of-mouth and gaming programs on TV as information sources; and (5) endorser attractiveness is ranked the least important among six choice criteria by both current and potential players.     

Relational Risk and Its Personal Correlates in Strategic Alliances

In this study we focus on the perception of one particular type of risk in the context of strategic alliances—relational risk. Perceived relational risk refers to the degree to which decision makers are concerned with the partner's opportunistic behavior in cooperative efforts. We develop a measure of relational risk in strategic alliances, and empirically examine some of its personal correlates. Based on a survey of senior executives of corporations and MBA students, we found partial support for the principal hypothesis that the perception of relational risk for prospective strategic alliances is related to an individual's age and trust in people.     

暴力电子游戏对攻击行为的影响及其争论

以Anderson为核心的研究者通过数十年研究发现, 暴力电子游戏是攻击行为产生的前因变量, 并且提出可以用一般攻击模型(General Aggression Model, GAM)来解释这一结论。然而, Ferguson等人的研究表明, 暴力电子游戏不是攻击行为产生的前因变量, 而是攻击行为产生的催化剂, 并提出催化剂模型(Catalyst Model, CM)来解释该结论。由于社会心理研究中, 实验研究难以严格控制, 导致研究结果大径相庭, 暴力电子游戏影响攻击行为的争论还在不断扩大。未来要加强对暴力电子游戏和攻击行为的测量, 同时还需整合一般攻击模型和催化剂模型指导实证研究, 最后从认知偏差以及社会认知神经科学视角寻求暴力电子游戏对攻击行为影响的新证据。     

The Risk-Based View of Trust: A Conceptual Framework

Trust and risk have often been linked in the literature, but their relationship is far from clear. Trust has been used in three different ways — namely, as a perception (subjective trust), as various personal and situational factors that lead to subjective trust (trust antecedents), and as the actions resulting from subjective trust (behavioral trust). We explain how risk is related to these three conceptions of trust. First, we argue that subjective trust and perceived risk are in fact mirror images of each other. Second, we show how behavioral trust can be viewed as risk taking, so that the causal relationship between subjective trust and behavioral trust is similar to that of perceived risk and risk taking. And third, we discuss the role of personal characteristics (such as risk propensity and trust propensity) in the risk–trust relationship. We also develop a number of propositions based on our risk-based view of trust.     

A distributed intercortical processing of binocular rivalry: psychophysical evidence

When dissimilar visual scenes are viewed dichoptically, the observer perceives several different representations of the scene over time. To reveal that a distributed intercortical network mediates this phenomenon of binocular rivalry, we used a Kanizsa square-like display consisting of four pairs of color-rivalry-inducing elements. We found that when all four dominant elements had the same color, regardless of whether they were from the same or different eyes, the visual system ably integrated them into a larger subjective surface. Once formed, the same-colored subjective surface enjoyed a relatively longer predominance than mixed-colored patterns. During rivalry alternation, this same-colored surface was more likely to be replaced by a complementary same-colored surface, rather than by mixed-colored patterns (cohesive effect). Further, surface integration, which is mainly an extrastriate cortical function, was stronger when the same eye viewed the same-colored rivalry stimuli. Since the eye-of-origin signature is explicitly represented in V1, these findings together suggest that rivalry is processed along a distributed network including V1 and the extrastriate cortices.     

Perceptual space in the dark affected by the intrinsic bias of the visual system

Correct judgment of egocentric/absolute distance in the intermediate distance range requires both the angular declination below the horizon and ground-surface information being represented accurately. This requirement can be met in the light environment but not in the dark, where the ground surface is invisible and hence cannot be represented accurately. We previously showed that a target in the dark is judged at the intersection of the projection line from the eye to the target that defines the angular declination below the horizon and an implicit surface. The implicit surface can be approximated as a slant surface with its far end slanted toward the frontoparallel plane. We hypothesize that the implicit slant surface reflects the intrinsic bias of the visual system and helps to define the perceptual space. Accordingly, we conducted two experiments in the dark to further elucidate the characteristics of the implicit slant surface. In the first experiment we measured the egocentric location of a dimly lit target on, or above, the ground, using the blind-walking-gesturing paradigm. Our results reveal that the judged target locations could be fitted by a line (surface), which indicates an intrinsic bias with a geographical slant of about 12.4 degrees. In the second experiment, with an exocentric/relative-distance task, we measured the judged ratio of aspect ratio of a fluorescent L-shaped target. Using trigonometric analysis, we found that the judged ratio of aspect ratio can be accounted for by assuming that the L-shaped target was perceived on an implicit slant surface with an average geographical slant of 14.4 degrees. That the data from the two experiments with different tasks can be fitted by implicit slant surfaces suggests that the intrinsic bias has a role in determining perceived space in the dark. The possible contribution of the intrinsic bias to representing the ground surface and its impact on space perception in the light environment are also discussed.