Influence of warmth and competence on the promotion of safe in-group selection: Stereotype content model and social categorization of faces

Categorizing an individual as a friend or foe plays a pivotal role in navigating the social world. According to the stereotype content model (SCM), social perception relies on two fundamental dimensions, warmth and competence, which allow us to process the intentions of others and their ability to enact those intentions, respectively. Social cognition research indicates that, in categorization tasks, people tend to classify other individuals as more likely to belong to the out-group than the in-group (in-group overexclusion effect, IOE) when lacking diagnostic information, probably with the aim of protecting in-group integrity. Here, we explored the role of warmth and competence in group-membership decisions by testing 62 participants in a social-categorization task consisting of 150 neutral faces. We assessed whether (a) warmth and competence ratings could predict the in-group/out-group categorization, and (b) the reliance on these two dimensions differed in low-IOE versus high-IOE participants. Data showed that high ratings of warmth and competence were necessary to categorize a face as in-group. Moreover, while low-IOE participants relied on warmth, high-IOE participants relied on competence. This finding suggests that the proneness to include/exclude unknown identities in/from one's own in-group is related to individual differences in the reliance on SCM social dimensions. Furthermore, the primacy of the warmth effect seems not to represent a universal phenomenon adopted in the context of social evaluation.     

Enrolling the Citizen in Sustainability: Membership Categorization,Morality and Civic Participation

This article examines the common-sense and methodical ways in which “the citizen” is produced and enrolled as an active participant in “sustainable” regional planning. Using Membership Categorization Analysis, we explicate how the categorization procedures in the Foreword of a draft regional planning policy interactionally produce the identity of “the citizen” and “civic values and obligations” in relation to geographic place and institutional categories. Furthermore, we show how positioning practices establish a relationship between authors (government) and readers (citizens) where both are ascribed with the same moral values and obligations toward the region. Hence, “the citizen” as an active participant in “sustainable” regional planning is viewed as a practical accomplishment that is underpinned by a normative morality associated with the task of producing orderliness in “text-in-interaction.”

Auditory Stroop reveals implicit gender associations in adults and children

Gender provides a powerful social heuristic for structuring incoming information. Thus, it may be difficult to attend to aspects of a person’s sex without also activating irrelevant gender associations. In two experiments, an auditory Stroop revealed implicit gender associations. Participants categorized the sex of voices saying names and words stereotypically associated with male, female or neutral gender roles. Both adults and children were slower when the voice’s sex was stereotypically incongruent with the spoken word or name. Although both groups showed such interference, children—who are generally less flexible about gender roles—showed more interference in response to gender-stereotypical words (e.g., football) than names (e.g., Rachel), whereas adults showed the opposite pattern. Given the simplicity of this task, the auditory Stroop might be used both to tap into implicit gender associations and to investigate their development.     

On the predictive validity of indirect attitude measures: Prediction of consumer choice behavior on the basis of affective priming in the picture-picture naming task

Recent studies have revealed that robust and replicable affective priming of naming responses can be obtained when pictures are used as primes and targets. The aim of the present research was to examine the predictive validity of affective priming effects that are obtained with the picture-picture naming task. In two studies that were modeled after [Karpinski, A., & Hilton, J. L. (2001). Attitudes and the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 774-778], we observed that individual difference scores that are obtained with the naming task exhibit good predictive validity. Both practical and theoretical implications of this finding are discussed.     

Race categorization modulates holistic face encoding

Recent studies have shown that same-race (SR) faces are processed more holistically than other-race (OR) faces, a difference that may underlie the greater difficulty at recognizing OR than SR faces (the "other-race effect"). This article provides original evidence suggesting that the holistic processing of faces may be sensitive to the observers' racial categorization of the face. In Experiment 1, Caucasian participants performed a face-composite task with Caucasian faces, Asian faces, and racially ambiguous morphed face stimuli. Identical morphed face stimuli were processed more holistically when categorized as SR than as OR faces. Experiment 2 further suggests that this finding was not underlain by strategic or training effects. Overall, these results support the view that one's categorization of a face as belonging to the same or another race plays a critical role in the holistic processing of this face.     

归类不确定情景下特征推理的综合条件概率模型

用大学生被试,通过三个实验探讨在集中呈现类别成员样本信息的归类不确定情景下的特征推理。实验结果表明,单纯的归类确定性程度和靶类别靶特征的代表性并不直接影响被试的特征推理,而是预测特征相对于目标特征的综合条件概率直接影响被试的特征推理;特征推理不是基于类别中介的间接推理,而是基于特征关联综合条件概率的直接推理。实验结果支持作者提出的预测特征综合条件概率模型。     

Maternal odor shapes rapid face categorization in the infant brain

To successfully interact with a rich and ambiguous visual environment, the human brain learns to differentiate visual stimuli and to produce the same response to subsets of these stimuli despite their physical difference. Although this visual categorization function is traditionally investigated from a unisensory perspective, its early development is inherently constrained by multisensory inputs. In particular, an early‐maturing sensory system such as olfaction is ideally suited to support the immature visual system in infancy by providing stability and familiarity to a rapidly changing visual environment. Here, we test the hypothesis that rapid visual categorization of salient visual signals for the young infant brain, human faces, is shaped by another highly relevant human‐related input from the olfactory system, the mother's body odor. We observe that a right‐hemispheric neural signature of single‐glance face categorization from natural images is significantly enhanced in the maternal versus a control odor context in individual 4‐month‐old infant brains. A lack of difference between odor conditions for the common brain response elicited by both face and non‐face images rules out a mere enhancement of arousal or visual attention in the maternal odor context. These observations show that face‐selective neural activity in infancy is mediated by the presence of a (maternal) body odor, providing strong support for multisensory inputs driving category acquisition in the developing human brain and having important implications for our understanding of human perceptual development.     

Driving environments that influence on-road outcomes in persons with Multiple Sclerosis

IntroductionDrivers with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who demonstrate adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors may be prone to fail a standardized on-road assessment. However, the complexity (e.g., traffic speed, volume of road users, flow of traffic, spaced interchanges) of driving environments, and their relationship to driving errors critical for failing, is not fully understood. This prospective research study determines the predictive validity of the total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors (modelled as one variable) in residential, suburban, city, or highway environments on drivers with MS failing (vs. passing) a standardized on-road assessment.MethodsCommunity-dwelling participants with MS (N = 35) completed a comprehensive driving evaluation consisting of clinical and on-road assessments, adhering to the regulations for assessing fitness to drive in Ontario, Canada.ResultsLogistic regression models indicated that, as sole predictors, the total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban (OR = 0.43, 95% CI = [0.23, 0.83], p = .012) and city environments (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.89], p = .028) significantly increased the odds of participants failing the on-road assessment. Also, the total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban (AUC = 0.84, SE = 0.11, p = .006, 95% CI = [0.63, 1.00]) and city environments (AUC = 0.74, SE = 0.12, p = .05, 95% CI = [0.51, 0.98]) predicted on-road outcomes. A cut-point of 4 or more adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban environments optimally predicted on-road outcomes with 71.4% sensitivity, 92.9% specificity, and 4 misclassifications; while a cut-point of 2 or more adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in city environments optimally predicted on-road outcomes with 57.1% sensitivity, 92.9% specificity, and 5 misclassifications.ConclusionThe total number of adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors made in suburban and city environments predict drivers with MS failing a standardized on-road assessment. Assessing adjustment to stimuli and gap acceptance errors in these environments are critical for informing fitness to drive decisions.     

Women’s Experiences of Female Ejaculation

Thirteen women responded to an open-ended questionnaire about their female ejaculation experiences. Responses are described from a phenomenological perspective. The major themes of responses include feelings of humiliation and shame or feelings of exploration and wonder, moving towards acceptance or acceptance tinged with resignation. Women explain their relationships to their bodies as well as their relationship to the ejaculation fluids and how this affects their sexual identities. The origins of their sexual fluids are mysterious. The stimulation needed for ejaculation differed among respondents, and was also found to occur separately from orgasm for some women. Ejaculation began at one of two distinct time points in the life course. This study supports the existence of female ejaculation as a common experience for some women, and proposes new areas for further exploration.     

ACACIA: an agent-based program for simulating behavior to reach long-term goals

We present ACACIA, an agent-based program implemented in Java StarLogo 2.0 that simulates a two-dimensional microworld populated by agents, obstacles and goals. Our program simulates how agents can reach long-term goals by following sensorial-motor couplings (SMCs) that control how the agents interact with their environment and other agents through a process of local categorization. Thus, while acting in accordance with this set of SMCs, the agents reach their goals through the emergence of global behaviors. This agent-based simulation program would allow us to understand some psychological processes such as planning behavior from the point of view that the complexity of these processes is the result of agent–environment interaction.