The flip side of the other‐race coin: They all look different to me

Poorer recognition of other‐race faces than own‐races faces has been attributed to a problem of discrimination (i.e., telling faces apart). The conclusion that ‘they all look the same to me' is based on studies measuring the perception/memory of highly controlled stimuli, typically involving only one or two images of each identity. We hypothesized that such studies underestimate the challenge involved in recognizing other‐race faces because in the real world, an individual's appearance varies in a number of ways (e.g., lighting, expression, hairstyle), reducing the utility of relying on pictorial cues to identity. In two experiments, Caucasian and East Asian participants completed a perceptual sorting task in which they were asked to sort 40 photographs of two unfamiliar identities into piles such that each pile contained all photographs of a single identity. Participants perceived more identities when sorting other‐race faces than own‐race faces, both when sorting celebrity (Experiment 1) and non‐celebrity (Experiment 2) faces, suggesting that in the real world, ‘they all look different to me'. We discuss these results in the light of models in which each identity is represented as a region in a multidimensional face space; we argue that this region is smaller for other‐race than own‐race faces.     

Perceiving the World Through Group-Colored Glasses: A Perceptual Model of Intergroup Relations

Extensive research has investigated societal and behavioral consequences of social group affiliation and identification but has been relatively silent on the role of perception in intergroup relations. We propose the perceptual model of intergroup relations to conceptualize how intergroup relations are grounded in perception. We review the growing literature on how intergroup dynamics shape perception across different sensory modalities and argue that these perceptual processes mediate intergroup relations. The model provides a starting point for social psychologists to study perception as a function of social group dynamics and for perception researchers to consider social influences. We highlight several gaps in the literature and outline areas for future research. Uncovering the role of perception in intergroup relations offers novel insights into the construction of shared reality and may help devise new and unique interventions targeted at the perceptual level.     

Simple actions influence pop-out search

Recent research has revealed that a simple action (pressing a computer key) produced in response to a visual object prioritizes features of that object in subsequent visual search. The effects of simple action, however, have only been studied with search displays that required serial search. Here we explored whether simple actions have an effect when the target in visual search is always a salient singleton. Participants viewed a coloured shape at the beginning of each trial, and sometimes they acted (pressed the space bar) in response to it. In the subsequent search task, after acting (but not after viewing), the previously-seen colour affected search performance even though the target was always a salient singleton and the colour was uninformative. The results reveal that prior action can interact with bottom-up salience during search. Implications for our understanding of both visual search and repetition priming are discussed.     

The cost of seeing the meaning: Conceptual processing of distractors triggers localized target suppression

It is often assumed that conceptual information impacts visual experience only after perceptual information has been extracted. However, the present study suggests that conceptual processing can interfere with perceptual processes, as reflected in target perception impairments that are specific to the location of conceptually salient distractors. Experiment 1 replicated previous findings that emotional distractors in a rapid serial visual presentation cause a spontaneous, spatially localized impairment in target perception, further finding that distractors that are merely featurally salient do not. Experiment 2 suggested that conceptually salient distractors that are non-emotional also elicit such spatially localized impairments, which are shorter lived than those following emotional distractors. Experiment 3 suggested that featurally salient distractors that are not conceptually salient engage a different, spatial attention mechanism. Together, these findings suggest that, whereas featurally salient distractors can capture spatial attention, conceptual distractors additionally engage mechanisms that suppress spatiotemporally competing targets.     

Auditory localisation of conventional and electric cars: Laboratory results and implications for cycling safety

When driven at low speeds, cars operating in electric mode have been found to be quieter than conventional cars. As a result, the auditory cues which pedestrians and cyclists use to assess the presence, proximity and location oncoming traffic may be reduced, posing a safety hazard. This laboratory study examined auditory localisation of conventional and electric cars including vehicle motion paths relevant for cycling activity. Participants (N = 65) in three age groups (16–18, 30–40 and 65–70 year old) indicated the location and movement direction (approaching versus receding) of cars driven at 15, 30 and 50 km/h in two ambient sound conditions (low and moderate). Results show that low speeds, higher ambient sound level and older age were associated with worse performance on the location and motion direction tasks. In addition, participants were less accurate at determining the location of electric and conventional car sounds emanating from directly behind the participant. Implications for cycling safety and proposals for adding extra artificial noise or warning sounds to quiet (electric) cars are discussed.     

Investigations into pedestrian crossing choices on Cape Town freeways

South Africa is regularly identified in international literature as one of the countries with the highest number of traffic deaths per capita. Of these, around one third are pedestrians. Freeways constitute one of the highest risk locations for pedestrians – in most developed countries pedestrians are not seen in such locations, but for many South African pedestrians freeways are a regular part of their commute. Walking alongside and crossing of freeways are extremely common – and deaths associated with such activity also tragically so. Over the past four years in the Cape Town area alone there have been 413 pedestrian crashes causing 139 pedestrian deaths on freeways, as well as an unrecorded number of serious injuries.While pedestrian crossing behaviour has been extensively researched in many parts of the world, almost none has so far been carried out in the context of freeways. Little is known about pedestrian crossing decisions in locations where the stakes are so high.Following a study using traffic cameras associated with the Freeway Management System to measure the frequency and location of pedestrians crossing freeways, this article reports on surveys into crossing decisions of pedestrians on Cape Town’s freeways. Two successive surveys were conducted with pedestrians on or alongside the freeway. These included pedestrians who crossed using footbridges, and pedestrians who crossed at grade.In the analysis it was clear that while some of the traditional factors such as time saving and convenience were considered, far more important to pedestrians were issues of safety. Safety from fast-moving vehicles was one factor, while safety from criminals was a second and often conflicting factor which affected crossing choices. Crossing at grade was partly described in terms of utility maximisation (time and distance saving) but it was also, for many, one way of avoiding becoming a victim of crime. In terms of their perceptions of being involved in crashes, at-grade crossers reflected an astute awareness of the risks that they face. Many pedestrians articulated the belief that their choice of crossing was constrained by lack of alternatives. Until public transport and safe crossing locations are provided for these pedestrians it is clear that many will continue to cross dangerous roads, in full awareness of the risks they face.     

Cultural worldviews and climate change: A view from China

We investigated the association between cultural worldviews and climate change risk perceptions, support for climate friendly policies and climate change mitigation behaviours in a large Chinese sample. Items from Dake's cultural theory scales and Kahan's cultural cognition scale were presented to a Qualtrics online panel consisting of 515 Mandarin‐speaking residents of Beijing. A series of factor analyses revealed that the combined item sets were best represented by four‐dimensions: hierarchism, individualism, egalitarianism and fatalism. Mediation analysis revealed that respondents with egalitarian and non‐fatalist worldviews perceived greater risk associated with climate change, which in turn predicted greater support for policies to manage climate change and increased mitigation behaviour. In addition, respondents who scored high on individualism were less likely to support climate change policies, but this effect was not mediated by risk perceptions. Overall, our results suggest cultural worldviews may influence policy support both directly and indirectly through risk perceptions.     

The role of ecological validity in hazard perception assessment

Hazard perception is one of the few quantifiable components of driving competency that can explain the high crash risk of novice drivers (see Horswill & McKenna, 2004). Some studies focused on investigating the stimulus part of hazard perception items by comparing several design features of the displayed traffic scenarios (e.g. Malone et al., 2012; Scialfa et al., 2013). Other empirical studies have been conducted to address the reaction part of hazard perception items (e.g. Vlakveld, 2014). Among others, existing hazard perception tests differ with respect to the ecological validity – the similarity to real-world demands – of the task that has to be completed by the participants (simple reaction, hazard localization, simulated driving, etc.). Based on the findings of general expertise research (see Glaser & Chi, 1988), the hypothesis of the present experiment was that an increased ecological validity of a hazard perception task has a positive effect on the magnitude of performance differences between more and less experienced drivers. 104 learner drivers and 51 experienced drivers were randomly assigned either to a less ecological valid version (multiple choice task) or a higher ecological valid version (reaction task) of a hazard perception test. In both conditions, the same 20 animated hazardous or non-hazardous traffic scenarios were presented. Overall, the experienced drivers outperformed the learner drivers. Principally, both of the applied versions of the test provided a criterion valid measure of driving expertise. However, increasing the ecological validity of the test by using a reaction task was especially beneficial for certain types of scenarios, leading to higher expertise-related differences. In addition, the reaction task provides response time measure as a further valid performance indicator. This allows the identification of those participants who are indeed able to detect a hazard in a certain scenario, but still have deficits in response time, compared to more experienced drivers. According to the present study, it is recommended to choose the reaction task over the multiple choice task to test hazard perception. Whether a further increase in ecological validity of the task would be useful, should be tested empirically in future research.     

Candidate Voice Pitch Influences Election Outcomes

A growing literature in psychology shows that human voice pitch—perceived “highness” or “lowness” as determined by the physiology of the throat—influences how speakers are perceived. This leads to the prediction that candidate voice pitch influences voters. Here this question is addressed with two studies. The first is an experiment conducted with a large national sample of U.S. adults. The results show that men and women prefer to vote for male and female candidates with lower pitched voices. The second study examines the outcomes of the 2012 U.S. House elections. When facing male opponents, candidates with lower voices won a larger vote share. However, when facing female opponents, candidates with higher voices were more successful and particularly so in the case of male candidates. In synthesizing research on the human voice and voter behavior and triangulating evidence from a controlled experiment and a large observational study of actual elections, this article illustrates that candidate voice pitch influences election outcomes.     

Visual perceptual and handwriting skills in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

ObjectiveChildren with Developmental Coordination Disorder demonstrate a lack of automaticity in handwriting as measured by pauses during writing. Deficits in visual perception have been proposed in the literature as underlying mechanisms of handwriting difficulties in children with DCD. The aim of this study was to examine whether correlations exist between measures of visual perception and visual motor integration with measures of the handwriting product and process in children with DCD.MethodThe performance of twenty-eight 8–14 year-old children who met the DSM-5 criteria for DCD was compared with 28 typically developing (TD) age and gender-matched controls. The children completed the Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI) and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS). Group comparisons were made, correlations were conducted between the visual perceptual measures and handwriting measures and the sensitivity and specificity examined.ResultsThe DCD group performed below the TD group on the VMI and TVPS. There were no significant correlations between the VMI or TVPS and any of the handwriting measures in the DCD group. In addition, both tests demonstrated low sensitivity.ConclusionClinicians should execute caution in using visual perceptual measures to inform them about handwriting skill in children with DCD.