Performance and presence with head-movement produced motion parallax in simulated driving

Driving simulator studies can reveal relevant and valid aspects of driving behavior, but underestimation of distance and speed can negatively affect the driver’s performance, such as in performance of overtaking. One possible explanation for the underestimation of distance and speed is that two-dimensional projection of the visual scene disrupts the monocular-based illusory depth because of conflicting binocular and monocular information of depth. A possible solution might involve the strengthening of the monocular information so that the binocular information becomes less potent. In the present study, we used an advanced high-fidelity driving simulator to investigate whether adding the visual depth information of motion parallax from head movement affects sense of presence, judgment of distance and speed, and performance measures coupled with overtaking. The simulations included two types of driving scenario in which one was urban and the other was rural. The main results show no effect of this head-movement produced motion parallax on sense of presence, head movement, time to collision, distance judgment, or speed judgment. However, the results show an effect on lateral positioning. When initiating the overtaking maneuver there is a lateral positioning farther away from the road center as effect of the motion parallax in both types of scenario, which can be interpreted as indicating use of naturally occurring information that change behavior at overtaking. Nevertheless, only showing tendencies of effects, absent is any clear additional impact of this motion parallax in the simulated driving.     

The role of prediction in mental processing: A process approach

Although prediction plays a prominent role in mental processing, we have only limited understanding of how the brain generates and employs predictions. This paper develops a theoretical framework in three steps. First I propose a process model that describes how predictions are produced and are linked to behavior. Subsequently I describe a generative mechanism, consisting of the selective amplification of neural dynamics in the context of boundary conditions. I hypothesize that this mechanism is active as a process engine in every mental process, and that therefore each mental process proceeds in two stages: (i) the formation of process boundary conditions; (ii) the bringing about of the process function by the operation – within the boundary conditions – of a relatively ‘blind’ generative process. Thirdly, from this hypothesis I derive a strategy for describing processes formally. The result is a multilevel framework that may also be useful for studying mental processes in general.     

How will things be the next time? Self in the construction of future events among school-aged children

This study examined among school-aged children the role of the self in perceived valence changes from the past to the future. Nine- to 11-year-old children (N = 57) recalled positive and negative personal events of various situations and imagined a future personal event involving the same situation following each recall. Children’s self-knowledge was assessed in terms of self-concepts for past, present, and future selves, and self-evaluations for social and cognitive competences. Children who viewed their future selves more positively and those who evaluated their cognitive competence more positively anticipated greater upward (positive) changes and smaller downward (negative) changes in their future academic performance. Children who evaluated their social competence more positively anticipated greater upward changes in their future peer relations. Furthermore, children who anticipated greater upward changes and smaller downward changes in their personal futures exhibited greater well-being. These findings shed new light on the role of self in mental time travel.     

A Statistical Hypothesis Testing Method for the Rank Ordering of the Priorities of the Alternatives in the Analytic Hierarchy Process

In analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a ratio scale (π₁, π₂, ⋯, π_t) for the priorities of the alternatives {T₁, T₂, ⋯, T_t} is used for a decision problem in which π_i/π_j is used to quantify the ratio of the priority of T_i to that of T_j. In a group decision‐making setup, the subjective estimates of π_i/π_j are obtained as entries of a pairwise comparison matrix for each member of the group. On the basis of these pairwise comparison matrices, one of the topics of interest in some situation is the total rank ordering of the priorities of the alternatives. In this article, a statistical method is proposed for testing a specific total rank ordering of the priorities of the alternatives. The method developed is then illustrated using numerical examples. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why Self-enhancement Provokes Dislike: The Hubris Hypothesis and the Aversiveness of Explicit Self-superiority Claims

Most people believe that they are in many respects superior to others. When they publicly express their superiority, they may do so in an explicitly or implicitly comparative manner (“I am better than others” vs. “I am good”). According to the hubris hypothesis, observers dislike explicit self-superiority claims, because these suggest a negative view of others and hence of the observers. The results of two experiments were consistent with the hubris hypothesis. Participants evaluated explicit self-superiority claimants more unfavorably than implicit self-superiority claimants (Experiments 1–2). They attributed less warmth, but not less competence, to explicit than implicit self-superiority claimants (Experiment 2), and this occurred to the extent that participants inferred a negative view of others (Experiments 1–2) and hence of them (Experiment 2).     

Determinants of Integration and Confrontation in Internal Dialogues

Interest in the distinction between integrative and confrontational internal dialogues has been growing, as research suggests numerous positive functions of the former compared to the latter. The article proposes a theoretical approach to integration and confrontation in internal dialogue and an empirical method of measuring these processes. Exploratory research is also presented that seeks to identify personality‐related and situational determinants of integration and confrontation in internal dialogue simulating social relationships. Canonical correlation analysis did not establish personality determinants but it did reveal situational determinants (understood as cognitive interpretation of the enacted situation) behind integration and confrontation in internal dialogue. Perceiving the internal interlocutor as similar to the dialogue's author is associated with the author's integrative attitude. An increase in the wishfulness of the dialogue is accompanied by an increase in the author's confrontational attitude and the interlocutor's integrative attitude.     

Recall and recognition hypermnesia for Socratic stimuli

In two experiments, we investigate hypermnesia, net memory improvements with repeated testing of the same material after a single study trial. In the first experiment, we found hypermnesia across three trials for the recall of word solutions to Socratic stimuli (dictionary-like definitions of concepts) replicating Erdelyi, Buschke, and Finkelstein and, for the first time using these materials, for their recognition. In the second experiment, we had two “yes/no” recognition groups, a Socratic stimuli group presented with concrete and abstract verbal materials and a word-only control group. Using signal detection measures, we found hypermnesia for concrete Socratic stimuli—and stable performance for abstract stimuli across three recognition tests. The control group showed memory decrements across tests. We interpret these findings with the alternative retrieval pathways (ARP) hypothesis, contrasting it with alternative theories of hypermnesia, such as depth of processing, generation and retrieve–recognise. We conclude that recognition hypermnesia for concrete Socratic stimuli is a reliable phenomenon, which we found in two experiments involving both forced-choice and yes/no recognition procedures.     

Plato's Hypothetical Inquiry in the Meno

This paper argues that the hypothesis proposed in the Meno is the proposition ‘virtue is good’ alone, and that its epistemic nature is essentially insecure. It has been an object of huge scholarly debate which other hypothesis Socrates posited with regard to the relationship between virtue and knowledge. This debate is, however, misleading in the sense of making us believe that the hypothesis that virtue is good is regarded as a truism in the light of the process of positing a higher hypothesis described in the Phaedo and the Republic. I argue that the hypothesis in question is presented as a result of the earlier discussion of Meno's third definition of virtue (77b2–79a2), which implies the consequence that morally correct actions are beneficial whether or not accompanied by conventional goods such as wealth and honour. The underlying role of presenting it as a hypothesis is therefore to postpone demonstrating the truth of a controversial thesis which needs a substantial justification. In conclusion, I suggest that Plato's real intention in introducing the method of hypothesis in the dialogue is not to answer the original question but to lead Meno to seek for knowledge.     

Intergroup contact experience and frequency as predictors of cross-racial attitudes

This study examined the relationships between contact frequency, experiences of intergroup contact and a number of demographic intergroup variables. A telephone survey was conducted among 544 blacks (57.5% male; 42.5% female) and 478 whites (44.6% male; 55.4% female). Three CHAID models with attitudes towards blacks and Afrikaans-speaking and English-speaking whites as dependant variables were investigated. Contact experience rather than frequency was the most significant predictor of racial attitudes. Age and geographical location were significant predictors of black attitudes towards the two white groups. A complex web of factors seems to influence intergroup relations in culturally heterogeneous societies.