A method for calibrating the spatial coordinates of a visual display to high accuracy

High-resolution CRT displays are subject togeometric distortion: lines that are straight in the internal coordinates of the graphics software and hardware are curved when projected onto a plane in the observer’s line of sight. As the available resolution of CRT screens increases, it becomes more difficult to measure and correct for this distortion. We present a simple, highly accurate method for determining the mapping between internal coordinates and the viewing plane. It requires that an observer, using a calibration program, adjust triples of displayed points until they are collinear. A metal straightedge placed between the observer and the screen aids in this judgment. We describe the calibration of an IBM Enhanced Graphics Display in high-resolution mode (350 × 640 pixels), and illustrate how to use the estimated mapping to choose internal coordinates to draw undistorted figures that are accurate to within 0.5 pixel. The method can be used to assess or to correct the accuracy of visual displays. The method is relevant to experiments in spatial vision, spatial perception, perception of dot patterns, and any application in which geometrically accurate stimuli are required.     

Surface and structural similarity in analogical transfer

Two experiments investigated factors that influence the retrieval and use of analogies in problem solving, Experiment 1 demonstrated substantial spontaneous analogical transfer with a delay of several days between presentation of the source and target analogues. Experiment 2 examined the influence of different types of similarity between the analogues. A mechanism for retrieval of source analogues is proposed, based on summation of activation from features shared with a target problem. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that both structural features, which play a causal role in determining possible problem solutions, and salient surface features, which do not have a causal role, influence spontaneous selection of an analogue. Structural features, however, have a greater impact than do surface features on a problem solver’s ability to use an analogue once its relevance has been pointed out.     

Hiring on vocational interests to simultaneously improve validity and organizational diversity

We discuss how using vocational interests in the selection process can help address the diversity-validity dilemma. First, we point out how incorporating vocational interests as predictors in selection could help to reduce adverse impact. We further suggest that by using optimal predictor weights, one could simultaneously improve validity while enhancing organisational diversity. Finally, the predictive validity of vocational interests arises from their ability to capture the congruence between individuals and occupations, which is a cross-level phenomenon. Thus, when gathering validity evidence for vocational interests, multi-occupation samples should be incorporated into validation efforts.     

Induction of combination rules in two-dimensional function learning

Previous studies have typically found that when people learn to combine two dimensions of a stimulus to select a response, they learn additive combination rules more easily than nonadditive (e.g., multiplicative) ones. The present experiments demonstrate that in some situations people can learn multiplicative rules more easily than other (e.g., additive) rules. Subjects learned to produce specified response durations when presented with stimulus lines varying in length and angle of orientation. When stimuliand correct responses were related by a multiplicative combination of power functions, learning was relatively easy (Experiment 1). In contrast, systematic response biases occurred during the early phases of learning an additive combination of linear functions (Experiment 2) and a more complex (nonadditive and nonmultiplicative) combination of linear functions (Experiment3), suggesting that people have a tendency to induce a multiplicative combination of power functions. However, the initial biases decreased with practice. These results are explained in terms of a revised adaptive regression model of function learning originally proposed by Koh and Meyer (1991). Differences between the present results and previous results in the literature are discussed.     

Forest lights: Notes on the conceptualization of the unconscious

Using the metaphor of lights appearing unexplained in the night, the author argues for a conceptualization of the unconscious based on a posture of trust and acceptance rather than one of fear and explanation.His last book,Idea and Experience, dealt with Husserl's project of phenomenology inIdeas I. He has recently completed another book,The Embers and the Stars: A Philosophical Inquiry into the Moral Sense of Nature.     

Source recall enhances children's discrimination of seen and heard events

The effects of rehearsing actions by source (slideshow vs. story) and of test modality (picture vs. verbal) on source monitoring were examined. Seven- to 8-year-old children (N = 30) saw a slideshow event and heard a story about a similar event. One to 2 days later, they recalled the events by source (source recall), recalled the events without reference to source (no-source-cue recall), or engaged in no recall. Seven to 8 days later, all children received verbal and picture source-monitoring tests. Children in the source recall group were less likely than children in the other groups to claim they saw actions merely heard in the story. No-source-cue recall impaired source identification of story actions. The picture test enhanced recognition, but not source monitoring, of slide actions. Increasing the distinctiveness of the target events (Experiment 2) allowed the picture test to facilitate slideshow action discrimination by children in the no-recall group.     

Impaired processing of prosodic and musical patterns after right hemisphere damage

The distinction between the processing of musical information and segmental speech information (i.e., consonants and vowels) has been much explored. In contrast, the relationship between the processing of music and prosodic speech information (e.g., intonation) has been largely ignored. We report an assessment of prosodic perception for an amateur musician, KB, who became amusic following a right-hemisphere stroke. Relative to matched controls, KB's segmental speech perception was preserved. However, KB was unable to discriminate pitch or rhythm patterns in linguistic or musical stimuli. He was also impaired on prosodic perception tasks (e.g., discriminating statements from questions). Results are discussed in terms of common neural mechanisms that may underlie the processing of some aspects of both music and speech prosody.     

Self-efficacy and academic success among diverse first-generation college students: The mediating role of self-regulation

Social Psychology of Education - This study examines whether self-efficacy predicted academic success (via self-regulation) for first-generation and continuing-generation college students (Model 1)...     

Neuroticism and extraversion are associated with amygdala resting-state functional connectivity

The personality traits neuroticism and extraversion are differentially related to socioemotional functioning and susceptibility to affective disorders. However, the neurobiology underlying this differential relationship is still poorly understood. This discrepancy could perhaps best be studied by adopting a brain connectivity approach. Whereas the amygdala has repeatedly been linked to neuroticism and extraversion, no study has yet focused on the intrinsic functional architecture of amygdala-centered networks in relation to both traits. To this end, seed-based correlation analysis was employed to reveal amygdala resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) and its associations with neuroticism and extraversion in 50 healthy participants. Higher neuroticism scores were associated with increased amygdala RSFC with the precuneus, and decreased amygdala RSFC with the temporal poles, insula, and superior temporal gyrus (p < .05, cluster corrected). Conversely, higher extraversion scores were associated with increased amygdala RSFC with the putamen, temporal pole, insula, and several regions of the occipital cortex (p < .05, cluster corrected). The shifts in amygdala RSFC associated with neuroticism may relate to the less-adaptive perception and processing of self-relevant and socioemotional information that is frequently seen in neurotic individuals, whereas the amygdala RSFC pattern associated with extraversion may relate to the heightened reward sensitivity and enhanced socioemotional functioning in extraverts. We hypothesize that the variability in amygdala RSFC observed in the present study could potentially link neuroticism and extraversion to the neurobiology underlying increased susceptibility or resilience to affective disorders.     

Filial Obligations: A Comparative Study

The nature of the special obligation that a child has towards her parent(s) is widely discussed in Confucianism. It has also received considerable discussion by analytic commentators. This essay compares and contrasts the accounts of filial obligation found in the two philosophical traditions. The analytic writers mentioned above have explored filial obligations by relating them to other special obligations, such as obligations of debt, friendship, or gratitude. I examine these accounts and try to uncover the implicit assumptions therein about the scope and nature of such filial obligations. I then similarly examine Confucian filial obligations (CFOs) by relating them to these other special obligations of debt, gratitude, and so on. My findings are used to highlight crucial differences in the scope and conception of filial obligations in these two traditions.