Hearing speech against spatially separate competing speech versus competing noise

Listeners had the task of following a target speech signal heard against two competitors either located at the same spatial position as the target or displaced symmetrically to locations flanking it. When speech was the competitor, there was a significantly higher separation effect (maintained intelligibility with reduced target sound level), as compared with either steady-state or fluctuating noises. Increasing the extent of spatial separation slightly increased the effect, and a substantial contribution of interaural time differences was observed. When same- and opposite-sex voices were used, a hypothesis that the similarity between target and competing speech would explain the role for spatial separation was partly supported. High- and low-pass filtering showed that both parts of an acoustically similar competing signal contribute to the phenomenon. We conclude that, in parsing the auditory array, attention to spatial cues is heightened when the components of the array are confusable on other acoustic grounds.     

Multidimensional Perfectionism and Anxiety: Differences Among Individuals With Perfectionism and Tests of a Coping‐Mediation Model

This study examined the relationship between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, anxiety, and coping processes in a sample of 329 undergraduate students. Specifically, participants with adaptive perfectionism had the lowest levels of anxiety, followed by participants with nonperfectionism, and participants with maladaptive perfectionism had the highest levels. Various coping processes mediating the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism and anxiety are discussed.     

Adaptive and Maladaptive Perfectionism as Mediators of Adult Attachment Styles and Depression,Hopelessness, and Life Satisfaction

This study examined the relationships between adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism, anxious and avoidant adult attachment styles, depression, hopelessness, and life satisfaction among a sample of 180 undergraduate students. Maladaptive perfectionism mediated the relationship between both forms of adult attachment and depression, hopelessness, and life satisfaction. Adaptive perfectionism mediated the relationship between avoidant adult attachment and hopelessness and life satisfaction. Implications for counselors and future research directions are discussed.     

Applicant Gender and Family Structure: Effects on Perceived Relocation Commitment and Spouse Resistance

Within the context of a controlled laboratory study, the effects of applicant gender, marital type (single earner, dual earner), and parental status (child, no child) on perceptions of job applicant commitment to a move involving geographic relocation and expected family resistance to the move were investigated. The results indicated that gender and family structure variables interacted in their influence on the dependent variables. Participants also provided reasons for their ratings of perceived commitment. Content analysis revealed 4 themes underlying participant responses: family concerns, goals and motivation of applicant, experience of applicant, and individual differences.     

Why Do High Self‐Monitors Emerge as Leaders in Small Groups? A Comparative Analysis of the Behaviors of High Versus Low Self‐Monitors1

The current study examined the relationship between self‐monitoring and leader emergence focusing on the specific observable behaviors that differentiate high and low self‐monitors in small decision groups. Consistent with previous research, high self‐monitors were more likely to emerge as leaders than were low self‐monitors. Further, observational ratings of task‐oriented and relationship‐oriented leader behaviors made by trained raters blind to the purpose of the study indicated that high self‐monitors emerged as leaders by engaging in significantly more task‐oriented leader behaviors. In contrast, no differences were found in relationship‐oriented leader behaviors between high and low self‐monitors. The findings are discussed in the context of behavioral approaches to the study of leadership and research on self‐monitoring. Implications for research on leader emergence, group process, and research methods are also provided, along with directions for future research.     

Echolocation in the blinded rat

The difference threshold for detection of barriers at different distances using a modified method of limits was found, for four blinded rats, to be 9 in. White noise 20 dB above ambient level reduced discrimination performance to chance, indicating that auditory cues were involved in the discrimination. A second determination, utilizing the method of constant stimuli, confirmed the difference threshold to be 9 in. and reduced individual S variation by further training. Evidence with a black and a white barrier indicated the possibility that infrared heat cues do not enter into the discrimination.     

Does social environment influence learning ability in a family-living lizard?

Early developmental environment can have profound effects on individual physiology, behaviour, and learning. In birds and mammals, social isolation during development is known to negatively affect learning ability; yet in other taxa, like reptiles, the effect of social isolation during development on learning ability is unknown. We investigated how social environment affects learning ability in the family-living tree skink (Egernia striolata). We hypothesized that early social environment shapes cognitive development in skinks and predicted that skinks raised in social isolation would have reduced learning ability compared to skinks raised socially. Offspring were separated at birth into two rearing treatments: (1) raised alone or (2) in a pair. After 1 year, we quantified spatial learning ability of skinks in these rearing treatments (N = 14 solitary, 14 social). We found no effect of rearing treatment on learning ability. The number of skinks to successfully learn the task, the number of trials taken to learn the task, the latency to perform the task, and the number of errors in each trial did not differ between isolated and socially reared skinks. Our results were unexpected, yet the facultative nature of this species’ social system may result in a reduced effect of social isolation on behaviour when compared to species with obligate sociality. Overall, our findings do not provide evidence that social environment affects development of spatial learning ability in this family-living lizard.