The preattentive emperor has no clothes: a dynamic redressing

Preattentive models of early vision have not been supported by the evidence. Instead, an input filtering system, which is dynamically reconfigured so as to optimize performance on the task at hand, is proposed. As a case in point, the authors examined Sagi and Julesz's (1985a) claim that detection tasks are processed preattentively and efficiently (shallow search slopes), whereas discrimination tasks require focal attention and yield inefficient steep slopes. In 5 visual search experiments, efficiency was found to depend not on the nature of the task but on whether the task is single or dual. The second component of a dual task, whether detection or discrimination, is performed inefficiently if it does not fit the configuration of the input system, which had been set optimally for the first component. But, even the second component is processed efficiently if there is enough time to reconfigure the system after processing the first component.     

Assessing acute stress with the Implicit Association Test

Assessments of acute stress using self-report questionnaires can be biased by various factors, including social desirability. The present study used a bias-free method, the Implicit Association Test (IAT), to assess stress. Unlike a previous study (Schmukle & Egloff, 2004) in which acute stress was not detected with the IAT, this study manipulated stress by generating test anxiety and threatening self-esteem. The results revealed that the IAT effect was greater in the high-stress group than in the low-stress group. Participants in the high-stress group associated their concept of self with the concept of anxiety more strongly than did those in the low-stress group. This result suggests that the IAT is a sensitive measure for detecting group differences in acute stress.     

Context effects as auditory contrast

Three experiments are reported that collectively show that listeners perceive speech sounds as contrasting auditorily with neighboring sounds. Experiment 1 replicates the well-established finding that listeners categorize more of a [d–g] continuum as [g] after [l] than after [r]. Experiments 2 and 3 show that listeners discriminate stimuli in which the energy concentrations differ in frequency between the spectra of neighboring sounds better than those in which they do not differ. In Experiment 2, [alga–arda] pairs, in which the energy concentrations in the liquid-stop sequences are H(igh) L(ow)–LH, were more discriminable than [alda–arga] pairs, in which they are HH–LL. In Experiment 3, [da] and [ga] syllables were more easily discriminated when they were preceded by lower and higher pure tones, respectively—that is, tones that differed from the stops’ higher and lower F3 onset frequencies—than when they were preceded by H and L pure tones with similar frequencies. These discrimination results show that contrast with the target’s context exaggerates its perceived value when energy concentrations differ in frequency between the target’s spectrum and its context’s spectrum. Because contrast with its context does more that merely shift the criterion for categorizing the target, it cannot be produced by neural adaptation. The finding that nonspeech contexts exaggerate the perceived values of speech targets also rules out compensation for coarticulation by showing that their values depend on the proximal auditory qualities evoked by the stimuli’s acoustic properties, rather than the distal articulatory gestures.     

The Role of Reflective Functioning in Predicting Marital and Coparenting Quality

Reflective functioning (RF) is a measure of mentalization—the capacity to think about one’s own and others’ thoughts and feelings and to understand the connections between mental states and behaviors. Previous research indicates a decline in marital quality across the transition to parenthood, and some studies have found that parents are less happy than non-parents. Thus, researchers have called for research into possible moderators of these patterns. RF may help couples navigate this transition by more easily taking each other’s (and the infant’s) perspective and understanding each other’s behaviors. Much of the research on RF has focused on mothering behavior; research has not yet examined associations between RF and other family interactions. We examined associations between RF and marital and coparenting quality for both wives and husbands. Reflective functioning was coded from Adult Attachment Interviews conducted during pregnancy. We assessed marital quality at 3.5 months, and coparenting quality at 13 months, after the birth of the target child. Wives’ higher RF was associated with higher levels of positive—and lower levels of negative—marital and coparenting interactions. Wives who were better able to reflect on their early experiences with their parents were involved in marital interactions that were more positive and supportive and less conflicted and undermining. Husbands’ RF did not predict marital or coparenting quality. These findings highlight the importance of reflective functioning in understanding family functioning.     

Does one's name attract visual attention?

Does one's name attract visual attention? To answer this question, we conducted four experiments. Experiment 1 adopted the method of a previous study (Bundesen, Kyllingsbæk, Houmann, & Jensen, 1997), but used Japanese names; the results of this experiment replicated the lack of evidence for attentional attraction by the observer's name. Experiments 2 and 3 tested two arguments put forward by Bundesen et al. (1997) to explain this null effect of observer's name on attentional attraction. The results showed that neither efficient target selection by colour nor the number of target characters could explain the null effect. Alternatively, we proposed that the observer's set plays a critical role in the attentional attraction of observer's name. Experiments 4 and 5 tested this idea by manipulating the observer's set; the results showed that when the observer's set matches the target defining feature, the observer's name does capture attention. These five experiments suggest that attentional attraction by an observer's name depends on the relationship between the observer's set and task.     

The Sanitary‐Mask Effect on Perceived Facial Attractiveness

Currently, some Japanese women use a sanitary mask to hide their faces when not wearing makeup, perhaps because they believe that they are more attractive (or less ugly) when wearing a sanitary mask than when not wearing makeup. The present study examined the effect of wearing a sanitary mask on the perception of facial attractiveness. We manipulated the presence or absence of a mask in the main experiments or an occluder (e.g., notebook) in control experiments and asked participants to rate facial images. The results revealed that attractive faces wearing a sanitary mask were perceived as less attractive than the same faces without the mask, contrary to Japanese women's belief. This is the first study to demonstrate a new phenomenon, the sanitary‐mask effect, in which observers underestimate the physical attractiveness of a mask‐wearing face. Importantly, the pattern of the results of perceived attractiveness was substantially altered when a control object occluded the faces. This suggests that facial occlusion by a sanitary mask has a unique effect, due to occlusion and unhealthiness priming.     

Correspondences among pupillary dilation response,subjective salience of sounds,and loudness

A pupillary dilation response is known to be evoked by salient deviant or contrast auditory stimuli, but so far a direct link between it and subjective salience has been lacking. In two experiments, participants listened to various environmental sounds while their pupillary responses were recorded. In separate sessions, participants performed subjective pairwise-comparison tasks on the sounds with respect to their salience, loudness, vigorousness, preference, beauty, annoyance, and hardness. The pairwise-comparison data were converted to ratings on the Thurstone scale. The results showed a close link between subjective judgments of salience and loudness. The pupil dilated in response to the sound presentations, regardless of sound type. Most importantly, this pupillary dilation response to an auditory stimulus positively correlated with the subjective salience, as well as the loudness, of the sounds (Exp. 1). When the loudnesses of the sounds were identical, the pupil responses to each sound were similar and were not correlated with the subjective judgments of salience or loudness (Exp. 2). This finding was further confirmed by analyses based on individual stimulus pairs and participants. In Experiment 3, when salience and loudness were manipulated by systematically changing the sound pressure level and acoustic characteristics, the pupillary dilation response reflected the changes in both manipulated factors. A regression analysis showed a nearly perfect linear correlation between the pupillary dilation response and loudness. The overall results suggest that the pupillary dilation response reflects the subjective salience of sounds, which is defined, or is heavily influenced, by loudness.     

Area-specific attentional effect in the Delboeuf illusion

In the Delboeuf illusion, a circle judged initially has a weaker effect of size induction than a circle judged subsequently (the judgment-order effect). This effect has been attributed to differential allocation of visual attention (Hamada et al, 2002 Japanese Journal of Psychology 73 58 - 63, in Japanese). To establish the influence of attention, in experiment 1 we examined whether the effect occurred mandatorily once the outer circle was attended to, or whether it was necessary to direct attention specifically to the size of the area of the outer circle. Observers trisected the circumference of the outer circle thus attending to the outer circle in terms of its circumference, but ignoring its area. The illusion was stronger when the inner-circle area estimation was followed by the outer-circle area estimation than when the inner-circle area estimation was followed by the trisection task. In experiment 2 this result was replicated by using diameter judgment, instead of the size of the area. These findings indicate that mere allocation of attention to the outer circle contour is not sufficient to produce the judgment-order effect. Rather, attention must be specific to the task-relevant dimension, in this instance the visual area, to be effective.     

Ignorance is bliss: the role of observer expectation in dynamic spatial tuning of the attentional focus

When two sequential targets (T1, T2) are inserted in an RSVP stream of distractors, perception of T2 is impaired at intertarget lags shorter than 700 msec. Paradoxically, this deficit disappears when T2 is presented directly after T1 (lag-1 sparing). Visser, Bischof, and Di Lollo (1999) found that lag-1 sparing occurs only when T1 and T2 are presented in the same stream. In contrast, Shih (2000) obtained lag-1 sparing with targets insepa-rate streams. Four experiments addressed this inconsistency and revealed lag-1 sparing with targets in different streams, but only when observers had no foreknowledge of T1's location. We hypothesized that when T1 location is known, attention is focused narrowly on that stream; if T2 then appears in the other stream it is missed, and lag-1 sparing does not occur. When T1 location is not known, attention is focused broadly, encompassing both streams, and lag-1 sparing ensues.