Illusory illusions: the significance of fixation on the perception of geometrical illusions

Some well-known geometrical illusions disappear when the eyes are fixating and saccades are suppressed for a period of time. This disappearance is not accompanied by fading due to stabilisation of the retinal image. Any saccade made on purpose restores the illusion immediately. The fixation time after which some illusions disappeared was measured for four illusions and four subjects each. Effects of practice have been observed after measurements were repeated on successive days. Present theories of vision cannot readily explain the effect.     

Morphological patterns and their colour

This study analyzed qualitative aspects in perception, particularly the relationship between morphological aspects of biological shapes and colour. The experiment reported by the study assessed the functional relation between shape and colour and, in particular, the relations among the patterns of shapes appearing in perceptual configurations, as well as certain characteristics of colour. Participants were shown 32 natural images and were asked to match them with a colour. The results indicated that some figures were more frequently associated (positively or negatively) with some colours instead of others. Type of shape, texture, and three-dimensionality were important elements in the participants' choices. Rounded figures and non-holed figures had positive matches with red; elongated figures were associated with colours between blue and green; and holed figures showed positive matches with colours between green and yellow. Type of shape and texture also exhibited a relationship with the warmth of the colour.     

Religious Context and Prosociality: An Experimental Study from Valparaíso,Chile

Are people more prosocial in a religious context? We addressed this question through an experiment. We randomly placed participants in the control group in a neutral location (a lecture hall), and we placed participants in the experimental group in a religious location (a chapel). The participants then took part in a one‐shot three‐person public goods game, which measured participants’ degree of cooperativeness. The results showed that participants in the experimental group cooperated significantly more than did participants in the control group. Furthermore, participants’ beliefs about other participants’ cooperativeness were more positive in the experimental group than they were in the control group. Improved expectations of others partially explained the enhanced cooperation in the religious context. We found no main or interaction effect of self‐reported religiosity in the experiment.     

Assessing Measurement and Predictive Invariance of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale–20 in U.S. Anglo and U.S. Hispanic Student Samples

We collected data from a predominately Anglo American student sample in the Southeastern United States and a predominately Hispanic student sample in the Southwestern United States. Along with an assessment of internal consistency reliability, we examined measurement invariance of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale–20 (TAS–20) using confirmatory factor analysis. We also assessed the predictive invariance of the TAS–20. Results indicate that 2 of the 3 TAS–20 subscales demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency reliability across samples. Items from the TAS–20 subscales demonstrated measurement invariance of the latent means. The relationship between 2 measures of emotional dysfunction and the TAS–20 also demonstrated slope and intercept invariance, indicating equivalent validity.     

A Psychometric Analysis of the “Divide and Conquer” Principle in Multicriteria Decision Making

The principle of “Divide and Conquer” (DAC) suggests that: (1) complex decision problems should be decomposed into smaller, more manageable parts and (2) these smaller parts should be logically aggregated to derive an overall value for each alternative. Typically, decompositional procedures have been compared to holistic evaluations that require decision makers to simultaneously consider all of the relevant attributes in the evaluation of the objects under consideration. These comparisons between decompositional and holistic judgments have primarily used a variant of Multiattribute Utility Theory (MAUT).We presented a general experimental framework that allows for a more extensive assessment of the DAC principle, as well as the effects of decision complexity on both holistic and decompositional procedures. We illustrate this approach with a study that uses the Simple Multiattribute Rating Technique with Swing Weights (SMARTS; Edwards & Barron, 1994) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP; Saaty, 1980). We report data comparing the convergent validity (e.g the agreement between decompositional and holistic strategies) and the temporal stability for decompositional and holistic judgments on a variety of dependent measures. Decision complexity did not significantly affect the correspondence between decompositional and holistic judgments for both SMARTS and AHP judgments. Results from an ordinal measure of temporal stability indicated the DAC principle was violated for the AHP judgments. For a linear measure of temporal stability, trends in the data indicated that the predicted effects of decision complexity on the DAC principle was violated for the SMARTS judgments.     

The Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire: a measurement invariance examination among U.S. Anglos and U.S. Hispanics

The aim of this article is to assess the measurement invariance of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire (BVAQ) in U.S. Anglo (n = 490) and U.S. Hispanic ( n = 379) samples of college students. The BVAQ items demonstrated invariance of the factor loadings, the latent item intercepts, and unique factor variances. However, Hispanics had higher verbalizing scores and lower fantasizing scores on the latent variables. As a whole, the BVAQ requires additional testing and/or refinement for use with a Hispanic sample. Until such refinements, the authors recommend that the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 be used with U.S. Hispanic samples.     

Relationship between quantity and frequency of alcohol use and indices of suicidal behavior in an elderly Australian sample

Relatively little research has been conducted on the relationship between alcohol misuse and suicidal behavior among the elderly. The current study's aim was to examine whether quantity and frequency of alcohol use and the interaction between these variables are related to current suicidal ideation, previous suicidal ideation/intent, and past suicide attempts in a community sample of 1,010 Australian adults over age 60. Results partially supported our hypotheses. The interaction between quantity and frequency of alcohol use was significant, suggesting that those who use alcohol less frequently but in greater quantities (i.e., binge drinking) are more likely to have a history of suicide attempts.     

Tacit to explicit knowledge conversion

The ability to create, use and transfer knowledge may allow the creation or improvement of new products or services. But knowledge is often tacit: It lives in the minds of individuals, and therefore, it is difficult to transfer it to another person by means of the written word or verbal expression. This paper addresses this important problem by introducing a methodology, consisting of a four-step process that facilitates tacit to explicit knowledge conversion. The methodology utilizes conceptual modeling, thus enabling understanding and reasoning through visual knowledge representation. This implies the possibility of understanding concepts and ideas, visualized through conceptual models, without using linguistic or algebraic means. The proposed methodology is conducted in a metamodel-based tool environment whose aim is efficient application and ease of use.     

Caregiver depressive symptoms and observed family interaction in low-income children with persistent asthma

This study examined the relationship between caregiver depressive symptoms and observed parenting behaviors and family processes during interactions among 101 urban, low-income Africtan American families with children with persistent asthma. Caregivers (primarily female) were assessed on four dimensions (i.e., warmth/ involvement, hostility, consistent discipline, relationship quality) in three videotaped interaction tasks (loss, conflict, cohesion). The results indicated that increased depressive symptoms were significantly associated with lower warmth/involvement and synchrony scores and greater hostility scores during the loss and conflict tasks. In the total sample, the highest levels of hostility and the lowest levels of warmth/involvement were found for the conflict task; nevertheless, caregivers with moderate/severe depressive symptoms showed a significantly greater increase in hostility from the loss to the conflict task than caregivers with minimal/mild depressive symptoms. The findings highlight the salience of considering task content in family observational process research to expand our understanding of depressed and nondepressed caregivers abilities to modulate appropriately their behaviors and affect across various family interactions. Implications for improving asthma management for low-income children with persistent asthma are discussed, including the utility of multidisciplinary interventions that combine asthma education with family therapy.