Symbolic distance between numerosity and identity modulates Stroop interference

Thirty undergraduates participated in an experiment investigating the effect of the arithmetic difference between stimulus identity and stimulus numerosity in a numerical version of the Stroop task. It was found that digits symbolically close to the enumeration response reliably produced larger interference than digits that were farther from the enumeration response. This semantic distance effect was found with different numerosities (1-9) and different enumeration processes (counting and subitizing), and it increased as a function of numerosity in the subitizing range. These findings suggest that digit identity autonomously activates a magnitude representation organized as a compressed number line.     

Effects of orientation on the identification of rotated objects depend on the level of identity

Matching names and rotated line drawings of objects showed effects of object orientation that depended on name level. Large effects, in the same range as object naming, were found for rotations between 0 degrees and 120 degrees from upright with subordinate names (e.g., collie), whereas nonsignificant effects were found with superordinate (e.g., animal) and basic names (e.g., dog). These results support image normalization, after contact with orientation-invariant representations, that provide basic-level identity. They consequently fail to support theories of object recognition in which rotated object images are normalized to the upright position before contact with long-term object representations.     

Effects of action relations on the configural coding between objects.

Configural coding is known to take place between the parts of individual objects but has never been shown between separate objects. We provide novel evidence here for configural coding between separate objects through a study of the effects of action relations between objects on extinction. Patients showing visual extinction were presented with pairs of objects that were or were not co-located for action. We first confirmed the reduced extinction effect for objects co-located for action. Consistent with prior results showing that inversion disrupts configural coding, we found that inversion disrupted the benefit for action-related object pairs. This occurred both for objects with a standard canonical orientation (e.g., teapot and teacup) and those without, but where grasping and using the objects was made more difficult by inversion (e.g., spanner and nut). The data suggest that part of the affordance effect may reflect a visuo-motor response to the configural relations between stimuli. Experiment 2 showed that distorting the relative sizes of the objects also reduced the advantage for action-related pairs. We conclude that action-related pairs are processed as configurations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of valence on distance judgments of human faces.

"An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that photographs of positively valent faces would be set nearer the subject than negative faces, in ostensibly objective distance judgments… . Several examples of valent faces were compared, e.g., popular vs. unpopular figures from public life, an authority figure vs. peers, and self vs. peers. The responses of women… bore out the predictions, those of the men did not do so uniformly." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4GD20B. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A test of the correspondence between perceptual spaces based on pairwise similarity judgments collected with and without the inclusion of explicit ideal objects.

The use of multidimensional scaling to create a joint space based on pairwise similarity judgments collected with the inclusion of an ideal object raises concern that the resulting perceptual map might be distorted by the affective overtones of the ideal-point ratings. To investigate this possibility, 44 student Ss were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups of 22 Ss each. Group 1 provided pairwise similarity ratings for 12 real female singers. Group 2 rated this same set of singers plus a 13th ideal singer. Comparison of the intersinger distances in the resulting perceptual spaces, using the statistical test proposed by L. J. Hubert and J. R. Levin (see record 1977-04798-001) suggests that the maps for Groups 1 and 2 are highly congruent so that the potential contamination resulting from the inclusion of ideal objects in pairwise similarity judgments may not be a serious problem in practice. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intercondylar dislocation of the patella with vertical axis rotation

The mass spectrum of a mixture of H2, He, and N2 with a peak at every mass between m/z 1 and 8 (except for m/z 6) is presented as an example of the richness of information that can exist in this region that is rarely examined in biomedical mass spectrometry. The particular point of the experiment that generated this spectrum was to evaluate a chemical reaction interface mass spectrometric (CRIMS) procedure to measure H/D ratios in labeled analytes. The persistence of an ion-molecule reaction that generates H3+ interferes with the detection of HD+. Observing a second ion-molecule product of hydrogen at m/z 5 leads to a different approach to correcting the signal at m/z 3 than extrapolating the m/z 3/2 ratio to zero hydrogen.     

Spatial learning based on the shape of the environment is influenced by properties of the objects forming the shape.

In 3 experiments rats had to find a submerged platform that was located in a corner of a kite-shaped pool. The color of the walls creating this corner provided an additional cue for finding the platform in the shape + color condition but not the shape-only condition. During tests in a pool with walls of a uniform color but no platform, more time was spent in the corner where the platform was originally located after training in the shape + color than in the shape-only condition. The results challenge theories that assume either that learning about the shape of the environment takes place in a dedicated module or that cues compete for the control they acquire over behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of expertise and experience on risk judgments.

Compared the ability of 23 "expert" physicians and 93 undergraduates to accurately judge the risk associated with several diseases. Whereas the physicians gave substantially more accurate judgments, they still systematically overestimated the risks but in a manner different from the students. Two possible sources of this bias were examined: amount of coverage the diseases received in medical journals and the number of encounters with people suffering from the diseases. Greater medical journal coverage for a disease was significantly related to increased physician estimates of the risk of dying from that disease, even after controlling for the true mortality rate. However, subsequent path analyses revealed that the significant journal effect was not robust enough to reject the null hypothesis. The results for encounter frequency were more conclusive. For both physicians and students, increased frequency of encounters with people suffering from the disease was directly related to higher risk estimates. Results suggest that experts and nonexperts may use similar thought processes but make differently biased risk judgments because of their differing exposure to the risky events. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anchoring on the "here" and "now" in time and distance judgments.

Time and distance estimates were elicited with either unit-based (e.g., "How many days until...") or end-based (e.g., "On what date...") questions. For intervals of uncertain extent, unit-based estimates were consistently lower than were the corresponding end-based estimates. The observed patterns are consistent with an anchoring and adjustment process: When people generate unit-based estimates of uncertain dates or distances, they may anchor on the "here" or "now" and adjust incrementally by the unit; such adjustment, however, is often insufficient and yields systematic underestimation. Although this anchoring and adjustment cannot be directly observed, consistent with the hypothesized process, reliance on larger units yielded higher estimates and warning about insufficient adjustment reduced the effect. Implications for research on anchoring, the planning fallacy, and everyday judgment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of arousal on judgments of others' emotions.

Previous evidence indicates that arousal cues information from memory associated with a similar level of arousal and that people will base judgments on the information that is most available to them. The present authors hypothesized that (a) increases in arousal would increase the likelihood that Ss would interpret positive statements and positive facial expressions as indicating a positive emotion associated with high arousal (joy) rather than a positive emotion associated with low arousal (serenity), and (b) increases in arousal would increase the likelihood that Ss would interpret negative statements and negative expressions as indicating a negative emotion associated with high arousal (anger) rather than a negative emotion associated with low arousal (sadness or depression). Two studies, with 37 adults and 38 students, tested the hypotheses. Results of each study support the 1st but not the 2nd hypothesis. Explanations for why arousal had the predicted effects on positive but not on negative stimuli are offered. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of the salience of intention and consequence on children's moral judgments.

Conducted a study with 96 middle-class students in 3 age groups (6-7, 8-9, and 10-11 yrs) to examine the extent to which the recency effect is a factor in children's moral judgments. The E read 4 stories which were centered around 2 themes, one depicting a child dropping cups and the other a child spilling glue, and which combined each of 2 levels of intent (accidental and purposeful) with each of 2 levels of consequence (light and heavy damage). Within each age group, the 32 Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: intent-consequence (I-C), with intent first, followed by consequence; or consequence-intent (C-I), with consequence first, followed by intent. Results support the hypothesis that moral judgments are affected by the relative salience of cues, as manipulated by order presentation. However, the influence of order was complex and varied with the age of Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Note-taking in the employment interview: Effects on recall and judgments.

Although note-taking in the employment interview is highly recommended, little research has examined its effects. This study investigated the effects of note-taking styles, review of the notes, and content of the notes on participants' cued recall of information and decisions made from videotaped employment interviews. Note-taking increased recall accuracy but not judgment accuracy. Being able to review notes resulted in increased judgment accuracy for those taking conventional-style notes. The content of the notes also had important implications for conventional note-takers, suggesting some benefits of recording notes using the key-points style. The findings suggest that the act of note-taking may be more important for memory and legal reasons than for improving the decisions made by interviewers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of alcohol and liver cirrhosis on the GH-IGF-I axis

Decreased serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) levels have been shown in malnutrition and liver diseases. To analyse which of them is the main cause of GH-IGF-I axis alterations, serum levels of growth hormone (GH), growth-hormone releasing factor (GHRH), IGF-I and its binding protein IGFBP-3 were measured in 85 hospitalized alcoholics (51 without cirrhosis, 15 with compensated cirrhosis and 19 with cirrhosis with ascites) and in 25 healthy controls. Liver function tests and objective nutritional assessment were also performed. Serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 levels were lower in alcoholics, particularly in those with liver cirrhosis. Serum GH was raised in cirrhotics with ascites but GHRH levels were not significantly altered. Although these patients were frequently malnourished there was no relationship between data derived from GH-IGF-I axis and nutritional parameters. However, there was a significant positive correlation between serum GH concentrations and impaired liver function and a significant negative correlation between serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 and impaired liver function. This suggests that, in this population, serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 levels reflect liver dysfunction rather than malnutrition.     

Effects of level of processing and rehearsal on frequency judgments.

Studied the effects of attention during encoding and rehearsal after initial encoding on frequency estimates in 3 experiments. Exp I found that varying the level of processing affected the linear increase in frequency estimates as a function of actual frequency, but varying processing after encoding with remember or forget cues had the greatest effects on the intercept of the function relating judged to actual frequency. Deeper levels of processing improved performance in a frequency discrimination task, whereas remember and forget cues had small effects on performance. In Exp II, materials that are easy to rehearse were compared with materials that are difficult to rehearse. Results were interpreted as evidence against a covert rehearsal explanation of slope effects in frequency estimation tasks because materials that are difficult to rehearse produced larger interactions between remember vs forget cues and frequency than materials that are easier to rehearse. In Exp III, an arithmetic task that was performed during word encoding affected the slope of the function relating judged to actual frequency, but the same task performed immediately after word presentation had no effect on frequency estimates. It is concluded that frequency is not stored automatically because attention during the initial stages of encoding affects it; however, attention devoted to processing after initial encoding does not affect the rate with which subjective frequency increases with repetitions. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interrelations between sleep and the somatotropic axis

In the human as in other mammals, growth hormone (GH) is secreted as a series of pulses. In normal young adults, a major secretory episode occurs shortly after sleep onset, in temporal association with the first period of slow-wave (SW) sleep. In men, approximately 70% of the daily GH output occurs during early sleep throughout adulthood. In women, the contribution of sleep-dependent GH release to the daily output is lower and more variable. Studies involving shifts of the sleep-wake cycle have consistently shown that sleep-wake homeostasis is the primary determinant of the temporal organization of human GH release. Effects of circadian rhythmicity may occasionally be detected. During nocturnal sleep, the sleep-onset GH pulse is caused by a surge of hypothalamic GHRH release which coincides with a circadian-dependent period of relative somatostatin disinhibition. Extensive evidence indicates the existence of a consistent relationship between SW sleep and increased GH secretion and, conversely, between awakenings and decreased GH release. There is a linear relationship between amounts of SW sleep--whether measured by visual scoring or by delta activity--and amounts of concomitant GH secretion, although dissociations may occur, most likely because of variable levels of somatostatin inhibition. Pharmacological stimulation of SW sleep results in increased GH release, and compounds which increase SW sleep may therefore represent a novel class of GH secretagogues. During aging, SW sleep and GH secretion decrease with the same chronology, raising the possibility that the peripheral effects of the hyposomatotropism of the elderly may partially reflect age-related alterations in sleep-wake homeostasis. While the association between sleep and GH release has been well documented, there is also evidence indicating that components of the somatotropic axis are involved in regulating sleep. The studies are most consistent in indicating a role for GHRH in promoting NREM and/or SW sleep via central, rather than peripheral, mechanisms. A role for GH in sleep regulation is less well-documented but seems to involve REM, rather than NREM, sleep. It has been proposed that the stimulation of GH release and the promotion of NREM sleep by GHRH are two separate processes which involve GHRH neurons located in two distinct areas of the hypothalamus. Somatostatinergic control of GH release appears to be weaker during sleep than during wake, suggesting that somatostatinergic tone is lower in the hypothalamic area(s) involved in sleep regulation and sleep-related GH release than in the area controlling daytime GH secretion. While the concept of a dual control of daytime and sleep-related GH secretion remains to be directly demonstrated, it allows for the reconciliation of a number of experimental observations.     

Social physics and the effects of others: Tests of the effects of audience size and distance on social judgments and behavior.

A proximity index was developed to predict different degrees of an S's reaction to the presence of an audience. Reactions were expected to be a simple multiplicative function of the number of others raised to an exponent and the closeness of others raised to an exponent. This model was tested in 3 experiments. The 1st 2 asked 8 and 20 undergraduates to provide ratio-scale judgments of crowding in reaction to slides that varied the number and distance of an audience. Results conform closely to the proximity index and provide estimated exponents close to the square root. The 3rd study investigated judgments of crowding and social facilitation in a between-S design in which 132 undergraduates learned a simple maze alone or in the presence of an audience that varied in size (2, 4, or 8) and closeness (3, 10, or 24 ft). Crowding judgments replicated the 1st 2 studies. Audience size, but not distance, affected learning and cue recall. In front of the largest audience, Ss learned more slowly, forgot less during rests, and recalled fewer peripheral aspects of the experiment. Results support the proximity index and B. Latané's (see record 1982-01296-001) social impact theory for judgments of crowding. Overall, the data suggest an empirical law of interpersonal reactions: Reactions to others can be expected to increase as the square root of their number and decrease as the square root of their distance. (71 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of variation of profile format on intelligence and sociability judgments.

In a variety of laboratory and practical settings, persons are confronted with a profile of scores from which a more global judgment is required. Profile scores are commonly displayed in either a percentile or T score format. This study investigates the effects of variation of these 2 formats upon judgments of intelligence and sociability. 2 similarly designed experiments were conducted in which 36 undergraduate Ss each made 600 judgments from profiles in the 2 formats. A regression model was fitted to the data for each judge. Relative to T scores, the percentile format was found to be associated with greater variance of judgments, higher reliability, and higher multiple correlations. These findings support a view that judgments from profiles are influenced not only by the underlying meaning of the plotted scores but by their graphical location as well. From Psyc Abstracts 36:05:5HE14K. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of spatial cues on children's cardinal number judgments.

Administered a series of stimuli designed to assess the dependence of cardinal number judgments on relative length and relative density cues to 200 4- and 6-yr-olds. Among younger Ss, developmental changes were restricted to same-length/different-density stimuli and to different-length/different-density stimuli in which length differences exceeded density differences. Among older Ss, developmental changes were noted for different-length/different-density stimuli in which length and density differences were equal. Scalogram analyses revealed 4 distinct levels of stimulus difficulty for both age groups. There was some evidence that, in addition to the effects of relative length and relative density cues, children's cardinal number judgments are influenced by extreme crowding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)