The influence of color on the perception of scene gist.

In 3 experiments the authors used a new contextual bias paradigm to explore how quickly information is extracted from a scene to activate gist, whether color contributes to this activation, and how color contributes, if it does. Participants were shown a brief presentation of a scene followed by the name of a target object. The target object could be consistent or inconsistent with scene gist but was never actually present in the scene. Scene gist activation was operationalized as the degree to which participants respond "yes" to consistent versus inconsistent objects, reflecting a response bias produced by scene gist. Experiment 1 demonstrated that scene gist is activated after a 42-ms exposure and that the strength of the activation increases with longer presentation durations. Experiments 2 and 3 explored the contribution of color to the activation of scene gist. The results revealed that color has an influence across a wide variety of scenes and is directly associated with scene gist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, perceptual defense, and stereoscopic perception.

Stereoscopic perception was investigated using an experimental design similar to those employed in tachistoscopic studies of perceptual defense. "In the first experiment, some of the variables involved in stereoscopic suppression were investigated, while the second experiment demonstrated the differences in the stereoscopic perception of normals and schizophrenics." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of stress on the perception of incongruity.

The results of two experiments "support the hypothesis that psychological stress results in (a) premature closure and (b) a tendency to adhere to expectancies (prerecognition hypothesis) in ambiguous task situations. From these two sets of data it is inferred that stress or anxiety results in cognitive and perceptual processes that tend to preserve a familiar perceptual and behavioral field for the individual." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The bounds on flexibility in speech perception.

Dutch listeners were exposed to the English theta sound (as in bath), which replaced [f] in /f/-final Dutch words or, for another group, [s] in /s/-final words. A subsequent identity-priming task showed that participants had learned to interpret theta as, respectively, /f/ or /s/. Priming effects were equally strong when the exposure sound was an ambiguous [fs]-mixture and when primes contained unambiguous fricatives. When the exposure sound was signal-correlated noise, listeners interpreted it as the spectrally similar /f/, irrespective of lexical bias during exposure. Perceptual learning about speech is thus constrained by spectral similarity between the input and established phonological categories, but within those limits, adjustments are thorough enough that even nonnative sounds can be treated fully as native sounds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An investigation of clinical judgment: A study in method.

To investigate the accuracy of judgment in the use of cues in a perceptual discrimination task, 2 sets of cards were constructed: 1 where the relevant cue was color; the other, size. Ss were required to identify the cue dimension. Some Ss were given prior training in cue-identification, some not. In a 2nd reported experiment a spatial task was constructed. Ss had to make judgments and predict how other Ss would perform on a task after receiving certain information about them. Both experiments intended to explore the nature of the judgmental process as it may be understood from a laboratory experiment, and in both, accuracy of judgment was improved when the judge could use more than 1 cue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Certainty of judgment and resistance to social influence.

The present note presents evidence on the importance of certainty, obtained under conditions where there are marked individual differences in reactions to a given stimulus and associated differences in certainty of judgment. The method involved the use of phenylthiourea (also known as phenylthiocarbamide), referred to as PTU. The subjects, Yale University upperclassmen, were told that we were trying to find out "whether there are absolute values for these tastes or whether there are individual differences in ratings of them." He was then given a form, asked to taste Label A, and instructed to give it a rating of 5 (average) on the scale of pleasantness. He was then asked to taste B and C, and to rate each one in relation to A. After rating B, he was asked to rate his certainty that B should be given the pleasantness rating he had given it. A similar procedure was followed for C. On the basis of these private judgments, the Ss were scheduled in 30 three-man groups, half composed of one taster and two nontasters and half, of two tasters and one nontaster. The instructions were similar to those used earlier, except that certainty ratings were not requested and the Ss were asked to announce their ratings publicly, each one first giving his rating of B, and then of C. Each time, the majority persons, whether tasters or nontasters, were asked to announce their ratings first. When it came his turn on B, the minority person usually found that the others had given ratings similar to his private ones. But on C, he found that their ratings were markedly different from his own evaluation. It was found that the effects of majority opinion were markedly different depending upon whether the minority persons were tasters or nontasters of PTU. The data suggest that this asymmetric effect, whereby nontasters are more susceptible to majority influence, may be attributable to the stronger reactions tasters have to PTU and the resulting greater certainty they have about their judgments of the substance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The truth and bias model of judgment.

We present a new model for the general study of how the truth and biases affect human judgment. In the truth and bias model, judgments about the world are pulled by 2 primary forces, the truth force and the bias force, and these 2 forces are interrelated. The truth and bias model differentiates force and value, where the force is the strength of the attraction and the value is the location toward which the judgment is attracted. The model also makes a formal theoretical distinction between bias and moderator variables. Two major classes of biases are discussed: biases that are measured with variables (e.g., assumed similarity) and directional bias, which refers to the extent to which judgments are pulled toward 1 end of the judgment continuum. Moderator variables are conceptualized as variables that affect the accuracy and bias forces but that do not affect judgments directly. We illustrate the model with 4 examples. We discuss the theoretical, empirical, methodological, measurement, and design implications of the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incremental validity of situational judgment tests.

Using 3 different samples, the authors assessed the incremental validity of situational judgment inventories (SJIs), relative to job knowledge, cognitive ability, job experience, and conscientiousness, in the prediction of job performance. The SJI was a valid predictor in all 3 samples and incrementally so in 2 samples. Relative to the other predictors, SJI's partial correlation with performance, controlling for the other 4 predictors, was superior in most comparisons. Subgroup differences on the SJI also appear to be less than those for cognitive ability and job knowledge, but greater than differences in conscientiousness. The SJI should prove to be a valuable additional measure in the prediction of job performance, but several additional areas of research are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affective processes in perception.

The studies reported in this paper are classified into four general areas: (a) studies of size judgment; (b) studies of the relationships between physiological needs and perception; (c) studies on "selective sensitization" to positively valued stimuli; and (d) studies concerned with "perceptual defense." A section is also included on the various ways of defining the term perception. The author concludes that a need exists for further research, replication of existing studies, improved methodology, and a greater concern for theoretical objectives. 129-item bibliography. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural values and employee attitudes: United States and Japan.

Often overlooked in industrial motivation studies is the influence of cultural orientation upon employee attitudes. This is particularly true with respect to the way workers feel about reciprocal obligations in employee-employer relations. Attitudes concerning a broad range of such obligations are influenced strongly by the cultural values indigenous to a given society. For example, such values have been shown to influence worker perception of such matters as employment continuity, economic involvement and personal involvement of management, identification with organization, status transfer, sources of motivation, and other aspects of the work situation. Mutual satisfaction in human relations in industry depends partially upon management understanding of and willingness to work through cultural values and the employee attitudes they engender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Autokinetic judgments as a measure of influence.

"It seems likely that in experiments using the autokinetic phenomenon to study suggestion the data reflect two different factors: (a) the actual perception of autokinetic movement, which is subject to variability, but is probably influenced little, if at all, by social suggestion, and (b) a judgment process, which can often be influenced by social suggestion. The type of measure which has been here suggested attempts to evaluate changes in the judgment process and to reduce the effect of perceptual changes on the measure used." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recovery from unusual aircraft attitudes under the influence of vertigo.

Using 2 experienced pilots, a study was made of the relative effectiveness of the moving drone as compared with the moving horizon attitude indicators, under the influence of vertigo. The possibility of training on the moving drone display with recovery performance with the moving horizon display was also studied. "It can be concluded that (a) the outside-in [moving drone] presentation leads to fewer misinterpretations… than the conventional display and (b) negative transfer effects… are either absent or negligible." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Indicators of perception: I. Subliminal perception, subception, unconscious perception: An analysis in terms of psychophysical indicator methodology.

"A review of the literature pertaining to unconscious processes in perception was undertaken since preceding reviews had not taken into account current developments in psychophysical indicator methodology, which, it was felt, might clarify issues in this area, especially since they concern the two types of indicators most widely used. It is concluded that most of the substantive contributions of the experiments reviewed cannot be demonstrated to be related to perceptual variables, and this is probably where their importance lies." 198 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychosexual conflicts and defenses in visual perception.

Tachistoscopically presented stimulus material (Blacky pictures) is used to study perceptual defense and vigilance in persons with different psychosexual conflict dimensions and ego-defense preferences. It is hypothesized that when stimulus material is presented below the threshold of conscious recognition, perceptually vigilant behavior will be evoked under conditions where ego-defense mechanisms are not likely to operate, and perceptually defensive behavior will be evoked where ego-defense mechanisms are likely to operate. The vigilance and defense hypotheses are confirmed by the results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Situational judgment tests in high-stakes settings: Issues and strategies with generating alternate forms.

This study used principles underlying item generation theory to posit competing perspectives about which features of situational judgment tests might enhance or impede consistent measurement across repeat test administrations. This led to 3 alternate-form development approaches (random assignment, incident isomorphism, and item isomorphism). The effects of these approaches on alternate-form consistency, mean score changes, and criterion-related validity were examined in a high-stakes context (N = 3,361). Generally, results revealed that even small changes in the context of the situations presented resulted in significantly lower alternate-form consistency. Conversely, placing more constraints on the alternate-form development process proved beneficial. The contributions, implications, and limitations of these results for the development of situational judgment tests and high-stakes testing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Employee attitudes and employee performance.

An examination is made of the empirical literature bearing upon the relationships between employee attitudes and employee performance. A discussion of methodological questions includes considerations of sampling, of criterion measures, and of general problems of analysis and design. Theoretical considerations include the employee's outside environment, and both union and company structures. Two conclusions are inferred from the literature reviewed: 1. Job satisfaction does not imply strong motivation for outstanding performance; and 2. "… productivity may be only peripherally related to many of the goals toward which the industrial worker is striving." 62 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fundamental dimensions of social judgment: Understanding the relations between judgments of competence and warmth.

In seems there are two dimensions that underlie most judgments of traits, people, groups, and cultures. Although the definitions vary, the first makes reference to attributes such as competence, agency, and individualism, and the second to warmth, communality, and collectivism. But the relationship between the two dimensions seems unclear. In trait and person judgment, they are often positively related; in group and cultural stereotypes, they are often negatively related. The authors report 4 studies that examine the dynamic relationship between these two dimensions, experimentally manipulating the location of a target of judgment on one and examining the consequences for the other. In general, the authors' data suggest a negative dynamic relationship between the two, moderated by factors the impact of which they explore. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Meaning dimensions and male-female voice perception in schizophrenics with good and poor premorbid adjustment.

This study explored certain aspects of perceptual distortion in schizophrenia. Among schizophrenics with a good premorbid adjustment, schizophrenics with a poor premorbid adjustment, and normals, auditory perception of spoken material was compared as a function of (a) sex of voice and (b) dimensions of meaning. The Ss listened to successive presentations of a recorded spoken word, mixed with decreasing amounts of masking noise, until their recognition threshold were established. Schizophrenics with poor premorbid adjustment responding to the female voice had significantly higher thresholds than those responding to the male voice. This finding did not occur in schizophrenics with good premorbid adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social conformity in perception of the autokinetic effect.

The autokinetic phenomenon was used to test the effect of social influence upon perceptual processes. Conformity (continuation of the behavior beyond the situation where it may appear to be required, as distinguished from compliance, which terminates once the immediate need is no longer experienced by the S for the behavior) was demonstrated. From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2GE89E. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)