Blocking Top-down awareness of Kanizsa Figures: An ERP Investigation into Bottom-up Processing of Illusory Contours

Neural models of the processing of illusory contour (ICs) diverge from one another in terms of their emphasis on bottom-up versus top-down constituents. The current study uses a dichoptic fusion paradigm to block top-down awareness of ICs in order to examine possible bottom-up effects. Group results indicate that the N170 ERP component is particularly sensitive to ICs at central occipital sites when top-down awareness of the stimulus is permitted. Furthermore, single-subject statistics reveal that the IC N170 ERP effect is highly variable across individuals in terms of timing and topographical spread. The results suggest that the ubiquitous N170 effect to ICs found in the literature depends, at least in part, on participants’ awareness of the stimulus. Therefore a strong bottom-up model of IC processing at the time of the N170 is unlikely

Knowledge integration in family firms:Understanding the nexus between familiness and organizational effectiveness

Although knowledge integration has been deemed relevant for the development and survival of family firms, prior studies suggest that the lack of skills to combine and transfer incumbent family members' knowledge within the family may hinder family firms' organizational effectiveness. Knowledge integration, in this context, might depend on family involvement in ownership, management and governance, and family essence, considering the emotional and relational aspects of the influence the family exerts on the business. Relying on knowledge-based view and dynamic capability perspectives, we propose a model suggesting that knowledge integration intervenes in the relationship between familiness and organizational effectiveness. Our hypotheses are tested on a sample of 102 private Spanish family businesses. The results reveal that familiness is beneficial for knowledge integration, enhancing family firms' organizational effectiveness. Our study provides practical implications for family business owners and managers, and opportunities for further research