A study of the correlation between reaction time, depth perception, visual span of apprehension, and a basketball skills test of high school male basketball players.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

How Concentration Shields Against Distraction

In this article, we outline our view of how concentration shields against distraction. We argue that higher levels of concentration make people less susceptible to distraction for two reasons. One reason is that the undesired processing of the background environment is reduced. For example, when people play a difficult video game, as opposed to an easy game, they are less likely to notice what people in the background are saying. The other reason is that the locus of attention becomes more steadfast. For example, when people are watching an entertaining episode of their favorite television series, as opposed to a less absorbing show, attention is less likely to be diverted away from the screen by a ringing telephone. The theoretical underpinnings of this perspective, and potential implications for applied settings, are addressed

NEW ESTIMATES OF WELFARE AND CONSUMER LOSSES IN U.S. FOOD MANUFACTURING

In the past 15 years, industrial-organization economists have significantly expanded the range of algorithms for calculating welfare losses due to imperfect competition. We compare eleven empirical estimates of economic losses due to market power in 47 U.S. food manufacturing industries, almost all of them previously unpublished. Each of the studies incorporate different theoretical assumptions about demand conditions, supply conditions, or industry pricing behavior; or they utilize various data sources, time periods, and assumptions about the proper competitive benchmark. The estimates of average allocative losses due imperfect competition range from 0.2 percent to an impossibly high 289 percent of industry output; consumer losses range from 6.0 percent to 816 percent. However, there is a high degree of congruence in the rankings of economic losses due to market power. Hence, from the perspective of antitrust enforcement, the choice of industry targets has not been greatly altered by advances in estimation techniques.Agribusiness,

MARKET-STRUCTURE DETERMINANTS OF NATIONAL BRAND-PRIVATE LABEL PRICE DIFFERENCES OF MANUFACTURED FOOD PRODUCTS

This paper estimates the relationships between market structure and the Lerner index of monopoly constructed from price data on processed food products sold through grocery stores. A theoretical model of a differentiated oligopoly specifies two determinants of price-cost margins: the Herfindahl-Hirschman index of seller concentration adjusted for the elasticity of demand and the industry advertising-to-sales ratio. The results indicate that the three principal determinants of price-cost margin variation, in order of their impacts, are: advertising intensity, elasticity of demand, and concentration. Previous structure-performance studies that did not incorporate the elasticity of demand were probably misspecified.Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis,

A new species of Pinnarctidion from the Pysht Formation of Washington and phylogenetic analysis of basal pinnipedimorphs (Eutheria, Carnivora)

A nearly complete skull and fragmentary postcrania of a late Oligocene pinnipedimorph (SDNHM 146624) from the Pysht Formation of Clallam County, Washington, represent a new species of Pinnarctidion, a taxon previously known only from California and Oregon. This study provides a detailed anatomical description of SDNHM 146624 and offers the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of early-diverging pinnipedimorphs to date. Notable features of SDNHM 146624 include a posteriorly broad palate coupled with an anteriorly narrow rostrum, dorsoventrally deep zygomatic arches, and accessory cuspules on P3 and P4. The results of extensive comparisons indicate that SDNHM 146624 represents a new species of Pinnarctidion, P. iverseni, closely related to P. bishopi from California. Given the specimen’s superb preservation and relative completeness, SDNHM 146624 provides welcome new dental and cranial information for Pinnarctidion