50 research outputs found

    Perceptual oscillations in gender classification of faces, contingent on stimulus history

    Get PDF
    Perception is a proactive ‘‘predictive’’ process, in which the brain takes advantage of past experience to make informed guesses about the world to test against sensory data. Here we demonstrate that in the judgment of the gender of faces, beta rhythms play an important role in communicating perceptual experience. Observers classified in forced choice as male or female, a sequence of face stimuli, which were physically constructed to be male or female or androgynous (equal morph). Classification of the androgynous stimuli oscillated rhythmically between male and female, following a complex waveform comprising 13.5 and 17 Hz. Parsing the trials based on the preceding stimulus showed that responses to androgynous stimuli preceded by male stimuli oscillated reliably at 17 Hz, whereas those preceded by female stimuli oscillated at 13.5 Hz. These results suggest that perceptual priors for face perception from recent perceptual memory are communicated through frequency-coded beta rhythms

    Older Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses: A Literature Review

    Get PDF
    The population of older individuals convicted of sexual offenses (OSOs) is rapidly increasing. However, we have little understanding of their characteristics (e.g., demographic, psychological, individual, offense, and risk) and needs. To identify any similarities or differences that are unique to older individuals convicted of sexual offending, it is important to compare such characteristics across the adult lifespan. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to specify and synthesize the current knowledge of characteristics across the adult lifespan of the population of individuals convicted of sexual offenses. Five databases were searched and 10,680 results were screened, resulting in 100 studies included in the final review. The findings were grouped into four emergent themes: age of onset and prevalence; offender and offense characteristics; age and the risk of reoffending; and treatment. Implications of the findings from this review are discussed in relation to future research and clinical practice

    Importance of the Inverted Control in Measuring Holistic Face Processing with the Composite Effect and Part-Whole Effect

    Get PDF
    Holistic coding for faces is shown in several illusions that demonstrate integration of the percept across the entire face. The illusions occur upright but, crucially, not inverted. Converting the illusions into experimental tasks that measure their strength - and thus index degree of holistic coding - is often considered straightforward yet in fact relies on a hidden assumption, namely that there is no contribution to the experimental measure from secondary cognitive factors. For the composite effect, a relevant secondary factor is size of the "spotlight" of visuospatial attention. The composite task assumes this spotlight can be easily restricted to the target half (e.g., top-half) of the compound face stimulus. Yet, if this assumption were not true then a large spotlight, in the absence of holistic perception, could produce a false composite effect, present even for inverted faces and contributing partially to the score for upright faces. We review evidence that various factors can influence spotlight size: race/culture (Asians often prefer a more global distribution of attention than Caucasians); sex (females can be more global); appearance of the join or gap between face halves; and location of the eyes, which typically attract attention. Results from five experiments then show inverted faces can sometimes produce large false composite effects, and imply that whether this happens or not depends on complex interactions between causal factors. We also report, for both identity and expression, that only top-half face targets (containing eyes) produce valid composite measures. A sixth experiment demonstrates an example of a false inverted part-whole effect, where encoding-specificity is the secondary cognitive factor. We conclude the inverted face control should be tested in all composite and part-whole studies, and an effect for upright faces should be interpreted as a pure measure of holistic processing only when the experimental design produces no effect inverted.Australian Research Council DP0984558 to Elinor McKone; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders (project number CE110001021); Kate Crookes salary supported by Hong Kong Research Grants Council grant (HKU744911) to William Hayward

    Nonconsensual sharing of private sexually explicit media among university students

    Get PDF
    This research was the first in the U.K. to examine the prevalence and nature of non-consensual sharing of sexually explicit messages, pictures, and videos and to examine if this varies according to gender and by role (i.e. perpetrator, victim or as dual role of perpetrator/victim). In a sample of 391 young adults (aged 18-25 years) questionnaire data on subjective norms, consensual and non-consensual sharing, and their motivations for these behaviors were collected. Perpetration of and victimization through non-consensual sharing was experienced by a substantial number of individuals. There was an association between reporting perpetration of non-consensual sharing and experiencing victimization. An association was also found between reporting being pressured (i.e., coerced) to send sexually explicit material and experiencing victimization of non-consensual sharing, which suggests that these behaviours may form part of a continuum of violence and abuse, potentially within intimate relationships. No association was found between gender and (i) perpetration or (ii) victimization. However, from a gendered perspective, females perceived there was greater social pressure to post messages, pictures and videos, compared with males. Motivations for non-consensual sharing were commonly explained as for fun/a joke, and generally not thought of as problematic, although some victims perceived motivations to be more negative and/or related to revenge/causing distress. Given that this research examined non-consensual sharing across messages, pictures and videos for both victimization and perpetration and found it was both perpetrated and experienced by females and males, this does not support the common perception that this is a male perpetrated behaviour against women. This has implications for education, policy, intervention and prevention, with approaches needing to be inclusive of both males and females when addressing perpetration and victimization

    Why the other-race effect matters: Poor recognition of other-race faces impacts everyday social interactions

    Get PDF
    What happens to everyday social interactions when other-race recognition fails? Here, we provide the first formal investigation of this question. We gave East Asian international students (N = 89) a questionnaire concerning their experiences of the other-race effect (ORE) in Australia, and a laboratory test of their objective other-race face recognition deficit using the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). As a 'perpetrator' of the ORE, participants reported that their problems telling apart Caucasian people contributed significantly to difficulties socializing with them. Moreover, the severity of this problem correlated with their ORE on the CFMT. As a 'victim' of the ORE, participants reported that Caucasians' problems telling them apart also contributed to difficulties socializing. Further, 81% of participants had been confused with other Asians by a Caucasian authority figure (e.g., university tutor, workplace boss), resulting in varying levels of upset/difficulty. When compared to previously established contributors to international students' high rates of social isolation, ORE-related problems were perceived as equally important as the language barrier and only moderately less important than cultural differences. We conclude that the real-world impact of the ORE extends beyond previously identified specialized settings (eyewitness testimony, security), to common everyday situations experienced by all humans.Research was supported by the Australian Research Council DP15 DP150100684 to EM andDECRA number DE180100015 to YS

    Importance of the inverted control in measuring holistic face processing with the composite effect and part-whole effect

    Get PDF
    Holistic coding for faces is shown in several illusions that demonstrate integration of the percept across the entire face. The illusions occur upright but, crucially, not inverted. Converting the illusions into experimental tasks that measure their strength - and thus index degree of holistic coding - is often considered straightforward yet in fact relies on a hidden assumption, namely that there is no contribution to the experimental measure from secondary cognitive factors. For the composite effect, a relevant secondary factor is size of the "spotlight" of visuospatial attention. The composite task assumes this spotlight can be easily restricted to the target half (e.g., top-half) of the compound face stimulus. Yet, if this assumption were not true then a large spotlight, in the absence of holistic perception, could produce a false composite effect, present even for inverted faces and contributing partially to the score for upright faces.We reviewevidence that various factors can influence spotlight size: race/culture (Asians often prefer a more global distribution of attention than Caucasians); sex (females can be more global); appearance of the join or gap between face halves; and location of the eyes, which typically attract attention. Results from five experiments then show inverted faces can sometimes produce large false composite effects, and imply that whether this happens or not depends on complex interactions between causal factors. We also report, for both identity and expression, that only top-half face targets (containing eyes) produce valid composite measures. A sixth experiment demonstrates an example of a false inverted part-whole effect, where encoding-specificity is the secondary cognitive factor.We conclude the inverted face control should be tested in all composite and part-whole studies, and an effect for upright faces should be interpreted as a pure measure of holistic processing only when the experimental design produces no effect inverted

    Importance of the inverted control in measuring holistic face processing with the composite effect and part-whole effect

    Get PDF
    Holistic coding for faces is shown in several illusions that demonstrate integration of the percept across the entire face. The illusions occur upright but, crucially, not inverted. Converting the illusions into experimental tasks that measure their strength - and thus index degree of holistic coding - is often considered straightforward yet in fact relies on a hidden assumption, namely that there is no contribution to the experimental measure from secondary cognitive factors. For the composite effect, a relevant secondary factor is size of the spotlight of visuospatial attention.The composite task assumes this spotlight can be easily restricted to the target half (e.g., top-half) of the compound face stimulus. Yet, if this assumption were not true then a large spotlight, in the absence of holistic perception, could produce a false composite effect, present even for inverted faces and contributing partially to the score for upright faces.We reviewevidence that various factors can influence spotlight size: race/culture (Asians often prefer a more global distribution of attention than Caucasians); sex (females can be more global); appearance of the join or gap between face halves; and location of the eyes, which typically attract attention. Results from five experiments then show inverted faces can sometimes produce large false composite effects, and imply that whether this happens or not depends on complex interactions between causal factors. We also report, for both identity and expression, that only top-half face targets (containing eyes) produce valid composite measures. A sixth experiment demonstrates an example of a false inverted part-whole effect, where encoding-specificity is the secondary cognitive factor.We conclude the inverted face control should be tested in all composite and part-whole studies, and an effect for upright faces should be interpreted as a pure measure of holistic processing only when the experimental design produces no effect inverted. This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permissio

    Nurse-led volunteer support care plan

    Get PDF
    The Nurse-Led Volunteer Support Care Plan described in “Nurses leading volunteer support for older adults in hospital: A discussion paper” is made available. This care plan is designed for nurses to develop a plan to direct volunteer support to better meet the individual needs of patients

    Frailty and pain in an acute private hospital: An observational point prevalence study

    Get PDF
    Frailty and pain in hospitalised patients are associated with adverse clinical outcomes. However, there is limited data on the associations between frailty and pain in this group of patients. Understanding the prevalence, distribution and interaction of frailty and pain in hospitals will help to determine the magnitude of this association and assist health care professionals to target interventions and develop resources to improve patient outcomes. This study reports the point prevalence concurrence of frailty and pain in adult patients in an acute hospital. A point prevalence, observational study of frailty and pain was conducted. All adult inpatients (excluding high dependency units) at an acute, private, 860-bed metropolitan hospital were eligible to participate. Frailty was assessed using the self-report modified Reported Edmonton Frail Scale. Current pain and worst pain in the last 24 h were self-reported using the standard 0 – 10 numeric rating scale. Pain scores were categorised by severity (none, mild, moderate, severe). Demographic and clinical information including admitting services (medical, mental health, rehabilitation, surgical) were collected. The STROBE checklist was followed. Data were collected from 251 participants (54.9 % of eligible). The prevalence of frailty was 26.7 %, prevalence of current pain was 68.1 % and prevalence of pain in the last 24 h was 81.3 %. After adjusting for age, sex, admitting service and pain severity, admitting services medical (AOR: 13.5 95 % CI 5.7 – 32.8), mental health (AOR: 6.3, 95 % CI 1. 9 – 20.9) and rehabilitation (AOR: 8.1, 95 % CI 2.4 – 37.1) and moderate pain (AOR: 3.9, 95 % CI 1. 6 – 9.8) were associated with increased frailty. The number of older patients identified in this study who were frail has implications for managing this group in a hospital setting. This indicates a need to focus on developing strategies including frailty assessment on admission, and the development of interventions to meet the care needs of these patients. The findings also highlight the need for increased pain assessment, particularly in those who are frail, for more effective pain management. Trial registration: The study was prospectively registered (ACTRN12620000904976; 14th September 2020)
    corecore