The Time-Course for the Capture and Hold of Visuospatial Attention by Fearful and Happy Faces

Fearful faces both capture our attention and hold it. However, little is known about the time-course for the capture and hold of spatial attention by fearful, and other emotional, faces. In three dot-probe studies we examined this time-course. Experiments 1 and 2 used fearful and neutral faces. In Experiment 1, dot-probe targets occurred 133, 266, and 532 ms post-face onset and in Experiment 2, dot-probe targets occurred 84, 168, 336, and 672 ms post-face onset. In Experiment 1, for both 133 and 266 ms conditions, reaction times were fastest for congruent trials and slowest for incongruent trials with reaction times for baseline trials falling between the two. The same pattern was found for the 84 and 168 ms conditions in Experiment 2. For the later time-points in both experiments there were no significant differences between conditions. To examine whether this time-course is unique to fearful faces, a third dot-probe experiment using time-points identical to Experiment 2 was conducted with happy and neutral faces. The results from Experiment 3 suggest that happy faces captured and held attention in the 168 and 336 ms conditions. Together, the results indicate that attention is captured and held by fearful faces at times earlier than approximately 300 ms, while happy faces also captured and held attention, but on a slightly different time-course from 168 to 336 ms.     

‘This is a stage’: A study of public relations practitioners’ imagined online audiences

Public relations (PR) practitioners are among those cultural intermediaries who privilege symbols, products, and communication rituals in society. Through interviews (n = 26) and analysis of practitioners’ Twitter accounts, this study considers how members of this field identify their personal social networking site audiences and how these behaviors are implicated in the performance of their online identity. Findings indicate practitioners feel pressure to use personal social media in accordance with field-constrained norms and that an “occupational publicness” pressure requires them to be visible online outside of the workplace. The persistent specter of public criticism from audiences and the prioritizing of organizational interests above their own self-expression limits performances of PR practitioners’ authentic selves online.     

Sociology and American Studies: A Case Study in the Limits of Interdisciplinarity

American Studies is an academic discipline whose object of study is the United States of America and everything associated with it, and American sociologists largely ignore it. American Studies largely ignores American sociology. What causes this mutual exclusion? An outline of the disciplinary history of American Studies and journal article citation data show that the relationship between sociology and American Studies is weak and asymmetrical; American Studies cites sociology more often, but very little and not by much. I argue that mutual exclusion is due to mutual distrust in methods: sociology sees itself as a science, while American Studies, with roots in history and literature, does not. This article serves as a case study in the limits of interdisciplinarity.     

A meso measure? Examination of the levels of analysis of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)

Critical review of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Form 5X (MLQ5X), reveals serious problems related to specification of the theoretical level of analysis at which it measures its underlying constructs. Data from two separate samples indicate that items of the commonly used MLQ5X are ambiguous with respect to level of analysis. It appears unclear in many instances whether the items reflect individual, group, or organizational referents. Based upon our analyses and the literature, we present specific propositions concerning the level(s) at which each MLQ5X dimension appears most appropriately conceptualized and measured, along with suggestions for future research and revision of the MLQ5X.     

Building information modelling in construction: insights from collaboration and change management perspectives

A case study is used to obtain the experiences from a contractor and their subcontractors involved with constructing the landmark Perth Stadium, which required a building information model (BIM) to be delivered for the purpose of asset management. Insights about ‘how’ the adoption of a BIM influenced the practice of collaboration and change management within the project are obtained. It was revealed that having limited experience and knowledge to deliver a model for asset management often resulted the project team ‘muddling through a problem’. This was not necessarily due to a shortage of training, but a lack of BIM knowledge, which inadvertently influenced every day practice. The research presented builds on the extant body of works that have examined how the construction industry can effectively acquire the benefits of BIM for asset management. It also highlights the need to incorporate education and learning into a project’s BIM implementation strategy.     

Quantile Regression under Misspecification,with an Application to the U.S. Wage Structure

Quantile regression (QR) fits a linear model for conditional quantiles just as ordinary least squares (OLS) fits a linear model for conditional means. An attractive feature of OLS is that it gives the minimum mean‐squared error linear approximation to the conditional expectation function even when the linear model is misspecified. Empirical research using quantile regression with discrete covariates suggests that QR may have a similar property, but the exact nature of the linear approximation has remained elusive. In this paper, we show that QR minimizes a weighted mean‐squared error loss function for specification error. The weighting function is an average density of the dependent variable near the true conditional quantile. The weighted least squares interpretation of QR is used to derive an omitted variables bias formula and a partial quantile regression concept, similar to the relationship between partial regression and OLS. We also present asymptotic theory for the QR process under misspecification of the conditional quantile function. The approximation properties of QR are illustrated using wage data from the U.S. census. These results point to major changes in inequality from 1990 to 2000.     

No homo

The phrase no homo arose in hip-hop lyrics of the 1990s as a discourse interjection to negate supposed sexual and gender transgressions. Today the phrase has gained currency beyond hip-hop culture and pervades racial and gender continua. As a result, its increasing prevalence in mainstream speech has caused critics to deplore no homo as outright homophobia. This article describes the origins and scope of no homo. Instead of easily identifying the phrase as homophobic, the article invites readers to examine the phrase as a way of understanding the complexities in gender identification processes along with the linguistic dexterity necessary for survival in certain sociocultural groups. By exploring the macrosociological issues which created and perpetuate the need for no homo, we arrive at a deeper understanding of sexuality, marginalized sexuality, and the (often unspoken) uneasiness with sexual and gendered nonconformity.