One major characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is problems with social interaction and communication. The present study explored ASD-related alterations in perceiving emotions expressed via body movements. 16 participants with ASD and 16 healthy controls observed video scenes of human interactions conveyed by point-light displays. They…

In spontaneous conversations between adults, words are often pronounced with fewer segments or syllables than their citation forms. The question arises whether infant-directed speech also contains phonetic reduction. If so, infants would be presented with speech input that enables them to acquire reduced variants from an early age. This study…

Social interactions within virtual communities are often described solely as being online experiences. Such descriptions are limited, for they fail to reference life external to the screen. The terms "virtual" and "real" have a negative connotation for many people and can even be interpreted to mean that something is "false" or "inauthentic."…

This study examined adults' evaluations of likeability and attractiveness of children's faces from infancy to early childhood. We tested whether Lorenz's baby schema hypothesis ("Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie" (1943), Vol. 5, pp. 235-409) is applicable not only to infant faces but also to faces of children at older ages. Adult participants were…

Atypical activation during the Embedded Figures Task has been demonstrated in autism, but has not been investigated in siblings or related to measures of clinical severity. We identified atypical activation during the Embedded Figures Task in participants with autism and unaffected siblings compared with control subjects in a number of temporal…

Mentalizing refers to making inferences about other people's mental states, whereas visuospatial perspective taking refers to inferring other people's viewpoints. Both abilities seem vital for social functioning; yet, their exact relationship is unclear. We directly compared mentalizing and visuospatial perspective taking in nineteen adults with…

The family is a system affecting each member directly and indirectly. This study examines the effect on the family when mother returns to graduate studies. This study also focuses attention on the child's report of how mother's returning to school affects the parents and the child. In the current study four women commencing studies for their…

The authors investigated whether differences in facial stimuli could explain the inconsistencies in the facial attractiveness literature regarding whether adults prefer more masculine- or more feminine-looking male faces. Their results demonstrated that use of a female average to dimorphically transform a male facial average produced stimuli that…

Tests of the mediational function of self-disclosure indicated a positive relationship between the target's level of self-disclosure and the "meaningfulness" rating based on each subject's psychological characteristics. (Author)

Observers can decide what kind of relationship exists between two people by identifying cues provided by the pattern of benefits given and received in relationships and the type of relationship, either communal or exchange. Communal relationships, i.e., friendships or romances, are characterized by feelings of responsibility for each other's…

Investigates similarities and differences between male and female homicide offenders, as well as between murderers and non-aggressive property offenders. Supported the hypothesis that as individual's lives tend to be characterized by situations of high unreciprocity, the likelihood of homicide increases. (Author)

In an examination of aspirations for leadership in the United States and Spain, male and female students envisioned themselves as a chief executive officer, vice president, or mid-level manager in an industry with a feminine image (clothing manufacturing) or a masculine image (auto manufacturing). Although men and women perceived these roles as…

Alcoholic and nonalcoholic adult males and females (N=100) judged self and three intimate others on four personality characteristics. Alcoholics viewed themselves and their mothers and fathers as more unhappy, less sociable, and less productive and persistent, and their spouses as more unhappy and less sociable than did nonalcoholics. Alcoholics…