Perceptual Qualities Research Articles

An investigation of coach autonomy support, life skills acquisition, and the five Cs among junior and senior secondary school athletes in Botswana

ABSTRACT Guided by models of positive youth development (PYD), this study examined the associations among perceived coach autonomy support, life skills acquisition, and the Five Cs of PYD. Cross-sectional data were collected from a purposive sample of 300 youth athletes (M age = 17.16, SD = 1.28, male = 53.5%) recruited from public junior and secondary schools in Botswana. Participants completed measures of coach autonomy support, life skills acquisition, and the Five Cs. Results from regression analyses indicated that perceived coach autonomy support was significantly associated with the perceived acquisition of eight life skills through sport (e.g., teamwork, goal setting), as well as character (B = .10, p = .001), connection (B = .15, p < .001), and caring/compassion (B = .10, p = .006) dimensions of PYD. Of the eight sport-specific life skills examined, perceived acquisition of teamwork was significantly related to athletes’ perceptions of competence (B = 0.21, p = .023), confidence (B = 0.14, p = .009), and connection (B = 0.16, p = .012), while perceived acquisition of social skills was significantly related to athletes’ perception of character (B = 0.11, p = .022). These findings highlight perceived coach autonomy support as important to life skills acquisition and positive developmental outcomes among Botswana youth athletes. Importantly, in this African context, sport appears to be a compelling pathway through which youth can attain valuable competencies, such as teamwork and social skills, that promote positive personal (i.e., competence, confidence, character) and social outcomes (i.e., connection) external to sport.

Repeatability of perceptual assessments on single cane reeds

Instruments such as clarinet and saxophone require a single reed to produce sound. Despite numerous perceptual and physical studies about cane reeds, it is still difficult to relate perceptual qualities to physical parameters. However, the perceptual experiments are often carried out with few subjects that do not repeat the task over time, which calls the reliability of the assessments into question. Some recent results, obtained with 10 experienced musicians that assessed 4 times a panel of 20 reeds, showed that consistent assessments were obtained only at the fourth repetition and for half of the subjects. An explanation may rely in the experimental conditions as all musicians had to carry out a standard procedure: same reeds, same mouthpiece, same global quality assessment task. The current study aims at evaluating the repeatability of perceptual assessments by placing the subjects in natural conditions. As he would normally do when opening a box of new reeds, the musician has to evaluate the quality by using his own material and by defining his own assessment task. The robustness of the perceptual judgements is assessed by repeating the operation 10 times.

Parafoveal letter identification in Russian: Confusion matrices based on error rates.

In the present study, we introduce parafoveal letter confusion matrices for the Russian language, which uses the Cyrillic script. To ensure that our confusion rates reflect parafoveal processing and no other effects, we employed an adapted boundary paradigm (Rayner, 1975) that prevented the participants from directly fixating the letter stimuli. Additionally, we assessed confusability under isolated and word-like (crowded) conditions using two modern fonts, since previous research showed that letter recognition depended on crowding and font (Coates, 2015; Pelli et al., 2006). Our additional goal was to gain insight into what letter features or configurational patterns might be essential for letter recognition in Russian; thus, we conducted exploratory clustering analysis on visual confusion scores to identify groups of similar letters. To support this analysis, we conducted a comprehensive review of over 20 studies that proposed crucial properties of Latin letters relevant to character perception. The summary of this review is valuable not only for our current study but also for future research in the field.

Nursing students' perceptions of the qualities of clinical instructors in a public university in Jordan: A qualitative study.

Nursing clinical education is a key to developing nursing students' knowledge, skills, and competencies. Few studies have attempted to explore students' perceptions regarding the qualities of effective clinical instructors. The current study aims to explore nursing students' perceptions of effective clinical instructors' qualities in Jordan. A qualitative exploratory approach was used to deepen our understanding of nursing students' perceptions of effective clinical instructors' qualities. A total of 21 nursing students were involved, and data were collected from June to August 2023. Data were analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. The thematic analysis revealed two main themes. The first theme was professional qualities, comprising four subthemes: professional knowledge and experience, acting as a role model, performing as a caring one, and assembling effective communication. The second theme was building a good rapport. The findings demonstrated that clinical instructor qualities impacted how students perceived their teaching effectiveness, and they identified professional knowledge and competence as crucial qualities of an effective clinical instructor. It was acknowledged that caring behaviors and effective communication skills were essential behavioral attributes for clinical instructors. Nursing students have valued particular characteristics of effective clinical instructors. These characteristics were knowledge, caring, relationships, role models, and communication. Further research is needed to validate the study's findings.

Emotional palette: a computational mapping of aesthetic experiences evoked by visual art

Despite the evolutionary history and cultural significance of visual art, the structure of aesthetic experiences it evokes has only attracted recent scientific attention. What kinds of experience does visual art evoke? Guided by Semantic Space Theory, we identify the concepts that most precisely describe people’s aesthetic experiences using new computational techniques. Participants viewed 1457 artworks sampled from diverse cultural and historical traditions and reported on the emotions they felt and their perceived artwork qualities. Results show that aesthetic experiences are high-dimensional, comprising 25 categories of feeling states. Extending well beyond hedonism and broad evaluative judgments (e.g., pleasant/unpleasant), aesthetic experiences involve emotions of daily social living (e.g., “sad”, “joy”), the imagination (e.g., “psychedelic”, “mysterious”), profundity (e.g., “disgust”, “awe”), and perceptual qualities attributed to the artwork (e.g., “whimsical”, “disorienting”). Aesthetic emotions and perceptual qualities jointly predict viewers’ liking of the artworks, indicating that we conceptualize aesthetic experiences in terms of the emotions we feel but also the qualities we perceive in the artwork. Aesthetic experiences are often mixed and lie along continuous gradients between categories rather than within discrete clusters. Our collection of artworks is visualized within an interactive map (https://barradeau.com/2021/emotions-map/), revealing the high-dimensional space of aesthetic experiences associated with visual art.

Children’s perceptions of race and ethnicity in media: a 25-year update to children now

ABSTRACT In 1998, Children Now surveyed 1,200 U.S. 10- to 17-year-olds about TV racial depictions, finding white children reported the most visibility. As a 25-year update, we surveyed 834 U.S. 10- to 17-year-olds: Asian/Asian American (n = 177), Black (n = 206), Hispanic (n = 150), Indigenous/Native American (n = 86), and white (n = 215). More youth now say it’s important to see their race in media, but fewer report seeing their group, with Hispanic and Asian youth reporting the lowest frequencies. Overall, youth perceived disparities: 93% said there were ‘enough’ white characters; fewer said there were enough Black (54%), Hispanic (43%), Asian (32%), and Indigenous (19%) characters. Perceptions of qualities varied, with Indigenous characters scoring lowest in positive qualities and Black and Hispanic characters highest in negative qualities. Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian/Asian American youth perceived fewer positive ingroup representations than white and Black youth. Implications for media message design and the theory of invisibility are discussed.

Building bridges for consensus via alternative voting methods

The study examines the impact of D21, an alternative voting method, on voter polarization using data from President 21 (P21), an online election game, conducted during the 2018 Presidential election in the Czech Republic. Contrary to the actual election outcome, characterized by extreme voter polarization, the P21 outcome under D21 produced cross-ideological consensus among the voters. D21 allows voters to express not only preferences by casting plus votes but also a disapproval by giving a minus vote. Unlike the actual election outcome, P21 data demonstrates voters’ tendencies to cast additional votes for candidates from opposite political spectra, while not using minus votes in retaliatory fashion. These tendencies appeared to be linked to voters’ issue positions and perceptions of the moral leadership qualities of the running candidates rather than their ideological and political affiliations.

Effects of Waveform, Time Delay, and Vibration Axis on the Perception of Vibrotactile Compliance Illusions on Smartphone Touchscreens

A hard surface feels soft or elastic when carefully controlled vibrations are provided to a pressing finger. This compliance illusion method may be employed to augment graphical objects on smartphone screens with compliant tactile properties. However, product engineers encounter practical questions when attempting to use the compliance illusion method for their products. Should the waveform be sinusoidal? How much time delay is acceptable? Should the vibration axis be perpendicular to the surface? A series of experiments was conducted to address these questions. The first experiment revealed that the waveform could not be distinguished in the context of the compliance illusion method when applied to typical smartphones. The second experiment demonstrated that time delays greater than 25 ms and the use of the three vibration axes could be distinguished in the same context. The third experiment explored how the perceptual qualities of the compliance illusion change with variations in time delay and the axis of vibration. Time delay had significant effects on softness, smoothness, elasticity, and unpleasantness, while the vibration axis had significant effects on softness, smoothness, and elasticity.

Wearing your success on your sleeve: How salesperson luxury brand consumption affects consumers’ perceptions

First impressions matter. Just as salespeople assess potential customers, consumers make judgments about salespeople, using cues from a salesperson's appearance and behavior to shape their expectations. In this research, we propose that a salesperson's personal display of luxury-branded products (e.g., wearing a Burberry scarf or driving a BMW) in a non-luxury retail setting is an unexplored but consequential cue that negatively frames consumers’ expectations of a pending negotiation. Across four studies, we demonstrate that, in business-to-consumer contexts, when a salesperson displays luxury-branded products, consumers reduce their expectations of receiving a favorable deal compared to when no luxury brands are displayed. Such expectations are problematic as they deter consumers from approaching salespeople, which can lead to lost sales for firms. Further, we find that the negative effect of luxury-branded products on deal expectations is sequentially mediated by consumers’ perceptions of salesperson materialism and moral character. Finally, we demonstrate that cues signaling the salesperson's customer orientation fail to negate the damaging effects of luxury-brand displays and may backfire depending on the signaler. As such, this research provides takeaways for salespeople who sell non-luxury products and offers important contributions to theory.

Evaluating human perception of building exteriors using street view imagery

Building appearances profoundly shape the urban visual landscape, influencing city images and the quality of urban life. Traditional methods for evaluating the perceptual and aesthetic qualities of building facades are often limited in scope. Despite recent studies that have sought to understand human perception of urban streetscapes, our grasp of how individuals perceive building exteriors on a broader scale and the subsequent impact on holistic street experiences, remains largely unexplored. In this study, we integrate a traditional survey-based evaluation framework with machine learning techniques to analyse human perception of over 250,000 building images from Singapore, San Francisco, and Amsterdam. Specifically, deep learning models trained on crowdsourced ratings of 1200 building images across six perceptual attributes — complex, original, ordered, pleasing, boring, and style — achieve over 72% accuracy. This novel approach enables adaptive and comparative analyses of building appearances across regions, revealing spatial patterns in the perception of architectural exteriors and their relationships with functions, age, and location. Moreover, by applying propensity score matching to match images based on their features, we mark one of the first efforts to investigate the perceptual impacts of buildings on streetscape perceptions. The results show that streetscapes with higher levels of complex, pleasing, and historical ambience from buildings elicit more positive perceptions, whereas modern and monotonous exteriors often evoke holistic feelings of being “boring” and “depressing”. These findings offer architects and city planners valuable insights into public sentiment towards city-level building exteriors and their influence on urban identity and perception.

Designing Socially Assistive Robots Exploring Israeli and German Designers’ Perceptions

Socially assistive robots (SARs) are becoming more prevalent in everyday life, emphasizing the need to make them socially acceptable and aligned with users’ expectations. Robots’ appearance impacts users’ behaviors and attitudes toward them. Therefore, product designers choose visual qualities to give the robot a character and to imply its functionality and personality. In this work, we sought to investigate the effect of cultural differences on Israeli and German designers’ perceptions of SARs’ roles and appearance in four different contexts: a service robot for an assisted living/retirement residence facility, a medical assistant robot for a hospital environment, a COVID-19 officer robot, and a personal assistant robot for domestic use. The key insight is that although Israeli and German designers share similar perceptions of visual qualities for most of the robotics roles, we found differences in the perception of the COVID-19 officer robot’s role and, by that, its most suitable visual design. This work indicates that context and culture play a role in users’ perceptions and expectations; therefore, they should be taken into account when designing new SARs for diverse contexts.

“Hireability” prospects for known bystander reporters of sexual harassment: Moral character, agreeableness, and gender effects

SummaryBystander intervention has been promoted across organizations to combat sexual harassment and its deleterious effects. However, the career consequences of bystander reporters (e.g., their hireability prospects inside and outside the organization)—those who report sexual harassment on behalf of coworkers—are not well understood. Based on the social identity and person perception literatures, which suggest that recruiters are motivated to hire candidates with attributes helpful to the organization (perceived moral character and agreeableness), we proposed that candidates' history of reporting sexual harassment on behalf of a victim leads to perceived high moral character but low agreeableness, which subsequently have countervailing effects on hireability of these known reporters. We found support across three experimental studies using realistic hiring decision‐making tasks and various employee samples. Based on the social identity literature, we further argued that perceptions and hireability of the known reporters depend on recruiter and candidate genders. In Study 2 and Study 3, we consistently found that the positive effect of reporting on perceptions of candidate moral character was weaker when the recruiter was male (vs. female) but we found mixed results for candidate gender effects. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

중국 특수교사의 전문성 자질 인식

Objectives This study aimed to explore the perception of professional qualities among Chinese special education teachers based on demographic variables, grounded in the ‘Standards of Special Education Teacher Professionalism (Draft)’ issued by the Ministry of Education in China. Methods To this end, a survey was conducted with 215 active special education teachers in 11 cities of H Province in China. Data processing utilized SPSS 26.0 to conduct a descriptive statistical analysis of the background in-formation of special education teachers. Based on the background variables, independent sample t-verification, ANOVA and Scheffé follow-up verification were performed to analyze the differences in perception of professional qualifications cognition among different groups. To observe the impact of background variables on perception of professional qualifications among special education teachers, the correlation between background variables and qualifications was assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient, followed by multiple regression analysis. Results The results indicated that while the level of perception of professional qualities among Chinese special education teachers was generally high, there were still deficiencies in the area of professional knowledge. Significant differences in the perception of professional qualities were also found according to years of service in teaching, job responsibilities, educational background, and the type of school establishment. Notably, years of service in teaching and educational background had a impact on the perception of professional qualities. Conclusions Based on these findings, the study discusses the current state of professional qualities among Chinese special education teachers and proposes directions for future development.

Effects of mobile music listening: Patterns of changes in focus of attention, environmental perception, and self-experience

In this study, we examined how mobile music listening can change one’s perception of the environment. Using a mixed-methods approach, we subjected the written statements of 112 individuals to content analysis and association rule mining to identify categorical relationships. Findings revealed two distinct qualities of perception that are related to relevant factors: (1) Altered attentional focus is predominantly characterized by an intentional shift of attention, usually to exclude the external world from perception. Here, we found associations with situational context and affect regulation. (2) Altered perception and experience of the self are characterized by the inclusion and modification of the environment, or by an altered sense of oneself. They are related to musical attributes, affect regulation, situational context, and behavioral change. We also found an association between the two qualities of perception. Based on the patterns identified, we were able to determine temporal relationships between the effects of mobile music listening. For example, participants often reported that they consciously used music to improve or enhance their mood. On the one hand, they achieve this by focusing their attention on the music and thus blocking out the outside world. On the other hand, mood enhancement through music may lead to a more positive experience of the environment and behavioral consequences. We summarize our findings in a model showing patterns of changes in perception with regard to antecedents and consequences. This model exemplifies the plurality of mobile listening strategies and their psychological effects, advancing our understanding of the multifaceted nature of mobile music listening.

Topical application of a P2X2/P2X3 purine receptor inhibitor suppresses the bitter taste of medicines and other taste qualities.

Many medications taste intensely bitter. The innate aversion to bitterness affects medical compliance, especially in children. There is a clear need to develop bitter blockers to suppress the bitterness of vital medications. Bitter taste is mediated by TAS2R receptors. Because different pharmaceutical compounds activate distinct sets of TAS2Rs, targeting specific receptors may only suppress bitterness for certain, but not all, bitter-tasting compounds. Alternative strategies are needed to identify universal bitter blockers that will improve the acceptance of every medication. Taste cells in the mouth transmit signals to afferent gustatory nerve fibres through the release of ATP, which activates the gustatory nerve-expressed purine receptors P2X2/P2X3. We hypothesized that blocking gustatory nerve transmission with P2X2/P2X3 inhibitors (e.g. 5-(5-iodo-4-methoxy-2-propan-2-ylphenoxy)pyrimidine-2,4-diamine [AF-353]) would reduce bitterness for all medications and bitter compounds. Human sensory taste testing and mouse behavioural analyses were performed to determine if oral application of AF-353 blocks perception of bitter taste and other taste qualities but not non-gustatory oral sensations (e.g. tingle). Rinsing the mouth with AF-353 in humans or oral swabbing it in mice suppressed the bitter taste and avoidance behaviours of all compounds tested. We further showed that AF-353 suppressed other taste qualities (i.e. salt, sweet, sour and savoury) but had no effects on other oral or nasal sensations (e.g, astringency and oral tingle). This is the first time a universal, reversible taste blocker in humans has been reported. Topical application of P2X2/P2X3 inhibitor to suppress bitterness may improve medical compliance.

Unlocking urban charm for liveable street: transformative design strategies to boost pedestrian appeal in Asian cities

Walking as a mode of transportation faces challenges in Asian cities due to the proliferation of private motorized vehicles and lacking public transportation management. Despite contributing to people’s physical and mental well-being, walking is often considered the last option for transportation. Previous research has highlighted the link between walking, urban design qualities, individual reactions, and a sense of place. Other studies have suggested that a sense of place fosters a sense of belonging and attachment to the location. This paper aims to propose transformative design strategies to enhance pedestrians’ willingness to walk through the design of street junctions. Street junctions, especially those featuring corner buildings, offer opportunities for walking, observing, and resting, all of which are crucial elements for vibrant public spaces. The findings reveal that street junctions in cities like Surabaya (Indonesia) are predominantly perceived as “spaces to move” rather than “places to be.” To advance walkability in street junctions, transformative design strategies need to be addressed. Encouraging pedestrians’ willingness to walk can focus on their experiences and perceptual qualities. Developing policies aimed at enhancing street junctions in Asian cities emerges as a pivotal strategy for strengthening a culture of walking.

Tactility in perception of biobased composites

AbstractBiobased composites - sustainable alternatives to fossil-based materials, could gain better acceptance if their perceptual handicaps could be overcome. This paper considers the role of tactility in contrast with visual stimuli, as well as the perceptual qualities influenced by tactility. The analysis revealed a significant impact of tactility in forming attributes such as naturality, roughness and strength. Attributes like beauty and complexity remain less affected by touch, and more visual-dominant. These findings may help designers in creating desirable products with sustainable materials.

Floral scent of eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus: Araceae)

Symplocarpus foetidus (L.) Salisb. (eastern skunk cabbage) occurs across a broad geographic range of northeastern North America, blooming in winter between December and March. The inflorescences are well-known for their thermogenic and thermoregulatory metabolic capabilities. The perceptual qualities of their fetid floral aroma have been described widely in the literature, but to date the floral volatile composition remained largely unknown. Here we present a detailed study of the floral scent produced by S. foetidus collected from intact female- and male-stage inflorescences and from dissected floral parts. Our results show a large range of biosynthetically diverse volatiles including nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, monoterpenes, benzenoids, and aliphatic esters and alcohols. We document high inter-individual variation with some organ-specific volatile trends but no clear strong variation based on sexual stage. Multivariate data analysis revealed two distinct chemotypes from our study populations that are not defined by sexual stage or population origin. The chemotype differences may explain the bimodal perceptual descriptions in earlier work which vary between highly unpleasant/fetid and pleasant/apple-like. We discuss the results in ecological contexts including potential for floral mimicry, taking into account existing pollination studies for the species. We also discuss the results in evolutionary contexts, comparing our scent data to published scent data from the close sister species Symplocarpus renifolius. Future work should more closely examine the chemotype occurrence and frequency within these and other populations, and the impact these chemotypes may have on pollinator attraction and reproductive success.

The Truth(s) of Western Civilization in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters

A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters (1989) promises a history of the world, however, it only provides its readers with subjective perceptions of various Western characters. Barnes’ collection of vaguely connected stories depicts the world as a hegemonic Western space in which the Western definition of universal truth is used as a tool of cultural imperialism. The connections between the stories might seem oblique but meticulously structured patriarchal, religious, and artistic elements seem to expose the multiplicity of the definition of truth while simultaneously revealing how truth is used as a tool to create a specific and an exclusive understanding of civilization that is reserved for the West. This study explores how gender relations, religion, art, and perceptions towards cultures outside the Western civilization are narrated in A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters to reveal how Barnes reinstalls the very dynamics of the Western civilization he aims to deconstruct. The study starts with an exploration of the truths that are narrated in Barnes’ novel in order to demonstrate how Barnes attempts to deconstruct the fundamental values of civilization in his work through his stories offered from subjective points of view that are exclusively Western. The second part of the study defines the main ideals of the Western civilization and correlates these ideals with Barnes’ narrative which offers a seemingly deconstructive discourse while simultaneously reinstating hegemonic undertones. The third part of the study focuses on how Barnes reinstalls a fundamentally exclusive Western understanding of patriarchy, religion and art through his stories.

Influences of cognitive appraisal and individual characteristics on citizens’ perception and emotion in urban environment: Model development and virtual reality experiment

To model individuals' experience of urban spaces, this study integrates knowledge from environmental psychology and artificial intelligence to propose a framework for individuals' perceptions and emotion by incorporating individual characteristics and cognitive appraisal together with environment attributes as determinants. A path model is employed to capture how the four perceptions of environmental qualities (safety, liveliness, comfort, and legibility) and three dimensions of emotion (pleasure, arousal, dominance) are influenced by individual characteristics and cognitive appraisal using data collected in an online virtual reality experiment with 237 participants. Results show that emotional pleasure is more directly influenced by environmental attributes while arousal and dominance are closely related to a person's current mood and personality. Perceptions of environmental qualities do have mediating effects in emotion generation, but contribute differently to the three dimensions of emotion. Cognitive appraisal variables directly influence emotion generation, with ideal values always having positive effects and expected values always negative effects. The findings can help capture the dynamic process of emotional experiences between diverse individuals and may support experience-centered simulation and prediction.