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Visual Cognition
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Perceptual identification and the cross-race effect
Jessica L. Marcon a; Christian A. Meissner b; Michael Frueh a; Kyle J. Susa b;Otto H. MacLin c
a Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA b University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX,
USA c University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, USA
First published on: 12 October 2009
To cite this Article Marcon, Jessica L. , Meissner, Christian A. , Frueh, Michael , Susa, Kyle J. andMacLin, Otto H.(2010)
'Perceptual identification and the cross-race effect', Visual Cognition, 18: 5, 767 — 779, First published on: 12 October
2009 (iFirst)
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/13506280903178622
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13506280903178622
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Perceptual identification and the cross-race effect
Jessica L. Marcon
1
, Christian A. Meissner
2
, Michael Frueh
1
,
Kyle J. Susa
2
, and Otto H. MacLin
3
1
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA,
2
University of Texas
at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA,
3
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls,
IA, USA
The current research examined whether the cross-race effect (CRE) was evident in
perceptual identification tasks and the extent to which certain boundary conditions
moderated the effect. Across two experiments, a significant CRE was observed in
measures of accuracy and response latency. As predicted, Experiment 1 showed that
the CRE was exacerbated when encoding time was brief and test set size was
increased. Experiment 2 replicated the effect of set size, but also showed that the
CRE was more pronounced when the retention interval was lengthened. The
theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Keywords: Cross-race effect; Perceptual identification; Visual search; Face
identification; Working memory.
In 2006, the Rewards for Justice program, sponsored by the US State
Department (www.rewardsforjustice.net), promoted the search for terrorists
at airports when it distributed ‘‘Faces of Global Terrorism’’ posters contain-
ing photographs of the 26 Most Wanted Terrorists. These posters, familiar to
many who pass through airport security checkpoints, were intended to
familiarize passengers and security agents with these individuals in the hopes
that they might be identified. Upon arrival in Iraq in 2003, members of the
United States Army were given a set of playing cards featuring the faces of
then President Saddam Hussein’s top officials, members of the Baath Party,
and Revolutionary Command Council*all of whom were considered a high
priority for identification and apprehension. The intent, once again, was to
Please address all correspondence to Jessica L. Marcon, Department of Psychology, Central
Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, USA. E-mail: marcolj@cmich.edu
This research was supported by a National Science Foundation grant (SES-0611636) to
CAM. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science
Foundation.
VISUAL COGNITION, 2010, 18 (5), 767779
#2009 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
http://www.psypress.com/viscog DOI: 10.1080/13506280903178622
Downloaded By: [Meissner, Christian] At: 15:48 10 May 2010
familiarize Army personnel with these individuals such that when they were
on patrol they would be able to identify and apprehend the wanted
individuals. These photographic aids are designed to support the successful
identification of known terrorist suspects, but is it possible that individuals
may yet be limited in their ability to perceptually identify individuals of
another, less familiar race or ethnicity?
The cross-race effect (CRE) is the phenomenon that individuals identify
and recognize faces of their own race or ethnicity more accurately than faces
of a less familiar race or ethnicity (Malpass & Kravitz, 1969; Meissner &
Brigham, 2001). The differential performance between own- and other-race
faces is primarily evidenced in a greater proportion of false alarms to other-
race faces and superior discrimination of own-race faces, though a more
conservative response criterion is sometimes evidenced for own-race faces
(Meissner & Brigham, 2001). This phenomenon has been demonstrated
across a wide variety of racial and ethnic groups, including United States
Whites and Blacks (Malpass & Kravitz, 1969), British and South African
Whites and Blacks (Chiroro, Tredoux, Radaelli, & Meissner, 2008; Wright,
Boyd, & Tredoux, 2001, 2003), Asian participants (Chance, Turner, &
Goldstein, 1982; Ferguson, Rhodes, & Lee, 2001), German and Turkish
groups (Sporer, 2001), Canadian First Nations (Jackiw, Arbuthnott, Pfeifer,
Marcon, & Meissner, 2008), and Hispanics (MacLin, MacLin, & Malpass,
2001; Platz & Hosch, 1988). Of practical importance, cross-racial identifica-
tions are not just a laboratory phenomenon. Behrman and Davey (2001)
conducted an archival study of real criminal cases that included eyewitness
identifications. Their research showed that cross-race eyewitness situations
were not only frequent, but eyewitnesses act in ways consistent with
laboratory findings on the CRE.
Although evidence of CRE has been shown in real-world archival studies,
it has been almost exclusively studied using long-term recognition memory
paradigms. For example, the vast majority of experiments have studied the
CRE using a standard recognition paradigm or an eyewitness line-up
identification paradigm. In fact, only one study in the Meissner and Brigham
(2001) meta-analysis examined the effect using a perceptual identification
paradigm (Lindsay, Jack, & Christian, 1991). We generally understand the
CRE based upon long-term recognition memory paradigms, but it is also
important to understand the CRE in the context of perceptual identification
tasks. Since the attacks of 9/11, increased pressures have been placed upon
border and transit security personnel to improve their detection and
identification of suspected terrorists and other illegal individuals seeking to
enter the United States. Whether attempting to match suspected individuals
based upon ‘‘wanted’’ images taken years ago or more simply identifying
whether an individual matches his/her passport photograph, many of these
identification tasks will necessarily involve the perception of faces differing in
768 MARCON ET AL.
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racial or ethnic background. The question then becomes: Might we see
evidence of the cross-race effect in such perceptual identification tasks, and
under what conditions is this effect most likely exacerbated?
To date, only a handful of studies have examined the CRE using a
perceptual identification paradigm. Lindsay et al. (1991) first demonstrated
that the CRE is present in perception using a delayed match-to-sample task.
Consistent with findings in the long-term recognition paradigms, participants
were more accurate in correctly identifying own-race faces. Levin (2000) used a
perceptual discrimination paradigm (ABX method in which participants had
to identify a previously presented face) and a visual search paradigm
(in which participants were required to search for a particular race of face)
to examine the relationship between the CRE in memory and categorical
perception, with results suggesting that racial categorization may play a role in
the recognition deficit that individuals show for other-race faces. Walker and
Tanaka (2003) also found the CRE in perceptual encoding using a same-
different matching task with White and East Asian face morphs. Walker and
Hewstone (2006; see also Walker & Hewstone, 2008) replicated this finding
using a same/different task with White and South Asian face morphs, and also
found that contact with other-race persons (as measured by a self-report
questionnaire) significantly predicted other-race performance. Finally, Sporer,
Trinkl, and Guberova (2007) observed the CRE with Turkish and Austrian
children who completed a face matching task, though the authors found no
association between performance and a measure of interracial contact. Taken
together, these studies suggest that the CRE is not only evidenced in long-term
recognition memory, but also perhaps at earlier perceptual encoding stages
involved in visual working memory (see Baddeley, 2000).
Given the practical importance of understanding the CRE, the current
experiments sought to further assess whether the CRE might be evidenced in
perceptual identification tasks invoking visual working memory processes and
to better understand the boundary conditions that might underlie the effect.
For example, could manipulations to study time, retention interval, or test set
size exacerbate the CRE observed in perceptual identification tasks? Given
recent research suggesting that encoding and representational issues are
important in understanding the CRE (Marcon, Susa, & Meissner, 2009;
Meissner, Brigham, & Butz, 2005; see also Meissner & Brigham, 2001), it was
predicted that such manipulations would interact with the CRE such that a larger
effect would be seen when encoding and representational processes are taxed.
Although the majority of previous research used delayed match-to-sample
tasks to assess the role of the CRE, the current studies employed a perceptual
identification paradigm in which a face was presented, followed immediately
by a pattern mask and then an array of test faces. Participants’ task was
simply to identify the studied face in the test array as quickly as possible.
Given that so few studies have examined the CRE using a perceptual
CROSS-RACE EFFECT 769
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identification paradigm, the current studies sought to both demonstrate the
CRE and assess its boundary conditions. Experiment 1 assessed the extent to
which participants exhibit a greater CRE when encoding time is shortened
and/or when test set size is increased. Experiment 2 assessed whether an
increased retention interval and an increased set size at test would lead to a
larger CRE.
EXPERIMENT 1
Method
Participants. A total of 24 Hispanic participants (21% male; mean age
25.38 years) from the University of Texas at El Paso completed this
experiment. All participants were recruited from the participant pool and
awarded research credit for their time.
Materials. Hispanic and African-American faces from a database main-
tained by the second author were used to create 256 perceptual identification
trials. Two poses of each face were available, one with the participant smiling
(used as the target face at study) and the other with a neutral expression (used
in the test presentation). Clothing was cropped out of each photograph. A
Visual Basic program was created to present the trials and instructions to
participants, and to record all responses.
Design and procedure. A 2 (race of face: Hispanic vs. African-American)
4 (encoding time: 100, 500, 1000, or 1500 ms)4 (set size: 2, 4, 6, or 8) within-
subjects design was employed. The perceptual identification tasks were grouped
into four blocks of 64 trials, and these blocks were counterbalanced across
participants. Different photographs were presented at study and at test, thereby
allowing us to assess face identification (rather than photo identification).
Within each block, no faces appeared more than once and faces used as targets
were never presented as a distractor face. Different faces were used as targets for
each trial and these target faces were not repeated across trials. Set size and race
of face were randomized within each block.
Upon beginning the experiment, participants were given a practice session
to acquaint them with the perceptual identification task. Participants were
instructed that they would be shown a target image and then an array ofother
images. They would then be required to use the computer mouse to run the
arrow over the target image as quickly and as accurately as possible. After
participants completed the practice session, the actual experimental trials
commenced. Participants viewed the target face for either 100 ms, 500 ms,
1000 ms, or 1500 ms, depending upon what block of trials they were
770 MARCON ET AL.
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completing. Immediately following the study presentation a pattern mask
appeared for 100 ms, followed by a 200 ms retention interval (blank screen)
that preceded presentation of the test array of two, four, six, or eight faces.
Before each trial, the cursor was fixed in the middle of the screen so that the
starting point was the same across trials. Additionally, the position of target
faces in the test array was randomized within each trial. The target face and
array of test faces were the same race, with race of face manipulated across
trials. A sample trial is depicted in Figure 1. After completing the experi-
mental portion, participants were asked to provide demographic information,
debriefed, and thanked for their participation.
Results and discussion
Identification accuracy. Accuracy was calculated as the proportion of
trials in which the participant correctly identified the target face, as all trials
included the target present in the test array. Across all trials, mean accuracy
was 85.80% (SD0.05), and performance was significantly below ceiling,
t(23)12.86, pB.001. Given that there was sufficient variability in the data,
a 2 (race of face: Hispanic vs. African-American)4 (encoding time: 100,
500, 1000, or 1500 ms)4 (set size: 2, 4, 6, or 8) repeated measures analysis
of variance was used to examine the effects of the manipulated variables on
accuracy. As expected, there was a significant main effect of race of face on
accuracy, F(1, 23)11.25, pB.01, r
HB
.80, d.43, such that participants
were more accurate for own-race faces (M0.87, SD0.04) than other-
race faces (M0.84, SD0.07).
1
Significant main effects of encoding time,
F(3, 69)16.76, pB.001, h
p
2
.42, and set size, F(3, 69)62.18, pB.001,
h
p
2
.73, were also found indicating that accuracy improved as encoding
time increased and set size decreased.
Three significant interaction s were observed: Race of faceEncoding time,
F(3, 69)2.74, pB.05, h
p
2
.11; Race of faceSet size, F(3, 69)2.78,
pB.05, h
p
2
.11; and Encoding timeSet size, F(9, 207)2.98, pB.01,
h
p
2
.16. Our focus here is on the predicted CRE interactions. Difference
scores were computed in order to examine the influence of the encoding time
and set size manipulations on the size of the CRE. As predicted, a significant
linear contrast was found for encoding time, F(1, 23)8.46, pB.01, h
p
2
.27,
suggesting that the CRE increased as the amount of time participants encoded
a target face decreased. As displayed in Figure 2, significant CREs were
observed at the 100 ms, t(23)3.38, pB.01, r
HB
.65, d.58, and 500 ms,
1
Effect size for within-subject comparisons involving race of face were computed using
Dunlap, Cortina, Vaslow, and Burke’s (1996) formula for computing dwith correlated designs
(Equation 3, p. 171), with dt
C
[2 (1*r) / n]
1/2
. The correlation between performance on
Hispanic and Black faces (r
HB
) is also provided.
CROSS-RACE EFFECT 771
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t(23)2.76, pB.05, r
HB
.41, d.62, encoding conditions, but were not
observed when encoding time was 1000 ms, t(23)0.08, ns,r
HB
.45, d.02,
and 1500 ms, t(23)1.43, ns,r
HB
.79, d.19. A significant linear contrast
was also found for set size, F(1, 23)5.04, pB.05, h
p
2
.18, indicating that the
CRE increased as the number of faces in the target array increased. As
displayed in Figure 3, significant CREs were observed when set size was
six, t(23)2.97, pB.01, r
HB
.59, d.55, and eight, t(23)2.77, pB.05,
r
HB
.45, d.59, but not when set size was two, t(23)0.83, ns,r
HB
.54,
d.16, or four, t(23)0.003, ns,r
HB
.25, d.00.
Response latency. Response latency was calculated for correct trials, with
outliers excluded from the analysis. A 2 (race of face: Hispanic vs. African-
American)4 (encoding time: 100, 500, 1000, or 1500 ms)4 (set size: 2, 4,
6, or 8) repeated measures ANOVA on participants’ response latencies
revealed a significant main effect for race of face, F(1, 23)5.74, pB.05,
r
HB
.86, d.26. Participants were quicker in responding accurately to
own-race faces (M1.24, SD0.19) than other-race faces (M1.29,
SD0.19). A significant main effect of set size was also observed, F(3,
69)238.41, pB.001, h
p
2
.91, such that participants took longer in
Figure 1. Visual representation of the perceptual identification paradigm employed in Experiments 1
and 2.
772 MARCON ET AL.
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responding accurately as set size increased. No other significant main effects
or interactions were observed.
EXPERIMENT 2
Method
Participants. Sixty-nine Hispanic participants (39% male; mean age
19.42 years) from the University of Texas at El Paso participated in the
current study.
Materials. Similar to Experiment 1, the same Hispanic and African-
American faces were used as stimuli for the current experiment. Two poses of
each photo were used in 256 perceptual identification trials.
Design and procedure. A 2 (race of face: Hispanic vs. African-
American)4 (retention interval: 10, 400, 1400, or 2400 ms)4 (set size: 2,
4, 6, or 8) within-subjects design was employed. The perceptual identification
tasks were grouped into four blocks of 64 trials, and these blocks were
100 ms
Accuracy
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Own-Race Faces
Other-Race Faces
500 ms 1500 ms1000 ms
Encoding Time
Figure 2. Influence of encoding time on accuracy for own-race vs. other-race faces in Experiment 1.
Error bars represent standard error values.
CROSS-RACE EFFECT 773
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counterbalanced across participants. All procedures were identical to Experi-
ment 1 with the following exceptions.
Across trials, encoding time was held constant at 500 ms; the retention
interval was manipulated to involve 10 ms, 400 ms, 1400 ms, or 2400 ms.
Search set size was again manipulated, such that participants completed
trials of sizes two, four, six, and eight faces in the array.
Results and discussion
Identification accuracy. Across all trials, mean accuracy was 80.08%
(SD0.11), and, similar to Experiment 1, performance was significantly
below ceiling, t(68)14.59, pB.001. Given that there was enough variability
in the data, a 2 (race of face: Hispanic vs. African-American)4 (retention
interval: 10, 400, 1400, or 2400 ms) 4 (set size: 2, 4, 6, or 8) repeated measures
analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of the manipulated
variables on accuracy. A significant main effect of race of face was found,
F(1, 69)11.23, pB.001, r
HB
.89, d.19, such that participants were more
accurate for own-race faces (M0.81, SD0.11) than other-race faces
(M0.79, SD0.13). Both the retention interval, F(3, 204)7.48, pB.001,
Two
Accuracy
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Own Race Faces
Other Race Faces
Four Six Eight
Set Size
Figure 3. Influence of set size on accuracy for own-race vs. other-race faces in Experiment 1. Error
bars represent standard error values.
774 MARCON ET AL.
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h
p
2
.10, and set size, F(3, 204)144.66, pB.001, h
p
2
.68, main effects also
proved significant, indicating that accuracy decreased with longer retention
intervals and larger set size arrays.
Two significant interactions were also observed: Race of faceRetention
interval, F(3, 204)2.60, p.05, h
p
2
.04; and Race of faceSet size,
F(3, 204)13.20, pB.001, h
p
2
.16. Consistent with Experiment 1, we
assessed the size of the CRE across each manipulation. As predicted, a
significant linear contrast was found for cross-racial difference scores on the
retention interval manipulation, F(1, 68)4.35, pB.05, h
p
2
.06, such that
the magnitude of the CRE increased as the amount of time between the
presentation of the target face and the test array increased. As displayed in
Figure 4, the largest CRE occurred with the longest retention interval of 2400
ms, t(68)4.15, pB.001, r
HB
.85, d.27. A significant CRE was also
observed at the retention interval of 400 ms, t(68)2.05, pB.05, r
HB
.80,
d.16, but not at 10 ms, t(68)0.69, ns,r
HB
.77, d.06, or 1400 ms,
t(68)1.53, ns,r
HB
.80, d.12. Significant linear, F(1, 68)14.60,
pB.001, h
p
2
.18, quadratic, F(1, 68)12.10, pB.001, h
p
2
.15, and cubic
contrasts, F(1, 68)13.42, pB.001, h
p
2
.17, were found for the set size
10 ms
Accuracy
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Own Race Faces
Other Race Faces
400 ms 2400 ms1400 ms
Retention Interval
Figure 4. Influence of retention interval on accuracy for own-race vs. other-race faces in Experiment
2. Error bars represent standard error values.
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manipulation. Although the largest CRE was observed at set size of eight (see
Figure 5), significant CREs were found at set sizes of two, t(68)2.94, pB.01,
r
HB
.77, d.24, six, t(68)3.00, pB.01, r
HB
.82, d.22, and eight,
t(68)4.25, pB.001, r
HB
.74, d.37.
Response latency. Reaction time in the current experiment was calculated
consistent with Experiment 1. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed a
significant main effect of race of face, F(1, 68)6.17, pB.05, r
HB
.90,
d.28. Participants were quicker to respond accurately to own-race faces
(M1.45 s, SD0.32 s) than to other-race faces (M1.49 s, SD0.33 s).
Both the retention interval, F(3, 204)31.76, pB.001, h
p
2
.32, and set size,
F(3, 204)420.92, pB.001, h
p
2
.86, main effects were significant, indicating
that participants took longer to respond when set size and retention interval
increased. The analysis revealed one significant interaction: Retention
intervalRace of face, F(3, 204)4.51, pB.01, h
p
2
.06. Consistent with
the accuracy data, the CRE in response latency was exacerbated as the
retention interval was lengthened.
Two
Accuracy
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
Own Race Faces
Other Race Faces
Four Six Eight
Set Size
Figure 5. Influence of set size on accuracy for own-race vs. other-race faces in Experiment 2. Error
bars represent standard error values.
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GENERAL DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to assess whether the CRE might be present in
perceptual identification tasks and to assess the conditions under which the
CRE could be exacerbated. Previous research on the CRE has largely focused
on long-term recognition memory (Evans, Marcon, & Meissner, 2009;
MacLin et al., 2001; Meissner & Brigham, 2001), and studies that have
documented the CRE in tasks that are influenced by visual working memory
processes have not previously assessed its boundary conditions (Levin, 2000;
Lindsay et al., 1991; Sporer et al., 2007; Walker & Hewstone, 2006, 2008;
Walker & Tanaka, 2003). Previous research has suggested that decreasing
study time and increasing retention intervals in long-term face recognition
memory can induce a more pronounced CRE (Meissner & Brigham, 2001).
The current experiments addressed whether the boundary conditions of
encoding time, retention interval, and set size at test might similarly increase
the magnitude of the CRE in a perceptual identification task. Across both
experiments, our results replicated the CRE in a perceptual identification
task indicating that participants were more accurate (and responded more
quickly) when identifying own-race faces than other-race faces. As predicted,
Experiment 1 showed that the CRE was exacerbatedwhen encoding time was
brief and test set size was increased. Experiment 2 replicated the effect of set
size, but also showed that the CRE was more pronounced when the retention
interval was lengthened.
Taken together, these findings suggest that taxing memory processes at
encoding or as a function of retention interval, or increasing perceptual
confusion at test, can increase the magnitude of the CRE in a perceptual
identification task. Such findings are consistent both with recent studies
suggesting that encoding and representational issues are important in under-
standing the CRE (Marcon et al., 2009; Meissner et al., 2005) and with face
space models that account for the effect through properties of representa-
tional distribution (Byatt & Rhodes, 1998; Sporer, 2001; Valentine, 1991,
2001). From a practical perspective, checkpoint identifications made by law
enforcement personnel or border security agents may be subject to inaccura-
cies produced as a function of cross-racial or cross-ethnic interactions;
however, promoting greater study time and one-on-one interactions (i.e.,
limiting set size) should reduce the likelihood of the effect. In contrast, asking
agents to search through crowds for ‘‘known terrorists’’ that they have been
asked to remember is likely to increase false positive identifications and
reduce accuracy of detection.
The current study was limited to some extent by its inclusion of only
Hispanic participants (due to the constraints of the available participant
pool), which prevented us from testing for true crossover interactions that are
typically present in CRE studies. Although we have no reason to believe that
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the results would fail to generalize to other racial or ethnic groups, future
research on this issue would appear warranted. Another potential limitation
of this study was the failure of the reaction time data to fully correspond with
the accuracy data. The main effect of race of face comported with the
accuracy data and previous studies, but most of the response latency
interactions failed to prove significant. This could be due to any number of
factors, including variability in the extent to which individuals could move
the mouse in any particular direction. Nevertheless, our focus remains on the
accuracy data, which was not subject to ceiling effects.
Future research would also be useful to examine how variations in facial
identity (such as disguise or changes in hairstyle; e.g., Davies & Flin, 1984)
might influence perceptual identification or moderate the CRE. For
example, states in the US vary on the number of years one is allowed to
maintain one’s same photograph on a driver’s license, and US Passports are
valid through a 10-year period. It is likely that ageing may increase the
difficulty of a perceptual identification and thereby exacerbate the CRE. In
addition, the practical significance of longer retention intervals should also
be explored, as it may relate to the practice of encoding a target face and
searching for that face throughout one’s daily interactions with various
individuals. Given recent security concerns and a renewed focus on border
security, it would appear that the body of research on facial identification
should be expanded to include factors that moderate perceptual identifica-
tion, especially in the context of own- and other-race faces.
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Manuscript received July 2008
Manuscript accepted June 2009
First published online October 2009
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