Strength of Discourse Context as a Determinant of the Subordinate Bias Effect

Two experiments examined the influence of strength of discourse bias on lexical ambiguity resolution. Short passages were constructed to bias polarized ambiguous words (homonyms) strongly or weakly toward the dominant or subordinate meanings. Using a self-paced reading task in Experiment 1, it was demonstrated that in strongly biased discourse, reading times for homonyms in dominant discourse did not differ from those in subordinate discourse. However, when the discourse was weakly biased, homonyms were read faster in dominant discourse than in subordinate discourse. Experiment 2 combined the reading paradigm with a naming task in order to provide an assessment of specific word-meaning activation. Reading times on ambiguous words replicated the results of Experiment 1. In addition, naming latencies for probe words revealed that only the contextually appropriate sense of a homonym was activated in strongly biased discourse. In contrast, both contextually appropriate and inappropriate senses were activated following a weakly biased subordinate discourse, whereas only the dominant sense was activated following weakly biased dominant discourse. The results demonstrate (1) an immediate influence of prior discourse information on lexical processing; and (2) that the strength of discourse constraints can play a governing role in lexical ambiguity resolution. The results were interpreted within the framework of a context-sensitive model of lexical ambiguity resolution.     

Unpacking Backlash: Individual and Contextual Moderators of Bias against Female Professors

This research unpacks backlash against female professors by examining how individual characteristics and social context interact to predict student evaluations on RateMyProfessors.com. As predicted, students evaluated female professors in high-status departments more negatively than female professors in low-status departments, and this backlash effect was attenuated when the female professor was “hot.” Moreover, backlash was most pronounced for female professors who had been hired more recently and who were tough graders. A follow-up experiment replicated the main findings concerning status and attractiveness and suggested that perceived gender nonconformity may help to explain backlash against female professors.     

Bias in exponential and power function fits due to noise: Comment on Myung,Kim, and Pitt

Myung, Kim, and Pitt (2000) demonstrated that simple power functions almost always provide a better fit to purely random data than do simple exponential functions. This result has important implications, because it suggests that high noise levels, which are common in psychological experiments, may cause a bias favoring power functions. We replicate their result and extend it by showing strong bias for more realistic sample sizes. We also show that biases occur for data that contain both random and systematic components, as may be expected in real data. We then demonstrate that these biases disappear for two- or three-parameter functions that include linear parameters (in at least one parameterization). Our results suggest that one should exercise caution when proposing simple power and exponential functions as models of learning. More generally, our results suggest that linear parameters should be estimated rather than fixed when one is comparing the fit of nonlinear models to noisy data.     

背景线索效应的研究综述

背景线索效应(contextual cueing effect)是近年来场景知觉的一个研究热点。本文简要介绍了背景线索效应的发现及进展、理论解释和神经基础,并探讨了未来的发展方向。     

Form and meaning in early morphological processing: Comment on Feldman, O'Connor, and Moscoso del Prado Martin (2009)

Feldman, O’Connor, and Moscoso del Prado Martín (2009) reported evidence for differential priming of semantically transparent (talker—talk) and semantically opaque (corner—corn) morphological pairs under masked presentation conditions. The present commentary argues that these data should not call into question the theory that morphologically structured words undergo a segmentation process based solely on form, because (1) these results do not contradict existing evidence for morphoorthographic segmentation, (2) funnel plots suggest that the lack of priming observed for semantically opaque items in this study is inconsistent with findings in the existing literature, and (3) orthographic characteristics of the semantically opaque pairs in this study (rather than semantic factors) are the most likely explanation for these discrepant results.     

Effects of Leader Style, Leader Sex, and Subordinate Personality on Leader Evaluations and Future Subordinate Motivation

Past research has shown that when leader styles were dichotomized as autocratic versus democratic, female leaders were evaluated more harshly for using autocratic styles than their male counterparts (Eagly, Makhijani, & Klonsky, 1992). The present study investigated whether or not the personality characteristic of Agreeableness interacted with leader gender and leader style (autocratic versus democratic) to affect subordinate reactions to the leader. A 2 (autocratic versus democratic leader style) × 2 (male versus female leader) × 2 (high versus low subordinate Agreeableness) factorial design was used with leader evaluation, future effort, and future interest as dependent variables. A three-way interaction was predicted for these variables such that leaders would be penalized most for behavior that was inconsistent with gender roles by participants low in agreeableness. Participants were 165 undergraduates at a large midwestern urban university. Results generally supported the hypothesized three-way interaction for the effort and interest variables. Overall, the results partially supported the notion that disagreeable participants would rate gender inconsistent behavior more harshly.     

Contextual Bias in Verbal Credibility Assessment: Criteria‐Based Content Analysis,Reality Monitoring and Scientific Content Analysis

Verbal credibility assessment encompasses several methods used to evaluate the credibility of statements by examining their content. In two experiments, we tested to what extent these methods are sensitive to contextual bias. Four statements were presented, although their context was manipulated by confronting raters with extra‐domain information that either enhanced or diminished the credibility of the statements. In Experiment 1, 32 police officers analysed the statements using scientific content analysis. In Experiment 2, 128 undergraduates analysed the statements using criteria derived from criteria‐based content analysis, reality monitoring or scientific content analysis. Results showed that all three methods were equally vulnerable to contextual bias. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of Rater Expectations on the Evaluation of a Hypothetical Subordinate

In a laboratory study of the effect of rater expectations on the evaluation of a hypothetical subordinate's performance, 159 undergraduates role played the part of a sales manager who had been given high, low, or no expectations about a subordinates's potential along with hypothetical concrete or abstract performance data. Hypotheses regarding the interaction of performance data and expectations on evaluations were not supported. Although evaluations of the subordinate's performance did not vary across conditions, the student raters recommended larger raises for the subordinate for whom they had low expectations than for the subordinate for whom they had high expectations. The key predictor of a recommended raise appeared to be the extent to which the subordinate met or exceeded rater expectations. These results were reconfirmed with an independent cross-validation sample of 168 subjects.     

Effect of Rater Nationality on the Relationships among Ratee Task,Contextual, and Counterproductive Behaviors and Salary Estimates

This study examined the moderating effect of rater nationality on the relationships among ratee task, contextual, and counterproductive behaviors, and rater salary estimates gauging the dollar value of overall job performance. As hypothesized, rater nationality had a significant moderating effect, such that the Lebanese sample showed stronger relationships between each of the three types of job performance and their dollar value estimates than did the American sample. In other words, results indicated that Lebanese participants made stronger salary differentiations among the different levels of task, contextual, and counterproductive performance. These results seem to suggest that Lebanese participants provided salary estimates using more of an equity approach, whereas American participants provided salary estimates using more of an equality approach. Results contribute to the growing evidence that national culture is important in evaluating job performance.     

A Note on the Relationship Between Task Requirements and the Contextual Interference Effect

Typically, tasks used in past contextual interference experiments had movement, spatial pattern, or timing requirements. The possibility exists that the blocked/random manipulation of only one of these task characteristics contributes to the contextual interference effect. The purpose of the experiment reported here was to test the impact of separate movement and timing tasks on the superior learning of random trained groups. The task for all subjects in the movement condition was to release a start button and knock over a wooden barrier. There were three movement time goals to be learned. Half of the subjects in this condition practiced the three movements in a blocked schedule and half practiced them in a random schedule. The subjects in the no-movement condition estimated the same three times by holding down the start button for the appropriate duration. Similarly, these subjects were divided into random and blocked practice groups. All subjects then performed a retention test. Results showed that for the movement condition, the blocked group performed with less error than the random group during acquisition. In retention, however, the random group performed with less error than the blocked group. Conversely, for the no-movement condition, there were no differences between the two practice schedule groups during acquisition or during retention for any of the dependent measures. These results indicate that experimental tasks must have some type of movement requirement in order to facilitate learning through the use of random practice schedules.     

Contextual influences on interactive processing: Effects of discriminability,quantity, and uncertainty

Three contextual factors—(1) the discriminability of stimuli in pitch, (2) the number of stimuli differing in pitch, and (3)the uncertainty regarding which stimuli or tasks would appear—were manipulated as subjects performed speeded loudness classifications in each of six experiments. The magnitude of Garner interference and effects of congruity were used to gauge the degree of interactive processing. Enhancing pitch discriminability caused monotonic increases in interference and congruity. Stimulus-task uncertainty mediated the changes in Garner interference wrought by increased discriminability. Uncertainty also caused a surprising shift in congruity from strongly positive to strongly negative as uncertainty grew. Increasing stimulus quantity lowered interference, but had inconsistent effects on congruity. Regression analyses suggested that, collectively, these three contextual variables underlie most failures of selective attention in speeded classification.     

统一·行动·未来——马丁·布伯对犹太教现代性的思考

在当代的犹太教思想家中,许多学者提出重新理解犹太教的现代性任务。马丁·布伯是其中比较出色的一位。他洞察到现代性危机中的犹太教处境,在此基础上,批评了先前几种犹太教复兴观念:政治犹太复国主义、宗教共同体理论和民族共同体理论。他努力挖掘犹太教精神传统,分析犹太教中的现代性观念:包括统一、行动、未来三种精神。他的阐释工作的启示在于:一方面,必须以批评的和反思的眼光来面对西方的现代性,为现代性困境寻找出路;另一方面,也为犹太教展示出现代性的资源,拓展了犹太教在现代的生存空间。     

Cognitive Style, Schizophrenia, and the Family: Methodological Implications of Contextual Effects

The study of a single case of a family with one schizophrenic daughter is reported here. A variety of measures were used in the study and it was carried out in a number of different contexts. The study has substantive interest in regard to the inter-connections of schizophrenia and of individual and familial patterns of cognition and perception. In addition it raises important methodological considerations stemming from the variability of the measures across differing contexts.     

Norms,definitions, and deviance: Comment on Meier

This study explored the effects of heavy television viewing on the purging behavior of Asian-Pacific adolescents in Guam. We argue that Westernized television in Guam presents thin, tall, and athletic bodies as the only acceptable images for adolescents. Using logistic regression, we tested the television-purging connection using a probability sample of Asian-Pacific Islander high school students. The results of the analysis support the hypothesis that heavy television viewing is associated with male purging behavior, which is a form of self-directed deviance. Being overweight is also associated with purging for male and female adolescents. We discuss the implications of the findings for theory and future research.     

Preferences,Welfare, and the Status-Quo Bias

Preferences play a role in well-being that is difficult to escape, but whatever authority one grants to preferences, their malleability seems to cause problems for any theory of well-being that employs them. Most importantly, preferences appear to display a status-quo bias: people come to prefer what they are likely rather than unlikely to get. I try to do two things here. The first is to provide a more precise characterization of the status-quo bias, how it functions, and how it infects commonly accepted theories of well-being. The second is to give an alternative characterization of an agent's preferences that succeeds in avoiding the status-quo bias.     

Both Sides Now: Supervisor and Subordinate Perspectives on Relationship Quality

Traditional leader–member exchange (LMX) research typically measures quality of exchange from the subordinate's or member's perspective—LMX(m). In this research, we propose a new construct, LMX(l), which reflects a supervisor's or leader's perception of the value delivered by his or her subordinate in the exchange relationship. Together, LMX(m) and LMX(l) are expected to provide a more complete picture of dyadic exchange quality. Our results indicate relatively modest convergence between the 2 perspectives on LMX. Both LMX(m) and LMX(l) were found to relate to specific currencies of exchange provided by each dyad partner, and agreement between the 2 was negatively associated with the frequency of supervisor–employee conflict. Implications for LMX theory and future research are discussed.     

问题特征与呈现方式对情境性道德敏感的影响

以206名大学生为被试,采用两个无结构性问题,通过两个实验考察情境问题特征和呈现方式对个体道德敏感性的影响.结果表明.接近性、后果可能性等问题的道德强度特征不同程度地影响特定情境条件下被试对无结构性问题的道德敏感;问题呈现的道德框架变量在部分场景中影响被试对无结构性问题的道德敏感;女性被试总体上表现出更高的情境性道德敏感水平     

背景信息导航帮助和认知风格对超文本使用的影响

本文考察了背景信息导航帮助(结构背景信息导航帮助、时间背景导航信息帮助和综合背景信息导航帮助)和认知风格(场独立倾向和场依存倾向)对超文本使用过程中导航绩效和学习效果的影响。结果表明：(1)认知风格是研究超文本系统的一个敏感指标：在超文本阅读过程中,场依存倾向的人比场独立倾向的人容易迷失,在某种程度上,学习效果要低于场独立倾向的人;(2)最优路径偏离可以敏感地反映出超文本网络空间中使用者的迷失程度;(3)主观迷失感与导航绩效相比,更能有效地预测超文本环境下的学习效果。