Bending perception to desire: Effects of task demands,motivation, and cognitive resources

Determinants of motivated judgments were examined in this research. Three experiments investigated how dominant motivation, biasing difficulty and mental resources combine to produce motivationally congruent judgments. Studies 1 and 2 showed that where a biasing motivation is dominant the presence of resources can augment a motivational bias in judgment. Study 3 replicated that result and showed that resources contribute to the formation of biased judgments only where biasing is difficult to accomplish, but not where it is relatively easy to accomplish. In addition, Study 3 showed that where the accuracy motivation is dominant and biasing is the easy default, unbiased judgments will occur only in the presence (vs. absence) of resources. In contrast, where unbiased judgments are easy to come by, such judgments occur irrespective of resources.     

HOW SUPERVISORS INFLUENCE PERFORMANCE: A MULTILEVEL STUDY OF COACHING AND GROUP MANAGEMENT IN TECHNOLOGY-MEDIATED SERVICES

This multilevel study examines the role of supervisors in improving employee performance through the use of coaching and group management practices. It examines the individual and synergistic effects of these management practices. The research subjects are call center agents in highly standardized jobs, and the organizational context is one in which calls, or task assignments, are randomly distributed via automated technology, providing a quasi-experimental approach in a real-world context. Results show that the amount of coaching that an employee received each month predicted objective performance improvements over time. Moreover, workers exhibited higher performance where their supervisor emphasized group assignments and group incentives and where technology was more automated. Finally, the positive relationship between coaching and performance was stronger where supervisors made greater use of group incentives, where technology was less automated, and where technological changes were less frequent. Implications and potential limitations of the present study are discussed.     

Terminal accuracy of unexpectedly loaded rapid movements: evidence for a mass-spring mechanism in programming

Experiments using rapid-positioning movements in humans, where the subject is suddenly and unexpectedly provided with a change in the load characteristics of the limb, are described. Taken together, the pattern of results supports a mass-spring model of unidirectional limb action, where the limb moves to a position defined by the relative tensions in the agonist and antagonist. As well, various results provide evidence contrary to predictions from an impulse-timing viewpoint, where the motor program times the onset of impulses to the musculature, and against a feedback-processing viewpoint, where limb position is defined by minimizing positioning error indicated by feedback. The evidence suggests that the role of phasing in motor programs may be different for unidirectional actions on the one band and multi-directional and/or multi-component actions on the other.     

The Creation of a Distinct Subcultural Identity and Denominational Growth

Scholars have long been concerned with the causes of differential growth in the membership of religious traditions and denominations. In this article I use data from three surveys, matched with census and membership data from U.S. states, to test Smith's recent theory of denominational growth and decline. I find that in the one denomination under study, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the states where membership has declined the least are those states where the members of the denomination are both the most theologically orthodox and have the strongest identity as theological liberals. Although seemingly paradoxical, it fits Smith's theory well. Liberal Protestants do not thrive where they are the most conservative, but rather where they have created a unique identity—a unique social niche—somewhere between evangelicalism and secularism.     

Group composition as a determinant of Kelman's social influence modes

It is argued that compliance in groups will be highest where the composition is maximally confrontation-generating; identification will be highest where composition is support-generating; and internalisation will be highest where both some support and some confrontation are present. The hypotheses were tested in sixteen one-day experimentally composed T-groups. All the hypotheses were supported, particularly the first two. In this setting internalisation was found to be related to confrontation but not to support.     

A generalization of Thurstone's learning function

Thurstone's equation giving the probability of a correct response (p) as a function of practice time (t) when punishment and reward have equal effects has been generalized to the case where the effect of punishment is not necessarily equal to the effect of reward. Since the general equation is somewhat unwieldy, three special cases are considered, where reward has no effect, where punishment has no effect, and where these effects are equal. Equations are given together with tables for making a rectified plot for each of the three special cases.This study was supported in part by contract N6onr 270-20 between the Office of Naval Research and Princeton University. The opinions expressed are, of course, those of the author and do not represent attitudes or policies of the Office of Naval Research.     

The Oedipus complex as observed in work with couples and their children

In work with couples where there is a child referred to a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, there are opportunities to observe and to work with unresolved Oedipal issues brought by the parents to the task of creating a family. These conflicts can be seen enacted by the child or children, either internally or externally. Examples are given from five cases: the first two from brief family work where the children are under five and the difficulties are to some extent resolved. The next two demonstrate more intractable problems of psychopathology where the parental Oedipal conflicts are handed down to the next generation, and the paper concludes with an example of couple work in relation to individual therapy with a child, where despite the pressure of considerable pathology in the parents' backgrounds there is a will to integration and progress is made.     

Refugee families in therapy: from referrals to therapeutic conversations

Refugee families referred for therapy present a wide array of problems and expectations, not always in accordance with what therapy may offer. Major differences between referring professionals, families and therapists regarding problem definitions and solutions may complicate collaboration. Interventions that may overcome these barriers and move initial interviews into a therapeutic context are described. Three patterns regarding referral process, problem presentation and expectations (here called referral contexts) are outlined: 'the relational', where families ask for psychological and interpersonal assistance, 'the unfocused', where families are referred to therapy without expressing any wish for it, and 'the fixed solution', where families seek support for solutions that are not of a therapeutic nature. The interventions described form part of a negotiation where motives and interest for therapy are explored and agreements regarding further therapy are outlined.     

Interpretation as a misunderstanding

In the following article ‘who’ as the agent in the clinical session becomes questioned. By speaking we are introduced in the world of misunderstanding, where we are not merely speaking but being spoken to. Listening to what is being said and in this way misunderstanding what the patient is trying to say helps us in order to locate where the subject of the unconscious places himself in relation to the desire of the Other. In the article, it is conveyed how interpretation is not something that clarifies or explains to the patient his difficulties, but instead locates them by letting them take part in the session. In Lacanian psychoanalysis, locating the subject of the unconscious is crucial as this gives the patient a clue about where they place themselves in relation to the Other. This is why cutting the session is an essential element of its technique, as it stops in this way something that can disturb or hide where the subject of the unconscious has appeared. This allows patients to experience where they are gratifying themselves in their own difficulty. Interpretation is not speaking about the truth but instead, making the truth present in the session.     

Test reliability and effective test length

Measures of effective test length are developed for speeded and power tests, which are independent of the number of items in the test or of the time required for administration. These measures are used in determining reliability for (1) speeded and power tests, where a separately timed short parallel form is administered in addition to the full-length test; (2) power tests, where a subset of items is imbedded within the total test, parallel to the total test; and (3) power tests, where the subset of items is correlated with the complementary parallel subset in the test.     

Tolerable Deviance and How it Applies to Cyberbullying

As a result of the modern youth culture’s reliance on technology and instant communications, mainly through social media platforms, bullying has transitioned to the online domain where cyberbullying has emerged. Among youth, cyberbullying can be viewed as a type of tolerable deviancy where youth often do not question the deviant nature of their online behaviors. This research explores the creation of the scale of deviancy as developed through a qualitative popular film analysis where low-, moderate-, and high-level deviancy characterize various cyberbullying behaviors and captures the essence of the escalation of harm faced by cyber victim(s).     

Following the argument where it leads

Throughout the history of western philosophy, the Socratic injunction to ‘follow the argument where it leads’ has exerted a powerful attraction. But what is it, exactly, to follow the argument where it leads? I explore this intellectual ideal and offer a modest proposal as to how we should understand it. On my proposal, following the argument where it leaves involves a kind of modalized reasonableness. I then consider the relationship between the ideal and common sense or ‘Moorean’ responses to revisionary philosophical theorizing.     

The effects of magnitude and quality of reinforcement on choice responding during play activities

Three boys with autism participated in a study of the effects of magnitude and quality of reinforcement on choice responding. Two concurrent response alternatives were arranged: (a) to play in an area where a peer or sibling was located, or (b) to play in an area where there was no peer or sibling. During one condition, the magnitude (i.e., duration of access to toys) or quality (level of preference) of reinforcement provided for both responses was equal. During the other condition, the magnitude or quality of reinforcement was relatively greater for choosing the play area where the peer or sibling was located than the area where the peer or sibling was not located. Results showed that after repeated exposure to the unequal magnitude or quality condition, the participant increasingly allocated his responses to the play area where the peer or sibling was located. For 2 participants, this pattern of responding was maintained in the subsequent equal magnitude or quality condition. Overall, the analysis suggests that the dimensions of magnitude and quality of reinforcement can be arranged to influence choice responding in favor of playing near a peer or sibling rather than playing alone.     

Teaching as Confessing Redeeming a Theological Trope for Pedagogy

By reclaiming the role of confession in the classroom, we can rethink the fundamental question of what it means to teach religion. That is, the project of thinking about the religious dimension of pedagogy should also force us to rethink religious studies in general. Pedagogy, after all, is not an incidental expression of religious commitments but is instead one significant place where the religious imagination takes shape and form. All religious reflection is confessional, because scholarship is only one form of pedagogy, and teaching is the act of saying who we are, where we are from, and where we are going.     

Constrained DEDICOM

The DEDICOM method for the analysis of asymmetric data tables gives representations that are identified only up to a nonsingular transformation. To identify solutions it is proposed to impose subspace constraints on the stimulus coefficients. Most attention is paid to the case where different subspace constraints are imposed on different dimensions. The procedures are discussed both for the case where the complete table is fitted, and for cases where only offdiagonal elements are fitted. The case where the data table is skew-symmetric is treated separately as well.The research of H. A. L. Kiers has been made possible by a fellowship of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. The research of Y. Takane has been supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, grant number A6394, and by the McGill-IBM Cooperative Grant. The authors are obliged to Richard A. Harshman for helpful comments on an earlier version.     

A Social Values Analysis of Self–Other Differences in Decision Making Involving Risk

Three experiments tested our social values analysis of self–other differences in decision making under risk. In Experiment 1, we showed that people make riskier decisions for others in domains where risk taking is valued but not in those where risk is not valued. Experiment 2 documented that it is considered more inappropriate to make a risk-averse decision for another person than for oneself in situations where risk is valued. Experiment 3 showed that self–other differences in decision making occur even when there are no self–other differences in prediction and for decisions made for a typical student as well as for a friend. We use these results to argue that decision making for others is based predominantly on the perceived value placed on risk, leading to a norm for how to decide for others in situations where such a social value exists.     

Infant visual attention under response-contingent and response-independent conditions

The visual attention behavior of 2- to 3-month-old infants was monitored as part of their participation in an operant conditioning study. Attention was monitored under three conditions: a baseline condition where a visual target remained stationary; a baseline conditioning where the target was made to move on an aperiodic, response-independent schedule; and a conditioning phase where the target was operantly under the control of the subjects. Fixation time differed significantly as a function of experimental condition, with the response-contingent condition producing the greatest amount of fixation and the stabile, baseline condition producing the least amount of fixation. The implications of the findings for intervention purposes are discussed.     

A general theory of learning and conditioning: Part II

The second of two parts of this article extends a mathematical theory of non-symbolic learning and conditioning to cases where reward and punishment are involved. The preceding results are generalized to the case where stimuli and responses are related psychophysically, thus constituting a theory of transfer, generalization, and discrimination.     

Implicit understanding of belief

Implicit understanding of false belief was investigated by monitoring where children look in anticipation of a protagonist reappearing, when the protagonist mistakenly thinks that his desired object is in a different place from the place where it really is. This implicit measure of understanding was contrasted with children's explicit answers to the experimenter's question about where the protagonist would look for the object. Children from 2 years 5 months to 2 years 10 months erroneously looked at the object's real location, which they gave for their answer. From 2 years 11 months to 4 years 5 months, about 90% of the children looked at the empty location where the protagonist thought the object was.In sharp contrast, only about 45% of the children in this age span gave that location as their explicit answer to the experimenter's question. These results are explained in terms of a distinction between representing a fact and making a judgment about that fact.