False memories of childhood experiences

We conducted two experiments to investigate if college students would create false memories of childhood experiences in response to misleading information and repeated interviews. In both experiments we contacted parents to obtain information about events that happened to the students during childhood. In a series of interviews we asked the students to recall the parent-reported events and one experimenter-created false event. In the second experiment we varied the age at which we claimed the false event occurred. In both experiments we found that some individuals created false memories in these circumstances and in the second experiment we found no effect of age of attempted incorporation. In the second experiment we also found that those who discussed related background knowledge during the early interviews were more likely to create a false recall. Generalizations to therapy contexts are discussed.     

Active haptic detection and discrimination of shape

In previous research, we have shown that detection thresholds for Gaussian shapes increase with a power of 1.3 of spatial width. In the present three experiments, we generalized this finding to more complex shapes and to discrimination tasks. In Experiment 1, we found that the slope of the psychometric function for detection (i.e., distinguishing curved from flat surfaces) was independent of surface shape. In Experiment 3, we found the same result for discrimination of two different curved shapes. In Experiment 2, we found that detection and discrimination functions had the same dependence on spatial width, except that discrimination thresholds were two to four times larger. Possible neural mechanisms underlying these results are discussed.     

Approach and Avoidance Temperament as Basic Dimensions of Personality

ABSTRACT This research comprises 6 studies designed to examine approach and avoidance temperament as basic dimensions of personality. In Study 1, we developed direct measures of approach and avoidance temperament. In Study 2, we demonstrated that the approach and avoidance temperament variables are not epiphenomena of response biases. In Study 3, we documented the test‐retest stability of the temperament variables. In Study 4, we documented that approach and avoidance temperament are separate from other like‐valenced variables and may be construed as the core of these variables. In Study 5, we documented that approach and avoidance temperament are separate from chronic promotion and prevention foci. In Study 6, we distinguished the temperament variables from achievement goal variables and documented the temperament variables as antecedents of achievement goals and achievement goals as proximal predictors of performance. Approach and avoidance temperament are discussed as an ideal foundation for a strong, enduring structure of personality.     

Relational humility: conceptualizing and measuring humility as a personality judgment

The study of humility has progressed slowly due to measurement problems. We describe a model of relational humility that conceptualizes humility as a personality judgment. In this set of 5 studies, we developed the 16-item Relational Humility Scale (RHS) and offered initial evidence for the theoretical model. In Study 1 (N = 300), we developed the RHS and its subscales--Global Humility, Superiority, and Accurate View of Self. In Study 2, we confirmed the factor structure of the scale in an independent sample (N = 196). In Study 3, we provided initial evidence supporting construct validity using an experimental design (N = 200). In Study 4 (N = 150), we provided additional evidence of construct validity by examining the relationships between humility and empathy, forgiveness, and other virtues. In Study 5 (N = 163), we adduced evidence of discriminant and incremental validity of the RHS compared with the Honesty-Humility subscale of the HEXACO-PI (Lee & Ashton, 2004).     

Epistemic Normativity, Argumentation, and Fallacies

In Biro and Siegel (1992) we argued that a theory of argumentation mustfully engage the normativity of judgments about arguments, and we developedsuch a theory. In this paper we further develop and defend our theory.     

Heading and path information from retinal flow in naturalistic environments

In four experiments, we explored the heading and path information available to observers as we simulated their locomotion through a cluttered environment while they fixated an object off to the side. Previously, we presented a theory about the information available and used in such situations. For such a theory to be valid, one must be sure of eye position, but we had been unable to monitor gaze systematically; in Experiment 1, we monitored eye position and found performance best when observers fixated the designated object at the center of the display. In Experiment 2, when we masked portions of the display, we found that performance generally matched the amount of display visible when scaled to retinal sensitivity. In Experiments 3 and 4, we then explored the metric of information about heading (nominal vs. absolute) available and found good nominal information but increasingly poor and biased absolute information as observers looked farther from the aimpoint. Part of the cause for this appears to be that some observers perceive that they have traversed a curved path even when taking a linear one. In all cases, we compared our results with those in the literature.     

On the alleged memory-undermining effects of daydreaming

In three experiments, we examined the memory-undermining effects of daydreaming for (un)related stimuli. In Experiments 1 and 2, we tested whether daydreaming fosters forgetting of semantically interrelated material and hence, catalyzes false memory production. In Experiment 3, we examined the memory effects of different daydreaming instructions. In Experiment 1, daydreaming did not undermine correct recall of semantically interrelated words, nor did it affect false memories. In Experiment 2, we again failed to find that daydreaming exerted memory-undermining effects a. In Experiment 3, no memory effects were obtained using different daydreaming instructions. Together, our studies fail to show appreciable memory-undermining effects of daydreaming.     

The structure of frontoparallel haptic space is task dependent

In three experiments, we investigated the structure of frontoparallel haptic space. In the first experiment, we asked blindfolded participants to rotate a matching bar so that it felt parallel to the reference bar, the bars could be at various positions in the frontoparallel plane. Large systematic errors were observed, in which orientations that were perceived to be parallel were not physically parallel. In two subsequent experiments, we investigated the origin of these errors. In Experiment 2, we asked participants to verbally report the orientation of haptically presented bars. In this task, participants made errors that were considerably smaller than those made in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, we asked participants to set bars in a verbally instructed orientation, and they also made errors significantly smaller than those observed in Experiment 1. The data suggest that the errors in the matching task originate from the transfer of the reference orientation to the matching-bar position.     

On Equal Citizenship and Public Reason: Reply to Critics

In writing Equal Citizenship and Public Reason, we aimed to show that political liberalism is a feminist liberalism. To that end, we develop and defend a particular understanding of the commitments of political liberalism. Then, we argue that certain laws and policies are needed to protect and secure the interests of persons as free and equal citizens. We focus on the laws and policies that we think are necessary for gender justice. In particular, we apply our view to the contexts of prostitution law, family and marriage law, state support for caregivers, and religious exemptions from generally applicable laws. In this article, we consider some of the challenges made by the thoughtful critics who are part of this symposium. In particular, we address: why the collective enterprise view of liberal democracy requires shared reasons for the justification of certain laws and policies; how we understand substantive equality and why our understanding of substantive equality does not commit us to a comprehensive doctrine; how we avoid defending a particular political conception of justice in showing that political liberalism is a feminist liberalism; and how it is that, given justice pluralism, public reasons can provide stability for the right reasons.     

Induction of implicit evaluation biases by approach–avoidance training: A commentary on Vandenbosch and De Houwer (this issue)

Vandenbosch and De Houwer (this issue) reported a series of failures to induce an implicit evaluation bias by means of an approach–avoidance training paradigm. In this commentary, we point out issues raised by Vandenbosch and De Houwer that we interpret differently or that we would like to emphasise more thoroughly. In addition, we report recent results from a replication study from our lab in which we found the effects in question. Finally, we provide an overview of potential future studies needed to replicate and validate the approach–avoidance training effects.     

How we make discoveries

In trying to make discoveries, we are trying to uncover knowledge of HIDDEN realities. It appears impossible to uncover knowledge of hidden realities. How can we evaluate results? (How can we find out whether they are true or even good approximation when we cannot compare them to the hidden realities?) But we are often able to do things which appear impossible; it depends on whether we have chanced onto, or discovered, or invented, the relevant OPERATING PRINCIPLES. It appeared impossible to fly to the moon in one lifetime. We discovered the principle of the rocket. If we can discover the operating principle for making discoveries, we know how we make discoveries. In this paper, I show step by step how we can discover this operating principle.     

How might the discrepancy in the effects of perceptual variables on numerosity judgment be reconciled?

It has been claimed that a genuinely abstract numerical representation would be capable of representing the numerosity of any set of discrete elements independently of the attributes of the individual elements. In practice, however, perceptual variables, such as element size, density, and others, affect numerosity judgment. In this study, we examined how perceptual variables affect the performance of numerosity judgments under the control of factors such as amount of practice and set size. In Experiment 1, we introduced the numerosity comparison task to less experienced observers in order to examine the effect of element size and array area. In Experiment 2, we examined whether and how practice would influence precision and accuracy in numerosity comparison and demonstrated that the effects of perceptual variables mostly disappeared. In Experiment 3, we examined whether the effect of practice could transfer to the performance in different stimulus conditions. Taking the results together, we demonstrate that differences in practice might be the source of inconsistent results for perceptual variables.     

具身认知视角下的消费者行为

具身理论已经成为消费者行为研究中一个重要的方向, 产生了大量的研究成果, 但国内相关研究却非常匮乏。为了推动国内研究在这一领域的发展, 从视觉、触觉、味觉和运动知觉这几个方向对相关研究进行了综述。在视觉特征方面, 主要考察了上下、左右和大小特征的作用; 在触觉方面, 主要考察了软硬、重量和温度的作用, 在味觉方面, 主要考察了甜和苦的作用; 在运动知觉方面, 主要考察了上下运动、趋近远离运动和关闭动作的作用。最后, 根据以往研究的局限, 提出了未来研究方向。     

The premack principle, response deprivation, and establishing operations

This paper describes response deprivation as an establishing operation. In this context, we review the concept of establishing operation, in particular, its reinforcer-establishing and evocative effects; we place response deprivation in the literature on the reinforcing effects of behavioral activity, wherein response deprivation subsumes the Premack principle; we describe the reinforcer-altering and evocative effects of response deprivation; and we address a methodological concern about the evocative effect. In closing, we discuss some conceptual and empirical implications of the foregoing analyses.     

Translating the Stuttering Severity Instrument (SSI-3) into Persian: Response to Karimi, Nilipour, Shafiei and Howell

Karimi, Nilipour, Shafiei and Howell have raised some issues in regards to a study of which we were authors (Bakhtiar, Seifpanahi, Hossein, Ghanadzade & Packman, 2010). In that study, we reported the translation of the Stuttering Severity Instrument-3 (SSI-3) into Persian and reported its reliability when used with 12 Persian speaking preschool children who stutter, in Iran. Karimi et al. criticize our methods and claim that we did not specify that the translated test be used with preschoolers. In this response, we maintain that their criticisms of our methods are largely unfounded, especially the suggestion that we did not follow the WHO guidelines for translating questionnaires in our translation procedure. In addition, we show that we did in fact stipulate in our paper that the Persian SSI-3 should be used with preschoolers and that Karimi et al. misquoted us in their claim that we did not.     

Spatial articulation affects lightness

In a recent paper, Agostini and Bruno (1996) showed that the size of simultaneous lightness contrast increases under Gelb lighting. To extend Agostini and Bruno's work, we applied their methodology to a set of more spatially articulated displays. In four experiments, we investigated the role of spatial articulation on the size of the simultaneous lightness contrast effect. In the first experiment, we found a decrease of the simultaneous lightness contrast effect as the spatial articulation increased. In the second experiment (the control experiment), performed under homogeneous illumination, we found that the effect of spatial articulation is not detectable, even though the data seem to show the same trend as that in the previous experiment. In the third experiment, we found that spatial articulation affects not only the middle reflectance region, but also the lowest one. As the spatial articulation increases, the effect on the lightnesses of both regions decreases. In the last experiment, performed with a reduced range of reflectances, we found a lightening effect for all the reflectances and, again, an effect of spatial articulation. The results of these experiments are interpreted according to the model proposed by Gilchrist et al. (in press).     

Social-Psychological Interventions for Intergroup Reconciliation: An Emotion Regulation Perspective

Intergroup reconciliation is a requirement for lasting peace in the context of intergroup conflicts. In this article, we offer an emotion regulation perspective on social-psychological interventions aimed at facilitating intergroup reconciliation. In the first section of the article, we conceptualize intergroup reconciliation as an emotion-regulation process involving positive affective change and offer a framework that integrates the emotion regulation and intergroup reconciliation literatures. In the sections that follow, we review social-psychological interventions that involve changes in beliefs and identity and assess their effects on specific intergroup emotions pertinent for intergroup reconciliation. More specifically, we focus our discussion on specific reconciliation-oriented intervention strategies and their relation to emotions pertinent for facilitating reconciliation, including intergroup hatred, anger, guilt, hope, and empathy. In the final section, we consider key implications and growth points for the field of intergroup reconciliation.     

Assessing male batterers with the Personality Assessment Inventory

In this study, we sought to provide empirical data on the utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) for the assessment of male batterers. The sample consisted of 93 men who were court mandated to treatment. In the study, we were able to replicate 2 of 3 clusters (borderline/dysphoric and nonelevated) commonly found in the literature on male batterers; however, we only partially replicated the 3rd cluster (antisocial/narcissistic). This new finding may reflect a difference in the assessment instrument used to assess male batterers (i.e., PAI). In this study, we also investigated a previously understudied subgroup of batterers, specifically, men who engage in positive impression management. In this study, we conclude that the PAI is a potentially useful instrument in assessing male batterers and provide suggestions for future research.     

A Value Pluralist Defense of Toleration

Philosophia - In situations where we ought to tolerate what we morally disapprove of we are faced with the following moral conflict: we ought to interfere with X, we ought to tolerate X, we can do...     

Priming in deduction: a spatial arrangement task

The mental model theory assumes that people reason by manipulating mental representations of states of the word, called "mental models." In the present study we used a new deduction task based on diagrammatic premises. We show that a premise can prime other premises that induce similar mental models in a way analogous to the case of words with related meanings, which prime one another. We present three experiments. In Experiment 1 we used an evaluation task. In Experiment 2, a construction task was used. The priming effect was obtained in both cases. In a third experiment we show that the priming effect was still present when partcipants were instructed to ignore a prime displayed before the premises. In all three experiments we compared determinate and indeterminate problems and found faster responses in the former.