Stimulus–classification and stimulus–action associations: Effects of repetition learning and durability

It has been shown that acquired stimulus–response bindings result from at least two types of associations from the stimulus to the task (stimulus–task or stimulus–classification; S–C) and from the stimulus to the motor response (stimulus–response or stimulus–action; S–A). These types of associations have been shown to independently affect behaviour. This finding suggests that they are processed in different pathways or different parts of a pathway at the neural level. Here we test a hypothesis that such associations may be differentially affected by repetition learning and that such effects may be detected by measuring their durability against overwriting. We show that both S–C and S–A associations are in fact strengthened when learning is boosted by increasing repetitions of the primes. However, the results further suggest that associations between stimuli and actions have less durable effects on behaviour and that the durability of S–C and S–A associations is independent of repetition learning. This is an important finding for the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of associative learning and particularly raises the question of which processes may affect flexibility of learning.     

Parent–child talk and children's understanding of beliefs and emotions

We examined the development of children's understanding of beliefs and emotions in relation to parental talk about the psychological world. We considered the relations between parent–child talk about the emotions of characters depicted in a picture book, false belief understanding and emotion understanding. Seventy-eight primarily Caucasian and middle-class parents and their 3- to 5-year-old children participated (half boys and half girls). The emotions talked about were relatively simple, but the complexity of the situation varied in terms of whether or not an understanding of beliefs was required to understand the emotion. Talk about the belief-dependent aspects of the emotions of picture book characters predicted children's false belief understanding, whereas talk about non-belief-dependent aspects of these emotions predicted children's emotion understanding. We argue that these data suggest that the development of children's understanding of beliefs and emotions is intertwined with learning to talk about the psychological world.     

Honesty–Humility and the HEXACO Structure of Religiosity and Well-Being

Past research has shown that general and intrinsic religiosity is related to higher Big Five Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and, to some extent, Extraversion. With the rise of the six-factor HEXACO (Honesty–Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness) model of personality, however, a more differentiated look at religiousness and personality is called for. It has been suggested that religiosity is more associated with Honesty–Humility than with Agreeableness. The new personality factor, Honesty–Humility has also been shown to have null or weak relations with happiness. In 5 studies involving 1375 participants from Iran, Poland, and Malaysia, the relations of Honesty–Humility and other HEXACO dimensions to religious orientation and well-being outcomes were investigated. As expected, Honesty–Humility was one of the strongest personality correlate of religiosity. Higher scores on religiousness were also associated with Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and to some extent, Extraversion showing that the main personality characteristics of religiosity are consistent across religious contexts and personality models. Relations of Honesty–Humility to psychological well-being scales were consistently positive and stronger than its relations to subjective well-being measures, suggesting that Honesty–Humility may not be “bad” for pleasure attainment and pain avoidance, but it is definitely “good” for living a virtuous, fully functioning life.     

Missing Data Mechanisms and Homogeneity of Means and Variances–Covariances

Unless data are missing completely at random (MCAR), proper methodology is crucial for the analysis of incomplete data. Consequently, methods for effectively testing the MCAR mechanism become important, and procedures were developed via testing the homogeneity of means and variances–covariances across the observed patterns (e.g., Kim & Bentler in Psychometrika 67:609–624, 2002; Little in J Am Stat Assoc 83:1198–1202, 1988). The current article shows that the population counterparts of the sample means and covariances of a given pattern of the observed data depend on the underlying structure that generates the data, and the normal-distribution-based maximum likelihood estimates for different patterns of the observed sample can converge to the same values even when data are missing at random or missing not at random, although the values may not equal those of the underlying population distribution. The results imply that statistics developed for testing the homogeneity of means and covariances cannot be safely used for testing the MCAR mechanism even when the population distribution is multivariate normal.     

Enhancement of hardening and thermal resistance of Mg–Sn-based alloys by addition of Cu and Al

Mg–Sn-based alloys are considered as a promising precipitation-hardening system for applications at elevated temperatures, but the hardening effect is not satisfactory owing to sluggish nucleation and rapid coarsening of the major Mg₂Sn lath precipitates. In this study, Cu and Al are added to a Mg–6Sn–1Mn base alloy. The age-hardening response and the microstructures of these modified alloys have been investigated and are compared to that of the base alloy. The additional elements are found to bring several beneficial effects to the alloys for applications at elevated temperatures. Firstly, a eutectic structure consisting of strong intermetallic phases, i.e. Mg₂Cu in the Mg–6Sn–1Mn–2Cu alloy and Al_0.93Cu_1.07Mg in the Mg–6Sn–1Mn–2Cu–2Al alloy, remains stable along the grain boundaries after solution and ageing heat treatments. Secondly, the precipitate density has been increased significantly and the precipitate size has been refined remarkably during ageing at 200?°C. Moreover, the growth of the precipitates is inhibited remarkably during the over-ageing period. Therefore, the age-hardening response and over-ageing resistance are notably improved.     

Formation of Ga–Pd–Sc icosahedral quasicrystal and approximant phases

ABSTRACT

We report the formation of an icosahedral quasicrystal and its approximant in the Ga–Pd–Sc alloy. The primitive-type quasicrystal with a six-dimensional lattice constant of 0.713?nm formed in the melt-quenched Ga₅₃Pd₃₀Sc₁₇ alloy, with a similar composition to that of the Ga₅₅Pd₃₀Sc₁₅ 1/1 approximant. The atomic-scale observation and chemical analysis of the 1/1 approximant by scanning transmission electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that the approximant consisted of Tsai-type clusters with a characteristic chemical ordering. Furthermore, a series of approximants were observed in the Ga₅₅Pd₃₀RE₁₅ alloys by replacing Sc with other rare-earth elements (REs) (RE?= Y, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu). These approximants, which have relatively small lattice constants and consequently smaller RE–RE distances compared with those for other RE-containing Tsai-type approximants, may be candidates for materials with novel electronic and magnetic properties similar to those observed in Au-based quasicrystals and approximants.     

Additive and synergistic relations of early mother–child and caregiver–child interactions and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood

Prior theoretical and empirical studies have linked the first 3 years of children's life with later life outcomes. One primary explanation is the critical role these experiences play in children's early brain development (including their early language and cognitive abilities) and subsequent schooling achievement. The current study is a registered report with two complementary research objectives: (1) examine to what extent stimulating and responsive interactions with mothers and nonparental caregivers during the first 3 years of life show additive or synergistic associations with key socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood (i.e., educational attainment, salary, and employment status), and (2) examine to what extent academic skills (i.e., mathematics, vocabulary, and literacy) during childhood and adolescence mediate these associations. The sample included 1364 individuals from a birth cohort study who were followed until age 26. Mother–child interactions had positive associations with educational attainment and negative associations with full-time employment, though no synergistic associations were found for the socioeconomic outcomes. In addition, the indirect effects of mother–child interactions on educational attainment through mathematics were strongest for children with less stimulating and responsive caregiver–child interactions. Potential implications of these findings for developmental theory are discussed.     

Dimensionality of individualism–collectivism and measurement equivalence of Triandis and Gelfand’s scale

Despite researchers’ strong interest in individualism and collectivism (I–C), the conceptualization and measurement of I–C constructs remain controversial. Through a cross-cultural study, the present research examines the dimensionality of I–C and tests equivalence of a measurement scale recently developed by Triandis and Gelfand. Through confirmatory factor analyses, the authors find that conceiving I–C as separate constructs with multiple dimensions is superior and better fits the data. The measurement scale developed based on such a conceptualization is found warrantable although refinements can be made. The results suggest a need for future research on further testing the dimensionality and measurement of the individualism and collectivism scale.     

Linking mechanisms of work–family conflict and segmentation

Despite the abundance of work and family research, few studies have compared the linking mechanisms specified in theoretical models of work–family conflict and segmentation. Accordingly, the current study provides a greater degree of empirical clarity concerning the interplay of work and family by directly examining the indirect effects of work–family conflict linkages and the direct effects of segmentation linkages on work and family satisfaction outcomes. Results, based on 209 samples and 994 effect sizes, indicate that indirect effect work–family conflict models explain 2.20% and 6.20% of the variance in job and family satisfaction outcomes, whereas direct effect segmentation models explain 54.10% and 48.50% of the variance in job and family satisfaction outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Identification and goal choice of managerial candidates–organizational and individual perspectives

Abstract

Goal-setting theory and organizational culture research both emphasize that correspondence of individual and organizational goals is important, especially for executives and managerial candidates. The formerly dominating perspective of a passive individual eager to adopt organizational goals has recently been contrasted by a perspective of an active individual trying to pursue his/her own personal work goals in the organization. In a longitudinal study, 904 German academic managerial candidates were surveyed in order to investigate the causes of their identification with organizational goals, their expectations of advancement and their choice of personal work goals. The influence of organizational characteristics, i.e. number of employees, sector, and organizational culture, as well as the influence of individual job orientations were examined. Results show, that on the one hand organizational culture influenced managerial candidates' identification with organizational goals and their expectations of advancement, but had hardly any impact on their personal work goals. On the other hand, job orientations of managerial candidates affect both their identification with the organization and their personal work goals beyond organizational characteristics. Implications for selection and development of managerial candidates are discussed.     

Cost–benefit and distributional analyses of accessory stimuli

Accessory stimuli (AS) are task-irrelevant events (typically an auditory tone) that speed reaction time (RT). With two conditions (AS-present, AS-absent) it is unclear whether AS-presence causes benefits or AS-absence causes costs, possibly due to the expectancy violations. The current study added a third condition where AS were absent in blocks and not expected (pure blocks); in other blocks, AS occurred with a probability of 0.5 (mixed blocks), allowing cost-benefit analysis comparing AS-absent RTs in pure and mixed blocks. Results demonstrated RTs were slower when AS were absent, regardless of whether the absence occurred in a mixed block or a pure block, suggesting AS do provide a benefit to RT. Additionally, AS-facilitation across the RT distribution was analysed using cumulative distribution frequencies and ex-Gaussian parameter estimation. Both provided converging evidence that AS-facilitation increases towards the slower end of the RT distribution. The implications for the utility of AS paradigms are discussed.     

Development and Assessment of Short and Very Short Forms of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised

Using data from parents of 761 infants from 6 independent samples, short (91 items, 14 scales) and very short (37 items, 3 broad scales) forms of the Infant Behavior Questionnaire–Revised (IBQ–R), a well-established caregiver report measure of temperament for infants aged 3 to 12 months, were developed. The forms were subsequently evaluated with data from 1,619 participants from 11 samples. Over 90% of Cronbach's alphas and part–whole correlations calculated for the short and very short form scales were greater than.70. Interparent agreement was nearly identical to that obtained with standard IBQ–R scales, averaging.41 and ranging from.06 to.76. Longitudinal stability over multiple time spans, and estimated retest reliability of the short form scales, were highly similar to those of standard forms, with estimated retest reliability averaging.72 and ranging from.54 to.93. Convergent and predictive validity of select short form scales were comparable to, but slightly lower, than those observed for standard IBQ–R scales. Recommendations for the use of the standard, short, and very short scales are discussed.     

Feature absence–presence and two theories of lapses of sustained attention

We conducted two experiments using search asymmetry to test two theories of sustained attention lapses currently debated in the literature: the mindlessness theory and the resource theory. In the first experiment, participants performed a feature present and a feature absent sustained attention to response task (SART). The mindlessness theory predicts more commission errors in a feature present SART than a feature absent SART, while resource theory predicts the reverse, i.e. more commission errors in a feature absent SART than feature present SART. The latter occurred. In the second study, participants performed a naturalistic scene vigilance task with targets more analogous to a feature present search or more analogous to a feature absent search. The vigilance decrement occurred, with an increase in reaction time to targets over the course of the vigil. The decrement was more pronounced with the targets more analogous to a feature absent search. Overall, the results of both studies support a resource theory of sustained attention lapses, not the mindlessness theory.     

Attentional control of the creation and retrieval of stimulus–response bindings

Two experiments studied the degree to which the creation and retrieval of episodic feature bindings is modulated by attentional control. Experiment 1 showed that the impact of bindings between stimulus and response features varies as a function of the current attentional set: only bindings involving stimulus features that match the current set affect behavior. Experiment 2 varied the time point at which new attentional sets were implemented—either before or after the processing of the to-be-integrated stimuli and responses. The time point did not matter, suggesting that the attentional set has no impact on feature integration proper but controls which features get access to and can thus trigger the retrieval of bindings.     

Comparison of Mothers' and Fathers' Opinions of Parent–Child Interaction Therapy

Opinions of parenting programs mostly have been obtained from mothers. Because mothers and fathers' interactions with children differ, gathering data from both parents regarding behavior modification and parenting programs is necessary. This project was part of a larger study and compared mothers and fathers' acceptability of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) and its various components. Acceptability data were obtained using the Treatment Evaluation Inventory-Short Form and a modified version of this measure assessing specific PCIT components. The sample consisted of 40 community mother-father pairs of a young male child. Findings suggest gender differences in PCIT treatment acceptability and various PCIT components.     

The Impact of Culture and Individualism–Collectivism on the Creative Potential and Achievement of American and Chinese Adults

ABSTRACT: This research explored the relation between culture and creative potential in highly educated adults. It was hypothesized that culture would influence creative potential and achievement, largely through how individualistic (citizens serving themselves) or collectivistic (citizens serving society) the society of origin was. To this end, 55 American and 56 Chinese doctoral students were surveyed concerning their creative potential, their sense of individualism or collectivism, and their Graduate Record Examination quantitative subtest scores. Americans displayed significantly higher scores on a measure of creative potential than the Chinese. As expected, Americans showed greater individualism. Chinese were more collectivistic. Chinese had significantly higher skill mastery in the domain of mathematics. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for understanding cultural differences in creativity are considered.     

Goal conflict and facilitation as predictors of work–family satisfaction and engagement

In a study of working adults (N = 131; Mean age = 43.52 yrs; 62 males) in Germany and Finland, the mean level of goal facilitation was found to be significantly higher than that of goal interference. Hence, many individuals seem to be rather successful in constructing a personal goal system that is functional in terms of supportive links. As hypothesized, goal conflict and facilitation were associated with work-related outcomes, especially with work satisfaction. The associations with family-related outcomes were less pronounced when the focus was exclusively on either supportive or interfering goal relationships. However, when the intraindividual relation between goal conflict and goal support was taken into account, we found that the relative dominance of facilitation was clearly positively associated with both work-related and family-related indicators of positive functioning.     

A corpus of consonant–vowel–consonant real words and nonwords: Comparison of phonotactic probability, neighborhood density, and consonant age of acquisition

A corpus of 5,765 consonant–vowel–consonant sequences (CVCs) was compiled, and phonotactic probability and neighborhood density were computed for both child and adult corpora. This corpus of CVCs, provided as supplementary materials, was analyzed to address the following questions: (1) Do computations based on a child corpus differ from those based on an adult corpus? (2) Do the phonotactic probability and/or the neighborhood density of real words differ from those of nonwords? (3) Do phonotactic probability and/or neighborhood density differ across CVCs that vary in consonant age of acquisition? The results showed significant differences in phonotactic probability and neighborhood density for the child versus adult corpora, replicating prior findings. The impact of this difference on future studies will depend on the level of precision needed when specifying probability and density. In addition, significant and large differences in phonotactic probability and neighborhood density were detected between real words and nonwords, which may present methodological challenges for future research. Finally, CVCs composed of earlier-acquired sounds differed significantly in probability and density from those composed of later-acquired sounds, although this effect was relatively small and is less likely to present significant methodological challenges to future studies.     

Coexistence of adjacent vacancy-ordered and eutectic phases in Al–Cu–Ni alloys

ABSTRACT

Copper-mould-cast Al–Cu–Ni alloys show adjacent coexistence of in situ grown ordered and eutectic phases. A bimodal microstructure of α–Al and eutectic α-Al+θ-Al₂Cu phases with length-scale hierarchy evolves during solidification. Microstructural analysis through Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) shows the presence of Vacancy-ordered phases (VOPs) with different morphologies in two different compositions.     

The role of mother–child and teacher–child relationship on academic achievement

Robust findings have highlighted the importance of early cognitive abilities for academic performance. However, little is known about the role played by relational variables. In this longitudinal study, we examined children’s relationship with their mothers and teachers as predictors of later academic achievement. We addressed this issue following a group of 45 Italian children (29 boys) from the last year of preschool (mean age: five years and six months) until Year 4 of primary school (mean age: nine years and six months). Results showed that mother–child relationship at age 5 and teacher–child relationship at age 7 correlate with children’s academic achievement at age 9, controlling for early background and verbal abilities. Further analyses showed that teacher–child conflict partially mediates the relationship between early mother–child conflict and children’s later academic achievement. Mechanisms by which relational variables influence learning outcomes are discussed.