When obvious covariations are not even learned implicitly

The present experiments examine the impact of covariation type and attention on implicit covariation learning. Experiments 1 and 2 compare learning of stimulus–stimulus (s–s) and stimulus–response (s–r) covariations. Although stimuli and responses were predicted by a distinct feature of the display, implicit learning neither of s–s nor of s–r covariations was observed. Experiments 3–5 explore the impact of attention on implicit learning of an s–r covariation. Distinct features either of the targets or of an incidental but centrally presented object predicted the responses. Implicit covariation learning was restricted to predictors that were part of to-be-attended targets. Finally, Experiment 6 shows implicit learning of a partial s–r covariation in which only one of two responses is predicted by target features. It is argued that implicit learning is based on the formation of associations between simultaneously activated distinct representations. Because only attended stimuli seem to reach a sufficient level of mental distinctiveness, attending the predictive information most likely is an indispensable prerequisite for implicit covariation learning to occur.     

When Words are not Enough: Psychotherapy with Clients Who are Living Below the Poverty Level

The present article describes six strategies found useful when working with depressed clients who are struggling with severe financial limitations. First, it is important to help clients maintain an attitude of hope for a better future, so they remain as positive yet realistic about their current options and future goals. Second, empathy is considered to be a central component in all psychotherapy sessions, helping therapists to understand their clients’ life experiences and ongoing struggles. Third, clients can learn to develop more adaptive perspectives about life, family, and friends, trying to focus on the positive events they have experienced and the supportive bonds they have developed. Fourth, clients can develop new specific coping skills that may help them to manage the problems they encounter. Fifth, many clients can better utilize the social support that is often available, starting to ask family members and friends for assistance and support when help is needed. Sixth, an interdisciplinary treatment team is often optimal when the treatment plan integrates the potential benefits derived from psychotherapy, medications, and social service agencies. An effective psychotherapist respects the limits of psychology while consulting with colleagues from other health care professions. These six strategies can help guide therapists when working with clients who are struggling with persistent depression in the face of adversity.     

Same-gender distractors are not so easy to reject: ERP evidence of gender categorization

Social categorization appears to be an automatic process that occurs during person perception. Understanding social categorization better is important because mere categorization can lead to stereotype activation and, in turn, to discrimination. In the present study we used a novel approach to examine event-related potentials (ERPs) of gender categorization in the “Who said what?” memory paradigm, thus allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the specific mechanisms underlying identity versus categorization processing. After observing video clips showing a “discussion” among female and male targets, participants were shown individual statements, each accompanied by one of the discussants’ faces. While we measured ERPs, participants had to decide whether or not a given statement had previously been made by the person with the accompanying face. In same-person trials, statements were paired with the correct person, whereas in the distractor trials, either a same-gender or a different-gender distractor was shown. As expected, participants were able to reject different-gender distractors faster than same-gender distractors, and they were more likely to falsely choose yes for a same-gender than for a different-gender distractor. Both findings indicate gender-based categorization. ERPs, analyzed in a 300- to 400-ms time window at occipito-temporal channels, indicated more negative amplitudes for yes responses both for the same person and for same-gender distractors, relative to different-gender distractors. Overall, these results show gender-based categorization even when the task was to assess the identifying information in a gender-neutral context. These findings are interpreted as showing that gender categorization occurs automatically during person perception, but later than race- or age-based categorization.     

And so indeed are perfect cheat

Ethical discourse and fallacy theory come together in a natural way over concepts such as bias, prejudice, preconceived opinion, prototypical and stereotypical thinking, dogmatism and loyalty. By and large, these are concepts that have not been sufficiently worked up to bear the theoretical weight either of ethics or of logic. The present paper seeks to ameliorate this situation. It proposes that situations describable by any such concepts partition into (a) the rationally and morally regrettable and (b) the rationally and morally impeccable, and in any event, unavoidable. Finding (b) will come as a surprise to some theorists.[A]ll the artificial and figurative application of Words Eloquence hath invented are for nothing else but to insinuate wrongIdeas, move the Passions, and thereby mislead the Judgment; and so indeed are perfect cheat; And therefore, however laudable or allowable Oratory may render them in Harangues and popular Addresses, they are certainly, in all Discourses that pretend to inform or instruct, wholly to be avoided. ...John Locke,Essay on Human Understanding, Book III.     

When things are not the same: A review of research into relations of difference

Responding to stimuli as same and different can be considered a critical component of a variety of language and academic repertoires. Whereas responding to “sameness” and generalized identity matching (i.e., coordination) have been studied extensively, there appears to be a significant gap in behavior analytic research and educational programs with regard to nonmatching relations or relations of difference. We review research on difference relations from a variety of domains, including comparative psychology, as well as experimental, and translational behavior analysis. We examine a range of studies, including research on the perception of difference and oddity responding, as well as investigations on establishing relational frames of distinction. We present suggestions for future research and describe potential methods for teaching skills related to relations of difference.     

When our thoughts are not our own: Investigating agency misattributions using the Mind-to-Mind paradigm

At the core of the sense of agency for self-produced action is the sense that I, and not some other agent, am producing and directing those actions. While there is an ever-expanding body of empirical research investigating the sense of agency for bodily action, there has, to date, been little empirical investigation of the sense of agency for thought. The present study uses the novel Mind-to-Mind paradigm, in which the agentive source of a target thought is ambiguous, to measure misattributions of agency. Seventy-two percent of participants made at least one misattribution of agency during a 5-min trial. Misattributions were significantly more frequent when the target thought was an arousing negative thought as compared to a neutral control. The findings establish a novel protocol for measuring the sense of agency for thought, and suggest that both contextual factors and emotional experience play a role in its generation.     

微笑元邪尽情绽放--赏读《无邪的微笑》

<无邪的微笑>,大64开本,现在就静躺在我的手边,其缤纷的色彩,精致的绘图,如同吹来一阵清风,令人神清目朗,招惹得你禁不住时不时拿起来翻阅.该书将严肃的反邪教主题镕裁于四个卡通人物:申子,聪明活泼的中学生;薛老师,反邪教志愿者;马扁,邪教头目的典型代表;糊涂外婆,容易上当的老人.四个人物的设置体现了正与邪、善良与欺诈的矛盾对立.如果说因为外婆的迷信糊涂致使马扁的骗局屡屡得手的话,那么申子粲然的微笑就如同一绺阳光,破除邪教的阴霾.     

When you and I are "we," you are not threatening: the role of self-expansion in social comparison

Many theories of self-evaluation emphasize the power of social comparison. Simply put, an individual is thought to gain esteem whenever she or he outperforms others and to lose esteem when he or she is outperformed. The current research explored interdependent self-construal as a moderator of these effects. Two studies used a priming task to manipulate the level of self-construal and investigate effects of social comparison in dyadic (Study 1) and group situations (Study 2). Both studies demonstrated that when the target for comparison is construed as part of the self, his or her successes become cause for celebration rather than costs to esteem. Additionally, gender differences in chronic relational and collective self-construals moderated the patterns of social comparison in a form similar to that of priming relational and collective self-construals.     

Marihuana and the counselor: it's not so simple

This invited article takes a different position on the topic of marihuana from that discussed by William Camp in the previous article. The author of this article presents recent reports on marihuana research and points to the need for counselors not only to keep abreast of current developments in the area but also to “get it together” themselves before attempting to deal with clients who use marihuana and other drugs.     

When acoustic sequences are not perceptual sequences: The global perception of auditory patterns

Warren, Bashford, and Gardner (1990) found that when sequences consisting of 10 40-msec steady-state vowels were presented in recycled format, minimal changes in order (interchanging the position of two adjacent phonemes) produced easily recognizable differences in verbal organization, even though the vowel durations were well below the threshold for identification of order. The present study was designed to determine if this ability to discriminate between different arrangements of components is limited to speech sounds subject to verbal organization, or if it reflects a more general auditory ability. In the first experiment. 10 40-msec sinusoidal tones were substituted for the vowels; it was found that the easy discrimination of minimal changea in order is not limited to speech sounds. A second experiment substituted 10 40-msec frozen noise segments for the vowels. The succession of noise segments formed a 400-msec frozen noise pattern that cannot be considered as a sequence of individual sounds, as can the succession of vowels or tones. Nevertheless, listeners again could discriminate between patterns differing.only in the order of two adjacent 40-msec segments. These results, together with other evidence, indicate that it is not necessary foracoustic sequences of brief items (such as phonemes and tones) to be processed asperceptual sequences (that is, as a succession of discrete identifiable sounds) for different arrangements to be discriminated. Instead, component acoustic elements form distinctive “temporal compounds,” which permit listeners to distinguish between different arrangements of portions of an acoustic pattern without the need for segmentation into an ordered series of component items. Implications for models dealing with the recognition of speech and music are discussed.     

Not so fast! (and not so frugal!): rethinking the recognition heuristic

The 'fast and frugal' approach to reasoning (Gigerenzer, G., & Todd, P. M. (1999). Simple heuristics that make us smart. New York: Oxford University Press) claims that individuals use non-compensatory strategies in judgment--the idea that only one cue is taken into account in reasoning. The simplest and most important of these heuristics postulates that judgment sometimes relies solely on recognition. However, the studies that have investigated usage of the recognition heuristic have confounded recognition with other cues that could also lead to similar judgments. This paper tests whether mere recognition is actually driving the findings in support of the recognition heuristic. Two studies provide evidence that judgments do not conform to the recognition heuristic when these confounds are accounted for. Implications for the study of simple heuristics are discussed.     

Self-defence Against the Innocent

Do we have the right to defend ourselves against innocent aggressors? If I amattacked in a lift by a knife-wielding lunatic, may I kill or maim him to protect my own life? On one view the insane man’s plight is his bad luck and I am under no obligation to let it be transferred to me. On the opposing view it is my bad luck to be under attack and I have no right to transfer it to an innocent man by killing him to protect myself. It is perhaps becauseneither of these opposing viewpoints is obviously preferable to the other that there is no consensus about the question. Nevertheless we can find considerations for favouring the first view over the second.     

When two heads are not better than one: Partner neglect in paired memory tasks

People can monitor the accuracy of their own memories and regulate their responses accordingly. But can they monitor and make use of another person’s memory? We document a new phenomenon whereby participants neglect a partner’s expertise when deciding whether to defer to that partner’s memory or to rely on their own. In two experiments, participants studied images for more time than, less time than, or the same amount of time as a partner, and on subsequent recognition tests they were directed to maximize team performance by either answering themselves or letting their partner respond. In both experiments, individuals failed to use the knowledge that the partner would probably have a better memory for certain items. Only when explicitly instructed to estimate their accuracy relative to their partner’s did participants take advantage of the partner’s greater expertise. Psychonomic Society, Inc.     

When groups are wrong and deviants are right

How do group members respond when their group wrongfully punishes a group member? In two experiments, participants were presented with an ingroup member who argued for group change on moral (Experiment 1, N = 73) or scientific grounds (Experiment 2, N = 94). Despite being right, the member was treated as deviant by the group. We manipulated whether the group retained its former opinion or adopted the deviant's position, and whether the deviant's punishment was ongoing or whether the deviant was reinstated. We tested opposing predictions about how these group actions would affect group members' negativity towards the deviant. Both studies showed that negativity towards the deviant was highest when the group opinion was unchanged and the deviant was not reinstated. Further, opinion change or reintegration defused negativity towards the deviant. Implications of groups rejecting or embracing change, and their effects on the evaluation of wrongfully accused deviants are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.