Understanding natural dynamics

When making dynamical judgments, people can make effective use of only one salient dimension of information present in the event. People do not make dynamical judgments by deriving multidimensional quantities. The adequacy of dynamical judgments, therefore, depends on the degree of dimensionality that is both inherent in the physics of the event and presumed to be present by the observer. There are two classes of physical motion contexts in which objects may appear. In the simplest class, there exists only one dynamically relevant object parameter: the position over time of the object's center of mass. In the other class of motion contexts, there are additional object attributes, such as mass distribution and orientation, that are of dynamical relevance. In the former class, objects may be formally treated as extensionless point particles, whereas in the latter class some aspect of the object's extension in space is coupled into its motion. A survey of commonsense understandings showed that people are relatively accurate when specific dynamical judgments can be accurately based on a single information dimension; however, erroneous judgments are pervasive when simple motion contexts are misconstrued as being multidimensional, and when multidimensional quantities are the necessary basis for accurate judgments.     

"My Group Is Not Worthy of Me": Narcissism and Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism can be seen as an expression of narcissism at the group level. However, the relationship between ethnocentrism and narcissism has rarely been studied, and there is little agreement about what this relationship might be. Both have also been treated as simple, unidimensional constructs, whereas research indicates they are better viewed as complex and multidimensional. New research using multidimensional measures of both constructs was therefore conducted in a sample of 264 undergraduates. Narcissism, primarily its covert form, related positively to intergroup expressions of ethnocentrism, but negatively to intragroup expressions. In addition, both intergroup expressions of ethnocentrism and covert narcissism were related to disliking others. The findings suggest that intergroup expressions of ethnocentrism are based on personal self-aggrandizement, whereas intragroup expressions are based on personal self-transcendence. In addition, they suggest that narcissistic people have generally selfish and exploitative attitudes, even towards their own groups. They also emphasize the importance of investigating both ethnocentrism and narcissism as complex multidimensional constructs.     

Multidimensionality of state and trait anxiety: A cross-cultural study comparing american,canadian, israeli and german young adults

Abstract

The psychometric adequacy of the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EMAS) was examined in samples of American, Canadian, Israeli, and West German male and female young adults. Also investigated was the generalizability of the interactional model of anxiety to a diverse set of cultural contexts. This interactional model distinguishes between multidimensional dimensions of state and trait anxiety. The EMAS was developed to both reliably and independently assess multidimensional state and trait anxiety. Three hundred and seventy-four American undergraduates, 292 Canadian undergraduates, 326 Israeli undergraduates, and 304 West German undergraduates completed the EMAS in a non-stressful situation. The EMAS subscales were found to be highly reliable scales in all four cultural groups. Consistent empirical support was found across cultural groups for both the distinction between state and trait anxiety and the multidimensionality of these two constructs. Significant gender and cultural differences were found across the various EMAS subscales. Women were more likely than men to report being anxious in social evaluation and physical danger situations. In comparison to the other 3 groups, the Israelis reported being less anxious in social evaluation and physical danger situations. Results are discussed in terms of cultural differences between Canada, the United States, West Germany and Israel.     

Converging evidence that fear of success is multidimensional

Fear of Success (FOS) was originally conceived as a unidimensional motive. However, there is both theoretical and empirical support for the hypothesis that FOS is multidimensional. We factor analyzed the responses of 236 undergraduates to twenty-oneConcern Over the Negative Consequences of Success items and found four factors. Our four factors show considerable overlap with dimensions based on theoretical accounts of FOS etiology as well as with the factor structures obtained from two other factor analytic studies. Thus, there is converging evidence that FOS is multidimensional. The relationship between multidimensional FOS and a multidimensional approach to achievement motivation is discussed.     

Influence of animation on dynamical judgments.

The motions of objects in the environment reflect underlying dynamical constraints and regularities. The conditions under which people are sensitive to natural dynamics are considered. In particular, the article considers what determines whether observers can distinguish canonical and anomalous dynamics when viewing ongoing events. The extent to which such perceptual appreciations are integrated with and influence common-sense reasoning about mechanical events is examined. It is concluded that animation evokes accurate dynamical intuitions when there is only 1 dimension of information that is of dynamical relevance. This advantage is lost when the observed motion reflects higher dimension dynamics or when the kinematic information is removed or degraded.     

Converging evidence that fear of success is multidimensional

Fear of Success (FOS) was originally conceived as a unidimensional motive. However, there is both theoretical and empirical support for the hypothesis that FOS is multidimensional. We factor analyzed the responses of 236 undergraduates to twenty-oneConcern Over the Negative Consequences of Success items and found four factors. Our four factors show considerable overlap with dimensions based on theoretical accounts of FOS etiology as well as with the factor structures obtained from two other factor analytic studies. Thus, there is converging evidence that FOS is multidimensional. The relationship between multidimensional FOS and a multidimensional approach to achievement motivation is discussed.     

Perspective-taking in dialogue as self-organization under social constraints

We present a dynamical systems account of how simple social information influences perspective-taking. Our account is motivated by the notion that perspective-taking may obey common dynamic principles with perceptuomotor coupling. We turn to the prominent HKB dynamical model of motor coordination, drawing from basic principles of self-organization to describe how conversational perspective-taking unfolds in a low-dimensional attractor landscape. We begin by simulating experimental data taken from a simple instruction-following task, in which participants have different expectations about their interaction partner. By treating belief states as different values of a control parameter, we show that data generated by a basic dynamical process fits overall egocentric and other-centric response distributions, the time required for participants to enact a response on a trial-by-trial basis, and the action dynamics exhibited in individual trials. We end by discussing the theoretical significance of dynamics in dialog, arguing that high-level coordination such as perspective-taking may obey similar dynamics as perceptuomotor coordination, pointing to common principles of adaptivity and flexibility during dialog.     

The effects of mood on spontaneous trait inferences about the actor: Evidence from Chinese undergraduates

Prior research has indicated that positive moods increase but negative moods decrease the trait activation of spontaneous trait inferences (STIs). However, it is unknown whether this difference is also present in STIs about the actor. In Study 1, using a false recognition paradigm, we found that Chinese undergraduates made STIs about the actor. In Study 2, we found that the happy Chinese undergraduates were more likely to make STIs about the actor than the sad Chinese undergraduates. These findings showed that Chinese people made STIs about the actor and moods had an influence on their STIs about the actor.     

Information becomes evidence when an explanation can incorporate it into a causal framework

Recognizing information as evidence is central to the development of scientific reasoning. When does information about an event come to be treated as evidence relevant to explaining the event? We asked whether this was increasingly likely to happen when an explanation becomes available that can incorporate both the event and the information into a single causal framework. In three studies, we presented participants with events for which there were two possible and plausible explanations (a baseline and one of two alternative explanations), as well as with two pieces of background information. While all explanations could account for the event, only one alternative explanation (the “target” explanation) could incorporate both the event and the background information into a single causal framework. The results indicated that information is more likely to be seen as evidentially relevant to an event when there is an explanation available that can accommodate both the event and the information into a single casual framework than when such an explanation is lacking. Furthermore, the presence of this information renders the target alternative increasingly plausible. That is, it is the interdependence of explanation or theory and evidence that allows us to realize that some information is likely to be evidential. However, for this to happen, the relation between explanation and information must be made salient, either by explicitly asking about it (as we did in Study 1) or by fleshing out the target explanation (as we did in Study 3).     

Reasoning about conjunctive probabilistic concepts in childhood.

While adults are known to exhibit biases when making conjunctive probability judgments, little is known about childhood competencies in this area. Participants (aged between four and five years, eight and ten years, and a group of young adults) attempted to select the more likely of two events, a single event, and a conjunctive event containing, as one of its components, the single event. The problems were such that the objective probabilities of the component events were potentially available. Children in both age groups were generally successful when the single event was likely. However, when it was unlikely, a majority of children rejected it, choosing the conjunctive event instead, thereby committing the conjunction fallacy. A substantial minority of adults also committed the fallacy under equivalent conditions. It is concluded that under certain conditions children are capable of normative conjunctive judgments but that the mechanisms underpinning this capacity remain to be fully understood.     

Appraisal-coping goodness of fit: a daily internet study

Using an Internet daily diary methodology, this study tested the goodness of fit hypothesis, which highlights the importance of the match between controllability appraisals and coping efforts in adjustment to stressful events. For 28 days, 190 undergraduates described their most stressful event and its controllability, how they coped, and their daily positive and negative mood. Individuals demonstrated fit across situations, with control appraisals associated positively with problem-focused coping and negatively with emotional approach coping and avoidance coping. A pooled within-person interaction indicated that problem-focused coping had a stronger positive association with positive mood when dealing with high versus low control stressors. Significant variation also was found in several other within-person interactions between control appraisals and coping, and some evidence was found for the notion that individual differences in the degree of matching coping to control appraisals were associated with person-level adjustment.     

Luck as an epistemic notion

Although many philosophers have argued that an event is lucky for an agent only if it was suitably improbable, there is considerable disagreement about how to understand this improbability condition. This paper argues for a hitherto overlooked construal of the improbability condition in terms of the lucky agent’s epistemic situation. According to the proposed account, an event is lucky for an agent only if the agent was not in a position to know that the event would occur. It is also explored whether this new account threatens the anti-luck program in epistemology. It is argued that although not detrimental to the anti-luck program, the epistemic account of luck sets certain important limits to its scope and feasibility.     

Adverse Events in Emerging Adulthood Are Associated with Increases in Neuroticism

Previous studies have produced mixed results when examining whether experiencing an adverse event can lead to changes in Neuroticism. We sought to examine this effect when (a) the event was relatively recent, (b) the event occurred during a relatively early development stage (i.e., emerging adulthood), and (c) the event was severely adverse. A sample of 1,108 undergraduates completed three measures of Neuroticism twice, separated by approximately 3 months, and indicated the most traumatic or adverse event they experienced during the intervening 3 months. We examined two operationalizations of adverse events: one that is more objectively defined (indicated experiencing a trauma listed on a trauma history measure) and another more subjectively defined (participant ratings of event centrality). The results revealed that high Neuroticism at Time 1 predicted future exposure to both types of adverse events. Critically, participants who experienced either type of adverse event during the semester reported significant increases in Neuroticism. Experiencing a high event centrality event was also associated with small increases in the personality traits Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness. The results are discussed in terms of the conditions necessary for adverse events to affect personality traits.     

CRT信号显示的刺激率和信号率对警觉作业的影响

本实验系统地考察了在不同刺激率、信号率条件下警觉水平的变化 ,并分析了以往警觉理论的适应条件。实验一采用 5次 /分、1 5次 /分和 30次 /分的刺激率条件 ,发现检测正确率在各条件下随时间的变化是由于 d′下降所致 ,而β值基本不变 ,可以认为警觉随时间下降是由于疲劳所致 ;中等刺激率条件下的 d′最高 ,低刺激率次之 ,高刺激率最差并且高刺激率导致被试唤醒水平降低。实验二在 30次 /分的高刺激率条件下变化信号率 (分别为 3次 /分、6次 /分和 1 2次 /分 ) ,发现信号率变化不会改变 d′,但导致β值的变化 ,可以认为高信噪比导致被试的唤醒水平升高     

A Multidimensional and Multilevel Extension of a Random-Effect Approach to Subjective Judgment in Rating Scales

In responding to rating scale items, respondents may hold different perspectives on the given categories. The random-effect rating scale model (RERSM), developed to account for variations in the category thresholds across respondents, is unidimensional and unilevel. It becomes statistically inefficient when multiple unidimensional tests have to be analyzed and inapplicable when data have a multilevel structure (e.g., respondents nested within organizations, students nested within schools). To resolve these problems, this study develops a multidimensional and multilevel version of the RERSM. The parameters can be estimated with existing computer software. Thus, there is no need to develop estimation procedures or corresponding computer programs. Simulation studies were conducted to evaluate the parameter recovery of the multidimensional RERSM, the multilevel RERSM, and the multidimensional and multilevel RERSM using WinBUGS. The results showed that the parameter recovery was generally satisfactory. An empirical example of the application of the multidimensional and multilevel RERSM to 2006 Program for International Student Assessment inventories about attitudes toward learning sciences is provided.     

Structures,dynamics and mechanisms in neuroscience: an integrative account

Proponents of mechanistic explanations have recently proclaimed that all explanations in the neurosciences appeal to mechanisms. The purpose of the paper is to critically assess this statement and to develop an integrative account that connects a large range of both mechanistic and dynamical explanations. I develop and defend four theses about the relationship between dynamical and mechanistic explanations: that dynamical explanations are structurally grounded, that they are multiply realizable, possess realizing mechanisms and provide a powerful top-down heuristic. Four examples shall support my points: the harmonic oscillator, the Haken–Kelso–Bunz model of bimanual coordination, the Watt governor and the Gierer–Meinhardt model of biological pattern formation. I also develop the picture of “horizontal” and “vertical” directions of explanations to illustrate the different perspectives of the dynamical and mechanistic approach as well as their potential integration by means of intersection points.     

Paradoxical effects of testing: retrieval enhances both accurate recall and suggestibility in eyewitnesses

Although retrieval practice typically enhances memory retention, it can also impair subsequent eyewitness memory accuracy (Chan, Thomas, & Bulevich, 2009). Specifically, participants who had taken an initial test about a witnessed event were more likely than nontested participants to recall subsequently encountered misinformation—an effect we called retrieval-enhanced suggestibility (RES). Here, we sought to test the generality of RES and to further elucidate its underlying mechanisms. To that end, we tested a dual mechanism account, which suggests that RES occurs because initial testing (a) enhances learning of the later misinformation by reducing proactive interference and (b) causes the reactivated memory trace to be more susceptible to later interference (i.e., a reconsolidation account). Three major findings emerged. First, RES was found after a 1-week delay, where a robust testing benefit occurred for event details that were not contradicted by later misinformation. Second, blockage of reconsolidation was unnecessary for RES to occur. Third, initial testing enhanced learning of the misinformation even when proactive interference played a minimal role.     

A Comparison of What U.S. Judges and Students Know and Believe About Eyewitness Testimony

We compared what 160 U.S. judges, 57 law students, and 121 undergraduates know and believe about factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Judges were no more knowledgeable than were undergraduates, and both groups were less knowledgeable than were law students. For all 3 groups, increased knowledge of eyewitness factors was associated with beliefs that might reduce wrongful convictions. Participants in all 3 groups underestimated what potential jurors know about eyewitness testimony. The results suggest that increasing judges' knowledge of eyewitness testimony might help them to reduce wrongful convictions and to more accurately assess when eyewitness experts are needed. The results also suggest that law schools need to do a better job of educating law students about eyewitness testimony.     

Word Schemas: Expectations About the Form and Meaning of New Words

This study explores students' word schemas, that is, their knowledge not just of specific words, but also about words in general that can be applied when they encounter new words. Students in 7th and 10th grade and college undergraduates were asked to rate the plausibility of made-up definitions for nonsense words. Some of the definitions, although nonexistent or extremely rare, represented plausible meanings. Other definitions, however, were constructed to violate hypothesized expectations about possible meanings of English words. Students at all grade levels were found to distinguish plausible from less plausible meanings. College undergraduates also displayed sensitivity to part of speech distinctions in a subset of the items for which the range of possible meanings was hypothesized to be different for nouns and verbs. Results show that word schemas are applied in evaluating hypotheses about possible meanings of new words and that skilled adult readers are sensitive to subtle regularities in the English lexicon.