Take-the-best in expert-novice decision strategies for residential burglary

We examined the decision strategies and cue use of experts and novices in a consequential domain: crime. Three participant groups decided which of two residential properties was more likely to be burgled, on the basis of eight cues such as location of the property. The two expert groups were experienced burglars and police officers, and the novice group was composed of graduate students. We found that experts’ choices were best predicted by a lexicographic heuristic strategy called take-the-best that implies noncompensatory information processing, whereas novices’ choices were best predicted by a weighted additive linear strategy that implies compensatory processing. The two expert groups, however, differed in the cues they considered important in making their choices, and the police officers were actually more similar to novices in this regard. These findings extend the literature on judgment, decision making, and expertise, and have implications for criminal justice policy.     

Knowledge structures and the acquisition of a complex skill

The purpose of this study was to examine the viability of knowledge structures as an operationalization of learning in the context of a task that required a high degree of skill. Over the course of 3 days, 86 men participated in 9 training sessions and learned a complex video game. At the end of acquisition, participants' knowledge structures were assessed. After a 4-day nonpractice interval, trainees completed tests of skill retention and skill transfer. Findings indicated that the similarity of trainees' knowledge structures to an expert structure was correlated with skill acquisition and was predictive of skill retention and skill transfer. However, the magnitude of these effects was dependent on the method used to derive the expert referent structure. Moreover, knowledge structures mediated the relationship between general cognitive ability and skill-based performance.     

Knowledge structures in the organization and retrieval of autobiographical memories

In this paper, the role of knowledge structures in organizing and retrieving autobiographical experiences is investigated. It is proposed that autobiographical events are organized in memory by the knowledge structures that guided comprehension and planning during the experience. Individual experiences are retrieved from memory by first accessing the knowledge structures used to encode the event, then using information in those structures to predict features of the target event, thus directing search to paths likely to lead to that event. Two types of structures are investigated as candidates for these organizing contexts. Activities are sequences of actions performed to achieve a goal, while general actions are situation-free components occurring as part of several activities and represent what is common to that action across those activities. It is predicted that activities are more important in retrieving experiences, because (1) these structures constitute the principal contexts used to store experiences and (2) information contained within these structures is more useful for predicting features of target events. The greater utility of activities in retrieving experiences was demonstrated in two autobiographical memory retrieval time experiments. First, retrieval of a personal experience matching an activity and action combination was faster when subjects were given an activity cue before a general action cue, because processing could get a “head start” when the activity context was presented first. Second, specifying an activity and action led to faster memory retrievals than specifying only the action, while no such facilitation occurred when an activity was augmented by a general action. In both experiments, retrieval was slowed when more processing was required to infer probable features of the target experience, as predicted by the directed nature of the search process. These experiments and this model provide a general framework for studying the organization of events in autobiographical memory.     

Participation motives of young Australian and Chinese gymnasts.

Reasons for participating in gymnastics were investigated with 280 Australian and 103 Chinese youth. The participants, aged 8 to 15 years, completed modified versions of the Participation Motivation Questionnaire. Treatment of the scores by principal components analysis yielded seven factors. Further analyses showed that the samples differed significantly on six of these factors. Comparisons of individual items indicated that the Australian gymnasts rated having fun and liking the rewards as more important than did the Chinese respondents. Chinese athletes allocated higher ratings to being part of a club, having a good body, liking to win, and wanting to be popular. Both groups assigned high values to reasons associated with improving skills, being fit, and getting exercise. It was suggested that the findings reflected cultural differences between Australian and Chinese societies as well as particular characteristics of the Chinese sample.     

Gaze behavior of trampoline gymnasts during a back tuck somersault

In trampolining, gymnasts perform a variety of rotational jumping elements and have to demonstrate perfect control of the body during the flying phase. The performance of a somersault should include an opening phase, i.e. the legs are fully extended pointing vertically at 180° called “kick-out”. As previous studies have shown, gaze behavior is essential for the controlling during the flight phase and to prepare for a perfect landing. Gymnasts supposedly use the trampoline bed as orientation and differences in gaze behavior can be expected, depending on how a somersault is performed. The present study investigates the gaze behavior of gymnasts during a back tuck somersault on the trampoline. Eleven experienced trampoline gymnasts performed back tuck somersaults with and without a kick-out while wearing a light weight portable eye-tracking device. All subjects fixated their gaze on a specific point at the trampoline bed and thus used visual information to prepare for landing. During the period of fixation, gymnasts' eyes moved continuously downwards to counteract the backwards head movement. The point of fixation differed between each somersault. Apparently, the fixation position depended on the gymnast's landing position in the bed. Performing a somersault with a kick-out allows gymnasts to orient themselves earlier and thus prepare sooner for landing. Unexpectedly, gymnasts of a higher performance class fixated the bed later compared to less experienced athletes. Supposedly, gymnasts of a better class can allow themselves to fixate later in order to optimize the form and execution of a somersault.     

Competitive state anxiety and performance in young female rhythmic gymnasts

The study was designed to examine the competitive state anxiety and self-confidence of rhythmic gymnasts participating in the Greek national competition. 86 participants, ages 11 and 12 years, completed the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, 1 hr. before competition. The athletes, classified by performance (high and low performance) and participation in the finals (finalists and nonfinalists), responded to the three subscales: Cognitive Anxiety, Somatic Anxiety, and Self-confidence. Analyses indicated differences in Self-confidence between high versus low performance groups and finalists versus nonfinalists. No significant differences were found on Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety. In a regression analysis, Self-confidence was the only significant predictor of performance for this sample. Implications refer to the development of strategies to enhance self-confidence in order to improve the gymnast's performance during competition.     

Eating pathology in female gymnasts: Potential risk and protective factors

Although participation in sports that emphasize aestheticism, such as women's gymnastics, are associated with higher rates of eating pathology, little is known about the risk and protective factors involved in this process. We established and tested a model proposing that body surveillance and body shame are processes by which pubertal development and training may uniquely contribute to pathological eating by sampling 100 competitive female gymnasts via questionnaires. We further tested whether self-esteem moderated several model relationships. Results demonstrated that pubertal development was associated with higher levels of body surveillance, body shame and disordered eating; whereas greater time spent training was associated with lower levels of body shame and disordered eating. Finally higher self-esteem was associated with lower levels of disordered eating, less body surveillance, and less body shame. Potential risk and protective factors for the development of eating pathology in female gymnasts are discussed.     

Effects of a stress-management program on injury and stress of competitive gymnasts

20 competitive gymnasts (17 girls, 3 boys; mean age, 14.4 +/- 3.4 yr.) were recruited from two clubs in Auckland, New Zealand. Gymnasts, who had competed at a national or international level, were divided into two groups to examine the effects of a longitudinal stress-management program on injury and stress. Those in the stress-management group took part in 12 1-hr. sessions over 24 weeks, while the control group took part in a placebo program of anthropometric measurements and lectures on nutrition. All participants completed the Life Experiences Survey and Athletic Experiences Survey at baseline, 3 mo., 6 mo. (end of intervention), and 9 mo. (3 mo. after completion of intervention). Injury data were collected prospectively by weekly self-report over the 9-mo. study. Repeated-measures analyses of covariance with age and, where applicable, the baseline measure of the dependent variable entered as covariates, indicated no significant group or group by time effects for the scores on the two surveys, or injury scores. However, given the small sample, the statistical power of the study to detect even large effects was low. Therefore, rather than concluding that the stress-management program had no effect on training hours lost to injury or on stress, upper limits were placed on the magnitude of any effects that might exist. Further research using larger samples is recommended.     

Moral Knowledge Without Knowledge of Moral Knowledge

The Journal of Ethics - Most people believe some moral propositions are true. Most people would say that they know that rape is wrong, torturing people is wrong, and so on. But despite decades of...     

Aesthetic sports as high-risk contexts for eating disorders--young elite dancers and gymnasts perspectives

This is the first study developed in Portugal which investigates specific characteristics of dance and gymnastics environments that make them high-risk contexts for the development of eating disorders. Four focus groups were conducted with thirteen ballet students from a professional dance school and nine gymnasts from a gymnastics club (aged 12 to 17 years old), which were subjected to an inductive-deductive analysis procedure. Specific risk and protective factors were identified. Among their respective sources of influence, teachers and coaches are those who exert a stronger influence upon young athletes. We also explored some themes related to the influence of peers, parents, and environmental characteristics, which could have an important role on the development or prevention of disordered eating.     

Relationships between physiological and psychological stress and salivary immunoglobulin A among young female gymnasts

We investigated whether psychological and physical stress induced by training or competition influence the secretory immune system among 12 highly trained young female gymnasts. Salivary levels of secretory IgA and cortisol responses to gymnastic training session or competition were assessed a total of 10 times, immediately before and after two training sessions which had different intensities and just before and after a major competition. These parameters were also measured on two non-training days. The Brunel Mood Scale was also used to assess the gymnasts's overall mood on each test day. IgA:Protein ratio was calculated. Significant decreases in this ratio were found after each exercise session, related to the physiological and psychological stress induced by exercise. Over the 5-mo. training period the presession IgA:Protein ratios were unchanged. Gymnasts registered any episodes of upper respiratory tract infection. Bouts of exercise induce transitory effects on the immune system in relation to the workload and the stress induced by the exercise without any relation to increased susceptibility to illness in children.     

Mental rotation performance in soccer players and gymnasts in an object-based mental rotation task

In this study, the effect of motor expertise on an object-based mental rotation task was investigated. 60 males and 60 females (40 soccer players, 40 gymnasts, and 40 non-athletes, equivalent males and females in each group) solved a psychometric mental rotation task with both cube and human figures. The results revealed that all participants had a higher mental rotation accuracy for human figures compared to cubed figures, that the gender difference was reduced with human figures, and that gymnasts demonstrated a better mental rotation performance than non-athletes. The results are discussed against the background of the existing literature on motor experts, mental rotation performance as well as the importance of the testing situation and the test construction.     

Testimonial Knowledge Without Knowledge of what is Said

This article discusses the following question: what epistemic relation must audiences bear to the content of assertions in order to gain testimonial knowledge? There is a brief discussion of why this issue is of importance, followed by two counterexamples to the most intuitive answer: that in order for an audience to gain testimonial knowledge that p they must know that the speaker has asserted p . It is then suggested that the argument generalises and can be made to work on different sets of assumptions about the conditions for knowledge, and the conditions under which a proposition is asserted.     

Why Basic Knowledge is Easy Knowledge

The problem of easy knowledge arises for theories that have what I call a "basic knowledge structure". S has basic knowledge of P just in case S knows P prior to knowing that the cognitive source of S's knowing P is reliable.¹ Our knowledge has a basic knowledge structure (BKS) just in case we have basic knowledge and we come to know our faculties are reliable on the basis of our basic knowledge. The problem I raised in "Basic Knowledge and the Problem of Easy Knowledge"² (BKEK) is that once we allow for basic knowledge, we can come to know our faculties are reliable in ways that intuitively are too easy. This raises a serious doubt about whether we had the basic knowledge in the first place.
In "Easy Knowledge", Peter Markie argues that BKS theories do not face any problem concerning easy knowledge.³ I argued that the problem arises in two forms, and Markie takes issue with both. I will argue that Markie's defense of BKS theories fails.     

Dieting and body image in aesthetic sports: A comparison of Dutch female gymnasts and non-aesthetic sport participants

ObjectivesTo examine the relationship between dieting behavior and body image in female aesthetic athletes.MethodsSeventeen elite gymnasts, 51 non-elite gymnasts and a control group of 85 schoolgirls, participating in non-elite, merely recreational non-aesthetic sports, completed self-report measures of dieting behaviors and body image.ResultsAfter controlling for BMI, the results showed that elite gymnasts dieted more often than controls, although they were not more negative about their body. Furthermore, non-elite gymnasts dieted as much as controls and had a more positive body image. Despite what general theories predict, the gymnasts’ dieting was not so much related to a negative body image but rather to weight-related causal attributions or perceived weight-related coach pressure.ConclusionsWhereas controls believe that ‘thin is beautiful’, gymnasts seem more convinced or persuaded that ‘thin is going to win’. Future research should take into consideration that dieting and body image are likely to be developed differently in the context of aesthetic sports.     

Within-person and between-people variability in personality dynamics: Knowledge structures,self-efficacy,pleasure appraisals,and the Big Five

We investigated within-person co-variations from the perspective of knowledge-and-appraisal theories of personality. Knowledge structures were idiographically assessed as personal beliefs on the relevance of personality characteristics in facilitating successful actions in interpersonal situations. Three main findings emerged. First, beliefs of situational relevance of self-defining strengths and weaknesses show additive effects in accounting for intra-individual variability in contextualized self-efficacy appraisals. Secondly, between-person variability in Extraversion moderates within-person co-variation between self-efficacy and knowledge structures. Thirdly, self-efficacy mediates the impact of knowledge structures on perceived likelihood of performing the interpersonal behaviors in the future, after controlling for rated frequency of the same behaviors in the past. Overall, the present findings suggest that within-person and between-person approaches are complementary and need to be integrated.