Self-reported likelihood of sexually aggressive behavior: Attitudinal versus sexual explanations

The present study compared the relative effectiveness of sexuality variables versus attitudes hypothesized to be rape-supportive in the prediction of “likelihood to rape” (LR) and “likelihood to use sexual force” (LF) measures. This research was guided by the suggestion that understanding the variables which underlie LR and LF may shed light on the factors which cause some men to actually commit acts of violence against women. The results were inconsistent with viewing rape as primarily caused by sexual frustration or sexual maladjustment, since sexuality variables were generally not predictive of LF or LR. In contrast, a variety of rape-supportive attitudes and beliefs such as blaming the victim for her rape or viewing sexual violence as sexually arousing to women were successful predictors of both LF and LR. These data were interpreted as supporting theories of rape which consider cultural, socially transmitted attitudes about women and rape to be psychological releasers for sexual aggression. The findings also supported the notion of an “aggression toward women” continuum, rather than a conceptualization of rape as a discrete, isolated phenomenon with its own determinants.     

Preferences for experienced versus remembered happiness

Abstract

Consider two types of happiness: one experienced on a moment-to-moment basis, the other a reflective evaluation where people feel happy looking back. Though researchers have measured and argued the merits of each, we inquired into which happiness people say they want. In five studies (N = 3351), we asked people to choose between experienced happiness and remembered happiness – for shorter timeframes (e.g. one’s next hour) and longer timeframes (e.g. one’s lifetime). The results revealed a consistent pattern: most people choose experienced happiness for longer timeframes, but not for shorter timeframes. Since people typically live hour-to-hour, these findings imply that people may end up living a different version of happiness than what they believe is a happy life.     

Children's Preferences for Humanized versus Natural Animals

Summary

Children's responsiveness to animal drawings led to the theory that they identify more closely with animals than with humans. Werner's (1948) theory suggests, however, that children may identify equally with humans or animals until they become aware that animals are not appropriately personalized. To determine the development of emotional responses to personalized animals, a matched-pair set of drawings (each set comparing a natural versus a humanized animal) were administered to 377 children, aged 6 to 12. Preferences elicited resulted in random distributions of scores from age 6 through age 9. At age 10 (and after) a “J” curve distribution of scores developed. From the age of 10, a majority of children preferred the natural animals while a few dissidents preferred the humanized animals.     

Reasons as explanations

Can a normative reason be understood as a kind of explanation? I here consider and argue against two important analyses of reasons as explanations. John Broome argues that we can analyze reasons in terms of the concepts of explanation and ought. On his view, reasons to ? are either facts that explain why one ought to ? (what he calls “perfect reasons”) or facts that play a for-? role in weighing explanations (what he calls “pro tanto reasons”). I argue against Broome’s account of both perfect and pro tanto reasons. Other philosophers, including Joseph Raz, analyze reasons in terms of the concepts of explanation and good. On this view, some fact is a reason to ? if and only if that fact explains why ?-ing would be good in some respect, to some degree. This view avoids the objections to Broome’s view, but should be rejected since not all explanations of why ?-ing would be good constitute reasons to ?.     

Reasons explanations (of actions) as structural explanations

Non-causal accounts of action explanation have long been criticized for lacking a positive thesis, relying primarily on negative arguments to undercut the standard Causal Theory of Action (Wilson and Shpall , in: Zalta (ed) The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016). Additionally, it is commonly thought that non-causal accounts fail to provide an answer to Donald Davidson’s (1963) challenge for theories of reasons explanations of actions. According to Davidson’s challenge, a plausible non-causal account of reasons explanations must provide a way of connecting an agent’s reasons, not only to what she ought to do, but to what she actually does. That is, such explanations must be truth-apt, not mere rationalizations. My aim in this paper is to show how a non-causal account of action can provide explanations that are truth-apt and genuinely explanatory. To make this argument, I take as a given an account of the practical syllogism (the syllogistic form of practical reasoning) discussed by Michael Thompson (Life and action: elementary structures of practice and practical thought, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2008) and Eric Wiland (Reasons, Continuum, New York, 2012), according to which the practical syllogism is truly practical rather than propositional in nature. Next, I present my primary positive thesis: reasons for actions have explanatory power in virtue of being parts of a structure—the practical syllogism—that contains the action being explained. I then argue that structural action explanations can meet Davidson’s challenge and that they genuinely explain actions. Finally, I conclude by addressing some objections to my argument.

     

Solution strategies as possible explanations of individual and sex differences in a dynamic spatial task

When individuals perform spatial tasks, individual differences emerge in accuracy and speed as well as in the response patterns used to cope with the task. The purpose of this study is to identify, through empirical criteria, the different response patterns or strategies used by individuals when performing the dynamic spatial task presented in the Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test-Revised (SODT-R). Results show that participants can be classified according to their response patterns. Three different ways of solving a task are described, and their relation to (a) performance factors (response latency, response frequency, and invested time) and (b) ability tests (analytical reasoning, verbal reasoning, and spatial estimation) are investigated. Sex differences in response patterns and performance are also analyzed. It is found that the frequency with which men and women employ each one of the strategies described here, is different and statistically significant. Thus, employed strategy plays an important role when interpreting sex differences on dynamic spatial tasks.     

Attribution versus persuasion as a means for modifying behavior.

The present research compared the relative effectiveness of an attribution strategy with a persuasion strategy in changing behavior. Study 1 attempted to teach fifth graders not to litter and to clean up after others. An attribution group was repeatedly told that they were neat and tidy people, a persuasion group was repeatedly told that they should be neat and tidy, and a control group received no treatment. Attribution proved considerably more effective in modifying behavior. Study 2 tried to discover whether similar effects would hold for a more central aspect of school performance, math achievement and self-esteem, and whether an attribution of ability would be as effective as an attribution of motivation. Repeatedly attributing to second graders either the ability or the motivation to do well in math proved more effective than comparable persuasion or no-treatment control groups, although a group receiving straight reinforcement for math problem-solving behavior also did well. It is suggested that persuasion often suffers because it involves a negative attribution (a person should be what he is not), while attribution generally gains because it disguises persuasive intent.     

基于助推的环保行为干预策略

近年来, “助推”被越来越多地用于气候变化与生态环境治理实践, 成为促进人们环保行为的有效策略。但目前国内基于助推思想的环保行为干预研究和实践探索都还很缺乏。环保行为需要助推的根本原因在于人们在环保领域的决策存在认知局限和动机不足。相应的, 在认知和动机两大视角下主要有7种环保行为助推策略。认知视角的助推策略包括默认选项、框架效应和示范性规范, 动机视角的助推策略旨在激发家国动机、遗产动机、获益动机和自主动机以促进人们的环保行为。助推环保行为在实践中也存在争议, 实践工作者需明确助推环保行为的外部环境与传统社会治理思路的关系, 并掌握选择架构设计的技术要点。     

Molar optimization versus delayed reinforcement as explanations of choice between fixed-ratio and progressive-ratio schedules.

In a discrete-trials procedure, pigeons chose between a fixed-ratio 81 schedule and a progressive-ratio schedule by making a single peck at the key correlated with one or the other of these schedules. The response requirement on the progressive-ratio schedule began at 1 and increased by 10 each time the progressive-ratio schedule was chosen. Each time the fixed-ratio schedule was chosen, the requirement on the progressive-ratio schedule was reset to 1 response. In conditions where there was no intertrial interval, subjects chose the progressive-ratio schedule for an average of about five consecutive trials (during which the response requirement increased to 41), and then chose the fixed-ratio schedule. This ratio was larger than that predicted by an optimality analysis that assumes that subjects respond in a pattern that minimizes the response-reinforcer ratio or one that assumes that subjects respond in a pattern that maximizes the overall rate of reinforcement. In conditions with a 25-s or 50-s intertrial interval, subjects chose the progressive-ratio schedule for an average of about eight consecutive trials before choosing the fixed-ratio schedule. This change in performance with the addition of an intertrial interval was also not predicted by an optimality analysis. On the other hand, the results were consistent with the theory that choice is determined by the delays to the reinforcers delivered on the present trial and on subsequent trials.     

Using ethnographic methods for development of culture-specific interventions

Cultural specificity is considered important in developing effective school- and community-based interventions. This article illustrates the use of ethnographic research to enhance understanding of students' cultural experiences and facilitate the development of culturally specific interventions. Ethnographic data were collected during formative and intervention phases of a school-based mental health promotion project. Data were coded using an interactive deductive-inductive process. Culture specificity was defined as the integration of etic (universal) and emic (culture-bound) perspectives. Four culture-specific themes were identified: adult-sanctioned behaviors and practices, adolescents' perspectives about the present and aspirations for the future, and societal factors. These themes encompassed code categories reflecting cultural attitudes, beliefs, customs, expectations, norms, and values; and reflected the ecological framework that guided the research. Future research is needed to address the use of combined etic-emic conceptualizations of culture in the development of culture-specific interventions.     

Retrospective versus prospective explanations of changes in political opinion

Retrospective and prospective causal attributions of one's political opinion changes were compared in light of the distinction between external and internal attributions. Semistructured interviews focusing on three political issues were held with 47 psychology undergraduates. Subjects were asked to explain (a) why they changed opinion in the past, and (b) what would make them abandon their current positions in the future. Two judges estimated independently the importance the subjects attached to four categories of external attributions (firsthand and secondhand information, neutral and persuasive information sources) and two categories of internal attributions (cognitive elaboration and personality characteristics). As a group, subjects explained their past opinion changes by referring to several attribution categories whereas in their explanations of hypothetical future opinion changes they above all referred to (secondhand information on) crucial events. It is concluded that people feel something drastic would need to occur before they would be ready to abandon a political stance.     

Disentangling encoding versus retrieval explanations of the bizarreness effect: Implications for distinctiveness

Recall effects attributed to distinctiveness have been explained by both encoding and retrieval accounts. Resolution of this theoretical controversy has been clouded because the typical methodology confounds the encoding and retrieval contexts. Using bizarre and common sentences as materials, we introduce a paradigm that decouples the nature of the encoding context (mixed vs. unmixed lists of items) from the retrieval set (mixed vs. unmixed retrieval sets). Experiment 1 presented unmixed lists for study, and Experiment 2 presented mixed lists for study. In both experiments, significant bizarreness effects were obtained in free recall when the retrieval set intermixed items but not when the retrieval set consisted of only one item type. Also, Experiment 1, using a repeated testing procedure, did not reveal evidence for more extensive encoding of bizarre sentences than of common sentences. The results support the idea that retrieval dynamics primarily mediate the bizarreness effect, and perhaps more generally, distinctiveness effects.     

The politics of color: Preferences for Republican red versus Democratic blue

The present study reveals that Election Day differentially affects the color preferences of US Republicans and Democrats. Voters’ preferences for Republican red and Democratic blue were assessed, along with several distractor colors, on and around the 2010 interim and 2012 presidential elections. On non-Election Days, Republicans and Democrats preferred Republican red equally, and Republicans actually preferred Democratic blue more than Democrats did. On Election Day, however, Republicans’ and Democrats’ color preferences changed to become more closely aligned with their own party’s colors. Republicans liked Republican red more than Democrats did, and no longer preferred Democratic blue more than Democrats did. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that color preferences are determined by people’s preferences for correspondingly colored objects/entities (Palmer & Schloss in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107:8877–8882, 2010). They further suggest that color preferences are calculated at a given moment, depending on which color–object associations are currently most activated or salient. Color preferences are thus far more dynamic and context-dependent than has previously been believed.     

Heroism versus competence: Competing explanations for the effects of experimenting and consistent management

B. M. Staw and J. Ross (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1980, 65, 249–260) present data which suggest that one barrier to experimenting management is an implicit theory of heroic leadership favoring managers who are consistent in the face of failure, The currant research tests this theory of heroism against an implicit theory of competent management. Subjects read a case study describing a manager who was either experimenting or consistent, and either immediately successful or successful only after initial failure (i.e., ultimately successful). The results supported the implicit theory of competent management with the consistent managers, whose first policies were effective, rated significantly higher than the ultimately successful-experimenting manager, whose first two policies failed. The immediately successful-experimenting manager was unexpectedly rated significantly higher than all other managers. The results show that there is not a general bias against experimentation in favor of consistency, and that reactions to managers are based more upon evidence of competence than upon experimenting and consistency per se.     

Need for Stimulation as a Factor in Preferences for Different Stimuli

Recent investigations have indicated that “reduction” on the kinesthetic aftereffects (KAE) procedure may indicate high levels of a putative need for stimulation (nStim), while “augmentation” on this procedure may indicate low levels of this motive. The present study supports the interpretation of the KAE task as a measure of nStim by indicating that “reducers” on this measure (a) react favorably to complex auditory and visual stimuli and (b) expose themselves particularly frequently to complex and intense stimulation in their ongoing social activities.     

Asymmetrical attributions for approach versus avoidance behavior

Five studies examined responsibility inferences and/or person and situation attributions in positively versus negatively valenced motivational contexts. In Experiment 1, participants received information about a teaching assistant who was promised a reward or threatened with a punishment when asked for compliance with a requested transgression. The teaching assistant was perceived as more responsible for complying given the positive than the negative incentive. This finding was replicated in Experiment 2 using different vignettes and incentives. Experiment 3 revealed that the effect of incentive valence on perceived responsibility for compliance remains significant when statistically controlling for perceived compliance rates. Experiment 4 then demonstrated that there are not only greater responsibility judgments given a positive than a negative incentive but also greater dispositional attributions. Finally, Experiment 5 revealed that a similar incentive valence effect is found in other appetitive versus aversive motivational contexts. Theoretical explanations of this phenomenon are discussed.     

The relation between adaptive behavior and intelligence: Testing alternative explanations

Adaptive behavior has become an increasingly important component of the assessment of children referred for learning and behavioral problems in educational settings. Yet the construct of adaptive behavior remains ill defined, and fundamental questions about the nature of adaptive behavior remain unanswered. As a result, measures of adaptive behavior are often problematic. Among the most important of these fundamental questions is the nature of the underlying relation between adaptive behavior and intelligence. The present study used confirmatory factor analysis and 556 school-age children from the overlap of the standardization sample of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children to test three models of the relation between adaptive behavior and intelligence: as identical underlying constructs, as completely unrelated constructs, or as separate but related constructs. The model specifying adaptive behavior and intelligence as separate but related constructs proved significantly better than either competing model. Similar results were obtained for preschool children and low-ability school-age children, further suggesting that adaptive behavior and intelligence should be considered as separate but related constructs. Two plausible models to further explain the nature of this relation are presented.