Do we have to be Realists about Colour in order to be able to attribute Colour Perceptions to Other Persons?

One of the main targets of Barry Stroud’s criticism in his recent book ‚The Quest for Reality. Subjectivism and the Metaphysics of Colour’ are eliminativist theories of colour which he regards as a version of the metaphysical project of the unmasking of colours (Stroud, 2000). According to this view, no physical objects have any of the colours we see them or believe them to have. However, although this error theory describes all our colour perceptions as illusory, and all our colour beliefs as false, it cannot deny that we actually perceive colours and that we do believe that physical objects are coloured. Therefore, it has to account for these psychological facts without relying on any assumptions about the colours of things. Thus, the central question for the unmasking project is whether it is possible to acknowledge someone’s perceiving a certain colour or having beliefs about the colours of things without holding that anything anywhere has any colour at all. Contrary to Stroud, this paper defends the view that we can acknowledge that people believe in colours without having ourselves to accept their existence.     

Distressed in the queue? Psychophysiological and behavioral evidence for two alternative car-following techniques

BackgroundNature offers numerous examples of animal species exhibiting harmonious collective movement. Unfortunately, the motorized Homo sapiens sapiens is not included and pays a price for it. Too often, drivers who simply follow other drivers are caught in the worst road threat after a crash: congestions. In the past, the solution to this problem has gone hand in hand with infrastructure investment. However, approaches such as the Nagoya Paradigm propose now to see congestion as the consequence of multiple interacting particles whose disturbances are transmitted in a waveform. This view clashes with a longlasting assumption ordering traffic flows, the rational driver postulate (i.e., drivers’ alleged propensity to maintain a safe distance). Rather than a mere coincidence, the worldwide adoption of the safety-distance tenet and the worldwide presence of congestion emerge now as cause and effect. Nevertheless, nothing in the drivers’ endowment impedes the adoption of other car-following (CF) strategies. The present study questions the a priori of safety-distance, comparing two elementary CF strategies, Driving to keep Distance (DD), that still prevails worldwide, and Driving to keep Inertia (DI), a complementary CF technique that offsets traffic waves disturbances, ensuring uninterrupted traffic flows. By asking drivers to drive DD and DI, we aim to characterize both CF strategies, comparing their effects on the individual driver (how he drives, how he feels, what he pays attention to) and also on the road space occupied by a platoon of DD robot-followers.MethodsThirty drivers (50% women) were invited to adopt DD/DI in a driving simulator following a swinging leader. The design was a repeated measures model controlling for order. The CF technique, DD or DI, was the within-subject factor. Order (DD-DI / DI-DD) was the between-subjects factor. There were four blocks of dependent measures: individual driving performance (accelerations, decelerations, crashes, distance to lead vehicle, speed and fuel consumption), emotional dimensions (measures of skin conductance and self-reports of affective states concerning valence, arousal, and dominance), and visual behavior (fixations count and average duration, dwell times, and revisits) concerning three regions of the driving scene (the Top Rear Car –TRC- or the Bottom Rear Car –BRC- of the leading vehicle and the surrounding White Space Area -WSA). The final block concerned the road space occupied by a platoon of 8 virtual DD followers.ResultsDrivers easily understood and applied DD/DI as required, switching back and forth between the two. Average speeds for DD/DI were similar, but DD drivers exhibited a greater number of accelerations, decelerations, speed variability, and crashes. Conversely, DI required greater CF distance, that was dynamically adjusted, and spent less fuel. Valence was similar, but DI drivers felt less aroused and more dominant. When driving DD visual scan was centered on the leader’s BRC, whereas DI elicited more attention to WSA (i.e., adopting wider vision angles). In spite of DI requiring more CF distance, the resulting road space occupied between the leader and the 8th DD robot was greater when driving DD.     

Do young boys and girls have distinct and different approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development?

Difficulties are outlined in how to consider whether boys and girls have distinctive approaches and needs in relation to spiritual development, especially the lack of any agreed definition of spiritual development and the nature of the research literature relating to gender. I explore this without presupposing, or excluding, any particular definition, arguing that, whatever one's assumptions and beliefs about spirituality, these influence, and are influenced by, assumptions and beliefs about gender, and vice versa. I present empirical evidence on aspects associated with personal well‐being indicating outcomes strongly differentiated by gender. I examine research evidence in relation to gender within a range of areas commonly associated with spirituality and highlight some gaps. I argue that considering spiritual development through the lens of gender and gender through that of spiritual development can illuminate one's understanding of both concepts. I suggest some possible implications for future research and for teachers of young children.     

Do emotional support and classroom organization earlier in the year set the stage for higher quality instruction?

Many teachers believe that providing greater emotional and organizational supports in the beginning of the year strengthens their ability to teach effectively as the year progresses. Some interventions, such as the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, explicitly embed this sequence into professional development efforts. We tested the hypothesis that earlier emotional and organizational supports set the stage for improved instruction later in the year in a sample of third- and fourth-grade teachers enrolled in a randomized controlled trial of the RC approach. Further, we examined the extent to which the model generalized for teachers using varying levels of RC practices as well as whether or not teachers were in the intervention or control groups. Teachers' emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions were observed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System ( Pianta, La Paro, & Hamre, 2008) on five occasions throughout the year. Results indicated a reciprocal relation between emotional and instructional supports. Specifically, higher levels of emotional support earlier in the year predicted higher instructional support later in the year. Also, higher levels of instructional support earlier in the year predicted higher emotional support later in the year. Classroom organization was not found to have longitudinal associations with the other domains across a year. This pattern was robust when controlling for the use of RC practices as well as across intervention and control groups. Further, teachers' use of RC practices predicted higher emotional support and classroom organization throughout the year, suggesting the malleability of this teacher characteristic. Discussion highlights the connection between teachers' emotional and instructional supports and how the use of RC practices improves teachers' emotionally supportive interactions with students.     

Do infusion-related tastes and odors facilitate the development of anticipatory nausea? A failure to support hypothesis

Distinctive tastes and odors have been identified as potent nausea-eliciting stimuli in cancer chemotherapy patients who develop anticipatory nausea or vomiting (ANV). Based on the experimental research on illness-aversion learning and based on previous clinical research with chemotherapy patients, it was hypothesized that the presence of tastes and odors during infusions should increase the likelihood that a patient will subsequently develop ANV. Seventy-eight new chemotherapy outpatients were interviewed immediately following each of their infusions with regard to the experience of infusion-related tastes, odors, and body sensations. Results failed to support the hypothesis. The subsequent development of ANV was unrelated to reports of tastes and odors both during patients' initial two chemotherapy infusions and during the two infusions preceding their initial report of ANV. Furthermore, reports of tastes and odors were surprisingly infrequent relative to previous research. Methodological and environmental explanations for this difference in taste and odor prevalence are considered. It is concluded that, when present, infusion-related tastes and odors may indeed increase the likelihood of subsequent development of ANV. However, future research should examine the extent to which the physical characteristics of chemotherapy clinics might affect the prevalence of infusion-related tastes and odors.     

The wish to die and the wish to commit suicide in the adolescent: two different matters?

We shall try to demonstrate the difference between two wishes--the wish to die and the wish to commit suicide--as they express themselves during adolescence. First, death is seen as irreversible, while the suicidal act, at least during adolescence, is seen as reversible. While thoughts of suicide may be a part of normal adolescence, and the suicidal act a manifestation of pathological development specific to this stage in life, the wish to die has no age restrictions and may accompany life as a shadow, devoid of any suicidal act, for many years. It should be noted that both of these wishes may be balanced with the wish to live. Pathology appears when there is an imbalance of wishes and abnormal developmental processes. This imbalance can result in two distinct activities: suicidal acts and death behaviors. We suggest that the two stem from different mechanisms and personality pathologies. Therefore, they should be evaluated separately in order to better understand differences between suicidal and other aggressive acts and manifestations of the death wish during adolescence.     

Do agreeableness and neuroticism explain age differences in the tendency to forgive others?

Previous research has shown that age is positively related to a dispositional tendency to forgive others. The present investigation tested the hypothesis that agreeableness and neuroticism partially mediate the association between age and forgivingness. Data from two representative cross-sectional samples of adults were used to test this hypothesis. Results from Study 1 (N = 962, age range: 19-84 years) support the hypothesis, indicating that agreeableness and neuroticism explained, in part, age differences in tendencies to forgive. Study 2 (N = 451, age range: 20-83 years) replicated and extended the results by including transgression occurrences as a third mediator. The results showed that agreeableness and neuroticism explain the association between age and the tendency to forgive others over and above the effect of transgression occurrences.     

Do sex differences in a faceted model of fluid and crystallized intelligence depend on the method applied?

Recently, different methodological approaches have been discussed as an explanation for inconsistencies in studies investigating sex differences in different intelligences. The present study investigates sex differences in manifest sum scores, factor score estimates, and latent verbal, numerical, figural intelligence, as well as fluid and crystallized intelligence as measured by the German Intelligence-Structure-Test 2000-R (IST 2000-R; Liepmann, Beauducel, Brocke, & Amthauer, 2007). The not population-representative sample consisted of 977 German 11th and 12th graders enrolled in a “Gymnasium” (551 female; mean age: M = 16.70; SD = 0.65) who completed the IST 2000-R. Sex differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence were not influenced by the method applied with men performing better than women. However, extent and direction of sex differences in verbal, numerical, and figural intelligence differed by the method applied. Whereas there was a male advantage in all three factors measured as manifest sum scores, women performed better in verbal intelligence as measured by factor scores or as latent variables. Effect sizes of sex differences in numerical and figural intelligence were also greatly reduced when applying the latter two methods. Results are discussed with regard to their theoretical and practical implications.     

How do we code the letters of a word when we have to write it? Investigating double letter representation in French

How do we code the letters of a word when we have to write it? We examined whether the orthographic representations that the writing system activates have a specific coding for letters when these are doubled in a word. French participants wrote words on a digitizer. The word pairs shared the initial letters and differed on the presence of a double letter (e.g., LISSER/LISTER). The results on latencies, letter and inter-letter interval durations revealed that L and I are slower to write when followed by a doublet (SS) than when not (ST). Doublet processing constitutes a supplementary cognitive load that delays word production. This suggests that word representations code letter identity and quantity separately. The data also revealed that the central processes that are involved in spelling representation cascade into the peripheral processes that regulate movement execution.     

Historical shifts and underlying themes in ideas about rearing young children in the United States: Where have we been? Where are we going?

Common themes in ideas about rearing infants and young children in the United States can be traced from the nation's beginnings to the present day. These themes include a strong concern about child rearing; a belief that human beings are perfectible through better child rearing; an eagerness by parents to listen to the advice of ‘experts’; a belief that infants and young children should be educated in schools or day-care centers by experts, competing with the belief that infants belong at home with their mothers; a commitment to social reform, competing with the conviction that families should be autonomous. These themes provide a background for contemporary research, political controversy, and future discussion concerning how children should be reared. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Should we presume moral turpitude in our children? – Small children and consent to medical research

When children are too young to make their ownautonomous decisions, decisions have to be madefor them. In certain contexts we allow parentsand others to make these decisions, and do notinterfere unless the decision clearly violatesthe best interest of the child. In othercontexts we put a priori limits on whatkind of decisions parents can make, and/or whatkinds of considerations they have to take intoaccount. Consent to medical research currentlyfalls into the second group mentioned here. Wewant to consider and ultimately reject one ofthe arguments put forward for putting medicalresearch into the second category. We willargue that some objections to children'sparticipation in research are either based onan implausibly restrictive conception of whatis in fact in the child's best interests orthat there is an implicit and false premisehidden in this argument; i.e., the premise thatour children have so deeply fallen into moralturpitude that we must assume that they wouldnot want to fulfill their moral obligations,or, that they will grow up to be morallydeficient and will then wish not to have actedwell while a child.     

How does education lead to healthier behaviours? Testing the mediational roles of perceived control,health literacy and social support

Abstract

Objectives: Educational attainment is increasingly recognised as a unique dimension of socioeconomic status (SES) and a powerful determinant of health behaviour—and thus physical health and mortality. However, very little is known about the specific pathways through which education influences these health behaviours. Design: The present study used a nationally representative US survey to test three potential psychosocial pathways (perceived control, health literacy and social support) through which education might influence intake of fruits and vegetables (FV), physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB), controlling for other aspects of SES (income, health insurance status) and demographics (age, gender, race/ethnicity). Results: Both aspects of perceived control (locus of control, cancer fatalism) mediated the impact of education on FV and PA while only locus of control mediated the impact of education on SB. Further, only one aspect of health literacy (ability to understand recommendations) mediated education’s effect on any health behaviour (FV). Social support did not mediate any of the effects of education on health behaviors. Conclusion: Future work explicitly assessing and testing these mediational pathways is needed to better understand how education influences people’s health behaviours throughout their lives.     

Can we get sick if we want to? Children's and adults' recognition of intentionality in the origins of illness and injuries

The present set of studies examined the impact of intentionality (wanting/not wanting to get sick) on the transmission of contagious illness and injuries. Study 1 examined whether preschoolers and adults thought that a recipient of an illness is more likely to get sick if he/she wanted to. Studies 2, 2a, and 3 examined if the intentions of the transmitter would influence the transmission of illness to the recipient. Study 4 examined the influence of germs on intentionality. Both preschoolers and adults reasoned that the intentions of the recipient would play a significant role in the probability of contracting an illness but only adults reasoned that the recipient having knowledge of the transmitter's intentions would have an impact on illness. Moreover, preschoolers (but not adults) judged that biological contaminants such as germs would interact with the intentionality of the recipient to increase the chances of contracting an illness whereas adults reasoned that psychological states can have a direct influence on the manifestation of illness. These results suggest that preschoolers and adults entertain a highly sophisticated and selective process when assessing, the impact of psychological factors such as intentionality on biological processes such as the origins of illness.     

Three approaches to religious education at Key Stages one and two in Wales: how different are church schools?

Survey data provided by 361 headteachers regarding religious education provision at Key Stages one and two within schools in Wales are modelled to distinguish between three main approaches to religious education, characterised as concerned with spiritual development, world religions, and Christian nurture. No differences in emphasis on these three approaches are found between non‐denominational schools and Church in Wales voluntary controlled schools. In Church in Wales voluntary aided schools greater emphasis is placed on the spiritual development dimension and on the Christian nurture dimension. In Roman Catholic voluntary‐aided schools greater emphasis is placed on the spiritual development dimension, greater emphasis is placed on the Christian nurture dimension, and less emphasis is placed on the world religions dimension.     

Do Envy and Compassion Pave the Way to Unhappiness? Social Preferences and Life Satisfaction in a Spanish City

Mounting evidence shows that people’s self-reported life satisfaction (LS) is negatively related to income inequality. Under the interpretation that the relationship between macro-level variables and LS reflects individuals’ social preferences, this finding indicates that most people display inequality-averse preferences. We explore the relationship between self-reports on inequality aversion and LS in a citywide representative survey/experiment conducted in Spain. If self-reported well-being can be used to infer people’s social preferences, LS should correlate negatively with both “envy” and “compassion” scores (i.e., how much one suffers from disadvantageous and advantageous inequality, respectively). We find that LS relates negatively to envy but positively to compassion, which would imply that suffering from observing poorer others, paradoxically, increases well-being. Using an incentivized Dictator Game as a measure of generous behavior, we reject the hypothesis that the positive link between compassion and LS is actually driven by generosity. We discuss how these findings could indicate that the way LS is used to assess social preferences in the population should be revised.     

Do age and linguistic background alter the audiovisual advantage when listening to speech in the presence of energetic and informational masking?

We examined how the type of masker presented in the background affected the extent to which visual information enhanced speech recognition, and whether the effect was dependent on or independent of age and linguistic competence. In the present study, young speakers of English as a first language (YEL1) and English as a second language (YEL2), as well as older speakers of English as a first language (OEL1), were asked to complete an audio (A) and an audiovisual (AV) speech recognition task in which they listened to anomalous target sentences presented against a background of one of three masker types (noise, babble, and competing speech). All three main effects were found to be statistically significant (group, masker type, A vs. AV presentation type). Interesting two-way interactions were found between masker type and group and between masker type and presentation type; however, no interactions were found between group (age and/or linguistic competence) and presentation type (A vs. AV). The results of this study, while they shed light on the effect of masker type on the AV advantage, suggest that age and linguistic competence have no significant effects on the extent to which a listener is able to use visual information to improve speech recognition in background noise.     

Loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events?

Many people are exposed to loss or potentially traumatic events at some point in their lives, and yet they continue to have positive emotional experiences and show only minor and transient disruptions in their ability to function. Unfortunately, because much of psychology's knowledge about how adults cope with loss or trauma has come from individuals who sought treatment or exhibited great distress, loss and trauma theorists have often viewed this type of resilience as either rare or pathological. The author challenges these assumptions by reviewing evidence that resilience represents a distinct trajectory from the process of recovery, that resilience in the face of loss or potential trauma is more common than is often believed, and that there are multiple and sometimes unexpected pathways to resilience.     

Shame and Guilt—Do They Really Differ in Their Focus of Evaluation? Wanting to Change the Self and Behavior in Response to Ingroup Immorality

Shame and guilt are often theorized to differ on a self versus behavior focus. However, we propose that this is not true when taking a group perspective. In our field study, 196 communal participants were confronted with historical ingroup immorality. Results showed that participants who were old enough to have understood what happened in that time-period felt more guilt and shame than did those who were too young. Partly due to their ingroup anger, shame motivated an intention to change the ingroup self and behavior. In contrast, partly due to personal anger, guilt motivated an intention to change personal self and behavior. This suggests that the distinction between shame and guilt are not as clear-cut as previous research have assumed.