Gossip as an effective and low-cost form of punishment

The spreading of reputational information about group members through gossip represents a widespread, efficient, and low-cost form of punishment. Research shows that negative arousal states motivate individuals to gossip about the transgressions of group members. By sharing information in this way groups are better able to promote cooperation and maintain social control and order.     

Effect of punishment on human variable-interval performance

Three female human subjects pressed a button for monetary reinforcement in a range of variable-interval schedules specifying different frequencies of reinforcement. On alternate days, responding was also punished (by subtracting money) according to a variable-ratio 34 schedule. In the absence of punishment, rate of responding was an increasing negatively accelerated function of reinforcement frequency; the relationship between response rate and reinforcement frequency conformed to Herrnstein's equation. The effect of the punishment schedule was to suppress responding at all frequencies of reinforcement. This was reflected in a change in the values of both constants in Herrnstein's equation: the value of the theoretical maximum response-rate parameter was reduced, while the parameter describing the reinforcement frequency corresponding to the half-maximal response rate was increased.     

Asymmetry of reinforcement and punishment in human choice

The hypothesis that a penny lost is valued more highly than a penny earned was tested in human choice. Five participants clicked a computer mouse under concurrent variable-interval schedules of monetary reinforcement. In the no-punishment condition, the schedules arranged monetary gain. In the punishment conditions, a schedule of monetary loss was superimposed on one response alternative. Deviations from generalized matching using the free parameters c (sensitivity to reinforcement) and log k (bias) were compared in the no-punishment and punishment conditions. The no-punishment conditions yielded values of log k that approximated zero for all participants, indicating no bias. In the punishment condition, values of log k deviated substantially from zero, revealing a 3-fold bias toward the unpunished alternative. Moreover, the c parameters were substantially smaller in punished conditions. The values for bias and sensitivity under punishment did not change significantly when the measure of net reinforcers (gains minus losses) was applied to the analysis. These results mean that punishment reduced the sensitivity of behavior to reinforcement and biased performance toward the unpunished alternative. We concluded that a single punisher subtracted more value than a single reinforcer added, indicating an asymmetry in the law of effect.     

Chlordiazepoxide and resistance to punishment

Rats were given intermittent electric foot-shock during food-rewarded alley training. In the test phase, food and shock were given on every trial. These animals persisted in running down the alley in the test phase compared to those without prior shock experience. The effects of chlordiazepoxide (CDP) on this learned resistance to punishment were examined using a long and short interval between trials. It was found that CDP abolished the effect at a long inter-trial interval, but left it unaltered if the interval was short. The results match those found previously with an analogous effect using non-reward. It is suggested that the effects of punishment and non-reward may be mediated by a common process, and that the benzodiazepines may act on this process.     

Intermittent punishment of human responding maintained by intermittent reinforcement

To determine the effects of variable-interval shock punishment on behavior maintained by variable-interval and variable-ratio reinforcement, human subjects' key-pressing behavior was reinforced with money on a four-component multiple schedule. Components 1 and 2 were variable-interval 30-sec, and Components 3 and 4 were variable-ratio 210. After responding was stabilized, response-contingent electric shock was scheduled on a variable-interval 10-sec schedule during the second and fourth components of each cycle. Subjects instructed as to the reinforcement contingencies showed gradually increasing suppression of variable-interval responding at increasing shock intensities and either very high or very low rates of variable-ratio responding at higher intensities. Minimally instructed subjects showed suppression at higher shock intensities, but no clear differential suppression as a function of reinforcement schedule. Recovery from initial suppression was observed within sessions.     

Resistance to punishment as a function of intensity and frequency of prior punishment experience

Rats with a history of intermittent punishment have been found to persist in the face of continuous punishment. It was predicted from an extension of frustration theory to punishment that increasing the intensity or frequency of intermittent punishment would increase persistence to high fear elicited by continuous punishment. Two experiments, employing 310 rats, verified this prediction for both intensity and frequency manipulations but indicated rather narrow boundary conditions for their effects.     

Not quite human: infrahumanization in response to collective responsibility for intergroup killing

The present research examines how awareness of violence perpetrated against an out-group by one's in-group can intensify the infrahumanization of the out-group, as measured by a reduced tendency to accord uniquely human emotions to out-groups. Across 3 experiments that used different in-groups (humans, British, White Americans) and out-groups (aliens, Australian Aborigines, and Native Americans), when participants were made aware of the in-group's mass killing of the out-group, they infrahumanized the victims more. The perception of collective responsibility, not just the knowledge that the out-group members had died in great numbers, was shown to be necessary for this effect. Infrahumanization also occurred concurrently with increased collective guilt but was unrelated to it. It is proposed that infrahumanization may be a strategy for people to reestablish psychological equanimity when confronted with a self-threatening situation and that such a strategy may occur concomitantly with other strategies, such as providing reparations to the out-group.     

算法歧视比人类歧视引起更少道德惩罚欲

算法歧视屡见不鲜, 人们对其有何反应值得关注。6个递进实验比较了不同类型歧视情境下人们对算法歧视和人类歧视的道德惩罚欲, 并探讨其潜在机制和边界条件。结果发现：相对于人类歧视, 人们对算法歧视的道德惩罚欲更少(实验1~6), 潜在机制是人们认为算法(与人类相比)更缺乏自由意志(实验2~4), 且个体拟人化倾向越强或者算法越拟人化, 人们对算法的道德惩罚欲越强(实验5~6)。研究结果有助于更好地理解人们对算法歧视的反应, 并为算法犯错后的道德惩罚提供启示。     

Immediate and delayed punishment of human behavior by loss of reinforcement

Young adult humans pressed a key to obtain money. When responding was punished by presentation of a stimulus signifying that money was lost, response frequencies decreased and response latencies increased. Since these changes did not increase relative earnings, the aversive properties of loss of reinforcement were manifested independently or reinforcement gain. When loss punishment was delayed for either 10, 20, or 40 sec the extent of suppression was found to vary inversely with the response-punishment interval. Subsequent manipulations indicated that the effectiveness of delayed punishment was increased when the response also produced immediate conditioned punishment, i.e., a stimulus paired with the delayed loss stimulus. Instructions about the response-punishment contingency had similar effects. The findings were consistent with animal studies of delayed shock punishment, insofar as a similar delay-of-punishment gradient was observed, and with studies of delayed positive reinforcement, insofar as mediation through conditioned punishment (or instructions) increased the effectiveness of delayed punishment.     

Race and vulnerability to stress: an examination of differential vulnerability

In this article the possibility of race differences in vulnerability to stress is considered. Structural models linking socioeconomic status, age, and life-change events to psychological distress are fit to blacks' and whites' data, which were obtained in a community survey of 829 Florida residents to evaluate differences in vulnerability. Life-change-distress paths were slightly larger among blacks than among whites, though not significantly so. The possible adaptive or coping resources provided by supportive social ties and by fatalistic responses to chronic stress are suggested as topics for further research with regard to psychological well-being among disadvantaged groups.     

Assessing vulnerability to suicide.

Three hundred members of the American Association of Suicidology (30% of those who apparently received the questionnaire) participated in a survey in which case histories of two men who had committed suicide and two who had not were presented. Respondents assessed the vulnerability to suicide of each man, recorded their levels of confidence in their assessments, and provided information about themselves. The two men who killed themselves were rated as less vulnerable to suicide than the other two men, and as less vulnerable than one would expect by chance. Respondent characteristics that predicted to accuracy in assessing vulnerability were gender and level of involvement in research. The findings are discussed in terms of the limitations of theoretical models as well as characteristics of the respondents and nature of the study design.     

When growth mindset backfires: The effect of the perceived malleability of groups and utilitarian motives on support for collective punishment

Collective punishment (CP) is deemed unfair because it sanctions group members who are not responsible for the wrongdoing. However, CP may be driven by utilitarian motives, aiming to deter other group members from committing offenses. This research investigated whether individuals’ inclination to support CP for utilitarian reasons is influenced by their belief in the malleability of groups (their belief that groups can change; a growth mindset). In Studies 1 and 2, we assessed utilitarian motives and manipulated participants’ perception of group malleability. In Study 3 , we assessed perceived group malleability and manipulated motives for justice (utilitarianism vs. retribution). Across these studies, the dependent variable was participants’ support for CP. Results consistently showed that utilitarian (more than retributive) motives increased support for CP, specifically among participants who believed in the growth mindset of groups. We discuss the relevance of these findings for social justice and growth mindset literature.     

From the individual to the collective: The emergence of a psychological approach to collective memory

Throughout much of the 20th century, psychologists have largely examined mnemonic processes through an individualistic lens at the expense of social influences. However, this perspective began to change toward the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century, when psychologists began to better appreciate the social nature of remembering. In the present paper, we focus on a relatively recent and important evolution of this line of research: the emergence of a psychological approach to collective memory. Using an epidemiological approach to collective memory, we attempt to distil the extant and relevant psychological research and focus on how (collective) memories transmit, converge, and remain stable over time while considering the bidirectional relationship between collective memory and a mnemonic community's identity. We conclude with a discussion of research areas that psychologists should examine moving forward, which will ultimately provide a more holistic understanding of how collective memories emerge, remain stable, and/or change over time.     

On Russell's vulnerability to Russell's paradox

Influenced by G. E. Moore, Russell broke with Idealism towards the end of 1898; but in later years he characterized his meeting Peano in August 1900 as ‘the most important event’ in ‘the most important year in my intellectual life’. While Russell discovered his paradox during his post-Peano period, the question arises whether he was already committed, during his pre-Peano Moorean period, to assumptions from which his paradox may be derived. Peter Hylton has argued that the pre-Peano Russell was thus vulnerable to (at least one version of) Russell's paradox and hence that the paradox exposes a pre-existing difficulty in Russell's Moorean philosophy. Contrary to Hylton, I argue that the Moorean Russell adhered to views which insulated him against the paradox. Further, I argue that Russell became vulnerable to his paradox as a result of changes in his Moorean position occasioned, first, by his acceptance of Cantor's theory of the transfinite, and, second, by his correspondence with Frege. I conclude with some general comments regarding Russell's acceptance of naïve set theory.