A META-ANALYSIS OF CONDITIONAL REASONING TESTS OF AGGRESSION

James et al. (2005) reported an estimate of criterion-related validity (corrected only for dichotomization of criteria) of r = .44 across 11 conditional reasoning test of aggression (CRT-Aggression) validity studies. This meta-analysis incorporated a total sample size more than twice that of James et al. Our comparable validity estimate for CRT-Aggression scales predicting counterproductive work behaviors was r = .16. Validity for the current, commercially marketed test version (CRT-A) was lower (r = .10). These validity estimates increased somewhat (into the .24–.26 range) if studies using dichotomous criteria with low base rates were excluded from the meta-analysis. CRT-Aggression scales were correlated r = .14 with measures of job performance. As we differed with James et al. in some of our coding decisions, we reran all analyses using James et al.'s coding decisions and arrived at extremely similar results.     

Effects of escalating and descending schedules of incentives on cigarette smoking in smokers without plans to quit

Contingent incentives can reduce substance abuse. Escalating payment schedules, which begin with a small incentive magnitude and progressively increase with meeting the contingency, increase smoking abstinence. Likewise, descending payment schedules can increase cocaine abstinence. The current experiment enrolled smokers without plans to quit in the next 6 months and compared escalating and descending payments schedules over 15 visits. In the larger incentive condition (LI, n = 39), the largest possible incentive was $100, and in the smaller incentive condition (SI, n = 18), the largest possible incentive was $32. In both conditions, more participants in the descending groups initiated abstinence. A higher proportion of participants in both the escalating and descending groups initiated abstinence in the LI than in the SI. Although participants in the descending groups had more abstinent visits during the first five contingent visits than those in the escalating groups, these differences were not maintained.     

Team Attributions in Sport: A Meta-Analysis

The purpose of the study was to determine (via meta-analysis) whether team-oriented attributions in sport are team-serving. Analyses were carried out with 21 studies containing 99 effect sizes. The results indicated (a) the presence of a team-serving bias, (b) no temporal change in the pattern of results from studies using operational definitions based on Weiner's theoretical model, and (c) significant differences (p < .05) between the internal composite dimension (i.e., ability/effort versus task difficulty/luck) advanced by Weiner (1985) and the internal dimensions developed by Greenlees et al. (2005; Causal Dimension Scale for Teams). This study documents the continued presence of the team-serving bias.     

Hypertension and cognitive function

Previous research indicates that blood pressure may impact a variety of cognitive functions, including short-term memory, abstract reasoning, visual-spatial abilities, and attention (Boller, Vrtunski, Mack, & Kim, 1977; Elias, Robbins, Schultz, & Pierce, 1990; Franceschi, Tancredi, Smirne, Mercinelli, & Canal, 1982; Mazzucchiet al., 1986). However, studies which have assessed the cognitive functioning of hypertensive adults have offered conflicting results, particularly when hypertension levels were in the mild range (e.g., Bolleret al., 1977; Eliaset al., 1990; Elias, Wolf, D'Agostino, Cobb, & White, 1993; Farmeret al., 1987, 1990; Franceschiet al., 1982; Pérez-Stable, Coates, Halliday, Gardiner, & Hauck, 1992; Schmidtet al., 1991; Waldstein, Ryan, Manuck, Parkinson, & Bromet, 1991). A number of factors may contribute to the inconsistent findings in this area. Researchers have employed a wide range of neuropsychological instruments to assess varying domains of cognitive function. Sample sizes in some studies have been too small to ensure sufficient power. Finally, studies have employed varying methodological control over potential confounding factors such as concurrent medical conditions, alcohol abuse, psychiatric disorders, or antihypertensive medication. This study compared male veterans with blood pressures in the mildly hypertensive range (n=166) to normotensive veterans (n=176) on neuropsychological measures of verbal fluency, visual-spatial ability, verbal and visual memory, dexterity, attention, and executive functions. Results revealed that, after controlling for differences in education and income, there was no relationship between mild hypertension and combined measures of cognitive performance. The present findings suggest that mild hypertension alone has little effect on cognitive function in adults.     

Development and validation of a HEXACO situational judgment test

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a construct-based situational judgment test of the HEXACO personality dimensions. In four studies, among applicants, employees, and Amazon Mechanical Turk participants (Ns = 72–305), we showed that it is possible to assess the six personality dimensions with a situational judgment test and that the criterion-related validity of the situational judgment test is comparable to the criterion-related validity of traditional self-reports but lower than the criterion-related validity of other-reports of personality. Test–retest coefficients (with a time interval of 2 weeks) varied between .55 and .74. Considering personality is the most commonly assessed construct in employee selection contexts (Ryan et al., 2015), this situational judgment test may provide human resources professionals with an alternative assessment tool.     

Meta-Analyses of the Associations Between Disinhibited Social Engagement Behaviors and Child Attachment Insecurity or Disorganization

Children with disinhibited social engagement disorder show reduced reticence with strangers, do not check back with their caregiver after venturing away, and may willingly leave with an unfamiliar adult. The recent DSM-5 has moved away from an attachment framework to understand disinhibited social engagement behavior (DSEB) due to studies indicating its presence in previously institutionalized children even after these children are adopted and show a selective, more secure attachment with their substitute caregiver (e.g. Chisholm et al., 1998). This meta-analysis aims to clarify the size of the associations between DSEB and attachment insecurity or disorganization. It also examines whether studies effect sizes differ according to various moderators (e.g., child age, type of attachment and DSEB measures). The results (k?=?24) showed that the associations between DSEB and attachment insecurity (d?=?0.48) or attachment disorganization (d?=?0.47) were of small magnitude. There were no publication biases. As for moderator analyses on both attachment insecurity and disorganization, the effect sizes in studies using DSEB observational measures (respectively d?=?0.63 and 0.57) were of moderate magnitude and stronger than those in studies not using an observational component (respectively d?=?0.28 and 0.32). Given these small-to-moderate associations, attachment can be considered a relationship process associated with DSEB, and attachment-informed interventions could be potential tools to reduce DSEB in children. Nevertheless, given the sizable unshared portion of variance between DSEB and child attachment, future studies should examine other variables related to caregiving and noncaregiving contexts to further understand DSEB.

     

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful: Anti-attractiveness bias in organizational evaluation and decision making

Within organizational judgment and decision making contexts, biases based on an evaluated person's attractiveness are among the most salient and frequently investigated. An enormous amount of research indicates favoritism for attractive people compared to unattractive ones. The current research demonstrates that the nature of this bias depends on whether one is evaluating a member of the same sex or the opposite sex. Experiment 1 (n = 2639) investigated selection of scholarship applicants and demonstrated that a pro-attractiveness bias held only for selection of opposite-sex scholarship applicants; no such bias was observed for highly attractive same-sex applicants. Experiment 2 (n = 622) investigated evaluations of prospective job candidates and demonstrated again that pro-attractiveness bias was observed only for opposite-sex candidates; participants discriminated against highly attractive same-sex candidates. Moreover, this bias was not observed among highly attractive participants; it held only for moderately attractive participants, those for whom highly attractive same-sex individuals can pose especially potent social threats. Findings suggest that attractiveness biases in organizational decision making are rooted partly in the social threats and opportunities afforded by attractive people.     

Are Thoughtful People More Utilitarian? CRT as a Unique Predictor of Moral Minimalism in the Dilemmatic Context

Recent theorizing about the cognitive underpinnings of dilemmatic moral judgment has equated slow, deliberative thinking with the utilitarian disposition and fast, automatic thinking with the deontological disposition. However, evidence for the reflective utilitarian hypothesis—the hypothesized link between utilitarian judgment and individual differences in the capacity for rational reflection (gauged here by the Cognitive Reflection Test [CRT; Frederick, 2005]) has been inconsistent and difficult to interpret in light of several design flaws. In two studies aimed at addressing some of the flaws, we found robust evidence for a reflective minimalist hypothesis—high CRT performers’ tendency to regard utility‐optimizing acts as largely a matter of personal prerogative, permissible both to perform and to leave undone. This relationship between CRT and the “minimalist” orientation remained intact after controlling for age, sex, trait affect, social desirability, and educational attainment. No significant association was found between CRT and the strict utilitarian response pattern or CRT and the strict deontological response pattern, nor did we find any significant association between CRT and willingness to act in the utility‐optimizing manner. However, we found an inverse association between empathic concern and a willingness to act in the utility‐optimizing manner, but there was no comparable association between empathic concern and the deontological judgment pattern. Theoretical, methodological, and normative implications of the findings are discussed.     

Estudio de la familiaridad de un conjunto de figuras en niños

Resumen

Un grupo de 60 niños de habla hispana evaluó la familiaridad de 257 figuras, tomadas del conjunto propuesto por Snodgrass y Vanderwart (1980). La pertenencia categorial y la tipicidad de las figuras fue determinada a partir del trabajo de Piñeiro et al. (en prensa). Cuando se examinó la relación entre la familiaridad y la tipicidad, las correlaciones obtenidas no fueron significativas. Sólo para dos categorías: aves y frutas se encontraron correlaciones significativas entre la familiaridad y la tipicidad. Lo anterior sugiere que la familiaridad y la tipicidad son índices independientes. Además los valores de la familiaridad obtenids en este estudio fueron comparados con los reportados en un grupo de niños de habla inglesa (Berman et al., 1989), y para un grupo de adultos de habla hispana (Manzano et al., 1997). Se encontraron diferencias de tipo cultural en la primera comparación (grupos de niños). Las diferencias fueron menores cuando se compararon los juicios de familiaridad de los niños de habla hispana y los adultos. Los resultados sugieren que los juicios de familiaridad están mas influidos por diferencias de tipo cultural que por factores maduracionadles.     

A topographical map approach to representing treatment efficacy: a focus on positive psychology interventions

A recent meta-analysis by Bolier et al. indicated that positive psychology interventions have overall small to moderate effects on well-being, but results were quite heterogeneous across intervention trials. Such meta-analytic research helps condense information on the efficacy of a broad psychosocial intervention by averaging across many effects; however, such global averages may provide limited navigational guidance for selecting among specific interventions. Here, we introduce a novel method for displaying qualitative and quantitative information on the efficacy of interventions using a topographical map approach. As an initial prototype for demonstrating this method, we mapped 50 positive psychology interventions targeting well-being (as captured in the Bolier et al. [2013] meta-analysis, [Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC Public Health, 13, 83]). Each intervention domain/subdomain was mapped according to its average effect size (indexed by vertical elevation), number of studies providing effect sizes (indexed by horizontal area), and therapist/client burden (indexed by shading). The geographical placement of intervention domains/subdomains was determined by their conceptual proximity, allowing viewers to gauge the general conceptual “direction” in which promising intervention effects can be found. The resulting graphical displays revealed several prominent features of the well-being intervention “landscape,” such as more strongly and uniformly positive effects of future-focused interventions (including, goal-pursuit and optimism training) compared to past/present-focused ones.     

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.     

Interpreting ambiguous stimuli: Separating perceptual and judgmental biases

Interpreting ambiguous situations is not a purely data-driven process but can be biased towards positive interpretations by top-down influences. The present study tries to identify the underlying processes of these top-down influences. There are two separable types of processes that can be influenced by motivational biases: A perceptual bias affects information uptake whereas a judgmental bias affects acceptance criteria for positive and negative outcomes. In the present study, motivated influences on perception and judgment were investigated with a simple color discrimination task in which ambiguous stimuli had to be classified according to their dominating color. One of two colors indicated a financial gain or a loss, whereas a third color was neutral. To separate perceptual and judgmental biases, Ratcliff’s [Ratcliff, R. (1978). A theory of memory retrieval. Psychological Review, 85, 59–108] diffusion model was employed. Results revealed motivational influences on perception and judgment.     

Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

The current systematic review and meta-analysis examined the efficacy and effectiveness of internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) on panic disorder and agoraphobia symptom severity. Twenty-seven studies were identified. Results from nine randomised controlled trials (RCTs) showed that iCBT outperformed waiting list and information controls for panic (g = 1.22) and agoraphobia (g = .91) symptoms, but the quality of RCTs varied and heterogeneity was high. Results from three RCTs suggested iCBT may have similar outcomes to face-to-face CBT in reducing panic and agoraphobia symptoms. Within-group effect sizes between baseline and post-treatment were large for panic (n = 29, g = 1.16) and medium for agoraphobia symptom severity (n = 18, g = .73). Subgroup analyses of within-group pre/post treatment effect sizes showed larger within-group effect sizes for efficacy studies (n = 15) compared to effectiveness studies (n = 14) for panic severity (g = 1.38 vs. g = .98) but not agoraphobia severity. There was no impact of program length, inclusion or arousal reduction techniques, or degree of clinician support. Within-group effects of iCBT suggest the reduction in panic and agoraphobia symptom severity is maintained at 3–6 month follow-up (n = 12).     

Decision rules for selecting effect sizes in meta-analysis: a review and reanalysis of psychotherapy outcome studies

This study deals with some of the judgmental factors involved in selecting effect sizes from within the studies that enter a meta-analysis. Particular attention is paid to the conceptual redundancy rule that Smith, Glass, and Miller (1980) used in their study of the effectiveness of psychotherapy for deciding which effect sizes should and should not be counted in determining an overall effect size. Data from a random sample of 25 studies from Smith et al.'s (1980) population of psychotherapy outcome studies were first recoded and then reanalyzed meta-analytically. Using the conceptual redundancy rule, three coders independently coded effect sizes and identified more than twice as many of them per study as did Smith et al. Moreover, the treatment effect estimates associated with this larger sample of effects ranged between .30 and .50, about half the size claimed by Smith et al. Analyses of other rules for selecting effect sizes showed that average effect estimates also varied with these rules. Such results indicate that the average effect estimates derived from meta-analyses may depend heavily on judgmental factors that enter into how effect sizes are selected within each of the individual studies considered relevant to a meta-analysis.     

Sex differences in the neural underpinnings of social and monetary incentive processing during adolescence

The brain’s reward system undergoes major changes during adolescence, and an increased reactivity to social and nonsocial incentives has been described as a typical feature during this transitional period. Little is known whether there are sex differences in the brain’s responsiveness to social or monetary incentives during adolescence. The aim of this event-related potential (ERP) study was to compare the neurophysiological underpinnings of monetary and social incentive processing in adolescent boys versus girls. During ERP recording, 38 adolescents (21 females, 17 males; 13–18 years) completed an incentive delay task comprising (a) a reward versus punishment condition and (b) social versus monetary incentives. The stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) was recorded during anticipation of reward and punishment, and the feedback P3 (fP3) along with the feedback-related negativity (FRN) after reward/punishment delivery. During anticipation of social punishment, adolescent boys compared with girls exhibited a reduced SPN. After delivery, male adolescents exhibited higher fP3 amplitudes to monetary compared with social incentives, whereas fP3 amplitudes in girls were comparable across incentive types. Moreover, whereas in boys fP3 responses were higher in rewards than in punishment trials, no such difference was evident in girls. The results indicate that adolescent boys show a reduced neural responsivity in the prospect of social punishment. Moreover, the findings imply that, once the incentive is obtained, adolescent boys attribute a relatively enhanced motivational significance to monetary incentives and show a relative hyposensitivity to punishment. The findings might contribute to our understanding of sex-specific vulnerabilities to problem behaviors related to incentive processing during adolescence.     

Peer Leadership in Sport: Relationships among Personal Characteristics,Leader Behaviors,and Team Outcomes

Abstract

The present study comprised two meta-analyses of published studies that used the Profile of Mood States (POMS) to investigate relationships between mood and athletic achievement (n = 13) and between mood and performance outcome (n = 16). Results showed that effect sizes (ESs) for the level of achievement metaanalysis were minimal (Weighted Mean ES = .10, SD = .07), a finding consistent with a previous meta-analysis by Rowley, Landers, Kyllo, and Etnier (1995). Larger effects were found for the performance outcome meta-analysis (Weighted Mean ES = .31, SD = .12). Effects were moderate for vigor, confusion, and depression, small for anger and tension, and very small for fatigue. All effects were in the direction predicted by Morgan's (1985) Mental Health Model. Effects were larger in sports of short duration, in sports involving open skills, and where performance was judged using self-referenced criteria. Findings suggest that the POMS has utility in the prediction of performance outcome but not in the prediction of level of achievement.     

A meta-analysis of the effect of cognitive bias modification on anxiety and depression

Cognitive biases have been theorized to play a critical role in the onset and maintenance of anxiety and depression. Cognitive bias modification (CBM), an experimental paradigm that uses training to induce maladaptive or adaptive cognitive biases, was developed to test these causal models. Although CBM has generated considerable interest in the past decade, both as an experimental paradigm and as a form of treatment, there have been no quantitative reviews of the effect of CBM on anxiety and depression. This meta-analysis of 45 studies (2,591 participants) assessed the effect of CBM on cognitive biases and on anxiety and depression. CBM had a medium effect on biases (g = 0.49) that was stronger for interpretation (g = 0.81) than for attention (g = 0.29) biases. CBM further had a small effect on anxiety and depression (g = 0.13), although this effect was reliable only when symptoms were assessed after participants experienced a stressor (g = 0.23). When anxiety and depression were examined separately, CBM significantly modified anxiety but not depression. There was a nonsignificant trend toward a larger effect for studies including multiple training sessions. These findings are broadly consistent with cognitive theories of anxiety and depression that propose an interactive effect of cognitive biases and stressors on these symptoms. However, the small effect sizes observed here suggest that this effect may be more modest than previously believed.     

Current issues and new directions in Psychology and Health : Bringing basic and applied research together to address underlying mechanisms

Three different studies were conducted to examine the impact of heuristic reasoning in the perception of health-related events: lifetime risk of breast cancer (Study 1, n = 468), subjective life expectancy (Study 2, n = 449), and subjective age of onset of menopause (Study 3, n = 448). In each study, three experimental conditions were set up: control, anchoring heuristic and availability heuristic. Analyses of Covariance controlling for optimism, depressive mood, Locus of Control, hypochondriac tendencies and subjective health, indicated significant effect of experimental conditions on perceived breast-cancer risk (p = 0.000), subjective life expectancy (p = 0.000) and subjective onset of menopause (p = 0.000). Indeed, all findings revealed that availability and anchoring heuristics were being used to estimate personal health-related events. The results revealed that some covariates, hypochondriac tendencies in Study 1, optimism, depressive mood and subjective health in Study 2 and internal locus of control in Study 3 had significant impact on judgment of riskiness.     

Characterizing belief bias in syllogistic reasoning: A hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis of ROC data

The belief-bias effect is one of the most-studied biases in reasoning. A recent study of the phenomenon using the signal detection theory (SDT) model called into question all theoretical accounts of belief bias by demonstrating that belief-based differences in the ability to discriminate between valid and invalid syllogisms may be an artifact stemming from the use of inappropriate linear measurement models such as analysis of variance (Dube et al., Psychological Review, 117(3), 831–863, 2010). The discrepancy between Dube et al.’s, Psychological Review, 117(3), 831–863 (2010) results and the previous three decades of work, together with former’s methodological criticisms suggests the need to revisit earlier results, this time collecting confidence-rating responses. Using a hierarchical Bayesian meta-analysis, we reanalyzed a corpus of 22 confidence-rating studies (N =?993). The results indicated that extensive replications using confidence-rating data are unnecessary as the observed receiver operating characteristic functions are not systematically asymmetric. These results were subsequently corroborated by a novel experimental design based on SDT’s generalized area theorem. Although the meta-analysis confirms that believability does not influence discriminability unconditionally, it also confirmed previous results that factors such as individual differences mediate the effect. The main point is that data from previous and future studies can be safely analyzed using appropriate hierarchical methods that do not require confidence ratings. More generally, our results set a new standard for analyzing data and evaluating theories in reasoning. Important methodological and theoretical considerations for future work on belief bias and related domains are discussed.     

Analyzing the scientific foundation of Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome: A reply to Lyon et al.

The issue before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the Frye hearing New Jersey v. J.L.G. (2018) was whether the scientific community agreed that Summit's (1983) Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome rested on a firm scientific foundation. Lyon et al. (this issue) critique our approach to describing child sexual abuse disclosure, which involved extrapolating rates from children who came to the attention of authorities. Lyon et al. claim that our conclusions are marred by sampling biases resulting from what they term the ground truth problem, suspicion bias and substantiation bias. The points Lyon et al. claim we “fell victim to” were the very points we acknowledge are inherent difficulties in estimating the extent to which children will come forward to tell others about sexual maltreatment. Lyon et al. offer an alternative solution to the inherent difficulties in studying a difficult-to-identify population, relying in large part on 21 papers published mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. We argue that the method they propose has more flaws than the one it is intended to replace. Points of agreement and disagreement, along with suggestions for future research, are discussed. Moving forward, we argue that studies are needed that embrace both validity and generalizability in order to foster data-driven theories rather than invoking the intuitive suppositions of Summit's (1983) syndromal evidence.