Waiting for the bus: when base-rates refuse to be neglected

The paper reports the results from 16 versions of a simple probability estimation task, where probability estimates derived from base-rate information have to be modified by case knowledge. In the bus problem [adapted from Falk, R., Lipson, A., & Konold, C. (1994). The ups and downs of the hope function in a fruitless search. In G. Wright & P. Ayton (Eds.), Subjective probability (pp. 353-377). Chichester, UK: Wiley], a passenger waits for a bus that departs before schedule in 10% of the cases, and is more than 10 min delayed in another 10%. What are Fred's chances of catching the bus on a day when he arrives on time and waits for 10 min? Most respondents think his probability is 10%, or 90%, instead of 50%, which is the correct answer. The experiments demonstrate the difficulties people have in replacing the original three-category 1/8/1 partitioning with a normalized, binary partitioning, where the middle category is discarded. In contrast with typical studies of "base-rate neglect", or under-weighing of base-rates, this task demonstrates a reversed base-rate fallacy, where frequentistic information is overextended and case information ignored. Possible explanations for this robust phenomenon are briefly discussed.     

How dogs know when communication is intended for them

Domestic dogs comprehend human gestural communication in a way that other animal species do not. But little is known about the specific cues they use to determine when human communication is intended for them. In a series of four studies, we confronted both adult dogs and young dog puppies with object choice tasks in which a human indicated one of two opaque cups by either pointing to it or gazing at it. We varied whether the communicator made eye contact with the dog in association with the gesture (or whether her back was turned or her eyes were directed at another recipient) and whether the communicator called the dog's name (or the name of another recipient). Results demonstrated the importance of eye contact in human-dog communication, and, to a lesser extent, the calling of the dog's name--with no difference between adult dogs and young puppies--which are precisely the communicative cues used by human infants for identifying communicative intent. Unlike human children, however, dogs did not seem to comprehend the human's communicative gesture when it was directed to another human, perhaps because dogs view all human communicative acts as directives for the recipient.     

How to measure diversity when you must

Racial/ethnic diversity has become an increasingly important variable in the social sciences. Research from multiple disciplines consistently demonstrates the tremendous impact of ethnic diversity on individuals and organizations. Investigators use a variety of measures, and their choices can affect the conclusions that can be drawn and limit the ability to compare and generalize results across studies effectively. The current article reviews 3 popular approaches to the measurement of diversity: the simplistic majority-minority approach and 2 multiple categories variants, the generalized variance and the lesser used entropy statistic. We discuss the properties of each approach and reject the majority-minority approach. We provide 5 examples using the generalized variance and entropy statistics and illustrate their versatility and flexibility. We urge investigators to adopt these multicategory measures and to use our discussion to determine which measure of diversity is most appropriate given the nature of one's data set and research question.     

How and when infants learn to climb stairs

Seven hundred and thirty-two parents reported when and how their infants learned to climb stairs. Children typically mastered stair ascent (mean age=10.97 months) several months after crawling onset and several weeks prior to descent (mean age=12.53 months). Most infants (94%) crawled upstairs the first time they ascended independently. Most infants (76%) turned around and backed at initial descent. Other descent strategies included scooting down sitting, walking, and sliding down face first. Children with stairs in their home were more likely to learn to ascend stairs at a younger age, devise backing as a descent strategy, and be explicitly taught to descend by their parents than children without stairs in their home. However, all infants learned to descend stairs at the same age, regardless of the presence of stairs in their home. Parents' teaching strategies and infants' access to stairs worked together to constrain development and to influence the acquisition of stair climbing milestones.     

How to support learning with multimedia instruction: Implementation intentions help even when load is high

There is ample evidence that multimedia learning is challenging, and learners often underutilize appropriate cognitive processes. Previous research has applied prompts to promote the use of helpful cognitive processing. However, prompts still require learners to regulate their learning, which may interfere with learning, especially in situations where cognitive demands are already high. As an alternative, implementation intentions (i.e. if-then plans) are expected to help regulate behaviour automatically due to their specific wording, thereby offloading demands. Accordingly, this study aimed at investigating whether implementation intentions compared with prompts improve learning performance, especially under high cognitive load. Students (N = 120) learned either in a control condition without instructional support, with prompts, or with implementation intentions. Within each condition, half of the participants studied the multimedia instruction under conditions of either high or low cognitive load, which was experimentally manipulated by instructing them to perform one of two secondary tasks. In line with our hypotheses, the results showed that under low cognitive load, both prompts and implementation intentions led to better learning than the control condition. By contrast, under high cognitive load, only implementation intentions promoted learning. Thus, implementation intentions are an efficient means to promote learning even under challenging circumstances.     

How efficacious,caring samaritans cope when their help is rejected unexpectedly

This experiment, with 167 introductory psychology subjects, successfully replicated and extended to a wider array of affective, evaluative, and cognitive reactions, previous research on how would-be helpers cope when their help is rejected. It again supported the thesis that violation of perceived expectancy of acceptance mediates the effects of rejection. Using an individual difference measure of generalized self-perceptions of being a person who is sufficientlyefficacious and caring (acronym, EFCA) to help others, we found support for the predictions that high EFCAs would react more strongly than low EFCAs on “proximal” forms of coping, but relatively less strongly on “confrontational” (future-oriented) forms. Our rationale was that high EFCAs expect more acceptance, are more optimistic, and have greater self-investment in the outcome. Mixed support was obtained for the prediction that situational differences in prior expectancy of acceptance moderate the effects of rejection. Portions of the research were presented by the first author at the 98th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston, August 1990.     

How efficacious, caring samaritans cope when their help is rejected unexpectedly

This experiment, with 167 introductory psychology subjects, successfully replicated and extended to a wider array of affective, evaluative, and cognitive reactions, previous research on how would-be helpers cope when their help is rejected. It again supported the thesis that violation of perceived expectancy of acceptance mediates the effects of rejection. Using an individual difference measure of generalized self-perceptions of being a person who is sufficientlyefficacious and caring (acronym, EFCA) to help others, we found support for the predictions that high EFCAs would react more strongly than low EFCAs on “proximal” forms of coping, but relatively less strongly on “confrontational” (future-oriented) forms. Our rationale was that high EFCAs expect more acceptance, are more optimistic, and have greater self-investment in the outcome. Mixed support was obtained for the prediction that situational differences in prior expectancy of acceptance moderate the effects of rejection. Portions of the research were presented by the first author at the 98th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Boston, August 1990.     

Smiling when distressed: when a smile is a frown turned upside down

This research tested self-regulation and self-presentation as psychological mechanisms that motivate smiling when distressed. In Study 1, participants viewed moderately and intensely distressing, amusing, and neutral videos in social or nonsocial conditions. Smiling when distressed was most prevalent in conditions in which participants reported the greatest emotional distress. Specifically, while viewing distressing videos, men reported experiencing greater overall distress and also smiled more than women, especially in social conditions and while viewing intensely (as opposed to moderately) distressing stimuli. In general, smiling was related to more negative affect while viewing distressing videos but to more positive affect after viewing such stimuli. Study 2 explored raters' social perceptions of participants from Study 1, confirming that people judge distressed smilers as less socially appropriate and less likable than nonsmilers. Findings suggest that although distressed smiling serves a probable self-regulatory function, it may also bear some negative social consequences.     

How to tell essence (when you sense one)

How could perceptual experiences reveal matters of essentiality? Answering this question is crucial for vindicating a thesis about the epistemic import of experience, commonly known as Revelation. The thesis comes in a weak and a strong version. Only on the strong one could it make up an authoritative piece of common sense. But this version also seems to demand too much of our experiences, namely that they can reveal essentiality. However, the impression that our experiences are not suited for this turns out to be due to a non-mandatory assumption about how the revelation of essentiality would work.     

和好是上帝的美好旨意

从中国古老传统文化中的“和”,涵盖着一切“和好”、“和睦”、“和谐”、“和平”、“和好”、“和睦”、“和谐”等词在《圣经·新约》希腊原文皆为近义词。当前提倡构建社会主义和谐社会和促进平安世界的理想和目标,是符合圣经教训,更是符合上帝对人世间美好旨意,符合上帝之本性的。     

Religious and secular roads to justify wrongdoing: How values interact with culture in explaining moral disengagement attitudes

Using a person-culture interaction perspective, we explored how socialization through a secular versus a religiously orthodox educational system in Israel moderated the associations between personal values and moral disengagement attitudes. In Study 1 (N = 333), we found that among orthodox (but not secular) participants, conservation values were negatively and openness-to-change values were positively associated with moral disengagement. Self-transcendence values were negatively associated with moral disengagement in the whole sample. In Study 2 (N = 251), we focused on the dehumanization subscale of disengagement attitudes to examine the impact of values accessibility among secular and orthodox participants. Findings showed that among secular participants, universalism values inhibited dehumanization more than conservation values did. Conversely, among orthodox participants, conservation values inhibited dehumanization more than openness-to-change values.     

Marital therapy when a symptom is presented by a spouse

This paper proposes that hierarchical incongruities in a marriage can occur when a spouse develops a symptom in an attempt to balance the division of power in the couple. A cycle is described in which the couple deals with the dominance of one spouse over the other by alternately focusing on a marital issue, on a spouse's symptom, or on a child's problem. The task for the therapist is to organize the couple so that power and weakness are not centered upon symptomatic behavior, the division of power is balanced, and the couple is organized in a congruous hierarchy. Two case examples are presented and paradoxical and straightforward therapeutic techniques are described.     

Learning when reward is delayed: a marking hypothesis

Rats were trained on spatial discriminations in which reward was delayed for 1 min. Experiment 1 tested Lett's hypothesis that responses made in the home cage during the delay interval are less likely to interfere with learning than responses made in the maze. Experimental subjects were transferred to their home cages during the delay interval, and control subjects were picked up but then immediately replaced in the maze. Contrary to Lett's hypothesis, both groups learned. Further experiments suggested that handling following a choice response was the crucial variable in producing learning: No learning occurred when handling was delayed (Experiment 2) or omitted (Experiment 3). One possible explanation for the fact that handling facilitated learning is that it served to mark the preceding choice response in memory so that subjects were then more likely to recall it when subsequently reinforced. In accordance with this interpretation, learning was found to be just as strong when the choice response was followed by an intense light or noise as by handling (Experiment 4). The implication of marking for other phenomena such as avoidance, quasi-reinforcement, and the paradoxical effects of punishment is also discussed.     

No time-stretching illusion when a tone is followed by a noise

A sine tone is perceived as longer when it is preceded by a more intense noise than when presented in isolation. This is the time-stretching illusion. We conducted an experiment where the method of constant stimuli was used to examine whether a tone would also be stretched when it was followed by a noise. The duration of a tone was overestimated when it was preceded by a noise, but not when followed by a noise or when located between two consecutive noises. Moreover, the increasing of the noise intensity (from ?6 to +6 dB) relative to the tone intensity resulted in larger overestimations, but only in the condition where a tone was preceded by a noise. In brief, the duration of a tone is stretched when this tone is preceded by a noise and if this tone is not followed by a noise.     

Gait complexity is acutely restored in older adults when walking to a fractal-like visual stimulus

Typically, gait rehabilitation uses an invariant stimulus paradigm to improve gait related deficiencies. However, this approach may not be optimal as it does not incorporate gait complexity, or in more precise words, the variable fractal-like nature found in the gait fluctuations commonly observed in healthy populations. Aging which also affects gait complexity, resulting in a loss of adaptability to the surrounding environment, could benefit from gait rehabilitation that incorporates a variable fractal-like stimulus paradigm. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of a variable fractal-like visual stimulus on the stride-to-stride fluctuations of older adults during overground walking. Additionally, our study aimed to investigate potential retention effects by instructing the participants to continue walking after turning off the stimulus. Older adults walked 8 min with i) no stimulus (self-paced), ii) a variable fractal-like visual stimulus and iii) an invariant visual stimulus. In the two visual stimuli conditions, the participants walked 8 additional minutes after the stimulus was turned off. Gait complexity was evaluated with the widely used fractal scaling exponent calculated through the detrended fluctuation analysis of the stride time intervals. We found a significant ~20% increase in the scaling exponent from the no stimulus to the variable fractal-like stimulus condition. However, no differences were found when the older adults walked to the invariant stimulus. The observed increase was towards the values found in the past to characterize healthy young adults. We have also observed that these positive effects were retained even when the stimulus was turned off for the fractal condition, practically, acutely restoring gait complexity of older adults. These very promising results should motivate researchers and clinicians to perform clinical trials in order to investigate the potential of visual variable fractal-like stimulus for gait rehabilitation.