Scaling reward value with demand curves versus preference tests

In Experiment 1, six capuchins lifted a weight during a 10-min session to receive a food piece. Across conditions, the weight was increased across six different amounts for three different food types. The number of food pieces obtained as a function of the weight lifted was fitted by a demand equation that is hypothesized to quantify food value. For most subjects, this analysis showed that the three food types differed little in value. In Experiment 2, these monkeys were given pairwise choices among these food types. In 13 of 18 comparisons, preferences at least equaled a 3-to-1 ratio; in seven comparisons, preference was absolute. There was no relation between values based on degree of preference versus values based on the demand equation. When choices in the present report were compared to similar data with these subjects from another study, between-study lability in preference emerged. This outcome contrasts with the finding in demand analysis that test–retest reliability is high. We attribute the unreliability and extreme assignment of value based on preference tests to high substitutability between foods. We suggest use of demand analysis instead of preference tests for studies that compare the values of different foods. A better strategy might be to avoid manipulating value by using different foods. Where possible, value should be manipulated by varying amounts of a single food type because, over an appropriate range, more food is consistently more valuable than less. Such an approach would be immune to problems in between-food substitutability.     

The moment‐to‐moment pitch dynamics of child‐directed speech shape toddlers’ attention and learning

Young children have an overall preference for child‐directed speech (CDS) over adult‐directed speech (ADS), and its structural features are thought to facilitate language learning. Many studies have supported these findings, but less is known about processing of CDS at short, sub‐second timescales. How do the moment‐to‐moment dynamics of CDS influence young children's attention and learning? In Study 1, we used hierarchical clustering to characterize patterns of pitch variability in a natural CDS corpus, which uncovered four main word‐level contour shapes: ‘fall’, ‘rise’, ‘hill’, and ‘valley’. In Study 2, we adapted a measure from adult attention research—pupil size synchrony—to quantify real‐time attention to speech across participants, and found that toddlers showed higher synchrony to the dynamics of CDS than to ADS. Importantly, there were consistent differences in toddlers’ attention when listening to the four word‐level contour types. In Study 3, we found that pupil size synchrony during exposure to novel words predicted toddlers’ learning at test. This suggests that the dynamics of pitch in CDS not only shape toddlers’ attention but guide their learning of new words. By revealing a physiological response to the real‐time dynamics of CDS, this investigation yields a new sub‐second framework for understanding young children's engagement with one of the most important signals in their environment.     

Moving beyond the trait conceptualization of self-esteem: The prospective effect of impulsiveness, coping, and risky behavior engagement

Past research has largely focused on examining self-esteem as an independent as opposed to a dependent variable. At the same time, research suggests that during adolescence, self-esteem is subject to yearly, monthly, as well as daily change, and consequently, it is important to identify underlying vulnerability factors and behaviors, which shape self-esteem lability. In the current multi-wave, longitudinal study, 142 adolescents between the ages of 12-18 completed monthly assessments across 4 months. At the initial assessment, adolescents provided self-report data pertaining to impulsiveness, maladaptive coping, risky behavior engagement, and self-esteem. At each of the follow-up assessments, adolescents provided information about risky behavior engagement and self-esteem. Results of time-lagged, idiographic multilevel mediation analyzes indicated that risky behavior engagement mediated the relationship between impulsiveness/maladaptive coping and subsequent low self-esteem. Critically, when included in the same model, impulsiveness was significant above and beyond maladaptive coping. Additionally, the reverse model with self-esteem as the predictor and risky behavior included as the dependent variable was not significant suggesting that our effect was unidirectional. As a whole, these findings suggest that impulsive youth may engage in behaviors, which ultimately precipitate negative self-evaluations and transient declines in self-esteem.     

Competitiveness across the life span: the feisty fifties

Existing theories on life span changes in confidence or motivation suggest that individuals' preferences to enter competitive situations should gradually decline with age. We examined competitive preferences in a field experiment using real financial stakes in 25- to 75-year-olds (N = 543). The critical dependent variable was whether participants chose to perform a simple mental arithmetic task either under a piece-rate payment schedule (i.e., $.25 per solved item) or a competitive payment schedule ($.50 per solved item if the overall score is better than that of a randomly selected opponent, $0 otherwise). Results revealed that competitive preferences increased across the life span until they peaked around age 50, and dropped thereafter. We also found that throughout, men had a substantially larger preference for competing than women-extending previous findings on college-aged participants. The age/gender differences in preferences were neither accounted for by actual differences in performance nor individuals' subjective confidence. This first systematic attempt to characterize age differences in competitive behavior suggests that a simple decline conception of competitiveness needs to be reconsidered.     

The Development of Spatial Skills Through Interventions Involving Block Building Activities

This study investigated the use of block-building interventions to develop spatial-reasoning skills in kindergartners. Two intervention conditions and a control condition were included to determine, first, whether the block building activities themselves benefited children's spatial skills, and secondly, whether a story context further improved learning. Spatial measures included: spatial visualization, mental rotation, and block building. Results showed: for block building, interventions within a story context improved performance compared to the other two conditions. For spatial visualization, both types of block-building interventions improved performance compared to the control condition. Findings suggest: (1) storytelling provides an effective context for teaching spatial content, (2) teaching block building develops wider spatial skills, and (3) 3-dimensional mental rotation tasks show a male advantage in kindergartners.     

Measurement Skills in Low-Income Elementary School Students: Exploring the Nature of Gender Differences

In this research, we examined overall performance and gender differences in measurement skills in elementary-school students from low-income families. In Study 1, accuracy and error patterns were analyzed in a large sample of fourth-graders; in Study 2 error patterns and strategy usage were examined with a smaller sample of fourth-graders. Study 1 showed no main effect of gender on students’ performance. Instead, as predicted, the direction of gender difference varied as a function of problem type: boys outperformed girls on spatial/conceptual measurement, whereas girls outperformed boys on formula-based measurement, as well as on a test of computation skills. Study 2 revealed both similarities and differences in the way boys and girls approached measurement problems. Girls appeared to have specific difficulty with spatial/conceptual problems where objects and measurement units were not pictorially presented. When recording their solutions, girls generally wrote down calculations while boys made drawings. Overall, the students performed poorly in measurement; strategy analysis allowed for examination of common weaknesses, indicating possible ways of improving performance of underserved groups.     

Hostility,oral contraceptive use,and cardiovascular reactivity in women

Abstract

Hostility, task instructions, social desirability and cardiovascular reactivity were investigated in a exploratory study of 70 female college students and employees. Women were administered the Videotaped Clinical Interview (VC1), the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC), the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale (CM), the Buss-Durkee Hostility Index (BD) and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) before undergoing a stressful discussion. Oral contraceptive users had significantly higher DBP at baseline. Based on PAQ scores, women were given instructions for the discussion task consistent or inconsistent with their gender-relevant styles. Instruction type predicted heart rate changes, and interacted with hostility to predict DBP reactivity. Interview-based hostility (VCI-H) was associated with increased DBP during the discussion task, as was being high hostile (low MC/high VCI-H). The CM and the BD had less association with heart rate and blood pressure changes. Oral contraceptive (OC) use was associated with higher SBP reactivity under stress, with highest SBP increases in the OC users concerned with social desirability. The complex interaction between trait dimensions like hostility, social desirability, and oral contraceptive use requires further investigation.     

Trust of an Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance Technology: A Fighter Pilot Perspective

The present study examined the antecedents of trust among operational Air Force fighter pilots for an automatic ground collision avoidance technology. This technology offered a platform with high face validity for studying trust in automation because it is an automatic system currently being used in operations by the Air Force. Pilots (N = 142) responded to an online survey which asked about their attitudes toward the technology and assessed a number of psychological factors. Consistent with prior research on trust in automation, a number of trust antecedents were identified which corresponded to human factors, learned trust factors, and situational factors. Implications for the introduction of novel automatic systems into the military are discussed.     

An individual differences approach to the suggestibility of memory over time

We examined how certain personality traits might relate to the formation of suggestive memory over time. We hypothesised that compliance and trust relate to initial acceptance of misinformation as memory, whereas fantasy proneness might relate to integration of misinformation into memory after later intervals (relative to the time of exposure to misinformation). Participants watched an excerpt from a movie—the simulated eyewitness event. They next answered a recall test that included embedded misinformation about the movie. Participants then answered a yes/no recognition test. A week later, participants answered a second yes/no recognition test about the movie (each yes/no recognition test included different questions). Before both recognition tests, participants were warned about the misinformation shown during recall and were asked to base their answer on the movie excerpt only. After completing the second recognition test, participants answered questions from the Neuroticism Extroversion Openness Personality Inventory-3 (McCrae, Costa, & Martin, 2005) and Creative Experiences Questionnaire (Merckelbach, Horselenberg, & Muris, 2001). While compliance correlated with misinformation effects immediately after exposure to misinformation, fantasy-prone personality accounted for more of the variability in false recognition rates than compliance after a 1-week interval.