A cross-cultural study of trait self-enhancement, explanatory variables, and adjustment

We investigated trait self-enhancement, explanatory variables, and adjustment in European American (n = 141), Asian American (n = 72), Mexican (n = 141), and Filipino (n = 174) college students. Consistent with trait perspectives, students in all cultural groups rated their traits with moderate to high accuracy, using peer ratings as a criterion. European Americans did not exhibit self-enhancement relative to peers, but both self and peer ratings were higher (i.e., more positive) for European Americans than for the other three groups. Support was found for some, but not all, cultural psychology explanations of self-enhancement. In all cultural groups, self-enhancement was more associated with personal (intrapsychic) adjustment than interpersonal adjustment, as judged by peers. The results provided support for an integration of trait and cultural psychology perspectives.     

Decision‐making in civil litigation: Effects of attorney credibility,evidence strength,and juror cognitive processing

The current study examined the relationship between juror cognitive processing (measured by need for cognition [NFC]), attorney credibility, evidence strength, and civil litigation verdicts (liability, likelihood of causation, and compensatory damages). Participants (N = 446) viewed a videotaped mock civil trial in which the credibility of the attorneys and the strength of the plaintiff's evidence were manipulated. Plaintiff attorney credibility, defense attorney credibility, and strength of evidence interacted with one another for liability verdicts. In the strong evidence condition, the likelihood of a liable verdict was higher for a credible plaintiff attorney than a non‐credible plaintiff attorney when facing a non‐credible defense attorney. In the ambiguous evidence condition, the likelihood of a liable verdict was higher for a credible plaintiff attorney than a non‐credible plaintiff attorney when facing a credible defense attorney. Plaintiff attorney credibility, however, was found to be more influential on jurors’ decision‐making than case evidence for likelihood of causation and compensatory damage award decisions. Participants’ NFC also interacted with plaintiff attorney credibility. High NFC jurors were more influenced by a credible plaintiff attorney than low NFC jurors. Although these findings are counter to common findings in the NFC literature, they conform to a body of literature that supports the notion that jurors view attorney credibility as a piece of case evidence and not a peripheral cue as is often assumed. Thus, the findings indicate that attorneys do matter to the outcomes of cases. Policy and practice implications for attorneys and the courts are discussed.     

Beyond Empirical Adequacy: Learning Progressions as Models and Their Value for Teachers

As scientific models of student thinking, learning progressions (LPs) have been evaluated in terms of one important, but limited, criterion: fit to empirical data. We argue that LPs are not empirically adequate, largely because they rely on problematic assumptions of theory-like coherence in students’ thinking. Through an empirical investigation of physics teachers’ interactions with an LP-based score report, we investigate 2 other criteria of good models: utility and generativity. When interacting with LP-based materials, teachers often adopted finer-grained perspectives (in contrast to the levels-based perspective of the LP itself) and used these finer-grained perspectives to formulate more specific, actionable instructional ideas than when they reasoned in terms of LP levels. However, although teachers did not use the LP-based materials in ways envisioned by LP researchers, the teachers’ interactions with the score reports embodied how philosophers envision the fruitful use of good models of dynamic, complex systems. In particular, teachers took a skeptical, inquiring stance toward the LP, using it as an oversimplified starting place for generating and testing hypotheses about student thinking and using concepts from the model in ways that moved beyond the knowledge available in the LP. Thus, despite—and perhaps even because of—their empirical inadequacy, LPs have the potential to serve teachers as productive models in ways not envisioned by LP researchers: as tools for knowledge generation.     

Middle Response Functioning in Likert-responses to Personality Items

Two studies examined whether the middle response option in graphic rating scales indicates a moderate standing on a trait/item, or rather a “dumping ground” for unsure or non-applicable (N/A) responses. Study One identified middle response-option dysfunction. Study Two indicated that respondents use the middle response option as an N/A proxy, even under implicit ‘skip if you do not know’ instructional sets. Although middle response category ‘misuse’ did not adversely affect reliability and validity in these studies, it is recommended that assessment developers (especially in on-line administration contexts) regularly include an N/A response option when administering graphic rating scales.

Progesterone to ovariectomized mice enhances cognitive performance in the spontaneous alternation, object recognition, but not placement, water maze, and contextual and cued conditioned fear tasks

Research on how steroid hormones mediate mnemonic processes have focused on effects of 17β-estradiol (E₂); yet, progesterone (P₄) co-varies with E₂ across endogenous hormonal milieu, and itself may influence cognitive processes. We investigated the hypothesis that acute P₄ treatment enhances cognitive performance compared to vehicle. Ovariectomized (OVX) c57/BL6J mice were randomly assigned to be subcutaneously injected with oil vehicle or P₄ (10 mg/kg). Mice were trained in the spontaneous alternation, object recognition, object placement, water maze, or fear conditioning tasks, and injected with vehicle or P₄ before training or immediately post-training, and then were tested 1, 4, or 24 h later. The data obtained from these experiments supported our hypothesis. P₄ increased the percentage of spontaneous alterations made in a T-maze more so than did vehicle. P₄, compared to vehicle, increased the percentage of time spent exploring the novel object in the object recognition task, but did not alter performance in the object placement task. P₄, compared to vehicle, decreased latencies to reach the location in the water maze where the platform had been during training in a probe trial, but did not alter performance in the control, cued trial. Compared to vehicle, P₄ treatment increased freezing in contextual and cued fear testing. Thus, acute P₄ treatment to OVX mice can improve cognitive performance across a variety of tasks.     

Juries,Gender, and Assault Weapons1

Firearms appearance can have psychological import in legal proceedings by keying aggressive ideations, impacting sentencing and gender‐based attributions. We presented mock jurors with a homeowner's defensive gun use. Reasonable arguments were for shooting or not in the scenario by the defendant. The firearm varied in type. Assault rifle use led to harsher legal outcomes than did other firearms. A female defendant was at more risk than a male. In the last experiment, a police shooting scenario was tested. In that case, the male officer was at more risk than the female officer when wielding the assault rifle. Weapons and gender interactions were, for the most part, congruent with social cognitive theories of attribution and weapons priming of aggressive ideation.     

Zygmunt Adamczewski (1921–1990)

In Memoriam

Zygmunt Adamczewski (1921–1990)