Intergroup attribution bias in the context of extreme intergroup conflict

Limited research has examined attributional biases in the context of extreme intergroup conflict, and the research that does exist contains methodological shortcomings. To remedy this, 282 Indonesians read a newspaper article describing a violent incident in Ambon. Christians (but not Muslims) used stronger situational attributions for violent ingroup acts than for violent outgroup acts. In contrast, both Muslims and Christians used stronger dispositional attributions for violent outgroup acts than for violent ingroup acts. This latter tendency emerged independently of who was described in the article as the perpetrators of the violence. Implications for our understanding of intergroup conflict are discussed.     

Health care responsibility

The general and deep dissatisfaction with the present-day status of health care is of such intensity that one speaks of a health care crisis. What is most disturbing to the physicians is that society directs its accusation mainly at the health care professional for being responsible for this crisis. If we want to abolish the crisis we must try to get a renewed look at its source, i.e., to answer the questions “where did health care go wrong primarily?” and “with whom lies the ultimate responsibility for health care?”. In the following discourse these questions are discussed. Based on the assumption that every human being is a free rational agent the ultimate health care responsibility is assigned to the citizen. Of course, whether such an approach will in fact solve the problems inherent in present-day health systems cannot be predicted.     

Anatomoclinical correlations of the aphasias as defined through computerized tomography: Exceptions

We have studied the frequency of exceptions to classical aphasia localizations in right-handed, literate, adult, native speakers of Italian with focal vascular left-hemisphere lesions, correlating clinical and computerized tomography data. Two hundred sixty-seven subjects were given computerized tomography (CT) examinations; lesions were mapped onto lateral diagrams and the sites of the lesions were defined. Patients were then classified as nonfluent aphasics, fluent aphasics, and nonaphasics. Patients with negative CT scans (n = 10) or only "deep" lesions (n = 50) were not studied for anatomoclinical correlations. Of the remaining 207 patients, 36 presented unexpected findings. There were seven cases of fluent aphasia and "anterior" CT lesions and six cases with nonfluent aphasia and "posterior" CT lesions among them. The significance of these findings is discussed.     

Perceptions of assertive behavior: Sex combination,role appropriateness,and message type

Eighty-four male and 84 female subjects, divided into high, moderate, and low groups on the basis of sex-role stereotyping, watched videotapes of two-person interactions where positive and negative assertive messages were sent by male and female actors to male and female receivers. Subjects rated the level of assertion and the social acceptability of each message. Results indicated that while all messages were rated as relatively assertive, negative messages were perceived as more assertive and less socially acceptable than positive ones. Subjects also rated male senders as more assertive than female senders when the message type was role inappropriate for the subjects but rated female senders as relatively more assertive when the message type was role appropriate for them. Messages from female senders were rated as more socially acceptable than messages from male senders. Finally, messages to male receivers were rated as more acceptable than messages to females, especially by male subjects when the sender was male. Thus, both sex-role stereotypes and situational expectations appear to influence perceptions of level of assertion, and more assertive messages are perceived as less socially appropriate.     

Examining the response programming function of the Quiet Eye: Do tougher shots need a quieter eye?

Support for the proposition that the Quiet Eye (QE) duration reflects a period of response programming (including task parameterisation) has come from research showing that an increase in task difficulty is associated with increases in QE duration. Here, we build on previous research by manipulating three elements of task difficulty that correspond with different parameters of golf-putting performance; force production, impact quality and target line. Longer QE durations were found for more complex iterations of the task and furthermore, more sensitive analyses of the QE duration suggest that the early QE proportion (prior to movement initiation) is closely related to force production and impact quality. However, these increases in QE do not seem functional in terms of supporting improved performance. Further research is needed to explore QE’s relationship with performance under conditions of increased difficulty.     

Earning points for moral behavior: organ allocation based on reciprocity

Anticipating the reevaluation of the Dutch organ procurement system, in late 2003 the Rathenau Institute published a study entitled 'Gift or Contribution?' In this study, the author, Govert den Hartogh, carries out a thorough moral analysis of the problem of organ shortage and fair allocation of organs. He suggests there should be a change in mentality whereby organ donation is no longer viewed in terms of charity and the volunteer spirit, but rather in terms of duty and reciprocity. The procurement and allocation of donor organs should be seen as a system of mutually assured help. Fair allocation would imply to give priority to those who recognize and comply with their duty: the registered donors. The idea of viewing organ donation as an undertaking involving mutual benefit rather than as a matter of charity, however, is not new. Notwithstanding the fact that reference to charity and altruism is not required in order for the organ donation to be of moral significance, we will argue against the reciprocity-based scenario. Steering organ allocation towards those who are themselves willing to donate organs is both an ineffective and morally questionable means of attempting to counter organ shortage.     

Time of day-dependent latent inhibition of conditioned taste aversions in rats

We have determined that the temporal context of drinking can modulate latent inhibition of learned saline aversions in Wistar rats by changing the time of day of drinking of the preexposure and conditioning phases. Latent inhibition was absent in the group preexposed and conditioned to saline at different times of the day, but not in the group that was preexposed and conditioned at the same time of day. The results confirm a previous report that the time of day can modulate taste aversion learning independently of other environmental cues. It is proposed that the features and duration of the habituation training to the temporal contexts used may be critical for time-dependent latent inhibition to appear.     

Interfering with the Central Executive by Means of a Random Interval Repetition Task

Four dual-task experiments are reported in which a short-term memory task is performed concurrently with a random interval repetition task, which was designed to interfere with functions normally attributed to the central executive in the working memory model of Baddeley and Hitch (1974). The task was found to interfere with supra-span serial recall and with backward memory span, but did not disrupt performance on a forward-memoryspan task. The effects were observed in dissociation with effects of articulatory suppression and matrix tapping, so that the locus of the effects of the new task is not due to the slave systems. In addition, single-task random-interval repetition performance was sampled and compared to performance in the dual-task conditions of all four experiments. Although quality of tapping performance differed between the single-task and the dual-task conditions, it was not related to recall performance. All the results are discussed with reference to the working memory model.     

Victims' Satisfaction With Compensation: Effects of Initial Disadvantage and Third Party Intervention

Two experiments examined the reactions of victims of disadvantage to compensation designed to improve their lot. In Experiment 1, subjects participated in an organizational simulation where they were disadvantaged with respect to their pay. Subsequently, a third party intervened with one of a number of strategies which varied according to whether or not the subjects received compensation and whether or not the person responsible for their disadvantage suffered. The interaction between compensation and suffering was significant on a satisfaction measure and the pattern indicated that subjects were most satisfied when the harmdoer suffered to provide compensation. This interaction was not significant on a measure of perceptions of fairness. Experiment 2 examined the possibility that the intervention of the third party in Experiment 1 may have created feelings of indebtedness. In a similar paradigm, subjects were either disadvantaged by a harmdoer or by external events and received compensation that either was or was not accompanied by a request for repayment. When subjects had been disadvantaged by external events, they were more satisfied and felt more fairly treated when there was an opportunity for reciprocation than when there was not, while the opposite pattern was the case when the harmdoer was responsible for the disadvantage. The results were discussed in the context of the complexity of the receipt of aid phenomenon and possible implications for the design of ameliorative social programs.