Information search in the testing of quantified hypotheses: how "all," "most," "some," "few," and "none" hypotheses are tested

A series of experiments examined how the search for information in the testing of hypotheses is affected by quantifiers that specify the frequency of the test relation. The experiments showed that a positive search is used more in the testing of propositions in which some instances are predicted to have the test relation than in the testing of propositions in which most or few instances are predicted to have the test relation. In addition, the studies demonstrated that a negative or disconfirmatory search is more likely to characterize tests of absolute hypotheses than tests of hypotheses of the majority or minority form. Finally, the findings indicated that a negative search also is more common in tests of hypotheses predicting the absence rather than the presence of a phenomenon. Thus, as expected, participants generally engaged in a diagnostic search rather than the confirmatory search for information that has been so ubiquitous in previous research.     

Variable foreperiod deficits in Parkinson's disease: dissociation across reflexive and voluntary behaviors

The effect of a visual warning signal (1.0-6.5 s random foreperiod, FP) on the latency of voluntary (hand-grip) and reflexive (startle-eyeblink) reactions was investigated in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and in young and aged control subjects. Equivalent FP effects on blink were observed across groups. By contrast, FP effects diverged for voluntary responses across groups with no effect of foreperiod duration for PD patients. The convergence of these results with findings from animal research suggests that interval-timing processes associated with higher level voluntary behaviors are dependent upon intact dopaminergic pathways, while those associated with lower level reflexive behaviors are spared in PD.     

An alternative perspective on von Winterfeldt et al.'s (1997) test of consequence monotonicity

D. von Winterfeldt, N.-K. Chung, R. D. Luce, and Y. Cho (1997) provided several tests for consequence monotonicity of choice or judgment, using certainty equivalents of gambles. The authors reaxiomatized consequence monotonicity in a probabilistic framework and reanalyzed von Winterfeldt et al.'s main experiment via a bootstrap method. Their application offers new insights into consequence monotonicity as well as into von Winterfeldt et al.'s 3 experimental paradigms: judged certainty equivalents (JCE), QUICKINDIFF, and parameter estimation by sequential testing (PEST). For QUICKINDIFF, the authors found no indication of violations of "random consequence monotonicity." This sharply contrasts the findings of von Winterfeldt et al., who concluded that axiom violations were the most pronounced under that procedure. The authors found potential evidence for violations in JCE and certainty equivalents derived from PEST.     

the media's portrayal of urban and rural school violence: a preliminary analysis

Although the juvenile arrest rate has declined in the last few years, public awareness of juvenile crime has not diminished (Snyder 1996; Schiraldi 1998). The recent rash of rural school shootings has, in fact, heightened public awareness of juvenile crime and delinquent behavior. This research examines acts of school violence that have been committed by juveniles in three rural school districts and analyzes how the newspaper media present these acts relative to similar acts committed by juveniles in urban school settings. Our content analysis of the Wall Street Journal, Louisville Courier Journal, New York Times, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post reveals that these newspapers present school violence in these two settings very differently and that these differences are reflected in the way the political system reacts to such incidents.     

Nurses’ recognition and reporting of child abuse: A factorial survey

According to interaction ist theory, responses of professionals to potential deviance will vary by characteristics of the event, characteristics of the biography and training of the observer, and characteristics of the organization in which the process occurs. Hypotheses concerning recognition and reporting of child abuse were tested using a factorial survey design. A probability sample of nurses (N = 1,038) judged vignettes, in which case characteristic variables were systematically manipulated, and responded to a questionnaire on their background, professional work, and organization. Case characteristics involving type and level of seriousness of abuse, perpetrator status, and perpetrator psychology had the greatest effects on the average recognition and reporting scores, as shown in the analysis using ordinary least squares regression. Contrary to interaction ist predictions, only a small additional amount of the variance was accounted for when the nurses’ characteristics and organizational characteristics were added to the equation. Implications of the findings for further research and for social policy and practice concerning child abuse are discussed.     

The moderating role of emotional stability in the relationship between exposure to violence and anxiety and depression

This study investigated the associations among exposure to violence, emotional stability, and psychological symptoms. The moderating role of emotional stability in the relationship between exposure to violence and anxiety and depression was examined in a sample of 482 high school students in Hong Kong. Results showed that both witnessing violence and low levels of emotional stability were positively associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression. Low levels of emotional stability exacerbated the relation between witnessing violence and symptoms of anxiety and depression; the opposite pattern was found among adolescents with high levels of emotional stability. This study sheds light on the role of emotional stability in ameliorating the detrimental effects of witnessing violence on symptoms of anxiety and depression among adolescents. Findings of this study also have implications for the development of emotionally healthy personalities.     

Relationship between heart rate variability and cognitive function during threat of shock

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between resting heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive functions during threat of shock. A Continuous Performance Task and a Working Memory Task were used to measure cognitive functions. Sixty-five male participants from the Royal Norwegian Navy participated. HRV was measured during baseline, test conditions and recovery. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat and threat groups. Based on the median split of the high frequency (HF) spectral power, groups were divided into two additional groups. Overall, the high HRV participants showed superior performance on cognitive tasks independent of non-threat or threat conditions. During threat condition the low HRV group showed improved performance. Thus, individuals with high HRV were more stress tolerant and resilient in the face of environmental changes. The results from the study might have implications with regard to performance in operational settings, but also for other fields of psychological research such as individual differences, anxiety and coping.     

Temporal shifts in eye gaze and facial expressions independently contribute to the perceived attractiveness of unfamiliar faces

ABSTRACT

We investigated whether attractiveness ratings of expressive faces would be affected by gaze shifts towards or away from the observer. In all experiments, effects of facial expression were found, with higher attractiveness ratings to positive over negative expressions, irrespective of effects of gaze-shifts. In the first experiment faces with gaze shifts away from the observer were preferred. However, when the dynamics of the gaze shift was disrupted, by adding an intermediate delay, the effect of direction of gaze shift disappeared. By manipulating the relative duration of each gaze direction during a gaze shift we found higher attractiveness ratings to faces with a longer duration of direct gaze, particularly in the initial exposure to a face. Our findings suggest that although the temporal dynamics of eye gaze and facial expressions influence the aesthetic evaluation of faces, these cues appear to act independently rather than in an integrated manner for social perception.     

Looking at others through implicitly or explicitly prejudiced eyes

It is well known that we utilize internalized representations (or schemas) to direct our eyes when exploring visual stimuli. Interestingly, our schemas for human faces are known to reflect systematic differences that are consistent with one's level of racial prejudice. However, whether one's level or type of racial prejudice can differentially regulate how we visually explore faces that are the target of prejudice is currently unknown. Here, White participants varying in their level of implicit or explicit prejudice viewed Black faces and White faces (with the latter serving as a control) while having their gaze behaviour recorded with an eye-tracker. The results show that, regardless of prejudice type (i.e., implicit or explicit), participants high in racial prejudice examine faces differently than those low in racial prejudice. Specifically, individuals high in explicit racial prejudice were more likely to fixate on the mouth region of Black faces when compared to individuals low in explicit prejudice, and exhibited less consistency in their scanning of faces irrespective of race. On the other hand, individuals high in implicit racial prejudice tended to focus on the region between the eyes, regardless of face race. It therefore seems that racial prejudice guides target-race specific patterns of looking behaviour, and may also contribute to general patterns of looking behaviour when visually exploring human faces.