Training requirements and retention characteristics of serial list organization by macaque monkeys

This work evaluated the prospect that organizational accounts of the retention of list information by monkeys might be an artifact of familiarity with conditional relationships. Seven sophisticated macaques were trained on four five-item lists. Each acquisition selectively excluded one of the internal conditional pairs of the typical four-problem sequence (AB,BC,CD,DE) that defines a five-item serially ordered list. Then, all possible novel pairings and the trained pairs appeared together in a test. After this, the previously omitted pair was trained and animals were retested. On all tasks, initial tests revealed little organization and much intersubject variability of characteristic choice strategies, but subsequent inclusion of all four conditional pairs always yielded organized serial choice. On both the four-problem tests and in a later retention, errors were directly related to interitem distance between the objects paired on test trials. These results helped to specify the conditions required for demonstration of non-human primate analogs of transitivity, and showed that even sophisticated monkeys organize information in retention only if they know all interitem relationships. Received: 7 October 1998 / Accepted after revision: 10 October 1999     

The dialogical principle and the mystery of being

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion -     

Does Alternating Between Masculine and Feminine Pronouns Eliminate Perceived Gender Bias in Text?

This study explores whether alternating betweenthe pronouns he and she ina text is an effective way to avoid sexist language.Participants were psychology students at a largemidwestern university and were predominately White and frommiddle-class backgrounds. Students read two versions ofan essay, one that alternated between masculine andfeminine pronouns and one that exclusively used paired, he or she-type pronouns. Readersperceived the alternating version to be biased in favorof females and lower in overall quality than the pairedversion. However, the alternating version appeared to be more effective at combating sexism,suggesting an alternating strategy may be desirable forauthors with this goal. If the author is not primarilyconcerned with increasing readers' awareness of gender issues, techniques such as pluralization or thesingular they may be moreappropriate.     

An Evaluation of the Job Stress Questionnaire with a Sample of Entrepreneurs

A modified version of Caplan's Job Stress Questionnaire (JSQ) was administered to 169 male and 56 female entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs were found to have higher levels of stress associated with workload than with role ambiguity and underutilization of skills. Compared to scores reported previously for various occupational categories, the entrepreneurs scored significantly higher than did white collar, blue collar, and professional groups on the workload scale and significantly lower on scales measuring role ambiguity and under-utilization of skills. These results may be due to the nature of entrepreneurial activity, which is often characterized by heavy workloads, long hours, and a self-established role in the organization. Additionally, the factorial composition of the JSQ and its internal consistency were examined. Evidence of convergent and discriminant validity at the item and subscale level confirmed the a priori dimensions of the JSQ, although the internal consistency of the scales were low to moderate. The need for various improvements in the measurement of occupational stress is briefly discussed.     

Moral principles as moral dispositions

What are moral principles? In particular, what are moral principles of the sort that (if they exist) ground moral obligations or—at the very least—particular moral truths? I argue that we can fruitfully conceive of such principles as real, irreducibly dispositional properties of individual persons (agents and patients) that are responsible for and thereby explain the moral properties of (e.g.) agents and actions. Such moral dispositions (or moral powers) are apt to be the metaphysical grounds of moral obligations and of particular truths about what is morally permissible, impermissible, etc. Moreover, they can do other things that moral principles are supposed to do: explain the phenomena “falling within their scope,” support counterfactuals, and ground moral necessities, “necessary connections” between obligating reasons and obligations. And they are apt to be the truthmakers for moral laws, or “lawlike” moral generalizations.     

Pancultural Gender Stereotypes Revisited: The Five Factor Model

Williams and Best's (1982, 1990a) cross-culturalgender stereotype data from 25 countries, previouslyanalyzed in terms of affective meanings, ego states, andpsychological needs, were re-analyzed in terms of the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality.In each country, participants were approximately 100university students, equally divided by gender. Withresults averaged across all countries, it was found that the pancultural male stereotype was higherthan the pancultural female stereotype on Extraversion,Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness toExperience while the pancultural female stereotype was higher on Agreeableness. Re-analysis of thestereotype data from Japan and Pakistan, which had beenfound relatively atypical in previous analyses, revealedFFM profiles generally similar to the pancultural profiles. The evaluative nature of each factoris discussed and related to the stereotypes associalization models.     

A cleansing fire: Moral outrage alleviates guilt and buffers threats to one’s moral identity

Why do people express moral outrage? While this sentiment often stems from a perceived violation of some moral principle, we test the counter-intuitive possibility that moral outrage at third-party transgressions is sometimes a means of reducing guilt over one’s own moral failings and restoring a moral identity. We tested this guilt-driven account of outrage in five studies examining outrage at corporate labor exploitation and environmental destruction. Study 1 showed that personal guilt uniquely predicted moral outrage at corporate harm-doing and support for retributive punishment. Ingroup (vs. outgroup) wrongdoing elicited outrage at corporations through increased guilt, while the opportunity to express outrage reduced guilt (Study 2) and restored perceived personal morality (Study 3). Study 4 tested whether effects were due merely to downward social comparison and Study 5 showed that guilt-driven outrage was attenuated by an affirmation of moral identity in an unrelated context.     

Parental Influence on Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: I. Relationships Between Parent Behaviors and Child Peer Status

We examined associations between children’s peer relationships and (a) their parents’ social competence as well as (b) their parents’ behaviors during the children’s peer interactions. Participants were families of 124 children ages 6–10 (68% male), 62 with ADHD and 62 age- and sex-matched comparison youth. Children’s peer relationships were assessed via parent and teacher report, and sociometric nominations in a lab-based playgroup. Parental characteristics were assessed via parent self-report and observations of behavior during their child’s playgroup. After statistical control of relevant covariates, parents of children with ADHD reported poorer social skills of their own, arranged fewer playdates for their children, and displayed more criticism during their child’s peer interaction than did parents of comparison youth. Parents’ socialization with other parents and facilitation of the child’s peer interactions predicted their children having good peer relationships as reported by teachers and peers, whereas parental corrective feedback to the child and praise predicted poor peer relationships. Parents’ ratings of their child’s social skills were positively associated with ratings of their own social skills, but negatively associated with criticism and facilitation of the child’s peer interactions. Relationships between parental behaviors and peer relationships were stronger for youth with ADHD than for comparison youth. The relevance of findings to interventions is discussed.