No pain no gain: The positive impact of punishment on the strategic regulation of accuracy

Previous studies have shown that punishing people through a large penalty for volunteering incorrect information typically leads them to withhold more information (metacognitive response bias), but it does not appear to influence their ability to distinguish between their own correct and incorrect answers (metacognitive accuracy discrimination). The goal of the current study was to demonstrate that punishing people for volunteering incorrect information—versus rewarding volunteering correct information—produces more effective metacognitive accuracy discrimination. All participants completed three different general-knowledge tests: a reward test (high points for correct volunteered answers), a baseline test (equal points/penalties for volunteered correct/incorrect answers) and a punishment test (high penalty for incorrect volunteered answers). Participants were significantly better at distinguishing between their own correct and incorrect answers on the punishment than reward test, which has implications for situations requiring effective accuracy monitoring.     

Transcendental Philosophy and Intersubjectivity: Mutual Recognition as a Condition for the Possibility of Self‐Consciousness in Sections 1–3 of Fichte's Foundations of Natural Right

In the opening sections of his Foundations of Natural Right, Fichte argues that mutual recognition is a condition for the possibility of self‐consciousness. However, the argument turns on the apparently unconvincing claim that, in the context of transcendental philosophy, conceptions of the subject as an isolated individual give rise to a vicious circle the resolution of which requires the introduction of a second rational being to ‘summon’ the first. In this essay, my aim is to present a revised account of the opening arguments on which they are more convincing. In particular, I argue that the problem of a circle is genuine and may be seen to result from a relation of mutual dependence between agency and cognition which ensures that for an exercise of either capacity to take place, an exercise of the other would have already had to have taken place with the result that neither can occur. Moreover, the solution is successful. The summons (the claim of the other) prevents us from being driven around the circle once more because it is a ‘synthesis’ that reconciles the constraint to which I am subject as a cognizer of independently given objects and my freedom as a self‐determining subject.     

The Cost of Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Disruptive Behavior: A Review of the Literature

This purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the treatment of Oppositional Defiant Disorder, with a specific focus on cost analyses. In general the literature shows that while there has been substantial research on Oppositional Defiant Disorder there has been little focus on the costs involved. A search of the major databases in psychology and the social sciences yielded only seven articles even marginally appropriate for a review of costs associated with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and related disruptive behavior. Interestingly, only two of these studies investigated treatment costs specifically associated with Oppositional Defiant Disorder. These studies showed that the treatment of Oppositional Defiant Disorder is much less expensive than the treatment of Conduct Disorder and family therapy is the most cost effective approach. Overall, the review showed that there is a dearth of literature related to treatment costs, which leads to the conclusion that much more research is needed on the cost of treating Oppositional Defiant Disorder.     

Post-exercise pulse pressure is a better predictor of executive function than pre-exercise pulse pressure in cognitively normal older adults

Exercise “stress tests” are widely used to assess cardiovascular function and to detect abnormalities. In line with the view of exercise as a stressor, the present study examined the relationship between cognitive function and cardiovascular activity before and after light physical exercise in a sample of 84 non-demented community-dwelling older adults. Based on known relationships between hypertension, executive function and cerebral white matter changes, we hypothesized that greater post-exercise reactivity, as indexed by higher pulse pressure, would be more related to worse performance on frontal-executive tasks than pre-exercise physiologic measures. All participants were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and underwent a Six Minute Walk Test (6MWT), with blood pressure (BP) measures obtained immediately before and after the walk. Pulse pressure (PP) was derived from BP as an indicator of vascular auto-regulation and composite scores were computed for each cognitive domain assessed. As predicted, worse executive function scores exhibited a stronger relationship with post-exercise PP than pre-exercise PP. Results suggest that PP following system stress in the form of walking may be more reflective of the state of vascular integrity and associated executive dysfunction in older adults than baseline physiologic measures.     

The reversibility which is the ultimate truth

This article seeks to interrogate the intertwining of Truth and reversibility as presented in the unfinished work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty in The Visible and the Invisible. This relation raises three questions regarding the whole of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy; namely, the status it confers to truth, the place it grants to the ego, and the notion of the “flesh of the world.”     

Building Bridges: Cognitive Development in Typical and Atypical Populations

Most research reported in the Journal of Cognition and Development focuses on typically developing children—those who are following what is assumed to be the most common path. This special issue was designed to foster a dialogue between cognitive developmentalists who work on typical development and those who work on atypical development, with the goal of illustrating how recent findings can advance thinking in both fields. The 6 target articles and 2 commentaries in this special issue provide a compelling demonstration of the symbiotic nature of the study of typical and atypical cognitive development.     

Mortality Salience Decreases Social Exploration When People Experience Metacognitive Ease Generating Examples of Cultural Value Adherence

In the present research, we integrated terror management theory with work on metacognitive fluency to examine how mortality concerns affect social exploration motives. We hypothesized that mortality salience would decrease desire to explore novel social interactions only when the feeling of being valued by culturally relevant others was secure. Participants (N = 328) reflected on death or physical pain, then generated 3 (metacognitive-ease) or 12 (metacognitive-difficulty) examples of past behaviors that their peers valued (vs. neutral behaviors). Metacognitive fluency was expected to enhance feelings that existing social bonds were secure. Finally, we assessed participants’ desire to explore novel social interactions. Death thoughts decreased participants’ desire to explore novel social interactions when they experienced “ease” generating examples of culturally valued behavior.     

Momentary Work Happiness as a Function of Enduring Burnout and Work Engagement

The present study (N = 136) combined global measures with specific, experience-based measures to investigate how enduring job burnout and engagement influence the impact of daily work activities on momentary need satisfaction and happiness. We used the day reconstruction method (DRM) to ask employees from various occupations to reconstruct their working days. On the basis of employee work engagement and self-determination theories, we hypothesized that time spent on (a) core work tasks; (b) administrative work tasks; (c) client interactions; (d) interactions with colleagues; and (e) meetings would be negatively related to need satisfaction on the task level for employees high (vs. low) in enduring burnout; and positively related to need satisfaction on the task level for employees high (vs. low) in enduring work engagement. In addition, we predicted that psychological need satisfaction would mediate the relationships between time spent on work tasks and happiness during the tasks. The results of multilevel analyses largely supported these hypotheses. Our findings contribute to the literature by showing how those with high levels of burnout do not manage to satisfy their basic needs through their work, whereas those with high levels of work engagement satisfy their daily needs and stay happy.