The aggression-inhibiting influence of nonhostile humor

Forty undergraduate students participated in an experiment designed to investigate the hypothesis that prior exposure to nonhostile humor would markedly reduce the level of aggression directed by angry individuals against the person who had previously provoked them. In order to examine this suggestion, subjects were first angered or not angered by a confederate of the experimenter, then exposed to either humorous cartoons or nonhumorous pictures, and finally provided with an opportunity to aggress against this individual by means of electric shock. Results indicated that exposure to the nonhostile cartoons significantly reduced the duration of the shocks delivered to the confederate by subjects in the angry condition, but failed to influence the level of aggression demonstrated by subjects in the nonangry group. These findings were discussed in terms of the elicitation, by the cartoons, of responses and emotional states incompatible with anger or overt aggression. Possible implications of the aggression-inhibiting influence of humor for the prevention and control of human violence were also considered.     

Useful Field of View and Other Neurocognitive Indicators of Crash Risk in Older Adults

Older adults represent a rapidly growing segment of the driving population. Although most older drivers are safe, research has shown that this group has more crashes per mile driven than most other age groups. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the utility of a set of commonly used neuropsychological/cognitive tests in comparison to a newer measure of visual attention (Useful Field of View; UFOV®) in predicting state-recorded, at-fault crashes over the previous five years in a group of older adult drivers. Participants (N = 239) completed tests of mental status, visual attention, memory, and UFOV®. Results show that among all cognitive tests administered, UFOV® was most strongly related to crash involvement, with high levels of sensitivity (86.3%) and specificity (84.3%) at the standard cutoff score of 40% reduction. Practical implications for the assessment of crash risk are discussed.     

Scaling the Security Staircase

Building on the U.N. human security taxonomy of 1994, this article aims to explore the constructability of a reliable, valid, parsimonious, useful measure of human security that is relevant to contemporary environments and situations? A seminal 1994 U.N. report, Human Security in Theory and Practice, outlined seven types of human security (personal, health, food, community, economic, environmental, political). A quarter-century on, we added two more, cyber and national security, and tested if a single measure could capture all nine security concerns. A national sample of N = 1033 New Zealanders completed a brief online measure in which participants reported yes or no to experiencing each type of security and basic demographics. Guttman scaling placed these needs in an ascending order of difficulty. Analogous to a staircase, security may be scaled from personal up to political security (coefficient of reproducibility = .88), with three distinct but interrelated flights: (1) proximal (personal, health, food security); (2) social (cyber, community, economic, environmental); and (3) distal (national, political). We confirmed this nine-step, three-flight measure in our sample (Χ² = 81.72; df = 24; RMSEA = .048, 90%CI [.037, .06]; CFI = .976; TLI = .964; SRMR = .028). The measure showed configural, metric, scalar, and factorial invariances (across random-split subgroups). Ethnic groups and the precariously employed scored significantly differently, in coherent ways, on the security staircase scale.     

Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL): an identical twin case study illustration of white matter dysfunction and nonverbal learning disability (NLD).

This paper discusses the implications of Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) lesions for the development of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities (NLD) as illustrated through an identical twin case study. PVL lesions were identified in an 8-year-old child, but were not detected in his identical twin brother who served as a matched comparison. While the nonclinical twin displayed a largely unremarkable neuropsychological profile, the clinical twin evidenced a distinct pattern of social, intellectual, academic, and neuropsychological test results often identified among children with PVL and those with the NLD syndrome. The clinical and theoretical implications for this case study are discussed.     

On representational content and format in core numerical cognition

Carey has argued that there is a system of core numerical cognition – the analog magnitude (AM) system – in which (approximate) cardinal numbers are explicitly represented in iconic format. While the existence of this system is beyond doubt, this paper aims to show that its representations cannot have the combination of features attributed to them by Carey. According to the argument from abstractness, the representation of the (approximate) cardinal number of a collection of individuals as such requires the representation of individuals as such, and this in turn requires non-iconic format, from which it is concluded that the explicit representation of the (approximate) cardinal number of some individuals requires non-iconic representational format. In support of the first premise, an account is given of what approximate cardinal numbers might be (namely, quantifiers), and in support of the second, a direct argument is articulated and defended. Finally, in response to an objection, a second argument (from parts) for the central thesis is provided. While the discussion is couched in the terms of Carey’s work, the considerations it adduces are perfectly general, and the conclusion should therefore be taken into consideration by all those aiming to characterize the AM system.     

Knowing without knowing: implicit cognition and the minds of infants and animals / Saber sin saber: la cognición implícita y las mentes de niños pequeños y animales

The main aim of this paper is to highlight the need to address the conceptual problem of ‘implicit knowledge’ or ‘implicit cognition’ — a notion especially important in the study of the nonverbal minds of animals and infants. We review some uses of the term ‘implicit’ in psychology and allied disciplines, and conclude that conceptual clarification of this notion is not only lacking, but largely avoided and reduced to a methodological problem. We propose that this elusive notion is central in the study not only of animal and infant minds, but also the human adult mind. Some promising approaches in developmental and evolutionary psychology towards innovative conceptualization of implicit knowledge remain conceptually underdeveloped and in need of reconsideration and re-elaboration. We conclude by suggesting that the challenge of implicit cognition and nonverbal minds will only be solved through a concerted interdisciplinary approach between psychology and other disciplines.     

Parent–infant co‐sleeping: fathers' roles and perspectives

Dyadic co‐sleeping (mother–baby) is a common strategy for night‐time infant care in the majority of world cultures. Triadic co‐sleeping (mother–father–baby) is less common, although still widely practised cross‐culturally. This paper examines triadic co‐sleeping in an opportunistic sample of parents from the North Tees region of England, and explores fathers' expectations and experiences of sleeping with their babies. Using a prospective study design, 36 sets of parents, pre‐ and post‐natally, were interviewed about infant care strategies, particularly at night. Although they did not anticipate sleeping with their infants at the pre‐natal interview, the majority of fathers (81%) had done so by the time of the second interview. First‐time fathers were afraid that they would squash or suffocate the baby in their sleep, and some were concerned that the infant's presence would adversely affect their own sleep. Fathers used a variety of strategies to help overcome their initial fears of co‐sleeping. Among those for whom triadic co‐sleeping became a regular night‐time infant care strategy, the pleasures of prolonged intimate contact with their infant were clearly apparent. It is suggested that the experience of sleeping with their infant ameliorates some of the distancing effects felt by fathers outside the breast‐feeding relationship, and helps encourage paternal involvement in night‐time infant care‐giving. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A social identity model of riot diffusion: From injustice to empowerment in the 2011 London riots

Previous research has shown that riots spread across multiple locations, but has not explained underlying psychological processes. We examined rioting in three locations during the August 2011 disorders in England to test a social identity model of riot diffusion. We triangulated multiple sources to construct a narrative of events; and we analysed interviews with 68 participants to examine experiences. In line with the model, we found evidence for two pathways of influence: “cognitive” and “strategic”. For some participants, previous rioting was highly self-relevant, and shared identity was the basis of their subsequent involvement. For others, previous rioting was empowering because it demonstrated the vulnerability of a common enemy (the police). In each location, interaction dynamics mediated the link between initial perceptions and collective action. The utility of this social identity approach is that it is able to account for both the boundaries and the sequence of urban riot diffusion.