QUASI‐NATURALISM AND MORAL REALITY

In his recent book Moral Reality, Paul Bloomfield has put forward an original set of arguments for moral realism. Central to his treatment is an argument for the reality of moral properties, one which models them on the property of being healthy. The paper is a critical examination of Bloomfield's central line of argument. It is contended that his proposed method of grounding moral realism fails, inasmuch as his Distinction Test criterion for property reality – essentially the claim that a property exists if its existence is required for distinctions that we make and must make – is inadequate. An alternative approach toward properties is suggested, which has the result, inter alia, that Bloomfield's quasi‐naturalistic approach is unnecessary for the defense of moral realism.¹     

Accusers Lie and Other Myths: Rape Myth Acceptance Predicts Judgments Made About Accusers and Accused Perpetrators in a Rape Case

Previous research results have yielded a consistent link between rape myth acceptance and sexual assault victim blaming: Individuals reporting higher levels of rape myth acceptance also report higher levels of victim blaming. In four studies we explored whether the presentation of rape-myth confirming information or rape-myth debunking information might moderate these tendencies. In these studies, U.S. undergraduates (97 in Study 1, 84 in Study 2, 98 in Study 3, and 116 in Study 4) read scenarios of a heterosexual sexual assault case and were randomly assigned to a control condition, a rape myth confirmation condition, or a rape myth debunking condition; they also reported the extent to which they endorsed or accepted rape myths. Rape myth acceptance robustly correlated with judgments made about accusers and accused rapists regardless whether the accuser/accused pairing was female/male (Studies 1 and 2) or male/female (Studies 3 and 4). For example, those who most strongly endorsed rape myths were also likely to disbelieve accusers. There were few instances indicating that the presentation of rape myth confirming information or rape myth debunking information moderated these effects. This lack of moderation occurred regardless of whether the information came from trial lawyers or from expert witnesses in the case. The relative impotence of the information presentations could be due to several factors (e.g., entrenched nature of rape myth acceptance, psychological reactance, timing and strength of manipulation), and we suggest ideas for how to overcome this relative impotence in future research.

     

A dyadic brain model of ape gestural learning,production and representation

Animal Cognition - It has been argued that variation in gesture usage among apes is influenced either by differential sampling of an innate ‘gesture space’ (Hobaiter and Byrne in Anim...     

Ethnic and Gender Differences in Distress Among Anglo American, African American, Japanese American, and Mexican American Spousal Caregivers of Persons with Dementia

Distress, coping, and social resources were compared in a sample of 202 Japanese-, Anglo-, African-, and Mexican American spousal caregivers of persons with dementia using a Stress-Coping model. Both ethnicity and gender showed differential effects on the outcome and on the moderating variables. Female caregivers in all ethnic groups reported significantly higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology. All 4 ethnic groups reported high rates of psychological distress, with Mexican Americans reporting significantly higher rates of depression than Anglo or African Americans. Ethnicity was related to (1) the kind of caregiving appraisals (spiritual, pessimistic, and lack of support), (2) coping styles (escape-avoidance and seeking social support), and (3) social support. African Americans were more likely to be spiritual appraisers, to have more positive appraisals, and to have more social support available to them. Gender differences were evident on 4 out of the 6 caregiver appraisals, but none of the coping styles. Although males tended to have more perfectionistic appraisals, they were also more likely to view caregiving with a less negative and more self-efficacious outlook.     

An Evaluation of the Relative Effectiveness of Function-Based Consequent and Antecedent Interventions in a Preschool Setting

Although there is substantial functional behavioral assessment (FBA) literature suggesting that function-based interventions are effective for improving problem behavior, only a limited number of studies have examined the effectiveness of function-based antecedent versus consequent interventions. Additionally, although there has been a recent increase in the number of studies conducted in the K–12 school setting, only a limited number of studies have included children in the preschool setting. The present study extends existing literature by examining the effectiveness of function-based antecedent versus consequent interventions for reducing problem behavior and increasing appropriately engaged behavior for preschool children without cognitive disabilities. Following an FBA of 4 children, the effectiveness of a function-based antecedent (i.e., noncontingent reinforcement [NCR]) was compared with a function-based consequent (i.e., differential reinforcement of alternative behavior [DRA]) intervention using an alternating treatments design. Results indicated that both function-based NCR and DRA were effective for decreasing problem behavior and increasing appropriately engaged behavior, with function-based NCR being more effective than DRA for 2 of 4 participants.     

Automated vision occlusion-timing instrument for perception–action research

Vision occlusion spectacles are a highly valuable instrument for visual-perception–action research in a variety of disciplines. In sports, occlusion spectacles have enabled invaluable knowledge to be obtained about the superior capability of experts to use visual information to guide actions within in-situ settings. Triggering the spectacles to occlude a performer’s vision at a precise time in an opponent’s action or object flight has been problematic, due to experimenter error in using a manual buttonpress approach. This article describes a new laser curtain wireless trigger for vision occlusion spectacles that is portable and fast in terms of its transmission time. The laser curtain can be positioned in a variety of orientations to accept a motion trigger, such as a cricket bowler’s arm that distorts the lasers, which then activates a wireless signal for the occlusion spectacles to change from transparent to opaque, which occurs in only 8 ms. Results are reported from calculations done in an electronics laboratory, as well as from tests in a performance laboratory with a cricket bowler and a baseball pitcher, which verified this short time delay before vision occlusion. In addition, our results show that occlusion consistently occurred when it was intended—that is, near ball release and during mid-ball-flight. Only 8% of the collected data trials were unusable. The laser curtain improves upon the limitations of existing vision occlusion spectacle triggers, indicating that it is a valuable instrument for perception–action research in a variety of disciplines.     

If the Television Program Bleeds, Memory for the Advertisement Recedes

In public surveys, the most common complaint about television is the amount of violence depicted on the screen. More than half the programs shown on television are violent, and hundreds of studies have shown that viewing TV violence causes an increase in societal violence. Nevertheless, advertisers continue to sponsor violent programs. For an advertisement to be effective, people should be able to remember the brand advertised and the message in the advertisement. This article reviews the effect of TV violence on memory for ads. A meta-analysis integrating the results from 12 studies involving more than 1,700 participants shows that TV violence impairs memory for ads. The impairment occurs for males and females, for children and adults, and for people who like and do not like to watch TV violence. These results suggest that sponsoring violent programs might not be a profitable venture for advertisers.