Resolution of conflicts between internal and external information sources on a time reproduction task: the role of perceived information reliability and attributional style

Erroneous knowledge of results (KR) that conflicts with other internal or external information sources is preferentially used and misguides performance on motor and mental timing tasks. Buekers et al. [J. Motor Behavior 26 (1994) 27] hypothesized that KR is used preferentially because participants deem it to be the most reliable information source. We tested this hypothesis in two experiments. We manipulated subjective reliability of information and information content and demonstrated that both reliability and content are assessed and used. In a third experiment we examined whether attributional style affected the use of internal and external information. While KR was present, attributional style was unrelated to performance. However, when erroneous KR was withdrawn, participants who scored high in internal attributional style or high in controllability showed more accurate performance. Whereas evaluation of information quality is explicit, information provided by the KR, whether accurate or not, may influence both implicit and explicit aspects of the tasks.     

Extraordinary moral commitment: young adults involved in social organizations

The personality of exemplary young adults was studied in an effort to paint a portrait of moral excellence that expanded upon the traditional emphasis on moral reasoning maturity. These young adults were nominated based on their extraordinary moral commitment towards various social organizations. The sample included 40 moral exemplars and 40 matched comparison individuals who responded to a battery of questionnaires and participated in a semistructured interview. It was found that moral exemplars, in contrast to comparison individuals, were more agreeable, more advanced in their faith and moral reasoning development, further along in forming an adult identity, and more willing to enter into close relationships. These findings are discussed in the context of describing moral excellence from a multifaceted, personality perspective.     

When remembering is not enough: reflecting on self-defining memories in late adolescence

This study examined which kinds of self-defining memories show spontaneous references to larger meanings, and listener responses to two kinds of meaning-lessons and insights. Narratives of three self-defining memories and episodes of telling the memories to others were collected from each of 168 late adolescents (M age=19). Narratives were coded for event type (relationship, mortality, achievement, and leisure) and for references to tension and to meaning (lesson or insight). Narratives of memorable episodes of having told the memories to others were coded for listener response (positive or negative). References to meaning emerged in one-fourth of the memory narratives, and meaning was more common for self-defining memory narratives that contained references to tension. Memories that reportedly had not been told to others in the past showed the same proportion of meaning as did memories that had been told to others (23%), with insights more prevalent than lessons. For memories that had been told to others, insights were more likely to be accepted by listeners than lessons. Implications were discussed for understanding the development of meaning in self-defining memories and the collaborative construction of identity.     

The Temporal Automated System for Taste Experiments (TASTE)

We describe a new, open flow device for presenting taste stimuli to human subjects under controlled conditions of timing. The device delivers each stimulus as a mist to the participant’s tongue through one of 16 nozzles attached to a linear slide. Software controls the position of the slide, the duration of the stimulus, and the duration of the pre- and poststimulus water rinses and records the responses of the participant. Temporal characteristics of this system make it especially applicable to studies on the role of attention in taste perception.     

Overrating pornography as a source of sex information for university students: additional consistent findings

This study is an empirical investigation of how 175 university students obtained their knowledge of sexual matters and whether pornography functioned as an important source. Analysis indicated that pornography does not play an important role in the dissemination of sexual information; peers appear to be the primary source. There are, however, certain statistically significant differences between the sexes in reports of the extent of specific sexual information from pornography on matters such as oral and anal intercourse. The findings extend research on pornography as a source of sex information and are contrasted with previous studies.     

Retrospection in social dilemmas: how thinking about the past affects future cooperation

This article reports 2 studies investigating the effects of retrospective thought on future cooperation in social dilemmas. Some general theories of cooperation presume, but have not tested, whether retrospection has impact: People may think about the choices they could have made instead, realize that cooperation would have produced larger outcomes, and change their strategy as a result. Across both studies, the authors show that rate of future cooperation is directly related to the number of best-case scenarios and inversely related to the number of worst-case scenarios generated. The 2nd study also shows that the number and type of retrospective thoughts generated can be predicted from the person's social value orientation.     

Caution in interpreting confirmatory factor analysis of the group environment questionnaire: a response to Sullivan, Short, and Cramer (2002)

Reasons for cautious interpretation of the confirmatory factor analysis of the Group Environment Questionnaire by Sullivan, Short, and Cramer (2002) are specified.     

Cerebral blood flow and anxiety in older men: an analysis of resting anterior asymmetry and prefrontal regions

Asymmetric resting blood flow in prefrontal and hemispheric regions, assessed by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), was examined as a potential biological marker for enhanced trait and state anxiety in 30 older men (ages 55-81). Average and asymmetric perfusion in dorsolateral, medial, and orbital regions of the prefrontal lobes was also assessed. Results indicated a significant association between lower levels of resting dorsolateral blood flow and greater state anxiety responses to a series of stressful provocations (measured on a separate occasion). A significant curvilinear (U-shaped) relation between asymmetric dorsolateral perfusion and state anxiety was also identified; increased asymmetric blood flow favoring either the right or the left dorsolateral region related to higher levels of state anxiety. However, this association was attenuated by age and systolic blood pressure. Resting perfusion in the dorsolateral region may represent a more reliable biological marker for state anxiety than trait anxiety in older men.     

An application of signal detection theory with finite mixture distributions to source discrimination

A mixture extension of signal detection theory is applied to source discrimination. The basic idea of the approach is that only a portion of the sources (say A or B) of items to be discriminated is encoded or attended to during the study period. As a result, in addition to 2 underlying probability distributions associated with the 2 sources, there is a 3rd distribution that represents items for which sources were not attended to. Thus, over trials, the observed response results from a mixture of an attended (A or B) distribution and a nonattended distribution. The situation differs in an interesting way from detection in that, for detection, there is mixing only on signal trials and not on noise trials, whereas for discrimination, there is mixing on both A and B trials. Predictions of the mixture model are examined for data from several recent studies and in a new experiment.     

How meta-analysis increases statistical power

One of the most frequently cited reasons for conducting a meta-analysis is the increase in statistical power that it affords a reviewer. This article demonstrates that fixed-effects meta-analysis increases statistical power by reducing the standard error of the weighted average effect size (T.) and, in so doing, shrinks the confidence interval around T.. Small confidence intervals make it more likely for reviewers to detect nonzero population effects, thereby increasing statistical power. Smaller confidence intervals also represent increased precision of the estimated population effect size. Computational examples are provided for 3 effect-size indices: d (standardized mean difference), Pearson's r, and odds ratios. Random-effects meta-analyses also may show increased statistical power and a smaller standard error of the weighted average effect size. However, the authors demonstrate that increasing the number of studies in a random-effects meta-analysis does not always increase statistical power.