Segmenting the stream of consciousness: the psychological correlates of temporal structures in the time series data of a continuous performance task

Using principal component analysis, we examined whether structural properties in the time series of response time would identify different mental states during a continuous performance task. We examined whether it was possible to identify regular patterns which were present in blocks classified as lacking controlled processing, either behaviourally (as a failure to withhold a response to a target) or subjectively (as an off task report at a thought probe). Principal component analysis identified three components present in response times accounting for 58.8% of the variance in the data. Of these components, the second largest factor showed two features that implied it was a marker for mind wandering. First, it was stronger under slow relative to fast stimulus presentation conditions, and so paralleled the distribution of mind wandering reports. Second, it was more powerful prior to behaviour markers of mind wandering (failures in response inhibition) and less powerful prior to reports of task focused thinking (on task reports). Taken together, the use of principal components analysis on response times seem a viable tool for differentiating different mental states and so could help identify the neural substrates which underpin mind wandering and other subjective states.     

Beyond Positivist Ecology: Toward an Integrated Ecological Ethics

A post-positivist understanding of ecological science and the call for an “ecological ethic” indicate the need for a radically new approach to evaluating environmental change. The positivist view of science cannot capture the essence of environmental sciences because the recent work of “reflexive” ecological modelers shows that this requires a reconceptualization of the way in which values and ecological models interact in scientific process. Reflexive modelers are ecological modelers who believe it is appropriate for ecologists to examine the motives for their choices in developing models; this self-reflexive approach opens the door to a new way of integrating values into public discourse and to a more comprehensive approach to evaluating ecological change. This reflexive building of ecological models is introduced through the transformative simile of Aldo Leopold, which shows that learning to “think like a mountain” involves a shift in both ecological modeling and in values and responsibility. An adequate, interdisciplinary approach to ecological valuation, requires a re-framing of the evaluation questions in entirely new ways, i.e., a review of the current status of interdisciplinary value theory with respect to ecological values reveals that neither of the widely accepted theories of environmental value—neither economic utilitarianism nor intrinsic value theory (environmental ethics)—provides a foundation for an ecologically sensitive evaluation process. Thus, a new, ecologically sensitive, and more comprehensive approach to evaluating ecological change would include an examination of the metaphors that motivate the models used to describe environmental change.

Change driven by nature: A meta-analytic review of the proactive personality literature

This study provides the first comprehensive review of literature examining proactive personality. The authors use career success as a broad organizing framework, meta-analyzing 313 correlations from 107 studies. Results indicate proactive personality is positively related to objective and subjective career success. Further, results indicate proactive personality relates to variables consistent with contest mobility (e.g., job performance) and sponsored mobility (e.g., taking charge/voice behavior) avenues to career success. Proactive personality’s relationship with supervisor-rated overall job performance is particularly noteworthy in that it is stronger than that reported for any of the Big Five factors or the Big Five collectively. Proactive personality is positively related to a variety of employability-related variables (e.g., learning goal orientation, career self-efficacy), four Big Five trait factors (extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and neuroticism), but is unrelated to social desirability. The authors’ literature review indicates only the original 17-item scale and 10-item scale tend to exhibit good internal consistency.     

Political mindset: Effects of schema priming on liberal-conservative political positions

Although stable factors play an important role in determining people’s political positions, most Americans also hold a mix of values and beliefs some congruent with political conservatism and some congruent with political liberalism. To investigate this more dynamic component of political thinking, two studies manipulated the relative salience of schemas about personal merit vs. good fortune as explanations for success in life. In Study 1, students at a highly selective university were asked to explain their academic success focusing either on the role of hard work, self-discipline and wise decision-making (Personal Merit condition) or that of chance, opportunity, and help from others (Good Fortune condition). In Study 2, personal merit vs. good fortune was primed through prior exposure to relevant questionnaire items. In both studies, participants in the Good Fortune condition subsequently indicated more support for liberal policies than did those in the Personal Merit condition.     

Smoking in movies, implicit associations of smoking with the self, and intentions to smoke

We examined whether identifying with a film character who smokes increases implicit associations of the self with smoking. Undergraduate men were randomly assigned to view film clips in which the male protagonist either smoked or did not smoke. We measured subsequent levels of self-smoking associations using a reaction time task, as well as self-reported beliefs about smoking and smokers. Greater identification with the smoking protagonist predicted stronger implicit associations between the self and smoking (for both smokers and nonsmokers) and increased intention to smoke (among the smokers). Stronger implicit self-smoking associations uniquely predicted increases in smokers' intentions to smoke, over and above the effects of explicit beliefs about smoking. The results provide evidence that exposure to smoking in movies is causally related to changes in smoking-related thoughts, that identification with protagonists is an important feature of narrative influence, and that implicit measures may be useful in predicting deliberative behavior.     

The generation effect: A meta-analytic review

The generation effect refers to the finding that subjects who generate information (e.g., produce synonyms) remember the information better than they do material that they simply read. Meta-analytic techniques were used to summarize 445 effect sizes over 86 studies, thereby assessing the magnitude and 11 potential moderators of the generation effect. The size of the generation effect across the 86 studies was .40--a benefit of almost half a standard deviation of generation over reading. The variability of the effect size due to moderator type was substantial, and we attempted to use this information to clarify several theories that have been proposed to explain the generation effect.     

A preliminary examination of the intergenerational continuity of maternal psychopathic features

The study provided a preliminary test of the intergenerational continuity of maternal psychopathic features in a non-referred elementary aged sample of children. Consistent with dominant etiological models and recent behavioral genetics research, a direct association was expected between maternal and child affective features of psychopathy (i.e., callous-unemotional or CU traits). Potential mediators representative of alternative transmission mechanisms were assessed including parenting dysfunction, parental hostility/interpersonal insensitivity, and child impulsivity. Behavioral features of psychopathy were also assessed and were predicted to bear weaker and more indirect parent-child associations. A mixed sex sample of 83 children accompanied by a biological mother were administered a multi-informant rating-scale battery including separate parent (i.e., Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale) and child (i.e., Antisocial Process Screening Device) measures of psychopathy. Consistent with prediction, a significant association was documented between maternal and child CU traits (r=.22). Additionally, a slightly weaker association and statistical trend (r=.21) was observed in the relation between maternal and child interpersonal features of the psychopathy construct. Contrary to prediction, all documented associations were fully mediated by parental hostility and parenting dysfunction. Given the preliminary nature of study findings, implications for developmental modeling and future intergenerational continuity research are discussed.     

Displaywide visual features associated with a search display’s appearance can mediate attentional capture

Whether or not the capture of visual attention is driven solely by the salience of an attention-capturing stimulus or mediated by top-down control has been a point of contention since Folk, Remington, and Johnston (1992) introduced their contingent involuntary orienting hypothesis, which states that the capture of attention by a salient stimulus depends on its relevance to a feature distinguishing the target from nontargets. Gibson and Kelsey (1998) extended Folk et al.’s (1992) hypothesis by demonstrating that features associated with the appearance of the target display also mediate capture. Although similar to Folk et al. (1992), Gibson and Kelsey’s displaywide contingent orienting hypothesis makes it difficult to demonstrate stimulus-driven capture, because an observer must always use some perceptible feature as a signal of the target display’s appearance; hence, such features could always be mediating capture. The present article reviews and applies the logic of Gibson and Kelsey’s and Folk et al.’s (1992) hypotheses to experiments from the attentional capture literature, and assesses whether previously reported capture effects were mediated by top-down attentional control. It concludes that these capture effects were not stimulus-driven.