Duplex decomposition and general segregation of lotteries of a gain and a loss: An empirical evaluation

We investigate the empirical validity of two hypotheses, duplex decomposition (DD) and general segregation (GS), regarding decomposition of a binary gamble of a gain and a loss into two unitary gambles in which one consequence of each gamble is no change from the status quo. Four binary lotteries (money gambles with specified probabilities) and four decomposed lotteries designed to test GS and four decomposed lotteries to test DD were constructed, and certainty equivalents (CEs) were estimated for each lottery. Respondents’ indifference between a binary lottery and a decomposed lottery was determined by evaluating the equality between the CE of a mixed binary lottery and the CE of the corresponding decomposed lottery. Given the variability of estimates of CEs and the lack of a clear statistical definition for the equality between two CEs, we applied several criteria: we counted responses where the difference between two CEs was either ±2% (the strictest criterion), ±4%, ±6%, or ±8% (the most lenient criterion) of the range of lottery outcomes. The results showed that under the strictest criterion, GS held for 25% of the responses and DD for 22%. Under the most lenient criterion, GS held for 56% of the responses and DD for 52%. Depending upon the criterion used, between 39 and 75% of the responses were consistent with at least one of the hypotheses. Several methodological problems in determining the indifference between two lotteries are discussed.     

Rhythm typology of Korean speech

According to their rhythmic properties, spoken languages have been classified by linguists into three categories, i.e. stress-timed, syllable-timed and mora-timed. Recently, this intuitive classification has been confirmed valid with perceptual studies. These studies have shown that both newborn infants and adults, upon hearing the pure rhythms of certain languages, are only able to discriminate between languages of the different categories mentioned above. These results indicate that the capacity of the categorization of the human cognitive system makes possible the classification of language that is not yet explored rhythmically. Here, we investigate the Korean spoken language through the adults discrimination tasks with resynthesized speech. Experimental results indicate that the Korean language is, like Japanese, one of the mora-timed languages.     

Risk and Protective Processes Predicting Rural African American Young Men's Substance Abuse

Informed by a life course perspective, this study tested a cascade model linking harsh, unresponsive parenting during childhood to young African American men's substance abuse via precocious transitions, economic instability, and future orientation. The moderating influence of community disadvantage and romantic partner support on the hypothesized pathways was also examined. At the baseline, the sample included 505 African American men between ages 19 and 22 years from high‐poverty rural communities. Follow‐up data were collected 18 months after baseline. Using structural equation modeling, we identified harsh, unresponsive parenting influenced precocious transitions in adolescence, which in turn increased economic instability during young adulthood. Economic instability was associated with a reduction in future orientation, a proximal influence on increases in substance abuse. Also, residence in a disadvantaged community amplified the influence of precocious transitions on economic instability and the influence of economic instability on future orientation. Involvement with supportive romantic partnership evinced a protective effect, attenuating the influence of precocious transitions on economic instability and the influence of economic instability on a future orientation. This study expands understanding of young adults’ substance abuse by demonstrating the risk and protective processes linking substance abuse to developmental factors across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.     

Magnitude processing and complex calculation is negatively impacted by mathematics anxiety while retrieval‐based simple calculation is not

Mathematics anxiety (MA) refers to the experience of negative affect when engaging in mathematical activity. According to Ashcraft and Kirk (2001), MA selectively affects calculation with high working memory (WM) demand. On the other hand, Maloney, Ansari, and Fugelsang (2011) claim that MA affects all mathematical activities, including even the most basic ones such as magnitude comparison. The two theories make opposing predictions on the negative effect of MA on magnitude processing and simple calculation that make minimal demands on WM. We propose that MA has a selective impact on mathematical problem solving that likely involves processing of magnitude representations. Based on our hypothesis, MA will impinge upon magnitude processing even though it makes minimal demand on WM, but will spare retrieval‐based, simple calculation, because it does not require magnitude processing. Our hypothesis can reconcile opposing predictions on the negative effect of MA on magnitude processing and simple calculation. In the present study, we observed a negative relationship between MA and performance on magnitude comparison and calculation with high but not low WM demand. These results demonstrate that MA has an impact on a wide range of mathematical performance, which depends on one's sense of magnitude, but spares over‐practiced, retrieval‐based calculation.     

Analogical reasoning in working memory: Resources shared among relational integration,interference resolution,and maintenance

We report a series of experiments using a pictorial analogy task designed to manipulate relational integration, interference resolution, and active maintenance simultaneously. The difficulty of the problems was varied in terms of the number of relations to be integrated, the need for interference resolution, and the duration of maintenance required to correctly solve the analogy. The participants showed decreases in performance when integrating multiple relations, as compared with a single relation, and when interference resolution was required in solving the analogy. When the participants were required to integrate multiple relations while simultaneously engaged in interference resolution, performance was worse, as compared with problems that incorporated either of these features alone. Maintenance of information across delays in the range of 1-4.5 sec led to greater decrements in visual memory, as compared with analogical reasoning. Misleading information caused interference when it had been necessarily attended to and maintained in working memory and, hence, had to be actively suppressed. However, sources of conflict within information that had not been attended to or encoded into working memory did not interfere with the ongoing controlled information processing required for relational integration. The findings provide evidence that relational integration and interference resolution depend on shared cognitive resources in working memory during analogical reasoning.     

The unique consequences of feeling lucky: Implications for consumer behavior

Cognitive priming procedures were used to identify the unique effects that luck-related concepts have on consumer behavior. The effects of these concepts could theoretically influence behavior through the elicitation of positive affect or via temporary changes in participants' self representations of how lucky they feel. An initial experiment showed that priming Asian consumers with lucky numbers independently influenced both their perceptions of personal luck and the positive affect they reported experiencing. Subsequent experiments, however, showed that the effect of these primes on consumer behavior was mediated by momentary changes in how lucky people felt (i.e. changes in the self concept) rather than by the positive affect they were experiencing at the time. Exposing consumers to lucky numbers influenced their estimates of how likely they were to win a lottery (Experiment 2), their willingness to participate in such a lottery (Experiment 4), their evaluations of different promotional strategies (Experiment 3), and also the amount of money they were willing to invest in different financial options (Experiment 4). The effect of luck on behavior was also moderated by a person's regulatory focus.     

Relationships of suicide ideation with cause-specific mortality in a longitudinal study of South Koreans

Using 7-year mortality follow-up data (n = 341) from the 1998 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys of South Korean individuals (N = 5,414), the authors found that survey participants with suicide ideation were at increased risk of suicide mortality during the follow-up period compared with those without suicide ideation. The cause-specific analyses showed that, in men, suicide ideation was significantly associated with mortality due to cardiovascular disease, external causes, and other causes. However, there was no significant association between suicide ideation and cause-specific mortality in women. The relationship between suicide ideation and cause-specific mortality in men was not fully explained by baseline health status, socioeconomic status, health behavior, or psychosocial factors.     

Differential Item Functioning on Antisocial Behavior Scale Items for Adolescents and Young Adults from Single-Parent and Two-Parent Families

We investigated measurement equivalence in two antisocial behavior scales (i.e., one scale for adolescents and a second scale for young adults) by examining differential item functioning (DIF) for respondents from single-parent (n = 109) and two-parent families (n = 447). Even though one item in the scale for adolescents and two items in the scale for young adults showed significant DIF, the two scales exhibited non-significant differential test functioning (DTF). Both uniform and nonuniform DIF were investigated and examples of each type were identified. Specifically, uniform DIF was exhibited in the adolescent scale whereas nonuniform DIF was shown in the young adult scale. Implications of DIF results for assessment of antisocial behavior, along with strengths and limitations of the study, are discussed.