To do or not to do? A cognitive consistency model for drawing conclusions from conditional instructions and advice

This paper investigates a cognitive consistency model of the directionality of conditional instructions and advice that use probability expressions to express uncertainty about the antecedent p. The proposed model combines world knowledge (conveyed by causal direction) with linguistic information (conveyed by polarity and negation), and predicts whether the complex sentence antecedent has a positive or negative directionality, which in turn predicts whether a positive or negative conclusion q will be drawn. The first experiment uses Do q if p conditionals to show that given a consequent q participants complete antecedents p with a probability expression in line with expected sentence directionality. The second experiment uses If p then do q conditionals to show similar effects in a reverse direction. A third experiment uses If p then do q conditionals to show that participants draw conclusions predicted by the cognitive consistency model but not by a decision-theoretic approach to reasoning.     

Reexamining the word length effect in visual word recognition: New evidence from the English Lexicon Project

In the present study, we reexamined the effect of word length (number of letters in a word) on lexical decision. Using the English Lexicon Project, which is based on a large data set of over 40,481 words (Balota et al., 2002), we performed simultaneous multiple regression analyses on a selection of 33,006 English words (ranging from 3 to 13 letters in length). Our analyses revealed an unexpected pattern of results taking the form of a U-shaped curve. The effect of number of letters was facilitatory for words of 3–5 letters, null for words of 5–8 letters, and inhibitory for words of 8–13 letters. We also showed that printed frequency, number of syllables, and number of orthographic neighbors all made independent contributions. The length effects were replicated in a new analysis of a subset of 3,833 monomorphemic nouns (ranging from 3 to 10 letters), and also in another analysis based on 12,987 bisyllabic items (ranging from 3 to 9 letters). These effects were independent of printed frequency, number of syllables, and number of orthographic neighbors. Furthermore, we also observed robust linear inhibitory effects of number of syllables. Implications for models of visual word recognition are discussed.     

No Place to Hide: When Shame Causes Proselfs to Cooperate

Shame is considered a social emotion with action tendencies that elicit socially beneficial behavior. Yet, unlike other social emotions, prior experimental studies do not indicate that incidental shame boosts prosocial behavior. Based on the affect as information theory, we hypothesize that incidental feelings of shame can increase cooperation, but only for self-interested individuals, and only in a context where shame is relevant with regards to its action tendency. To test this hypothesis, cooperation levels are compared between a simultaneous prisoner's dilemma (where “defect” may result from multiple motives) and a sequential prisoner's dilemma (where “second player defect” is the result of intentional greediness). As hypothesized, shame positively affected proselfs in a sequential prisoner's dilemma. Hence ashamed proselfs become inclined to cooperate when they believe they have no way to hide their greediness, and not necessarily because they want to make up for earlier wrong-doing.     

The Necklace of Numbers

The necklace of numbers is a symbol that came in one of my dreams at the end of 2006, at the time when I was about to leave France, my native country, and come to the United States. As I was going through the process of becoming an American citizen, I felt compelled to reconnect to my French roots. The result was this personal account which tells the most important dreams that led me to this country. It is also a tale of a mid-life transformation, a tale of an immigrant viewed from inside, and a tale of individuation by following the path of love.     

Differential reactions of virtual actors and observers to the triggering and interruption of psychological momentum

The present study compared virtual actors’ and observers’ perceptions of positive and negative psychological momentum (PM) and their responses to sudden interruptions of momentum. Participants with experience playing competitive table tennis imagined that they were playing a table tennis game (virtual actors), whereas participants who lacked experience playing competitive table tennis imagined that they were observing a table tennis game (observers). While viewing an audiovisual simulation of a table tennis match, participants were exposed to either an ascending (i.e., positive momentum) or descending (i.e., negative momentum) scoring sequence that was either suddenly interrupted or not interrupted at all. Participants’ PM perceptions were measured at the conclusion of the simulation. Results indicated that observers’ PM perceptions were lower than were virtual actors’ following the negative momentum sequence. More generally, interrupting positive momentum lowered PM perceptions, whereas interrupting negative momentum increased PM perceptions. Implications for the study of PM in sport are discussed.     

The French Lexicon Project: Lexical decision data for 38,840 French words and 38,840 pseudowords

The French Lexicon Project involved the collection of lexical decision data for 38,840 French words and the same number of nonwords. It was directly inspired by the English Lexicon Project (Balota et al., 2007) and produced very comparable frequency and word length effects. The present article describes the methods used to collect the data, reports analyses on the word frequency and the word length effects, and describes the Excel files that make the data freely available for research purposes. The word and pseudoword data from this article may be downloaded from http://brm.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

Back to the Real: Efficacy and Perception of a Modified Cognitive Interview in the Field

Since the Cognitive Interview (CI) was developed, many experiments have been published, but only two have investigated its efficacy in real criminal cases. Here, a Modified CI (MCI) is tested with real interviews in an inquisitor justice system. Several moderators and the interviewers' attitudes towards the CI/MCI are also examined. Eighty‐one witnesses were interviewed by 27 French military police officers, with a Standard Police Interview, a Structured Interview (SI), or an MCI. The MCI produced the most forensically relevant information, especially for victims. Trainees judged the SI and the MCI useful, usable, and acceptable, and felt efficient in using them, beliefs that increased after 1 year of practice. The self‐efficacy was linked with the declared use of the techniques. In all, this study confirmed the efficacy of the CI/MCI as a tool to be used in the field, with some cautions to be underlined, notably because of the small sample size considered. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reliability and validity of the Leuven Perceptual Organization Screening Test (L‐POST)

Neuropsychological tests of visual perception mostly assess high‐level processes like object recognition. Object recognition, however, relies on distinct mid‐level processes of perceptual organization that are only implicitly tested in classical tests. Furthermore, the psychometric properties of the existing instruments are limited. To fill this gap, the Leuven perceptual organization screening test (L‐POST) was developed, in which a wide range of mid‐level phenomena are measured in 15 subtests. In this study, we evaluated reliability and validity of the L‐POST. Performance on the test is evaluated relative to a norm sample of more than 1,500 healthy control participants. Cronbach's alpha of the norm sample and test–retest correlations for 20 patients provide evidence for adequate reliability of L‐POST performance. The convergent and discriminant validity of the test was assessed in 40 brain‐damaged patients, whose performance on the L‐POST was compared with standard clinical tests of visual perception and other measures of cognitive function. The L‐POST showed high sensitivity to visual dysfunction and decreased performance was specific to visual problems. In conclusion, the L‐POST is a reliable and valid screening test for perceptual organization. It offers a useful online tool for researchers and clinicians to get a broader overview of the mid‐level processes that are preserved or disrupted in a given patient.     

Validation of the WHOQOL-BREF in a Sample of Male Treatment-Seeking Veterans

We examined the psychometric properties of a quality of life measure, the WHOQOL-BREF, in male treatment-seeking veterans. A sample of 131 veterans at an outpatient clinic completed a mail-in survey that included the WHOQOL-BREF as well as measures of posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety symptoms, and functional health status. The WHOQOL-BREF showed evidence of good internal consistency and strong test-retest reliability. In addition, analysis of results demonstrated evidence of construct, convergent, and discriminant validity. The results suggest that the WHOQOL-BREF is a reliable and valid measure that can be used in the planning of psychological services provided to veterans with mental health problems.