Local probability effects of repeating irrelevant attributes

We present two experiments in which participants classify stimuli having two potentially conflicting attributes, one of which is response-relevant whereas the other (“irrelevant”) attribute is logically and statistically independent of the response. We introduce a novel design not used with filtering tasks before in which the main factor is the local (i.e., one-step) transition probability π (= 0.25, 0.50, 0.75) that the irrelevant attribute is repeated from one trial to the next. Experiment 1 involved a visual Simon task in which the color of the stimulus is relevant and its location is irrelevant. Experiment 2 used a semantic classification task in which the parity of a digit presented is relevant and its numerical magnitude is irrelevant. The results of both experiments demonstrate that participants in the π = 0.75 group responded faster when the irrelevant attribute is in fact repeated rather than alternated; in contrast, participants in the π = 0.25 group responded faster (Experiment 1) or equally fast (Experiment 2) when the irrelevant attribute is alternated rather than repeated. These expectancy-related effects cannot be attributed to spurious design contingencies as the irrelevant attribute was independent of the relevant attribute (and thus of the response), of the congruency status, and also of their alternation/repetition. One interpretation of our findings is that information about the irrelevant attribute in the previous trial is used much as an informative central precue, so that participants can prepare early processing stages in the current trial, with the corresponding benefits and costs typical of standard cueing studies.     

Cognitive Lie Detection: Response Time and Consistency of Answers as Cues to Deception

Purpose  The purpose of this study was to test a new cognitive lie detection method, time restricted integrity confirmation (Tri-Con), which uses response time and inconsistencies across answers as cues to deception. Design/methodology/approach   Data were obtained from two samples of students enrolled in psychology classes (n = 96 for Experiment 1, n = 99 for Experiment 2). The experimental task required students to lie or tell the truth to questions probing biodata under time restriction. The foci of questions (such as Academics or Employment History) were chosen because of their relevance to participants’ lives. Findings  Tri-Con was able to distinguish between truth tellers and liars after controlling for individual differences. In one experiment, liar-truth teller classification accuracies reached 89%. Mean response times and answer consistency can be used to distinguish those who lie from those who tell the truth. Implications  Research on cognitive-based lie detectors, such as Tri-Con, hold the potential for developing reliable and valid methods of screening out employees likely to engage in misconduct and providing deceptive answers to screening questions. A cognitive lie detector would constitute a paradigm shift away from the polygraph, and could be used in tandem with integrity tests. Originality/value   This study was a preliminary test of a cognitive lie detection method based on a model of cognitive events (the Activation-Decision-Construction model) when people answer questions deceptively. It constitutes a step in translating laboratory-based cognitive research into applied technologies for the real world detection of lying, including lying that occurs during pre-employment screening. Received and reviewed by former editor, George Neuman.     

Sketch of J. R. Kantor’s Psychological Interbehavioral Field Theory

The Psychological Record - We provide a sketch of J. R. Kantor’s (1959, 1971) psychological interbehavioral field (IBF) theory by identifying 9 essential points and briefly discussing each....     

Preferences for Life-Prolonging Medical Treatments and Deference to the Will of God

We defined and measured a dimension of religiosity frequently invoked in end-of-life (EOL) research—deference to God’s Will (GW)—and examined its relationship to preferences for life-prolonging treatments. In a 35-min telephone interview, 304 older men and women (60 +) were administered the 5-item GW scale, sociodemographic questions, three attitude items regarding length of life, and measures of two health indices, depression, and life-prolonging treatment preferences. The GW scale demonstrated internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .94) and predictive and discriminant validity. Higher scores indicative of greater deference to GW were associated with stronger life-prolonging treatment preferences in poor-prognosis scenarios. Implications for the role of religiosity in medical decision-making are discussed.     

Assessing preferred work among adults with autism beginning supported jobs: identification of constant and alternating task preferences

We evaluated a multiple‐stimulus assessment for identifying work preferences among adults with autism prior to beginning supported jobs. Initially, a prework assessment focused on identifying preferences across different work tasks. Eight preference assessments involving office‐cleaning tasks were conducted with five supported workers. Results of five assessments involving three individuals indicated respective workers had a strong preference for one work task. On three assessments involving three workers and different cleaning tasks, weak preferences for given tasks were identified. Next, choices between more‐ and less‐preferred tasks were provided during the daily job routine. Workers who had a strong preference on the prework assessment consistently chose the previously assessed, more preferred task during the daily job. Workers who had a weak preference always chose the more preferred task on the first choice of the work day, and then alternated between tasks on 71% of subsequent choice opportunities. Results appear to support the utility of the prework, multiple‐stimulus assessment for predicting preferred tasks among supported workers with autism when the assessment identifies strong preferences. Results also offer some support for predicting a preference to alternate tasks when the assessment identifies weak preferences for respective work tasks. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of developing work routines within community jobs for adults with autism that are more in accordance with their work preferences than traditional job placement practices. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effects of Demographic Variables and Stereotype Threat on Black/White Differences in Cognitive Ability Test Performance

The present study examined whether a set of demographic variables and stereotype threat could explain African-American/White mean differences in cognitive ability test performance. African Americans and Whites were found to significantly differ in stereotype threat and educational attainment of participants' fathers (i.e., father education). In moderate support of our study hypothesis, stereotype threat and father education partially mediated race differences in cognitive ability test scores. Implications for study findings are discussed, and limitations of the study are noted.     

Integrating brain science research with intelligence research

Understanding the possible causes of differences in intelligence is crucial if children are to achieve their full potential. Such understanding has been hampered until recently, however, because researchers who study intelligence have neglected recent findings in the brain sciences suggesting that the brain develops in response to environmental stimulation. These findings have seemed to contradict intelligence research that suggests that intellectual abilities are inherited. However, the findings from intelligence research and the brain sciences can be integrated if it is accepted that there are individual differences in the process by which the brain adapts to the environment, such that some people's brains are better at adapting than others'. The findings obtained from intelligence research are consistent with this integrated model. Such an integration has implications for better understanding the nature of intelligence.     

A Content Analysis of Prime Time Commercials: A Contextual Framework of Gender Representation

For this content analysis we recorded a sample of 1,337 prime time commercials from the 3 major networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) in 1998. There were 5,473 primary and secondary characters identified. Each character was coded for gender, age, acting role, and product being advertised. The findings were then compared to Bretl and Cantor (1988), the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 population statistics, and Mediamark Research and Simmons syndicated marketing services. The commercials' producers cast their female and male characters much the same way as was done in the 1980s. Although women make most purchases of goods and services, they are still underrepresented as primary characters during most prime time commercials except for health and beauty products. Women are still cast as younger, supportive counterparts to men, and older women are still the most underrepresented group. Television commercials perpetuate traditional stereotypes of women and men.     

HIV‐Related Behaviors Among Prison Inmates: A Theory of Planned Behavior Analysis1

Prison inmates have high prevalence rates for both HIV and AIDS, creating a great need for HIV prevention efforts. We tested the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in 3 domains: intention to engage in condom use when released, intention to not share tattoo equipment in prison, and intention to not share needles or tattoo equipment when released. A total of 478 inmates (87% male) completed TPB and sexual and needle‐use risk behavior measures. TPB constructs accounted for a significant variance in intention to use condoms among African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian inmates, though the strength of the relationships differed by ethnicity. The TPB was less successful for intention to share tattooing equipment and not to share needles or tattoo equipment after release.     

The Insufficiency of Integrity

As part of its evolving notions of self, contemporary Western culture has come to regard integrity as a preeminent public and private virtue. The meanings now given to integrity appear to cluster around its form, which is personal coherence, and its content, which is standing for something important. Building on Stephen Carter's explication of integrity, and in response to its veneration as a moral panacea, three limitations of integrity are discussed. First, integrity does not guarantee that right and wrong have actually been discerned, only that an attempt has been made, that moral reflection has occurred. Second, integrity does not necessarily engender or even preserve interpersonal peace, but instead frequently causes conflict it is then unable to resolve. Third, integrity does not always precipitate or prevent the reform of social structures and organizations, because it remains subject to the exercise of interpersonal power.