ASSESSMENT OF SMOKING BEHAVIOR

The nature of smoking risk is first reviewed and a classification of procedures for assessing smoking behavior is presented. Areas requiring assessment include not only the traditionally measured smoking rate, but also the substance used and topography of consumption. Each of these areas may be assessed through a variety of self-report, observational, or indirect techniques. These techniques as well as some of their advantages and disadvantages are presented. Recently published (1975 to mid-1978) data-based smoking research appearing in four journals (Addictive Behaviors, Behavior Therapy, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, and Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology) is then reviewed with respect to measurement reliability and the use of multiple measures. Results show a strong tendency to assess only the risk area of smoking rate and a low frequency of appropriate measurement reliability checks, especially during baseline and treatment phases. Some of the implications of these results are discussed.     

Effects of changing compatibility relationships on reaction time to the first stimulus in a double-stimulation task

This study investigated the effects of manipulating the response requirement to the second stimulus (S2) on reaction time (RT) to the first stimulus (S1) in a double-stimulation choice RT task. Forty subjects responded to the 100 msec presentation of a left or right light by pressing the key on the same or opposite side as the light. Treatment conditions included a single-stimulation control (no S2 presented), and two double-stimulation conditions each requiring two responses (R1 and R2) in close succession, in one of these latter conditions, the rule governing R2 was the same as that governing R1 while, in the other, the rule governing R2 changed. Results showed the typical double-stimulation effect; i.e., increased latency of R1 when it was followed by S2 - R2. More importantly, R1 latency was increased further when the rules governing R1 and R2 were different. Results are discussed in terms of divided preparation capacity as well as other theories of the psychological refractory period.     

Spatial-frequency-contingent color aftereffects: adaptation with one-dimensional stimuli.

The McCollough effect was shown to be spatial-frequency selective by Lovegrove and Over (1972) after adaptation with vertical colored square-wave gratings separated by 1 octave. Adaptation with slide-presented red and green vertical square-wave gratings separated by 1 octave failed to produce contingent color aftereffects (CAEs). However, when each of these gratings was adapted alone, strong CAEs were produced. Adaptation with vertical colored sine-wave gratings separated by 1 octave also failed to produce CAEs, but strong effects were produced by adaptation with each grating alone. By varying the spatial frequency of the test sine wave, CAEs were found to be tuned for spatial frequency at 2.85 octaves after adaptation of 4 cycles per degree (cpd) and at 2.30 octaves after adaptation of 8 cpd. Adaptation of both vertical and horizontal sine-wave gratings produced strong CAEs, with bandwidths ranging from 1.96 to 2.90 octaves and with lower adapting contrast producing weaker CAEs. These results indicate that the McCollough effect is more broadly tuned for spatial frequency than are simple adaptation effects.     

Concurrent task interference in stutterers: dissociating hemispheric specialization and activation

Using all four combinations of hand and foot, adult stutterers and nonstutterers performed a unimanual sequential finger tapping task together with a stimulus-contingent foot responding task. The two groups were similar in that both demonstrated more dual-task interference when using the ipsilateral than contralateral limb pairs. Contrary to a prediction based on a hypothesis that attributes stuttering to neural interference due to an ungated or unregulated activity flow between the hemispheres, stutterers did not show more interference than nonstutterers when using the contralateral limb pairs. The groups did differ, however, in terms of finger tapping interference associated with right- versus left-foot concurrent task responding. Nonstutterers showed more interference when using the left than right foot. This was interpreted in terms of the attentional demands that the foot responding task placed on a system with an inherent left-hemisphere attentional bias. The lack of a reliable difference in stutterers with respect to interference by the two feet is consistent with indications from other research that stutterers have a relatively labile system of hemispheric attention or activation. The results of the study are placed into the context of a general model of the brain mechanisms associated with stuttering.     

Republican Voters Prefer Candidates Who Have Conservative‐Looking Faces: New Evidence From Exit Polls

Research shows people share common political facial stereotypes: They associate faces with political ideologies. Moreover, given that many voters rely on party affiliation, political ideology, and appearances to select political candidates, we might expect that political facial stereotypes would sway voting preferences and, by extension, the share of votes going to each candidate in an election. And yet few studies have examined whether having a stereotypically conservative‐looking (or liberal‐looking) face predicts a candidate's vote shares. Using data from U.S. election exit polls, we show that the Republican voters within each state are more likely to vote for a candidate (even a Democrat) the more that person has a stereotypically Republican‐looking face. By contrast, the voting choices of the Democratic voters within each state are unrelated to political facial stereotypes. Moreover, we show that the relationship between political facial stereotypes and voting does not depend on state‐level ideology: Republican voters in both right‐leaning (“red”) and left‐leaning (“blue”) states are more likely to vote for candidates with conservative‐looking faces. These results have several important practical and theoretical implications concerning the nature and impact of political facial stereotypes, which we discuss.     

Correlates of a Taoist orientation

Using rating scales no associations were found between having a Taoist orientation to life, death anxiety, and the perception that one's self is unified (versus fragmented) in a sample of southeastern Asian students (18 women and 12 men).     

Maintaining activity engagement: individual differences in the process of self-regulating motivation

ABSTRACT Typically, models of self-regulation include motivation in terms of goals. Motivation is proposed to differ among individuals as a consequence of the goals they hold as well as how much they value those goals and expect to attain them. We suggest that goal-defined motivation is only one source of motivation critical for sustained engagement. A second source is the motivation that arises from the degree of interest experienced in the process of goal pursuit. Our model integrates both sources of motivation within the goal-striving process and suggests that individuals may actively monitor and regulate them. Conceptualizing motivation in terms of a self-regulatory process provides an organizing framework for understanding how individuals might differ in whether they experience interest while working toward goals, whether they persist without interest, and whether and how they try to create interest. We first present the self-regulation of motivation model and then review research illustrating how the consideration of individual differences at different points in the process allows a better understanding of variability in people's choices, efforts, and persistence over time.     

An explanationist account of genealogical defeat

Sometimes, learning about the origins of a belief can make it irrational to continue to hold that belief—a phenomenon we call ‘genealogical defeat’. According to explanationist accounts, genealogical defeat occurs when one learns that there is no appropriate explanatory connection between one's belief and the truth. Flatfooted versions of explanationism have been widely and rightly rejected on the grounds that they would disallow beliefs about the future and other inductively-formed beliefs. After motivating the need for some explanationist account, we raise some problems for recent versions of explanationism. Learning from their failures, we then produce and defend a more resilient explanationism.