Non-bayesian inference: causal structure trumps correlation

The study tests the hypothesis that conditional probability judgments can be influenced by causal links between the target event and the evidence even when the statistical relations among variables are held constant. Three experiments varied the causal structure relating three variables and found that (a) the target event was perceived as more probable when it was linked to evidence by a causal chain than when both variables shared a common cause; (b) predictive chains in which evidence is a cause of the hypothesis gave rise to higher judgments than diagnostic chains in which evidence is an effect of the hypothesis; and (c) direct chains gave rise to higher judgments than indirect chains. A Bayesian learning model was applied to our data but failed to explain them. An explanation-based hypothesis stating that statistical information will affect judgments only to the extent that it changes beliefs about causal structure is consistent with the results.     

Examining the Utility of General Models of Personality in the Study of Psychopathy: A Comparison of the HEXACO-PI-R and NEO PI-R

The Five-Factor model is one of the most popular models of general personality but recently a competing model, the HEXACO, has been put forth as an alternative. In the current study, we compare the two models by examining the interrelations between their primary measures, the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) and the Revised HEXACO Personality Inventory (HEXACO-PI-R), and their relations with psychopathy in a sample of undergraduates (N = 290). Results revealed good convergence between conceptually related personality traits. Both inventories accounted for substantial proportions of variance in psychopathy scores although the HEXACO-PI-R accounted for a larger proportion. The findings are discussed in relation to the HEXACO domain of Emotionality, which functions differently than NEO PI-R Neuroticism. The results suggest that both measures assess psychopathy-related traits, but the HEXACO-PI-R may offer a slight advantage.     

The Relationship Between Dysfunctional Interpersonal Tendencies, Derailment Potential Behavior, and Turnover

Managerial derailment, which includes failure in the form organizational exit, poses costly consequences for organizations. We investigated the relationship between dysfunctional interpersonal tendencies, derailment potential behaviors, and actual managerial derailment in the form of voluntary and involuntary turnover. Data were from an archival database of high-level managers working for a global retail organization, including self-report interpersonal tendencies, 360-degree feedback data, and personnel history (N?=?1,796). Managers who exhibit the dysfunctional interpersonal tendencies associated with ??moving against people?? were more likely to enact derailment potential behaviors. As a result, these managers were more likely to be fired or quit. This study advances our understanding of the managerial derailment process by providing evidence of the positive relationship between derailment potential behaviors and both voluntary and involuntary turnover as well as the potential for ??moving against?? people to result in derailment. Our results may help to inform the selection, promotion, and training strategies employed by practitioners and potentially reduce the costs associated with losing high-potential executives. This is one of the first studies to provide evidence of the relationship between derailment potential behaviors and turnover, and in a rarely obtained sample of high-level managers. Additionally, derailment potential ratings were collected before managers?? exit from the organization, thus helping to overcome retrospective bias evident in prior studies; managers who ultimately derail were perceived as having exhibited behaviors consistent with the potential to derail before organizational exit.     

Rates and Types of Student Aggression against Teachers: A Comparative Analysis of U.S. Elementary,Middle, and High Schools

Student perpetrated violence against teachers is widespread, yet few studies differentiate teacher experiences of violence by school level (i.e., elementary, middle, and high school). This study, based upon 2,558 pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade teacher survey responses, revealed differences in types of student aggression against teachers by school level. Middle and high school teachers were more likely to report verbal harassment compared to elementary school teachers. Middle school teachers were most likely to report property offenses. Elementary and middle school teachers were more likely to report physical aggression than high school teachers. Demographic predictors of teacher-directed violence were also examined at each school level. Across all school levels, urban teachers had a greater probability of experiencing a violent incident. For elementary teachers, race/ethnicity and teaching experience were also significant risk factors. Future research, policy, and practice implications and recommendations are discussed.

     

Aesthetic knowledge

Philosophical Studies - What is the source of aesthetic knowledge? Empirical knowledge, it is generally held, bottoms out in perception. Such knowledge can be transmitted to others through...     

Choice-Driven Counterfactuals

Journal of Philosophical Logic - In this paper, we investigate the semantics and logic of choice-driven counterfactuals, that is, of counterfactuals whose evaluation relies on auxiliary premises...     

Off the mark: Repetitive marking undermines essay evaluations due to boredom

Motivation and Emotion - Essay-style assessment is widespread in education. Nonetheless, research shows that this tool can suffer from low reliability and validity. We attribute this problem partly...     

Sexual distractors boost younger and older adults' visual search RSVP performance

Do sexual words have high attentional priority? How does the ability to ignore sexual distractors evolve with age? To answer these questions, two experiments using Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) were conducted. Experiment 1 showed that both younger and older participants were better at identifying a target (the name of a colour) when it was preceded by 336 ms by a sexual word rather than by a musical word. Strikingly, the sexual‐word advantage was more pronounced for older adults than for younger adults. Experiment 2 showed that introducing a variable delay between the distractor and the target eliminated the sexual‐word advantage. This finding suggests that the sexual‐word advantage found in Experiment 1 was due to learning to utilize the sexual word as a temporal cue with a fixed duration between the distractor and the target. Contrary to previous research [Arnell et al., 2007, Emotion, 7, 465), neither experiment showed that sexual words produce an attentional blink.