Group‐based Differences in Perceptions of Racism: What Counts,to Whom,and Why?

Belonging to a group fundamentally shapes the way we interpret and attribute the behavior of others. Similarly, perceptions of racism can be influenced by group membership. Experimental and survey research reveal disagreement between Whites and Blacks about the prevalence of racism in America. Several social cognitive factors contribute to this disagreement: discrepancies in Whites' and Blacks' lay intuitions about the attitudes and behaviors that count as racism, comparison standards when determining racial progress, and the salience of and meaning drawn from successful Black individuals in society. These perceptual discrepancies have consequences for policy attitudes, decisions about how best to combat racial inequality, and beliefs about whether inequality persists. Successful interventions that increase Whites' knowledge of structural racism and that attenuate self‐image threat suggest that it is possible to converge Blacks' and Whites' perceptions of racism by expanding Whites' definition of racism.     

Empathy,Depressive Symptoms,and Self-Esteem in Adolescence: The Moderating Role of the Mother–Adolescent Relationship

A large body of literature provides support for the role of empathy as a prominent factor in socio-emotional development and functioning. Although deficits in empathy are known to associate with maladaptive behaviors, less literature documents the effects of excessive empathy, which has been found to relate to various internalizing problems such as depression. There are two types of empathy, cognitive and affective, which manifest themselves in different ways and thus, have differential effects on outcomes. Therefore, in a sample of 724 Belgian adolescents (M_age?=?13.83?±?.96), the present study sought to elucidate the effects of cognitive and affective empathy on depressive symptoms and self-esteem. We also explored the interactive effects of empathy and adolescent perceived mother–child relationship quality in the prediction of our outcomes. Results revealed affective and cognitive empathy predicted outcomes concurrently, with affective empathy predicting more maladaptive outcomes and cognitive empathy predicting more positive outcomes. Interaction effects emerged between affective empathy and the relationship quality indicators. However, no interactions occurred with cognitive empathy. Further, longitudinal data revealed only cognitive empathy had long-term effects (predicting positive outcomes such as lower levels of depression and higher levels of self-esteem) suggesting that cognitive empathy may be a protective factor. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

A meta-analysis of the survival-processing advantage in memory

The survival-processing advantage occurs when processing words for their survival value improves later performance on a memory test. Due to the interest in this topic, we conducted a meta-analysis to review the literature regarding the survival-processing advantage, in order to estimate a bias-corrected effect size. Traditional meta-analytic methods were used, as well as the test of excess significance, p-curve, p-uniform, trim and fill, PET–PEESE, and selection models, to reevaluate previous effect sizes while controlling for forms of small-study-size effects. The average effect sizes for survival processing ranged between η _p ² = .06 and .09 for between-subjects experiments and between η _p ² = .15 and .18 for within-subjects experiments, after correcting for potential bias and selective reporting. Overall, researchers can expect to find medium to large survival-processing effects, with selective reporting and bias-correcting techniques typically estimating lower effect sizes than traditional meta-analytic techniques.     

Teachers’ academic and behavioral expectations and girls’ pubertal development: Does the classroom learning environment matter?

Experiencing puberty earlier than one’s peers has been linked with behavioral and academic problems in school, particularly among girls. Previously, we reported that practicing elementary school teachers expect girls who develop early to have more academic and social problems in the future, with girls’ race exacerbating these effects (Carter et al. 2017). The present study extends this previous research by examining whether characteristics within classroom learning environments (i.e., Competition, Order and Organization, Innovation, and Rule Clarity) affect the extent to which teachers use girls’ race and pubertal timing as a basis for their expectations. Practicing elementary school teachers (N?=?220; M_age?=?43 years; 91% female; 84% White) were randomly shown behavioral vignettes in two conditions (academic, externalizing) with drawings of fourth-grade Black and White pubertal-age girls, and were asked to report their academic and social expectations of the girls shown in the vignettes. Findings highlight the nuanced ways that classroom environments, girls’ race, and pubertal timing influence educators’ expectations. For example, in the academic condition, teachers who were highly innovative and orderly in the classroom expected Black relative to White early-developing girls to have more problems acquiring and using information (i.e., academic problems); however, White late-developing girls were expected to have more problems acquiring and using information. Conversely, in the externalizing condition, teachers who were highly innovative and orderly in the classroom expected Black late-developing girls to have more problems interacting and relating to others (i.e., social problems). These results highlight the importance of a multifaceted approach to studying race, biological sex, and puberty-related effects in schools.     

Can dogs use vocal intonation as a social referencing cue in an object choice task?

Evidence from the literature indicates that dogs’ choices can be influenced by human-delivered social cues, such as pointing, and pointing combined with facial expression, intonation (i.e., rising and falling voice pitch), and/or words. The present study used an object choice task to investigate whether intonation conveys unique information in the absence of other salient cues. We removed facial expression cues and speech information by delivering cues with the experimenter’s back to the dog and by using nonword vocalizations. During each trial, the dog was presented with pairs of the following three vocal cues: Positive (happy-sounding), Negative (sad-sounding), and Breath (neutral control). In Experiment 1, where dogs received only these vocal cue pairings, dogs preferred the Positive intonation, and there was no difference in choice behavior between Negative or Breath. In Experiment 2, we included a point cue with one of the two vocal cues in each pairing. Here, dogs preferred containers receiving pointing cues as well as Negative intonation, and preference was greatest when both of these cues were presented together. Taken together, these findings indicate that dogs can indeed extract information from vocal intonation alone, and may use intonation as a social referencing cue. However, the effect of intonation on behavior appears to be strongly influenced by the presence of pointing, which is known to be a highly salient visual cue for dogs. It is possible that in the presence of a point cue, intonation may shift from informative to instructive.     

A brief assessment tool for investigating facets of moral judgment from realistic vignettes

Humans make moral judgments every day, and research demonstrates that these evaluations are based on a host of related event features (e.g., harm, legality). In order to acquire systematic data on how moral judgments are made, our assessments need to be expanded to include real-life, ecologically valid stimuli that take into account the numerous event features that are known to influence moral judgment. To facilitate this, Knutson et al. (in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(4), 378–384, 2010) developed vignettes based on real-life episodic memories rated concurrently on key moral features; however, the method is time intensive (~1.4–3.4 h) and the stimuli and ratings require further validation and characterization. The present study addresses these limitations by: (i) validating three short subsets of these vignettes (39 per subset) that are time-efficient (10–25 min per subset) yet representative of the ratings and factor structure of the full set, (ii) norming ratings of moral features in a larger sample (total N?=?661, each subset N?=?~220 vs. Knutson et al. N?=?30), (iii) examining the generalizability of the original factor structure by replicating it in a larger sample across vignette subsets, sex, and political ideology, and (iv) using latent profile analysis to empirically characterize vignette groupings based on event feature ratings profiles and vignette content. This study therefore provides researchers with a core battery of well-characterized and realistic vignettes, concurrently rated on key moral features that can be administered in a brief, time-efficient manner to advance research on the nature of moral judgment.     

Estimating the population size of transgender women in San Francisco using multiple methods, 2013

Purpose: To estimate the number of adult transgender women (TGW) in San Francisco and to provide an example of how estimation can be conducted.

Methods: Using nine different services accessed by the TGW population, the service multiplier, integrated into a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) survey of TGW, was used to calculate nine estimates of the TGW population in San Francisco. Both the successive sampling method, also integrated into the RDS survey of TGW, and a population proportion from the literature each calculated an additional estimate of the TGW population. The median of all 11 estimates was calculated to present a single estimate of the TGW population in San Francisco.

Results: The median of estimates was 978 TGW in San Francisco (plausibility bounds 635 – 1,400). This estimate is consistent with known cases of HIV among TGW and surveys on the prevalence of infection in the TGW population.

Conclusion: Using multiple methods, we estimate the TGW population size to be 0.13% of the San Francisco population. Despite small numbers, TGW bear a disproportionate burden of HIV infection in San Francisco. TGW are a priority for HIV care and prevention services.