SANLab-CM: A tool for incorporating stochastic operations into activity network modeling

The Stochastic Activity Network Laboratory for Cognitive Modeling (SANLab-CM) is a new tool that incorporates stochastic operations into activity network modeling (Schweickert, Fisher, & Proctor, 2003). In this article, we discuss the core functionality of SANLab-CM and walk through a case study that expands a previously published single, static path model of telephone operators interacting with customers via a workstation (from Gray, John, & Atwood, 1993) into a stochastic model that generates 55 unique paths with different frequencies and a variety of qualitative properties. Without SANLab-CM, it would have been easy to mistake some of the more frequent critical paths as evidence for alternative strategies for task completion. With SANLab-CM, these critical paths can be shown to be simple emergent properties of variability in elementary cognitive, perceptual, and motor processes.     

Do Violent Acts Equal Abuse? Resolving the Gender Parity/Asymmetry Dilemma

This commentary revisits a core dilemma in “Controversies involving Gender and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States” by Langhinrichsen-Rohling (2010), how to reconcile gender parity in the use of force by partners with the gender asymmetry in the dynamics and effects of partner abuse. This dilemma is a byproduct of a domestic violence paradigm that confounds the normative use of violence in families and relationships and the types of partner assault and coercive control targeted by the advocacy movement. I argue that the dimensions of abuse victims present at points of service contradict the basic assumptions of the paradigm and outline an alternative model of coercive control that sets violent acts in their historical, experiential and political context.     

The proportion valid effect in covert orienting: Strategic control or implicit learning?

It is well known that the difference in performance between valid and invalid trials in the covert orienting paradigm (i.e., the cueing effect) increases as the proportion of valid trials increases. This proportion valid effect is widely assumed to reflect “strategic” control over the distribution of attention. In the present experiments we determine if this effect results from an explicit strategy or implicit learning by probing participant’s awareness of the proportion of valid trials. Results support the idea that the proportion valid effect in the covert orienting paradigm reflects implicit learning not an explicit strategy.     

Longitudinal study of declarative and procedural memory in primary school‐aged children

This study examined the development of declarative and procedural memory longitudinally in primary school‐aged children. At present, although there is a general consensus that age‐related improvements during this period can be found for declarative memory, there are conflicting data on the developmental trajectory of the procedural memory system. At Time 1 children aged around 5½ years were presented with measures of declarative and procedural memory. The tasks were then administered 12 months later. Performance on the declarative memory task was found to improve at a faster rate in comparison to the procedural memory task. The findings of the study support the view that multiple memory systems reach functional maturity at different points in development.     

Information distortion in self-other decision making

In both organizational and social arenas, individuals make decisions for themselves and for other individuals. But research in decision making has provided little input into whether or how these decisions are psychologically different. In this paper, I propose that decisions—depending on whom they are for—vary according to the extent of information distortion, such that, individuals who choose for themselves demonstrate more postdecisional distortion, yet less predecisional distortion than individuals who choose on behalf of others. To test this hypothesis, participants in an experiment made a decision between two restaurants. Attributes about each restaurant were presented sequentially, and preferences were measured following each attribute. As expected, participants who chose for themselves experienced more postdecisional distortion. However, among participants who chose on behalf of others, greater distortion of predecisional attribute information was observed. These findings shed light on the differences in self-other decision making, as well as on research concerning information distortion.     

Performance on Stroop‐like assessments of inhibitory control by 4‐ and 5‐year‐old children

The rapid development of an aspect of executive functioning (EF), inhibitory control (IC), between the ages of 3‐ and 5‐years, leads to an increase in a child's capacity to suppress inappropriate responding and therefore activate the necessary resources to carry‐out goal‐directed activity (Psychological Bulletin, 1997, 121 , 65–94). To measure EF in children, tasks administered clinically to adults are adapted. The Day–Night Stroop (DNS) is a pictorial modification of the Stroop Test (Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1935, 18 , 642–662), developed for pre‐literate children. Although suitable as a measure of IC in 3‐ to 4‐year‐old children, ceiling effects have been reported on the DNS in slightly older preschoolers. The present study attempted to overcome this limitation by examining the suitability of two modified versions of the DNS in 4‐ to 5‐year‐old preschoolers. To investigate the executive demands made by both Stroop‐like tasks, their associations with another measure of IC (stop‐signal task) and a measure of working memory were examined. Counter to expectations, no significant association was found in performance between the two Stroop‐like tasks; however, the modified DNS developed in this study showed significant relationships with the other executive tasks. The results are discussed in relation to the different methodologies used by these Stroop measures. Implications of this study suggest that researchers should consider more test‐specific factors when assessing EF in young children. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Differentiating Diversities: Moral Diversity Is Not Like Other Kinds1

Diversity is widely celebrated in American society. But from a social psychological point of view, diversity ought to cause a number of problems, such as divisiveness and conflict. A resolution of this paradox is proposed: There are several kinds of diversity, with different profiles of costs and benefits. In particular, moral diversity is identified as being problematic and even self‐contradictory. Three studies of attitudes and desires for interaction among college students confirmed that moral diversity reduces desires for interaction more than does demographic diversity, and that both kinds of diversity are valued more in a classroom than in other social settings. These findings have important implications for discussions of diversity, multiculturalism, affirmative action, identity politics, and immigration policy.     

Training for a New Generation

Teachers … can never tell where their influence stops.
Henry Brooks Adams (1907)