Book reviews

Nisbett, R. and Ross, L. Human inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social fudgement. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall. 1980. Pp. 334. £9.70. ISBN 0 13 445130 9.

Rouse, W. B. Systems Engineering Models of Human-machine Interaction. North-Halland: 1980. Pp152. £14.00

Solso, R. L. Cognitive Psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979. Pp499. £10.75. ISBN 0 15 507870 4.

Martin, I Venables, P H. (Eds.). Techniques in Psychophysiology. New York: Wiley, 1980. Pp. 699. £19.50. ISBN 0 471 27637 5.

Massaro, D. W. Taylor, G. A. Venezky, R. L. Jastrzembski, J. E. and Lucas, P. A. Letter and Word Perception. North Holland. 1980. pp.278. $30.50. ISBN 0 444 85493 2

Stelmach, G. E. and Requin, J. (Eds.). Tutorials in Motor Behavior. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Co. 1980. Pp. xx+680 (typewritten). $61. ISBN 0444 854665.

Karmiloff-Smith, A. A Functional Approach to Child Language. London: Cambridge University Press. 1979. Pp. 258. £15

Cooper, W. E. and Walker, E. C. T. (Eds.). Sentence Processing: Psycholinguistic Studies Presented to merrill garrett. Hillsdale, New jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. 1979. Pp. 447. £18.50. ISBN 0 470 26731 3     

Longitudinal associations between impulsivity and lie-telling in childhood and adolescence

Lie-telling and impulsivity levels peak during late childhood to early adolescence and have been suggested to be related. Heightened impulsivity may lead adolescents to lie in favor of short-term benefits without consideration for the potential consequences of deception. The present study assessed longitudinal relations between self-reported impulsivity and lie-telling frequency. Participants from a large-scale longitudinal study (N = 1148; M_age = 11.55, SD = 1.69, 9–15 years at Time 1) reported on their impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale) and their frequency of lie-telling to parents, to teachers, to friends, and about cheating across two time points 1 year apart. Cross-lagged path analysis revealed greater impulsivity was associated with more frequent lie-telling to parents, friends, and teachers, and about cheating over time. Our findings demonstrate the role of impulsivity in the development of lie-telling behaviors.

Research Highlights

• Impulsivity predicts lying across time in multiple contexts (to parents, friends, teachers, and about cheating).
• Previous research has demonstrated the role of top-down influences on lie-telling, but the current study suggests that bottom-up processes are also influential.

     

Dual-process theories of reasoning: Contemporary issues and developmental applications

In this paper, I discuss the current state of theorising about dual processes in adult performance on reasoning and decision making tasks, in which Type 1 intuitive processing is distinguished from Type 2 reflective thinking. I show that there are many types of theory some of which distinguish modes rather than types of thinking and that assumptions about underlying cognitive architecture vary. I show that some dual-system theories have been replaced recently by the idea that we have two or more distinct ‘minds’ with different evolutionary histories. I also present the most recent formulation of my own account of dual processing within hypothetical thinking theory, at a level more easily applied to performance on specific tasks. I then consider implications for cognitive development, pointing out that while Type 2 thinking is clearly linked to the development of cognitive ability, it combines and competes with multiple Type 1 processing systems which persist in adult cognition, each of which could have their own developmental time course. Hence, while dual-process theories can and should inspire much research and theory in cognitive development, the derivation of predictions for cognitive development is far from straightforward.     

THE ESCHATOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

In this essay, I show how Thomas Aquinas circumscribes epistemological questions concerning both the possibility and character of our knowledge of God within a larger eschatological framework that acknowledges the beatific vision as the ultimate good that we desire as well as the ultimate end for which we were created. Thus, knowledge of God is possible and actual on Aquinas's view because it is eternally rather than merely temporally indexed—that is, properly attributable to the blessed in heaven and only derivatively attributable to persons of faith. I further argue that interpreting Aquinas's account of faith in the light of his account of the beatific vision allows us to carve out polemical space for the theologically realist claim that there can be and in fact is objectivity in our knowledge of God, whether that knowledge comes through faith (in this life) or the beatific vision (in the next life).