Quasi-realism and the Humean Defense of Normative Non-factualism

Philosophical Studies -     

Lexical decision in a phonologically shallow orthography

The Serbo-Croatian language is written in two alphabets, Roman and Cyrillic. Both orthographies transcribe the sounds of the language in a regular and straightforward fashion and may, therefore, be referred to as phonologically shallow in contrast to English orthography, which is phonologically deep. Most of the alphabet characters are unique to one alphabet or the other. There are, however, a number of shared characters, some of which receive the same reading and some of which receive a different reading, in the two alphabets. It is possible, therefore, to construct a variety of types of letter strings. Some of these can be read in only one way and can be either a word or nonsense. Other letter strings can be pronounced one way if read as Roman and in a distinctively different way if read as Cyrillic and can be words in both alphabets—but different words; or they can be nonsense in both alphabets or nonsense in one alphabet and a word in the other. In a lexical decision task conducted with bialphabetical readers, it was shown that words that can be read in two different ways are accepted more slowly and with greater error than words that can be read only one way. It was concluded that for the phonologically shallow writing systems of Serbo-Croatian, lexical decision proceeds with reference to the phonology.     

Infant recognition memory and later intelligence

The present study asked if tests of visual recognition memory during infancy based on differential fixation to novel and previously seen targets are valid predictors of later intelligence for children scoring in the normal to superior range of intelligence. Statistically significant and moderate correlations of .37 and .57 were obtained between infant recognition memory scores obtained at four to seven months and later vocabulary tests of intelligence, for 54 children tested at four and for 39 children seen at seven years, respectively. The coefficients did not vary by sex, and were independent of differences in socio-economic status.     

Availability and category-frequency estimation

Individuals judged how often examples of taxonomic categories had occurred in a study list. An availability hypothesis was tested--that frequency estimates are based on the retrieval of instances. Cued (by category names) recall of the examples served as an index of availability. The hypothesis was confirmed--there were strong positive correlations between frequency judgments and recall (with the influence of actual frequency removed)--given one or more of the following conditions: List instances were not categorized aloud as they were presented; frequency estimation was preceded by cued recall; frequency estimation was delayed by a week. Limitations on availability occurred under other conditions--notably, when individuals, during list presentation, named the categories to which items belonged and received feedback about their categorizations. Under these circumstances, correlations of frequency estimation and recall were often not significantly different from zero, and frequency judgments and recall sometimes reacted differently to changes in independent variables (e.g., frequency judgments of young and elderly subjects did not differ reliably, even though cued recall of young persons markedly exceeded that of elderly subjects).     

Difficulties,uncertainty, and opportunity: The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic by early to late adolescence in the Czech Republic

The pandemic created an unfamiliar situation for adolescents, especially within the school context. Drawing on the theory of cognitive appraisal, according to which people evaluate the benefit, harm, and threat of a certain event, this study explored Czech adolescents' experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted six focus groups with early (11–12 years), middle (14–15 years), and late (18–19 years) adolescents. Using thematic analysis, we identified three themes—pandemic as difficulties, uncertainty, and a (un)seized opportunity. While some younger participants initially perceived the pandemic as exciting, others struggled immediately with isolation, online learning, and disrupted daily activities. The feelings of distressing uncertainty, but also the appraisal of the pandemic as an opportunity to utilize free time differently, which in some cases faded over time, prevailed among late adolescents. This study captured the effects of the pandemic and its appraisals on adolescents' subjective well-being and the shift in the thinking of early and late adolescents.     

The structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: Theoretical and methodological considerations

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; Zigmond - Snaith, 1983) is widely used; however, its factor structure is unclear, with studies reporting differing unidimensional, two-factor and three-factor models. We aimed to address some key theoretical and methodological issues contributing to inconsistencies in HADS structures across samples. We reviewed existing HADS models and compared their fit using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We also investigated methodological effects by comparing factor structures derived from Rasch and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) methods, as well as effects of a negative wording factor. An Australian community-dwelling sample consisting of 189 females and 158 males aged 17–86 (M = 35.73, SD = 17.41) completed the 14-item HADS. The Rasch Analysis, PCA and CFA all supported the original two-factor structure. Although some three-factor models had good fit, they had unacceptable reliability. In the CFA, a hierarchical bifactor model with a general distress factor and uncorrelated depression and anxiety subscales produced the best fit, but the general factor was not unidimensional. The addition of a negative wording factor improved model fit. These findings highlight the effects of differing methodologies in producing inconsistent HADS factor structures across studies. Further replication of model fit across samples and refinement of the HADS items is warranted.     

Moral Identity Predicts Adherence to COVID-19 Mitigation Procedures Depending on Political Ideology: A Comparison Between the USA and New Zealand

Reducing the spread of infectious viruses (e.g., COVID-19) can depend on societal compliance with effective mitigations. Identifying factors that influence adherence can inform public policy. In many cases, public health messaging has become highly moralized, focusing on the need to act for the greater good. In such contexts, a person's moral identity may influence behavior and serve to increase compliance through different mechanisms: if a person sees compliance as the right thing to do (internalization) and/or if a person perceives compliance as something others will notice as the right thing to do (symbolization). We argue that in societies that are more politically polarized, people's political ideology may interact with their moral identity to predict compliance. We hypothesized that where polarization is high (e.g., USA), moral identity should positively predict compliance for liberals to a greater extent than for conservatives. However, this effect would not occur where polarization is low (e.g., New Zealand). Moral identity, political ideology, and support for three different COVID-19 mitigation measures were assessed in both nations (N = 1,980). Results show that while moral identity can influence compliance, the political context of the nation must also be taken into account.     

The Relevance of People Versus Objects in Explaining Females’ Advantage over Males in Appearance Accuracy

Do females remember their surroundings better than males? Does it matter who or what is in those surroundings? In small groups, 108 undergraduates from a Midwestern university in the USA were instructed to pay attention to a videotaped person (target) while seated in an office with an experimenter (non-target). Afterwards, in a surprise recall task, participants’ memory for the appearance of the target, non-target, and office was tested. Females’ greater interpersonal orientation was predicted to give them an advantage over males in memory for only the people. Results showed that females had better memory for the target and non-target but not the office. Discussion centers on the importance of people versus objects in explaining females’ greater appearance accuracy.