A Self-Plagiarism Intervention for Doctoral Students: A Qualitative Pilot Study

This purpose of this qualitative study was to gather detailed information about student perceptions of self-plagiarism and the perceived effectiveness of a brief self-plagiarism video tutorial. Semi-structured interviews (n = 7) were conducted and health sciences doctoral students were queried regarding their knowledge and perceptions of self- plagiarism. The population for this study was new doctoral students, as well as students who had committed self-plagiarism during the semester. Overall, participants reported a specific self-plagiarism intervention was more helpful in preventing self- plagiarism than a traditional plagiarism intervention and that the intervention should be included in initial program orientation. Overwhelmingly, students did not believe self- plagiarism was a serious academic offense and think they own their intellectual property and unpublished works.     

Investigating the Links Between Cultural Values and Belief in Conspiracy Theories: The Key Roles of Collectivism and Masculinity

Research suggests that belief in conspiracy theories (CT) stems from basic psychological mechanisms and is linked to other belief systems (e.g., religious beliefs). While previous research has extensively examined individual and contextual variables associated with CT beliefs, it has not yet investigated the role of culture. In the current research, we tested, based on a situated cultural cognition perspective, the extent to which culture predicts CT beliefs. Using Hofstede's model of cultural values, three nation-level analyses of data from 25, 19, and 18 countries using different measures of CT beliefs (Study 1, N = 5323; Study 2a, N = 12,255; Study 2b, N = 30,994) revealed positive associations between masculinity, collectivism, and CT beliefs. A cross-sectional study among U.S. citizens (Study 3, N = 350), using individual-level measures of Hofstede's values, replicated these findings. A meta-analysis of correlations across studies corroborated the presence of positive links between CT beliefs, collectivism, r = .31, 95% CI = [.15; .47], and masculinity, r = .39, 95% CI = [.18; .59]. Our results suggest that in addition to individual differences and contextual variables, cultural factors also play an important role in shaping CT beliefs.     

The argument from surprise

I develop an account of productive surprise as an epistemic virtue of scientific investigations which does not turn on psychology alone. On my account, a scientific investigation is potentially productively surprising when (1) results can conflict with epistemic expectations, (2) those expectations pertain to a wide set of subjects. I argue that there are two sources of such surprise in science. One source, often identified with experiments, involves bringing our theoretical ideas in contact with new empirical observations. Another, often identified with simulations, involves articulating and bringing together different parts of our knowledge. Both experiments and simulations, then, can surprise.     

Vigor predicting health outcomes in a high risk occupational context

Feelings of vigor are associated with positive consequences in the work place but these relationships have not yet been assessed in a high-risk occupational context. The current study assessed the relationships between feelings of vigor on physical health symptoms, functional impairment, and depression symptoms among U.S. service members who recently returned from a combat deployment. U.S. service members were asked to complete questionnaires at 2 time points. Significant positive correlations were found between combat experiences and the 3 outcomes. Significant negative correlations were found for feelings of vigor and each outcome. Regression analyses indicated a significant effect for feelings of vigor such that higher feelings of vigor at Time 1 predicted better physical health and fewer depression symptoms at Time 2. There was no significant effect for functional impairment. Results demonstrate the potential importance of maintaining or improving feelings of vigor throughout the work day, especially for those with high risk occupations.     

African elephants can detect water from natural and artificial sources via olfactory cues

Animal Cognition - Water is vital for mammals. Yet, as ephemeral sources can be difficult to find, it raises the question, how do mammals locate water? Elephants (Loxodonta africana) are...     

The convergent and concurrent validity of trait-based prototype assessment of personality disorder categories in homeless persons

The DSM-5 proposal indicates that personality disorders (PDs) be defined as collections of maladaptive traits but does not provide a specific diagnostic method. However, researchers have previously suggested that PD constructs can be assessed by comparing individuals' trait profiles with those prototypic of PDs and evidence from the five-factor model (FFM) suggests that these prototype matching scores converge moderately with traditional PD instruments. The current study investigates the convergence of FFM PD prototypes with interview-assigned PD diagnoses in a sample of 99 homeless individuals. This sample had very high rates of PDs, which extends previous research on samples with more modest prevalence rates. Results indicated that diagnostic agreement between these methods was generally low but consistent with the agreement previously observed between explicit PD measures. Furthermore, trait-based and diagnostic interview scores evinced similar relationships with clinically important indicators such as abuse history and past suicide attempts. These findings demonstrate the validity of prototype methods and suggest their consideration for assessing trait-defined PD types within DSM-5.     

Gender differences in the relationship of moderator variables to stress and symptoms

Abstract

This study focused on gender differences in the relationship of four moderator variables (hostility, social support, optimism, and Type A behavior) to perceptions of symptoms and stress based on a sample of 120 female and 79 male undergraduates. Results confirmed significant gender differences in hostility, Type A behavior, and social support but not in optimism. Multiple regression analyses exposed distinct gender differences. For females, social support accounted for 21% and hostility 5% of the total variance in perceived stress. For males, only hostility accounted for any significant variance (10%). Hostility contributed 21% and social support contributed 13% to the total variance in the number of symptoms for females. For males, optimism contributed 14% and hostility 5%. Results indicate that social support is a potent variable for females in their perception of both stress and symptoms but essentially unrelated for males. Hostility, however, relates to perceptions of stress and symptoms for both sexes.     

The politics of time: Deleuze,duration and alter-globalisation

Alex Callinicos, in An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto, criticises Gilles Deleuze's work for its ostensible apolitical aestheticism, and for its correlative undermining of the concept of authenticity so important to political activism. He accordingly valorises the November 1999 mass protests in Seattle against the WTO and economic globalisation as expressing reinvigorated neo-Marxist social critique and rejuvenated belief in authenticity. Both of these, he maintains, are underpinned by insight into the problematic politico-economic excesses of neoliberalism and recognition of the philosophical limitations of post-structural thought, particularly that of Deleuze. Against the backdrop of such criticism, this article considers the value of Deleuze's (and Félix Guattari's) politicisation of time and memory, as a heuristic device that renders conspicuous the durational concerns currently animating the alter-globalisation struggle. Durational concerns which, since the Second World War, have been successively marginalised through developmental time and neoliberal time, and which now face displacement, yet again, through attempts (such as those of Callinicos) to subsume them within the time of dialectical materialism. Arguably, this move threatens to curb the diverse temporalities currently being produced by alter-globalisation supporters, using the internet and related digital media, as part of a tactical effort to resist neoliberal hegemony.     

Individual differences in fixation duration distributions in reading

The present study investigated the relationship between the location and skew of an individual reader’s fixation duration distribution. The ex-Gaussian distribution was fit to eye fixation data from 153 subjects in five experiments, four previously presented and one new. The τ parameter was entirely uncorrelated with the μ and σ parameters; by contrast, there was a modest positive correlation between these parameters for lexical decision and speeded pronunciation response times. The conclusion that, for fixation durations, the degree of skew is uncorrelated with the location of the distribution’s central tendency was also confirmed nonparametrically, by examining vincentile plots for subgroups of subjects. Finally, the stability of distributional parameters for a given subject was demonstrated to be relatively high. Taken together with previous findings of selective influence on the μ parameter of the fixation duration distribution, the present results suggest that in reading, the location and the skew of the fixation duration distribution may reflect functionally distinct processes. The authors speculate that the skew parameter may specifically reflect the frequency of processing disruption.