Anger and time perception in children

The present study investigated age-related variations in judgments of the duration of angry facial expressions compared with neutral facial expressions. Children aged 3, 5, and 8 years were tested on a temporal bisection task using angry and neutral female faces. Results revealed that, in all age groups, children judged the duration of angry faces to be longer than that of neutral faces. Findings are discussed in the framework of internal clock models and the adaptive function of emotion.     

Parental Efficacy Moderates the Association Between Empathy and Burden Among Parents of Children Admitted to a Psychiatric Ward

Empathy is considered a positive aspect of caregiving, although in certain circumstances, being empathic might increase the burden of caregivers. The current study assessed the associations between empathy, parental efficacy, and family burden among parents of children who were hospitalized in a psychiatric unit. Specifically, we examined whether the association between empathy and family burden was moderated by the parents’ sense of self-efficacy. Seventy parents of children with psychiatric disorders, hospitalized in an inpatient psychiatric unit, filled out questionnaires of empathy, parental efficacy, and family burden. Results supported a moderating role of parental efficacy between empathy and family burden (interaction effect: β = −1.72, p = .0406). Specifically, empathy was positively related to family burden among parents with low self-efficacy (conditional effect = 0.70, p = .032) and negatively related to family burden among parents with high self-efficacy (conditional effect = −0.39, p = N.S). Implications for practice include the importance of self-efficacy and address the possible negative implications of empathy among parents of children treated in a psychiatric hospital.     

The effects of reinforcer choice on rates of challenging behavior and free operant responding in individuals with severe disabilities

A multielement design was used to evaluate the effects of three reinforcement conditions on the free-operant and challenging responses of two individuals with severe disabilities. Preference assessments identified three stimuli that could function as reinforcers for each participant. Reinforcers were delivered on a variable ratio schedule for a free-operant response. In the participant-selected condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of placing an array of three different stimuli in front of the participant, who was allowed to select one. In the constant condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of placing an array of three identical stimuli in front of the participant. Within each session the three stimuli were held constant, but varied across sessions. In the experimenter-selected condition, each reinforcer delivery consisted of an array of three identical stimuli being placed in front of the participant. Within each session, the three stimuli were presented in an order predetermined by the experimenter such that, on average, each stimulus was available every third reinforcer delivery. For both individuals, the participant-selected condition resulted in lower average rates of challenging responses and slightly higher average free-operant response rates. No differences in responding were noted between the constant condition and the experimenter-selected condition. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Human values and ideological beliefs as predictors of attitudes toward immigrants across 20 countries: The country-level moderating role of threat

Immigration is a worldwide subject of interest, and studies about attitudes toward immigrants have been frequent due to immigration crises in different locations across the globe. We aimed at understanding individual-level effects of human values and ideological beliefs (Right-Wing Authoritarianism—RWA, and Social Dominance Orientation—SDO) on attitudes toward immigrants, and whether country-level variables (perception of Islamic fundamentalism as a threat, perception of immigrants as a threat, and international migrant stock) moderate these relations. With representative samples from 20 countries (N = 21,362; the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Oceania), and using Multilevel Bayesian regressions, results showed the negative effect of RWA, SDO, and existence values on attitudes toward immigrants, and the positive effects of suprapersonal and interactive values. Cross-level interactions indicated that the effects of RWA, SDO, and suprapersonal and existence values were intensified in countries with societally high levels of perceiving Islamic fundamentalism as a threat. International migrant stock served as a country-level moderator for the effects of SDO and RWA only. When country-level moderators were included simultaneously, Islamic fundamentalism as a threat was the most consistent moderator. Framing theory is offered as a plausible explanation of these results.     

Group Leaders as Gatekeepers: Testing Safety Climate Variations across Levels of Analysis

This paper tests the moderating effect of transformational supervisory leadership on the relationship between organisational and group climates, using safety climate in risky operations as an exemplar. Results indicated that under low or poor organisational climate, indicative of limited organisational commitment to employee safety, transformational leaders promoted a higher group climate as compared to the organisational climate. Similarly, under a weak organisational climate, indicative of limited consensus among company employees regarding the priority of safety, transformational leaders promoted a stronger group climate, reflecting greater consensus among group members. This pattern suggests that supervisory leaders can act as gatekeepers, with transformational leaders offering better protection against potentially harmful organisation‐level priorities. Furthermore, transformational supervisors better informed their members of the organisational priorities as they perceived them, resulting in a stronger relationship between individual supervisors' perceptions and members' organisational climate perceptions. Implications for climate and leadership research are discussed. On s'intéresse dans cet article à l'impact régulateur du leadership hiérarchique de transformation sur la relation entre les climats organisationnels et de groupe en utilisant comme exemple la sécurité dans les opérations à risque. Les résultats montrent qu'en cas de climat organisationnel médiocre signifiant une implication organisationnelle minimale à propos de la sécurité du personnel, les leaders de transformation favorisent l'émergence d'un climat de groupe plus satisfaisant que le climat organisationnel. De même, si le climat organisationnel est fragile, traduisant un accord approximatif des salariés sur la prioritéà accorder à la sécurité, les leaders de transformation sont à l'origine d'un climat de groupe renforcé, expression d'un meilleur consensus parmi les membres du groupe. Ce schéma laisse penser que les leaders hiérarchiques peuvent intervenir comme gardiens, les leaders de transformation offrant une meilleure protection contre les priorités organisationnelles potentiellement nocives. De plus, les managers de transformation informent mieux leur équipe des priorités organisationnelles telles qu'ils les perçoivent, ce qui provoque une relation plus étroite entre les perceptions personnelles du manager et celles que son groupe a du climat organisationnel. On réfléchit aux retombées de ce travail sur les recherches portant sur le climat et le leadership.     

On Gentzen Relations Associated with Finite-valued Logics Preserving Degrees of Truth

When considering m-sequents, it is always possible to obtain an m-sequent calculus VL for every m-valued logic (defined from an arbitrary finite algebra L of cardinality m) following for instance the works of the Vienna Group for Multiple-valued Logics. The Gentzen relations associated with the calculi VL are always finitely equivalential but might not be algebraizable. In this paper we associate an algebraizable 2-Gentzen relation with every sequent calculus VL in a uniform way, provided the original algebra L has a reduct that is a distributive lattice or a pseudocomplemented distributive lattice. We also show that the sentential logic naturally associated with the provable sequents of this algebraizable Gentzen relation is the logic that preserves degrees of truth with respect to the original algebra (in contrast with the more common logic that merely preserves truth). Finally, for some particular logics we obtain 2-sequent calculi that axiomatize the algebraizable Gentzen relations obtained so far.     

How Do Propensity Score Methods Measure Up in the Presence of Measurement Error? A Monte Carlo Study

Considering that the absence of measurement error in research is a rare phenomenon and its effects can be dramatic, we examine the impact of measurement error on propensity score (PS) analysis used to minimize selection bias in behavioral and social observational studies. A Monte Carlo study was conducted to explore the effects of measurement error on the treatment effect and balance estimates in PS analysis across seven different PS conditioning methods. In general, the results indicate that even low levels of measurement error in the covariates lead to substantial bias in estimates of treatment effects and concomitant reduction in confidence interval coverage across all methods of conditioning on the PS.     

La evaluación de la escritura

Resumen

En este estudio se realiza una revisión de los sistemas de evaluación de la escritura y de estudios relacionados. Se comienza con una visión de conjunto de las dificultades principales en el estudio de la evaluación de la escritura, y de la importancia y utilidad que tiene un sistema de evaluación de la escritura en distintas áreas de conocimiento. Posteriormente se analiza cuál es el objeto de evaluación de los diferentes sistemas y qué medidas se utilizan en las investigaciones acerca de la escritura. A este respecto se expone un modelo del producto de la escritura que permite organizar, de modo prácticamente exhaustivo, las medidas del producto escrito. Tras resumir los requisitos, que según distintos autores debería cumplir cualquier sistema de evaluación de la escritura, se clasifican los sistemas de evaluación en base a si el objeto de análisis es el proceso o el producto de la escritura, definiendo sus características generales. A su vez, se exponen diferentes clasificaciones de los sistemas de evaluación del producto escrito, realizadas principalmente en función de la estrategia de evaluación. Esta revisión muestra la falta de acuerdo existente entre los diferentes autores respecto al objeto y el modo de evalución, así como a la terminología utilizada.