Performance feedback improves the resolution of confidence judgments

A training experiment was carried out to examine whether feedback concerning the appropriateness of confidence judgments, given in terms of probability, improves calibration and resolution skills. Subjects participated in four separate sessions in which they responded to a series of general knowledge questions. Immediately before completing the questionnaires in Sessions 2, 3, and 4, half of the subjects were given detailed feedback concerning their confidence levels and accuracy rates. The remaining half were given no such feedback, and thus served as a control group. The resolution of confidence judgments improved across sessions to a greater extent for the group exposed to performance feedback than for the control group. Calibration of confidence judgments was uninfluenced by the performance feedback manipulation.     

Children's evaluations of provocation between peers

The present study examined children's evaluations of potentially conflictual situations between peers. Eight- and 11-year-olds evaluated two hypothetical target children in three scenarios which differed as to the intent of a provocative act (Accidental, Ambiguous, Hostile). In addition to grade and sex, relationship between targets was manipulated as a between-subjects variable with targets portrayed as either Best Friends Acquaintances, or Enemies. Children evaluated targets in terms of attributions of intentions, behavior response, affective state of targets, and mutual liking between targets. Results indicated that aggressor's intentions and victim's behavior response were evaluated as positive for the Accidental scenario and as negative for the Hostile scenario regardless of target relationship. When aggressor's intentions were unclear (e.g., Ambiguous), interactions between Best Friends and interactions between Acquaintances were evaluated as positive while interactions between Enemies were perceived as negative. Further, while all children predicted a negative response by the victim during the Hostile situation, younger children predicted the victim's response would be less negative than did older children. Children reported Best Friends and Acquaintances as liking each other more before the provocation situation started than after it occurred while liking between Enemies remained unchanged, thus indicating a belief that provocations may hurt a positive or neutral relationship. Targets were perceived to be in negative affective states during the Accidental and Ambiguous scenarios and the aggressor was perceived to be in a neutral affective state during the Hostile scenario. Results are discussed in terms of previous research on response to provocation and implications for research on children's peer conflicts. Aggr. Behav. 23:417–431, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

THE WIDENING WORLD OF FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT: COMMENTS ON FOUR MANUALS AND BEYOND

An escalating number of materials have been published recently on the topic of functional assessment and assessment‐based behavioral interventions. We review four manuals that purport to provide practical guidance for conducting functional assessment. An examination of these manuals yields encouraging evidence that the field of behavioral support has made notable progress in adopting a functional (behavior‐analytic) approach to unwanted behaviors. The content of the manuals, considered in the context of emerging perspectives in behavioral support, suggests a number of important issues and directions that should be addressed by future functional assessment research and practice.     

FORGIVENESS AND INTERPRETATION

This paper explores the relationship between our interpretations of another's actions and our readiness to forgive. It begins by articulating an account of forgiveness drawn from the New Testament. It then employs the work of Schleiermacher, Dilthey, and Gadamer to investigate ways in which our interpretations of an act or agent can promote or prevent such forgiveness. It concludes with a discussion of some ethical restrictions that may pertain to the interpretation of actions or agents as opposed to utterances and a look at the significance of these restrictions for forgiveness‐promoting interpretation.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting after trauma: a study with victims of sexual assault

The Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) paradigm is used to study how the repeated retrieval practice of particular memories impairs the retrieval of related memory traces. A study is reported where this automatic form of forgetting was investigated in a group of sexual-assault victims and a control group. Using a recognition-cued RIF task, the present study examined RIF with neutral, positive, negative and trauma-specific stimuli. Response time data showed that irrespective of previous trauma exposure, a RIF effect was observed for neutral material, but not for emotional material. No differences in RIF between the trauma group and the control group were found. Inconsistencies with previous literature and the implications for emotional memory are discussed.     

Faculty in Faith-Based Institutions: Participation in Decision-Making and Its Impact on Job Satisfaction

This study examined full-time faculty in Christian, faith-based colleges and universities and investigated the type of impact their participation in the decision-making process had on job satisfaction. Previous studies have examined relationships among faculty at state universities and community colleges, yet little research has been examined in the area of full-time faculty at faith-based universities. This study sampled 145 full-time faculties at faith-based universities and examined the demographic variables of gender, age, years of teaching experience, degree, rank and salary groups, and participation. Regression analysis indicated that there were no significant relationships, while t-tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant differences. Discussion of the findings focused on possible reasons these findings differ from those in studies investigating public colleges and universities.     

Recall of word lists is enhanced with increased spreading activation

ABSTRACT

Some evidence exists supporting a relationship between spreading activation in semantic/lexical memory networks and episodic memory. However, the results have been mixed and there have been no investigations examining whether a relationship exists between variability in spreading activation and episodic memory. Hence, we sought to investigate these potential relationships. Thirteen individuals were administered the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test–Revised (HVLT-R) and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT). The average word frequency of all the “F” words generated on the COWAT was used as a measure of spreading activation. Variability in spreading activation was assessed by calculating the variability of the word frequencies from the COWAT across time. The results confirmed our hypotheses, with significant negative correlations found between free recall on the HVLT-R and both the average word frequency and measures of variability in spreading activation.