Out with the old, in with the new: More valid measures of switch cost and retrieval time in the task span procedure

Two experiments provided new measures of switch cost and retrieval time in the task span procedure. In Experiment 1, subjects were given lists of six task names to remember, followed by six targets on which to perform the tasks named in the list. The lists contained alternations and repetitions, and switch costs were estimated by comparing reaction time (RT) on alternation and repetition trials. The experiment also included memory span and single task conditions, so switch costs could be estimated by subtracting the sum of the RT in those conditions from the task span RT, as in the original report (Logan, 2004). The data suggested that the original measure of switch cost was invalid and that the new measure was preferable. In Experiment 2, subjects performed each task on the list twice. Retrieval was required on the first but not on the second trial in each pair. Retrieval time was estimated by comparing the RT on trials that required retrieval with trials that did not require retrieval. This measure was more valid than the RT in the memory span condition of Experiment 1, which was used in the original report.     

Positive vs. negative switching barriers: the influence of service consumers' need for variety

• In this study, we deal with the existing debate related to the establishment of switching barriers retaining customers in the relationship with a provider. In particular, we demonstrate that ‘positive’ switching barriers (relational benefits) play a greater role that the ‘negative’ ones (switching costs and availability and attractiveness of other providers' offers) in determining customer satisfaction and retention. On the other hand, we include customers' need for variety in the proposed model, in order to demonstrate that a higher level of this psychological trait will lead to a lower perception of the existence of switching barriers. The hypotheses proposed have been tested for a services context on a sample of 800 individuals, using the technique ‘Partial Least Squares’ (PLS). Our findings lead to some interesting managerial implications.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of prior knowledge and repeated questioning on children's long-term retention of the details of a pediatric examination

Children's recall of the details of pediatric examinations was examined over the course of a 6-month interval. Although the 83 4- to 7-year-old participants reported a substantial amount of information at each assessment, performance declined over time, dropping sharply over the course of 3 months but then remaining constant out to the final interview at 6 months. As expected, older children provided more total information than younger children did and reported a greater proportion of the event components in response to general rather than specific questions. However, comparable patterns of remembering and forgetting over time were observed at each age level. In addition, no effects of repeated questioning--in the form of an interview at 3 months for half of the children--were observed on performance at the 6-month assessment. Moreover, children's prior knowledge about routine doctor visits was assessed before the checkup for half of the participants at each age and was associated with initial but not delayed recall. Although knowledge increased with age as expected, it nonetheless affected recall over and above the influence of age.     

Some decks are better than others: the effect of reinforcer type and task instructions on learning in the Iowa Gambling Task

The Iowa Gambling Task (Bechara, Damasio, Damasio, & Anderson, 1994) has become widely used as a laboratory test of "real-life" decision-making. However, aspects of its administration that have been varied by researchers may differentially affect performance and the conclusions researchers can draw. Some researchers have used facsimile money reinforcers while others have used real money reinforcers. More importantly, the instructions participants receive have also been varied. While no differences have been reported in performance dependent on reinforcer type, no previous comparison of participants' instructions has been conducted. This is despite one set of instructions giving participants a clear hint about the nature of the task. Additionally, in previous research one set of instructions have not been used exclusively with one reinforcer type making any differential or cumulative effects of these factors difficult to interpret. The present study compared the effects of instruction and reinforcer type on IGT performance. When participants received instructions without a hint performance was affected by reinforcer type. This was not the case when the instructions included a hint. In a second IGT session performance was improved in participants who had received the hint instructions compared with those who had not.     

Testing the semantic differential as a model of task processes with the implicit association test

In this study, we examined the hypothesis that semantic judgment tasks share overlapping processes if they require processing on common dimensions but not if they require processing on orthogonal dimensions in semantic space (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957). We tested the hypothesis with the implicit association test (IATl Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) in three experiments. Consistent with the hypothesis, IAT effects (costs in reaction time because of incompatible response mapping between associated judgment tasks) occurred consistently when judgment tasks tapped into common semantic dimensions, whereas no IAT effect appeared when judgment tasks entailed processing on orthogonal semantic dimensions.     

Development of demographic norms for four new WAIS-III/WMS-III indexes

Following the publication of the third edition Wechsler scales (i.e., WAIS-III and WMS-III), demographically corrected norms were made available in the form of a computerized scoring program (i.e., WAIS-III/WMS-III/WIAT-II Scoring Assistant). These norms correct for age, gender, ethnicity, and education. Since then, four new indexes have been developed: the WAIS-III General Ability Index, the WMS-III Delayed Memory Index, and the two alternate Immediate and Delayed Memory Indexes. The purpose of this study was to develop demographically corrected norms for the four new indexes using the standardization sample and education oversample from the WAIS-III and WMS-III. These norms were developed using the same methodology as the demographically corrected norms made available in the WAIS-III/WMS-III/WIAT-II Scoring Assistant.     

Perfectionistic Self‐Presentation and Trait Perfectionism in Social Problem‐Solving Ability and Depressive Symptoms

This study examined social problem solving and perfectionistic self‐presentation, and assessed whether social problem solving mediates the association between perfectionism and depression. A sample of 200 community members completed measures of perfectionistic self‐presentation, trait perfectionism, social problem‐solving ability, and depression. Correlational analyses confirmed that perfectionistic self‐presentation and socially prescribed perfectionism are both associated with a negative problem‐solving orientation. Tests of mediating effects revealed that negative problem‐solving ability mediates the associations of socially prescribed perfectionism and perfectionistic self‐presentation with depressive symptoms, particularly among women. The findings support further exploration of mediational models linking perfectionism, problem‐solving ability, and depression and suggest that people who display high perfectionistic self‐presentation are particularly vulnerable to stress and distress and should benefit from problem‐solving training.     

A joke is just a joke (except when it isn't): cavalier humor beliefs facilitate the expression of group dominance motives

Past research reveals preferences for disparaging humor directed toward disliked others. The group-dominance model of humor appreciation introduces the hypothesis that beyond initial outgroup attitudes, social dominance motives predict favorable reactions toward jokes targeting low-status outgroups through a subtle hierarchy-enhancing legitimizing myth: cavalier humor beliefs (CHB). CHB characterizes a lighthearted, less serious, uncritical, and nonchalant approach toward humor that dismisses potential harm to others. As expected, CHB incorporates both positive (affiliative) and negative (aggressive) humor functions that together mask biases, correlating positively with prejudices and prejudice-correlates (including social dominance orientation [SDO]; Study 1). Across 3 studies in Canada, SDO and CHB predicted favorable reactions toward jokes disparaging Mexicans (low-status outgroup). Neither individual difference predicted neutral (nonintergroup) joke reactions, despite the jokes being equally amusing and more inoffensive overall. In Study 2, joke content targeting Mexicans, Americans (high-status outgroup), and Canadians (high-status ingroup) was systematically controlled. Although Canadians preferred jokes labeled as anti-American overall, an underlying subtle pattern emerged at the individual-difference level: Only those higher in SDO appreciated those jokes labeled as anti-Mexican (reflecting social dominance motives). In all studies, SDO predicted favorable reactions toward low-status outgroup jokes almost entirely through heightened CHB, a subtle yet potent legitimatizing myth that "justifies" expressions of group dominance motives. In Study 3, a pretest-posttest design revealed the implications of this justification process: CHB contributes to trivializing outgroup jokes as inoffensive (harmless), subsequently contributing to postjoke prejudice. The implications for humor in intergroup contexts are considered.