Right or wrong, familiar or novel in pictorial list discrimination learning

The interaction between nonassociative learning (presentation frequencies) and associative learning (reinforcement rates) in stimulus discrimination performance was investigated. Subjects were taught to discriminate lists of visual pattern pairs. When they chose the stimulus designated as right they were symbolically rewarded and when they chose the stimulus designated as wrong they were symbolically penalised. Subjects first learned one list and then another list. For a "right" group the pairs of the second list consisted of right stimuli from the first list and of novel wrong stimuli. For a "wrong" group it was the other way round. The right group transferred some discriminatory performance from the first to the second list while the control and wrong groups initially only performed near chance with the second list. When the first list involved wrong stimuli presented twice as frequently as right stimuli, the wrong group exhibited a better transfer than the right group. In a final experiment subjects learned lists which consisted of frequent right stimuli paired with scarce wrong stimuli and frequent wrong stimuli paired with scarce right stimuli. In later test trials these stimuli were shown in new combinations and additionally combined with novel stimuli. Subjects preferred to choose the most rewarded stimuli and to avoid the most penalised stimuli when the test pairs included at least one frequent stimulus. With scarce/scarce or scarce/novel stimulus combinations they performed less well or even chose randomly. A simple mathematical model that ascribes stimulus choices to a Cartesian combination of stimulus frequency and stimulus value succeeds in matching all these results with satisfactory precision.     

Why are attributions to discrimination interpersonally costly? A test of system- and group-justifying motivations

In two studies, Whites' endorsement of system-justifying beliefs predicted increased negativity toward Blacks who blamed negative events on discrimination. Whites' system-justifying beliefs were not associated with negativity toward Blacks who blamed negative events on other internal causes, external causes, or nondiscriminatory unfairness. These negative reactions toward discrimination claimants were mediated by perceptions that the claimant held dissimilar values and failed to take personal responsibility for outcomes. In both studies, participants' White Identification did not moderate the relationship between the Black target's attribution for failure and subsequent negative perceptions of that individual, thus providing evidence against a group-justification explanation of these findings.     

Timing in pigeons: effects of the similarity between intertrial interval and gap in a timing signal

Previous research suggests that when a fixed interval is interrupted (known as the gap procedure), pigeons tend to reset memory and start timing from 0 after the gap. However, because the ambient conditions of the gap typically have been the same as during the intertrial interval (ITI), ambiguity may have resulted. In the present experiment, the authors found that when ambient conditions during the gap were similar to the ITI, pigeons tended to reset memory, but when ambient conditions during the gap were different from the ITI, pigeons tended to stop timing, retain the duration of the stimulus in memory, and add to that time when the stimulus reappeared. Thus, when the gap was unambiguous, pigeons timed accurately.     

Supporting communication in young children with developmental disabilities

The behavior of parents, adult caregivers, and peers comprises the critical features of community support for the development of communication in young children with developmental disabilities. In a bio-ecological model of development, communication development is the result of the interactions of individuals with specific characteristics, in particular contexts over time. From the perspective of this model, foundational findings of intervention research to current views of communication development in children with developmental disabilities are summarized. The contributions of individual child characteristics to child-caregiver interactions that support language development are illustrated based on research with children who have autism, Williams syndrome, Down syndrome, and children who use augmentative communication systems. Parent-child interaction and the quality and quantity of parent talk are discussed as factors in children's language development. The effects of young children's delayed language on their interactions with peers, the contributions of peers to children's language learning and use, and the critical features of classroom settings that support child language development are reviewed. MRDD Research Reviews 7:143-150, 2001.     

The relationships between processing facial identity,emotional expression,facial speech,and gaze direction during development

Four experiments were conducted with 5- to 11-year-olds and adults to investigate whether facial identity, facial speech, emotional expression, and gaze direction are processed independently of or in interaction with one another. In a computer-based, speeded sorting task, participants sorted faces according to facial identity while disregarding facial speech, emotional expression, and gaze direction or, alternatively, according to facial speech, emotional expression, and gaze direction while disregarding facial identity. Reaction times showed that children and adults were able to direct their attention selectively to facial identity despite variations of other kinds of face information, but when sorting according to facial speech and emotional expression, they were unable to ignore facial identity. In contrast, gaze direction could be processed independently of facial identity in all age groups. Apart from shorter reaction times and fewer classification errors, no substantial change in processing facial information was found to be correlated with age. We conclude that adult-like face processing routes are employed from 5 years of age onward.     

Detecting racial identification: The role of phenotypic prototypicality

Little is known about what cues are used to infer the racial identification of others and whether or not identification inferences are accurate. Three studies provide evidence that phenotypic prototypicality (PP), the degree to which an individual looks like a prototypical member of his or her racial group, shapes inferences about racial identification. Participants assumed that high PP Blacks were more racially identified than low PP Blacks. In addition to serving as an identification cue for observers, PP was related to self-perceptions, as Blacks and Latinos who were higher in PP were in fact more identified with their racial group than minorities who were lower in PP. Furthermore, unacquainted judges accurately detected Black and Latino targets' racial identification based on PP. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for intergroup relationships.     

Environmental attitude as a mediator of the relationship between psychological restoration in nature and self-reported ecological behavior

Environmental attitude and ecological behavior were investigated in relation to the use of nature for psychological restoration. Specifically, with survey data from 468 German university students, the role of environmental attitude was investigated as a mediator of the restoration-behavior relationship. Assuming that positive experiences in nature can have a broad influence on environmental attitudes, the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, an attitudinal measure with broad scope, was adopted. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated partial mediation by environmental concern. The study helps to consolidate the restoration theme in the growing literature on positive motivations for ecological behavior.     

Normativity in the Philosophy of Science

This paper analyzes what it means for philosophy of science to be normative. It argues that normativity is a multifaceted phenomenon rather than a general feature that a philosophical theory either has or lacks. It analyzes the normativity of philosophy of science by articulating three ways in which a philosophical theory can be normative. Methodological normativity arises from normative assumptions that philosophers make when they select, interpret, evaluate, and mutually adjust relevant empirical information, on which they base their philosophical theories. Object normativity emerges from the fact that the object of philosophical theorizing can itself be normative, such as when philosophers discuss epistemic norms in science. Metanormativity arises from the kind of claims that a philosophical theory contains, such as normative claims about science as it should be. Distinguishing these three kinds of normativity gives rise to a nuanced and illuminating view of how philosophy of science can be normative.     

Oblique factor analytic solutions by orthogonal transformations

A general framework for obtaining all possible factor analytic solutions, orthogonal and oblique, for a given common factor space is developed in detail. Interestingly, and seemingly paradoxically, any one of these solutions may be obtained by orthogonal transformations of selected matrices; thus an oblique solution may be determined by orthogonal transformations. Within the possible oblique solutions, two distinct categories of solutions emerge, a special case of the simpler of which apparently provides a definitive solution to the problem of independent, but correlated, clusters. Possible further specializations of the general approach to specific problems are discussed.     

The Campbell Paradigm as a Conceptual Alternative to the Expectation of Hypocrisy in Contemporary Attitude Research

Hypocrisy—professing a general attitude without implementing corresponding attitude-relevant behavior—is, according to Ajzen and Fishbein (2005), commonly found in attitude research that aims to explain individual behavior. We conducted two studies that adopted the Campbell paradigm, an alternative to the traditional understanding of attitudes. In a laboratory experiment, we found that specific attitude-relevant cooperation in a social dilemma was a function of people’s pre-existing general environmental attitude. In a quasi-experiment, we corroborated the reverse as well; engagement in attitude-relevant dietary practices was indicative of environmental attitude. When using Campbellian attitude measures, there is no room for hypocrisy: People put their general attitudes into specific attitude-relevant practices, and differences in people’s general attitudes can be derived from their attitude-relevant behavior.