Understanding the relations between different forms of racial prejudice: a cognitive consistency perspective

Research on racial prejudice is currently characterized by the existence of diverse concepts (e.g., implicit prejudice, old-fashioned racism, modern racism, aversive racism) that are not well integrated from a general perspective. The present article proposes an integrative framework for these concepts employing a cognitive consistency perspective. Specifically, it is argued that the reliance on immediate affective reactions toward racial minority groups in evaluative judgments about these groups depends on the consistency of this evaluation with other relevant beliefs pertaining to central components of old-fashioned, modern, and aversive forms of prejudice. A central prediction of the proposed framework is that the relation between "implicit" and "explicit" prejudice should be moderated by the interaction of egalitarianism-related, nonprejudicial goals and perceptions of discrimination. This prediction was confirmed in a series of three studies. Implications for research on prejudice are discussed.     

The TAR effect: when the ones who dislike become the ones who are disliked

Four studies tested whether a source's evaluations of other individuals can recursively transfer to the source, such that people who like others acquire a positive valence, whereas people who dislike others acquire a negative valence (Transfer of Attitudes Recursively; TAR). Experiment 1 provides first evidence for TAR effects, showing recursive transfers of evaluations regardless of whether participants did or did not have prior knowledge about the (dis)liking source. Experiment 2 shows that previously but not subsequently acquired knowledge about targets that were (dis)liked by a source overrode TAR effects in a manner consistent with cognitive balance. Finally, Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrate that TAR effects are mediated by higher order propositional inferences (in contrast to lower order associative processes), in that TAR effects on implicit attitude measures were fully mediated by TAR effects on explicit attitude measures. Commonalities and differences between the TAR effect and previously established phenomena are discussed.     

Semantic processing of previews within compound words

Previous studies have suggested that previews of words prior to fixation can be processed orthographically, but not semantically, during reading of sentences (K. Rayner, D. A. Balota, & A. Pollatsek, 1986). The present study tested whether semantic processing of previews can occur within words. The preview of the second constituent of 2-constituent Finnish compound nouns was manipulated. The previews were either identical to the 2nd constituent or they were incorrect in the form of a semantically related word, a semantically unrelated word, or a semantically meaningless nonword. The results indicate that previews of 2nd constituents within compound words can be semantically processed. The results have important implications for understanding the nature of preview and compound word processing. These issues are crucial to developing comprehensive models of eye-movement control and word recognition during reading.     

On the propositional nature of cognitive consistency: Dissonance changes explicit, but not implicit attitudes

Two studies investigated the influence of cognitive dissonance on explicit and implicit attitudes. Employing the induced compliance paradigm, participants wrote a counterattitudinal essay under conditions of either high or low perceived situational pressure; control participants did not write an essay. Consistent with dissonance theory, results indicated a more favorable explicit attitude toward the initially counterattitudinal position when perceived situational pressure was low, but not when it was high. Implicit attitudes, however, were unaffected by dissonance manipulations. Moreover, explicit attitudes were significantly related to implicit attitudes under high perceived situational pressure and control conditions, but not when perceived situational pressure was low. Results are discussed in terms of associative versus propositional modes of information processing.     

General cognitive functioning and psycholinguistic abilities in children with Smith-Magenis Syndrome

This study is a neuropsycholinguistic research of a rare genetic syndrome with microdeletion that co-occurs with intellectual disabilities and relatively good language abilities, the Smith-Magenis Syndrome (SMS). Nevertheless, there are no cognitive and psycholinguistic profile analyses performed with Spanish population. In this sense, we characterized the cognitive and psycholinguistic profile of a sample with 9 participants with SMS (7 to 11 years of age). The cognitive and psychological profile was assessed with diverse standardized tests: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - IV version, Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Results suggest a specific cognitive and psychological profile characterized by a low IQ and relative good abilities in integrating information, whereas attention problems and hyperactive behaviors were displayed when interacting with the child during the assessment. This work is the first evidence of the cognitive and psycholinguistic profile characterization in patients with SMS in Spain, and will help to guide a more accurate diagnosis and differential intervention in rare genetic diseases with similar cognitive and psycholinguistic profiles.     

Word order in sentence processing: an experimental study of verb placement in German

We examine the question of whether the human comprehension device exhibits word-order preferences during on-line sentence comprehension. The focus is on the positioning of finite verbs and auxiliaries relative to subjects and objects in German. Results from three experiments (using self-paced reading and event-related brain potentials) show that native speakers of German prefer to process finite verbs in second position (i.e., immediately after the subject and before the object). We will account for this order preference in terms of the relative processing costs associated with SV_fO and SOV_f. Our finding that word-order preferences play an important role in the on-line comprehension of German sentences is compatible with results from previous studies on English and other languages.     

Implicational schemata and the correspondence bias: on the diagnostic value of situationally constrained behavior

Drawing on G. D. Reeder's (1993) schematic model of dispositional inference, it is hypothesized that perceivers' tendency to draw correspondent dispositional inferences from situationally constrained behavior (i.e., the correspondence bias) can be due to the application of schematic assumptions about trait-behavior relations (i.e., implicational schemata) within the process of situational adjustment. Applied to attitude attribution, situational adjustment is hypothesized to follow an implicit theory of ability, implying that only authors with a corresponding attitude are able to write a persuasive essay toward a given position. Results from 6 experiments offer converging evidence for this hypothesis. Implications for a sufficient understanding of the processes that lead to the correspondence bias are discussed.     

The Fear of Understanding Schizophrenia and Iatrogenic Myths

Empirically, psychotherapy with a competent therapist is the optimal, but rarely offered treatment, for schizophrenia. Medication or ECT produces less disturbing, lifelong cripples. Within 25 years one-third spontaneously recover completely (unless they stay on medication), and another third socially recover. Nazi Germany sterilized and annihilated patients without decreasing mental disorders in the next generation. Schizophrenia is a terror syndrome. The therapist must create a therapeutic alliance by creating hope and tolerating not understanding. Hallucinations are waking dreams. Delusions are transferences, defenses against pseudohomosexuality, family-specific meanings, or attempts to make sense out of strange experiences.     

Clusters,Criteria and Calibration—a Reply to Hauser and Peniwati

Hauser and Peniwati have criticized our papers on the grounds that (1) clusters are not criteria and (2) transformable multiple-criteria problems are really single-criterion problems. They claim that the axiom of independence only applies to criteria. Although in agreement with several of their statements, we point out that the axiom applies to levels and that criteria priorities must perform a calibration (scaling) function if composite ratio results are to be achieved.