You can't reason with them: Dismissing religious defectors as irrational

Millions of people leave their religion every year. Such defection often results in religious persecution, ostracism, and heightened intergroup conflict. Yet little is known about the underlying perceptions of religious defectors and what intergroup processes predict hostility toward them. In two pre-registered studies (N = 512), we investigated how religious group members' thoughts and feelings about defectors may lead to ostracism and a lack of dialogue. In both studies, group members rated defectors as unlikeable and irrational. Further, the strength of group members' religious group identification (but not religious belief conviction) predicted dislike and unwillingness to relate wisely with defectors (Study 2). Implications for intergroup research and improving the experience of religious defectors are discussed.     

A Complete Axiom System for Polygonal Mereotopology of the Real Plane

This paper presents a calculus for mereotopological reasoning in which two-dimensional spatial regions are treated as primitive entities. A first order predicate language with a distinguished unary predicate c(x), function-symbols , · and – and constants 0 and 1 is defined. An interpretation for is provided in which polygonal open subsets of the real plane serve as elements of the domain. Under this interpretation the predicate c(x) is read as region x is connected and the function-symbols and constants are given their meaning in terms of a Boolean algebra of polygons. We give an alternative interpretation based on the real closed plane which turns out to be isomorphic to A set of axioms and a rule of inference are introduced. We prove the soundness and completeness of the calculus with respect to the given interpretation.     

The judgment of covariation between binary variables: Some conditions that influence the process

Two hundred subjects made decisions based on the data of two binary variables, ethnic origin and employment status. They were asked to specify the information necessary and sufficient for making the decision before doing so. Variables studied were: (1) Type of question. Five questions were used, four of which focused on one of the four instances involved (e.g., Which information is necessary to find out if there is a connection between Asian immigrants and unemployment?). Question five was unbiased. (2) Type of variable. Half of the subjects found two symmetric variables, and half found one symmetric and one asymmetric variable. (3) Level of correlation. Five different correlations were used, three favoring Asians, one favoring Europeans, and one representing a zero correlation. Subjects made logical decisions that were not influenced by any of the experimental conditions. The selection of information before and after making choices was influenced by all variables except level of correlation. The biased questions produced deviations from normative reasoning; the two symmetrical variables and the process of making decisions encouraged normative reasoning.     

Repetition and trace interaction: Superadditivity

This paper reports five experiments that examined memory for repeated and unrepeated pairs of words. In over 40 experimental comparisons, cued recall of the repeated pairs was better than it would have been if the words had been repeated as independent cognitive events. Therefore, memory traces do interact with other traces of the same nominal items. Our account of superadditive recall is that some encodings fail on the final test because they lack a needed piece of information. Specifically, some need additional item-specific information to enable access by the cue, and some need relational information for recall of the target. The second trial is an implicit test of memory, whose results give the system a heuristic basis for standing pat or doing more encoding. If a retrieved encoding needs less than a new one to become a success, it has a good chance of becoming a success, and recall is superadditive. However, if the ease of retrieving the encoding is for the wrong reasons, such as massed repetition, the item remains a failure, and recall is subadditive.     

Enhancement of health-giving family support versus treatment of family pathology

Family assessment and therapy has emphasized the negative, pathogenic features of the family relationships of persons who have suffered episodes of schizophrenia. The role of the family as the major provider of supportive care for the disabled patient has received much less attention. A case is made for greater emphasis on the coping abilities of families and family therapy methods that specifically increase these functions through enhancing the problem-solving skills of the family unit.     

The functional‐cognitive meta‐theoretical framework: Reflections,possible clarifications and how to move forward

The functional‐cognitive meta‐theoretical framework has been offered as a conceptual basis for facilitating greater communication and cooperation between the functional/behavioural and cognitive traditions within psychology, thus leading to benefits for both scientific communities. The current article is written from the perspective of two functional researchers, who are also proponents of the functional‐cognitive framework, and attended the “Building Bridges between the Functional and Cognitive Traditions” meeting at Ghent University in the summer of 2014. The article commences with a brief summary of the functional approach to theory, followed by our reflections upon the functional‐cognitive framework in light of that meeting. In doing so, we offer three ways in which the framework could be clarified: (a) effective communication between the two traditions is likely to be found at the level of behavioural observations rather than effects or theory, (b) not all behavioural observations will be deemed to be of mutual interest to both traditions, and (c) observations of mutual interest will be those that serve to elaborate and extend existing theorising in the functional and/or cognitive traditions. The article concludes with a summary of what we perceive to be the strengths and weaknesses of the framework, and a suggestion that there is a need to determine if the framework is meta‐theoretical or is in fact a third theoretical approach to doing psychological science.     

The fruits of a functional approach for psychological science

The current paper introduces relational frame theory (RFT) as a functional contextual approach to complex human behaviour and examines how this theory has contributed to our understanding of several key phenomena in psychological science. I will first briefly outline the philosophical foundation of RFT and then examine its conceptual basis and core concepts. Thereafter, I provide an overview of the empirical findings and applications that RFT has stimulated in a number of key domains such as language development, linguistic generativity, rule‐following, analogical reasoning, intelligence, theory of mind, psychopathology and implicit cognition.     

Trying to trust: Brain activity during interpersonal social attitude change

Interpersonal trust and distrust are important components of human social interaction. Although several studies have shown that brain function is associated with either trusting or distrusting others, very little is known regarding brain function during the control of social attitudes, including trust and distrust. This study was designed to investigate the neural mechanisms involved when people attempt to control their attitudes of trust or distrust toward another person. We used a novel control-of-attitudes fMRI task, which involved explicit instructions to control attitudes of interpersonal trust and distrust. Control of trust or distrust was operationally defined as changes in trustworthiness evaluations of neutral faces before and after the control-of-attitudes fMRI task. Overall, participants (n = 60) evaluated faces paired with the distrust instruction as being less trustworthy than faces paired with the trust instruction following the control-of-distrust task. Within the brain, both the control-of-trust and control-of-distrust conditions were associated with increased temporoparietal junction, precuneus (PrC), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and medial prefrontal cortex activity. Individual differences in the control of trust were associated with PrC activity, and individual differences in the control of distrust were associated with IFG activity. Together, these findings identify a brain network involved in the explicit control of distrust and trust and indicate that the PrC and IFG may serve to consolidate interpersonal social attitudes.