The Good's Magnetism and Ethical Realism

People support ethical antirealism with various arguments. Gilbert Harman thinks if a property of goodness existed, it would have detectable effects on objects that have it. However, Harman reasons, the good has no such detectable effects. Internalists think if good objects had some goodness property, that property would bond to desire and action in a way inconsistent with ethical realism. I defend ethical realism from the two arguments. I explain how good can both name a property and how objects with that property might dispose people to seek them. This explanation of the good's magnetism provides a reply to Harman.     

Predictive validity of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version for general and violent recidivism

Several authors have expressed concern regarding the use of youth psychopathy assessments in determinations of risk for general and violent offending. The Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) was completed with 182 male adolescent offenders in this prospective study (average 14.5 month follow-up) of general and violent recidivism. Both a two-factor and three-factor model of the PCL:YV significantly predicted general and violent recidivism at a predictive accuracy ranging from 68 to 63%. However, regression analyses indicated these associations were explained primarily by behavioral psychopathic symptoms, rather than interpersonal or affective traits. Implications for the use of psychopathy assessments for risk during adolescence are discussed.     

How learning one category influences the learning of another: intercategory generalization based on analogy and specific stimulus information

We investigated the effect of learning one category structure on the learning of a related category structure. Photograph-name combinations, called identifiers, were associated with values of four demographic attributes. Two problems were related by analogous demographic attributes, common identifiers, or both to examine the impact of common identifier, related general characteristics, and the interaction of the two variables in mediating learning transfer from one category structure to another. Problems sharing the same identifier information prompted greater positive transfer than those not sharing the same identifier information. In contrast, analogous defining characteristics in the two problems did not facilitate transfer. We computed correlations between responses to first-problem stimuli and responses to analogous second-problem stimuli for each participant. The analogous characteristics produced a tendency to respond in the same way to corresponding stimuli in the two problems. The results support an alignment between category structures related by analogous defining characteristics, which is facilitated by specific identifier information shared by two category structures.     

The locus of spatial attention during the temporal integration of visual memories and visual percepts

Temporal integration is a process by which two serially presented visual stimuli are mentally integrated to form a composite representation. In the present research, we explored how spatial selective attention is used during the delay separating stimuli, in order to determine the contents of spatial working memory in this task. A two-task situation was created. On the primary task, two dot arrays were serially presented within a grid, leaving one space empty, which subjects identified. On the secondary task, instead of the second array, a discrimination probe was presented. Integration accuracy increased through delays of 1,500 msec, revealing an estimate of the time required to form an optimal memory trace for integration. Once the memory trace was formed (but not before), response time to the probe was faster if it was presented in a location previously occupied by a dot from Array 1. This indicates that during the delay separating the arrays, the subjects assigned spatial attention to the locations occupied by the first array and actively maintained the leading array in working memory. Implications for theories of visual processing and memory are discussed.     

Attentional capture and aging: implications for visual search performance and oculomotor control

Two studies examined potential age-related differences in attentional capture. Subjects were instructed to move their eyes as quickly as possible to a color singleton target and to identify a small letter located inside it. On half the trials, a new stimulus (i.e., a sudden onset) appeared simultaneously with the presentation of the color singleton target. The onset was always a task-irrelevant distractor. Response times were lengthened, for both young and old adults, whenever an onset distractor appeared, despite the fact that subjects reported being unaware of the appearance of the abrupt onset. Eye scan strategies were also disrupted by the appearance of the onset distractors. On about 40% of the trials on which an onset appeared, subjects made an eye movement to the task-irrelevant onset before moving their eyes to the target. Fixations close to the onset were brief, suggesting parallel programming of a reflexive eye movement to the onset and goal-directed eye movement to the target. Results are discussed in terms of age-related sparing of the attentional and oculomotor processes that underlie attentional capture.     

A quasi-experimental analysis of the influence of neighborhood disadvantage on child and adolescent conduct problems

A quasi-experimental comparison of cousins differentially exposed to levels of neighborhood disadvantage (ND) was used with extensive measured covariates to test the hypothesis that neighborhood risk has independent effects on youth conduct problems (CPs). Multilevel analyses were based on mother-rated ND and both mother-reported CPs across 4-13 years (n = 7,077) and youth-reported CPs across 10-13 years (n = 4,524) from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. ND was robustly related to CPs reported by both informants when controlling for both measured risk factors that are correlated with ND and unmeasured confounds. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that ND has influence on conduct problems.     

Sport stacking activities in school children's motor skill development

This study examined the impact of a 12-wk. sport stacking intervention on reaction time (RT), manual dexterity, and hand-eye coordination in elementary school-aged children. 80 Grade 2 students participated in a 15-min. sport stacking practice session every school day for 12 wk., and were tested on psychomotor performance improvement. Tests for choice RT, manual dexterity, and photoelectric rotary pursuit tracking were conducted pre- and post-intervention for both experimental group (n = 36) and the controls (n = 44) who did no sport stacking. Students who had the intervention showed a greater improvement in two-choice RT. No other group difference was found. Such sport stacking activities may facilitate children's central processing and perceptual-motor integration.     

The Dopamine Receptor D4 Gene (<Emphasis Type="Italic">DRD4</Emphasis>) Moderates Family Environmental Effects on ADHD

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prime candidate for exploration of gene-by-environment interaction (i.e., G x E), particularly in relation to dopamine system genes, due to strong evidence that dopamine systems are dysregulated in the disorder. Using a G x E design, we examined whether the DRD4 promoter 120-bp tandem repeat polymorphism, previously associated with ADHD, moderated the effects of inconsistent parenting and marital conflict on ADHD or Oppositional-Defiant Disorder (ODD). Participants were 548 children with ADHD and non-ADHD comparison children and their parents. Homozygosity for the DRD4 promoter 120-bp tandem repeat insertion allele increased vulnerability for ADHD and ODD only in the presence of inconsistent parenting and appeared to increase susceptibility to the influence of increased child self-blame for marital conflict on ADHD inattention. DRD4 genotypes may interact with these proximal family environmental risk factors by increasing the individual’s responsivity to environmental contingencies.