Can I see your passport please? Perceptual discrimination of own- and other-race faces

Psychological research has consistently demonstrated that individuals are better at discriminating faces of their own race when compared with faces of another, less familiar race. Given the racial/ethnic diversity of individuals screened by security personnel at transportation and border checkpoints, it is important to understand whether the cross-race effect may play a role in simultaneous perceptual discrimination tasks that mimic such screening operations. Three experiments assessed the deleterious effects of cross-racial identification in this context. Results demonstrated greater discrimination accuracy for own- versus other-race faces, and a propensity for screeners to be overconfident in their decisions, particularly for other-race persons. Further, perceived age differences between the target and his identification photo and the use of a disguise were found to moderate cross-race effects during this task.     

The time course of working memory effects on visual attention

Previous work has generated inconsistent results with regard to what extent working memory (WM) content guides visual attention. Some studies found effects of easy to verbalize stimuli, whereas others only found an influence of visual memory content. To resolve this, we compared the time courses of memory-based attentional guidance for different memory types. Participants first memorized a colour, which was either easy or difficult to verbalize. They then looked for an unrelated target in a visual search display and finally completed a memory test. One of the distractors in the search display could have the memorized colour. We varied the time between the to-be-remembered colour and the search display, as well as the ease with which the colours could be verbalized. We found that the influence of easy to verbalize WM content on visual search decreased with increasing time, whereas the influence of visual WM content was sustained. However, visual working memory effects on attention also decreased when the duration of visual encoding was limited by an additional task or when the memory item was presented only briefly. We propose that for working memory effects on visual attention to be sustained, a sufficiently strong visual representation is necessary.     

Organization-, supervisor-, and workgroup-directed commitments and citizenship behaviours: A comparison of models

The purpose of this study was to test two competing theoretical models explaining the relationships between affective commitment to the organization, the supervisor, and the workgroup, and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB) specifically directed toward these foci. Drawing on cohesion theory, the first model stated that commitment to the organization is a key mediating variable intervening between “local” commitments and OCB (Hunt & Morgan, 1994). Building on Lewin's (1943) field theory and the notion of psychological proximity, the second model proposed that commitment to the most proximal focus should mediate the effect of commitment to more distal entities on OCB. Data drawn from a sample of blue-collar workers and their supervisors in an iron and steel company indicated that the model of a proximal mediation best represented the relationships between commitments and OCB.     

Development and validation of an instrument for assessing job demands arising from accelerated change: The intensification of job demands scale (IDS)

Accelerated societal and organizational changes have placed new pressures on employees. Especially, service employees are exposed to intensified workloads, planning and decision-making, and learning demands. Despite the growing attention given to this intensification of job demands, a comprehensive measure is missing. In the present study, we developed the Intensification of Job Demands Scale (IDS) and validated it in four samples (N = 1363). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the differentiation into five subscales, namely work intensification, intensified job-related planning and decision-making demands, intensified career-related planning and decision-making demands, intensified knowledge-related learning demands, and intensified skill-related learning demands. This five-factor structure holds for both the German and the English versions of the instrument. Convergent and discriminant validity tests showed that the IDS subscales are moderately related to established measures of job demands, but at most have small correlations with negative affectivity. Providing support for the incremental validity, the IDS subscales were found to add to the prediction of burnout and job satisfaction beyond established job demands. Finally, the IDS subscales helped to identify employees who experienced changes in their work situation. In sum, the results indicate that the IDS is a valid and reliable measure to assess the intensification of job demands.     

Approaching the religious patient in forensic psychiatry,with special focus on ethnic minority patients

ABSTRACT

Ethnic minority patients are overrepresented in Danish forensic psychiatry and knowledge is needed on how these patients are approached in relation to religious and cultural issues. The aim of this study was to investigate how psychiatrists in Danish forensic psychiatry approach religious ethnic minority patients. The study revealed positive approach towards religious ethnic minority patients. However, unless religion features as part of the illness, the tendency is to not incorporate the patients’ religiosity in treatment. The study finds that the hospital chaplain is regarded by the psychiatrists as an important part of the ward and expressed the desire for a more formal cooperation with religious specialists to be developed. Finally, the study finds that religious practices such as Ramadan, common prayer, and Islamic edicts on food and unlawful touch are areas where more knowledge is needed, especially in relation to anxiety, potential stress, and conflict situations.     

How Much for the Child?

In this paper we explore what sacrifices you are morally required to make to save a child who is about to die in front of you. It has been argued that you would have very demanding duties to save such a child (or any adult who is in similar circumstance through no fault of their own, for that matter), and some examples have been presented to make this claim seem intuitively correct. Against this, we argue that you do not in general have a moral requirement to bear more than moderate cost to save even a child who is just in front of you. Moreover, we explain why you have a much more demanding moral requirement in certain cases by appealing to the notions of undue risk and cost sharing.     

Sleep duration and chronotype in adults in Côte d'Ivoire: influence of gender,religion and age

This study investigated the sleep-wake rhythm and chronotype of people living in Côte d'Ivoire. We assessed sleep-wake behaviour in 556 adults (336 men, 220 women) between 25 and 54 years (mean: 38.63) by means of structured interviews. Data were analysed by linear models with sleep wake variables as dependent variables and age, gender, religion and region (urban/rural) as fixed factors controlling for number of working hours and children. Results suggest sleep length not to differ between weekdays and weekends but sleep timing (chronotype) was later on weekends with a midpoint of sleep at 1:37am during weekdays compared to 1:58am on weekends. The more children, the earlier was the midpoint of sleep and the shorter was sleep length. Midpoint of sleep was earlier in older people. Women slept longer during weekdays and were earlier chronotypes. Sleep duration was longer in the rural areas and midpoint of sleep was later in the urban areas on weekdays and on the weekend. Muslims showed the shortest sleep duration and were earliest chronotypes. Sleep-wake cycles in the African setting sample were shorter for women, Moslems, and older people.     

Understanding of and reasoning about object–object relationships in long-tailed macaques?

Diagnostic reasoning, defined as the ability to infer unobserved causes based on the observation of their effects, is a central cognitive competency of humans. Yet, little is known about diagnostic reasoning in non-human primates, and what we know is largely restricted to the Great Apes. To track the evolutionary history of these skills within primates, we investigated long-tailed macaques’ understanding of the significance of inclinations of covers of hidden food as diagnostic indicators for the presence of an object located underneath. Subjects were confronted with choices between different objects that might cover food items. Based on their physical characteristics, the shape and orientation of the covers did or did not reveal the location of a hidden reward. For instance, hiding the reward under a solid board led to its inclination, whereas a hollow cup remained unaltered. Thus, the type of cover and the occurrence or absence of a change in their appearance could potentially be used to reason diagnostically about the location of the reward. In several experiments, the macaques were confronted with a varying number of covers and their performance was dependent on the level of complexity and on the type of change of the covers’ orientation. The macaques could use a board’s inclination to detect the reward, but failed to do so if the lack of inclination was indicative of an alternative hiding place. We suggest that the monkeys’ performance is based on a rudimentary understanding of causality, but find no good evidence for sophisticated diagnostic reasoning in this particular domain.     

Meditation and Health: The Search for Mechanisms of Action

Psychological interest in the impact of mental states on biological functioning is growing rapidly, driving a need for new methods for inducing mental states that last long enough, and are sufficiently impactful, to have significant effects on physical health. The many traditions of meditative practice are one potential pathway for studying mind‐body interactions. The purpose of this review is to introduce personality and social psychologists to the field of meditation research. Beginning with a brief introduction to meditation and the heterogeneity of meditative practices, we showcase research linking meditative practice to changes in immune and cardiovascular functioning and pain perception. We then discuss theoretical and empirical evidence that meditation works by inducing changes in psychological capacities such as emotion regulation and self‐regulation or through repeated induction of specific mental states such as love or meta‐cognitive awareness. At the frontier of the science of meditation is the need to empirically test whether meditation‐driven changes in cognitive and affective processes are the cause of improvements in physical health. Emerging challenges in meditation research include a need for large studies using randomized controlled and dual‐blind designs with active control groups and an increased focus on measuring mechanisms of action as well as outcomes. Meditation represents a potentially powerful tool for generating new knowledge of mind‐body interactions.