Need for cognition can magnify or attenuate priming effects in social judgment

This article hypothesizes that the individual-difference variable, need for cognition (NFC), can have opposite implications for priming effects, depending on prime blatancy. Subtle primes are argued to be more effective for high- versus low-NFC individuals. This is because for high-NFC individuals, (a) constructs are generally easier to activate, (b) their higher amount of thought offers more opportunity for an activated construct to bias judgment, and (c) their thoughtfully formed judgments are more likely to affect behavior. However, because high-NFC individuals are adept at identifying and correcting for bias, with blatant primes the activated construct should be less likely to exert its default influence. Furthermore, with blatant primes, low-NFC individuals may achieve sufficient activation for primes to affect judgment. Across three studies, it is shown that as NFC increases, the magnitude of priming effects increases with a subtle prime but decreases with a blatant prime.     

Estimating the π* goodness of fit index for finite mixtures of item response models

Testing the fit of finite mixture models is a difficult task, since asymptotic results on the distribution of likelihood ratio statistics do not hold; for this reason, alternative statistics are needed. This paper applies the π* goodness of fit statistic to finite mixture item response models. The π* statistic assumes that the population is composed of two subpopulations – those that follow a parametric model and a residual group outside the model; π* is defined as the proportion of population in the residual group. The population was divided into two or more groups, or classes. Several groups followed an item response model and there was also a residual group. The paper presents maximum likelihood algorithms for estimating item parameters, the probabilities of the groups and π*. The paper also includes a simulation study on goodness of recovery for the two‐ and three‐parameter logistic models and an example with real data from a multiple choice test.     

Meadow voles, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Microtus pennsylvanicus</Emphasis>, have the capacity to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event

Some non-human animals may possess the ability to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event. We tested the hypothesis that male meadow voles posses the capacity to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event associated with mate selection in two experiments. Briefly, male voles were allowed to explore an apparatus that contained two chambers. One chamber contained a day-20 pregnant female (24 h prepartum). The other chamber contained a sexually mature female that was neither pregnant nor lactating (REF female). Twenty-four hour after the exposure, the males were placed in the same apparatus, which was empty and clean. At this time, the pregnant female would have entered postpartum estrus (PPE), a period of heightened sexual receptivity. Males initially chose and spent significantly more time investigating the chamber that originally housed the pregnant female (now a PPE female) than the chamber that originally housed the REF female. Male voles also explored an apparatus containing a chamber with a PPE female and one chamber containing a REF female. Twenty-four hour later, males were placed into an empty and clean apparatus. The males did not display an initial choice and they spent similar amounts of time investigating the chamber that originally housed the PPE female (now a lactating female) and the chamber that originally housed the REF female. The results of these and additional experiments suggest that male voles may have the capacity to recall the “what”, “where”, and “when” of a single past event, which may allow males to remember the location of females who would currently be in heightened states of sexual receptivity.     

The generalized Logit-Linear Item Response Model for Binary-Designed Items

This paper introduces the generalized logit-linear item response model (GLLIRM), which represents the item-solving process as a series of dichotomous operations or steps. The GLLIRM assumes that the probability function of the item response is a logistic function of a linear composite of basic parameters which describe the operations, and the coefficients depend on three design matrices X, Y and Z. The GLLIRM provides a tool for testing hypotheses on the item-solving process and generalizes existing models. An empirical application is included, in which the model is applied to evaluate sources of difficulty and pairwise item interactions in a logical analysis test. This research was supported by the Comunidad de Madrid grant CCG06-UAM/ESP-0043.     

Transfer of conditioned inhibition across different aversive reinforcers in the rat

Three experiments using a conditioned suppression procedure in rats assessed transfer of conditioned inhibition across different aversive reinforcers. Experiment 1, using shock and car horn blast as reinforcers, showed that a noise negatively correlated with 0.7-mA shock between sessions attenuated suppression of lever pressing elicited by the signals for 0.7-mA shock and 110-db horn blast. Similarly, when the noise signaled the omission of horn blast, it attenuated suppression elicited by the signals for horn blast and shock. Experiment 2, using the same procedure, replicated transfer of conditioned inhibition from shock to horn found in Experiment 1, and indicated that such effects should be attributed to associative factors. Experiment 3, using the conditioned inhibition paradigm and different chambers during training and testing, replicated transfer from horn to shock and indicated that transfer cannot be attributed to multiple-background-reinforcer associations established during inhibitory training. The results of these experiments have implications for theories of conditioned inhibition.     

Type a behavior pattern as a predictor of psychiatric sick-leaves of Spanish teachers

The present study examined the relationship between the Type A Behavior Pattern and certain psychopathological disorders, namely, anxiety and depression, within an occupational setting. A sample group of 100 high school teachers (37 men and 63 women) who had taken one or more psychiatric leaves of absence were studied. An additional 100 teachers (47 men and 53 women), with no history of psychiatric sick-leaves, were randomly assigned to a control group. The groups shared the same organizational setting. The Jenkins Activity Survey, Form H, was administered to assess the Type A Behavior Pattern of both groups. Binomial logistic regression analysis indicated this pattern was related to psychiatric sick-leaves.     

Incidence of anovulatory menstrual cycles among dysmenorrheic and non-non-dysmenorrheic [corrected] women: effects on symptomatology and mood

The incidence of spontaneous anovulatory (SA) menstrual cycles among dysmenorrheic and non-dysmenorrheic women and their effects on symptomatology and mood were examined in 52 university students distributed into two groups (18 dysmenorrheic women and 34 non-dysmenorrheic women) according to the presence or absence of symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea. Women were tested in menstrual, ovulatory and premenstrual phases. In order to estimate the proportion of ovulatory and SA cycles the basal body temperature (BBT) method was used. Results indicated that the percentage of SA cycles found in dysmenorrheic women does not confirm that primary dysmenorrhea only occurs in ovulatory cycles. In addition, the ovulatory cycles did not present greater symptomatology than the anovulatory cycles in self-rating of negative affect. In fact, menstrual symptomatology was not associated with ovulatory cycles. These data confirm that primary dysmenorrhea does not only depend on the endocrine factors which regulate the menstrual cycle but also on other factors such as social or psychological ones.     

Factors related to young people's attitudes to the consumption of alcohol and other psychoactive substances

In this study we analyzed variables related to the consumption of alcohol and other psychoactive substances among young people, and to their attitudes towards experimentation. The sample was made up of 775 pupils aged 12 to 16 from four secondary schools in the Principality of Asturias (northern Spain). The results obtained confirm the multi-causal nature of these phenomena. The attitudes of young people towards substance use was found to be more favourable the lower the perception of risk, the more mistaken their beliefs and the more permissive their disposition to the use of alcohol and other illegal drug. Other determining factors are their relationship with peer groups that use drugs, antisocial behaviours and attention-seeking indications.     

The Case Against B. F. Skinner 45 years Later: An Encounter with N. Chomsky

Chomsky's (1959) review of Verbal Behavior (Skinner, 1957) has been hailed as the most influential document in the history of psychology. Although many rejoinders to Chomsky's review have been published, their impact has been minimal. Moreover, Chomsky has not answered them in detail. To invite Chomsky to revisit a number of matters concerning the review, he was interviewed. The principal topics addressed by Chomsky were (a) historical factors associated with behaviorism after World War II; (b) circumstances surrounding the preparation of the review; (c) likely compatibility between formal and functional analyses of language; and (d) Chomsky's current point of view on aspects of the content of his review and on the evolution of behavior analysis.