Interpersonal politics: the role of terror management and attachment processes in shaping political preferences

Research on terror management theory (TMT) indicates that reminders of death affect political attitudes, but political orientation only sometimes moderates these effects. We propose that secure relationships are associated with values of tolerance and compassion, thus orienting people toward liberalism; insecure attachments are associated with more rigid and absolutist values that orient people toward conservatism. Given that attachment relationships become especially active when security needs are heightened, we predicted that mortality salience would be an important factor in understanding the relationship between attachment processes and political orientation. Supporting these ideas, Study 1 showed that after a mortality-salience manipulation, securely attached participants increased their support for a liberal presidential candidate, and less securely attached participants increased their support for a conservative presidential candidate. In Study 2, a secure-relationship prime following a mortality-salience manipulation engendered a less violent approach to the problem of terrorism than did a neutral-relationship prime. We discuss the interaction of TMT processes and individual differences in attachment in shaping political preferences.     

Constant versus variable response signal delays in speed—accuracy trade-offs: Effects of advance preparation for processing time

In two experiments, we used response signals (RSs) to control processing time and trace out speed—accuracy trade-off (SAT) functions in a difficult perceptual discrimination task. Each experiment compared performance in blocks of trials with constant and, hence, temporally predictable RS lags against performance in blocks with variable, unpredictable RS lags. In both experiments, essentially equivalent SAT functions were observed with constant and variable RS lags. We conclude that there is little effect of advance preparation for a given processing time, suggesting that the discrimination mechanisms underlying SAT functions are driven solely by bottom-up information processing in perceptual discrimination tasks.     

Subjective reports of stimulus,response, and decision times in speeded tasks: How accurate are decision time reports?

Four experiments examined how accurately participants can report the times of their own decisions. Within an auditory reaction time (RT) task, participants reported the time at which (a) the tone was presented, (b) they decided on the response, or (c) the response key was pressed. Decision time reports were checked for plausibility against the actual RTs, and we compared the effects of experimental manipulations on these two measures to see whether the reported decision times showed appropriate effects. In addition, we estimated the amount of error associated with individual decision time reports by checking how often participants’ decision time reports were implausibly early (i.e., before stimulus onset) or late (i.e., after response), and by using several quantitative models. Overall, the results suggest that decision time reports are not very accurate but they may be usable for some purposes.     

Theatre and Research in the Reproductive Sciences

This paper explores the power of theatre to engage the public and my personal journey using theatre as a research tool in reproductive science. I argue that the capacity of theatre to simultaneously engage the minds and hearts of audience members qua research participants affords audience members the capacity to provide researchers with insightful comments informed by the scientific, social and tacit knowledge derived from the performance, integrated with their lived experience. Theatre is a particularly important research strategy when investigating public understandings and desires about complex issues such as those related to reproductive and genetic science.     

Animalism and the varieties of conjoined twinning

We defend the view that we are not identical to organisms against the objection that it implies that there are two subjects of every conscious state one experiences: oneself and one’s organism. We then criticize animalism—the view that each of us is identical to a human organism—by showing that it has unacceptable implications for a range of actual and hypothetical cases of conjoined twinning: dicephalus, craniopagus parasiticus, and cephalopagus.