Altruistic Eudaimonism and the Self-Absorption Objection

The Journal of Value Inquiry -     

Teaching children with autism spectrum disorder to ask “where” questions using a speech-generating device

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have limited speech are often taught to communicate using a speech-generating device (SGD). We evaluated procedures for teaching a mand for information (i.e., Where is [item]?) using an interrupted behavior chain procedure. In Experiment 1, all participants (3 children with ASD who communicated using an SGD) acquired the target mand but transfer to a novel stimulus did not occur. In the second experiment, 2 participants were taught to approach alternative communication partners when the first partner did not provide the information. The second experiment also included procedures to test whether the responses were under the control of appropriate motivating operations (MOs). Generalization across communication partners occurred with both participants, but transfer across behavior chains with only 1 participant. The results of both experiments suggest that teaching multiple behavior chains and evaluating MO control may be necessary to establish generalized manding for information.     

Learning nonlinearly separable categories by inference and classification

Previous research suggests that learning categories by classifying new instances highlights information that is useful for discriminating between categories. In contrast, learning categories by making predictive inferences focuses learners on an abstract summary of each category (e.g., the prototype). To test this characterization of classification and inference learning further, the authors evaluated the two learning procedures with nonlinearly separable categories. In contrast to previous research involving cohesive, linearly separable categories, the authors found that it is more difficult to learn nonlinearly separable categories by making inferences about features than it is to learn them by classifying instances. This finding reflects that the prototype of a nonlinearly separable category does not provide a good summary of the category members. The results from this study suggest that having a cohesive category structure is more important for inference than it is for classification.     

Global self-esteem across the life span

This study provides a comprehensive picture of age differences in self-esteem from age 9 to 90 years using cross-sectional data collected from 326,641 individuals over the Internet. Self-esteem levels were high in childhood, dropped during adolescence, rose gradually throughout adulthood, and declined sharply in old age. This trajectory generally held across gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and nationality (U.S. citizens vs. non-U.S. citizens). Overall, these findings support previous research, help clarify inconsistencies in the literature, and document new trends that require further investigation.     

Mother Teresa versus Ebenezer Scrooge: mortality salience leads proselfs to endorse self-transcendent values (unless proselfs are reassured)

Recently, Jonas, Schimel, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski demonstrated that mortality salience (MS) increased contributions to (an ingroup) charity (i.e., the Scrooge effect). The authors examined whether individual differences in social value orientations would moderate the Scrooge effect. In line with an Ebenezer shift hypothesis, proselfs were less likely than prosocials to endorse self-transcendent values in a dental pain control condition but were indistinguishable from prosocials in an MS condition as proselfs increased endorsement of self-transcendent values under MS (Experiments 1 and 2a). However, when participants gave their impressions of an unfavorable prosocial or a favorable proself prior to the MS manipulation, proselfs were again less likely than prosocials to endorse self-transcendent values (Experiments 2a and 2b), suggesting that proselfs are unlikely to transform into prosocials under conditions of MS when given reasons to disidentify with prosocial values or identify with proself values.     

Compatibility effects based on stimulus and response numerosity

Four choice reaction time experiments documented a stimulus-response (S-R) compatibility effect involving the numbers of stimuli and responses. In Experiment 1, the stimulus consisted of one or two tones, and the correct response was either one or two taps of a response key. Responses were much faster with a compatible S-R assignment, in which the number of taps matched the number of tones, than with an incompatible assignment in which these numbers mismatched. Experiments 2 and 3 replicated this effect, using visual stimuli and bimodal stimuli, respectively, suggesting that auditory/manual rhythmic compatibility is not essential to it. Experiment 4 showed that an analogous but smaller effect is obtained when stimuli are the digits 1 and 2. This new numerosity-based compatibility effect has general theoretical implications regarding the mechanisms responsible for compatibility effects and practical implications for interface design.     

WAIS digit span-based indicators of malingered neurocognitive dysfunction: classification accuracy in traumatic brain injury

The present study determined specificity and sensitivity to malingered neurocognitive dysfunction (MND) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) for several Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) Digit Span scores. TBI patients (n = 344) were categorized into one of five groups: no incentive, incentive only, suspect, probable MND, and definite MND. Performance of 1,063 nonincentive patients (e.g., cerebrovascular accident, memory disorder) was also examined. Digit Span scores included reliable digit span, maximum span forward both trials correct, maximum span forward, combined maximum forward and backward span, Digit Span scaled score, maximum span backward both trials correct, and maximum span backward. In TBI, sensitivity to MND ranged from 15% to greater than 30% at specificities of 92% to 98%. Patient groups with documented brain pathology had higher false-positive error rates. These results replicate previous known-groups malingering studies and provide valuable data supporting the WAIS Digit Span scores in detection and diagnosis of malingering.     

Threshold estimation in two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) tasks: the Spearman-Kärber method

The Spearman-K?rber method can be used to estimate the threshold value or difference limen in two-alternative forced-choice tasks. This method yields a simple estimator for the difference limen and its standard error, so that both can be calculated with a pocket calculator. In contrast to previous estimators, the present approach does not require any assumptions about the shape of the true underlying psychometric function. The performance of this new nonparametric estimator is compared with the standard technique of probit analysis. The Spearman-K?rber method appears to be a valuable addition to the toolbox of psychophysical methods, because it is most accurate for estimating the mean (i.e., absolute and difference thresholds) and dispersion of the psychometric function, although it is not optimal for estimating percentile-based parameters of this function.     

Effects of redundant visual stimuli on temporal order judgments

Four experiments were conducted in order to compare the effects of stimulus redundancy on temporal order judgments (TOJs) and reaction times (RTs). In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were presented in each trial with a tone and either a single visual stimulus or two redundant visual stimuli. They were asked to judge whether the tone or the visual display was presented first. Judgments of the relative onset times of the visual and the auditory stimuli were virtually unaffected by the presentation of redundant, rather than single, visual stimuli. Experiments 3 and 4 used simple RT tasks with the same stimuli, and responses were much faster to redundant than to single visual stimuli. It appears that the traditional speedup of RT associated with redundant visual stimuli arises after the stimulus detection processes to which TOJs are sensitive.     

A function of form: terror management and structuring the social world

Drawing on lay epistemology theory, the authors assessed a terror management analysis of the psychological function of structuring social information. Seven studies tested variations of the hypothesis that simple, benign interpretations of social information function, in part, to manage death-related anxiety. In Studies 1-4, mortality salience (MS) exaggerated primacy effects and reliance on representative information, decreased preference for a behaviorally inconsistent target among those high in personal need for structure (PNS), and increased high-PNS participants' preference for interpersonal balance. In Studies 5-7, MS increased high-PNS participants' preference for interpretations that suggest a just world and a benevolent causal order of events in the social world.