Interference and Facilitation in Spoken Word Production: Effects of Morphologically and Semantically Related Context Stimuli on Picture Naming

We report two picture–word interference experiments investigating conceptual and lexical activation, and response selection, in speaking. We varied stimulus onset asynchrony to investigate potential fine-grained activation and competition effects. Morphologically related existing and pseudoword adjectives, as well as associatively related adjectives, served as context stimuli in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, we focused on semantic interference by using morphologically related and unrelated subordinates of the target concept as context stimuli. Morphologically complex pseudowords were also included as context stimuli. Pseudowords should not interfere, given that they have no lexical or conceptual representation. We consistently obtained facilitation with all morphologically related context stimuli, irrespective of their lexical status. We argue that effects originate at the word-form level, and discuss how our results may help decide among the many explanations of semantic interference in picture naming.     

New Essays on the Knowability Paradox

Arie L. Molenduk, Aus dem Dunklen ins Helle. Wissenschaft und Theologie im Denken von Heinrich Scholz. Mit unverouml;ffentlichten Thesenreihen von Heinrich Scholz und Karl Barth. (Amsterdam studies in theology, 8.) Amsterdam and Atlanta, Georgia:Rodopi, 1991. 390 pp. Hfl. 120/US $60     

On What There is—Infinitesimals and the Nature of Numbers

Abstract

This essay will be divided into three parts. In the first part, we discuss the case of infintesimals seen as a bridge between the discrete and the continuous. This leads in the second part to a discussion of the nature of numbers. In the last part, we follow up with some observations on the obvious applicability of mathematics.     

Swedish Legal Professionals' Opinions on Child and Adult Witness Memory‐reporting Capabilities: Using the Method of Indirect Comparisons

Legal professionals' opinions about the memory abilities of child and adult witnesses are important in the legal process. We surveyed 266 legal professionals (Swedish police, prosecutors, and attorneys) and 33 lay judges about their beliefs about child and adult eyewitnesses' recall and metacognitive abilities. Prior research has usually asked for direct comparisons of children and adults but this may be rare in forensic practice. The respondents completed a story questionnaire (about a 9‐ or 45‐year‐old person witnessing an event), allowing indirect, or researcher‐made, comparisons. In contrast to previous research (direct comparisons), our participants mostly rated children and adults to be on an equal level, but within‐group consensus was low. Also, fairly few differences emerged between the groups' beliefs. Finally, the participants' opinions in our study were less in line with results from eyewitness research, compared with previous research using direct comparisons. Implications for legal and research practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Short- and Long-Term Effects of Video Game Violence on Interpersonal Trust

Two studies investigate the psychological processes underlying short- and long-term effects of video game violence on interpersonal trust. Study 1 demonstrates that interacting with physically aggressive virtual agents decreases players' trust in subsequent interactions. This effect was stronger for players who were dispositionally sensitive to victimization. In Study 2, long-term effects of adolescents' frequent exposure to video game violence on interpersonal trust and victim sensitivity were investigated. Cross-lagged path analyses show that the reported frequency of playing violent video games reduced interpersonal trust over a period of 12 months, particularly among victim-sensitive players. These findings are in line with the sensitivity to mean intentions (SeMI) model, and they suggest that interpersonal mistrust is a relevant long-term outcome of frequent exposure to video game violence.     

Emotional Experiences of Youth Sport Parents I: Anger

Abstract

Recent research in sport psychology has focused on the role of the athlete's knowledge base in defining high-level sport performance. However, few studies have attempted to examine this knowledge directly, largely because of the methodological challenges involved (Allard &; Burnett, 1985). One effective approach to investigating expertise in other domains has been to examine ways in which experts sort and categorize domain-related problems, and the bases on which these categories are formed. Problem-sorting methodologies are difficult to apply in the sport context, however, because sport performance problems are generally ill-defined. The present paper describes a methodological approach designed to identify and quantify problems which define an athlete's working knowledge of a given sport, as well as the criteria athletes use to cognitively organize their knowledge of these problems. This approach combines qualitative methods, such as structured interviewing and card-sorting techniques, with repertory grid and multidimensional scaling statistical procedures. The data of an elite male cyclist were presented to illustrate how these methods might be applied in sport settings.     

Judgements vs affective evaluations of counterfactual outcomes

Counterfactual thoughts are imagined alternatives to past events and outcomes. Such thoughts may address possible consequences and effects of a counterfactual turn of events, and also an affective evaluation of that simulated outcome. Previous research has shown that estimates of counterfactual consequences are exaggerated (Teigen, Kanten, & Terum, 2011). The present research compared both consequence estimates and affective evaluations of factual and counterfactual outcomes. Consistent with previous findings, participants exaggerated consequence estimates, but affective evaluations indicated an opposite effect: Factual events were evaluated as more emotionally impressive than comparable counterfactual outcomes, for both negative (Experiment 1) and positive outcomes (Experiment 2). We discuss these apparently contradictory findings within the framework of construal level theory and suggest that both findings are compatible with an abstract, high-level account of counterfactual thinking.