Between-individual comparisons in performance evaluation: a perspective from prospect theory

This article examines how between-individual comparisons influence performance evaluations in rating tasks. The authors demonstrated a systematic change in the perceived difference across ratees as a result of changing the way performance information is expressed. Study 1 found that perceived performance difference between 2 individuals was greater when their objective performance levels were presented with small numbers (e.g., absence rates of 2% vs. 5%) than when they were presented with large numbers (e.g., attendance rates of 98% vs. 95%). Extending this finding to situations involving trade-offs between multiple performance attributes across ratees, Study 2 showed that the relative preference for 1 ratee over another actually reversed when the presentation format of the performance information changed. The authors draw upon prospect theory to offer a theoretical framework describing the between-individual comparison aspect of performance evaluation.     

A case study of mediated learning, delayed auditory feedback, and motor repatterning to reduce stuttering

A case study of DW, an 11-yr. old monolingual, English-speaking boy who exhibits stuttering, language delay, and ADHD is presented. DW experienced only limited improvement during stuttering therapy received in public schools, according to parents and the public school clinician. The purpose of this case study was to assess whether fluency treatment which incorporated Mediated Learning, Delayed Auditory Feedback, and Speech Motor Repatterning would enhance progress. Therapy was delivered in two treatments, with each treatment being 5 wk. of intense therapy, separated by one year. Treatment 1 of combined Mediated Learning and Delayed Auditory Feedback yielded improvement in fluency, judged by parents and the teacher to be clinically significant. The improved fluency was maintained for one year when DW was pretested for participation in Treatment 2, which combined Mediated Learning, Delayed Auditory Feedback, and Speech Motor Repatterning Exercises. As no conclusions are possible, further study is needed.     

Comparison-induced decoy effects

Extant theories of decoy effects on evaluations of attribute values were assessed with respect to their ability to account for a one-dimensional analogue of the asymmetric dominance effect. Parducci's (1965, 1995) range-frequency theory, Krumhansl's (1978) distance-density model, Tversky's (1977) diagnosticity principle, and reference point theories (e.g., Holyoak & Mah, 1982) were unable to account for this effect. One version of Helson's (1964) adaptation-level theory and our comparison-induced distortion theory (Choplin & Hummel, 2002) were able to account for the qualitative effect. Quantitative fits revealed that comparison-induced distortion theory provides a better account of this effect than does adaptation-level theory. These results suggest that, in some cases, biases created by language-expressible magnitude comparisons mediate the effects of decoys on evaluation.     

Intervention Groups for Adolescents With Conduct Problems: Is Aggregation Harmful or Helpful?

Past research has suggested that the aggregation of deviant peers during treatment may cause harmful effects (T. J. Dishion, J. McCord, & F. Poulin, 1999). This study compared the effectiveness of problem-solving skills training groups in which all members had conduct problems (pure group condition) with groups that consisted of adolescents with and without behavior problems (mixed group condition). Participants were 139 sixth- and seventh-graders (mean age = 12.7; 63% male; 55% White) enrolled at public middle schools. Pre-, post-, and 6-month follow-up data were collected, along with intervention process variables. Results showed that, contrary to the deviancy training hypothesis, adolescents in the pure-group condition engaged in more adaptive in-session behavior and received lower scores on the parent and teacher ratings of externalizing behavior at postintervention than those in the mixed-group condition. Mediation analyses showed that the deviancy training that occurred in the mixed-group condition accounted for their worse postintervention scores, findings consistent with the deviancy training hypothesis.     

ROCs in recognition with and without identification

Receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) for the recognition of unidentified word fragments were analysed and compared with ROCs for the recognition of identified word fragments. In all conditions reported here, the z-transformed ROCs (z-ROCs) for recognition without identification were linear, with slopes near 1.0. In contrast, the z-ROCs for recognition with identification each had both a linear and a quadratic component, and a slope of substantially less than 1.0. Because the recognition of unidentified word fragments likely results from a familiarity process, the present study examined how well the effect can be explained by global matching variants of signal detection theory. Global matching models predict that memory should be better for strong items from a mixed list than for strong items from a pure list, and should be worse for weak items from a mixed list than for weak items from a pure list; however, only the latter pattern was shown for the recognition of unidentified items.     

Focused attention is not enough to activate discontinuities in lines, but scrutiny is

We distinguish between the roles played by spatial attention and conscious intention in terms of their impact on the processing of segmentation signals, like discontinuities in lines, associated with the act of scrutinizing. We showed previously that the processing of discontinuities in lines can be activated. This is evidenced by an impairment in the detection of a gap between parallel elements when it follows a gap between collinear elements in the same location and orientation. This effect is no longer observed if attention is divided between two gaps in the first stimulus. The results from this study show that focusing attention on a gap between collinear elements is not enough to observe a modulation, consistently with the need to integrate, rather than to separate, collinear elements in usual conditions. The modulation is sensitive to the conscious expectations of subjects, suggesting that an intention can trigger modulations that spatial attention cannot.     

What perceptual rules do capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) follow in completing partly occluded figures?

Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) matched a variety of rodlike figures, distinguishable only by their central portions. The monkeys were then tested for perceptual completion rules by examining which comparison figures they would choose as matching the sample with the critical central portion occluded by a horizontal belt. In Experiment 1, the monkeys overwhelmingly chose a straight rod over disconnected rods and rods having irregular shapes at their center, irrespective of the presence-absence of common motion of visible parts of the samples. The monkeys chose a connected rod for relatable rods and disconnected rods for non-relatable ones in Experiment 2. In Experiments 3 and 4, some of the monkeys chose rods specified by the global regularity of the contour, whereas others did not. Experiment 5 showed that humans and capuchin monkeys basically follow similar perceptual rules in completing occluded contours, but the global regularity rule may be stronger in humans.     

Racial Differences in Responses to the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to examine differences in responses to the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) between African American and White caregivers of children with emotional and behavioral challenges. Significant item- and scale-level differences were detected across groups with African Americans consistently reporting less strain. We examined whether these differences were more likely due to nonequivalent measurement than to real differences in the experience of caregiver strain. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fit the data well for both racial groups, but there were some differences in structural components. Internal consistency was equivalent across the groups. In an examination of criterion validity, regression analyses showed that African American caregivers experienced a slower rate of increase in objective caregiver strain at a given increase in child internalizing problems. No other race differences were found in the regression analyses. In general, we conclude that the CGSQ can be useful for detecting caregiver strain and identifying family support needs for both White and African American caregivers. Differences across groups in reports of caregiver strain, however, call for more research on racial differences in the impact on the family of caring for a child with emotional and behavioral disorders.