Metacognition and metarepresentation: is a self-directed theory of mind a precondition for metacognition?

Metacognition is often defined as thinking about thinking. It is exemplified in all the activities through which one tries to predict and evaluate one’s own mental dispositions, states and properties for their cognitive adequacy. This article discusses the view that metacognition has metarepresentational structure. Properties such as causal contiguity, epistemic transparency and procedural reflexivity are present in metacognition but missing in metarepresentation, while open-ended recursivity and inferential promiscuity only occur in metarepresentation. It is concluded that, although metarepresentations can redescribe metacognitive contents, metacognition and metarepresentation are functionally distinct.     

"Trust me...": psychological and behavioral predictors of perceived physician empathy

A sociocognitive model of distal and proximal predictors of empathic judgments was tested among 100 physicians. The authors hypothesized that physician perceived control would affect empathy ratings via physician communication style. Specifically, physicians with high perceived control would use more open communication and be rated as more empathic. Physicians with low perceived control would use a controlling communication style and be rated as less empathic. Physicians completed a medical attribution questionnaire prior to a structured patient consultation exercise, during which patients and assessors rated physician empathy. The exercise was audiotaped, transcribed, and content analyzed for verbal behaviors. Support was found for the hypotheses; however, patients, but not medical assessors, associated empathy with reassurance and provision of medical information.     

Are indigenous personality dimensions culture-specific? Mexican inventories and the Five-Factor Model

The universality versus cultural specificity of Mexican personality dimensions was investigated by examining: (a) the replicability of Mexican personality dimensions assessed by indigenous inventories; and (b) the extent to which Mexican dimensions are encompassed by the Five-Factor Model (FFM), one hypothesized universal model of personality structure. Mexican university students (N = 794) completed nine indigenous inventories and the Spanish version of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. The FFM replicated well, although reliability was poor for a few facet scales. Reliability was acceptable for the indigenous Mexican scales. However, for most indigenous instruments, a cross-sample replication criterion suggested alternative structures of fewer, more replicable dimensions. Multiple regression and joint factor analyses revealed that most of the Mexican dimensions were well subsumed by the FFM. Thus, cultural differences did not involve clearly culture-specific dimensions, but more subtle differences in the salience or cultural flavor of particular traits.     

Processing of biological motion point-light displays by baboons (Papio papio)

Humans apply complex conceptual judgments to point-light displays (PLDs) representing biological motion (BM), but how animals process this kind of display remains uncertain. Four baboons (Papio papio) were trained to discriminate BM from nonbiological motion PLDs using an operant computerized test system. Transfer tests were given after training with novel BM stimuli representing humans or baboons (Experiment 1), with inverted PLDs (Experiment 2), and with BM stimuli in which body parts had been spatially disorganized (Experiment 3). Very limited transfer was obtained with the novel and inverted displays in Experiments 1 and 2, but transfer was much higher after spatial disorganization in Experiment 3. It is suggested that the baboons did not retrieve and interpret the articulated shape of the human or monkey body from the BM PLD stimuli, but rather focused their attention on the configural properties of subparts of the stimuli. Limits in perceptual grouping and restricted abilities in picture-object equivalence might explain why the baboons did not map BM PLD displays onto what they represent.     

Relation between adverse psychosocial risks, assessed by means of the DECORE Multidimensional Questionnaire, and deficient occupational health

This paper describes our search for the possible relationship between workers' health and quality of life and several psychosocial risks: Cognitive demands, Control, Rewards and Organizational support. These psychosocial risks were assessed by means of the DECORE Multidimensional Questionnaire, which provides five scores, one for each factor, plus a global score. Workers' health was assessed with the following variables: job satisfaction, stress perception, fatigue perception, medical leave, occupational accidents, and disease. 614 workers from various business sectors were examined. Results show that workers who feel more fatigued, stressed, and less satisfied perceive their work environment more adversely. Similar results were obtained for workers who went on medical leave, had an occupational accident, or suffered from disease.     

The impact of training on interpersonal influence

Contemporary research on interpersonal influence has shown that individuals scoring high in Need for Cognition (NC) are able to generate a large number of arguments in order to convince other people. However, research has also shown that such an effort does not necessarily lead them to be more persuasive or more efficient in their group performance. The present research analysed this state of affairs, replicating and extending previous research by showing that appropriate training in socio-emotional group dimensions can increase group performance for individuals high in NC. Potential underlying mechanisms for such an effect are discussed.     

The influence of unilateral and bilateral arm flexion versus extension on judgments: an exploratory case of motor congruence

Two experiments were conducted to examine how activation of the motivational systems of approach and withdrawal (arm flexion vs. extension) through 2 different bodily mechanisms (right arm vs. left arm) influenced participants' evaluations of neutral Chinese ideographs. Study 1 found that unilateral flexion on the right side and unilateral extension on the left side led to more positive evaluations than unilateral flexion on the left side and unilateral extension on the right side. Using bilateral movements, Study 2 found that simultaneous performance of a right-arm flexion and a left-arm extension led to more positive evaluations than a left-arm flexion and a right-arm extension. A motor congruence hypothesis was offered to account for these findings.     

An estimate of the Flynn Effect: changes in IQ and subtest gains of 10-yr-old French children between 1965 and 1988

The significant increase in IQ in the industrialised countries during recent decades, known as the eponymous Flynn Effect, tends to be given numerous explanations (progress in schooling, television, nutrition, etc.). One way of studying this effect consists of assessing in which subtests the change in IQ takes place. Using the comparison among 120,000 French children on an intelligence test in 1965 and the results of 8640 children on the same test in 1988, Greenfield's hypothesis is discussed: that television and other media using graphical representations have induced an improvement in spatial and visual capacities to the detriment of capacities relating to vocabulary. The results are compatible with Greenfield's hypothesis, although other explanations are still possible.     

Effect of grammatical gender on visual word recognition: evidence from lexical decision and eye movement experiments

Lexical decision times and eye movements were recorded to determine whether grammatical gender can influence the visual recognition of isolated French nouns. This issue was investigated by assessing the use of two types of regularities between a noun's form and its gender--namely ending-to-gender regularities (e.g., the final letter sequence -at appears only in masculine nouns and, thus, is predictive of masculine gender) and gender-to-ending regularities (e.g., feminine gender would predict the final letter e, whereas masculine gender would not). Previous studies have shown that noun endings are used by readers when they have to identify gender. However, the influence of ending-to-gender predictiveness has never been investigated in a lexical decision task, and the effect of gender-to-ending regularities has never been evaluated at all. The results suggest that gender information can influence both the activation stage (Experiments 1 and 3) and the selection stage (Experiments 2 and 3) of the word recognition process.     

Science and Human Behavior translated into Portuguese: Ciência e Comportamento Humano

Science and Human Behavior was translated to Portuguese as part of the effort to begin a psychology course at the University of Brasília 40 years ago; one of the many results of the first visit of Fred S. Keller to Brazil. The book has been used continuously in undergraduate courses in Brazil since 1967.