Presentation of a flashing light following training produces amnesia

Long-Evans rats given exposure to a flashing-light stimulus following one-trial fear conditioning showed amnesia relative to controls not given the flashing-light experience. Together with previous results obtained in this laboratory, it is apparent that the flashing light modulates memory processing.     

Interpreting Silent Gesture: Cognitive Biases and Rational Inference in Emerging Language Systems

Natural languages make prolific use of conventional constituent‐ordering patterns to indicate “who did what to whom,” yet the mechanisms through which these regularities arise are not well understood. A series of recent experiments demonstrates that, when prompted to express meanings through silent gesture, people bypass native language conventions, revealing apparent biases underpinning word order usage, based on the semantic properties of the information to be conveyed. We extend the scope of these studies by focusing, experimentally and computationally, on the interpretation of silent gesture. We show cross‐linguistic experimental evidence that people use variability in constituent order as a cue to obtain different interpretations. To illuminate the computational principles that govern interpretation of non‐conventional communication, we derive a Bayesian model of interpretation via biased inductive inference and estimate these biases from the experimental data. Our analyses suggest people's interpretations balance the ambiguity that is characteristic of emerging language systems, with ordering preferences that are skewed and asymmetric, but defeasible.     

Video‐based Testing: A high‐fidelity job simulation that demonstrates reliability,validity, and utility

A conceptual rationale is presented for the use of a high‐fidelity simulation: a video‐based test (VBT), in which applicants view job‐related scenarios, respond orally, and are later scored on five dimensions by trained raters. Using applicant data, we empirically investigate the criterion‐related validity, reliability, and utility of the VBT. Overall, we found that the VBT predicted performance in training and on the job. In addition, different raters strongly agreed with one another on each applicant's scores. Despite somewhat higher development costs, the VBT demonstrated high utility. We suggest that organizations consider the use of VBTs as a selection instrument for jobs that require the use of applied social and interpersonal skills.     

Military Ethical Decision Making: The Effects of Option Choice and Perspective Taking on Moral Decision-Making Processes and Intentions

We investigated the ethical decision-making processes and intentions of 151 military personnel responding to 1 of 2 ethical scenarios drawn from the deployment experiences of military commanders. For each scenario, option choice and perspective affected decision-making processes. Differences were also found between the 2 scenarios. Results add to the emerging literature concerning operational ethical conflicts and highlight the complexity and challenge that often accompanies operational ethics.