Effects of Data Noise on Statistical Judgement

People made forecasts from graphically presented time series. Series were sinusoids overlaid by a zero or positive linear trend and a zero, low, moderate, or high level of noise. Forecasting performance was affected by both these variables. However, it did not correlate with ability to identify the trend and correlated significantly with ability to detect the sinusoidal pattern only when series were noise-free. A second experiment showed that the effect of data noise was not influenced by the number of forecasts that people made from a series. These findings are consistent with the view that data noise does not affect the way that forecasts are made but that it impairs them for two reasons. First, it renders the anchor-and-adjust heuristics underlying them less effective. Second, it causes people to add more noise to their judgements in their attempts to make them representative of the data.     

Subjective memory loss in age-associated memory impairment: Family history and neuropsychological correlates

Abstract

Empiricist and rationalist approaches to data-quality control in meta-analyses are discussed, and a compromise approach advocated by Strube and Hartmann (1983) for theoretically driven meta-analyses is applied to Laver and Burke's (1993) data sets. When older adults' response times (RTs) and semantic priming effects (SPEs) are regressed on young adults' RTs and SPEs, the slopes of the regression lines are approximately 1.5 as long as the age difference is held constant and performance is reasonably accurate. Both increases and decreases in RTs following unrelated and related primes, relative to RTs following baseline primes, were analyzed. The results, like those regarding RTs and SPEs, support the hypothesis that, compared with young adults who are 50 years younger, older adults take approximately 50% longer to process lexical information     

Attachment Theory as a Framework for Understanding Responses to Social Exclusion

We argue that attachment theory may provide a useful framework for understanding individuals' reactions to social exclusion. Attachment theory suggests that social exclusion should prompt an individual to seek comfort from an accepting attachment figure. However, most experimental studies constrain individuals from seeking out an attachment figure to quell their distress, and may interfere with the process of recruiting internalized attachment figures. When the goal of recruiting attachment figure support is blocked, individuals may adopt deactivating strategies, such as emotional numbing, to reduce their distress. Alternatively, individuals may adopt hyperactivating strategies, such as ingratiating behaviors, to seek proximity to attachment figure substitutes. We conclude with recommendations for future avenues of exclusion research stemming from attachment theory.     

Loss and persistence of implicit memory for sound: Evidence from auditory stream segregation context effects

An important question is the extent to which declines in memory over time are due to passive loss or active interference from other stimuli. The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which implicit memory effects in the perceptual organization of sound sequences are subject to loss and interference. Toward this aim, we took advantage of two recently discovered context effects in the perceptual judgments of sound patterns, one that depends on stimulus features of previous sounds and one that depends on the previous perceptual organization of these sounds. The experiments measured how listeners’ perceptual organization of a tone sequence (test) was influenced by the frequency separation, or the perceptual organization, of the two preceding sequences (context1 and context2). The results demonstrated clear evidence for loss of context effects over time but little evidence for interference. However, they also revealed that context effects can be surprisingly persistent. The robust effects of loss, followed by persistence, were similar for the two types of context effects. We discuss whether the same auditory memories might contain information about basic stimulus features of sounds (i.e., frequency separation), as well as the perceptual organization of these sounds.     

Some methodological and training/funding perspectives on the future of personality research

This article provides some methodological and training/funding perspectives on the future of personality research. Traditional correlational approaches to personality data have been useful, but approaches that address the data in new ways (e.g., mean structure, variance structure) permit researchers to ask interesting new research questions, particularly of short- and long-term longitudinal data. Advances and issues in the measurement of personality dimensions, types, situations, and biological markers are considered. Given the shrinkage of training programs in personality, new approaches to training are proposed to take advantage of resources across universities. Finally, some potential unanticipated costs for core personality research of the increased emphasis on grant funding at many universities are considered.     

Measurement of newcomer socialization: Construct validation of a multidimensional scale

A construct validation approach was taken to develop a primary measure of newcomer socialization that addresses shortcomings with a prior scale (Chao, Kelly, Wolf, Klein, & Gardner, 1994). Three separate groups of subject matter experts reviewed items to ensure the content validity of the Newcomer Socialization Questionnaire (NSQ). Studies 1 and 2 examined the NSQ’s psychometric properties using employed students and organizational newcomers as participants, respectively. Results illustrate scale reliability, factor structure, convergent and discriminant validity, and correlations with criterion variables. The NSQ measures three dimensions or domains of newcomer socialization: the organization, the group and the job/task. In addition, both factual knowledge and knowledge of expected role behaviors are assessed within each domain. Thus, the NSQ provides a useful measurement tool for researchers and practitioners interested in examining direct outcomes of being socialized.     

The Roots of Public Attitudes Toward State Accommodation of European Muslims' Religious Practices Before and After September 11

More than nine million Muslims currently live in Western Europe, which makes them the largest religious minority in the region. There has been significant political controversy in various European states over how best to recognize Muslims' religious rights. These questions have become even more significant and contentious in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks by Islamic extremists. Using privately commissioned polls on attitudes toward Muslim religious rights taken before and after September 11 in Britain, France, and Germany, this article determines the extent of popular opposition to state accommodation of Muslim practices and tests several leading theories of attitudes toward Muslims. We conclude that the most important determinants of attitudes toward Muslims are education and religious practice.