Categorization,attitude and memory for the source of attitude statements

In a study of factors influencing recognition-memory for the sources of attitude statements, a final sample of 107 subjects, aged 15–16, first rated their agreement with 24 statements concerning drug-use, 12 of which were attributed to one, and 12 to another, fictitiously named newspaper. Later, the statements were re shown to subjects with half the names altered, and subjects had to indicate which names were correct (i.e., unaltered). Discrimination sensitivity was very significantly higher in a condition where the initial relationship between the sources and the statements was systematic, so that the 12 most pro-drug statements were attributed to one newspaper and the 12 most anti-drug statements to the other, than in two conditions where the initial relationship was random, in which discrimination was at chance level. In the first of these conditions, subjects were also more likely to claim that the attributed source was correct if they had previously agreed with the statement. overall, subjects were more accurate in discriminating correct and incorrect sources for statements to which they had previously given a more moderate, or a more negative response on the agreement scale.     

Human-computer interaction: A preliminary social psychological analysis

Considering an interactive computer as a social stimulus suggests that contemporary social psychological theories can contribute to the prediction of user attitude and performance. In order to assist in the systematic exploration of this possibility, we developed DIALOGUE, an on-line system to investigate the effects of varying the computer’s responses to the user. This system involves a presentation program that displays the computer’s responses, performs the pacing of video information, and collects a variety of measurements, including the user’s response time and the number of correct/incorrect user responses. DIALOGUE also includes a data manager that allows the experimenter to examine or modify the information collected by the presentation program. Utilizing DIALOGUE, we conducted a preliminary investigation of one aspect of human-computer interaction, the effects of varying the degree of human-like responses exhibited by the computer. Results suggest that (1) there are underlying dimensions of judgment involving perception of interactive computers, (2) a manipulation of human-like computer responses is reflected primarily in certain of these dimensions, and (3) such a manipulation influences user performance and feelings of responsibility. Factors related to the implementation of DIALOGUE are considered, and its potential for investigations of a variety of human-computer interactions is discussed.     

An attentional mechanism in the analysis of spatial frequency

Sinusoidal gratings of various spatial frequencies were used as masking stimuli in a detection task and a vernier acuity task. The test stimuli were 1 cycle/deg square-wave gratings. The spatial frequency of the most effective mask was 1 cycle/deg for the detection task but 3 cycles/deg for the vernier acuity task. The different masking functions for the two tasks show that the visual system analyzes the square-wave stimulus into its various spatial-frequency components. Since the test stimulus was the same for both tasks, the different masking functions may be the result of an attentional mechanism that weighs the importance of the output from various spatial-frequency analyzers. Whether the information from a particular spatial-frequency analyzer is attended or not depends upon the task the visual system must perform.     

Visual associations cued recall A Paradigm for Measuring Episodic Memory Decline in Alzheimer’s Disease

Repeated measurements of episodic memory are needed for monitoring amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Most episodic memory tests may pose a challenge to patients, even when they are in the milder stages of the disease. This cross-sectional study compared floor effects of the Visual Association Test (VAT) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) in healthy elderly controls and in patients with aMCI or AD (N = 125). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to examine whether linear or quadratic trends best fitted the data of cognitive test performance across global cognitive impairment. Results showed that VAT total scores decreased linearly across the range of global cognitive impairment, whereas RAVLT total scores showed a quadratic trend, with total scores levelling off for 90% of aMCI patients and 94% of AD patients. We conclude that the VAT shows few if any floor effects in patients with aMCI and mild AD and is therefore a potentially promising cognitive test for monitoring episodic memory impairment.     

Political Implications of Psychological Research on Ecological Justice and Proenvironmental Behaviour

An empirically corroborated model of proenvironmental commitments is outlined. According to this model, willingness to contribute to the saving of global commons (atmosphere, oceans, etc.) is motivated by the awareness of global ecological risks, by perceived injustices of the distributions of benefits and costs resulting from exploiting and polluting activities, and by the conviction that many actors—ordinary citizens as well as powerful authorities in business and politics—have both effective means and responsibilities to contribute to the protection of the environment. Political implications are drawn from the typical attributional pattern of multi‐responsibility for environmental protection and from the perception of distributive injustices of the current overuse and pollution of commons. Basic issues of ecological justice are discussed.     

The Impact of Third Places on Community Quality of Life

Older cities struggling with issues of survival focus on jobs and the economy, but competition requires all cities to pay attention to the quality of life that attracts residents. Creating such an inviting environment includes “third places” that foster community and communication among people outside of home and work, yet we have little empirical evidence that speaks to the subject, or their importance for a community’s quality of life. Here we report on a national U.S. survey that asked people to identify such places in their community, producing a wide variety of “third places” that ranged from the most popular community centers, coffee shops and restaurants to parks and malls. While a few relationships are found between population/diversity and the popularity of particular third places, the most important result confirms a hypothesized relationship between perceptions that third places are accessible in their community and the perceived quality of life.     

Rough‐and‐tumble play and the regulation of aggression: an observational study of father–child play dyads

Rough‐and‐tumble play (RTP) is a common form of play between fathers and children. It has been suggested that RTP can contribute to the development of selfregulation. This study addressed the hypothesis that the frequency of father–child RTP is related to the frequency of physically aggressive behavior in early childhood. This relationship was expected to be moderated by the dominance relationship between father and son during play. Eighty‐five children between the ages of 2 and 6 years were videotaped during a free‐play session with their fathers in their homes and questionnaire data was collected about father–child RTP frequency during the past year. The play dyads were rated for the degree to which the father dominated play interactions. A significant statistical interaction revealed that RTP frequency was associated with higher levels of physical aggression in children whose fathers were less dominant. These results indicate that RTP is indeed related to physical aggression, though this relationship is moderated by the degree to which the father is a dominant playmate. Aggr. Behav. 35:285–295, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Ambivalence and decisional conflict as a cause of psychological discomfort: Feeling tense before jumping off the fence

It has long been assumed that people experience evaluative conflict or ambivalence as unpleasant. In three studies we provide direct evidence for the assumption that ambivalence is unpleasant, but only when one has to commit to one side of the issue. In those situations ambivalence will be related to outcome uncertainty and feelings of discomfort. We examined this prediction using both self-reports and physiological measures. In a first study we manipulated ambivalence and whether or not participants had to take a clear stand vis-a vis the attitudinal issue and choose a position for or against it. Results indicate ambivalence was only related to physiological arousal when a choice had to be made. Feeling ambivalent about an issue without the necessity to choose did not result in higher levels of arousal. A second study replicated and extended these findings by including a measure of subjective uncertainty about the decision. Results showed the same pattern as in Study 1, and indicate that the relation between ambivalence and arousal is mediated by uncertainty about decisional outcomes. In the third and final study these findings are corroborated using self-report measures; these indicated that ambivalence-induced discomfort is related to specific (negative) emotions.     

Children's early theory of mind: exploring the development of the concept of desire in monolingual Spanish children

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the lexical term ‘querer’ (want) qua genuine reference to desire. The instances of ‘querer’ to be analyzed were taken from the naturally occurring speech of monolingual speakers of Spanish. Specifically, a database of 24,558 child utterances taken from the CHILDES system was analyzed. This corpus yielded 444 utterances with the desire term ‘querer’. The utterances belong to several children whose ages range from 21 to 46 months. The results of this study support the hypothesis that children consistently refer to desire at around 2 years of age and that children undergo a marked increase in their reference to this concept at 36 months of age, although it is not yet clear whether they start referring to their own desires before those of someone else.