Comprehension and the interpretation of proverbs

The comprehension of proverbs was investigated in a series of four experiments. These experiments used unfamiliar proverbs like Thick ice and thin ice look the same from a distance. Experiments I–III compared reaction time latencies for literal and figurative uses of the proverbs after paragraphs of two lengths. In all three experiments, the longer paragraphs facilitated comprehension of the proverbs and figurative uses of the proverbs were understood more rapidly than literal uses. In the final experiment, literal uses of the proverbs were understood more rapidly than figurative uses when the proverbs followed single word cues.This research is based on portions of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of Cornell University. This research was supported by N.I.M.H. Training Grant 5-T01-MH08520-15, to the Department of Psychology, Cornell University. I with to thank Ulric Neisser, Dennis Micham, John S. Bowers, Carl Ginet, Ragnar Rommetveit, Lynn A. Cooper, and Lorraine Bahrick for their advice and assistance.     

Measuring Four Perspectives of Justice Sensitivity With Two Items Each

People differ systematically in their vulnerability to injustice. We present two-item scales for the efficient measurement of justice sensitivity from 4 perspectives (victim, observer, beneficiary, perpetrator). In Study 1 using a quota-based sample of German adults, a latent state–trait analysis revealed the factorial validity and high reliabilities of the scales. In Study 2 employing a large random sample, we tested for measurement invariance of the items within the context of our short 2-item scales compared to the original 10-item scales. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses confirmed that the validity of the indicators and the internal structure of the assessed constructs did not change across item contexts. In both studies, correlations with personality dimensions and life satisfaction provide evidence for the validity of our scales. With the presented instrument, future research can extend scientific knowledge regarding the role of individual differences in reactions to injustice for the explanation of well-being and physical health.     

The structure of verbal abilities in young and older adults

Four language sample measures as well as measures of vocabulary, verbal fluency, and memory span were obtained from a sample of young adults and a sample of older adults. Factor analysis was used to analyze the structure of the vocabulary, fluency, and span measures for each age group. Then an "extension" analysis was performed by using structural modeling techniques to determine how the language sample measures were related to the other measures. The measure of grammatical complexity was associated with measures of working memory including reading span and digit span. Two measures, sentence length in words and a measure of lexical diversity, were associated with the vocabulary measures. The fourth measure, propositional density, was associated with the fluency measures as a measure of processing efficiency. The structure of verbal abilities in young and older adults is somewhat different, suggesting age differences in processing efficiency.     

The Driving Anger Expression Inventory: A Validity Study with Community College Student Drivers

This study explored the relationship of driving anger expression to driving anger, trait anger, general anger expression, and aggressive and risky behavior while driving. Verbal, physical, and vehicular forms of expressing anger while driving correlated positively with each other, driving and trait anger, anger-in, and anger-out and negatively with adaptive/constructive driving anger expression and general anger-control. Adaptive/constructive expression formed small negative correlations with these measures, except for a positive correlation with anger-control. Regression models controlling for demographic variables and driving anger, trait anger, or general anger expression demonstrated forms of driving anger expression added variance to predicting aggressive and risky behavior. Forms of driving anger expression partially mediated the effects for driving anger, trait anger, and general anger expression on aggressive and risky behavior. No moderation effects were found for age, gender, or miles driven. Findings provided evidence for convergent and incremental validity for the Driving Anger Expression Inventory.     

Virtual reality as an immersive projective and autodriving advancement technique

The COVID-19 lockdown posed challenges for traditional qualitative researchers, as well as opportunities for innovative qualitative research. While online interviews and focus groups via video conferencing platforms were the most widely used methods, Zoom Fatigue also occurred, hampering some participants' experiences and eventually impacting data quality. Incorporating virtual reality (VR) was one possible solution. This study explores the experiences and involvement of family participants in a qualitative research study using VR during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The research aims to assess the impact of VR on data quantity and quality, as well as the depth of insights compared to traditional methods without VR. The study employs VR roleplay and autodriving methods to elicit family participant engagement. The findings suggest that the application of VR in autodriving improves data quality and quantity while also making the research process more enjoyable for participating parents and children. The results indicate that VR holds significant potential for advancing qualitative research methodology, especially for previously underrepresented groups such as children.     

Learning to ignore distracters

Eye tracking has indicated that older and young adults process distracters similarly when reading single sentences. The present study extended this approach by presenting short paragraphs, sentence by sentence. Eye tracking measures included reading times per word, and the duration of the first fixation and total fixations to the distracters and target words. Comprehension was tested following each paragraph, and recognition of distracters and target words was assessed. The results indicated that young adults were able to learn to ignore the distracters as they read through the paragraphs, whereas older adults were less successful at learning to ignore the distracters.     

Revealing Language Deficits Following Stroke: The Cost of Doing Two Things at Once

ABSTRACT

The costs of doing two things were assessed for a group of healthy older adults and older adults who were tested at least 6 months after a stroke. A baseline language sample was compared to language samples collected while the participants were performing concurrent motor tasks or selective ignoring tasks. Whereas the healthy older adults showed few costs due to the concurrent task demands, the language samples from the stroke survivors were disrupted by the demands of doing two things at once. The dual task measures reveal long-lasting effects of strokes that were not evident when stroke survivors were assessed using standard clinical tools.     

Stronger effects of self-generated than cue-induced expectations when verifying predictions in data graphs

Expectations can come in different forms when analyzing and presenting data. Prior studies have documented stronger effects (behavioral and electrophysiological) of self-generated predictions as compared to cues. While participants presumably cannot help but use their own predictions, they might sometimes ignore cues (of low validity). In two experiments we compared the impact of cues (verbal and visual) and self-generated predictions on the performance of participants checking their current prediction against a presented data graph (linear upward or downward trend). Different from prior studies, the setup allowed for within-experiment comparison of different cue formats and ensured that cues could not be ignored. Nevertheless we found that self-generated predictions had a stronger impact than cues. Verbal cues had a stronger effect than visual cues without verbalization. Responses to graphs with a linear upward trend were faster and were influenced more strongly by predictions, than the response to graphs with a downward trend.