Limitations of traditional morphometrics in research on the attractiveness of faces

The traditional morphometrics approach to shape comparisons involves computing multiple interlandmark distances without taking into account the geometric configuration of the landmarks. A recent example of this approach is a study by Potter and Corneille (2008). They had participants rate the attractiveness of computer-generated European, African, and Asian male faces, and they computed the Euclidean distances between each face and the group prototypes. They found that faces are rated more attractive when they are closer to their group prototype. This letter addresses differing conclusions in the literature, the methodological shortcomings of Potter and Corneille, and another study that explored a similar topic, with a special focus on guiding future researchers around the pitfalls of traditional morphometrics.     

Different selves,different values: Effects of self‐construals on value activation and use

Three experiments demonstrated structural properties and dynamic effects of self‐construal on the processing and use of values. In Study 1, it was found that self‐focus during encoding caused spontaneous cognitive clustering of individualistic versus relational values. Study 2 demonstrated that self‐construal affected the implicit weight of a value‐related attribute in a multi‐attribute choice task. In Study 3, behavioral intentions were better predicted by personal values than social norms when the personal self was primed, whereas social norms predicted better when the collective self was primed. The effects of manipulated self‐construal were mimicked when comparing participants with an individualistic versus collectivistic cultural background. No interaction was found between priming and cultural background. Taken together, the studies demonstrated that different domains of the self are associated with different values, which may instigate different cognitive and behavioral processes when activated. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Equity Sensitivity Revisited: Contrasting Unidimensional and Multidimensional Approaches

Purpose  Past research has shown little support for direct relationships between equity sensitivity and various equity-relevant criteria. Recent work by Davison and Bing (J Manag Issues 20: 131–150, 2008) suggests that equity sensitivity consists of separate input- and outcome-focus dimensions and that these dimensions are associated with such criteria in an interactive fashion. The current study extends this research by theoretically strengthening and empirically testing their two-dimensional model. Design/methodology/approach  We surveyed adults who were working at least 30 h a week at three time periods to temporally separate measurement of predictors and criteria (n = 172). Findings  Results provide support for the two-dimensional model. Input and outcome focus interacted to explain variance in individuals’ satisfaction and self-reported job performance even after controlling for demographic characteristics, personality, and social desirability. By contrast, the original ESI only significantly predicted one of 10 dependent variables. Implications  Whereas a ratio has been historically used as the basis for evaluating equity, employing independent dimensions and investigating their interaction seems more appropriate to assess individuals’ equity sensitivity. The current study suggests a multidimensional measure of equity sensitivity may better reflect the original theoretical underpinnings of the construct. Originality/value  The current study enhances our understanding of equity theory in general, and equity sensitivity in particular, by drawing attention to the multidimensional nature of the equity sensitivity construct. In particular, it extends the work of Davison and Bing (J Manag Issues 20: 131–150, 2008) by revisiting Huseman et al.’s (Acad Manag Rev 12: 222–234, 1987) original conceptualization of equity sensitivity. In doing so, we broaden its utility as a potential unique predictor of organizationally relevant criteria.     

Transfer of inhibition after serial feature negative discrimination training

Three experiments examined the transfer of inhibition in Pavlovian serial feature negative (A+, X→ A−) discriminations in a conditioned suppression situation with rat subjects. Consistent with our previous report (P. C. Holland & J. Lamarre, Learning and Motivation, 15, 219–243), the feature (X) showed little or no ability to inhibit suppression to another conditioned excitor (B) that had been consistently reinforced. Nor was substantial transfer observed to excitors that had been partially reinforced, or conditioned, extinguished, and then reconditioned. However, X readily inhibited suppression to an excitor that had been trained within another serial feature negative discrimination (B+, Y → B−). These latter data are difficult to reconcile with our previous proposal that inhibitors established with serial procedures act on particular conditioned stimulus-unconditioned stimulus associations. We suggest that serial feature negative discriminations endow both the feature (X) and the excitor (A) with special properties.     

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgicencephalomyelitis as a twentieth-century disease: analytic challenges

The challenges of chronic fatigue syndrome (often called myalgic encephalomyelitis, especially in the UK) (CFS/ME) to analytical and medical approaches are connected with our inability to understand its distressing somatic symptoms in terms of a single identifiable and understandable disease entity. The evidence for the roles of viral aetiologies remains inconclusive, as does our understanding of the involvement of the immune system. The history and social context of CFS/ME, and its relation to neurasthenia and psychasthenia are sketched. A symbolic attitude to the condition may need to be rooted in an awareness of psychoid levels of operation, and the expression and spread of CFS/ME may sometimes be aided by the ravages of projective identification. Psychic denial, sometimes violent, in sufferers (especially children and adolescents) and their families may be important in the aetiology of CFS/ME. We draw out common threads from psychodynamic work with five cases, four showing some symptomatic improvement, analytic discussions of three cases being presented elsewhere in this issue of JAP.     

Balance Theory Applied to Service Quality: A Focus on the Organization, Provider, and Consumer Triad

As quality experts have focused primarily on manufacturing, theoretical frameworks for examining quality in the service sector are lacking. In order to fill this gap, Heider's (1958) balance theory is applied to explain how service organization, service provider, and consumer interrelationships influence service quality. Propositions are offered pertaining to: (a) how and why positive or negative relationships among the parties in this triad are developed, and (b) the consequences of these relationships on service quality, affective outcomes, and withdrawal behaviors. Examination of the service triangle within this framework can enhance understanding of quality service delivery and guide future research efforts in the continuous improvement domain.     

Self-Efficacy Relationships With Affective and Exertion Responses to Exercise1

This study examined the relationship of preexisting efficacy for exercise with perceptions of effort expenditure and in-task affect during exercise testing. Subjects comprised sedentary, middle-aged adults participating in a submaxi-mal cycle ergometer-graded exercise test. Perceptions of efficacy were assessed prior to and following exercise testing while perceptions of effort expenditure and in-task affect were assessed at 70% of predicted maxim heart rate. Highly efficacious subjects had lower perceptions of effort expenditure and reported more positive affect during exercise than did their less efficacious counterparts. Affective responses during exercise were in turn significant predictors of posttest self-efficacy. These results are discussed in regard to the importance of examining the role of personal efficacy in the formation of exercise-related affect and affective responses as sources of efficacy or competence information in exercise.     

Representation-mediated extinction of conditioned flavor aversions

Conditioned flavor aversions were extinguished by presenting without consequence auditory stimuli that had been previously paired with the aversive flavor. In Experiment 1, rats that received tone-sucrose pairings, then sucrose-lithium chloride (LiCl) pairings, and finally repeated tone-alone presentations showed greater sucrose consumption in subsequent testing than rats that received similar sucrose-LiCl pairings and tone-alone presentations but no initial tone-sucrose pairings. Experiment 2 demonstrated the stimulus specificity of the mediated extinction observed in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, rats that received first-order light-food and second-order tone-light pairings prior to sucrose-LiCl pairings did not show greater subsequent sucrose consumption when extinction of the second-order tone intervened. These results suggest that conditioned stimulus (CS)-evoked representations of events can substitute for those events themselves in the extinction of previously established associations.